(Continued from Part 1)
The Torah is YHWH
Now if the Messiah is the Torah and the Messiah is YHWH then it would also follow that YHWH and the Torah are one. And in fact the Tanya does teach that the Torah and YHWH are one:
…the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are one. The meaning of this is that the Torah, which is the wisdom and will of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His glorious Essence are one, since He is both the Knower and the Knowledge,…
(Tanya Chapter 4)
Because the Torah is the very expression of the mind of YHWH as the Tanya also says:
For the Holy One, blessed be He, has compressed His will and wisdom within the 613 commandments of the Torah, and in their laws, as well as within the combination of the letters of the Torah, the books of the Prophets and the Hagiographa, and in the exposition thereof which are to be found in the Agadot and Midrashim of our Rabbis of blessed memory.
(Tanya Chapter 4)
The Torah in your Heart
So what does it mean to have the Torah in our hearts?
The soul of man has two major parts, the mind (sechel) and the emotions (middot) as we read in the Tanya:
Similarly is it with the human soul, which is divided in two— sechel (intellect) and middot (emotional attributes). The intellect includes chochmah, binah and da at (ChaBaD), whilst the middot are love of G-d, dread and awe of Him, glorification of Him, and so forth. ChaBaD [the intellectual faculties] are called “mothers” and source of the middot, for the latter are “offspring” of the former.
(Tanya Chapter 3)
And as we read in 4th Maccabees:
1:13 The question therefore is this: If the mind is sovereign over emotion.
1:14 But you may ask: What is the mind? And what is emotion? And what are the kinds of emotion? And is the mind sovereign over all of them?
1:15 The mind therefore is thus: That in uprightness we choose the life of wisdom.
1:16 Now wisdom is knowledge of the hosts, of the Godhead, and of manhood and of their effects.
1:17 Now this is the discipline that is in the Torah, that through it also you learn of the Godhead greatly and of manhood to our advantage and obtaining favor.
1:18 Now the forms of wisdom are these: prudence, righteousness, [courage] and temperance.
1:19 Now the head of all of them is prudence because through it the mind rules over all emotions.
(4Macc. 1:13-19 HRV)
The Torah is the Wisdom of YHWH. When we receive a precept of the Torah as Wisdom and then we subject that precept of Torah to Understanding, exploring every nuance to the best of our intellectual ability, this results in Knowledge, in that the given precept of the Torah become part of our own Knowledge and thinking. As we read in the Tanya:
Now, when an intellect conceives and comprehends a concept with its intellectual faculties, this intellect grasps the concept and encompasses it. This concept is [in turn] grasped, enveloped and enclothed within that intellect which conceived and comprehended it.
The mind, for its part, is also clothed in the concept at the time it comprehends and grasps it with the intellect. For example, when a person understands and comprehends, fully and clearly, any halachah (law) in the Mishnah or Gemara, his intellect grasps and encompasses it and, at the same time, is clothed in it. Consequently, as the particular halachah is the wisdom and will of G-d, for it was His will that when, for example, Reuben pleads in one way and Simeon in another, the verdict as between them shall be thus and thus; and even should such a litigation never have occurred, nor would it ever present itself for judgment in connection with such disputes and claims, nevertheless, since it has been the will and wisdom of the Holy One, blessed be He, that in the event of a person pleading this way and the other [litigant] pleading that way, the verdict shall be such and such— now therefore, when a person knows and comprehends with his intellect such a verdict in accordance with the law as it is set out in the Mishnah, Gemara, or Posekim (Codes), he has thus comprehended, grasped and encompassed with his intellect the will and wisdom of the Holy One, blessed be He, Whom no thought can grasp, nor His will and wisdom, except when they are clothed in the laws that have been set out for us. [Simultaneously] the intellect is also clothed in them [the Divine will and wisdom].
This is a wonderful union, like which there is none other, and which has no parallel anywhere in the material world, whereby complete oneness and unity, from every side and angle, could be attained.
(Tanya Chapter 5)
Wisdom and Understanding come together in Knowledge (Da’at) just as Adam knew Eve and brought forth seed. As we read in the Tanya:
Da’at, the etymology of which is to be found in the verse:
“And Adam knew (yada) Eve,” implies attachment and union.
(Tanya Chapter 3)
Thus when we receive the Wisdom of Torah and Understand the Torah and the Torah becomes part of our own minds, we have the mind of Messiah which is the mind of YHWH, as Paul writes:
For who knows the mind of YHWH that he might instruct Him?
But we have the mind of the Messiah.
(1Cor. 2:16 HRV)
Moreover we read in the Tanya:
The Tanya teaches:
So, allegorically speaking, have the souls of Jews risen in the [Divine] thought, as it is written, “My firstborn son is Israel,” (Ex. 4:22) and “Ye are children unto the YHWH your Elohim” (Deut. 14:1). That is to say, just as a child is derived from his father’s brain, so— to use an anthropomorphism— the soul of each Israelite is derived from Elohim’s (blessed be He) thought and wisdom.
(Tanya; Likutei Amarim; Chapter 2)
This passage draws from two Torah passages:
Then you shall say to Pharaoh,
“Thus says YHWH:
‘Israel is my first-born son.
I have said to you, ‘Let My son go,
That he may worship Me,’
Yet you refuse to let him go.
Now I will slay your first-born son.’”
(Sh’mot (Ex.) 4:22-23 HRV)
and:
You are the children of YHWH your Elohim.
You shall not cut yourselves,
nor make any baldness between your eyes, for the dead.
(Deut. 14:1 HRV))
And again as we read in Hosea 11:1
When Yisra’el was a child, then I loved him:
and out of Egypt I called My son.
(Hosea 11:1 HRV)
Now Matthew quotes this verse in reference to the Messiah (Matt. 2:15) just as the Tanya says it is an allegory of the knowledge of Torah within us, because the Torah is the mind of Messiah within us, and the “son” here” is the Middle Pillar of the Godhead, which is not only Knowledge, but is also the “Son of Yah” as we read in the Zohar earlier.
Thus we have the Messiah within us, because the Messiah is the sum of the Torah and the Torah is the mind of YHWH.
As we read in the Talmud:
The Holy One, blessed be He, speak unto Israel:
“My children! I have created the yetzer hara
and I have created the Torah as its antidote”
(b.Kiddushin 30b)
Moreover Torah study and observance not only plants Messiah brings forth the offspring of emotions (the middot) within us. As we read in the Tanya:
Da’at (knowledge), the etymology of which is to be found in the verse: “And Adam knew (yada) Eve,” implies attachment and union. That is, one binds his mind with a very firm and strong bond to, and firmly fixes his thought on, the greatness of the blessed En sof, without diverting his mind [from Him]. For even one who is wise and
understanding of the greatness of the blessed En Sof, will not— unless he binds his knowledge and fixes his thought with firmness and perseverence— produce in his soul true love and fear, but only vain fancies. Therefore da’at is the basis of the middot and the source of their vitality; it contains chesed and gevurah, that is to say, love with its offshoots and fear with its offshoots.
(Tanya Chapter 3)
Specifically: the faculties of ChaBaD in his soul are clothed in the comprehension of the Torah, which he comprehends in Pardes, to the extent of his mental capacity and the supernal root of his soul. And the middot, namely fear and love, together with their offshoots and ramifications, are clothed in the fulfilment of the commandments in deed and in word, namely, in the study of Torah which is “The equivalent of all the commandments.” For love is the root of all the 248 positive commands, all originating in it and having no true foundation without it, inasmuch as he who fulfils them in truth, truly loves the name of G-d and desires to cleave to Him in truth; for one cannot truly cleave to Him except through the fulfilment of the 248 commandments which are the 248 “Organs of the King,” as it were, as is explained elsewhere; whilst fear is the root of the 365 prohibitive commands, fearing to rebel against the Supreme King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He; or a still deeper fear than this— when he feels ashamed in the presence of the Divine greatness to rebel against His glory and do what is evil in His eyes, namely, any of the abominable things hated by G-d, which are the kelipot and sitra achra, which draw their nurture from man below and have their hold in him through the 365 prohibitive commands [that he violates].
(Tanya Chapter 4)
Thus when we have the Torah, the mind of Messiah within us, we have an outpouring of joy that others cannot comprehend.
The Baal Shem Tov was once asked: “Why is it that chassidim burst into song and dance at the slightest provocation? Is this the behavior of a healthy, sane individual?”
The Baal Shem Tov responded with a story:
Once, a musician came to town—a musician of great but unknown talent. He stood on a street corner and began to play.
Those who stopped to listen could not tear themselves away, and soon a large crowd stood enthralled by the glorious music whose equal they had never heard. Before long they were moving to its rhythm, and the entire street was transformed into a dancing mass of humanity.
A deaf man walking by wondered: Has the world gone mad? Why are the townspeople jumping up and down, waving their arms and turning in circles in middle of the street?
“Chassidim,” concluded the Baal Shem Tov, “are moved by the melody that issues forth from every creature in Elohim’s creation. If this makes them appear mad to those with less sensitive ears, should they therefore cease to dance?”
We as Nazarenes dance with the joy of Messiah within us, though our joy may seem irrational to those who do not have Understanding, we have the mind of Messiah bringing forth joy within us!
The Torah is YHWH
Now if the Messiah is the Torah and the Messiah is YHWH then it would also follow that YHWH and the Torah are one. And in fact the Tanya does teach that the Torah and YHWH are one:
…the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are one. The meaning of this is that the Torah, which is the wisdom and will of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His glorious Essence are one, since He is both the Knower and the Knowledge,…
(Tanya Chapter 4)
Because the Torah is the very expression of the mind of YHWH as the Tanya also says:
For the Holy One, blessed be He, has compressed His will and wisdom within the 613 commandments of the Torah, and in their laws, as well as within the combination of the letters of the Torah, the books of the Prophets and the Hagiographa, and in the exposition thereof which are to be found in the Agadot and Midrashim of our Rabbis of blessed memory.
(Tanya Chapter 4)
The Torah in your Heart
So what does it mean to have the Torah in our hearts?
The soul of man has two major parts, the mind (sechel) and the emotions (middot) as we read in the Tanya:
Similarly is it with the human soul, which is divided in two— sechel (intellect) and middot (emotional attributes). The intellect includes chochmah, binah and da at (ChaBaD), whilst the middot are love of G-d, dread and awe of Him, glorification of Him, and so forth. ChaBaD [the intellectual faculties] are called “mothers” and source of the middot, for the latter are “offspring” of the former.
(Tanya Chapter 3)
And as we read in 4th Maccabees:
1:13 The question therefore is this: If the mind is sovereign over emotion.
1:14 But you may ask: What is the mind? And what is emotion? And what are the kinds of emotion? And is the mind sovereign over all of them?
1:15 The mind therefore is thus: That in uprightness we choose the life of wisdom.
1:16 Now wisdom is knowledge of the hosts, of the Godhead, and of manhood and of their effects.
1:17 Now this is the discipline that is in the Torah, that through it also you learn of the Godhead greatly and of manhood to our advantage and obtaining favor.
1:18 Now the forms of wisdom are these: prudence, righteousness, [courage] and temperance.
1:19 Now the head of all of them is prudence because through it the mind rules over all emotions.
(4Macc. 1:13-19 HRV)
The Torah is the Wisdom of YHWH. When we receive a precept of the Torah as Wisdom and then we subject that precept of Torah to Understanding, exploring every nuance to the best of our intellectual ability, this results in Knowledge, in that the given precept of the Torah become part of our own Knowledge and thinking. As we read in the Tanya:
Now, when an intellect conceives and comprehends a concept with its intellectual faculties, this intellect grasps the concept and encompasses it. This concept is [in turn] grasped, enveloped and enclothed within that intellect which conceived and comprehended it.
The mind, for its part, is also clothed in the concept at the time it comprehends and grasps it with the intellect. For example, when a person understands and comprehends, fully and clearly, any halachah (law) in the Mishnah or Gemara, his intellect grasps and encompasses it and, at the same time, is clothed in it. Consequently, as the particular halachah is the wisdom and will of G-d, for it was His will that when, for example, Reuben pleads in one way and Simeon in another, the verdict as between them shall be thus and thus; and even should such a litigation never have occurred, nor would it ever present itself for judgment in connection with such disputes and claims, nevertheless, since it has been the will and wisdom of the Holy One, blessed be He, that in the event of a person pleading this way and the other [litigant] pleading that way, the verdict shall be such and such— now therefore, when a person knows and comprehends with his intellect such a verdict in accordance with the law as it is set out in the Mishnah, Gemara, or Posekim (Codes), he has thus comprehended, grasped and encompassed with his intellect the will and wisdom of the Holy One, blessed be He, Whom no thought can grasp, nor His will and wisdom, except when they are clothed in the laws that have been set out for us. [Simultaneously] the intellect is also clothed in them [the Divine will and wisdom].
This is a wonderful union, like which there is none other, and which has no parallel anywhere in the material world, whereby complete oneness and unity, from every side and angle, could be attained.
(Tanya Chapter 5)
Wisdom and Understanding come together in Knowledge (Da’at) just as Adam knew Eve and brought forth seed. As we read in the Tanya:
Da’at, the etymology of which is to be found in the verse:
“And Adam knew (yada) Eve,” implies attachment and union.
(Tanya Chapter 3)
Thus when we receive the Wisdom of Torah and Understand the Torah and the Torah becomes part of our own minds, we have the mind of Messiah which is the mind of YHWH, as Paul writes:
For who knows the mind of YHWH that he might instruct Him?
But we have the mind of the Messiah.
(1Cor. 2:16 HRV)
Moreover we read in the Tanya:
The Tanya teaches:
So, allegorically speaking, have the souls of Jews risen in the [Divine] thought, as it is written, “My firstborn son is Israel,” (Ex. 4:22) and “Ye are children unto the YHWH your Elohim” (Deut. 14:1). That is to say, just as a child is derived from his father’s brain, so— to use an anthropomorphism— the soul of each Israelite is derived from Elohim’s (blessed be He) thought and wisdom.
(Tanya; Likutei Amarim; Chapter 2)
This passage draws from two Torah passages:
Then you shall say to Pharaoh,
“Thus says YHWH:
‘Israel is my first-born son.
I have said to you, ‘Let My son go,
That he may worship Me,’
Yet you refuse to let him go.
Now I will slay your first-born son.’”
(Sh’mot (Ex.) 4:22-23 HRV)
and:
You are the children of YHWH your Elohim.
You shall not cut yourselves,
nor make any baldness between your eyes, for the dead.
(Deut. 14:1 HRV))
And again as we read in Hosea 11:1
When Yisra’el was a child, then I loved him:
and out of Egypt I called My son.
(Hosea 11:1 HRV)
Now Matthew quotes this verse in reference to the Messiah (Matt. 2:15) just as the Tanya says it is an allegory of the knowledge of Torah within us, because the Torah is the mind of Messiah within us, and the “son” here” is the Middle Pillar of the Godhead, which is not only Knowledge, but is also the “Son of Yah” as we read in the Zohar earlier.
Thus we have the Messiah within us, because the Messiah is the sum of the Torah and the Torah is the mind of YHWH.
As we read in the Talmud:
The Holy One, blessed be He, speak unto Israel:
“My children! I have created the yetzer hara
and I have created the Torah as its antidote”
(b.Kiddushin 30b)
Moreover Torah study and observance not only plants Messiah brings forth the offspring of emotions (the middot) within us. As we read in the Tanya:
Da’at (knowledge), the etymology of which is to be found in the verse: “And Adam knew (yada) Eve,” implies attachment and union. That is, one binds his mind with a very firm and strong bond to, and firmly fixes his thought on, the greatness of the blessed En sof, without diverting his mind [from Him]. For even one who is wise and
understanding of the greatness of the blessed En Sof, will not— unless he binds his knowledge and fixes his thought with firmness and perseverence— produce in his soul true love and fear, but only vain fancies. Therefore da’at is the basis of the middot and the source of their vitality; it contains chesed and gevurah, that is to say, love with its offshoots and fear with its offshoots.
(Tanya Chapter 3)
Specifically: the faculties of ChaBaD in his soul are clothed in the comprehension of the Torah, which he comprehends in Pardes, to the extent of his mental capacity and the supernal root of his soul. And the middot, namely fear and love, together with their offshoots and ramifications, are clothed in the fulfilment of the commandments in deed and in word, namely, in the study of Torah which is “The equivalent of all the commandments.” For love is the root of all the 248 positive commands, all originating in it and having no true foundation without it, inasmuch as he who fulfils them in truth, truly loves the name of G-d and desires to cleave to Him in truth; for one cannot truly cleave to Him except through the fulfilment of the 248 commandments which are the 248 “Organs of the King,” as it were, as is explained elsewhere; whilst fear is the root of the 365 prohibitive commands, fearing to rebel against the Supreme King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He; or a still deeper fear than this— when he feels ashamed in the presence of the Divine greatness to rebel against His glory and do what is evil in His eyes, namely, any of the abominable things hated by G-d, which are the kelipot and sitra achra, which draw their nurture from man below and have their hold in him through the 365 prohibitive commands [that he violates].
(Tanya Chapter 4)
Thus when we have the Torah, the mind of Messiah within us, we have an outpouring of joy that others cannot comprehend.
The Baal Shem Tov was once asked: “Why is it that chassidim burst into song and dance at the slightest provocation? Is this the behavior of a healthy, sane individual?”
The Baal Shem Tov responded with a story:
Once, a musician came to town—a musician of great but unknown talent. He stood on a street corner and began to play.
Those who stopped to listen could not tear themselves away, and soon a large crowd stood enthralled by the glorious music whose equal they had never heard. Before long they were moving to its rhythm, and the entire street was transformed into a dancing mass of humanity.
A deaf man walking by wondered: Has the world gone mad? Why are the townspeople jumping up and down, waving their arms and turning in circles in middle of the street?
“Chassidim,” concluded the Baal Shem Tov, “are moved by the melody that issues forth from every creature in Elohim’s creation. If this makes them appear mad to those with less sensitive ears, should they therefore cease to dance?”
We as Nazarenes dance with the joy of Messiah within us, though our joy may seem irrational to those who do not have Understanding, we have the mind of Messiah bringing forth joy within us!
Shavuot and the Full Armor of Elohim
(Part 1)
By
James Scott Trimm
(Part 1)
By
James Scott Trimm
The days between Passover (particularly the First Fruits offering) and Shavuot are the days of the Counting of the Omer. Passover commemorates the redemption of the firstborn (firstborn and firstfruits are the same word in Hebrew) by the blood of the lamb. Shavuot commemorates the receiving of the gift of Torah at Mount Sinai. The Counting of the Omer recalls the journey to Sinai, getting ready to receive the gift at Mount Sinai. First comes redemption, then a time of purification, and then we may received the gift. This parallels the redemption of the believer. First we are redeemed, then we must prepare ourselves to receive the gift of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit).
During these days of preparing to receive the gift Moshe Aveynu (Moses our Father) before the Torah was even given on Mount Sinai, Moshe wrote what is now the oldest part of our Bibles (unless one includes the Book of Enoch) the 90th and 91st Psalms. A tradition recorded in the Midrash Rabba says of this Psalm “it was composed by Moshe at the time when he ascended Mount Sinai because he was afraid of the harmful spirits.” (Num. R. xii, 3)
The Jerusalem Talmud indicates that Psalm 91 was traditionally used to give relief to those stricken by shedim (demons):
In Jerusalem they used to recite “The Song of the Evil Spirits”
on the Sabbath for the relief of a stricken person. Which is it?
Psalm 91.
(b.Shab. 8b)
on the Sabbath for the relief of a stricken person. Which is it?
Psalm 91.
(b.Shab. 8b)
The Sefer Shimmush Tehillim (Book of the Use of the Psalms) says of Psalm 91:
After speaking this Psalm and the preceding one (Psalm 90),
over a person tormented by an evil spirit, or one afflicted by
an incurable disease, in the name of El Shadai, then pray
humbly, “Let it be your set-apart will, Oh my Elohim, to
take from son of the evil spirit by which
he is tormented, for the sake of your great, mighty and set-apart
name El Shaddai. May you presently send him health and let
him be perfectly restored. Hear his prayer as you once did
that of your servant Moshe when he prayed this Psalm. Let
this prayer penetrate to You as once did the set-apart incense
arose to you on high. Amen! Seleh!”
over a person tormented by an evil spirit, or one afflicted by
an incurable disease, in the name of El Shadai, then pray
humbly, “Let it be your set-apart will, Oh my Elohim, to
take from son of the evil spirit by which
he is tormented, for the sake of your great, mighty and set-apart
name El Shaddai. May you presently send him health and let
him be perfectly restored. Hear his prayer as you once did
that of your servant Moshe when he prayed this Psalm. Let
this prayer penetrate to You as once did the set-apart incense
arose to you on high. Amen! Seleh!”
This was probably one of the Psalms David would sing in order to exorcise demons from King Saul:
Now the spirit of YHWH had departed from Sha’ul, and an evil spirit from YHWH terrified him.
And Sha’ul's servants said unto him: 'Behold now, an evil spirit from Elohim terrifies you.
Let our master now command your servants, that are before you, to seek out a man who is a skilful player on the harp; and it shall be, when the evil spirit from Elohim comes upon you, that he shall play with his hand, and you shall be well.'
And Sha’ul said unto his servants: 'Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me.'
Then answered one of the young men, and said: 'Behold, I have seen a son of Yishai the Beit-Lechemite, that is skilful in playing, and a mighty man of valour, and a man of war, and prudent in affairs, and a comely person, and YHWH is with him.'
Wherefore Sha’ul sent messengers unto Yishai, and said: 'Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.'
And Yishai took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Sha’ul.
And David came to Sha’ul, and stood before him; and he loved him greatly; and he became his armour-bearer.
And Sha’ul sent to Yishai, saying: 'Let David, I pray you, stand before me; for he has found favour in my sight.'
And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from Elohim was upon Sha’ul, that David took the harp, and played with his hand; so Sha’ul found relief, and it was well with him, and the evil spirit departed from him.
(1Sam. 16:14-23 HRV)
And it came to pass on the morrow, that an evil spirit from Elohim came mightily upon Sha’ul, and he raved in the midst of the house; and David played with his hand, as he did day by day; and Sha’ul had his spear in his hand.
And Sha’ul cast the spear; for he said: 'I will smite David even to the wall.' And David stepped aside out of his presence twice.
(1Sam. 18:10-11 HRV)
And Sha’ul cast the spear; for he said: 'I will smite David even to the wall.' And David stepped aside out of his presence twice.
(1Sam. 18:10-11 HRV)
And an evil spirit from YHWH was upon Sha’ul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand; and David was playing with his hand.
And Sha’ul sought to smite David even to the wall with the spear; but he slipped away out of Sha’ul's presence, and he smote the spear into the wall; and David fled, and escaped that night.
(1Sam. 19:9-10 HRV)
And Sha’ul sought to smite David even to the wall with the spear; but he slipped away out of Sha’ul's presence, and he smote the spear into the wall; and David fled, and escaped that night.
(1Sam. 19:9-10 HRV)
Let us now examine the Psalm itself as we prepare ourselves for Shavuot:
1 O you that dwell in the covert of Elyon, and abide in the shadow of Shaddai:
According to Rashi, this refers to the covering of the wings mentioned in verse four. Shaddai means literally “breasted one” and is a reference to the feminine aspect of Yahweh, the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit). The word for “wing” in the Hebrew is KANAF which also means “corner” and is used to refer to the four corners of the Tallit where the tzitzit are placed. The Tallit represents the Ruach HaKodesh covering us with her wings.
Yeshua said “when you pray, enter into your chamber, and shut the door…” This passage refers to the Jewish practice of using one’s tallit (prayer shawl) to create a private chamber over ones head in which to pray with some privacy even in a public location. According to the Book of Jasher, Enoch often concealed himself in his “chamber” (same word in the Hebew) and his soul was “wrapped up” in the instruction of YHWH (Jasher 3:2, 5)
2 I will say of YHWH, who is my refuge and my fortress; my Elohim, in whom I trust,
3 That He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome
pestilence.
3 That He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome
pestilence.
Clearly Paul refers to this verse when he writes:
10 Henceforth, my brothers, be strong in our Adon, and in the might of His power:
11 And put on all the armor of Eloah, so that you may be able to stand against the
strategies of Akel Kartza,
12 Because your struggle is not with flesh and blood, but with principalities, and with authorities, and with the possessors of this dark world, and with the evil spirits that are under heaven.
(Eph. 6:10-12 HRV)
11 And put on all the armor of Eloah, so that you may be able to stand against the
strategies of Akel Kartza,
12 Because your struggle is not with flesh and blood, but with principalities, and with authorities, and with the possessors of this dark world, and with the evil spirits that are under heaven.
(Eph. 6:10-12 HRV)
The Psalm continues:
4 He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you take refuge; His truth is a shield and armor.
This is the earliest mention of the shield and armor of Elohim, which Paul elaborates as follows:
13 Because of this, put on all the armor of Eloah, that you may be able to meet the
evil one, and being prepared in everything, you may stand firm.
14 Stand therefore, and gird up your loins with Truth, and put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15 And bind on your feet the preparation of the Good News of shalom.
16 And with these, take to you the shield of Trust: by which you will have power to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And put on the helmet of salvation, and take hold of the sword of the Spirit,
which is the Word of Eloah.
18 And with all prayers, and with all petitions, pray at all times in the Spirit: and in prayer, be watchful in every season while praying continually and making supplication on behalf of all the Set-Apart-Ones;
(Eph. 6:13-18 HRV)
evil one, and being prepared in everything, you may stand firm.
14 Stand therefore, and gird up your loins with Truth, and put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15 And bind on your feet the preparation of the Good News of shalom.
16 And with these, take to you the shield of Trust: by which you will have power to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And put on the helmet of salvation, and take hold of the sword of the Spirit,
which is the Word of Eloah.
18 And with all prayers, and with all petitions, pray at all times in the Spirit: and in prayer, be watchful in every season while praying continually and making supplication on behalf of all the Set-Apart-Ones;
(Eph. 6:13-18 HRV)
The Psalm continues:
5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day:
Rashi says that “the arrow that flies by day” refers to “the demon that flies like an arrow.” Paul recalls this phrase when he says:
And with these, take to you the shield of Trust: by which you will have power to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
(Eph. 6:16 HRV)
(Eph. 6:16 HRV)
Psalm 91 continues:
6 Of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that wastes at noonday.
According to Rashi “Pestilence” and “Destruction” in this verse are actually the proper names of two demons.
7 A thousand may fall at Your side, and ten thousand at Your right hand; it shall not come near you.
Rashi says that the word for “fall” here actually means in this context “camp”. We have 11,000 demons camping around us, but which the wings of the Ruach HaKodesh shelter us from. In Hebraic thought, the left side represents our Severity while the right side represents our Mercy. HaSatan only assigns 1,000 demons to our left side because it is most vulnerable.
8 Only with your eyes shall you behold and see, the recompense of the wicked.
9 For You, O YHWH, are my refuge! Elyon, you have made your habitation.
10 There shall no evil befall you, neither shall any plague come near your tent.
11 For He will give His angels charge over you--to keep you in all your ways.
12 They shall bear you upon their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13 You shall tread upon the lion and asp; the young lion and the serpent shall you
trample under feet.
14 Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known, My Name.
15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him, and bring him to honor.
16 With long life will I satisfy him, and make Him to behold My salvation.
9 For You, O YHWH, are my refuge! Elyon, you have made your habitation.
10 There shall no evil befall you, neither shall any plague come near your tent.
11 For He will give His angels charge over you--to keep you in all your ways.
12 They shall bear you upon their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13 You shall tread upon the lion and asp; the young lion and the serpent shall you
trample under feet.
14 Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known, My Name.
15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him, and bring him to honor.
16 With long life will I satisfy him, and make Him to behold My salvation.
One of the battles in this war in heaven between Mikha’el (Michael) and HaSatan is related to us in Y’hudah (Jude):
Yet Mikha’el the chief angel, in contending with ‘Akel Kartza, when he disputed about the body of Moshe, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, YHWH rebuke you!
(Jude 1:9 HRV)
(Jude 1:9 HRV)
Notice that Mikha’el defeats HaSatan with the words “YHWH rebuke you”. In Zech. 3:2 YHWH himself invokes this same phrase (in a longer form) to rebuke HaSatan and defend the High Priest Yahushua (Joshua) from an attack of accusation by HaSatan.
There is power in the spoken word. There is power in the very letters themselves. When angels and shedim do battle, they battle with words. We are told that Yeshua cast out shedim by “his word” (Mt. 8:16). Yeshua’s talmidim exercised authority over the Shedim using the name of Yeshua (Luke. 10:17)
One who makes use of such names is called a “Ba’al Shem Tov” (Master of the/a Good Name). This concept appears throughout the NT in which miracles, healings and exorcisms are performed in the name of “Yeshua
The most important Name of power is the Sacred Name of YHWH known as the tetragramaton (four letter name):
The name of YHWH is a strong tower: the righteous runs into it, and is set up on high.
(Prov. 18:10 HRV)
(Prov. 18:10 HRV)
From now on, I am not in the world, but these are in the world and I come to you, set-apart Father. Keep them in your name that you gave me
(John 17:11 HRV)
(John 17:11 HRV)
Through You do we push down our adversaries; through Your name do we tread them under that rise up against us.
(Ps. 44:6 (44:2) HRV)
(Ps. 44:6 (44:2) HRV)
O Elohim, save me by Your name, and right me by Your might.
(Ps. 54:3 (54:2) HRV)
(Ps. 54:3 (54:2) HRV)
There is none like unto You, O YHWH; You are great, and Your name is great in might.
(Jer. 10:6 HRV)
(Jer. 10:6 HRV)
These days of the Counting of the Omer are a special time. A time to prepare for Shavuot and the gift. A time to put on the full armor of Elohim and take up the Shield of Faith. A time to dawn the tallit, be comforted under the wings of the Ruach HaKodesh as you wrap yourself in it. A time to meditate on the Name of YHWH and prepare to receive the gift of power from on high!
FEAST OF FIRST FRUITS
PENTECOST
GIVING OF THE LAW
Part Four.
Acts 1:12-15.
An EASILY UNDERSTOOD Scripture Study for Christians
FEAST OF FIRST FRUITS / PENTECOST / GIVING OF THE LAW - Part Four.
The Feast of First Fruits is featured in Acts 1 & 2. Many great studies come from these chapters. Study Acts 1:12-15. Let’s learn about the Cast of Characters.
Play the Triple NAME game. Draw a line from the first column of traditional English names to each correct name then from the second column to the third - what the name means. We will learn a lot about the first Nazoreans!
Jesus Yahudah (yah-OO-dah) Yahweh Saves
Peter Toma (toe-MAH) Hearer and Doer
John Ya’aqov (YAH-coff) The Man
James (2 of these) Talmai (TAHL-me) Praise Yahweh
Andrew Mattitthyahu (matt-TEETH-YAH-oo) Yahweh is Merciful
Philip Kefa (ki-FAH) Stone or Rock
Thomas Miryam (MEAR-yom) Bitter Waters
Bartholomew Yahshua (YAH-shua) Horse Lover
Matthew Adam (ah-DAHM) Yahweh is Protection
Simon Filhippos (FILL-hip-pōs) Second of Twins
Judas Yohanan (Yoke-HAN-uhn) Heap of Water
Mary Shimōn (she-MOAN) Reward of Yahweh
There are a couple of “surnames” mentioned. These can be what we’d call “nicknames” or they can be titles.
Alphaeus: most English Bibles read “James son of Alphaeus.” But the text says that James (or ___________ ) WAS an Aphaeus. What is an Alphaeus? Here are a couple explanations.
(1) It could be a person’s name – highly unlikely.
(2) It could refer to the number associated with the letter Alpha, Aleph or “A” (in English). The number is A1! If this is the case, he would have been known as James the First – the first in the family with the name, the eldest in the family, or the first of a set of twins.
We still use these titles today. I am the second in my family with my name, so I am Jackson II. I have a nephew with the same name, and he is Jackson III.
There is also a James Alpha who is quite famous in the Bible history of the early 17th century.
Quiz: Who was he? What did he do? What might he have done to Alphaeus in Acts 1?
(3) There is an obscure reference to an Alpha being a sect of Priests. This James may have been a priest – one of the “poor priests” spoken of later in Acts. In fact, there is historical evidence that he was a priest.
Bar: Bar means “son of” in a literal or figurative sense. Bartholomew is correctly written “bar Talmai.” Talmai means “a heap.” The fellow named Talmai in the old testament was related to the giants. Could calling this man in Acts 1 Bartholomew betray physical characteristics? “Son of the Giant” might betray the possibility that Bartholomew was a very big or tall man. This might be Nathaniel’s nickname.
Zealot: To be called a zealot can mean two things in an Acts 1 context. (1) He can be a member of a political party, the Zealots, who were ultra conservative nationalists fighting for purity of worship and an end to foreign occupation. (Much like the Shi’ites of Iraq today.) (2) More possibly, zealot here means a person who was “zealous for the Torah” – a strict purist in religious, legal and moral ethics.
Of: Most Bibles mistranslate Acts 1:13 to read “Judas son of James.” The “son of isn’t in the text. Judas and James were brothers, as were James and John and Peter and Andrew. This seems like a small thing until a person wants to get his cast list under control, with so many people of the same name.
Stood Up: The “standing man” in scripture designates a special emissary from heaven. There are many standing men (and women) in the Bible. This is the same word that is translated “resurrection” (anastasia).
So these were the first Nazoreans coming together after the ascension of the Master in prayer and preparation for First Fruits. Look:
A “Nazarene” is a person from Nazareth”
A “Nazorean” is a person who follows the faith of these people above.
A Nazorean is a keeper of valuable things; a watcher over truth.
That’s what you are, just as Paul was – “a leader of the sect of the Nazaraeans…” (Acts 24:5).
FEAST OF FIRST FRUITS
PENTECOST
GIVING OF THE LAW
Part Four.
Acts 1:12-15.
An EASILY UNDERSTOOD Scripture Study for Christians
FEAST OF FIRST FRUITS / PENTECOST / GIVING OF THE LAW - Part Four.
The Feast of First Fruits is featured in Acts 1 & 2. Many great studies come from these chapters. Study Acts 1:12-15. Let’s learn about the Cast of Characters.
Play the Triple NAME game. Draw a line from the first column of traditional English names to each correct name then from the second column to the third - what the name means. We will learn a lot about the first Nazoreans!
Jesus Yahudah (yah-OO-dah) Yahweh Saves
Peter Toma (toe-MAH) Hearer and Doer
John Ya’aqov (YAH-coff) The Man
James (2 of these) Talmai (TAHL-me) Praise Yahweh
Andrew Mattitthyahu (matt-TEETH-YAH-oo) Yahweh is Merciful
Philip Kefa (ki-FAH) Stone or Rock
Thomas Miryam (MEAR-yom) Bitter Waters
Bartholomew Yahshua (YAH-shua) Horse Lover
Matthew Adam (ah-DAHM) Yahweh is Protection
Simon Filhippos (FILL-hip-pōs) Second of Twins
Judas Yohanan (Yoke-HAN-uhn) Heap of Water
Mary Shimōn (she-MOAN) Reward of Yahweh
There are a couple of “surnames” mentioned. These can be what we’d call “nicknames” or they can be titles.
Alphaeus: most English Bibles read “James son of Alphaeus.” But the text says that James (or ___________ ) WAS an Aphaeus. What is an Alphaeus? Here are a couple explanations.
(1) It could be a person’s name – highly unlikely.
(2) It could refer to the number associated with the letter Alpha, Aleph or “A” (in English). The number is A1! If this is the case, he would have been known as James the First – the first in the family with the name, the eldest in the family, or the first of a set of twins.
We still use these titles today. I am the second in my family with my name, so I am Jackson II. I have a nephew with the same name, and he is Jackson III.
There is also a James Alpha who is quite famous in the Bible history of the early 17th century.
Quiz: Who was he? What did he do? What might he have done to Alphaeus in Acts 1?
(3) There is an obscure reference to an Alpha being a sect of Priests. This James may have been a priest – one of the “poor priests” spoken of later in Acts. In fact, there is historical evidence that he was a priest.
Bar: Bar means “son of” in a literal or figurative sense. Bartholomew is correctly written “bar Talmai.” Talmai means “a heap.” The fellow named Talmai in the old testament was related to the giants. Could calling this man in Acts 1 Bartholomew betray physical characteristics? “Son of the Giant” might betray the possibility that Bartholomew was a very big or tall man. This might be Nathaniel’s nickname.
Zealot: To be called a zealot can mean two things in an Acts 1 context. (1) He can be a member of a political party, the Zealots, who were ultra conservative nationalists fighting for purity of worship and an end to foreign occupation. (Much like the Shi’ites of Iraq today.) (2) More possibly, zealot here means a person who was “zealous for the Torah” – a strict purist in religious, legal and moral ethics.
Of: Most Bibles mistranslate Acts 1:13 to read “Judas son of James.” The “son of isn’t in the text. Judas and James were brothers, as were James and John and Peter and Andrew. This seems like a small thing until a person wants to get his cast list under control, with so many people of the same name.
Stood Up: The “standing man” in scripture designates a special emissary from heaven. There are many standing men (and women) in the Bible. This is the same word that is translated “resurrection” (anastasia).
So these were the first Nazoreans coming together after the ascension of the Master in prayer and preparation for First Fruits. Look:
A “Nazarene” is a person from Nazareth”
A “Nazorean” is a person who follows the faith of these people above.
A Nazorean is a keeper of valuable things; a watcher over truth.
That’s what you are, just as Paul was – “a leader of the sect of the Nazaraeans…” (Acts 24:5).
The Truth about the Shema
by
James Scott Trimm
Many Anti-missionaries have argued that the Shema (Deut. 6:4) conflicts with any understanding of the Deity of Messiah as taught in the so-called “New Testament”.
In this article I will prove using only ancient Jewish sources that, to the contrary, the Shema itself has been anciently understood in Judaism to refer to the unity of the three Pillars of the Godhead. Furthermore it has been taught anciently in Judaism that the Middle Pillar of the Godhead reconciles the two outer Pillars, that this Middle Pillar of the Godhead is the Son of Yah, the firstborn of all creation who will glorify all the bodies which are in the grave, and that this is the Word of YHWH in whom Abraham placed his faith and who made the covenant with Israel, and which is the Savior. Most importantly it has been taught that this Middle Pillar, the Son of Yah, the Word is the Messiah himself.
The opening of the Shema reads:
SH’MA YISRAEL YHWH ELOHEYNU YHWH ECHAD
“Hear O Israel, YHWH, our Elohim, YHWH is one (ECHAD)”
(Deut. 6:4)
Let us examine other passages in the Torah to understand how this word ECHAD (“one”) is used in the Torah:
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined
to his wife, and they shall become one [ECHAD] flesh.
(Gen. 2:24)
And YHWH said, “Indeed the people are one [ECHAD] and they
all have one language…
(Gen. 11:6)
Thus it is clear that the word ECHAD in no way requires a singularity and can refer to a composite unity.
Now let us to explore how this passage is understood by the Zohar:
The [profession of] unity that every day is [a profession of] unity
is to be understood and to be perceived. We have said in many places
that this prayer is a profession of Unity that is proclaimed:
”Hear O Yisrael, YHWH“ first, [then] “Eloheynu” [and] “YHWH” they are all One and thus He is called “One”.
Behold, these are three names, how can they be one? Is it because we call them one? (literally: And also concerning the proclamation that we call them one?). How these are one can only through the vision of the Holy Sprit be known. And these are through the vision of the closed eye (or the hidden eye) To make known that these three are one.
And this is the mystery of the voice that is heard. The voice is one. And is three GAUNIN: fire and air and water. And all these are one in the mystery of the voice.
And also here “YHWH, Eloheynu, YHWH” these are One. Three GAUNIN that are One. And this is the voice of the act of a son of man in [proclaiming] the Unity.
And to which he sees by the Unity of the “All” from Eyn Sof (the Inifinite One) to the end of the “All”. Because of the voice in which it is done, in these are three that are one.
And this is the [profession] of the daily profession of Unity that is revealed in the mystery of the Holy Spirit.
And there are many GAUNIN that are a Unity, and all of them are true, what the one does, that the other does, and what that one does, the other does.
(Zohar 2:43)
יחוד דכל יומא. איהו יחוד למנדע ולשואה רעותא.
יחודא דא. הא אמרן בכמה דוכתי יחיד דכל מא איהו יחוד דקרא. שמע ישראל יי קדמאח. אלהינו יי. הא כלהו חד. ועד אקרי אחד.
הא תלת שמהין אינון. היך אינון חד ואף על גב דקרינן אחד. היך אינון חד. אלא בחזיונא דרוח קודשא אתיידע. ואינון בחיזו דעינא סתימא. למנדע דתלתא אלין אחד.
ודא איהו רזא דקול דאשתמע. קול איהו חד.ואיהו תלתא גוונין. אשא ורוחא ומיא. וכלהו חד ברזא דקול.
ואף הכא יי אלהינו יי אינון חד תלתא גוונין דאינון חד. ודא איהו קול דעביד בר נש ביחודא ולשוואה רעותיה בחודא דכלא מאין סוף עד סופא דכלא. בהאי קול דקא עביד בהני תלתא דאינון חד.
ודא איהו יחודא דכל יומא דאתגלי ברזא דרוח קודשא.
וכמה גוונין דיחודא אתערו וכלהו קשוט. מאן דעביד האי עביד ומן דעביד האי עביד.
(The Aramaic word GA’UN (sing.)/GAUNIN (plural) comes from the word for “color” and refers to an “aspect, element, substance, essence”. )
Thus the Zohar understands the Sh’ma to mean that YHWH, Elohim and YHWH are three GA’UNIN. This section of the Zohar also recalls a reading from the Sefer Yetzirah:
Three “mothers”: Alef; Mem and Shin
Their foundation is a pan of merit
a pan of liability
and the tongue of decree deciding between them.
(Sefer Yetzirah 3:1)
Three “mothers”, Alef, Mem, Shin
in the universe are air, water, fire…
(Sefer Yetzirah 3:4a)
(Note: The letter SHIN has a gematria (numerical value) of 300 which is the same as the gematria of the phrase ”Ruach Elohim” (the Spirit of Elohim).)
As it we will demonstrate the “tongue of decree deciding between them” is the Middle Pillar of the Godhead which reconciles the two outer pillars of the Godhead.
The Three Pillars of the Godhead
The Zohar also calls these three GAUNIN the three pillars of the Godhead. The Zohar teaches that the two outer pillars are reconciled by the middle pillar just as the “tongue of decree” decides between the two pans of the scale in the Sefer Yetzirah. The Zohar reads as follows:
by
James Scott Trimm
Many Anti-missionaries have argued that the Shema (Deut. 6:4) conflicts with any understanding of the Deity of Messiah as taught in the so-called “New Testament”.
In this article I will prove using only ancient Jewish sources that, to the contrary, the Shema itself has been anciently understood in Judaism to refer to the unity of the three Pillars of the Godhead. Furthermore it has been taught anciently in Judaism that the Middle Pillar of the Godhead reconciles the two outer Pillars, that this Middle Pillar of the Godhead is the Son of Yah, the firstborn of all creation who will glorify all the bodies which are in the grave, and that this is the Word of YHWH in whom Abraham placed his faith and who made the covenant with Israel, and which is the Savior. Most importantly it has been taught that this Middle Pillar, the Son of Yah, the Word is the Messiah himself.
The opening of the Shema reads:
SH’MA YISRAEL YHWH ELOHEYNU YHWH ECHAD
“Hear O Israel, YHWH, our Elohim, YHWH is one (ECHAD)”
(Deut. 6:4)
Let us examine other passages in the Torah to understand how this word ECHAD (“one”) is used in the Torah:
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined
to his wife, and they shall become one [ECHAD] flesh.
(Gen. 2:24)
And YHWH said, “Indeed the people are one [ECHAD] and they
all have one language…
(Gen. 11:6)
Thus it is clear that the word ECHAD in no way requires a singularity and can refer to a composite unity.
Now let us to explore how this passage is understood by the Zohar:
The [profession of] unity that every day is [a profession of] unity
is to be understood and to be perceived. We have said in many places
that this prayer is a profession of Unity that is proclaimed:
”Hear O Yisrael, YHWH“ first, [then] “Eloheynu” [and] “YHWH” they are all One and thus He is called “One”.
Behold, these are three names, how can they be one? Is it because we call them one? (literally: And also concerning the proclamation that we call them one?). How these are one can only through the vision of the Holy Sprit be known. And these are through the vision of the closed eye (or the hidden eye) To make known that these three are one.
And this is the mystery of the voice that is heard. The voice is one. And is three GAUNIN: fire and air and water. And all these are one in the mystery of the voice.
And also here “YHWH, Eloheynu, YHWH” these are One. Three GAUNIN that are One. And this is the voice of the act of a son of man in [proclaiming] the Unity.
And to which he sees by the Unity of the “All” from Eyn Sof (the Inifinite One) to the end of the “All”. Because of the voice in which it is done, in these are three that are one.
And this is the [profession] of the daily profession of Unity that is revealed in the mystery of the Holy Spirit.
And there are many GAUNIN that are a Unity, and all of them are true, what the one does, that the other does, and what that one does, the other does.
(Zohar 2:43)
יחוד דכל יומא. איהו יחוד למנדע ולשואה רעותא.
יחודא דא. הא אמרן בכמה דוכתי יחיד דכל מא איהו יחוד דקרא. שמע ישראל יי קדמאח. אלהינו יי. הא כלהו חד. ועד אקרי אחד.
הא תלת שמהין אינון. היך אינון חד ואף על גב דקרינן אחד. היך אינון חד. אלא בחזיונא דרוח קודשא אתיידע. ואינון בחיזו דעינא סתימא. למנדע דתלתא אלין אחד.
ודא איהו רזא דקול דאשתמע. קול איהו חד.ואיהו תלתא גוונין. אשא ורוחא ומיא. וכלהו חד ברזא דקול.
ואף הכא יי אלהינו יי אינון חד תלתא גוונין דאינון חד. ודא איהו קול דעביד בר נש ביחודא ולשוואה רעותיה בחודא דכלא מאין סוף עד סופא דכלא. בהאי קול דקא עביד בהני תלתא דאינון חד.
ודא איהו יחודא דכל יומא דאתגלי ברזא דרוח קודשא.
וכמה גוונין דיחודא אתערו וכלהו קשוט. מאן דעביד האי עביד ומן דעביד האי עביד.
(The Aramaic word GA’UN (sing.)/GAUNIN (plural) comes from the word for “color” and refers to an “aspect, element, substance, essence”. )
Thus the Zohar understands the Sh’ma to mean that YHWH, Elohim and YHWH are three GA’UNIN. This section of the Zohar also recalls a reading from the Sefer Yetzirah:
Three “mothers”: Alef; Mem and Shin
Their foundation is a pan of merit
a pan of liability
and the tongue of decree deciding between them.
(Sefer Yetzirah 3:1)
Three “mothers”, Alef, Mem, Shin
in the universe are air, water, fire…
(Sefer Yetzirah 3:4a)
(Note: The letter SHIN has a gematria (numerical value) of 300 which is the same as the gematria of the phrase ”Ruach Elohim” (the Spirit of Elohim).)
As it we will demonstrate the “tongue of decree deciding between them” is the Middle Pillar of the Godhead which reconciles the two outer pillars of the Godhead.
The Three Pillars of the Godhead
The Zohar also calls these three GAUNIN the three pillars of the Godhead. The Zohar teaches that the two outer pillars are reconciled by the middle pillar just as the “tongue of decree” decides between the two pans of the scale in the Sefer Yetzirah. The Zohar reads as follows:
Concerning this, too, it is written: “Let there be light, and there was light” (Gen. I, 3). Why, it may be asked, was it necessary to repeat the word “light” in this verse? The answer is that the first “light” refers to the primordial light which is of the Right Hand, and is destined for the “end of days”; while the second “light” refers to the Left Hand, which issues from the Right. The next words, “And God saw the light that it was good” (Gen. 1, 4), refer to the pillar which, standing midway between them, unites both sides, and therefore when the unity of the three, right, left, and middle, was complete, “it was good”, since there could be no completion until the third had appeared to remove the strife between Right and Left, as it is written, “And Elohim separated between the light and between the darkness” (Ibid.).
(Zohar 2:167a)
This is the Middle Pillar: Ki Tob (that it was good) threw light above and below and on all other sides, in virtue of Tetragrammaton, the name which embraces all sides.
(Zohar 1:16b)
The First Century Jewish Writer Philo says similarly that the Word reconciles the two sides:
…the Divine Word (Logos)…fills all things and becomes a mediator and arbitrator for the two sides….from the Divine Word (Logos), as from a spring, there divide and break forth two powers. One is the creative through which the Artificer placed and ordered all things. This is named “God”. And the royal, since through it the Creator rules over created things. This is called “Lord” And from these two powers have grown the others. For by the side of the creative power there grows the propitious of which is named “beneficial” while (besides) the royal the legislative, of which is aptly named “punitive”. And below these and beside them is the ark.”
(Philo on Q&A on Exodus, II.68)
The Middle Pillar of the Godhead is the Son of Yah
According to the Zohar the Middle Pillar of the Godhead is the Son of Yah:
שכן קרוב מאח רחוק. דהיינו עמודא דאמצעיתא דאיהו בן יה,
Better is a neighbor that is near, than a brother far off.
This neighbor is the Middle Pillar in the Godhead,
which is the Son of Yah.
(Zohar 2:115)
The Zohar also says of the Son of YHWH:
The Holy One, blessed be He, has a son, whose glory (tifret)
shines from one end of the world to another. He is a great
and mighty tree, whose head reaches heaven, and whose roots
are set in the holy ground, and his name is “Mispar” and his
place is in the uppermost heaven… as it is written, “The heavens
declare (me-SaPRim) the glory (tifret) of God” (Ps. 19:1).
Were it not for this “Mispar” there would be neither hosts
nor offspring in any of the worlds.
(Zohar 2:105a)
This Zohar passage is intended to recall a passage from the Bahir:
Why are they called Sephirot?
Because it is written (Ps. 19:2),
“The heavens declare (me-SaPRim) the glory (tifret) of God.”
(Bahir 125)
The Zohar also says concerning the Son of Yah:
“We may also translate “he who withholds blessings
from the Son” (Prov. 11:26), whom the Father and Mother
have CROWNED and blessed with many blessings,
and concerning whom they commanded, “Kiss the SON
lest he be angry” (Ps. 2:12), since he is invested
with judgment (GEVURAH) and with mercy (CHESED)”
(Zohar 3:191b)
According to the Zohar, the Middle Pillar of the Godhead is not only known as the “Son of Yah” but also as “Metatron”:
Better is a neighbor that is near, than a brother far off.
This neighbor is the Middle Pillar in the godhead,
which is the Son of Yah.
(Zohar 2:115)
The Middle Pillar is also known as “Metatron”:
The Middle Pillar [of the godhead] is Metatron,
Who has accomplished peace above,
According to the glorious state there.
(Zohar 3:227)
In the Zohar we are also told that Metatron is “the firstborn”:
“And Abraham said to his oldest servant of his house…” (Gen. 24:2) Who is this of whom it said “his servant?” In what sense must this be understood? Who is this servant? R. Nehori answered:
“It is in no other sense to be understood than expressed in the word “His servant,”
His servant, the servant of Elohim, the chief to His service. And who is he? Metatron, as said. He is appointed to glorify the bodies which are in the grave.
This is the meaning of the words “Abraham said to His servant” that is to the servant of Elohim. The servant is Metatron, the eldest of His [YHWH's] House, who is the firstborn of all creatures of Elohim, who is the ruler of all He has; because Elohim has committed to Him the government over all His hosts.
(Zohar 1:129b)
So in Judaism both Israel and “The Son of Yah” are identified as the “first-born Son of YHWH”.
According to the first century Jewish writer Philo, this firstborn Son of Elohim is also known as “The Word.”
Philo Writes of the Word (Logos):
For there are, as it seems, two temples belonging to God; one being this world, in which the high priest is the divine word, his own firstborn son. The other is the rational soul, the priest of which is the real true man,
(On Dreams 215)
And if there be not as yet any one who is worthy to be called a son of God, neverthless let him labour earnestly to be adorned according to his Firstborn Word, the eldest of his angels, as the great archangel of many names; for He is called, “the Authority”, and “the Name of God”, and “the Word”, and “man according to God’s image”, and “He who sees Israel”. . . For even if we are not yet suitable to be called the sons of God, still we may deserve to be called the children of his eternal image, of his most sacred Word; for the image of God is his most ancient word.
( On the Confusion of Tongues XXVIII:146-147)
Thus, indeed, being a shepherd is a good thing, so that it is justly attributed, not only to kings, and to wise men, and to souls who are perfectly purified, but also to God, the ruler of all things; and he who confirms this is not any ordinary person, but a prophet, whom it is good to believe, he namely who wrote the psalms; for he speaks thus, “The Lord is my shepherd, and he shall cause me to lack Nothing;” (Ps. 23:1.) and let every one in his turn say the same thing, for it is very becoming to every man who loves God to study such a song as this, but above all this world should sing it. For God, like a shepherd and a king, governs (as if they were a flock of sheep) the earth, and the water, and the air, and the fire, and all the plants, and living creatures that are in them, whether mortal or divine; and he regulates the nature of the heaven, and the periodical revolutions of the sun and moon, and the variations and harmonious movements of the other stars, ruling them according to law and justice; appointing, as their immediate superintendent, his own right reason, his first-born son, who is to receive the charge of this sacred company, as the lieutenant of the great king; for it is said somewhere, “Behold, I am he! I will send my messenger before thy face, who shall keep thee in the Road.”(Ex. 23:20.)
(On Husbandry 50-51)
The Targums were authoritative Aramaic paraphrases of the books of the Tanak which were read in the synagogues along with the Hebrew of the Torah and Haftorah readings. Whenever the Targums come to passages where YHWH is anthropomorphisised or seen, or where two or more YHWHs are indicated by the text, the Targums will often substitute “The Word [Memra] of YHWH” for YHWH. For example in Gen. 19:4 the Tanak has:
Then YHWH caused to rain upon S’dom and upon Amora,
brimstone and fire from YHWH, out of heaven.
The Hebrew grammar here indicates that one YHWH rains fire from another YHWH) But Targum Jonathan substitutes “The Word of YHWH/the LORD” for the first of the two YHWHs as follows:
And the Word of the YHWH caused to descend
upon the peoples of Sodom and Gommorah,
brimstone and fire from the YHWH in heaven.
In another example the Torah has:
Ex. 24:1a (YHWH is the speaker, see Ex. 20:1-2)
Now He [YHWH] said to Moses, “come up to YHWH…”
But Targum Jonathan paraphrases the speaker in Ex. 20:1 with the substitution “the Word [Memra] of YHWH” in place of “YHWH.”
And the Word of the Lord spoke all these glorious words…
So it would seem that one of these entities called “YHWH” in these Torah passages was actually understood by the Targumists as being the “Word of YHWH.” It was, according to Targum Onkelos, this Word of YHWH that Abraham trusted in:
And Abraham trusted in the Word [Memra] of YHWH,
and He counted it to him for righteousness.
(Targum Onkelos Gen. 15:6)
Moreover Abraham prayed in the name of the Word of YHWH:
And Abraham worshipped and prayed
in the name of the Word [Memra] of YHWH,
and said, “You are YHWH who does see, but You cannot be seen.”
(Jerusalem Targum Gen. 22:14)
Note that here Abraham prays “in the name of the Word of YHWH” to the YHWH who “cannot be seen.” Here two YHWHs are very apparent. Abraham is praying in the name of the Word of YHWH but is praying to the YHWH who cannot be seen. This idea is reinforced elsewhere as follows:
And Hagar praised and prayed
in the name of the Word [Memra] Of YHWH
who had revealed Himself to her…
(Jerusalem Targum Gen. 16:3)
It was this Word of YHWH that Jacob also trusted in:
And Jacob vowed a vow, saying,
“If the Word [Memra] of YHWH will be my support,
and will keep me in the way that I go,
and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
so that I come again to my father’s house in peace;
then shall the Word [Memra]of YHWH be my God.
(Targum Onkelos on Gen. 28:20-21)
King David also urged Israel to trust in the Word of Yah as the Targum of Psalm 62 reads:
Trust in the Word of Yah at all times,
O people of the house of Israel!
Pour out before Him the sighings of your heart;
Say, God is our trust forever.
(Targum on Psalm 62:9)
This “Word of YHWH” was, according to Targum Jonathan, the Creator:
And the Word [Memra] of YHWH
created man in his likeness,
in the likeness of YHWH, YHWH created,
male and female created He them.
(Targ. Jonathan Gen. 1:27)
This idea is also put forward in the Jerusalem Targum:
And the Word [Memra] of YHWH said to Moses:
“I am He who said unto the world ‘Be!’ and it was:
and who in the future shall say to it ‘Be!’ and it shall be.”
And He said: “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel:
‘I Am’ has sent me to you.”
(Jerusalem Targum Ex. 3:14)
The Fragmentary Targum of the Torah also expresses that the Word of YHWH was the Creator:
The first night, when the “Word of YHWH”
was revealed to the world in order to create it,
the world was desolate and void,
and darkness spread over the face of the abyss
and the “Word of the Lord” was bright and illuminating
and He called it the first night.
(Fragmentary Targum Ex. 12:42)
That the Word of YHWH was the Creator can also be seen in the Tanak itself:
By the Word of YHWH were the heavens made,
And all the hosts of them by the Spirit of His mouth.
(Ps. 33:6)
The Word was also the covenant maker. For example the Noachdic covenant was between the Word and all mankind:
And YHWH said to Noah,
“This is the token of the covenant
which I have established between My Word [Memra]
and between all flesh that is upon the earth.
(Targum Onkelos Gen. 9:17)
The Word also made the Abrahamic covenant as Targum Onkelos also paraphrases:
And I will establish my covenant
between My Word [Memra] and between you…
(Targum Onkelos Gen. 17:7)
The Word of YHWH was also the giver of the Mosaic Covenant and the Torah as the Jerusalem Targum (as quoted above) makes the Torah giver “the Word of YHWH” in Ex. 20:1. It was to th e Word that Jacob turned to for salvation:
Our father Jacob said: “My soul does not wait for salvation
such as that wrought by Gideon, the son of Joash,
for that was but temporal; neither for a salvation
like that of Samson, which was only transitory;
but for that salvation which You have promised to come,
through Your Word unto Your people, the children of Israel;
for your salvation my soul hopes.”
(Targum Jonathan Gen. 49:18)
That the Word of YHWH is the savior is expressed elsewhere:
But Israel shall be saved by the Word of YHWH
with an everlasting salvation…
By the Word of YHWH shall all the seed of Israel be justified…
(Targum Jonathan Is. 45:17, 25)
But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah,
and I will save them by the Word of YHWH, their God.
(Targum Jonathan Hosea 1:7)
Furthermore Philo tells us that “The Word” (Logos) and the Messiah are one and the same:
“The head of all things is the eternal Word (Logos) of the eternal God, under which, as if it were his feet or other limbs, is placed the whole world, over which He passes and firmly stands. Now it is not because Messiah is Lord that He passes and sits over the whole world, for His seat with His Father and God but because for its perfect fullness the world is in need of the care and superintendence of the best ordered dispensation, and for its own complete piety, of the Divine Word (Logos), just as living creatures (need) a head, without which it is impossible to live.”
(Q&A on Exodus, II, 117)
Thus the Zohar teaches that the Sh’ma (Deut. 6:4) refers to the three pillars of the Godhead as being ECHAD and that the Middle Pillar of the Godhead reconciles the two outer Pillars. The Zohar further teaches that this Middle Pillar of the Godhead is the Son of Yah, the firstborn of all creation who will glorify all the bodies which are in the grave. This is the Word of YHWH in whom Abraham placed his faith and who made the covenant with Israel, and which is the Savior and is the Messiah.
In Our Image
By
James Scott Trimm
26 And Elohim said: Let us make man in our image; after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.
27 And Elohim created man in His own image: in the image of Elohim created He him; male and female created He them.
(Gen. 1:26-27 HRV)
What does this mean? Let US make man in OUR image?
The Zohar gives a very interesting answer:
And Elohim said, Let us make man (Gen. 1:26). The secret (SOD) is to them who fear him (Ps. 25:14)…
That most reverend Elder opened an exposition of this verse by saying ‘Simeon Simeon, who is it that said: “Let us make man?” Who is this Elohim?’ With these words the most reverend Elder vanished before anyone saw him.
R. Simeon, hearing that he had called him plain “Simeon”, and not “Rabbi Simeon”, said to his colleagues: ‘Of a surety this is the Holy One, blessed be He, of whom it is written: “And the Ancient of days was seated” (Dan. VII, 9). Truly now is the time to expound this mystery, because certainly there is here a mystery which hitherto it was not permitted to divulge, but now we perceive that permission is given.’
He then proceeded: ‘A king had several buildings to be erected, and he had an architect in his service who did nothing save with his consent (Prov. 8:30). The king is the supernal Wisdom above, the Middle Pillar is the king below: Elohim is the architect above, being as such the supernal Mother, and Elohim is also the architect below, being as such the Divine Presence (Shekinah) below. Now a woman may not do anything without the consent of her husband. And all the buildings were created through his Emanation (aziluth), the Father said to the Mother by means of the Word (amirah), “let it be so and so”, and straightway it was so, as it is written, “And he said, Elohim, let there be light, and there was light”: i.e. one said to Elohim, let there be light: the master of the building gave the order, and the architect carried it out immediately; and so with all that was constructed in the way of emanation.
(Zohar 1:22a)
The Zohar understands “US” and “OUR” to be reflected in the “male and female” image of Elohim mentioned in verse 27 and these are here referred to as “the Father” and “the Mother” just as YHWH is expressed as a Father (Mal. 1:6; Is. 63:16; 64:7) and as a Mother (Is. 66:13) in the Tanak. (YHWH as a “Mother” is the “Comforter in Is. 66:13 which is the Holy Spirit in Jn. 14:16-17, 27; 15:26; 16:7).
The Male and Female image of Father and Mother are the Elohim which is the “Architect above” while the “architect below” is the “Elohim below” or the “king below” and identified as the “Middle Pillar”. Elsewhere the Zohar identifies the Middle Pillar as the “Son of Yah”:
Better is a neighbor that is near, than a brother far off.
This neighbor is the Middle Pillar in the Godhead,
which is the Son of Yah.
(Zohar 2:115)
Here (Zohar 1:22a) the Zohar also identifies the Middle Pillar with the Word.
So the words “Let Us create man in Our own image” are spoken from the Father to the Mother (Holy Spirit) and this is the Elohim above, and these words are carried out by the Word which is the Son of Yah, the Middle Pillar, the Elohim below.
Just as we read in the Ketuvim Netzarim:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Eloah, and the Word was Eloah.
2 This was in the beginning, with Eloah.
3 Everything existed through Him, and without Him, not even one thing existed of that which existed.
(Yochanan (John) 1:1-3 HRV)
THE ALEF AND THE TAV
By
James Scott Trimm
In the King James Version of the Bible we read three times that Messiah says “I am Alpha and Omega” (Reveleation 1:8, 21:6, and 22:13). In the Aramaic text of Revelation, as we read in the Hebraic Root Version, that Yeshua actually said “I am Alef and I am Tav.”
The phrase “I am Alef and I am Tav” has a very special meaning in Judaism.
We read in Genesis 1:1
“In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth.”
בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת הארץ
The Zohar says of this verse:
BARA (ברא) represents the mysterious source from which the whole expanded. ELOHIM (אלהים) represents the force which sustains all below. The words ET HASHAMMAIM (את השמים) indicate that the two latter are on no account to be separated, and are male and female together. The word ET (את) consists of the letters ALEF (א) and TAV (ת), which include between them all the letters, as being the first and last of the alphabet. Afterwards HE (ה) was added, so that all the letters should be attached to HE (ה), and this gave the name ATTAH (אתה) (You); hence we read “and You (VE-ATTAH) (ואתה) keep all of them alive” (Neh. 9:6). ET (את) again alludes to YHWH, who is so called. HASHAMMAIM (השמים) is YHWH in his higher signification. The next word, VE-ET (ואת), indicates the firm union of male and female; it also alludes to the appellation VE-YHWH (ויהוה) (and YHWH), both explanations coming to the same thing. HA-ERETZ (הארץ) (the earth) designates an ELOHIM (אלהים) corresponding to the higher form, to bring forth fruit and produce. This name is here found in three applications, and thence the same name branches out to various sides.
(Zohar 1:15b)
Here we learn two important significations of the ALEF and the TAV in Genesis 1:1.
The first is that the ALEF and the TAV, being the first and last letters of the Hebrew Alphabet, are an abbreviation for all twenty-two letters.
Each of the twenty-two Hebrew letters represents one of twenty-two paths which connect the Sefirot of the Tree of Life. Each of these twenty-two letters represents a relationship between two of the Sefirot and a combination of two of the Sefirot. These twenty-two letters are part of the image of Elohim and they took part in the creation. When Messiah said that he is the ALEF and the TAV it was an abbreviation to indicate that Messiah the incarnate “Word” embodied the twenty-two letters. When Elohim created the heavens and the earth he did so through words. Elohim “said” things and they were so. Elohim created the universe by his Word, through the ALEF and the TAV meaning through the twenty-two Hebrew letters.
Each Hebrew word is more than a word, it is a matrix of dynamic relationships within the Godhead. Hebrew letters are also the building blocks of creation. In the upper worlds all things exist in their prime-material state as the strings of Hebrew letters and words which were the building blocks of creation. As we read in the Sefer Yetzirah:
Twenty-two Foundation letters: He engraved them,
He carved them, He permuted (TZIRUF) them,
He weighed them, He transformed them,
And with them, He depicted all that was formed
and all that would be formed.
(Sefer Yetzirah 2:2)
The Zohar gives us a second important significance to the ALEF and the TAV as they appear in Genesis 1:1 “indicates the firm union of male and female”.
Now we read in the Torah:
26 And Elohim said: Let us make man in our image; after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.
27 And Elohim created man in His own image: in the image of Elohim created He him; male and female created He them.
(Gen. 1:26-27 HRV)
What does this mean? Let US make man in OUR image?
The Zohar gives a very interesting answer:
And Elohim said, Let us make man (Gen. 1:26). The secret (SOD) is to them who fear him (Ps. 25:14)…
That most reverend Elder opened an exposition of this verse by saying ‘Simeon Simeon, who is it that said: “Let us make man?” Who is this Elohim?’ With these words the most reverend Elder vanished before anyone saw him.
R. Simeon, hearing that he had called him plain “Simeon”, and not “Rabbi Simeon”, said to his colleagues: ‘Of a surety this is the Holy One, blessed be He, of whom it is written: “And the Ancient of days was seated” (Dan. VII, 9). Truly now is the time to expound this mystery, because certainly there is here a mystery which hitherto it was not permitted to divulge, but now we perceive that permission is given.’
He then proceeded: ‘A king had several buildings to be erected, and he had an architect in his service who did nothing save with his consent (Prov. 8:30). The king is the supernal Wisdom above, the Middle Pillar is the king below: Elohim is the architect above, being as such the supernal Mother, and Elohim is also the architect below, being as such the Divine Presence (Shekinah) below. Now a woman may not do anything without the consent of her husband. And all the buildings were created through his Emanation (aziluth), the Father said to the Mother by means of the Word (amirah), “let it be so and so”, and straightway it was so, as it is written, “And he said, Elohim, let there be light, and there was light”: i.e. one said to Elohim, let there be light: the master of the building gave the order, and the architect carried it out immediately; and so with all that was constructed in the way of emanation.
(Zohar 1:22a)
The Zohar understands “US” and “OUR” to be reflected in the “male and female” image of Elohim mentioned in verse 27 and these are here referred to as “the Father” and “the Mother” just as YHWH is expressed as a Father (Mal. 1:6; Is. 63:16; 64:7) and as a Mother (Is. 66:13) in the Tanak. (YHWH as a “Mother” is the “Comforter in Is. 66:13 which is the Holy Spirit in Jn. 14:16-17, 27; 15:26; 16:7).
The Male and Female image of Father and Mother are the Elohim which is the “Architect above” while the “architect below” is the “Elohim below” or the “king below” and identified as the “Middle Pillar”. Elsewhere the Zohar identifies the Middle Pillar as the “Son of Yah”:
Better is a neighbor that is near, than a brother far off.
This neighbor is the Middle Pillar in the Godhead,
which is the Son of Yah.
(Zohar 2:115)
Here (Zohar 1:22a) the Zohar also identifies the Middle Pillar with the Word, and as the union of the male and female aspects of the Godhead, the ALEF and the TAV,
So the words “Let Us create man in Our own image” are spoken from the Father to the Mother (Holy Spirit) and this is the Elohim above, and these words are carried out by the Word which is the Son of Yah, the Middle Pillar, the Elohim below.
Just as we read in the Ketuvim Netzarim:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Eloah, and the Word was Eloah.
2 This was in the beginning, with Eloah.
3 Everything existed through Him, and without Him, not even one thing existed of that which existed.
(Yochanan (John) 1:1-3 HRV)
The Only Begotten Light
By
James Scott Trimm
Each of our four Gospels are written upon each of the four levels of understanding as understood in Judaism. The first letter from each of these four levels spells PaRDeS (paradise). These four levels of understanding are:
[P]ashat – The plain and literal
[R]emez – The hinted or implied
[D]rash – The allegorical of homiletical
[S]od – The hidden, secret, or mystical
As I have laid out in the past, each of the four Gospels are written on one of these four levels of understanding. Mark gives the pashat; Luke the remez; Matthew with drash and Yochanan (John) gives the Sod, the hidden secret and mystical account.
Yochanan opens his account saying:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Eloah, and the Word was Eloah.
2 This was in the beginning, with Eloah.
3 Everything existed through Him, and without Him, not even one thing existed of that which existed.
4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
5 And the Light brought light into the darkness, and the darkness did not over take it.
6 There was a man sent from Eloah, whose name was Yochanan.
7 This man came for a witness, that he might bear witness to the Light: that every man might believe through him.
8 He was not the Light, but came that he might bear witness to the Light.
9 For He was the light of truth, that which lights every man who comes into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was by His hand: and the world did not know Him.
11 He came to His, and His did not receive Him.
12 But those who did receive Him, those who believed in His Name, He gave power that they should be sons of Eloah:
13 Those who, neither by blood, nor by the will of flesh, nor by the will of man, were begotten, but by Eloah.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt with us, and we saw His glory: as the glory of the only begotten who is from the father, who is full of grace and truth.
(John 1:1-14 HRV)
In a previous series of articles I have explored the significance of Messiah as “the Word” but today I will explore the significance of Messiah as the “light” and as the “only begotten”.
The Zohar sheds light on this section of Yochanan:
Concerning this, too, it is written: “Let there be light, and there was light” (Gen. I, 3). Why, it may be asked, was it necessary to repeat the word “light” in this verse? The answer is that the first “light” refers to the primordial light which is of the Right Hand, and is destined for the “end of days”; while the second “light” refers to the Left Hand, which issues from the Right. The next words, “And God saw the light that it was good” (Gen. 1, 4), refer to the pillar which, standing midway between them, unites both sides, and therefore when the unity of the three, right, left, and middle, was complete, “it was good”, since there could be no completion until the third had appeared to remove the strife between Right and Left, as it is written, “And Elohim separated between the light and between the darkness” (Ibid.).
(Zohar 2:167a)
This is the Middle Pillar: Ki Tov (that it was good) threw light above and below and on all other sides, in virtue of YHWH, the name which embraces all sides.
(Zohar 1:16b)
According to the Zohar the Middle Pillar of the Godhead is the Son of Yah:
Better is a neighbor that is near, than a brother far off.
This neighbor is the Middle Pillar in the Godhead,
which is the Son of Yah.
(Zohar 2:115)
The Middle Pillar is the Ki Tov (That which is good), the light, and the Son of Yah.
The fact that the Son of Yah is the Middle Pillar, the light that is called in Genesis “Ki Tov” (That which is good) helps us to understand Yeshua’s exchange with the man who called him “Good Rabbi”, as we read:
16 And behold, one came near, and said to Him, Good Rabbi, and what good thing shall I do, that I may acquire the life of the world to come?
17 And He said to him: Why ask you me concerning what is good? There is none good but one: there is a good, and that is El. And if you desire to enter into the life of the world to come: keep the commandments of El.
(Matthew 19:16-17 HRV)
Messiah was acknowledging that this man was identifying him rightly as the Ki Tov, the Middle Pillar of the Godhead, the Son of Yah, the only begotten.
Now let us seek to understand the process whereby the light was “begotten”. The Zohar tells us much more:
(1) And Elohim said Let there be light, and there was light (Gen 1:3).
(2) From here is the beginning for finding treasures, how the world was created in particular.
(3) For until now, it was general, and it then returns to speaking in general terms so that it will be general, specific, general.
(4) Until now everything was suspended in the air by the secret of Ayn Sof.
(5) Once its power spread into the upper temple, the secret of Elohim, ‘utterance’ is written, “And Elohim said,” for above utterance is not written in particular, even though “In the beginning” is an utterance, it does not say, “and He said.”
(Zohar 1:16b)
The Zohar is saying that up until this point the Torah has given only generalities but not specifics as to how the world was created. In addition there is a double meaning in the actual Aramaic, that up until this point the universe had only a general existence without specific parts. The text points out that the first statement in the Torah “In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth…” although it is not preceded by the words “And Elohim said” is still regarded as a creative utterance. (The tradition of the Zohar is that the universe was created by ten utterances, each corresponding to the ten sefirot. While the phrase “He said” appears only nine times in the creation account, the first phrase of Torah is said to be an utterance as well).
The Zohar continues:
(6) This, “and He said,” establishes questions and knowledge.
(7) “And He said,” a power that was raised and lifted up silently, from the mystery of Ayn Sof, in the mystery of thought.
(8) “And he said,” now the temple begat, of that which she conceived from the holy seed, and she begat silently, and that which was begotten was heard from without, and the one giving birth gave birth silently and was not heard at all; once that which went forth from it went forth, a voice was made that was heard from without.
(9) “Let there be light.” Everything that emerged went forth by this mystery.
(Zohar 1:16b)
Here we are told just how the light was begotten. A power was raised and lifted up silently from within the very mind of Ayn Sof (the Infinite One) as a “holy seed” into the heavenly Temple from which it was begotten.
Like Yochanan, the Zohar tells us that everything (all creation) came into existence through this “light” which was begotten.
The Zohar continues:
(10) Yehi (יהי) (let there be) concerns the mystery of the Father and Mother symbolized by the letters Yod He became now a starting-point (symbolized by the second Yod) for further extension.
(Zohar 1:16b)
Here we are told that the Hebrew word Yehi (יהי) “let there be” points to the mystery of the begetting of the light. The first two letters spell YAH יה and consist of the letters yud י and heh ה. We are told that these two letters represent the Father and the Mother, and that the second yud י represents the light which was the starting point of creation.
So now when you read the first fourteen verses of Yochanan you will understand what it means when it identifies the Messiah as the “light” and as the “only begotten” and says that “Everything existed through Him, and without Him, not even one thing existed of that which existed.” Just as the Zohar tells us that “Everything that emerged went forth by this mystery.”
Messiah is the Son of Yah, the only begotten, the Ki Tov, the light, the Middle Pillar of the Godhead, and everything which emerged in creation went forth through Him.
Such is the testimony, not only of Yochanan, but of the Zohar as well.
He is the Brightness of His Glory
(The Zohar is the Messiah)
By
James Scott Trimm
We read in the Book of Hebrews:
1 In the days of old, YHWH spoke to the fathers in many times and in many manifestations, through the prophets.
2 It came to pass in the last days, He has spoken to us by His Son, who He appointed to be heir of all things, by Him who created all the worlds.
3 Through appointment, He, is the brightness [Zohar] of His glory, and He is the Maker of all things by the power of His Word, and who has accomplished by His power, the cleansing of our sins. Behold, He sits in high places to the right hand of the Sh’kinah.
(Heb. 1:1-3 HRV)
What does this mean “He is the Brightness of His Glory”? In the original Hebrew as found in the Munster Hebrew text of Hebrews this word is “ZOHAR”. Of course many know that there is a book known as the Zohar, but fewer know the original significance of the term. The Hebrew word ZOHAR appears only twice in the Tanak. One of these is in the Book of Daniel:
And they that are wise, shall shine as the brightness [Zohar] of the firmament, and they that turn the many to righteousness, as the stars; forever and ever.
(Daniel 12:3 HRV)
The other is in the Book of Ezekiel as part of Ezekiel’s description of the “Likeness” of Elohim:
Then I beheld, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of fire. From the appearance of his loins and downward, fire: and from his loins and upward, as the appearance of brightness (Zohar), as the color of electrum.
(Ezekiel 8:2 HRV)
This brings us to Ezekiel’s vision of the Merkavah (Divine Throne-Chariot):
22 And over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of a firmament; like the color of the terrible ice, stretched forth over their heads above.
23 And under the firmament were their wings conformable, the one to the other. This one of them had two which covered, and that one of them had two which covered, their bodies.
24 And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings like the noise of great waters; like the voice of Shaddai–a noise of tumult like the noise of a host. When they stood, they let down their wings.
25 For, when there was a voice above the firmament that was over their heads, as they stood, they let down their wings.
26 And above the firmament that was over their heads, was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone. And upon the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man, upon it; above.
27 And I saw as the color of electrum, as the appearance of fire round about enclosing it, from the appearance of his loins and upward. And from the appearance of his loins and downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness round about him.
28 As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of YHWH. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spoke.
(Ezekiel 1:22-28)
The “firmament” mentioned by Daniel is that which is above the four living creatures in Ezekiel 1:22. The Zohar is the brightness of the likeness seated on the Merkavah (Throne-Chariot).
It is this brightness which is the namesake of the book known as the Zohar. This is what the book called the Zohar says about the ZOHAR:
It is written: And they that are wise, shall shine as the brightness [Zohar] of the firmament, and they that turn the many to righteousness, as the stars; forever and ever (Dan. 12:3). There was indeed a “brightness” (Zohar). The Most Mysterious struck its void, and caused this point to shine. This “beginning” then extended, and made for itself a palace for its honor and glory. There it sowed a sacred seed which was to generate for the benefit of the universe, and to which may be applied the Scriptural words “the holy seed is the stock thereof” (Is. 6:13). Again there was Zohar, in that it sowed a seed for its glory, just as the silkworm encloses itself, as it were, in a palace of its own production which is both useful and beautiful. Thus by means of this “beginning” the Mysterious Unknown made this palace. This palace is called Elohim, and this doctrine is contained in the words, “By means of a beginning (he) created Elohim.”
The Zohar is that from which were created all the creative utterances through the extension of the point of this mysterious brightness. Nor need we be surprised at the use of the word “created” in this connection, seeing that we read further on, “And God created man in his image” (Gen. 1:27).
A further esoteric interpretation of the word Bereshith is as follows. The name of the starting-point of all is Ehyeh (I shall be). The holy name when inscribed at its side is Elohim, but when inscribed by circumscription [i.e. between the two Ehyeh's. v. Ex. 3:4.] is Asher, the hidden and recondite temple, the source of that which is mystically called Reshith. The word Asher (i.e. the letters, Aleph, Shin, Resh from the word Bereshith) is anagrammatically Rosh (head), the beginning which issues from Reshith. So when [15b] the point and the temple were firmly established together, then Bereshit combined the supernal Beginning with Wisdom. Afterwards the character of that temple was changed, and it was called “house” (beit). The combination of this with the supernal point which is called rosh gives Bereshith, which is the name used so long as the house was uninhabited. When, however, it was sown with seed to make it habitable, it was called Elohim, hidden and mysterious. The Zohar was hidden and withdrawn so long as the building was within and yet to bring forth, and the house was extended only so far as to find room for the holy seed. Before it had conceived and had extended sufficiently to be habitable, it was not called Elohim, but all was still included in the term Bereshith. After it had acquired the name of Elohim, it brought forth offspring from the seed that had been implanted in it.
(Zohar 1:15a-15b)
In the book called the Zohar the Zohar is likened to a “seed” which is elsewhere called the “Son of Yah”. The Zohar says that the Most Mysterious (the Infinite One) created a palace for himself called Elohim into which he placed his Zohar (brightness) like a seed sowed of himself, in much the same way that a silkworm encloses itself in a cocoon. The “seed” is elsewhere known as the “Son of Yah”. The book called the Zohar also says of the Zohar that he “is that from which were created all the creative utterances”.
Now we can better understand what Hebrews means when it says:
1 In the days of old, YHWH spoke to the fathers in many times and in many manifestations, through the prophets.
2 It came to pass in the last days, He has spoken to us by His Son, who He appointed to be heir of all things, by Him who created all the worlds.
3 Through appointment, He, is the brightness [Zohar] of His glory, and He is the Maker of all things by the power of His Word, and who has accomplished by His power, the cleansing of our sins. Behold, He sits in high places to the right hand of the Sh’kinah.
(Heb. 1:1-3 HRV)
Messiah is the Zohar of His glory. He is the namesake of the book known as the Zohar. Messiah is the brightness of the likeness which Ezekiel saw upon the throne. Messiah “is that from which were created all the creative utterances” in that “He is the Maker of all things by the power of His Word.”
The First Three Letters of Torah:
Remember Now Your Creators
By
James Scott Trimm
The first letter of the Torah is BEIT ב. The letter BEIT ב was originally a pictogram of a house, and the word BEIT means “house, place or dwelling”. The letter BEIT ב is also the symbol for the number 2. This teaches us that the beginning aspect of the Word is that He is the dwelling of the two.
The Messiah is the dwelling of the two. We learned this recently in the teaching on the Alef and the Tav. (If you missed it you may want to read it here: http://nazarenespace.com/profiles/blogs/the-alef-and-the-tav for some background material). In the Word the ALEF א and the TAV ת dwell together as one, the masculine and feminine aspects of the image of Elohim are harmonized. Loving kindness and might dwell together in harmony and wisdom and understanding dwell together in knowledge.
Beit is also the first letter of BEN בן meaning “son”.
The first two letters of Torah are – BAR בר which can mean “son” and “pure one” and can also refer to grain from which bread is made.
Rabbi Shlomo Meir Ben Moshe, a prominent 17th century Rabbi who accepted Yeshua as the Messiah in 1665 at the age of sixty five (you can read his story here: http://nazarenespace.com/profiles/blogs/the-story-of-rabbi-shlomo-m… ) taught concerning these first two letters of the Torah that the word (בר) Bar has a twofold meaning : it also signifies grain, or bread, in allusion to the bread of the Passover, and to the words of Yeshua who said, ” I am the living bread, which came down from heaven.” There is great beauty in designating the Son by a term applicable also to bread, in preference to other words signifying only a Son; and there is likewise a striking propriety in the appellation here given to grain, which has been distinguished by three names adapted to the three different states in which men have been found:
Grain is also called דגן DAGAN which symbolizes that before the fall, man was to subsist on the produce of the tree of paradise, made into bread, and called דגן, which can also be translated, “of the garden.”
Wheat grain is also called חטא CHITTA which also means “sin” symbolizing the period from the fall of man to the coming of Messiah.
Finally grain is also called בר BAR which also means “son” symbolizing that since the coming of the Messiah, the bread symbolizes the incarnate Son of Yah ; according to the declaration of Yeshua, “If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever.”
This brings us to the first three letters of Torah: ברא
My mentor Rabbi Moyal taught me concerning these first three letters. He showed me that these three letters are also the same three letters of the second word of the Torah meaning “created”. These same three letters also spell the Hebrew word for “Creator.” He also showed me that these are the initial letters of the words BEN (בן) (Son), RUACH (רוח) (Spirit) and ABBA (אבא) (Father), showing us that the Creator is the BEN, RUACH and ABBA, the Three Pillars of the Godhead, and that this is the reason that the Hebrew of Ecclesiastes 12:1 literally reads “Remember now your Creators” in the plural (though most translations render “Creator” here in the singular, this is actually the plural form of our same word for Creator discussed herein.)
(Rabbi Moyal was an Orthodox Rabbi from Israel who came to the conclusion in the late 20th Century, from studying the Talmud, Midrash and Zohar, that Yeshua is the Messiah.
You can read his story here.
I began writing this article this week and before I knew it, there were nine pages and I was not anywhere near done, so I realized I need to break this study down into several smaller studies, and that it will not be so simple as to break it into simple parts in order to break it down for presentation in small doses. Parts will have to be broken down into themes, while other portions can simply be presented in bite size pieces.
A Tale of Two Souls
By
James Scott Trimm
Did you know that as a believer you can have a second soul?
To begin with it is important to know that man has two inclinations, an evil inclination called the “Yetzer HaRa” and a good inclination called “Yetzer Tov”. The unusual spelling of Yetzer (“formed”) in Gen. 2:7 points us to the fat that man has within him two such inclinations. As we read in the Talmud:
R. Nahman b. R. Hisda expounded:
What is meant by the text, Then the Lord God
formed [va-yetzer] man? [The word va-yetzer] (Gen. 2:7)
is written with two yods, to show that God created
two inclinations, one good (tov) and the other evil (ra).
(b.Ber. 61a)
It has been taught: R. Jose the Galilean says,
The righteous are swayed by their good inclination,
as it says, My heart is slain within me. (Ps. 109:22)
The wicked are swayed by their evil inclination,
as it says, Transgression speaks to the wicked,
methinks, there is no fear of God before his eyes.
(Ps. 36:1) Average people are swayed by both
inclinations, as it says, Because He stands at
the right hand of the needy, to save him from them
that judge his soul. (Ps. 109:31) Raba said: People
such as we are of the average.
(b.Ber. 61b)
Likewise we read in the Wisdom of Ben Sira:
It was He who created man in the beginning.
And He left him in the power of his own inclination (Heb: yetzer).
If you will, you can keep the commandments,
and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice.
He has placed before you fire and water:
Stretch out your hand for whichever you wish.
(Sira 15:14-16)
The word for “average” above (in b.Ber. 61b) is “benoni” referring to an “intermediate one”, one who is caught in the conflict between these two inclinations.
Paul writes of this conflict in the benoni as follows:
14 For we know that the Torah is of the spirit,
but I am of the flesh and I am sold to sin.
22 For I rejoice in the Torah of Eloah in the inward son of man.
(Romans 7:14, 22 HRV)
Because of this, we are not weary, for even if our
outer man is corrupted, yet that which [is] inside
is renewed day by day.
(2Cor. 4:16 HRV)
for the flesh desires a thing which is opposed to
the Spirit and the Spirit desires a thing that is
opposed to the flesh and the two of these are
opposed to each other, that you do not do the thing
which you desire.
(Gal. 5:17 HRV)
And as we read in the Tanya:
Just as two kings wage war over a town,
which each wishes to capture and rule,
that is to say, to dominate its inhabitants according to his will,
so that they obey him in all that he decrees for them,
so do the two souls— the Divine and the vitalising animal soul…
wage war against each other over the body and all its limbs.
(Tanya Chapter 9)
It is this evil inclination that David refers to in the Psalms when he writes:
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity;
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
(Ps. 51:5)
The phrases “in iniquity” and “in sin” could also be translated “with iniquity” and “with sin” meaning that man was born with an evil inclination.
As we also read in 2Esdras:
And yet tookest thou not away from them a wicked heart, that thy law might bring forth fruit in them.
For the first Adam bearing a wicked heart transgressed, and was overcome; and so be all they that are born of him.
Thus infirmity was made permanent; and the law (also) in the heart of the people with the malignity of the root; so that the good departed away, and the evil abode still.
So the times passed away, and the years were brought to an end: then didst thou raise thee up a servant, called David:
Whom thou commandedst to build a city unto thy name, and to offer incense and oblations unto thee therein.
When this was done many years, then they that inhabited the city forsook thee,
And in all things did even as Adam and all his generations had done: for they also had a wicked heart:
(2Esdras 3:20-26)
This Yetzer HaRa (evil inclination) finds a comrade in our primal animal soul.
But you can have a second soul which is a ready comrade for the Yetzer Tov. As we read in the Tanya:
The second soul of a Jew is truly a part of Eloah above, as it is written, “And He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,” (Gen. 2:7) and “Thou didst breathe it [the soul] into me.” (b.Berachot 60b). And it is written in the Zohar, “He who exhales, exhales from within him,” that is to say, from his inwardness and his innermost, for it is something of his internal and innermost vitality that man emits through exhaling with force.
(Tanya LA 2)
In the previous chapter the Tanya refers to this second soul, saying that these two souls are the “souls” referenced in Isaiah 57:16:
For I will not contend forever,
neither will I be always wroth:
for the spirit that enwraps itself is from Me,
and the souls which I have made.
(Is. 57:16 HRV)
This concept of a Second Soul is also found in the Zohar as follows:
It behooves a man to labor in the study of the Torah, to strive to make progress in it daily, so as thereby to fortify his soul and his spirit: for when a man occupies himself in the study of the Torah, he becomes endowed with an additional and holy soul, as it is written: “the movement of living creatures”, that is, a soul (nefesh) derived from the holy center called “living” (hayah). Not so is it with the man who does not occupy himself with the study of the Torah: such a man has no holy soul, and the heavenly holiness does not rest upon him. But when a man earnestly studies the Torah, then the motion of his lips wins for him that “living soul” and he becomes as one of the holy angels, as it is written: “Bless the Lord, ye angels of his” (Ps. 103:20), to wit, those who occupy themselves in the study of the Torah, and who are therefore called His angels on earth. The same are alluded to in the words: “and let birds fly on the earth”. So much for his reward in this world. As regards the other world, we have been taught that the Holy One, blessed be He, will provide them with wings as of eagles, enabling them to fly across the whole universe, as it is written: “But they that wait for YHWH shall renew their strength, then shall mount up with wings as eagles” (Is. 40:31). This, then, is the interpretation of that which is written: “Let the waters swarm with the movement of living creatures”: the Torah, which is symbolized by water, possesses the virtue of implanting in her devotees a mobile soul derived from the place called “living” (hayah), as has already been said. David alluded to this when he said: “Create in me a clean heart, O Elohim”, so that I may be devoted to the Torah, and thus “renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Ps. 51:12).
(Zohar 1:12b)
According to the Zohar this second soul is alluded to in Psalm 51 in the phrase “and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” If we look at this verse in context we see:
11 (51:9) Hide Your face from my sins:
and blot out all my iniquities.
12 (51:10) Create me a clean heart, O Elohim:
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
13 (51:11) Cast me not away from Your presence:
and take not Your Ruach HaKodesh from me.
14 (51:12) Restore unto me the joy of Your salvation:
and let a willing spirit uphold me!
(Ps. 51:11-14(9-12) HRV)
Here we see that this second soul strives against the Yetzer HaRa (evil inclination) mentioned just a few verses earlier in 51:5 “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Ps. 51:5)
Now a spirit (ruach) is not a soul (nefesh) but it appears that according to the Zohar that there is in fact a spirit (ruach) attached to this second soul (nefesh) and from these verses we see that this spirit (ruach) is in fact the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit). Likewise the Ketivim Netzarim (Writings of the Nazarenes, known as the “New Testament”) indicate that Believers are endowed with a second spirit, i.e. the Ruach HaKodesh.
This second soul and second spirit are reinforcements to help the Yetzer Tov as we read in Ezekiel:
17 Therefore say, Thus says the Adonai YHWH: I will even gather you from the
peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered: and I will give you the land of Yisra’el.
18 And they shall come there, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof, and all the abominations thereof, from thence.
19 And I will give them–one heart–and I will put a new spirit within you. And I will remove the–stony heart–out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh,
20 That they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances, and do them: and they
shall be My people, and I will be their Elohim.
21 But as for them whose heart walks after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their way upon their own heads, says the Adonai YHWH
(Ezek. 11:17-21 HRV)
25 And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean. From all your uncleannesses and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. And I will take away, the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you, a heart of flesh.
27 And I will put My spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My ordinances, and do them.
(Ezekiel 36:25-27 HRV)
And as our Messiah Yeshua taught us:
But when the Spirit of Truth has come,
She will lead you in all Truth,
for She will not speak from the mind of the nefesh:…
(Jn. 16:13a HRV)
It is this second soul that renews our strength and allows us to mount up with wings like eagles:
But they that wait for YHWH shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with
wings as eagles: they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.
(Is. 40:31 HRV)
Ramban (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman) (1194-1270 C.E.) wrote one of the most authoritative Torah commentaries in Rabbinic Judaism. He puts this well when he writes:
And YHWH your Elohim will circumcise your heart (Deut. 30:6) It is this which the Rabbis have said, “If someone comes to purify himself, they assist him” [from on High]. The verse assures you that you will return to Him with all your heart and He will help you.
This following subject is very apparent from Scripture: Since the time of Creation, man has had the power to do as he pleased, to be righteous or wicked. This [grant of free will] applies likewise to the entire Torah period, so that people can gain merit upon choosing the good and punishment for preferring evil. But in the days of the Messiah, the choice of
their [genuine] good will be natural; the heart will not desire the improper and it will have no craving whatever for it. This is the “circumcision” mentioned here, for lust and desire are the “foreskin” of the heart, and circumcision of the heart means that it will not covet or desire evil.
Man will return at that time to what he was before the sin of Adam, when by his nature he did what should properly be done, and there were no conflicting desires in his will, as I have explained in Seder Bereshit.
It is this which Scripture states in [the Book of] Jeremiah 31:30], Behold, the days come, says YHWH, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers ..etc. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Eternal, I will put my Law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it.
This is a reference to the annulment of the evil inclination and to the natural performance by the heart of its proper function. Therefore Jeremiah said further, and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be My People; and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying: ‘Know YHWH; ‘for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them
Now, it is known that the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth and it is necessary to instruct them, but at that time it will not be necessary to instruct them [to avoid evil] for their evil inclination will then be completely abolished. And so it is declared by Ezekiel, A new heart will I also give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will cause you to walk in My statutes . (Ezekiel 36:26)
The new heart alludes to man’s nature, and the [new] spirit to the desire and will. It is this which our Rabbis have said : “And the years draw nigh, when you shall say: I have no pleasure in them; these are the days of the Messiah, as they will offer opportunity neither for merit nor for guilt,” for in the days of the Messiah there will be no [evil] desire in man but he will naturally perform the proper deeds and therefore there will be neither merit nor guilt in them, for merit and guilt are dependent upon desire.
(Ramban on Deut. 29:6)
Yichud: Unity with YHWH
By
James Scott Trimm
Our Messiah Yeshua said:
11 From now on, I am not in the world: but these are in the world. And I come to you, Set-Apart Father: keep them in Your Name that You gave Me, <that they be one, as we are. >
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your Name; those whom You gave Me I have kept, and not one of them is lost: except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
13 And now I come to you. And these things I speak in the world that My joy might be full in them.
14 I have given them Your word: and the world hated them because they were not of the world, as I am not of the world.
15 I do not ask that You take them from the world: but that You keep them from evil,
16 For they are not of the world, as I am not of the world.
17 Father, sanctify them by Your truth: for Your word is truth.
18 As you sent Me into the world, also I send them into the world.
19 And for their sakes, I sanctify My nefesh, that they also might be sanctified in truth.
20 And I do not ask for the sake of these alone, but also for the sake of those who will have trust in Me, through their word.
21 That all might be one, as You are My Father, in Me, and I am, in You: that they also might be one in us, that the world might believe that You sent Me.
22 And the glory that You gave Me I gave to them, that they might be one, as we are one.
23 I am in them, and You are in Me, that they be perfected into one: and that the world, might know that You sent Me, and that You have loved them, as also You loved Me.
(John 17:11-23 HRV)
Now there are three important things (among many other) that we can learn from these words:
1. Messiah wishes us to have Yichud (unity) with YHWH just as he has Yichud with YHWH. And how do we attain Yichud (unity)? Here we learn that Messiah wishes us to be one with one another through our unity with Messiah and YHWH who are also one.
2. Messiah teaches us that this unity is achieved through the Word of YHWH, also referred to here as the “truth” (And we know from Ps. 119:142, 151 that the Torah is truth).
3. Messiah teaches us that through this Yichud (unity) his joy of fills us.
So how do we obtain Yichud (unity) with YHWH through the Torah, and how does that Yichud fill us with the joy of Messiah?
The key is that the Torah and YHWH are one. As we read in the Tanya:
…the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are one. The meaning of this is that the Torah, which is the wisdom and will of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His glorious Essence are one, since He is both the Knower and the Knowledge, and so on,…
For the Holy One, blessed be He, has compressed His will and wisdom within the 613 commandments of the Torah, and in their laws, as well as within the combination of the letters of the Torah, the books of the Prophets and the Hagiographa, and in the exposition thereof which are to be found in the Agadot and Midrashim of our Rabbis of blessed memory. All this in order that each neshamah, or ruach and nefesh in the human body should be able to comprehend them through its faculty of understanding, and to fulfil them, as far as they can be fulfilled, in act, speech and thought, thereby clothing itself with all its ten faculties in these three garments….
(Tanya Chapter 4)
The Torah expresses the very mind of YHWH.
Now the human soul may be divided into its intellectual and emotional aspects. The intellectual aspects comprise the upper three sefirot, while the emotional aspects encompass the seven lower sefirot. As we read in the Tanya:
Now, each distinction and grade of the three— nefesh, ruach and neshamah— consists of ten faculties, corresponding to the Supernal Ten Sefirot (Divine manifestations), from which they have descended, which are subdivided into two, namely, the three “mothers” and the seven “multiples,” to wit: chochmah (wisdom) binah (understanding) and da at (knowledge); and the “seven days of Creation:” chesed (kindness), gevurah (power), tiferet (beauty), and so on.
Similarly is it with the human soul, which is divided in two— sechel (intellect) and middot (emotional attributes). The intellect includes chochmah, binah and da at (ChaBaD), whilst the middot are love of G-d, dread and awe of Him, glorification of Him, and so forth. ChaBaD [the intellectual faculties] are called “mothers” and source of the middot, for the latter are “offspring” of the former.
(Tanya Chapter 3)
Now through our intellect, we receive the Wisdom of the Torah, and having heard the Wisdom of Torah we subject it to Understanding. When Wisdom (chochmah) is subjected to Understanding (binah) the result is Knowledge (da’at)… it is Knowledge that brings Wisdom and Understanding together. When we receive as Wisdom a precept of Torah, and that precept like a seed enters into Understanding then that precept becomes part of us as our Knowledge. As we read in the Tanya:
Specifically: the faculties of ChaBaD in his soul are clothed in the comprehension of the Torah, which he comprehends in Pardes, to the extent of his mental capacity and the supernal root of his soul.
(Tanya Chapter 4)
Now, when an intellect conceives and comprehends a concept with its intellectual faculties, this intellect grasps the concept and encompasses it. This concept is [in turn] grasped, enveloped and enclothed within that intellect which conceived and comprehended it.
The mind, for its part, is also clothed in the concept at the time it comprehends and grasps it with the intellect. For example, when a person understands and comprehends, fully and clearly, any halachah (law) in the Mishnah or Gemara, his intellect grasps and encompasses it and, at the same time, is clothed in it.
(Tanya Chapter 5)
And as we read in 1Corinthians:
12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from Eloah, so that we might know the gifts that were given to us from Eloah,
13 Which also we speak, not in the teaching of words of the wisdom of sons of men, but in the teaching of the Spirit, and to spiritual men we compare spiritual things.
14 For the son of man who is in the nefesh, does not receive spiritual things, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to know that which is judged spiritually.
15 Now the spiritual man judges all things, and is not judged from man.
16 For who knows the mind of YHWH that he might instruct Him? But we have the mind of the Messiah.
(1Cor. 2:1-16)
From this knowledge comes faith, and the seven “middot” or emotions. Thus when we study Torah and that knowledge of Torah becomes a part of us and expresses itself in our thoughts, our words and our deeds, then we have Yichud with YHWH and that Yichud flows down through the seven middot expressing itself in the fear of YHWH and the joy of the love of YHWH. As we read in the Tanya:
And the middot, namely fear and love, together with their offshoots and ramifications, are clothed in the fulfilment of the commandments in deed and in word, namely, in the study of Torah which is “The equivalent of all the commandments.”
(Tanya Chapter 4)
The Torah Inside
By
James Scott Trimm
Observing Torah must not be empty and detached, simply going through the motions. Observing Torah flows from our internalization of Torah.
The Torah is the very expression of the mind of Elohim. When the wisdom of Torah gestates in our understanding it gives birth to a knowledge of Torah within us. This Torah within us unites with our mind and manifests itself in what we think, what we say and what we do, thus overcoming the evil inclination within us and uniting us with the mind of YHWH, thus “cleaving” to YHWH. We do not observe Torah as one trying to earn something, but with no mind of a reward, for its own sake, to bring us closer to YHWH, out of the love and awe that we have for Him.
This internalization of Torah is clear in the Talmud. One of the first disputes recorded in the Mishnah centers around the issue of how the shema should be recited:
The House of Shammai says: In the evening one should recline in order to recite the shema, and in the morning they should stand. As it is written “when you lie down and when you rise up.” (Deuteronomy 6:7)
But the House of Hillel says: Everyone may recite the Shema in his own way, as it is written: “And you shall go by the way” (Deuteronomy 7:7)
(m.Berachot 1:3)
The House of Shammai took the phrase “when you lie down and when you rise up.” (Deuteronomy 6:7) to mean that the shema should literally be said lying down and standing up.
But the House of Hillel taught that this simply referred to the time at which people lie down and the time at which people rise up, and not to the position in which one recites the shema.
Note that the House of Shammai were concerned primarily with the outward expression, with whether one was standing or reclining, while the House of Hillel were less concerned with such outward expression and much more concerned with the way in which one recited the Shema, that they made it their own way, that they meant it and walked in it. Note the difference in emphasis of the two houses.
Hillel was more concerned with the inner man, while Shammai was more concerned with the outer man. Hillel was concerned with the Spirit of the Law, while Shammai was more concerned with the Letter of the Law.
This overriding concept of sincerity is also found in the Mishna in tractate Menachot:
“…all are the same, the one who offers much and the one who offers little,
on condition that a man will direct his intention to Heaven.”
(m.Menachot 13:11)
Again, the act of Torah observance must not be an empty matter of going through the motions, it must proceed from our internalization of Torah.
The Torah and the Messiah are one. When we study Torah, the Wisdom of Torah gestates in our Understanding and gives birth to Knowledge of Torah. This is what is meant by having the Torah in our inward parts. Since the Torah and the Messiah are one, this is also having the Messiah within us. The Messiah within us is a spark of YHWH within us, a second soul. While our animal soul has an inclination to do evil, this second soul has an inclination to do good. This helps us to overcome our evil inclination. This occurs as Wisdom, Understanding and Knowledge of Torah within us flows from our mind down to our emotions, resulting in a love for Elohim that inclines us to keep the positive commandments, and awe for Elohim that inclines us not to violate the negative commandments.
THE WORD OF YHWH REVEALED Part1
THE WORD OF YHWH REVEALED
PART I
IN THE BEGINNING
Where do I begin…?
Yochanan (John) writes:
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him,
And without him was not any thing made that was made…
And the Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us,
(and we beheld his glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,)
full of grace and truth.
(John 1:1-3, 14 KJV)
And in Revelation he writes:
And he was clothed with a vesture,
dipped in blood: and his name is called
The Word of God.
(Rev. 19:13 KJV)
These statements MEANT something in context of Second Temple Judaism. And they meant something very significant. The concept of the “Word” (Greek: LOGOS; Aramaic: MEMRA; Hebrew: DAVAR) already had a very special and unique meaning in the Second Temple Era. The LOGOS/MEMRA was a very important concept in the Second Temple Era, and if we are to understand what Yochanan (John) is saying, we must understand this concept.
PHILO
Philo was an Alexandrian Jew who was born nearly 20 years before Yeshua and died around 20 years after his death. Philo was a “Hellenist Jew”. Not like the Hellenists of the Maccabean period who abandoned Torah for Paganism, but like Stephen (Acts 7) and the Hellenists in Acts 6. These Hellenists were Greek speaking Jews who remained Torah Observant (at least in there own understanding) while accepting Greek culture.
Josephus’ comments about Philo are so brief that we can quote them here in full:
“There was now a tumult arisen at Alexandria, between the Jewish inhabitants and the Greeks; and three ambassadors were chosen out of each party that were at variance, who came to Gaius. Now one of these ambassadors from the people of Alexandria was Apion, who uttered many blasphemies against the Jews; and, among other things that he said, he charged them with neglecting the honors that belonged to Caesar; for that while all who were subject to the Roman empire built altars and temples to Gaius, and in other regards universally received him as they received the gods, these Jews alone thought it a dishonorable thing for them to erect statues in honor of him, as well as to swear by his name. Many of these severe things were said by Apion, by which he hoped to provoke Gaius to anger at the Jews, as he was likely to be. But Philo, the principal of the Jewish embassage, a man eminent on all accounts, brother to Alexander the alabarch, and one not unskillful in philosophy, was ready to betake himself to make his defense against those accusations; but Gaius prohibited him, and bid him begone; he was also in such a rage, that it openly appeared he was about to do them some very great mischief. So Philo being thus affronted, went out, and said to those Jews who were about him, that they should be of good courage, since Gaius’s words indeed showed anger at them, but in reality had already set God against himself.” (Antiquities of the Jews, xviii.8, 1)
Rabbinic Judaism has forgotten Philo. He is never mentioned or cited in the Rabbinic literature which makes no great mention of any Alexandrian Jews.
THE LOGOS
Philo is very important to us because he writes much about the Second Temple Era Jewish concept of the “Word” (Greek: LOGOS). We should not seek to understand John 1:1-3, 15 1and Jn. 19:13 in a vacuum. Remember, Philo lived and wrote at the same time as the “New Testament” events were taking place. However Philo was far away in Alexandria Egypt, and apparently unaware of the budding Nazarene movement which had not yet come to Alexandria.
In order to understand Philo’s concept of the Word, we must understand Philo’s concept of Elohim. Philo saw a conflict within Elohim. On the one hand, he saw Elohim as beyond man and far removed from the finiteness of this universe. He refers to this concept in Greek as TO ON (that which exists) and TO ONTOS ON “that which alone truly exists”. This concept of Elohim is conceived as virtually outside this universe with no real contact with it. This unknowable Elohim appeared from Ex. 20:21. In Rabbinic Judaism (i.e. Kabbalah) this unknowable Elohim is called in Hebrew EIN SOF (without end/border; The Infinite One).
For Philo the Word (Logos) was a sort of bridge between the unknowable remote Elohim and the universe. The Word was a manifestation of the unknowable Elohim in this universe, an intermediary or mediator between man and Elohim. One can immediately see that Philo’s Word parallels Rabbinic Judaism’s (Kabbalah’s) SEFIROT.
Philo writes much about the concept of the “Word” (Greek: Logos)
…So that the Word (Logos) is, as it were, the charioteer of the powers,…
(On Flight and Finding XIX 101)
This is very important, as we have a first century Jew revealing to us the mystery of the throne-chariot.
The Mishna tells us:
They do not expound upon…
Ma’aseh Bereshit before [more than] two, or Ma’aseh Merkavah before [more than] one unless he was a sage and understands of his own knowledge.
(m.Hagigah 2:1)
In the Mishnah the Ma’aseh Merkavah (account of the throne-chariot) was a secret. But Philo tells us all about the secret, he tells us that the charioteer is the Word (Logos). It is generally accepted that the mysteries of the Ma’aseh Merkavah (account of the chariot – i.e. Ezek. 1-2) and Ma’aseh Bereshit (account of creation) were the material that later came to be referred to as “Kabbalah”. Philo tells us that the big secret of the chariot is that the charioteer is the Word.
Philo says:
…Every man in regard of his intellect is connected with Logos (Word),
being an impression of, or a fragment or emanation of that blessed
nature…
(Philo; On Creation LI (146))
Philo gave a very detailed description to the Word (Logos). To Philo the Word was the creator:
As therefore the city, when previously shadowed out in
the mind of architectural skill had no external place, but
was stamped solely in the mind of the workman, so in
the same manner neither can the world which existed in
ideas have had any other local position except the
Logos (Word) which made them…
(Philo; On Creation V (20))
Philo taught that the Word (Logos) was the shadow of God and was the instrument of creation.
…But the shadow of God is his Logos (Word),
which he used like an instrument when he was
making the world.
(Philo; Allegorical Interpretation III XXXI (96))
Not only does Philo speak of this “Word” but the ancient Targums do so as well. The Targums were Aramaic paraphrases of the books of the Tanak. Throughout the Targums we read of this entity called the “Word” (Aramaic: MEMRA). On many occasions the Targums paraphrase YHWH with the phase “Word of YHWH” and on some occasions the Word (MEMRA) is mentioned in the paraphrase where YHWH is not mentioned. The term is applied to YHWH in Targum Onkelos 179 times, the Jerusalem Targum 99 times and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan 321 times.
This “Word of YHWH” was, according to Targum Jonathan, the Creator:
And the Word [Memra] of YHWH created man in his likeness,
in the likeness of YHWH, YHWH created,
male and female created He them.
(Targ. Jonathan Gen. 1:27)
This idea is also put forward in the Jerusalem Targum:
And the Word [Memra] of YHWH said to Moses:
“I am He who said unto the world ‘Be!’ and it was:
and who in the future shall say to it ‘Be!’
and it shall be.” And He said: “Thus you shall say
to the children of Israel: ‘I Am’ has sent me to you.”
(Jerusalem Targum Ex. 3:14)
The Fragmentary Targum of the Torah also expresses that the Word of YHWH was the Creator:
The first night, when the “Word of YHWH”
was revealed to the world in order to create it,
the world was desolate and void,
and darkness spread over the face of the abyss
and the “Word of the Lord” was bright and illuminating
and He called it the first night.
(Fragmentary Targum Ex. 12:42)
That the Word of YHWH was the Creator can also be seen in the Tanak itself:
By the Word (DAVAR) of YHWH were the heavens made,
and all the hosts of them by the Spirit of His mouth.
(Ps. 33:6)
Whenever the Targums come to passages where YHWH is anthropomorphisised or seen, or where two or more YHWHs are indicated by the text, the Targums will substitute “The Word [Memra] of YHWH” for YHWH. For example in Gen. 19:24 the Tanak has:
And YHVH rained brimstone and fire upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah, from YHVH, from the heavens.
(Original Bible Project preliminary edition)
The Hebrew grammar here indicates that one YHWH rains fire from another YHWH. But Targum Jonathan substitutes “The Word of YHWH/the L-RD” for the first of the two YHWHs as follows:
And the Word of the YHWH caused to descend upon the peoples of Sodom and Gommorah, brimstone and fire from the YHWH in heaven.
In another example the Torah has:
Ex. 24:1a (YHWH is the speaker, see Ex. 20:1-2)
Now He [YHWH] said to Moses, “come up to YHWH…”
But Targum Jonathan paraphrases the speaker in Ex. 20:1 with the substitution “the Word [Memra] of YHWH” in place of “YHWH.”
“And the Word of the Lord spoke all these glorious words…”
So it would seem that one of these entities called “YHWH” in these Torah passages was actually understood by the Targumists as being the “Word of YHWH.”
Moreover Abraham prayed in the name of the Word of YHWH:
And Abraham worshipped and prayed
in the name of the Word [Memra] of YHWH,
and said, “You are YHWH who does see,
but You cannot be seen.”
(Jerusalem Targum Gen. 22:14)
Note that here Abraham prays “in the name of the Word of YHWH” to the YHWH who “cannot be seen.” Here two YHWH’s are very apparent. Abraham is praying in the name of the Word of YHWH but is praying to the YHWH who cannot be seen. This idea is reinforced elsewhere as follows:
And Hagar praised and prayed in the name of the Word [Memra] Of YHWH who had revealed Himself to her…
(Jerusalem Targum Gen. 16:3)
Of this very incident Philo writes:
But Hagar flees out of shame. And a proof of this is, that the angel, that is the WORD of God, met her, with the intent to recommend her what she ought to do, and to guide her in her return to her mistress’s house. For he encouraged her, and said unto her: “The Lord has heard the cry of thy humiliation,” which you uttered, not out of fear, nor yet out of hatred. For the one is the feeling of an ignoble soul, and the other of one which loves contention, but under the influence of that copy of temperance and modesty, shame.
(On Flight and Finding (5))
It was this Word of YHWH that Jacob also trusted in:
And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, “If the Word [Memra] of YHWH will be my support, and will keep me in the way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the Word [Memra]of YHWH be my Elohim.
(Targum Onkelos on Gen. 28:20-21)
THE WORD OF YHWH REVEALED
PART 2
THE IMAGE OF ELOHIM
By James Trimm
Philo’s concept of the “Word” (Logos) is the “image of Elohim” which served as the pattern for the creation of man in Gen. 1:26-27. Philo writes:
…For God does not seem to have availed himself
of any other animal existing in creation as his model
in the formation of man; but to have been guided,
as I have said before, by his own Word (Logos) alone…
(Philo; On Creation XLVIII (139))
But the divine Word (Logos) which is above these
does not come into any visible appearance,
inasmuch as it is not like to any of the things
that come under the external senses,
but is itself an image of God,
the most ancient of all the objects of intellect
in the whole world, and that which is placed
in the closest proximity to the only truly existing God,
without any partition or distance being interposed
between them:
(On Flight and Finding XVIII (101))
Now, Bezaleel, being interpreted, means God in his shadow.
But the shadow of God is his Word (Logos), which he used
like an instrument when he was making the world.
And this shadow, and, as it were, model, is the archetype of other things. For, as God is himself the model of that image which he has now called a shadow, so also that image is the model of other things,
as he showed when he commenced giving the law to the Israelites,
and said, “And God made man according to the image of God.”[Gen. 1:26] as the image was modeled according to God, and as man was modeled according to the image, which thus received the power and character of the model.
(Allegorical Interpretations III 96)
For if it was necessary to examine the mortal body
of the priest that it ought not be imperfect through
any misfortune, much more was it necessary to look
into his immortal soul, which they say is fashioned
in the form of the living God. Now the image of God
is the Word (Logos), by which all the world was made.
(The Special Laws I, 81)
What is the man who was created? And how is that man
distinguished who was made after the image of God? (Gen. 2:7).
This man was created as perceptible to the senses,
and in the similitude of a Being appreciable only by the intellect;
but he who in respect of his form is intellectual and incorporeal,
is the similitude of the archetypal model as to appearance,
and he is the form of the principal character;
but this is the Word (Logos) of God, the first beginning of all things,
the original species or the archetypal idea,
the first measure of the universe.
(Q & A on Gen. I, 4)
Why is it that he speaks as if of some other god,
saying that he made man after the image of God,
and not that he made him after his own image? (Gen. 9:6).
Very appropriately and without any falsehood
was this oracular sentence uttered by God,
for no mortal thing could have been formed
on the similitude of the supreme Father of the universe,
but only after the pattern of the second deity,
who is the Word (Logos) of the supreme Being;
since it is fitting that the rational soul of man should bear it
the type of the divine Word (Logos); since in his first Word (Logos)
God is superior to the most rational possible nature.
But he who is superior to the Word (Logos) holds his rank
in a better and most singular pre-eminence, and how could
the creature possibly exhibit a likeness of him in himself?
Nevertheless he also wished to intimate this fact,
that God does rightly and correctly require vengeance,
in order to the defense of virtuous and consistent men,
because such bear in themselves a familiar acquaintance
with his Word (Logos), of which the human mind is
the similitude and form.
(Q & A on Gen. II 62)
This parallels what we read in the Targum:
And the Word (Memra) of YHWH
created man in his likeness,
in the likeness of YHWH, YHWH created,
male and female created He them.
(Targ. Jonathan Gen. 1:27)
ADAM KADMON
We said before that Philo’s Word (Logos) parallels the SEFIROT of the Kabbalah in Rabbinic Judaism. In Kabbalah the SEFIROT are said to be manifested in “Adam Kadmon”. According to Genesis man was created in the “image of Elohim”. This “image of Elohim” was a manifestation of the Godhead, which served as a model for Adam.
…the form (image) of G-d in which He created man is actually G-d’s blueprint form for man. This “form” or “blueprint” consisted of G-d’s first thought in creation, and hence the highest level of creation. This is referred to as “Adam Kadmon” (Primeval Man).
(Bahir; Aryeh Kaplan; p. 95 in Kaplans commentary to Bahir 7)
“Adam Kadmon” means “before Adam” and refers to the “image of Elohim” after which we were created. Gershom Scholem writes:
In His active manifestations, the Godhead appears as the dynamic unity of the Sefiroth, portrayed as the “tree of the Sefiroth,” or the mystical human form (‘Adam Kadmon), who is none other than the concealed shape of Godhead itself.
(On the Mystical Shape of the Godhead; Basic Concepts in the Kabbalah; p. 39)
However, the Sefiroth do not appear only in the shape of the tree. They also appear in the form of Primal Man (‘Adam Kadmon),which corresponds to that of earthly man.
(ibid p. 43)
Thus he is not just the Tree and the Sefirot, he is Adam Kadmon, the image of Elohim:
The Holy One, blessed be He, has a son, whose glory (tifret) shines from one end of the world to another. He is a great and mighty tree, whose head reaches heaven, and whose roots are set in the holy ground, and his name is “Mispar” and his place is in the uppermost heaven,… as it is written, “The heavens declare (me-SaPRim) the glory (tifret) of God” (Ps. 19:1). Were it not for this “Mispar” there would be neither hosts Nor offspring in any of the worlds.
(Zohar 2:105a)
Adam Kadmon, however, was not just the image of Elohim. He was actually Elohim himself, as Gershom Scholem writes:
…God entered into the form of the Adam Kadmon…
(Kabbalah by Gershom Scholem p. 116)
The Adam Kadmon was “the likeness like the appearance of a man” which Ezekiel saw upon the throne (Ezek. 1:26) in his Merkavah vision (vision of the divine throne-chariot).
Remember, Philo tells us:
…So that the Word (Logos) is, as it were, the charioteer of the powers,…
(On Flight and Finding XIX 101)
In the so-called “New Testament” the “Word” is the Messiah Yeshua, of whom we read:
…the Messiah, who is the likeness of Elohim.
(2Cor. 4:4)
[his Son] who is the image of the invisible Elohim..
(Col. 1:15)
[the Son] who is the radiance of his glory,
and the image of his being…
(Heb. 1:3)
The identification of Messiah Yeshua with Adam Kadmon is also reflected in 1Cor. 15:45 where Yeshua is called “the last Adam”.
THE WORD OF YHWH REVEALED Part 3
THE WORD OF YHWH REVEALED
PART 3
THE MIDDLE PILLAR
By James Trimm
In order to understand Philo’s concept of the Word (Logos) it is important to understand Philo’s concept of Elohim. Philo says:
“The primal existence is God, and second the God-Word”
(Allegorical Interpretation II, 86)
“The Creator of the world sends out His powers
from an eternal and invisible place”
(Q&A on Genesis, II, 48)
Philo raises the question
“…regarding its Creator, asking of what sort this Being is so difficult to see, so difficult to conjecture. Is He a body or incorporeal or something exalted above these? Is He a single nature… Or a composite Being?…and seeing that this is a problem hard to pursue, hard to take in by thought, he prays that he may learn from God Himself what God is.”
(Flight and Finding, 164)
Philo doesn’t answer this question here, but he does answer these questions elsewhere. In On the Confusion of Tongues, 62, He calls God “incorporeal” and in a later section, he describes God as a “Triad” (Trinity). He refers to God as “…the Lord God of three natures…”(Philo; On the Change of Names II, 11). He also says:
…it is reasonable for one to be three and for three to be one, for they were one by a higher principle… …in the place of one, He makes the appearance of a triad [trinity]… He cannot be seen in his oneness without something [else], the chief Powers that that exist immediately with him… the Creative, which is called “Elohim” and the Kingly, which is called “Lord”… he begins to see the sovereign, holy, and divine vision in such a way that a single appearance appears as a triad [trinity], and the triad [trinity] as a unity.
(Philo; Questions on Genesis, IV, 2)
According to Philo God appears as a Triad — himself and his two Powers: Creative and Ruling. To the “purified soul,” however, God appears as One.
… the Father of the universe, who in the sacred scripture is called by his proper name,
‘I am that I am’; and the beings on each side are those most ancient powers which are always close to the living God, one of which is called his Creative Power, and the other his Royal Power. And the Creative Power is God, for it is by this that he made and arranged the universe; and the Royal Power is the Lord, for it is fitting that the Creator should lord it over and govern the creature. Therefore, the middle person of the three, being attended by each of his powers as by body-guard, presents to the mind, which is endowed with the faculty of sight, a vision at one time of one being, and at another time of three; …
(Abr. 119-123).
The reconciliation of these two opposing “powers”, the central power is the Word (Logos):
…the Divine Word (Logos)…fills all things and becomes a mediator and arbitrator for the two sides….from the Divine Word (Logos), as from a spring, there divide and break forth two powers. One is the creative through which the Artificer placed and ordered all things. This is named “God”. And the royal, since through it the Creator rules over created things. This is called “Lord” And from these two powers have grown the others. For by the side of the creative power there grows the propitious of which is named “beneficial” while (besides) the royal the legislative, of which is aptly named “punitive”. And below these and beside them is the ark.”
(Philo on Q&A on Exodus, II.68)
As we stated earlier Philo’s “Word” (Logos) parallels Kabbalah’s SEFIROT.
According to the Sefer Yetzirah there are ten sefirot:
Ten Sefirot of Nothingness ten and not nine ten and not eleven…
(Sefer Yetzirah 1:4)
The ten sefirot are arranged on a chart known as the “Tree of Life” under three columns known as the “three pillars of the Godhead”.
As we read in the Bahir:
Why are they called Sephirot?
Because it is written (Psalm 19:2),
“The heavens declare (me-SaPRim) the glory of God.”
And what are they?
They are three. Among them are three troops and three dominions.
(Bahir 125-126)
The Zohar describes the three pillars of the Godhead as follows:
Concerning this, too, it is written: “Let there be light, and there was light” (Gen. I, 3). Why, it may be asked, was it necessary to repeat the word “light” in this verse? The answer is that the first “light” refers to the primordial light which is of the Right Hand, and is destined for the “end of days”; while the second “light” refers to the Left Hand, which issues from the Right. The next words, “And God saw the light that it was good” (Gen. 1, 4), refer to the pillar which, standing midway between them, unites both sides, and therefore when the unity of the three, right, left, and middle, was complete, “it was good”, since there could be no completion until the third had appeared to remove the strife between Right and Left, as it is written, “And Elohim separated between the light and between the darkness” (Ibid.).
(Zohar 2:167a)
This is the Middle Pillar: Ki Tob (that it was good) threw light above and below and on all other sides, in virtue of Tetragrammaton, the name which embraces all sides.
(Zohar 1:16b)
THE SON AND METATRON
Philo Writes of the Word (Logos):
For there are, as it seems, two temples belonging to God; one being this world, in which the high priest is the divine word, his own firstborn son. The other is the rational soul, the priest of which is the real true man,
(On Dreams 215)
And if there be not as yet any one who is worthy to be called a son of God, neverthless let him labour earnestly to be adorned according to his Firstborn Word, the eldest of his angels, as the great archangel of many names; for He is called, “the Authority”, and “the Name of God”, and “the Word”, and “man according to God’s image”, and “He who sees Israel”. . . For even if we are not yet suitable to be called the sons of God, still we may deserve to be called the children of his eternal image, of his most sacred Word; for the image of God is his most ancient word.
( On the Confusion of Tongues XXVIII:146-147)
Thus, indeed, being a shepherd is a good thing, so that it is justly attributed, not only to kings, and to wise men, and to souls who are perfectly purified, but also to God, the ruler of all things; and he who confirms this is not any ordinary person, but a prophet, whom it is good to believe, he namely who wrote the psalms; for he speaks thus, “The Lord is my shepherd, and he shall cause me to lack Nothing;” (Ps. 23:1.) and let every one in his turn say the same thing, for it is very becoming to every man who loves God to study such a song as this, but above all this world should sing it. For God, like a shepherd and a king, governs (as if they were a flock of sheep) the earth, and the water, and the air, and the fire, and all the plants, and living creatures that are in them, whether mortal or divine; and he regulates the nature of the heaven, and the periodical revolutions of the sun and moon, and the variations and harmonious movements of the other stars, ruling them according to law and justice; appointing, as their immediate superintendent, his own right reason, his first-born son, who is to receive the charge of this sacred company, as the lieutenant of the great king; for it is said somewhere, “Behold, I am he! I will send my messenger before thy face, who shall keep thee in the Road.”(Ex. 23:20.)
(On Husbandry 50-51)
According to the Zohar, the Middle Pillar of the Godhead is also known as the “Son of Yah”:
Better is a neighbor that is near, than a brother far off.
This neighbor is the Middle Pillar in the godhead,
which is the Son of Yah.
(Zohar 2:115)
The Middle Pillar is also known as “Metatron”:
The Middle Pillar [of the godhead] is Metatron,
Who has accomplished peace above,
According to the glorious state there.
(Zohar 3:227)
And in the Zohar we are also told that Metatron is “the firstborn” and the “ruler of all He has” and “committed to Him the government over all His hosts”:
“And Abraham said to his oldest servant of his house…” (Gen. 24:2) Who is this of whom it said “his servant?” In what sense must this be understood? Who is this servant? R. Nehori answered:
“It is in no other sense to be understood than expressed in the word “His servant,”
His servant, the servant of Elohim, the chief to His service. And who is he? Metatron, as said. He is appointed to glorify the bodies which are in the grave. This is the meaning of the words “Abraham said to His servant” that is to the servant of Elohim. The servant is Metatron, the eldest of His [YHWH's] House, who is the firstborn of all creatures of Elohim, who is the ruler of all He has; because Elohim has committed to Him the government over all His hosts.
(Zohar 1:129b)
This recalls, not only what Philo has said about the “Word” (Logos) but also a statement by Paul in his letter to the Colossians:
Who is the image of Eloah, which is invisible, and the Firstborn of all creation. And by him was created everything that is in heaven and on earth, all that is seen and all that is not seen, whether thrones or sovereignties or principalities or authorities. Everything through him and by him was created. He was from before, and all and everything by him was established. And he is the head of the Assembly, because He is the head, And the Firstborn from among the dead, that he might be first in all.
(Col. 1:15-18)
THE WORD OF YHWH REVEALED Part 4
THE WORD OF YHWH REVEALED
PART 4
THE TRUE HIGH PRIEST
By James Trimm
THE TRUE HIGH PREIST
Philo makes a very interesting comment concerning the Torah command of the cities of refuge (Num. 35:6-28; Josh. 20:1-9). The Torah says:
And the assembly shall deliver the manslayer, out of the hand of the avenger of
blood, and the assembly shall restore him to his city of refuge, where he was fled. And he
shall dwell therein until the death of the High Priest, who was anointed with the Set-
Apart oil.
(Numbers 35:25)
Philo makes an interesting observation on this passage, he writes:
The fourth and last of the points which we proposed to discuss, is the appointing as a period for the return of the fugitives the death of the high priest, which, if taken in the literal sense, causes me great perplexity; for a very unequal punishment is imposed by this enactment on those who have done the very same things, since some will be in banishment for a longer time, and others for a shorter time; for some of the high priests live to a very old age, and others die very early, and some are appointed while young men, and others not until they are old. And again of those who are convicted of unintentional homicide, some have been banished at the beginning of the high priest’s entrance into office, and some when the high priest has been at the very point of death. So that some are deprived of their country for a very long time, and others suffer the same infliction only for a day, if it chance to be so; after which they lift up their heads, and exult, and so return among those whose nearest relations have been slain by them. This difficult and scarcely explicable perplexity we may escape if we adopt the inner and allegorical explanation in accordance with natural philosophy. For we say that the high priest is not a man, but is the Word (Logos) of God, who has not only no participation in intentional errors, but none even in those which are involuntary.
(On Flight 106-108)
Elsewhere he writes:
XXVI. (82) But Melchisedek shall bring forward wine instead of water, and shall give your souls to drink, and shall cheer them with unmixed wine, in order that they may be wholly occupied with a divine intoxication, more sober than sobriety itself. For the Word is a priest, having, as its inheritance the true God, and entertaining lofty and sublime and magnificent ideas about him, “for he is the priest of the most high God.”{38}{Genesis 14:18.} Not that there is any other God who is not the most high; for God being one, is in the heaven above, and in the earth beneath, and there is no other besides Him.”{39}{Deuteronomy 4:39.} But he sets in motion the notion of the Most High, from his conceiving of God not in a low and grovelling spirit, but in one of exceeding greatness, and exceeding sublimity, apart from any conceptions of matter.
(“De Allegoriis Legum,” iii. 26).
Philo thus concludes that the true High Priest is the Word (Logos). If we follow Philo’s logic through, then through the death of the Word, these exiles are set free.
MELCHIZADEK
Philo’s true “High Priest” (The Word) ties in well with a document found among the Dead Sea Scrolls known as The Melchizadek Document (11Q13). 11Q13 speaks of this Messiah as a figure called “Melchizedek.” In this document Is. 61:2 is quoted with “Melchizedek” substituted for YHWH. Furthermore the terms EL and ELOHIM are in 11Q13 applied to the Melchizedek/Messiah figure.
11Q13 Col. 4-9 quotes Is. 61:1-2 but substitutes “the year of Melchizedek’s favor” for “the year of YHWH’s favor” thus identifying the Melchizedek figure with YHWH in this passage. 11Q13 goes on to say:
…as it is written about him [Melchizedek] in the Songs of David,
“ELOHIM has taken his place in the council of EL;
in the midst of the ELOHIM he holds judgment”
(Ps. 82:1) Scripture also says about him [Melchizedek],
“Over it take your seat in the highest heaven;
EL will judge the peoples” (Ps. 7:7-8)
(11Q13 Col. 10-11)
The text of 11Q13 goes on to apply the passage “Your ELOHIM reigns” (Is. 52:7) to Melchizedek finally concluding:
“Your ELOHIM” (Is. 52:7) is Melchizedek, who will deliver them from the power of Belial.
(11Q13 Col. 24-25)
The Melchizadek figure of 11Q13 would free the captives (Is. 61:1-2) and through the Day of Atonement will “atone for all the Sons of Light”.
In Hebrews 4:14-7:28 Paul argues that Messiah Yeshua (The Word of Jn. 1:1-3, 14) is the true High Priest and true Melchizadek making atonement for us in the heavenly Temple by his blood.
THE PARAKLITA
Philo also describes the Word (Logos) not only as the “Son” of the “Father” but as a PARACLETE who is “perfect in all virtue” and procures “forgiveness of sins” as well as a “supply of unlimited blessings”:
…the twelve stones arranged on the breast in four rows of three stones each, namely the logeum, being also an emblem of that reason (Logos, Word) which holds together and regulates the universe. For it was indispensable that the man who was consecrated to the Father of the world, should have as a paraclete, his son, the being most perfect in all virtue, to procure forgiveness of sins, and a supply of unlimited blessings;
(Life of Moses II, 133-134)
This Greek word (paraclete) is also a Hebrew and Aramaic word also appears in the Mishna:
He who does even a single religious duty
gets himself a good advocate (or comforter Hebrew: paraklita)
he who does even a single transgression
gets himself a prosecutor.
(m.Avot 4:11a)
And in the Talmud it is used to refer to the sin offering::
R. Simeon said: For what purpose does a sin-offering come? —
[You ask,] ‘for what purpose does a sin-offering come?’
Surely in order to make atonement! —
Rather, [the question is:]
Why does it come before the burnt-offering?
[Because it is] like an intercessor (paraklita) who enters
[to appease the King]: When the intercessor (paraklita)
has appeased [him], the gift follows.
(b.Zev. 7b)
The Jewish Dictionary states:
…The sin offering is like the parclete (paraklita) before God,
it interceded for man and is followed by another…
a thank offering for the pardon obtained…
the two daily burnt offerings are called ‘the two parcletes’…
Jewish Dictionary pp. 514-515
Now Yochanan, who identifies the Messiah as the Word (logos) in Jn. 1:1-3, 14 and Rev. 19:13 also says of Messiah:
1 My sons, I write these [things] to you, that you do not sin: and if someone should sin, we have an advocate (paraklita) with the Father, Yeshua the Messiah, the just [One].
2 For He is the propitiation for our sins, and not on behalf of ours only, but also on behalf of [the sins of] the whole world.
(1st Yochanan (John) 2:1)
OUR SAVIOR
With all of this in mind, it is no surprise that the Targums tell us that the Word (Aramaic: Memra) is the source of our salvation. Jacob called upon the Word for his salvation:
Our father Jacob said: “My soul does not wait for salvation such as that wrought by Gideon, the son of Joash, for that was but temporal; neither for a salvation like that of Samson, which was only transitory; but for that salvation which You have promised to come, through Your Word unto Your people, the children of Israel; for your salvation my soul hopes.”
(Targum Jonathan Gen. 49:18)
That the Word of YHWH is the savior is expressed elsewhere in the Targums:
But Israel shall be saved by the Word of YHWH with an everlasting
salvation… By the Word of YHWH shall all the seed of Israel be justified…
(Targum Jonathan Is. 45:17, 25)
But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Word of YHWH, their Elohim.
(Targum Jonathan Hosea 1:7)
It was, according to Targum Onkelos, this Word of YHWH that Abraham trusted in, by which he was justified:
And Abraham trusted in the Word [Memra] of YHWH, and He counted it to him for righteousness.
(Targum Onkelos Gen. 15:6)
Likewise Paul quotes Gen. 15:6 in Romans 4:3 and Galatians 3:6 to prove his point that we are justified by faith in the Messiah.
THE MESSIAH
Now here is perhaps the most amazing thing, Philo believed “Word” (Logos) and the Messiah to be one and the same:
“The head of all things is the eternal Word (Logos) of the eternal God, under which, as if it were his feet or other limbs, is placed the whole world, over which He passes and firmly stands. Now it is not because Messiah is Lord that He passes and sits over the whole world, for His seat with His Father and God but because for its perfect fullness the world is in need of the care and superintendence of the best ordered dispensation, and for its own complete piety, of the Divine Word (Logos), just as living creatures (need) a head, without which it is impossible to live.”
(Q&A on Exodus, II, 117)
And with all of this in mind, we should not be surprised to read in the Zohar concerning Messiah:
“In the Garden of Eden there is a hall that is called the “hall of the afflicted.” Now it is into this hall that the Messiah goes and summons all the afflictions and pains and sufferings of Israel to come upon him. And so they all come upon him. And had he not eased the children of Israel of their sorrows, and taken their burden upon himself, there would be none who could endure the suffering of Israel in the penalty of neglecting the Torah. Thus it is written: “Surely our diseases he did bear and our pains he carried.” (Is. 53:5) As long as the children of Israel dwelt in the Holy Land, they averted all afflictions and sufferings from the world by the service of the sanctuary and by sacrifice. But now it is the Messiah who is averting them from the habitants of the world,”
(Zohar 2:212a)
So there you have it. I have a few times failed to resist the temptation to crack open the “New Testament” simply for the purpose of showing a clear parallel, but using the works of Philo, the Dead Sea Scrolls and Rabbinic literature I have laid out the concept of the Word as I believe it existed in the first century.
The Word is:
* The Image of Elohim from which we were created
* The Middle Pillar of the Three Pillars of the Godhead, reconciling to opposing “powers” or “pillars” and thus encompassing all three.
* The Firstborn Son of Yah
* The true High Priest, Melchizadek, redeeming us through his death.
* The Paraklete procuring forgiveness for our sins.
* Our Savior
* The Messiah
All of these concepts about the “Word” existed in the Second Temple Era and were all packed into this concept of the “Word” (Logos/Memra). Maybe you thought you knew what Yochanan meant when he said:
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him,
And without him was not any thing made that was made…
And the Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us,
(and we beheld his glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,)
full of grace and truth.
(John 1:1-3, 14 KJV)
And:
And he was clothed with a vesture,
dipped in blood: and his name is called
The Word of God.
(Rev. 19:13 KJV)
But now you really know what that meant in terms of Second Temple Era Judaism.
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The Deity of Messiah
And
The Three Pillars of the Godhead
By James Scott Trimm
Part 1
The Deity of Messiah is Scriptural
Introduction
There are several different positions that have to be dealt with in presenting the Deity of Messiah:
Judaic Anti-Deity Position – These reject the deity of Messiah because they insist it is contrary to Judaism. These are not persuaded by New Testament “proof texts”. They will dismiss such proof texts as invalid and even corruptions because they are supposedly not Jewish in theology. They will reject Tanak “proof texts” on the basis that Judaism supposedly does not understand the text that way.
Pure-Biblical Anti-Deity Position – These reject the deity of Messiah because they insist that it is contrary to Scripture. They are not persuaded by the demonstration that the doctrine is authentically Jewish. Many of these may actually look down upon Jewish tradition and especially Kabbalah.
Christian “Oneness” Theologians
Christian Orthodox Trinitarian Theologians
One finds oneself engaging on a debate on multiple fronts. Proving that the “New Testament” teaches the deity of Messiah to the “Judaic Anti-Deity” followers will generally only succeed in proving to their minds that the New Testament is in error. They must be shown that the teaching is authentically Jewish. However the “Pure-Biblical Anti-Deity” followers will misinterpret or misrepresent such arguments as “proof” that the doctrine is based only on extra-biblical sources and cannot be shown from the Scriptures themselves. And oftentimes single individuals will waffle between those two positions, not realizing their own inconsistency. All the while Orthodox Christian Trinitarians, Oneness Christians and others are raising their own issues along the way, which only serves to sidetrack the primary issue.
Therefore in order to deal with all of the issues in an organized manner this paper will be presented in five parts:
Part 1: The Deity of Messiah from the Scriptures
Part 2: The Deity of Messiah is Jewish
Part 3: Concerning Orthodox Trinitarian and Christian Oneness Theologies
Part 4: First Century Roots of the Kabbalistic Godhead Model
Part 5: Proof of the Ancient Nazarene Position
Part 1
The Deity of Messiah is Scriptural
Messiah as YHWH
The deity of Messiah is very easy to show from the Scriptures. The simplest way to show the deity of Messiah in the Scriptures is to point to instances where the “New Testament” quotes passages from the Tanak (“Old Testament”) and applies them to the Messiah.
For example in John 19:37, Zech. 12:10 is quoted:
But when they came to Yeshua, they saw that he was dead already
and did not break his legs.
But one of the soldiers stuck him in his side with a spear
and immediately blood and water came forth,…
For these things happened that the scripture might be fulfilled
which said, A bone of him will not be broken.(Ps. 34:21(20))
And again another scripture that said, They will look at him
whom they pierced. (Zech 12:10)
But now let us look at Zechariah 12:10 in context:
The burden of the word of YHWH concerning Israel.
The saying of YHWH, who stretched forth the heavens,
And laid the foundation of the earth,
And formed the spirit of man within him…
I will pour out upon the house of David,
And upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
The spirit of grace and supplication;
And they shall look at Me whom they pierced;
And they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only son….
(Zech. 12:1, 10)
The one being pierced in Jn. 19:37 is clearly Yeshua but the one being pierced in Zech. 12:10 is clearly YHWH.
Lets now look at the quotation of Is. 8:14 in Rom. 9:32:
Because it was not from faith but from “Works of the Law”,
for they stumbled at the stumbling stone.
(Rom. 9:32)
Now Paul is clearly referring here it Messiah, but lets now look at Is. 8:14 in context:
YHWH of hosts, Him shall you sanctify; and let Him be your
fear, and let Him be your dread. And He shall be for a sanctuary;
but for a stumbling stone and for a rock of offence
to both the houses of Israel…
(Is. 8:13-14)
Here it is clearly YHWH who is the “stumbling stone”.
OK now lets look at Phil. 2:10-11:
That at the name of Yeshua every knee will bow
that is in heaven or on earth and that is under the earth,
and every tongue will confess that Yeshua the Messiah is YHWH,
to the glory of Eloah the Father.
Here Paul clearly refer to Is. 45:23:
Thus says YHWH…
That unto Me every knee shall bow,
and every tongue shall swear.
(Is. 45:1, 23)
Clearly Paul applies a Tanak passage which clearly speaks of YHWH to the Messiah.
Now lets look at Rom. 10:9, 13:
And if you confess with your mouth our Adon Yeshua,
And you believe in your heart that Eloah raised him from the dead,
you will be saved. …
For all who will call on the name of YHWH will be saved.
(Rom. 10:9, 13)
Here Paul clearly quotes Joel 3:5 (2:32) but applies the passage to Yeshua despite the fact that Joel is clearly here speaking of YHWH.
There are several other examples: James 5:7 clearly speaks of the coming of Messiah as likened to the “former and latter rain” while in Hosea 6:3 this is clearly the coming of YHWH. Likewise Jude 1:14 & 1 Thes. 3:13 refer to the coming of Messiah yet quote 1Enoch 1:9 & Zech. 14:5 which clearly refer to the coming of YHWH. Finally in Mt. 22:41-46 Yeshua himself identifies himself with the “YHWH” at the right hand of “YHWH” in Ps. 110:1-2, 5.
The Three Pillars
Now in Romans 1:19-20 we are told that
what may be known of Elohim is manifest in them [mankind]
his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even his eternal power
and Godhead [or divine nature]…”
Then in Rom. 1:26-28 we are told that those who fail to perceive these things may fall into the errors of Homosexuality and Lesbianism. So when in creation were G-d’s invisible attributes manifested in man and made clearly seen. The answer is in the Torah, in Gen. 1:26, 27 where we read:
Then Elohim said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…
So Elohim created man in His own image;
in the image of Elohim He created him;
male and female He created them.
Now following the parallelism of the passage, “Our image”; “Our likeness” and “male and female” appear to be parallel terms.
Now there are passages in the Tanak in which YHWH is referred to in a male, fatherly aspect:
…If then I be a Father, Where is My honor?…
Says YHWH of Hosts…
(Mal. 1:6)
…You, O YHWH, are our Father,…
(Is. 63:16)
But now O YHWH, You are our Father…
(Is. 64:7)
But there are also passages in the Tanak in which YHWH is referred to in a female, motherly aspect:
As one whom his Mother comforts,
so will I comfort you…
(Is. 66:13)
Now YHWH as a “Father” and YHWH as a “Mother” are clearly two DIFFERENT aspects of YHWH, they are not the same thing.
Moreover YHWH as an allegorical “Mother” is also YHWH as a “comforter” which is the same as the Holy Spirit:
…the comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom my Father will send in my name…
(Jn. 14:27 see also Jn. 14:16-17; 15:26 & 16:7)
Now just as YHWH is expressed as an allegorical “Father” and an allegorical “Mother”, the combination of these two aspects produce an allegorical “son”:
Who has ascended up into heaven, and descended?
Who has gathered the wind in his fists?
Who has bound the waters in his garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His name? And what is His Son’s name, if you know?
(Prov. 30:4)
The kings of the earth stand up,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against YHWH, and against His Messiah…
YHWH said to me: “You are My Son,”
This day have I begotten you…
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry…
(Ps. 2:2, 7, 12)
So now we have a Godhead which is the “image of Elohim” and is “male and female” expressing YHWH to us as a Father, a Mother and a Son.
Since the Son is the combination of the Father and Mother aspects of YHWH he is the fullness of the everlasting Godhead: “in him dwells the fullness of the Godhead” (Col. 2:9).
Thus the Messiah encompasses all the image of Elohim from which we were created:
…the Messiah, who is the likeness of Elohim.
(2Cor. 4:4)
[his Son] who is the image of the invisible Elohim…
(Col. 1:15)
[the Son] who is the radiance of his glory,
and the image of his being…
(Heb. 1:3)
And thus we can see all three aspects of the Godhead in passages like:
I, yes, I have spoken, indeed, I have called him,
I have brought him, and he will make his way succeed.
Come near to me and hear this: from the beginning
I have not spoken in [the] secret; from the time that she was,
there I am, and now ADONAI YHVH has sent me and his spirit.
(Is. 48:15-16 Original Bible Project preliminary edition)
Note the speaker is YHWH. Here we have:
1. YHWH the speaker.
2. ADONAI YHWH who sent Him.
3. “she” i.e. “his spirit”
(“ruach” (spirit) is the only feminine word that “she” could refer to)
Another example of these three aspects is to be found in Hebrews 9:14:
How much more shall the blood of Messiah,
who through the eternal Spirit
offered himself without spot to Elohim,
purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living Elohim?
Here we again have three aspects:
1. The Messiah (who is YHWH)
2. The Spirit through which his blood is offered.
3. The Elohim to whom he offers himself.
These three aspects of the Godhead are called in the Aramaic “K’NUMEH” (plural) “K’NUMA” (singular) as we read in Yochanan (John) 5:26:
For the Father has life in his K’NUMA,
Thus he gave also the Son to have life in his K’NUMA.
(Jn. 5:26 from the Aramaic)
K’NUMA is an Aramaic word meaning “aspect, element, substance, essence”. The three aspects of the Godhead are three K’NUMEH but are only one YHWH.
ECHAD as a Unity
This brings us to the wording of the Sh’ma:
SH’MA YISRAEL: YHWH, ELOHEYNU, YHWH ECHAD
“Hear O Israel, YHWH, our Elohim, YHWH is one.”
(Deut. 6:4)
Let us examine other passages in the Torah to understand how this word ECHAD (“one”) is used in the Torah:
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined
to his wife, and they shall become one [ECHAD] flesh.
(Gen. 2:24)
And YHWH said, “Indeed the people are one [ECHAD] and they
all have one language…
(Gen. 11:6)
Thus it is clear that the word ECHAD in no way requires a singularity and can refer to a composite unity. Thus Deut. 6:4 may be taken as referring to the absolute unity of the three K’NUMEH of Father, Mother (Holy Spirit Comforter) and Son (Messiah).
The Deity of Messiah
And
The Three Pillars of the Godhead
By James Scott Trimm
Part 2
The Deity of Messiah is Jewish
Preface
The reader should know that the Zohar, Bahir and Sefer Yetzirah are the three most authoritative works of Kabbalah which is Jewish mysticism. The purpose of this part is to demonstrate that the deity of Messiah and three pillars of the Godhead is indeed a Jewish concept.
The Sh’ma
In Part 1 we discussed the meaning of the word ECHAD in the Sh’ma which reads:
SH’MA YISRAEL YHWH ELOHEYNU YHWH ECHAD
“Hear O Israel, YHWH, our Elohim, YHWH is one (ECHAD)”
(Deut. 6:4)
Now let us to explore how this passage is understood by the Zohar:
The [profession of] unity that every day is [a profession of] unity
is to be understood and to be perceived. We have said in many places
that this prayer is a profession of Unity that is proclaimed:
”Hear O Yisrael, YHWH“ first, [then] “Eloheynu” [and] “YHWH” they are all One and thus He is called “One”.
Behold, these are three names, how can they be one? Is it because we call them one? (literally: And also concerning the proclamation that we call them one?). How these are one can only through the vision of the Holy Sprit be known. And these are through the vision of the closed eye (or the hidden eye) To make known that these three are one (i.e. a Tri-Unity).
And this is the mystery of the voice that is heard. The voice is one. And is three GAUNIN: fire and air and water. And all these are one in the mystery of the voice.
And also here “YHWH, Eloheynu, YHWH” these are One. Three GAUNIN that are One. And this is the voice of the act of a son of man in [proclaiming] the Unity.
And to which he sees by the Unity of the “All” from Eyn Sof (the Inifinite One) to the end of the “All”. Because of the voice in which it is done, in these are three that are one (i.e. a Tri-Unity).
And this is the [profession] of the daily profession of Unity that is revealed in the mystery of the Holy Spirit.
And there are many GAUNIN that are a Unity, and all of them are true, what the one does, that the other does, and what that one does, the other does.
(Zohar 2:43)
(The Aramaic word GA’UN (sing.)/GAUNIN (plural) has the same meaning in the Zohar as the Aramaic word K’NUMA did in the Aramaic New Testament. GAUN comes from the word for “color” and refer to an “aspect, element, substance, essence”. )
Thus the Zohar understands the Sh’ma to mean that YHWH, Elohim and YHWH are three GA’UNIN. This section of the Zohar also recalls a reading from the Sefer Yetzirah:
Three “mothers”: Alef; Mem and Shin
Their foundation is a pan of merit
a pan of liability
and the tongue of decree deciding between them.
(Sefer Yetzirah 3:1)
Three “mothers”, Alef, Mem, Shin
in the universe are air, water, fire…
(Sefer Yetzirah 3:4a)
(Note: The letter SHIN has a gematria (numerical value) of 300 which is the same as the gematria of the phrase ”Ruach Elohim” (the Spirit of God).)
As it we will demonstrate the “tongue of decree deciding between them” is the Middle Pillar of the Godhead which reconciles the two outer pillars of the Godhead.
The Three Pillars of the Godhead
The Zohar also calls these three GAUNIN the three pillars of the Godhead. The Zohar teaches that the two outer pillars are reconciled by the middle pillar just as the “tongue of decree” decides between the two pans of the scale in the Sefer Yetzirah. The Zohar reads as follows:
Concerning this, too, it is written: “Let there be light, and there was light” (Gen. I, 3). Why, it may be asked, was it necessary to repeat the word “light” in this verse? The answer is that the first “light” refers to the primordial light which is of the Right Hand, and is destined for the “end of days”; while the second “light” refers to the Left Hand, which issues from the Right. The next words, “And God saw the light that it was good” (Gen. 1, 4), refer to the pillar which, standing midway between them, unites both sides, and therefore when the unity of the three, right, left, and middle, was complete, “it was good”, since there could be no completion until the third had appeared to remove the strife between Right and Left, as it is written, “And Elohim separated between the light and between the darkness” (Ibid.).
(Zohar 2:167a)
This is the Middle Pillar: Ki Tob (that it was good) threw light above and below and on all other sides, in virtue of Tetragrammaton, the name which embraces all sides.
(Zohar 1:16b)
The Middle Pillar of the Godhead is the Son of Yah
According to the Zohar the Middle Pillar of the Godhead is the Son of Yah:
Better is a neighbor that is near, than a brother far off.
This neighbor is the Middle Pillar in the Godhead,
which is the Son of Yah.
(Zohar 2:115)
The Zohar also says of the Son of YHWH:
The Holy One, blessed be He, has a son, whose glory (tifret)
shines from one end of the world to another. He is a great
and mighty tree, whose head reaches heaven, and whose roots
are set in the holy ground, and his name is “Mispar” and his
place is in the uppermost heaven… as it is written, “The heavens
declare (me-SaPRim) the glory (tifret) of God” (Ps. 19:1).
Were it not for this “Mispar” there would be neither hosts
nor offspring in any of the worlds.
(Zohar 2:105a)
This Zohar passage is intended to recall a passage from the Bahir:
Why are they called Sephirot?
Because it is written (Ps. 19:2),
“The heavens declare (me-SaPRim) the glory (tifret) of God.”
(Bahir 125)
The Zohar also says concering the Son of Yah:
“We may also translate “he who withholds blessings
from the Son” (Prov. 11:26), whom the Father and Mother
have CROWNED and blessed with many blessings,
and concerning whom they commanded, “Kiss the SON
lest he be angry” (Ps. 2:12), since he is invested
with judgment (GEVURAH) and with mercy (CHESED)”
(Zohar 3:191b)
Metatron
The Zohar also identifies the Middle Pillar as “Metatron”:
The Middle Pillar [of the Godhead] is Metatron,
Who has accomplished peace above,
according to the glorious state there.
(Zohar 3:227)
the Zohar teaches that Metatron is not just the Son of Yah, but that he is “first begotten of all the creatures of God”:
“And Abraham said to his oldest servant of his house…” (Gen. 24:2)
Who is this of whom it said “his servant?”
In what sense must this be understood? Who is this servant?
R. Nehori answered: “It is in no other sense to be understood
than expressed in the word “His servant,” His servant,
the servant of God, the chief to His service.
And who is he? Metatron, as said. He is appointed to glorify
the bodies which are in the grave. This is the meaning of the words
“Abraham said to His servant” that is to the servant of God.
The servant is Metatron, the eldest of His [YHWH's] House,
who is the first-begotten of all creatures of God,
who is the ruler of all He has; because God has committed to Him
the government over all His hosts.
(Zohar 1:129b)
The Memra (The Word)
Another term for the Middle Pillar of the Godhead in Judaism is the Memra (the “Word”). The eminent Kabbalah Scholar Gershom Scholem writes of the Memra:
…the memra– the paraphrase used in the Targumim,
the Aramaic Bible translations, to refer to God’s word.
The memra is not merely a linguistic device for overcoming
the problem of biblical anthropomorphisms; it has theological
significance in its own right. The memra….is…. a world-permeating
force, a reality in the world of matter or mind, the immanent aspect
of Elohim, holding all things under its omnipresent sway.
(On the Mystical Shape of the Godhead:
Basic Concepts in the Kabbalah, by Gershom Scholem pg 181-182)
The Targums were authoritative Aramaic paraphrases of the books of the Tanak which were read in the synagogues along with the Hebrew of the Torah and Haftorah readings. Whenever the Targums come to passages where YHWH is anthropomorphisised or seen, or where two or more YHWHs are indicated by the text, the Targums will often substitute “The Word [Memra] of YHWH” for YHWH. For example in Gen. 19:4 the Tanak has:
And YHVH rained brimstone and fire
upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah,
from YHVH, from the heavens.
(Original Bible Project preliminary edition)
The Hebrew grammar here indicates that one YHWH rains fire from another YHWH) But Targum Jonathan substitutes “The Word of YHWH/the LORD” for the first of the two YHWHs as follows:
And the Word of the YHWH caused to descend
upon the peoples of Sodom and Gommorah,
brimstone and fire from the YHWH in heaven.
In another example the Torah has:
Ex. 24:1a (YHWH is the speaker, see Ex. 20:1-2)
Now He [YHWH] said to Moses, “come up to YHWH…”
But Targum Jonathan paraphrases the speaker in Ex. 20:1 with the substitution “the Word [Memra] of YHWH” in place of “YHWH.”
And the Word of the Lord spoke all these glorious words…
So it would seem that one of these entities called “YHWH” in these Torah passages was actually understood by the Targumists as being the “Word of YHWH.” It was, according to Targum Onkelos, this Word of YHWH that Abraham trusted in:
And Abraham trusted in the Word [Memra] of YHWH,
and He counted it to him for righteousness.
(Targum Onkelos Gen. 15:6)
Moreover Abraham prayed in the name of the Word of YHWH:
And Abraham worshipped and prayed
in the name of the Word [Memra] of YHWH,
and said, “You are YHWH who does see, but You cannot be seen.”
(Jerusalem Targum Gen. 22:14)
Note that here Abraham prays “in the name of the Word of YHWH” to the YHWH who “cannot be seen.” Here two YHWHs are very apparent. Abraham is praying in the name of the Word of YHWH but is praying to the YHWH who cannot be seen. This idea is reinforced elsewhere as follows:
And Hagar praised and prayed
in the name of the Word [Memra] Of YHWH
who had revealed Himself to her…
(Jerusalem Targum Gen. 16:3)
It was this Word of YHWH that Jacob also trusted in:
And Jacob vowed a vow, saying,
“If the Word [Memra] of YHWH will be my support,
and will keep me in the way that I go,
and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
so that I come again to my father’s house in peace;
then shall the Word [Memra]of YHWH be my God.
(Targum Onkelos on Gen. 28:20-21)
King David also urged Israel to trust in the Word of Yah as the Targum of Psalm 62 reads:
Trust in the Word of Yah at all times,
O people of the house of Israel!
Pour out before Him the sighings of your heart;
Say, God is our trust forever.
(Targum on Psalm 62:9)
This “Word of YHWH” was, according to Targum Jonathan, the Creator:
And the Word [Memra] of YHWH
created man in his likeness,
in the likeness of YHWH, YHWH created,
male and female created He them.
(Targ. Jonathan Gen. 1:27)
This idea is also put forward in the Jerusalem Targum:
And the Word [Memra] of YHWH said to Moses:
“I am He who said unto the world ‘Be!’ and it was:
and who in the future shall say to it ‘Be!’ and it shall be.”
And He said: “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel:
‘I Am’ has sent me to you.”
(Jerusalem Targum Ex. 3:14)
The Fragmentary Targum of the Torah also expresses that the Word of YHWH was the Creator:
The first night, when the “Word of YHWH”
was revealed to the world in order to create it,
the world was desolate and void,
and darkness spread over the face of the abyss
and the “Word of the Lord” was bright and illuminating
and He called it the first night.
(Fragmentary Targum Ex. 12:42)
That the Word of YHWH was the Creator can also be seen in the Tanak itself:
By the Word of YHWH were the heavens made,
And all the hosts of them by the Spirit of His mouth.
(Ps. 33:6)
The Word was also the covenant maker. For example the Noachdic covenant was between the Word and all mankind:
And YHWH said to Noah,
“This is the token of the covenant
which I have established between My Word [Memra]
and between all flesh that is upon the earth.
(Targum Onkelos Gen. 9:17)
The Word also made the Abrahamic covenant as Targum Onkelos also paraphrases:
And I will establish my covenant
between My Word [Memra] and between you…
(Targum Onkelos Gen. 17:7)
The Word of YHWH was also the giver of the Mosaic Covenant and the Torah as the Jerusalem Targum (as quoted above) makes the Torah giver “the Word of YHWH” in Ex. 20:1. It was to th e Word that Jacob turned to for salvation:
Our father Jacob said: “My soul does not wait for salvation
such as that wrought by Gideon, the son of Joash,
for that was but temporal; neither for a salvation
like that of Samson, which was only transitory;
but for that salvation which You have promised to come,
through Your Word unto Your people, the children of Israel;
for your salvation my soul hopes.”
(Targum Jonathan Gen. 49:18)
That the Word of YHWH is the savior is expressed elsewhere:
But Israel shall be saved by the Word of YHWH
with an everlasting salvation…
By the Word of YHWH shall all the seed of Israel be justified…
(Targum Jonathan Is. 45:17, 25)
But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah,
and I will save them by the Word of YHWH, their God.
(Targum Jonathan Hosea 1:7)
Conclusion
Thus the Zohar teaches that the Sh’ma (Deut. 6:4) refers to the three pillars of the Godhead as being ECHAD. Moreover the Zohar also teaches that the Middle Pillar of the Godhead reconciles the two outer Pillars (Father and Mother). The Zohar further teaches that this Middle Pillar of the Godhead is the Son of Yah, the firstborn of all creation who will glorify all the bodies which are in the grave. This is the Word of YHWH in whom Abraham placed his faith and who made the covenant with Israel.
Deity of Messiah Part 3
The Deity of Messiah
And
The Three Pillars of the Godhead
By James Scott Trimm
Part 3 The Trinities of Christendom
Three Persons?
Now as shown in part one, the Aramaic “New Testament” refers to the components of the Godhead as K’NUMA (sing.)/K’NUMEH (plural). As we have learned both the Biblical and Jewish model of the Godhead contains two contrasting K’NUMEH/GAUNIN and a third K’NUMA/GAUN which was a combination or harmonization of the other two. This third K’NUMA/GAUN is the Son of Yah.
The original Aramaic followers of Yeshua maintained that there were three K’NUMEH and one PARSOPA or one KYANA. This Aramaic terminology continued to be used by the Aramaic speaking Assyrian Christians of the Church of the East (and still is).
The early Greek speaking believers used the Greek words HYPOSTASIS for K’NUMA and PROSOPON for PARSOPA. They maintained a belief in a Godhead with three HYPOSASIS (aspects, substances) and one PROSAPON (person). The earliest Greek “Church Fathers” also used these terms. However the later Greek “Church Fathers” inverted this formulation creating a Godhead of three PROSAPONS (persons) who are one in HYPOSTASIS (essence). Finally the Latin “Church Fathers” formulates a Trinity with three PERSONAS (persons) and only one SUBSTANTIA (essence. Substance).
Now by the year 362 C.E. the Roman Church had become embroiled in a crisis. The conflict in terminology was becoming a problem for Rome. Rome was promoting a Trinity with three persons (PERSONA) in one substance (SUBSTANTIA) but this formula was in conflict with the early Greek “Church Fathers”, a formulation which many Greek speaking Christians still held to. This left the Greek speaking Christians in a dispute. Some held to a Godhead with three aspects (HYPOSTASIS) and one person (PROSPOPON) while others held to a Trinity with three persons (PROSOPONS) who are one in substance/essence (HYPOSTASIS). The Ecclesiastical Council of Alexandria was held in 362 to resolve this dispute. The whole matter was wept under the rug at this council when Rome ruled that both Greek schools were using different words to say the same thing. Rome ruled that the “Old School” Greeks MEANT “PERSONA” when they used HYPOSTASIS and that they had MEANT “SUBSTANTIA” when they used the term PROSOPON. Thus Rome had succeeded in transforming the triune Godhead of three aspects in one person into three persons who are one in substance/essence.
The Mormons have taken this process a stage further. They teach a “Godhead” of three persons who are not one in essence but are one only in “purpose”. This variation brings Rome’s Trinity of three persons firmly into the territory of Tri-Theism.
So is it valid to say that there are three “persons” in the Godhead in English? It depends on what one means by “person”. There are several definitions of the word “person” in English. If you look in a Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary you will find that the first and most common definition of “person” in English is “a human being”. Certainly Elohim is not three “human beings”… in fact He is not even ONE “human being”. The last definition in the Unabridged Dictionary is “any of the three modes of the Trinity”. So one might argue that the aspects of the three pillars of the Godhead may be called “persons” by virtue of a special definition of the word in English apart from any other meaning of the word. However use of the word “person” in English creates confusion because it strongly implies agreement with the Roman Trinity of three persons who are one in essence. More accurate terms are “three pillars”; “three aspects”; “three GAUNIN”; “three K’NUMEH” or “three Tzachtzachot (splendors)”.
Now the Orthodox Christian Trinity with three “persons” who are one in essence has certain problems.
In Isaiah 9:6-7 the Son (the Messiah) is called “everlasting Father” while 1Cor. 15:45; 2Cor. 3:17 and Rom. 8:9-11 taken together seem to identify the Son with the Spirit.
According to the NT we as believers are immersed in the Messiah (Rom. 6:3-4; Gal. 3:27); we have the “Spirit of Messiah” which raised Messiah (Rom. 8:9-11) in our hearts (Gal. 4:6; Eph. 3:17), which is the “Spirit of God” (1Jn. 4:12-13) or the “Holy Spirit” (1Cor. 6:19; 1Thes. 4:8). This also would seem to identify the Messiah with the Holy Spirit.
Finally Col. 2:9 states of Messiah “in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead”.
These passages pose problems for the Orthodox Christian trinity of three “persons”.
How can the Messiah be called “everlasting Father” if they are different persons? How can the Messiah be identified with the Holy Spirit if they are different persons? And finally how can the Messiah have “all the fullness of the Godhead” dwelling within him if he is only one of three persons in the Godhead?
Absolute Oneness?
Many of these difficulties with the Orthodox Christian trinity have led to the advent of a doctrine known as “Oneness Theology” in certain Christian circles. Oneness theology teaches that the Father, the Holy Spirit and the Son are all one and the same thing.
However “Oneness Theology” has other problems. For example Messiah stated that the Father is greater than he (Jn. 14:28). But this cannot be the case if they are one and the same.
The distinction between the three K’NOMEH of the Godhead is clear in a number of other passages as well:
The Father sends the Spirit (Jn. 14:26); Messiah sends the Spirit (Jn. 15:26); the Father sends Messiah (Jn. 17:8; 20:21) and in Jn. 14-16 we read that Messiah would have to leave so that the Holy Spirit cold come.
Moreover as shown earlier, in Hebrews 9:14 Messiah presents himself through the Spirit to “Elohim”. This would not be possible if they were all one and the same.
In other examples:
Yeshua could not have been praying to himself in the garden when he said “let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will but as you will.” (Mt. 26:39)
Is. 11:1-2 says that Messiah would have the “fear of YHWH”… did he fear himself?
In. Mt. 13:32 the Son does not know the day nor hour of his return but the Father does. They cannot be one and the same.
In Rev. 5 the Lamb takes the sealed book from the right hand of the figure on the throne… but how could this be if they are one and the same?
Finally the Messiah is frequently described as sitting or standing at the right hand of the Father (a clear allusion to Ps. 110:1, 4) how could this be if they are one and the same?
Clearly Christian “Oneness Theology” cannot stand… the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are not one and the same thing, they are different aspects of the one Elohim.
Conclusion: The True Understanding of the Godhead
The true understanding of the Godhead resolves all of the difficulties found in both the Orthodox Christian and Oneness Christian models.
The true understanding of the Godhead understands the Son as the combination of the Father and the Spirit and thus the Son can be identified with either. However as a combination of these two he is a third, unique and distinct aspect within the one person of the Godhead. Thus the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are three K’NUMEH or three GAUNIN (aspects), which are but one PARSOPA (person).
Deity of Messiah Part 4
The Deity of Messiah
And
The Three Pillars of the Godhead
By James Scott Trimm
Part 4
The Kabbalistic Godhead Model in the First Century
The purpose of Part 4 in this series is to establish the fact that the Gohead model set forth in Part 2 was not simply a late innovation of the middle ages, but in fact can be traced back to Judaism at least back to the first century.The Essene Roots of KabbalahThe two most authoritative earliest works of Rabbinic Kabbalah are the Sefer Yetzirah and the Bahir.
The earliest known reference to the Sefer Yetzirah is found in the Jerusalem Talmud which mentions the book as having been used by Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya (j.San. 7:13 (41a)) who lived in the late first century. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya (47 BCE – 73 CE) was one of the five talmidim (students) of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai (m.Avot 2:8) who is said to have received his tradition from his colleague Rabbi Nehunia ben HaKana the traditional author of the Bahir. According to the Sefer HaTagin Rabbi Nehunia ben HaKana learned his teaching from a certain Menachem. Most scholars identify this Menechem as Menechem the prominent early first century Essene by that name mentioned by Josephus (Ant. 15:10:5). Thus the Kabbalistic tradition in Rabbinic Judaism can within its own tradition be traced back to early first century Essene Judaism, the sect of Judaism which most scholars believe were authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The Dead Sea Scrolls and Kabbalah
Now it is well known that researchers believe that Chritendom has roots at Qumran. What is less well known is that many researchers also see the roots of Kabbalah at Qumran.
Kabbalah had its beginning as “torat-ha-sod” as Adin Steinsaltz writes:
The sources state that torat ha-sod (mysticism)
was divided into two parts: Ma’aseh Bereshit (Act of Creation)
and Ma’aseh Merkavah (Divine Chariot). The former was more
theoretical and dealt with the creation of the world and the first
divine revelations. Ma’aseh Merkavah, based on the prophet
Ezekiel’s description of the Divine Chariot, is a study of the
prevailing relations between God and the world and apparently
contained the seeds of what later came to be known as
Kabbalah ma’asit (practical kabbalah).
(The Essential Talmud; Adin Steinsaltz p. 213)
And as G. Vermes writes:
The Throne-Chariot was a central subject of meditation
in ancient as well as in medieval Jewish esotericism
and mysticism, but the guardians of the Rabbinic orthodoxy
tended to discourage such speculation. The liturgical use
of Ezekiel’s chapter on the Chariot is expressly forbidden
in the Mishnah; it even lays down that no wise man is
to share his understanding of the Merkavah with a person
less enlightened than himself. As a result, there is very little
ancient literary material extant on the subject, and the Qumran
text is therefore of great importance to the study of the Origins
of Jewish mysticism.
(The Dead Sea Scroll in English; Second Edition; G.Vermes; p. 211)
Among the parallels between Kabbalah and Qumran esotericism is the strong parallel between the Metatron figure of Kabbalah and the Melchizadek figure at Qumran as P. Alexander writes:
The Merkabah literature has links also with Qumran.
Perhaps the closest Parallels are in the following texts:
The angelic liturgy (4QsirSabb) … The heavenly
Melchizedek (11QMelch) [also known as 11Q13]…
Physiognomies (4QCryptic)…
(OTP Vol. 1 pp. 250-251)
Regarding the Melchizedek/Metatron connection Alexander states:
In this text Melchizedek appears as being exalted
over all angels. It is stated that he will preside over
a heavenly assize and exact Punishment, with the help
of other angels, from Belial and his Minions. In view of
the priestly functions of Melchizedek in the Bible (Gen. 14:8;
Ps. 110:4), van der Woude has conjectured that at Qumran
Melchizedek may have been regarded as the high priest of
the heavenly Temple and identified with the archangel Michael,
who fulfills the role of the heavenly high priest in rabbinic tradition …
However all of this is very uncertain. A number of clear parallels
between the heavenly Melchizedek of Qumran and Metatron
of 3 Enoch at once suggest themselves: both figures hold exalted,
if not pre-eminent, positions among the angels, both are heavenly
judges… and both, apparently had earthly lives prior to their exalted,
heavenly states.
(ibid)
The Deity of Messiah in the Dead Sea Scrolls
The fact that the Qumran community believed in the deity of the Messiah can best be shown by examining the Qumran community’s understanding of Is. 61:1-2. Now we know from 4Q521 that the Qumran community saw the one “anointed” by YHWH in Is. 61:1-2 as the Messiah as this fragment reads:
For the heavens and the earth shall listen to His Messiah …
And then goes on to allude to Is. 61:1-2. Another reference to the figure of Is. 61:1-2 is made in another Qumran document known as 11Q13. 11Q13 speaks of this Messiah as a figure called “Melchizedek.” In this document Is. 61:2 is quoted with “Melchizedek” substituted for YHWH. Furthermore the terms EL and ELOHIM are in 11Q13 applied to the Melchizedek/Messiah figure.
11Q13 Col. 4-9 quotes Is. 61:1-2 but substitutes “the year of Melchizedek’s favor” for “the year of YHWH’s favor” thus identifying the Melchizedek figure with YHWH in this passage. 11Q13 goes on to say:
…as it is written about him [Melchizedek] in
the Songs of David, “ELOHIM has taken his place
in the council of EL; in the midst of the ELOHIM
he holds judgment” (Ps. 82:1)
Scripture also says about him [Melchizedek],
“Over it take your seat in the highest heaven;
EL will judge the peoples” (Ps. 7:7-8)
(11Q13 Col. 10-11)
The text of 11Q13 goes on to apply the passage “Your ELOHIM reigns” (Is. 52:7) to Melchizedek finally concluding:
“Your ELOHIM” (Is. 52:7) is Melchizedek,
who will deliver them from the power of Belial.
(11Q13 Col. 24-25)
It is therefore apparent that the Qumran community saw the Messiah as a Melchizedek figure who was identified as EL, ELOHIM and even YHWH.
Further evidence for belief in the deity of Messiah at Qumran is found in a reference in the Book of Enoch, (seven fragmentary copies of this book were found in cave four at Qumran). In Enoch 14 Enoch is having a vision of the divine throne in which the figure on the throne calls to Enoch “come near to Me and to My Holy Word.” (1En. 14: 24). Thus it would seem that the concept of the entity known as the “Word” of YHWH which we discussed in terms of Rabbinic Judaism earlier, was also held to by the Qumran community. It seems hard to escape the fact that in 1En. 14:24 the “Word” of YHWH seems to be positioned next to the throne of YHWH, just as Melchizedek is in Ps. 110.
Philo and Kabbalah
In addition to the Dead Sea Scrolls the first century Jewish writer Philo also wrote many things which demonstrate that this same Godhead model found in the Kabbalah existed in the first century. Philo believed that the essence of God was unknowable to man, but that man could know God thru his emanations. Philo writes:
…Every man in regard of his intellect is connected with Logos (Word),
being an impression of, or a fragment or emanation of that blessed
nature…
(Philo; On Creation LI (146))
Philo gave a very detailed description to the Word (Logos). To Philo the Word was the creator:
As therefore the city, when previously shadowed out in
the mind of architectural skill had no external place, but
was stamped solely in the mind of the workman, so in
the same manner neither can the world which existed in
ideas have had any other local position except the
Logos which made them…
(Philo; On Creation V (20))
Philo taught that the Word (Logos) was the shadow of God and that man was made in the image of the Word (Logos):
…But the shadow of God is his Word,
which he used like an instrument when he was
making the world.
(Philo; Allegorical Interpretation III XXXI (96))
…For God does not seem to have availed himself
of any other animal existing in creation as his model
in the formation of man; but to have been guided,
as I have said before, by his own Word alone…
(Philo; On Creation XLVIII (139))
Most astonishingly, Philo identifies the Word of God as God’s “first-born son!”:
…For God, like a shepherd and king, governs
(as if they were a flock of sheep) the earth, and the water,
and the fire, and the air and all the plants, and living
creatures that are in them, whether mortal or divine;
and he regulates the nature of the heaven, and the periodical
revolutions of the sun and moon, and the variations
and harmonious movements of the other stars, ruling them
according to law and justice; appointing as their immediate
superintendent, his own right Word [Logos], his first-born son,
who is to receive the charge of this sacred company,
as the lieutenant of the great king;…
(Philo; On Husbandry XII (45))
Philo also taught that “Wisdom” is the “Mother of the Word [Logos]” Philo also identified the three angels which appeared to Abraham in Gen. 18 as “God, the creative power”; “Lord, the ruling power”; and “the Word [Logos].” Not only did Philo teach that God’ first-born son is the “Word” and that “Wisdom” is his mother, Philo also clearly taught the concept of a Trinity. He refers to God as “…the Lord of three natures…”(Philo; On the Change of Names II, 11)
Elsewhere Philo writes:
…it is reasonable for one to be three and for three to be one,
for they were one by a higher principle… …he makes
the appearance of a trinity [triad]… He cannot be seen
in his oneness without something [else], the chief Powers
that that exist immediately with him… the Creative, which
is called “God” and the Kingly, which is called “Lord”…
[Abraham] begins to see the sovereign, holy, and divine vision
in such a way that single appearance appears as a trinity [triad],
and the trinity [triad] as a unity.
(Philo; Questions on Genesis, IV, 2)
Conclusion
In closing it is clear that the tradition of the Godhead model found in the Kabbalah tradition of Rabbinic Judaism can be traced back to a tradition held by the early first century Essenes who authored the Dead Sea Scrolls. This Godhead tradition also can be found in the writings of the first century Jewish writer Philo.
Deity of Messiah Part 5
Deity of Messiah
And
The Three Pillars of the Godhead
By James Scott Trimm
Part 5 The Kabbalistic Godhead Model Among the Ancient Nazarenes
The Minim
Now before beginning this section it is important to define an important Talmudic term MIN (singular) / MINIM (plural).
The fourth century “Church Father” Jerome writes of the Nazarenes and Ebionites:
What shall I say of the Ebionites who pretend to be Christians?
Today there still exists among the Jews in all the synagogues
of the East a heresy which is called that of the Minæans,
and which is still condemned by the Pharisees; [its followers]
are ordinarily called ‘Nazarenes’; they believe that Christ,
the son of God, was born of the Virgin Mary, and they hold him
to be the one who suffered under Pontius Pilate and ascended
to heaven, and in whom we also believe.”
(Jerome; Letter 75 Jerome to Augustine)
Now Ebionites and Nazarenes were two distinct groups with varying beliefs (the Ebionites split off from the Nazarenes round 70 C.E.) but both of these groups were known by Rabbinic Jews as “Minim” or as Jerome calls them in Latin “Mineans”.
According to the Dictionary of the Targumim, Talmud Babli, Yerushalami and Midrashic Literature Marcus Jastrow defines MIN “…sectarian, infidel… a Jewish infidel, mostly applied to Jew Christians”. Jastrow uses the term “Jew-Christians” to refer to Ebionites and Nazarenes although these groups did not call themselves “Christians”.
Many scholars believe that the term MIN began as an acronym for a Hebrew phrase meaning “Believers in Yeshua the Nazarene”.
Many Powers in Heaven
The Mishna states that the MINIM taught:
“There are many ‘powers’ in heaven”
Mym#b twyw#r hbrh
(m.San. 4:5)
Clearly the MINIM in this portion of the Mishna were Nazarenes and not Ebionites, since Ebionites clearly rejected the deity of Messiah.
The Mishna counters that man was created alone in order to disprove this teaching of the MINIM. In fact Man was created “male and female” in “our image”/”the image of Elohim” and after being separated into a male and female these two were ECHAD (all of this was discussed in part 1) just as the three K’NUMEH of the Godhead are ECHAD.
In the Gemara to this portion of Mishna (b.San. 38b) the Talmud discusses various proof texts that the MINIM used to support their teaching of “many powers in heaven” and attempts to rebut them:
R. Johanan sad: In all the passages which the Minim have taken
[as grounds] for their heresy, their refutation is found near at hand.
Thus: Let us make man in our image, (Gen. 1:26)
And God created [sing.] man in His own image; (Gen. 1:27)
Come, let us go down and there confound their language, (Gen. 11:7)
And the Lord came down [sing.] to see the city and the tower; (Gen. 11:5)
Because there were revealed [plur.] to him God, (Gen. 35:7)
Unto God who answereth [sing.] me in the day of my distress; (Gen. 35:3)
For what great nation is there that hath God so nigh [plur.] unto it,
as the Lord our God is [unto us] whensoever we call upon Him [sing.]; (Deut. 4:7)
And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, [like] Israel,
whom God went [plur.] to redeem for a people unto himself [sing.], (2Sam. 7:23)
Till thrones were placed and one that was ancient did sit. (Dan. 7:9)
Why were these [plurals] necessary? To teach R. Johanan’s dictum;
viz.: The Holy One, blessed be He, does nothing without consulting
His Heavenly Court (literally “Family”) , for it is written, The matter
is by the decree of the watchers, and the sentence by the word of
the Holy Ones.(Dan. 4:14)
This section of Talmud tells us that the MINIM used Tanak passages in which Elohim was referenced in a plural form as proof texts for their teaching of “many powers in the heavens”. Among their proof texts were Gen. 1:26; 11:7; 35:7; Deut. 4:7; Sam. 7:23 & Dan. 7:9). The Rabbinic Jews dismissed these as examples of Elohim speaking to “His Heavenly Court” (literally “Heavenly Family”) i.e. the “watchers” of Dan. 4:14.
Now I want to examine the first of these (Gen. 1:26) in more detail. This passage appears as a synonymous parallelism as follows:
And Elohim said: “Let us make man in our image,
After our likeness;…
And Elohim created man in His own image,
in the image of Elohim created He him;
male and female created He them.
(Gen. 1:26-27)
In context “our image” = “our likeness” = “the image of Elohim” = “male and female”. As we discussed in part one, Paul refers back to this point in Romans 1 to establish that there are invisible attributes in the Godhead made manifest in the creation that when ignored may lead persons into the errors of Homosexuality and Lesbianism. It is not speaking of the “Watchers” but the “male and female” “image of Elohim”.
Even the Rabbinic Jews realized that their explanation of Elohim speaking to the Watchers did not work for many of the MINIM proof texts (including Dan. 7:9) and so the Talmud goes on to address these passages:
Now, that is satisfactory for all [the other verses], but how explain
Till thrones were placed? (Dan. 7:9) One [throne] was for Himself
and one for David [Messiah]. Even as it has been taught:
One was for Himself and one for David: this is R. Akiba’s view.
R. Jose protested to him: Akiba, how long will thou profane the Sh’kinah?
Rather, one [throne] for justice, and the other for mercy.
Did he accept [this answer] from him or not? Come and hear!
For it has been taught: One is for justice and the other for charity;
this is R. Akiba’s view. Said R. Eleazar b. Azariah to him: Akiba,
what hast thou to do with Aggada? Confine thyself to [the study of]
Nega’im and Ohaloth [civil issues]. But one was a throne, the other
a footstool: a throne for a seat and a footstool in support of His feet (Is. 66:1).
Here Rabbi Akiba gets in trouble with the other Rabbis because he ADMITTED that the additional throne was for Messiah! Rabbi Jose said that the “thrones” were for “justice” (GEVURA) and “charity” (CHESED). Of course these are titles of sefirot which are regarded in Kabbalah a typical of the two opposing pillars of the three pillars of the Godhead. Finally the consensus of the Rabbis found that Rabbi Akiba and Rabbi Jose were giving to much away in the debate. They argued that “thrones” were plural to refer to the “throne” and the “footstool” of Isaiah 66:1.
It bears mentioning here that Is. 66:1 is also cited in Mt. 5:34-35. Both the Hebrew (DuTillet) version and the Old Syriac (s) Aramaic version of Matthew word the phrase “for it is the throne of Elohim” in the Hebrew and Aramaic with a plural possessive pronoun (in the English translation this possessive pronoun does not appear because it is not used in English grammar).
R. Nahman said: He who is as skilled in refuting the Minim
as is R. Idith, let him do so; but not otherwise. Once a Min
said to R. Idith: It is written, And unto Moses He said,
Come up to the Lord (Ex. 24:1). But surely it should have
stated, Come up unto me! It was Metatron, he replied,
whose name is similar to that of his Master, for it is written,
For my name is in him (Ex. 23:21). But if so, [he retorted,]
we should worship him! The same passage, however,
— replied R. Idith says: Be not rebellious against him,
i.e., exchange Me not for him. But if so, why is it stated:
He will not pardon your transgression? He answered:
By our troth we would not accept him even as a messenger,
for it is written, And he said unto him, If Thy [personal]
presence go not etc. (Ex. 33:15).
In the Targum resolves the issue of YHWH speaking of himself in the third person by naming the speaker in Ex. 20:1 as “the Word (MEMRA) of YHWH”. Here Rabbi Idith resolves the issue by making one of these “Metatron”. According to the Encyclopedia Judaica article on “Metatron” the Karite author Kirkisani had a different reading in his copy of this Talmud passage. His copy had Rabbi Idith saying “This is Metatron, who is the Lesser YHWH”. As we have shown in part 2, Metatron is identified in the Zohar as the Middle Pillar of the Godhead and as the Son of Yah.
A Min once said to R. Ishmael b. Jose: It is written,
Then the Lord caused to rain upon Sodom and Gomorrah
brimstone and fire from the Lord: (Gen. 19:24) but from him
should have been written! A certain fuller said,
Leave him to me, I will answer him. [He then proceeded,
’ It is written, And Lamech said to his wives, Ada and Zillah,
Hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech; (Gen. 4:23) but he should
have said, my wives! But such is the Scriptural idiom
so here too, it is the Scriptural idiom.
The Targum also resolves this issue by paraphrasing one of the occurrences of “YHWH” in Gen. 19:24 as “the Word (MEMRA) of YHWH”. A much lengthier paper could be written on Gen. 19:24 but it is beyond the scope of this article.
It is important to note that the Rabbis seem to stumble all over themselves in dealing with the proof texts presented by the Nazarenes (an this is even their account of the debate). They find themselves admitting that the Nazarene proof texts refer to the “Heavenly Family”; “Elohim and the Messiah”; “Gevura and Chesed”; “Metatron” and “The Lesser YHWH” while attempting to disagree with the Nazarene interpretations. It is also important to note that this debate can be easily dated. Rabbi Akiba who lived in the early second century is one of the debaters.
The Holy Spirit and the Nazarenes
It is also clear that the ancient Nazarenes saw the Holy Spirit as a sort of Heavenly Mother and the Messiah being her “Son” just as he is the Son of the Heavenly Father.
As the fourth century “Church Father” Jerome writes of the Nazarenes:
According to the Gospel written in the Hebrew speech,
which the Nazarenes read, the whole fount of the
Holy Spirit shall descend upon him… Further in the
Gospel which we have just mentioned we find
the following written:
When the Lord ascended from the water,
the whole fount of the Holy Spirit descended
and rested upon him, and said to him, “My Son,
in all the prophets I was waiting for you,
that you might come, and that I might rest in you.
For you are my rest; and you are my firstborn son,
who reigns forever.
(Jerome; Commentary on Is. 11:2)
Note that it is the Holy Spirit here and not the Father that refer to Messiah as “My Son”.
Moreover the third century “Church Father” Origin writes of the Nazarene Gospel according to the Hebrews:
And if any accept the Gospel according to the Hebrews,
where the Saviour himself saith, ‘Even now did my mother
the Holy Spirit take me by one of mine hairs, and carried me
away unto the great mountain Thabor’, he will be perplexed, &c. . . .
Origen on John, ii. 12.
“Kabbalistic” Terminology
Now are we to believe that the parallels between the Kabbalistic Godhead, Metatron and Memra; the Melchizadek figure of Qumran; Philo’s Triad and Logos and the terminology and concepts in the “New Testament” are just a coincidence?
Philo spoke of a Godhead which was a “Triad” while the Zohar speaks of three Pillars of the Godhead which are “one”. The New Testament speaks of the Father, the Holy Spirt and the Son as all being one Elohim.
Philo identifies one of his Triad members as being the “Son of God”; The Zohar identifies one of its three pillars as the “Son of Yah” and the Messiah is called in the New Testament the “Son of Elohim”.
Philo identifies his “Son of God” as the Logos (Word). Kabbalah identifies the Son of Yah as the Memra (Word). The New Testament identifies the Son of Elohim as the “Word”.
Philo identified the components of his Triad as “powers” while the Mishna ascribes that the Nazarenes identified them as “powers”.
Philo identifies the Logos as the “firstborn son” the Zohar says that Metatron (the Son of Yah) is “the first begotten of all the creatures of Elohim” and the New Testament says that Messiah is “the firstborn of all creation” (Col. 1:15)
Philo says that one of the members of his Triad is “Wisdom” and that “Wisdom is the Mother of the Word”; In Kabbalah one of the three Pillars of the Godhead is called the Mother and is identified with wisdom. And the Nazarenes saw the Holy Spirit as the Mother of Messiah.
Philo says his Word “is to receive the charge of this sacred company, as the lieutenant of the Great King”. The Zohar says of Metaron that he is “ruler of all he has; because Elohim has committed to him the government over all his hosts.” Similar descriptions of Messiah appear in the New Testament.
The Talmud says that Metatron is “the Lesser YHWH” while in the book of John the Messiah says the Father is “greater” than he.
Philo says the Word was “the model for the formation of man”. The Kabbalah teaches that the Adam Kadamon (the Three Pillars harmonized) was the blueprint for the creation of man and the NT says that Messiah was the image of Elohim from which man was created.
Scholars identify the Melchizadek figure of Qumran with the Metatron of Kabbalah while the New Testament identifies Messiah with Melchizadek (Heb. 7). And the Qumran scrolls identify this Melchizadek with the terms El, Elohim and YHWH and identifies him with the Messiah.
Are all of these things the most amazing coincidence of all time? Or is the Godhead concept of the Kabbalah also found in the Qumran scrolls and the writings of Philo in the first century? Are these the same concepts that also appear in the New Testament and among the ancient Nazarene Jews?
Conclusion
There can be no doubt that the ancient Nazarene Jews maintained a belief in the Three Pillars of the Godhead and the deity of Messiah. It is clear that their belief was very similar to that of Rabbinic Kabbalists, the Qumran Scrolls and the writings of Philo. Thus the Rabbinic concepts of Kabbalah presented in part 2 of this series descend from the same Godhead model expressed by Philo, in the Qumran Scrolls and the New Testament.
Philo of Alexandria:
A First Century Jew
Who Believed in the Deity of Messiah
By
James Scott Trimm
PHILO
Philo was an Alexandrian Jew who was born nearly 20 years before Yeshua and died around 20 years after his death. Philo was a “Hellenist Jew”. Not like the Hellenists of the Maccabean period who abandoned Torah for Paganism, but like Stephen (Acts 7) and the Hellenists in Acts 6. These Hellenists were Greek speaking Jews who remained Torah Observant (at least in there own understanding) while accepting Greek culture.
Josephus’ comments about Philo are so brief that we can quote them here in full:
“There was now a tumult arisen at Alexandria, between the Jewish inhabitants and the Greeks; and three ambassadors were chosen out of each party that were at variance, who came to Gaius. Now one of these ambassadors from the people of Alexandria was Apion, who uttered many blasphemies against the Jews; and, among other things that he said, he charged them with neglecting the honors that belonged to Caesar; for that while all who were subject to the Roman empire built altars and temples to Gaius, and in other regards universally received him as they received the gods, these Jews alone thought it a dishonorable thing for them to erect statues in honor of him, as well as to swear by his name. Many of these severe things were said by Apion, by which he hoped to provoke Gaius to anger at the Jews, as he was likely to be. But Philo, the principal of the Jewish embassage, a man eminent on all accounts, brother to Alexander the alabarch, and one not unskillful in philosophy, was ready to betake himself to make his defense against those accusations; but Gaius prohibited him, and bid him begone; he was also in such a rage, that it openly appeared he was about to do them some very great mischief. So Philo being thus affronted, went out, and said to those Jews who were about him, that they should be of good courage, since Gaius’s words indeed showed anger at them, but in reality had already set God against himself.”
(Antiquities of the Jews, xviii.8, 1)
Philo lived and wrote at the same time as the “New Testament” events were taking place. However Philo was far away in Alexandria Egypt, and apparently unaware of the budding Nazarene movement which had not yet come to Alexandria. Rabbinic Judaism has forgotten Philo. He is never mentioned or cited in the Rabbinic literature which makes no great mention of any Alexandrian Jews.
THE WORD
Philo is very important to us because he writes much about the Second Temple Era Jewish concept of the “Word” (Greek: LOGOS). In order to understand Philo’s concept of the Word, we must understand Philo’s concept of Elohim. Philo saw a conflict within Elohim. On the one hand, he saw Elohim as beyond man and far removed from the finiteness of this universe. He refers to this concept in Greek as TO ON (that which exists) and TO ONTOS ON “that which alone truly exists”. This concept of Elohim is conceived as virtually outside this universe with no real contact with it. This unknowable Elohim appeared from Ex. 20:21. (In Rabbinic Judaism (i.e. Kabbalah) this unknowable Elohim is called in Hebrew AYN SOF (without end/border; The Infinite One).
For Philo the Word (Logos) was a sort of bridge between the unknowable remote Elohim and the universe. The Word was a manifestation of the unknowable Elohim in this universe, an intermediary or mediator between man and Elohim. (One can immediately see that Philo’s Word parallels Rabbinic Judaism’s (Kabbalah’s) SEFIROT.)
Philo writes much about the concept of the “Word” (Greek: Logos)
…So that the Word (Logos) is, as it were, the charioteer of the powers,…
(On Flight and Finding XIX 101)
This is very important, as we have a first century Jew revealing to us the mystery of the throne-chariot.
The Mishna tells us:
They do not expound upon…
Ma’aseh Bereshit before [more than] two, or Ma’aseh Merkavah before [more than] one unless he was a sage and understands of his own knowledge.
(m.Hagigah 2:1)
In the Mishnah the Ma’aseh Merkavah (account of the throne-chariot) was a secret. But Philo tells us all about the secret, he tells us that the charioteer is the Word (Logos). It is generally accepted that the mysteries of the Ma’aseh Merkavah (account of the chariot – i.e. Ezek. 1-2) and Ma’aseh Bereshit (account of creation) were the material that later came to be referred to as “Kabbalah”. Philo tells us that the big secret of the chariot is that the charioteer is the Word.
Philo says:
…Every man in regard of his intellect is connected with Logos (Word),
being an impression of, or a fragment or emanation of that blessed
nature…
(Philo; On Creation LI (146))
THE WORD WAS THE CREATOR
Philo gave a very detailed description to the Word (Logos). To Philo the Word was the creator:
As therefore the city, when previously shadowed out in
the mind of architectural skill had no external place, but
was stamped solely in the mind of the workman, so in
the same manner neither can the world which existed in
ideas have had any other local position except the
Logos (Word) which made them…
(Philo; On Creation V (20))
Philo taught that the Word (Logos) was the shadow of Elohim and was the instrument of creation.
…But the shadow of God is his Logos (Word),
which he used like an instrument when he was
making the world.
(Philo; Allegorical Interpretation III XXXI (96))
(Not only does Philo speak of this “Word” but the ancient Targums do so as well. The Targums were Aramaic paraphrases of the books of the Tanak. Throughout the Targums we read of this entity called the “Word” (Aramaic: MEMRA). On many occasions the Targums paraphrase YHWH with the phase “Word of YHWH” and on some occasions the Word (MEMRA) is mentioned in the paraphrase where YHWH is not mentioned. The term is applied to YHWH in Targum Onkelos 179 times, the Jerusalem Targum 99 times and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan 321 times.)
This “Word of YHWH” was, according to Targum Jonathan, the Creator:
And the Word [Memra] of YHWH created man in his likeness,
in the likeness of YHWH, YHWH created,
male and female created He them.
(Targ. Jonathan Gen. 1:27)
This idea is also put forward in the Jerusalem Targum:
And the Word [Memra] of YHWH said to Moses:
“I am He who said unto the world ‘Be!’ and it was:
and who in the future shall say to it ‘Be!’
and it shall be.” And He said: “Thus you shall say
to the children of Israel: ‘I Am’ has sent me to you.”
(Jerusalem Targum Ex. 3:14)
The Fragmentary Targum of the Torah also expresses that the Word of YHWH was the Creator:
The first night, when the “Word of YHWH”
was revealed to the world in order to create it,
the world was desolate and void,
and darkness spread over the face of the abyss
and the “Word of the Lord” was bright and illuminating
and He called it the first night.
(Fragmentary Targum Ex. 12:42)
That the Word of YHWH was the Creator can also be seen in the Tanak itself:
By the Word (DAVAR) of YHWH were the heavens made,
and all the hosts of them by the Spirit of His mouth.
(Ps. 33:6)
THE WORD AS THE IMAGE OF ELOHIM AND PATTERN FOR OUR CREATION
Philo’s concept of the “Word” (Logos) is the “image of Elohim” which served as the pattern for the creation of man in Gen. 1:26-27. Philo writes:
…For God does not seem to have availed himself
of any other animal existing in creation as his model
in the formation of man; but to have been guided,
as I have said before, by his own Word (Logos) alone…
(Philo; On Creation XLVIII (139))
But the divine Word (Logos) which is above these
does not come into any visible appearance,
inasmuch as it is not like to any of the things
that come under the external senses,
but is itself an image of God,
the most ancient of all the objects of intellect
in the whole world, and that which is placed
in the closest proximity to the only truly existing God,
without any partition or distance being interposed
between them:
(On Flight and Finding XVIII (101))
Now, Bezaleel, being interpreted, means God in his shadow.
But the shadow of God is his Word (Logos), which he used
like an instrument when he was making the world.
And this shadow, and, as it were, model, is the archetype of other things.
For, as God is himself the model of that image which he has now called
a shadow, so also that image is the model of other things,
as he showed when he commenced giving the law to the Israelites,
and said, “And God made man according to the image of God.”[Gen. 1:26]
as the image was modeled according to God, and as man was modeled
according to the image, which thus received the power and character
of the model.
(Allegorical Interpretations III 96)
For if it was necessary to examine the mortal body
of the priest that it ought not be imperfect through
any misfortune, much more was it necessary to look
into his immortal soul, which they say is fashioned
in the form of the living God. Now the image of God
is the Word (Logos), by which all the world was made.
(The Special Laws I, 81)
What is the man who was created? And how is that man
distinguished who was made after the image of God? (Gen. 2:7).
This man was created as perceptible to the senses,
and in the similitude of a Being appreciable only by the intellect;
but he who in respect of his form is intellectual and incorporeal,
is the similitude of the archetypal model as to appearance,
and he is the form of the principal character;
but this is the Word (Logos) of God, the first beginning of all things,
the original species or the archetypal idea,
the first measure of the universe.
(Q & A on Gen. I, 4)
Why is it that he speaks as if of some other god,
saying that he made man after the image of God,
and not that he made him after his own image? (Gen. 9:6).
Very appropriately and without any falsehood
was this oracular sentence uttered by God,
for no mortal thing could have been formed
on the similitude of the supreme Father of the universe,
but only after the pattern of the second deity,
who is the Word (Logos) of the supreme Being;
since it is fitting that the rational soul of man should bear it
the type of the divine Word (Logos); since in his first Word (Logos)
God is superior to the most rational possible nature.
But he who is superior to the Word (Logos) holds his rank
in a better and most singular pre-eminence, and how could
the creature possibly exhibit a likeness of him in himself?
Nevertheless he also wished to intimate this fact,
that God does rightly and correctly require vengeance,
in order to the defense of virtuous and consistent men,
because such bear in themselves a familiar acquaintance
with his Word (Logos), of which the human mind is
the similitude and form.
(Q & A on Gen. II 62)
This parallels what we read in the Targum:
And the Word (Memra) of YHWH
created man in his likeness,
in the likeness of YHWH, YHWH created,
male and female created He them.
(Targ. Jonathan Gen. 1:27)
THE WORD AS THE OBJECT OF PRAYER
To Philo, it was the Word to whom the ancients petitioned and payed, for example Philo writes:
But Hagar flees out of shame. And a proof of this is, that the angel, that is the WORD of God, met her, with the intent to recommend her what she ought to do, and to guide her in her return to her mistress’s house. For he encouraged her, and said unto her: “The Lord has heard the cry of thy humiliation,” which you uttered, not out of fear, nor yet out of hatred. For the one is the feeling of an ignoble soul, and the other of one which loves contention, but under the influence of that copy of temperance and modesty, shame.
(On Flight and Finding (5))
Likewise we read in the Jerusalem Targum on this same incident:
And Hagar praised and prayed
in the name of the Word [Memra] Of YHWH
who had revealed Himself to her…
(Jerusalem Targum Gen. 16:3)
PHILO BELIEVED IN ELOHIM AS A TRIAD (TRINITY)
In order to understand Philo’s concept of the Word (Logos) it is important to understand Philo’s concept of Elohim. Philo says:
“The primal existence is God, and second the God-Word”
(Allegorical Interpretation II, 86)
“The Creator of the world sends out His powers
from an eternal and invisible place”
(Q&A on Genesis, II, 48)
Philo raises the question
“…regarding its Creator, asking of what sort this Being is so difficult to see, so difficult to conjecture. Is He a body or incorporeal or something exalted above these? Is He a single nature… Or a composite Being?…and seeing that this is a problem hard to pursue, hard to take in by thought, he prays that he may learn from God Himself what God is.”
(Flight and Finding, 164)
Philo doesn’t answer this question here, but he does answer these questions elsewhere. In On the Confusion of Tongues, 62, He calls God “incorporeal” and in a later section, he describes God as a “Triad” (Trinity). He refers to God as “…the Lord God of three natures…”(Philo; On the Change of Names II, 11). He also says:
…it is reasonable for one to be three and for three to be one, for they were one by a higher principle… …in the place of one, He makes the appearance of a triad [trinity]… He cannot be seen in his oneness without something [else], the chief Powers that that exist immediately with him… the Creative, which is called “Elohim” and the Kingly, which is called “Lord”… he begins to see the sovereign, holy, and divine vision in such a way that a single appearance appears as a triad [trinity], and the triad [trinity] as a unity.
(Philo; Questions on Genesis, IV, 2)
According to Philo God appears as a Triad — himself and his two Powers: Creative and Ruling. To the “purified soul,” however, God appears as One.
… the Father of the universe, who in the sacred scripture is called by his proper name,
‘I am that I am’; and the beings on each side are those most ancient powers which are always close to the living God, one of which is called his Creative Power, and the other his Royal Power. And the Creative Power is God, for it is by this that he made and arranged the universe; and the Royal Power is the Lord, for it is fitting that the Creator should lord it over and govern the creature. Therefore, the middle person of the three, being attended by each of his powers as by body-guard, presents to the mind, which is endowed with the faculty of sight, a vision at one time of one being, and at another time of three; …
(Abr. 119-123).
The reconciliation of these two opposing “powers”, the central power is the Word (Logos):
…the Divine Word (Logos)…fills all things and becomes a mediator and arbitrator for the two sides….from the Divine Word (Logos), as from a spring, there divide and break forth two powers. One is the creative through which the Artificer placed and ordered all things. This is named “God”. And the royal, since through it the Creator rules over created things. This is called “Lord” And from these two powers have grown the others. For by the side of the creative power there grows the propitious of which is named “beneficial” while (besides) the royal the legislative, of which is aptly named “punitive”. And below these and beside them is the ark.”
(Philo on Q&A on Exodus, II.68)
PHILO’S WORD IS THE SON OF ELOHIM
Philo Writes of the Word (Logos):
For there are, as it seems, two temples belonging to God; one being this world, in which the high priest is the divine Word, his own firstborn son. The other is the rational soul, the priest of which is the real true man,
(On Dreams 215)
And if there be not as yet any one who is worthy to be called a son of God, neverthless let him labour earnestly to be adorned according to his Firstborn Word, the eldest of his angels, as the great archangel of many names; for He is called, “the Authority”, and “the Name of God”, and “the Word”, and “man according to God’s image”, and “He who sees Israel”. . . For even if we are not yet suitable to be called the sons of God, still we may deserve to be called the children of his eternal image, of his most sacred Word; for the image of God is his most ancient word.
( On the Confusion of Tongues XXVIII:146-147)
Thus, indeed, being a shepherd is a good thing, so that it is justly attributed, not only to kings, and to wise men, and to souls who are perfectly purified, but also to God, the ruler of all things; and he who confirms this is not any ordinary person, but a prophet, whom it is good to believe, he namely who wrote the psalms; for he speaks thus, “The Lord is my shepherd, and he shall cause me to lack Nothing;” (Ps. 23:1.) and let every one in his turn say the same thing, for it is very becoming to every man who loves God to study such a song as this, but above all this world should sing it. For God, like a shepherd and a king, governs (as if they were a flock of sheep) the earth, and the water, and the air, and the fire, and all the plants, and living creatures that are in them, whether mortal or divine; and he regulates the nature of the heaven, and the periodical revolutions of the sun and moon, and the variations and harmonious movements of the other stars, ruling them according to law and justice; appointing, as their immediate superintendent, his own right reason, his first-born son, who is to receive the charge of this sacred company, as the lieutenant of the great king; for it is said somewhere, “Behold, I am he! I will send my messenger before thy face, who shall keep thee in the Road.”(Ex. 23:20.)
(On Husbandry 50-51)
PHILO’S WORD WAS A PRIEST LIKE MELCHIZADEK
Moreover Philo’s Word was a “priest” whom he compares to Melkizadek:
XXVI. (82) But Melchisedek shall bring forward wine instead of water, and shall give your souls to drink, and shall cheer them with unmixed wine, in order that they may be wholly occupied with a divine intoxication, more sober than sobriety itself. For the Word is a priest, having, as its inheritance the true God, and entertaining lofty and sublime and magnificent ideas about him, “for he is the priest of the most high God.”{38}{Genesis 14:18.} Not that there is any other God who is not the most high; for God being one, is in the heaven above, and in the earth beneath, and there is no other besides Him.”{39}{Deuteronomy 4:39.} But he sets in motion the notion of the Most High, from his conceiving of God not in a low and grovelling spirit, but in one of exceeding greatness, and exceeding sublimity, apart from any conceptions of matter.
(“De Allegoriis Legum,” iii. 26).
The fourth and last of the points which we proposed to discuss, is the appointing as a period for the return of the fugitives the death of the high priest, which, if taken in the literal sense, causes me great perplexity; for a very unequal punishment is imposed by this enactment on those who have done the very same things, since some will be in banishment for a longer time, and others for a shorter time; for some of the high priests live to a very old age, and others die very early, and some are appointed while young men, and others not until they are old. And again of those who are convicted of unintentional homicide, some have been banished at the beginning of the high priest’s entrance into office, and some when the high priest has been at the very point of death. So that some are deprived of their country for a very long time, and others suffer the same infliction only for a day, if it chance to be so; after which they lift up their heads, and exult, and so return among those whose nearest relations have been slain by them. This difficult and scarcely explicable perplexity we may escape if we adopt the inner and allegorical explanation in accordance with natural philosophy. For we say that the high priest is not a man, but is the Word (Logos) of God, who has not only no participation in intentional errors, but none even in those which are involuntary.
(On Flight 106-108)
PHILO’S WORD WAS A PARACLETE (ADVOCATE)
Philo also describes the Word (Logos) not only as the “Son” of the “Father” but as a PARACLETE who is “perfect in all virtue” and procures “forgiveness of sins” as well as a “supply of unlimited blessings”:
…the twelve stones arranged on the breast in four rows of three stones each, namely the logeum, being also an emblem of that reason (Logos, Word) which holds together and regulates the universe. For it was indispensable that the man who was consecrated to the Father of the world, should have as a paraclete, his son, the being most perfect in all virtue, to procure forgiveness of sins, and a supply of unlimited blessings;
(Life of Moses II, 133-134)
(Yeshua as the Messiah is called a PARACLETE in the Greek text of 1Jn. 2:1)
PHILO’S DIVINE WORD WAS THE MESSIAH
Now here is perhaps the most amazing thing, Philo believed this “Word” (Logos) and the Messiah to be one and the same:
“The head of all things is the eternal Word (Logos) of the eternal God, under which, as if it were his feet or other limbs, is placed the whole world, over which He passes and firmly stands. Now it is not because Messiah is Lord that He passes and sits over the whole world, for His seat with His Father and God but because for its perfect fullness the world is in need of the care and superintendence of the best ordered dispensation, and for its own complete piety, of the Divine Word (Logos), just as living creatures (need) a head, without which it is impossible to live.”
(Q&A on Exodus, II, 117)
The truth is that the doctrine of the Deity of Messiah was very much a Jewish idea already in the First Century. Philo, as a First Century Jew believed in the Messiah as:
* The Word
* The Creator
* The Image of Elohim from which we were created
* The Central aspect of Elohim as a Triad (Trinity)
* The Firstborn Son of Elohim
* A Heavenly High Priest like Melchizadek,
* A Paraclete (Advocate)
All of this was believe by a First Century Alexandrian Jew who by all accounts was unaware of the Messianic fervor surrounding Yeshua of Nazareth far away in Judea.
Through a Mirror, Darkly
By
James Scott Trimm
In the KJV of 1Corinthians we read:
8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
(1Cor. 13:8-13 KJV)
And as we read in the Aramaic as translated in the HRV:
8 Love never fails. For prophecies will cease, and tongues will be silent, and knowledge will cease.
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10 Now when that which is complete comes, then that which is partial will cease.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, and I thought as a child, and I reasoned as a child: but when I became a man, I ceased these [things] of youth.
12 Now as in a mirror, we see in a parable, but then face-to-face. Now I know in part, but then I will know, as I am known.
13 For there are these three that abide: trust, and hope, and love. But that which is the greatest of these, [is] love.
(1Cor. 13:8-13 HRV)
In order to understand these verses, it is necessary to understand that according to Jewish tradition, the revelation of YHWH is compared to a mirror. YHWH was revealed to Moses through a “clear mirror”, but to the other prophets after Moses only through a “dim mirror”, as we read in the Talmud:
[Do not] the contradictions between the Scriptural texts, however, still remain? — ‘I saw the Lord’,(Is. 6:2) [is to be understood] in accordance with what was taught: All the prophets looked into a dim mirror, but Moses looked into a clear mirror.—
(Yeb. 49b)
And also as we read in the Zohar:
R. Simeon remarked: ‘Ezekiel the prophet said: “As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it I fell upon my face, etc.” (Ez. 1: 28). This verse illustrates the difference between the other prophets and Moses, of whom it is written, “And there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses” (Deut. 34:10). For Moses gazed into the clear mirror of prophecy, whereas all the other prophets looked into a hazy mirror.
(Zohar 1:170b)
In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul is telling us that though the manifestations of the Ruach HaKodesh give the revelation of YHWH to us only through the dim mirror, the time will come when these dim mirror manifestations will cease and we will see through the same clear mirror through which Moses himself saw. This will happen when the Messiah returns. As we also read in the Zohar:
“Righteousness” reveals the Supernal Power and the reign of the Holy One, blessed be He, who delegates to that Righteousness authority to rule over all the worlds, to guide them and lead them towards perfection. For this reason does it go on to say: “Gave nations before him and made him rule over kings”, since all the kings of the world are under the authority of that “Righteousness”, as it is written: “And he will judge the world in righteousness” (Ps. 95:13). Moreover, when it says “Righteousness calleth to his foot”, the question is: Who calleth whom? The answer is that “Righteousness” calls to the resplendent mirror, which is ever bright and refulgent, as it is written: “Keep not thou silence, O God; hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God” (Psa. 83:1). Now the Holy One has let His light shine upon us on our way for the sake of my son Eleazar, who called down the supernal light upon us, and it has not waned. Happy is the lot of the righteous in this world and in the world to come.’
… And he who thus strengthens it becomes worthy of the white light, the light of the “refulgent mirror”, and of the world to come. This mystery is expressed in the words: “And those that seek me (meshahrai) shall find me” (Prov. 8:17), namely those who, out of the blackness of the dawn, prepare a light. The double n in yimzaunni (“they shall find me”) signifies that they will merit the two lights: the dim, blackish light of dawn and the white light of day: or, the mirror that is not refulgent and the mirror that is.
(Zohar 2:139a-140b)
Our teachers have laid down that Moses derived his prophetic vision from a bright mirror, whereas the other prophets derived their vision from a dull mirror. So it is written concerning Ezekiel: “I saw visions of God”, whereas in connection with the difference between Moses and all other prophets it says: “If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord will make Myself known to him in a vision…. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all my house: and with him I will speak mouth to mouth” (Num. 12: 7-8). R. Jose remarked that all the prophets are in comparison with Moses like females in comparison with males. The Lord did not speak to him in “riddles” (Ibid.), but showed him everything clearly. Blessed, indeed, was the generation in whose midst this prophet lived! Said R. Jose the son of R. Judah: ‘The Israelites saw the splendor of the glory of their Lord face to face; and, moreover, there were neither blind, nor lame, nor deaf, among them: they all saw (Ex. 20: 18); they all stood (Ibid. 19:17); they all heard (Ibid. 19:8). And of the Messianic Age it says: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped, then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing” (Isa. 35: 5-6)
(Zohar 2:82b)
(Note the word translated “parable” in 1Cor. 13:12 may also be translated “riddles” as we read in the Zohar above.)
This also agrees with what Paul writes in his second letter to the Corinthians:
11 For if that which has ended was glorious, that which remains will be increasingly glorious.
12 Therefore, because we have this hope, we conduct ourselves more boldly:
13 And not as Moshe who put a veil over his face so that the B’nai Yisra’el could not look on the consummation of that which was ended,
14 But they were blinded in their understanding. For until this day when the ancient Covenant is read, that veil rests upon them and it is not known that, in the Messiah it ended.
15 And until this day when Moshe is read, a veil is put over their heart:
16 But when any man from them should turn to YHWH, the veil is lifted from him. (Exodus 34:34)
17 Now YHWH Himself is Spirit, and where the Spirit of YHWH [is], [there] is freedom.
18 But all of us, with open faces, behold the magnificence of YHWH as in a mirror: and we are being changed into that likeness, from glory to glory, as by YHWH, the Spirit.
(2Cor. 3:11-18 HRV)
What does Paul mean by “from glory to glory”? He describes here the ladder of the Tree of life, as we read in the Zohar:
A “vision” (mar’eh=vision, or mirror) is so called because it is like a mirror, in which all images are reflected. (Thus we read: “And I appeared… as El Shaddai” (Ex. 6:2), this grade being like a mirror which showed another form, since all supernal forms are reflected in it.) AND BEHOLD A LADDER SET UP ON THE EARTH. This ladder signifies the grade on which the other grades rest, to wit, the “Foundation of the world”. AND THE TOP OF IT REACHED TO HEAVEN , so as to be attached to it. For this grade is the conclusion of the Body standing between the upper and the lower world in the same way as the sign of the covenant is situated at the end of the trunk of the body, between the thighs. AND BEHOLD, THE ANGELS OF GOD ASCENDING AND DESCENDING ON IT ; this alludes to the Chieftains who have charge of all the nations, and who ascend and descend on that ladder. When Israel are sinful, the ladder is lowered and the Chieftains ascend by it; but when Israel are righteous, the ladder is removed and all the Chieftains are left below and are deprived of their dominion. Jacob thus saw in this dream the domination of Esau and the domination of the other nations. According to another explanation, the angels ascended and descended on the top of the ladder; for when the top was detached, the ladder was lowered and the Chieftains ascended, but when it was attached again, the ladder was lifted and they remained below. But it comes to the same thing.
(Zohar 1:149b)
AND JOSEPH DREAMED A DREAM, ETC . On the subject of dreams, R. Hiya discoursed on the text: And he said: Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord do make myself known unto him in a vision, I do speak with him in a dream (Num. 12:6). ‘God’, he said, ‘has brought into existence a series of grades, one higher than the other, one drawing sustenance from the other, some on the right, others on the left, all arranged in a perfect hierarchy. Now all the prophets drew their inspiration from one side, from the midst of two certain grades which they beheld in a “dull mirror”, as it says: “I do make myself known unto him in a vision”, the word “vision” denoting, as has been explained, a medium reflecting a variety of colors; and this is the “dull mirror”.
(Zohar 1:183a)
In 2 Corinthians 3 Paul is telling us that our knowledge or the Torah was diminished after the death of Moses, as we also read in the Zohar:
On the death of Moses, the sun in his splendor was darkened and the Written Torah was locked up, that light of the luminous mirror. The Moon withdrew her light when King David died, and the Oral Torah ceased to shine. Since that time the lights of the Torah have remained hidden, and controversy has increased over the Mishnah (i.e. the traditional Law), and the wise men dispute, and all the great thinkers are in confusion, so that to succeeding generations the joy of the Torah has been lost. When a great man dies the scholars proclaim a fast. Seeing, then, that the joy of the Written and Oral Torahs was gathered in at this hour, is it not fitting that the gates of the Torah should close then? This, then, is the reason why we repeat the three “justifications of judgment”, as explained.’
(Zohar 2:156a-156b)
Thus if we approach Paul’s words from a Jewish perspective, we understand the significance of the “mirror” mentioned in 1Corinthians 13:12 and 2 Corinthians 3:18.
Prophecy, tongues and interpretation of tongues are a dim mirror through which we receive the revelations of YHWH, but when the Messiah returns and establishes the Messianic Kingdom, we shall know see though the same clear mirror through which Moses saw.
A Body You Have Clothed Me With
By
James Scott Trimm
One passage in which the “New Testament” is said to quote the Greek Septuagint is in Hebrews 10:5-6:
5 Concerning therefore His coming into the world it is said, Sacrifice and offering You do not desire, but a body, You have prepared for Me.
6 Burnt offering and sin offering, You do not ask for.
7 Then it said, Behold I come. For in the roll of the book it is written of Me. I will do Your will, Elohi,
(Heb. 10:5-7 HRV)
This passage is quoting from Psalms were we read in the Masoretic Text:
7 (40:6) Sacrifice and meal-offering You have no delight in: ears you have cut for me; burnt-offering and sin-offering have You not required.
8 (40:7) Then said I, Behold, I am come in the roll of the book, it is written of me.
(Psalm 40:7-8 (6-7) HRV)
Where the Masoretic Text has “ears you have cut for me” the Greek Septuagint has “a body you have clothed me with”. The Munster Hebrew text of Hebrews has “a body you have prepared for me” and the Aramaic Peshitta has “a body you have clothed me with” where they quote this passage in Heb. 10:5.
Is Hebrews quoting the Greek Septuagint, or is it quoting a (now lost) first century Hebrew text which agreed with the Septuagint in this verse?
Support for this idea comes from a surprising place indeed, the Zohar. In the Zohar we read:
THIS is the Book of the generations of Adam. In the day that Alhim created man, in the likeness of Alhim made he him.” (Gen. v., 1.) Said Rabbi Isaac: “The Holy One showed Adam the forms and features of his descendants that should appear in the world after him, and of the sages and kings who should rule over Israel. He also made known to him, that the life and reign of David would be of short duration. Then said Adam to the Holy One, ‘let seventy years of my earthly existence be taken and granted to the life of David.’ This request was granted, otherwise Adam’s life would have attained to a thousand years. This was the reason that David said: ‘For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work; I will triumph in the work of thine hands (Ps. xcii., 5), for thou hast filled me with joy in prolonging the days of my life. ‘It was thy own act and wish,’ said the Holy One, ‘when thou wast incarnated as Adam, the work of my hands and not of flesh and blood.’ Amongst the wise men and sages that should appear on the earth, Adam rejoiced greatly on beholding the form of Rabbi Akiba who would become distinguished by his great knowledge of the secret doctrine. On seeing, however, as in a vision, his martyrdom and cruel death, Adam became exceedingly sad and said: ‘Thine eyes beheld me ere I was clothed in a body and all things are written in thy book; each day hath its events that shall come to pass, are therein to be found.’ Observe that the book of the generations of Adam was that which the Holy One through the angel Rosiel, guardian of the great mysteries and secret doctrine, gave unto Adam whilst yet in the garden of Eden.
(Zohar 1:55a-55b as translated in The Sepher Ha-Zohar or the Book of Light; By Nurho de Manhar; p. 234-235; 1900-14)
Here the Zohar is also clearly alluding to Psalm 40:7-8 (6-7)… but with a reading that also agrees with the Septuagint against the Masoretic Text. Is the author of the Zohar quoting the Septuagint? Is he seeking to support the reading of the book of Hebrews against the Masoretic Text? Or is it possible that the ancient author of the Zohar was also holding a Hebrew text of Psalm 49:7-8 (6-7) that agreed with the Septuagint. This one passages supports both the Hebrew/Aramaic origin of Hebrews as well as the ancient origin of the text of the Zohar.
The Mystery of the Passover Wine Revealed:
The Yayin HaMeshumar: The Wine Which Has Been KeptBy
James Scott Trimm
The Prophet Isaiah writes:
And whereof from of old men have not heard,
nor perceived by the ear, neither has the eye seen
an Elohim beside You, who works for him that
waits for Him.
(Is. 64:3(4))
There is a Baraita on this verse that appears twice in the Talmud once in the Midrash Rabbah and four times in the Zohar.
The following is the Baraita as it appears in the Talmud:
What is the meaning of “Eye has not seen” (Is. 64:3)
Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said:
This is the wine that has been kept
in its grapes from the six days in the beginning.
(b.Berakot 34b; b.Sanhedrin 99a)
The phrase “wine that has been kept” in the Hebrew is Yayin HaMeshumar “wine of keeping”. The tradition of the Yayin HaMeshumar runs deep in traditional Judaism. It is the wine that will be served at the Messianic Feast when the Messiah re-establishes the Kingdom of Israel on earth.
In his first letter to the Corinthians Paul also quotes, or perhaps we should better say paraphrases Is. 64:3(4) as follows:
But as it is written:
The eye has not seen, and the ear has not heard,
and into the heart of a son of man has not entered
that which Eloah had prepared for those who love Him.
(1Cor. 2:9 HRV)
Note that Paul’s citation is influenced by the Baraita as the actual text of Isaiah says that “eye has not seen… an Elohim beside you” but Paul says “Eye has not seen… that which Eloah has prepared for those who love Him.” And the Baraita has “Eye has not seen… the wine which has been kept…”.
Now lets look at Paul’s quote in context:
But we speak the wisdom of Eloah
in a mystery that was hidden
And [that] Eloah had before separated
from before the ages for our glory.
That not one of the authorities of this world knew,
for if they had known it,
they would not have crucified the Adon of glory.
But as it is written:
The eye has not seen, and the ear has not heard,
and into the heart of a son of man has not entered
that which Eloah had prepared for those who love Him.
(1Cor. 2:7-9 HRV)
When we look at Paul’s context we see an even greater influence from the Baraita of the Yayin HaMeshumar “…a mystery that was hidden and that Eloah had before separated from before the ages… eye has not seen… that which Eloah has prepared for those who love Him.”
It is clear that Paul here must be referring to the Yayin HaMeshumar as his audience is, no doubt, familiar with this Baraita to Is. 64:3.
It is the Yayin HaMeshumar that Yeshua refers to when we read:
And afterwards he took the cup, and blessed,
and gave to them, saying,
“Drink you all of it,
for this is my blood of the New Covenant,
which is shed for many to atone for sinners,
And I tell you, hereafter I will not drink of the fruit of the vine,
until that day when I drink it new with you in the kingdom
of my Father which is in heaven.”
(Mt. 26:27-29)
The Yayin HaMeshumar is the blood of the New Covenant. At the Passover Sader the wine represents the blood of the lamb. Note that we read in Revelation that Messiah is the lamb slain “before the foundation of the world.” (Rev. 13:8) his blood is the wine kept in its grapes from the six days in the beginning.
In the Apocryphal Gospel of Thomas Yeshua is quoted as saying:
Yeshua said, “I shall give you what no eye has seen
and what no ear has heard and what no hand has touched
and what has never occurred to the mind of man.
(Gospel of Thomas 17)
Note that in 1Cor. 1:18-20 the same “wisdom” of which we are later told is “…in the mystery that was hidden … before separates from before the ages… which Eloah had prepared for those who love him.” (1Cor. 2:7-9) is also the “wisdom” which “takes away the wisdom of the wise” in 1Cor. 1:19 quoting Isaiah 29:14. In Isaiah 29:15 this wisdom is the contents of the sealed book (Is. 29:11-12, 14, 18). In Revelation this book is opened by the “lamb as if it was slain” (Rev. 5:6) a lamb slain “before the foundation of the world.” (Rev. 13:8).
This is the wine that will be served at the “marriage supper of the lamb” (Rev. 19:7) the great Messianic Banquet and Passover Sader.
In 1Corinthians, Paul has brought up the Yayin HaMeshumar at the beginning of his letter because he will be addressing this wine throughout his letter. In 1Cor. 5 he will discuss the recent Passover Sader at Corinth. In 1Cor. 11:23-34 he addresses the significance of the Passover and especially being worthy to drink the wine which is the Yayin Hameshumar.
In 1Cor. 15:54 he cites Isaiah 25:8 a passage of Isaiah which immediately follows the description of the Messianic Banquet in Isaiah 25:6-7:
6 And in this mountain shall YHWH of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
7 And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.
8: He will swallow up death in victory; and the Adonai YHWH will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for YHWH has spoken it.
Notice that the Yayin HaMeshumar is something which “from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither has the eye seen” (Is. 64:3) elsewhere Isaiah writes:
So shall he sprinkle many nations, kings shall shut their mouths
because of him, for that which had not been told them shall they see
and that which they have not heard shall they perceive.
(Is. 52:15)
Thus the “suffering servant” song of Isaiah 53 is the message that “eye has not seen”, it is the Yayin HaMeshumar.
The Midrash Rabbah to Num. 13:2 (500) says:
Because hr bared his soul unto death (Is. 53:12)
and bruised themselveswith the Torah which is sweeter than honey,
the Holy One, blessed be He, will hereafter give them to drink
of the wine kept in its grapes since the six days in the beginning….
(Midrash Rabbah to Numbers 13:2 (500))
Thus Paul writes:
But we speak the wisdom of Eloah
in a mystery that was hidden
And [that] Eloah had before separated
from before the ages for our glory.
That not one of the authorities of this world knew,
for if they had known it,
they would not have crucified the Adon of glory.
But as it is written:
The eye has not seen, and the ear has not heard,
and into the heart of a son of man has not entered
that which Eloah had prepared for those who love Him.
(1Cor. 2:7-9 HRV)
Not only is the Yayin HaMeshumar the blood of the Messiah, but it is more. It is the “mystery” of which the blood of Messiah is only part:
The Zohar says:
The Tzadik (The Righteous) is the Yesod (foundation) in Yah,
the mystery (SOD) which is the wine which has been kept
in its grapes from the six days in the beginning.
(Zohar; Roeh M’haimna on Pinchas)
There is a clear connection here because SOD (“mystery”) has a gematria (numerical value) of 70 which is also the gematria of YAYIN (“wine”). Just as the Zohar identifies the “mystery” with the Yayin HaMeshumar, so does Paul in 1Corinthians.
For Paul goes on to further identify the Yayin HaMeshumar as follows:
10 But Eloah has revealed [it] to us by his spirit, for the spirit searches into everything, even the deep things of Eloah.
11 For who is the son of man who knows what is in a son of man except the spirit of the son of man that [is] in him? So also, that which is in Eloah, no man knows except the Spirit of Eloah.
12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the spirit that is from Eloah, so that we might know the gifts that were given to us from Eloah;
13 Which also we speak, not in the teaching of words of the wisdom of sons of men, but in the teaching of the spirit, and to spiritual men we compare spiritual things.
14 For the son of man who is in the nefesh does not receive spiritual things, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to know that which is judged spiritually.
15 Now the spiritual man judges all things, and is not judged from man.
16 For who knows the mind of YHWH that he might instruct him? (Is. 40:13) But we have the mind of the Messiah.
(1Cor. 2:10-16)
Paul identifies the Yayin HaMeshumar with the “words of wisdom” (2:13) as well as the “mind of YHWH” or the “mind of Messiah” (1Cor. 2:16) and with the spiritual “gifts” (1Cor. 2:10-16) which he will elaborate upon later in the letter (1Cor. 12-14).
So next time you partake of the cup of redemption in the Passover sader, realize that this cup is symbolic of the Yayin HeMeshumar, the wine that has been kept from the six days in the beginning, the blood of the lamb slain from the foundation which has been hidden and separated and prepared for those who love him. It is not just the blood of the New Covenant, it is the Mind of YHWH and the spiritual gifts that he has prepared for us.
The Mystery of the Broken Matzah Revealed
By
James Scott Trimm
Very important to the Passover seder are the ceremonies related to the three matzah. The seder begins with three Matzahs which are kept in compartments in a special linen bag called a MATZAH TESH also referred to as a “unity” by the Rabbis. During the seder the middle matzah is broken. The broken portion is wrapped in linen and hidden away until the end of the seder, when it is brought out and eaten at the end of the meal as the AFIKIOMEN.
The three Matzahs recall the three measures of fine meal from which Sarah made three cakes for the “three men” who came to Avraham by the Oaks of Mamre.
1 And YHWH appeared unto him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day.
2 And he lifted up his eyes and looked. And behold, three men stood over against him. And when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed down to the earth,
3 And said, YHWH. If now I have found favor in your sight, pass not away I pray you, from your servant.
4 Let now a little water be fetched and wash your feet, and recline yourselves under the tree.
5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and stay you your heart. After that, you shall pass on, forasmuch as you are come to your servant. And They said: So do, as you have said.
6 And Avraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly, three measures of fine meal; knead it, and make cakes.
(Gen. 18:1-6 HRV)
The Hebrew word for “cakes” here is EGOT (plural for EGAH). The Greek translators used a very interesting word to translate this word with EGKRUFIAS. The typical word for such a “cake” is EGKRIS. The word EGKRUFIAS seems to merge this word with the Greek word KRUFIAS meaning “hidden, secret, concealed”. It may be that EGKRIS is fried, while EGKRUFIAS is baked by covering it with a cover which is covered in hot coals. At any rate the ancient Jewish writer Philo, who lived about the same time as Yeshua, quickly noticed the unusual Greek word here. Philo writes concerning Gen. 18:6:
Now it is very good that these three measures should, as it were, be kneaded together in the soul, and mixed up together, in order that so the soul, being persuaded that the supreme being is God, who has raised his head above all his powers, and who is beheld independently of them, and who makes himself visible in them, may receive the characters of his power and beneficence, and becoming initiated into the perfect mysteries, may not be too ready to divulge the divine secrets to any one, but may treasure them up in herself, and keeping a check over her speech, may conceal them in silence; for the words of the scripture are, “To make secret cakes (EGKRUFIAS)” (Gen. 18:6) because the sacred and mystic statements about the one uncreated Being, and about his powers, ought to be kept secret; since it does not belong to every one to keep the deposit of divine mysteries properly.
(On Birth of Able XV 59-60)
Philo goes on to tie these three measures for three cakes in with the “cakes” of unleavened bread eaten at Passover. He writes:
For the stream of the intemperate soul, flowing outwards through the mouth and tongue, is pumped up and poured into all ears. Some of which having wide channels, keeps that which is poured into them with all cheerfulness; but others, through the narrowness of the passages, are unable to be bedewed by it. But that which overflows being poured forth in an unrestrained manner, is scattered in every direction: so that what has been concealed escapes and floats on the top of it, and, like a random torrent of mud, bears along with it in its flood, things worthy of being tended with all care. In reference to which, those persons appear to me to have come to a right decision who have been initiated in the lesser mysteries before learning anything of these greater ones. “For they baked their flour which they brought out of Egypt , baking secret cakes (EGKRUFIAS) of unleavened Bread.” (Exodus 12:39). That is to say, they dealt with the untameable and savage passions, softening them with reason as they would knead bread; fore they did not divulge the manner of their kneading and improving it, as it was derived from some divine system of preparation; but they treasured it up in their secret stores, not being elated at the knowledge of the mystery, but yielding and being lowly as to their boasting.
(On Birth of Able XVI. 61-62)
Who were these “three men” in Genesis 18 which correspond to the three measures of flour for the three “secret cakes”? The Zohar comments on this passage saying:
Who were the “three men”? They are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…”
(Zohar 1:98b)
This does not mean that Abraham Isaac and Jacob appeared before Abraham. In the Kabbalah Abraham, Isaac and Jacob represent the Three Pillars of the Godhead, as we read in the Bahir:
Through the merit of Abraham who was worthy of the attribute of Kindness (CHESED), Isaac was worthy of the attribute of Terror (PACHAD), Jacob was worthy of the attribute of Truth, which is the attribute of Peace.
(Bahir 137)
Abraham… was worthy and took Kindness (CHESED) as his attribute, as it is written “Kindness to Abraham” (Mic. 7:20). Isaac… was worthy and took the attribute of Strength (GEVURAH), which is called Terror (PACHAD). It is thus written “And Jacob swore by the terror of Isaac his father.” (Gen. 31:53)… Abraham is above and Isaac is below him, you will be in the center and take all three. What is the center? It is peace , as it is written “You give truth to Jacob” (Mic. 7:20). Truth is identical with peace, as it is written “Words of peace and truth” (Est. 9:30) It is also written “For peace and truth will be in my days” (2Kn. 20:19)
(Bahir 190)
(Kindness, Truth/Peace and Strength/Terror are terms commonly used to refer to the Three Pillars.)
Throughout this chapter the scribes altered several occurrences of YHWH to “Adonai” (verses 3, 22, 27, 30, 31 and 32). These are six of the 134 places where the scribes altered Adonai to YHWH, all in this one chapter.
Philo says of these “three men”:
…the one in the middle is the Father of the universe, who in the sacred scriptures is called by his proper name, I am that I am; and the beings on each side are those most ancient powers which are always close to the living God, one of which is called his creative power, and the other his royal power. And the creative power is God, for it is by this that he made and arranged the universe; and the royal power is the Lord, for it is fitting that the Creator should lord it over and govern the creature. (122) Therefore, the middle person of the three, being attended by each of his powers as by body-guards, presents to the mind, which is endowed with the faculty of sight, a vision at one time of one being, and at another time of three;
(On Abraham XXIV 121b-122a)
After some bit more he writes that one of these three was the “Word”
For this reason, it seems to me to have been, that Sarah, (Genesis 18:15.) the namesake of virtue, who had previously laughed, denied her laughter to the person who questioned her as to the cause of it, fearing lest she might be deprived of her rejoicing, as belonging to no created being, but to God alone; on which account the holy Word (Logos) encouraged her, and said, “Be not afraid,” thou hast laughed a genuine laugh, and thou hast a share in real joy…
(On Abraham XXXVI 206)
Thus the Three Matzahs represent for us the Three Pillars of the Godhead, as we read in the Zohar:
Then Elohim said, “Let thee be light; and there was
light. And Elohim saw that the light was good…
Why, it may be asked, was it necessary to repeat the word “light” in this verse? The answer is that the first “light” refers to the primordial light which is of the Right Hand, and it is destined for the “end of days”; while the second “light” refers to the Left Hand, which issues from the Right.
The next words, “And God saw the light that it was good” (Gen. 1:4), refer to the pillar which, standing midway between them, unites both sides, and therefore when the unity of the three, right, left, and middle, was complete, “it was good”, since there could be no completion until the third had appeared to remove the strife between Right and Left, as it is written, “And God separated between the light and between the darkness.”…
This is the Middle Pillar: Ki Tov (that it was good) threw light above and below and on all other sides, in virtue of YHWH, the name which embraces all sides.
(Zohar 1:16b)
The Three Matzah are placed together to show their unity, as we read in the Zohar of the Three Pillars of the Godhead:
The [profession of] unity that every day is [a profession of] unity is to be understood and to be perceived. We have said in many places that this prayer is a profession of Unity that is proclaimed:
“Hear O Yisrael, YHWH“ first, [then] “Eloheynu” [and] “YHWH” they are all One and thus He is called “One”.
Behold, these are three names, how can they be one? Is it because we call them one? (literally: And also concerning the proclamation that we call them one?). How these are one can only through the vision of the Holy Sprit be known? And these are through the vision of the closed eye (or the hidden eye) To make known that these three are one (i.e. a Tri-Unity).
And this is the mystery of the voice that is heard. The voice is one. And is three GAUNIN: fire and air and water. And all these are one in the mystery of the voice.
And also here “YHWH, Eloheynu, YHWH” these are One. Three GAUNIN that are One. And this is the voice of the act of a son of man in [proclaiming] the Unity. And to which he sees by the Unity of the “All” from Eyn Sof (the Infinite One) to the end of the “All”. Because of the voice in which it is done, in these are three that are one (i.e. a Tri-Unity).
And this is the [profession] of the daily profession of Unity that is revealed in the mystery of the Holy Spirit.
And there are many GAUNIN that are a Unity, and all of them are true, what the one does, that the other does, and what that one does, the other does.
(Zohar 2:43)
Genesis 18 ends with:
And YHWH went His way as soon as He had left off speaking to Avraham, and
Avraham returned unto his place.
(Gen. 18:33 HRV)
And the next chapter begins:
And the two angels came to S’dom at even, and Lot sat in the gate of S’dom. And Lot
saw them, and rose up to meet them, and he fell down on his face to the earth.
(Gen. 19:2 HRV)
Why “two angels”? Because one of the “three men” being called “YHWH” in the previous chapter “went His way”, while the other two “came to S’dom”. As the Zohar comments on this passage:
Rabbi Jose pointed that the preceding verse, “And the Lord went His way as soon as he had left off peaking with Abraham”, indicates that only when the Shekinah departed from Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place, did the two angels come to Sodom at eve. It says two because one of the angels departed in the Shekinah, leaving only two.
(Zohar 1:106a-106b)
In verse 18 Lot addresses these two “angels” as YHWH. Once again the scribes have altered this passage to read Adonia, but the original read YHWH (This is one of 134 places where the MT reads “Adonai” but which the Masorah indicates that the text originally read “YHWH” and had been altered by the scribes in an attempt on their part to clarify the text.)
Then we get to verse 24 where we read:
Then YHWH caused to rain upon S’dom and upon Amora,
brimstone and fire from YHWH, out of heaven.
(Gen. 19:24 HRV)
The Zohar says of this passage:
And YHWH caused to rain upon Sodom. The term V’YHWH (and YHWH)
signifies the grade of the lower Court which requires authorization from on high.
(Zohar 1:107b)
The Targum Onkelos paraphrases the passage:
And the Word of YHWH caused to rain upon S’dom and upon Amora,
brimstone and fire from YHWH, out of heaven.
(Gen. 19:24 Targum Onkelos)
Thus identifying the YHWH which causes the rain to come down from YHWH out of Heaven to be the “Word of YHWH”.
It is worth noting that according to the Talmud (San. 38b) a certain Min used this very passage in debating the deity of Messiah with Rabbi Ishmael ben Jose.
It is important to define this Talmudic term MIN (singular) / MINIM (plural).
The fourth century “Church Father” Jerome writes of the Nazarenes and Ebionites:
What shall I say of the Ebionites who pretend to be Christians?
Today there still exists among the Jews in all the synagogues
of the East a heresy which is called that of the Minæans,
and which is still condemned by the Pharisees; [its followers]
are ordinarily called ‘Nazarenes’; they believe that Christ,
the son of God, was born of the Virgin Mary, and they hold him
to be the one who suffered under Pontius Pilate and ascended
to heaven, and in whom we also believe.”
(Jerome; Letter 75 Jerome to Augustine)
Now Ebionites and Nazarenes were two distinct groups with varying beliefs (the Ebionites split off from the Nazarenes round 70 C.E.) but both of these groups were known by Rabbinic Jews as ” Minim” or as Jerome calls them in Latin “Mineans”.
According to the Dictionary of the Targumim, Talmud Babli, Yerushalami and Midrashic Literature, Marcus Jastrow defines MIN “…sectarian, infidel… a Jewish infidel, mostly applied to Jew Christians”. Jastrow uses the term “Jew-Christians” to refer to Ebionites and Nazarenes although these groups did not call themselves “Christians”.
Many scholars believe that the term MIN began as an acronym for a Hebrew phrase meaning “Believers in Yeshua the Nazarene”.
The so-called “church fathers” also saw a special significance to this passage. Ireanaeus, who wrote around 185 C.E. writes:
And again, referring to the destruction of the Sodomites, the Scripture says:
“Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah
fire and brimstone from the Lord out of heaven.” (Gen. 19:24)
For it here points out that the Son, who had also been talking with Abraham, had received power to judge the Sodomites for their wickedness.
(Ireanaeus; Against Heresies 3:6:1)
When we examine the Zohar, the Targum, the Talmud, Philo and Ireaneus on this portion of Torah, it becomes clear that the three men that visit Avraham represent the three pillars of the Godhead. One of them returns to Heaven at the end of chapter 18, leaving “two angels” in chapter 19 which are also called “YHWH” and which cause fire and brimstone to rain out from YHWH which had returned to Heaven.
The Greek translator of the LXX and Philo knew that the unleavened “cakes” of Ex. 12:39 and the “cakes” of Gen. 18:6 contained a mystery. It was this mystery of the Three Pillars of the Godhead and the three Matzah of the Passover Seder that Yeshua referenced when, on the night of his betrayal he took the bread, and blessed and broke, and gave to His talmidim, saying: “Take you, and eat this, which is My body (Mt. 26:26; Lk. 22:19; Mk. 14:22) which is broken for your sakes; thus do for My memorial. (1Cor. 11:23-24).
This he broke into pieces and passed around to be eaten as the AFIKOMEN.
In the days before the destruction of the Temple, when the Passover lamb was still offered, a piece of the Passover lamb had to be the last thing eaten in the meal (m.Pessahim 10:8) so that one was left with the taste of the Passover lamb in the mouth. (b.Pes. 119b). Since the destruction of the Temple the broken middle matzah represents the Passover Lamb and becomes the AFIKOMEN. The word AFIKOMEN in Greek means “last thing eaten” but in Aramaic it means “My Presence has been raised up”.
This is the mystery of the three “secret cakes” of unleavened bread, and the broken middle matzah, the Middle Pillar of the Godhead, the Son of Yah.
The Truth about Kabbalah
By
James Scott Trimm
Part 1
There have been many broad sweeping attacks made on “Kabbalah” in the Hebraic Roots Community. The problem is that many of those who attack Kabbalah really do not know that much about it. This is complicated by the fact there are many things out there being called “Kabbalah” (sometimes spelled “Cabala” or “Qabala” or some other variation) which are not true Jewish Kabbalah, and this has created a good deal of misinformation on the topic as well.
The truth is that many Orthodox Rabbis who have come to know Yeshua as the Messiah, have come to their conclusions largely through Kabbalah.
In 1665 Jewish Kabbalist Solomon Meir Ben Moses accepted Yeshua as the Messiah when using Kabbalitic methods, he found a series of messages embedded in the first word of the Torah pointing to Yeshua as the Messiah.
In the 19th Century Rabbi Tzivi Nasi, an Orthodox Rabbi from Poland accepted Messiah and wrote a book called The Great Mystery: How Can Three Be One? Showing the Messiah as the incarnate Word, the Son of Yah and the Middle Pillar of the Godhead in the Zohar and other Kabbalistic texts.
(this book is available at http://nazarenespace.com/page/books-dvds )
In the 1980’s my old mentor Rabbi Moyal, an Orthodox Rabbi from Israel accepted Yeshua as the Messiah based largely on material he found in the Zohar.
(see http://nazarenespace.com/profiles/blogs/testimony-of-rabbi-moyal )
Until his death in 2006 Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri was one of the most renowned Mizrahi Haredi rabbis and kabbalists in Israel. He was known as “The Elder Kabbalist.” In January 2006, Rabbi Kaduri was hospitalized with pneumonia in the Bikur Holim hospital in Jerusalem, where there wasn’t an authomatic artificial respirator, which was donated by a close person. He died at around 10 p.m. on January 28, 2006 (29 Tevet 5766). He was alert and lucid until his last day. An estimated 300,000 people took part in his funeral procession on January 29, which started from the Nachalat Yitzchak Yeshivah and wound its way through the streets of Jerusalem to the Givat Shaul cemetery near the entrance to the city of Jerusalem. In 1908 Kaduri received a blessing by Yosef Chaim (Yoseph Ḥayyim) (1 September 1832 – 30 August 1909) who was a leading hakham (Sephardic Rabbi), authority on Jewish law (Halakha) and Master Kabbalist, that before his death Kaduri would see the Messiah. In a 1990 meeting with Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the last Rebbe of the Lubavitch movement, Schneerson also spoke a blessing to Kaduri that Kaduri would not pass from this world until he met the Messiah. These blessings was fulfilled on 9 Cheshvan 5764 (4 November 2003) in a mystical vision when Kaduri spoke with the Messiah and the Messiah revealed His name to Kaduri. Kaduri later told his disciples that the revealed name of the Messiah would be found hidden among his writings. Shortly before his death Rabbi Kaduri wrote a short note with instructions not to open until one year after his death. The note was penned in Hebrew and signed in the rabbi’s name. It read:
בעניין הר”ת [ראשי תיבות, ע.י.] של משיח. ירים העם ויוכיח שדברו ותורתו עומדים. באתי על החתום בחודש הרחמים [אלול, ע.י] התשס”ה,
יצחק כדורי
Concerning the letter abbreviation of the Messiah’s name, He will lift the people and prove that His Word and His Torah are valid.
This I have signed in the month of mercy (Elul),
Yitzhak Kaduri
The first letter of each word in the phrase in Hebrew spells Yahushua or in modern pronunciation Yehoshua, the long form of the name Yeshua.
(see: http://nazarenespace.com/xn/detail/2182335:BlogPost:162423 )
It was the Kabbalah that led each of these Orthodox Rabbis to Yeshua as the Messiah.
The Four Levels of the Oral Law
In a previous article I have shown that Moshe received not only the Written Torah on Mount Sinai, but an Oral Torah as well. (see: http://nazarenespace.com/page/nazarenes-and-the-oral-law ) The Oral Torah may be thought of as having four layers: The Pashat (the basic level); the Remez (the implied level); The Drash (the allegorical or homiletical level) and the Sod (the hidden, mystical or secret level).
As we dig deeper into the Torah we peal back these layers, each one getting deeper and more intense, like the layers of an onion.
In the Rabbinic literature the Mishna represents the Pashat level. The Talmud (the Gemara) contains the implied level, inferring from the Mishna. The Midrashim contain the allegorical or homiletical level. Finally the Zohar contains the Sod level. For this reason it is said that the Kabbalah is “The Soul of the Torah”.
The Kabbalah is not a book, it is an area of knowledge. It is the Sod level of the Oral Law. Just as the Talmud deals with the area of halacha (customs and practices), the Midrashim deal largely with Aggada (narrative material) the Zohar contains the Kabbalah.
The Mystery of Elohim
Now the minute the word “mysticism” is used, many people panic. The word “mysticism” derives from the word “mystery.” In this case the reference is to what Paul calls the “mystery of Eloah” (1Cor. 2:1).
1 My brothers, when I came to you, I declared to you the mystery of Eloah; not with
great words or with wisdom.
2 And I did not judge my nefesh among you, as though I knew a thing, except Yeshua
the Messiah, and also His being crucified.
3 And I was with you in much fear and in trembling.
4 And my words and my proclaiming was not by persuasion of words of wisdom, but by
demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 That your trust would not be by the wisdom of the sons of men, but by the power of
Eloah.
6 Now we speak wisdom among the mature; not the wisdom of this world, nor of the
authorities of this world who come to naught:
7 But we speak the wisdom of Eloah in a mystery that was hidden, and [that] Eloah had
before separated, from before the ages; for our glory,
8 That not one, of the authorities of this world knew: for if they had known it, they
would not have crucified the Adon of glory.
9 But as it is written, The eye has not seen, and the ear has not heard, and into the
heart of a son of man has not entered … that which Eloah has prepared for those
who love Him. (Isaiah 52:15; 64:3 (4))
10 But Eloah has revealed [it] to us by His Spirit, for the Spirit searches into everything,
even the deep things of Eloah.
11 For who is the Son of Man who knows what is in a son of man except the Spirit of the
Son of Man that [is] in him? So also, that which is in Eloah no man knows, except the
Spirit of Eloah.
12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from Eloah, so
that we might know the gifts that were given to us from Eloah,
13 Which also we speak, not in the teaching of words of the wisdom of sons of men, but
in the teaching of the Spirit, and to spiritual men we compare spiritual things.
14 For the son of man who is in the nefesh, does not receive spiritual things, for they are
foolishness to him, and he is not able to know that which is judged spiritually.
15 Now the spiritual man judges all things, and is not judged from man.
16 For who knows the mind of YHWH that he might instruct Him? (Isaiah 40:13; Wisdom 9:13) But we have the
mind of the Messiah.
(1Cor. 2:1-16 HRV)
In verse 9 Paul quotes from the Prophet Isaiah who writes:
And whereof from of old men have not heard,
nor perceived by the ear, neither has the eye seen
an Elohim beside You, who works for him that
waits for Him.
(Is. 64:3(4))
There is a Baraita (a pre-talmudic tradition of the oral law which was not incorporated in the Mishnah) on this verse that appears twice in the Talmud once in the Midrash Rabbah and four times in the Zohar. The following is the Baraita as it appears in the Talmud:
What is the meaning of “Eye has not seen” (Is. 64:3)
Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said:
This is the wine that has been kept
in its grapes from the six days in the beginning.
(b.Berakot 34b; b.Sanhedrin 99a)
The phrase “wine that has been kept” in the Hebrew is Yayin HaMeshumar “wine of keeping”. The tradition of the Yayin HaMeshumar runs deep in traditional Judaism. It is the wine that will be served at the Messianic Feast when the Messiah re-establishes the Kingdom of Israel on earth.
In his first letter to the Corinthians Paul also quotes, or perhaps we should better say paraphrases Is. 64:3(4) as follows:
But as it is written:
The eye has not seen, and the ear has not heard,
and into the heart of a son of man has not entered
that which Eloah had prepared for those who love Him.
(1Cor. 2:9 HRV)
Note that Paul’s citation is influenced by the Baraita as the actual text of Isaiah says that “eye has not seen… an Elohim beside you” but Paul says “Eye has not seen… that which Eloah has prepared for those who love Him.” And the Baraita has “Eye has not seen… the wine which has been kept…”.
Now lets look at Paul’s quote in context:
But we speak the wisdom of Eloah
in a mystery that was hidden
And [that] Eloah had before separated
from before the ages for our glory.
That not one of the authorities of this world knew,
for if they had known it,
they would not have crucified the Adon of glory.
But as it is written:
The eye has not seen, and the ear has not heard,
and into the heart of a son of man has not entered
that which Eloah had prepared for those who love Him.
(1Cor. 2:7-9 HRV)
When we look at Paul’s context we see an even greater influence from the Baraita of the Yayin HaMeshumar “…a mystery that was hidden and that Eloah had before separated from before the ages… eye has not seen… that which Eloah has prepared for those who love Him.”
It is clear that Paul here must be referring to the Yayin HaMeshumar as his audience is, no doubt, familiar with this Baraita to Is. 64:3.
Likewise the Zohar says:
The Tzadik (The Righteous) is the Yesod (foundation) in Yah,
the mystery (SOD) which is the wine which has been kept
in its grapes from the six days in the beginning.
(Zohar; Roeh M’haimna on Pinchas)
There is a clear connection here because SOD (“mystery”) has a gematria (numerical value) of 70 which is also the gematria of YAYIN (“wine”). Just as the Zohar identifies the “mystery” with the Yayin HaMeshumar, so does Paul in 1Corinthians.
For more on the Yayin HaMeshuamar see http://nazarenespace.com/profiles/blogs/the-yayin-hameshumar-the-wine )
Hermetic Cabala vs. Jewish Kabbalah
Not everything that is called Kabbalah is true Jewish Kabbalah. It is important to distinguish true Jewish Kabbalah from so-called Hermetic Kabbalah (often spelled Hermetic Cabala or Hermetic Qabbala) arose in the 1500’s. It grew out of a movement known as Christian Cabala that arose in the 1500’s during the renaissance when certain Christian scholars sought to combine Jewish Kabbalah with Christian mysticism. Some of these Christian mystics also sought to combine pagan Hermeticism. Hermeticism is a pagan occult teaching based on the alleged teachings of Hermes known to the Egyptians as “Thoth.”
Hermetic Cabala is not to be confused with Jewish Kabbalah they are clearly two very different things. For example one Hermetic Cabbalist writes:
…in devout Jewish circles in which Cabala had its origins,
involved using the idea of the symbolic alphabet as a way to
interpret the holy books of Judaism…. This belief can still
be found today in Cabalistic circles within orthodox Judaism,
but the main current of the magical Cabalistic tradition [Hermetic
Cabala] passed long ago beyond dogmatic reliance on any
one traditional set of Scriptures.
(Paths of Wisdom; Principles of the Practice of Magical Cabala
in the Western Tradition; John Michael Greer p. 21-22)
Any attempt to discredit Jewish Kabbalah because of the occult connections of Hermetic Cabala is dishonest to the highest degree. Hermetic Cabala is not rooted in Jewish Kabbalah, it departs from Jewish Kabbalah almost entirely. It is rooted in Gentile Christian Cabala and Pagan Hermeticism. Seeking to discredit Jewish Kabbalah because of the occultism of Hermetic Cabala is like trying to discredit Yeshua because of the pagan origins of Christmas.
Practical Kabbalah
The next issue to discuss is to attack so-called “occultism” in Jewish Kabbalah, especially that area of Jewish Kabbalah known as “Practical Kabbalah”. Some have wrongly associated “Practical Kabbalah” with sorcery and witchcraft.
In fact sorcery, necromancy and the use of unholy Names, are prohibited in Kabbalah. Learning about these matters was not prohibited. In fact, at times it is helpful information in combating the forces of evil. Unfortunately, because information on these matters was at times included in books with information on acceptable, practical Kabbalah, some Gentiles mistakenly grouped them all together giving Kabbalah in general a negative reputation among the Gentiles.
Manifestations of the Ruach
One of the areas of true practical Kabbalah is that which Paul calls the “manifestations of the Ruach” (1Cor. 12). Among these manifestations is the “working of miracles.” It has been pointed out that one man’s “miracle” is another man’s “sorcery”. For example the Talmud and the Toldot Yeshu both characterize Yeshua’s miracles as “sorcery” and Christians since the middle ages have also often characterized Jewish Practical Kabbalah as “witchcraft”.
It is important to distinguish “Practical Kabbalah” and the “manifestations of the Spirit” from “Witchcraft” or “Sorcery”. Terms like “Magician”, “witch”, and “sorcerer” are generally ascribed to those who make use of unholy names (names of demons, pagan gods) or engage in other harmful practices. In Exodus we read, “You shall not tolerate a sorceress to live.” (22:17).
The use of Names of Elohim and divine invocation, on the other hand, is thought of as being a higher class of activity. Practices, which invoke Elohim or other supernatural aid (such as angels) and/or use true sacred Names are permitted as “miracles”.
True practical Kabbalah deals with the manifestations of the Ruach and not witchcraft of Sorcery which the true Jewish Kabbalah actually forbids.
The Zohar Says….
Those who attack the Kabbalah often do so by quoting or citing something from the Zohar which they find objectionable. There are a number of reasons that this kind of attack is unwarranted.
The Zohar is to Kabbalah what the Talmud is to Halacha. One may cite or quote things from the Talmud that we as Nazarenes would not agree with, but that does not negate truth of the concept of the Oral Law. The Talmud is simply the Rabbinic account of the Oral Law. In the same way the Zohar is the Rabbinic account of the Kabbalah, and there may well be material in the Zohar that we as Nazarenes would disagree with, just as there is material in the Talmud we would disagree with.
Another problem with these kinds of attacks is that the Zohar, like the Talmud, includes debates and discussions by the Rabbis on the subjects it covers. Like the Talmud, the Zohar often presents contradictory and opposing views, and both minority and majority views in its own text.
Finally the Zohar often contains information that is intended to be understood as symbolic. Critics often misrepresent this material in a literal manner which it was not intended to be understood.
Kabbalah is Gnot Gnosticism
Another reason that is often used to attack Kabbalah is an alleged connection to Gnosticism, in fact one source goes so far as to call Kabbalah “Jewish Gnosticism”.
Of course “Gnosticism” actually comes from the Greek word Gnosis (Knowledge) and actually means “knowledge-ism”. Of course there is nothing wrong with knowledge, as we read in Hosea:
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge
I will also reject you, that you shall be no cohen to Me: seeing you have forgotten the law
of your Elohim, I also will forget your children.
(Hosea 4:6 HRV)
However when the term Gnosticsim is used it generally refers to the modern scholarly term used to describe a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices that were found among some of the early Christian groups called “gnostic” (“learned”) by Irenaeus and other early Christian “Church Fathers.”
Anyone who knows and understands the elements of Gnosticism could never confuse Kabbalah for Gnosticsim. Sure, Christian Gnostics were influenced by Kabbalah, because their Nazarene Jewish forefathers had passed the teachings of Kabbalah down to them. But there are very important differences between Kabbalah and Gnosicism.
An important characteristic of Gnosticsim was the teaching that the realization of Gnosis (esoteric or intuitive knowledge), is the way to salvation of the soul from the material world. They saw the material world as essentially evil and created through an intermediary being (demiurge) rather than directly by Elohim. In Gnosticsim this demiurge was seen as imperfect if not evil.
This is totally at odds with Kabbalah in which the Sefirot are aspects of Elohim who is the actual Creator and the creation itself is fundamentally good. Moreover the Zohar teaches salvation trough the atonement of the Messiah:
In the Garden of Eden there is a hall that is called the
“hall of the afflicted.” Now it is into this hall that
the Messiah goes and summons all the afflictions and pains
and sufferings of Israel to come upon him. And so they all
come upon him. And had he not eased the children of Israel
of their sorrow, and taken their burden upon himself, there
would be none who could endure the suffering of Israel
in penalty of neglecting the Torah. Thus it is written:
“Surely our diseases he did bear and our pains he carried.”
(Is. 53:5) As long as the children of Israel dwelt in the
Holy Land, they averted all afflictions and sufferings from
the world by the service of the sanctuary and by sacrifice.
But now it is the Messiah who is averting them from the
habitants of the world.
(Zohar 2:212a)
The Truth about Kabbalah (Part 2)
The Truth about Kabbalah
By
James Scott Trimm
Part 2
The Image of Elohim
The Kabbalist Isaac Luria taught that the Messiah is at the heart of Kabbalah, and certainly that is the case in the so-called New Testament. The New Testament is filled with Kabbalah. The authors of the so-called New Testament were clearly Kabbalists.
Now some have tried to argue that the Kabbalah itself is influenced by the so-called New Testament. Now of course the Rabbis of the Zohar and other Kabbalistic writings have no reason to write things that would seem to justify concepts in the so-called New Testament. But none-the-less if we also compare the writings of Philo, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Targums, we find unshakeable evidence that these ideas predate the so-called New Testament. Therefore it will become clear that the so-called New Testament makes use of the Kabbalah and not vice versa.
The Image of Elohim
At the core of Kabbalah is the “Image of Elohim” (Gen. 1:26-27). This “image of Elohim” was a manifestation of the Godhead, which served as a model for Adam called “Adom Kadmon” (“the primordial man”). Orthodox Jew and Kabbalist Aryeh Kaplan writes:
…the form (image) of Elohim in which He created man is actually Elohim’s blueprint form for man. This “form” or “blueprint” consisted of Elohim’s first thought in creation, and hence the highest level of creation. This is referred to as “Adam Kadmon” (Primeval Man).
(Bahir; Aryeh Kaplan; p. 95 in Kaplans commentary to Bahir 7)
Gershom Scholem writes:
In His active manifestations, the Godhead appears as the dynamic unity of the Sefiroth, portrayed as the “tree of the Sefiroth,” or the mystical human form (‘Adam Kadmon), who is none other than the concealed shape of Godhead itself.
(On the Mystical Shape of the Godhead; Basic Concepts in the Kabbalah; p. 39)
However, the Sefiroth do not appear only in the shape of the tree. They also appear in the form of Primal Man (‘Adam Kadmon),which corresponds to that of earthly man.
(ibid p. 43)
Philo writes similarly:
…For God does not seem to have availed himself
of any other animal existing in creation as his model
in the formation of man; but to have been guided,
as I have said before, by his own Word (Logos) alone…
(Philo; On Creation XLVIII (139))
And elsewhere:
As therefore the city, when previously shadowed out in
the mind of architectural skill had no external place, but
was stamped solely in the mind of the workman, so in
the same manner neither can the world which existed in
ideas have had any other local position except the
Logos (Word) which made them…
(Philo; On Creation V (20))
Not only does Philo identify the “Word” with this “Image of Elohim” which served as the model for our Creation. Elsewhere Philo identifies this “Word” as the Messiah:
“The head of all things is the eternal Word (Logos) of the eternal God, under which, as if it were his feet or other limbs, is placed the whole world, over which He passes and firmly stands. Now it is not because Messiah is Lord that He passes and sits over the whole world, for His seat with His Father and God but because for its perfect fullness the world is in need of the care and superintendence of the best ordered dispensation, and for its own complete piety, of the Divine Word (Logos), just as living creatures (need) a head, without which it is impossible to live.”
(Q&A on Exodus, II, 117)
Likewise we read in the so-called “New Testament”:
…the Messiah, who is the likeness of Elohim.
(2Cor. 4:4)
[his Son] who is the image of the invisible Elohim..
(Col. 1:15)
[the Son] who is the radiance of his glory, and the image of his being…
(Heb. 1:3)
The so-called New Testament teaches us to be conformed to this image of Elohim which was the original model for our creation:
But all of us, with open faces, behold the magnificence of YHWH as in a mirror, and we are being changed into that likeness from glory to glory as by the Spirit of YHWH.
(2Cor. 3:18) see 1Cor. 13:12; Ex. 33:18-34:8; 1Cor. 11:7
And from the first he knew he knew them and marked them out [to become] in the likeness of the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn of many brothers.
(Rom. 8:29)
And put on the newness that is renewed by knowledge, in the likeness of his Creator.
(Col. 3:10)
And like we have worn the likeness of the one who is from the dust, thus we will wear the likeness of the one who is from heaven.
(1Cor. 15:49)
All of this points back to Genesis where we read:
26 And Elohim said: Let us make man in our image; after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.
27 And Elohim created man in His own image: in the image of Elohim created He him; male and female created He them.
(Gen. 1:26-27 HRV)
What does this mean? Let US make man in OUR image?
The Zohar gives a very interesting answer:
And Elohim said, Let us make man (Gen. 1:26). The secret (SOD) is to them who fear him (Ps. 25:14)…
That most reverend Elder opened an exposition of this verse by saying ‘Simeon Simeon, who is it that said: “Let us make man?” Who is this Elohim?’ With these words the most reverend Elder vanished before anyone saw him.
R. Simeon, hearing that he had called him plain “Simeon”, and not “Rabbi Simeon”, said to his colleagues: ‘Of a surety this is the Holy One, blessed be He, of whom it is written: “And the Ancient of days was seated” (Dan. VII, 9). Truly now is the time to expound this mystery, because certainly there is here a mystery which hitherto it was not permitted to divulge, but now we perceive that permission is given.’
He then proceeded: ‘A king had several buildings to be erected, and he had an architect in his service who did nothing save with his consent (Prov. 8:30). The king is the supernal Wisdom above, the Middle Pillar is the king below: Elohim is the architect above, being as such the supernal Mother, and Elohim is also the architect below, being as such the Divine Presence (Shekinah) below. Now a woman may not do anything without the consent of her husband. And all the buildings were created through his Emanation (aziluth), the Father said to the Mother by means of the Word (amirah), “let it be so and so”, and straightway it was so, as it is written, “And he said, Elohim, let there be light, and there was light”: i.e. one said to Elohim, let there be light: the master of the building gave the order, and the architect carried it out immediately; and so with all that was constructed in the way of emanation.
(Zohar 1:22a)
The Zohar understands “US” and “OUR” to be reflected in the “male and female” image of Elohim mentioned in verse 27 and these are here referred to as “the Father” and “the Mother” just as YHWH is expressed as a Father (Mal. 1:6; Is. 63:16; 64:7) and as a Mother (Is. 66:13) in the Tanak.
YHWH as a “Mother” is the “Comforter” as Isaiah writes:
“As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you: and you shall be comforted in Yerushalayim.”
(Is. 66:13)
This “comforter” is what the so-called New Testament calls the Holy Spirit:
16 And I will ask of My Father, and He will give you another comforter that will be with you forever:
17 The spirit of Truth, that the world is not able to receive, because it has not seen, and does not know. But you know, because [the spirit] abides with you, and is in you.
(Jn. 14:16-17)
26 But the comforter, the Ruach HaKodesh, whom My Father will send in My Name, will teach you everything, and will remind you of that which I tell you.
(Jn. 14:26)
26 But when the comforter comes, whom I will send you from My Father–the Spirit of Truth who has proceeded from My Father–will testify concerning Me.
(Jn. 15:26)
7 But I tell you the truth: it is profitable for you that I go: for if I do not go, the Comforter will not come to you. But when I go, I will send the Comforter to you.
(Jn. 16:7)
Now Paul writes:
“what may be known of Elohim is manifest in them [mankind] his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead [or divine nature]…”
(Rom. 1: 19)
Then in Rom. 1:26-28 we are told that those who fail to perceive these things may fall into the errors of Homosexuality and Lesbianism. So when in creation were Elohim’s invisible attributes manifested in man and made clearly seen. The answer is in the Torah, in Gen. 1:26, 27 quoted above. Paul and the Zohar are saying the same thing here.
Now following the parallelism of the passage, “Our image”; “Our likeness” and “male and female” appear to be parallel terms.
These feminine and masculine attributes are represented in the Tanak as the Father (Jer. 31:9; Mal. 1:9; Is. 63:16; 64:8), the Mother (Is. 66:13) and the Son (Prov. 30:4; Ps. 2:2, 7, 12).
The Male and Female image of Father and Mother are the Elohim which the Zohar calls the “Architect above” while the “architect below” is the “Elohim below” or the “king below” and identified as the “Middle Pillar”. Elsewhere the Zohar identifies the Middle Pillar as the “Son of Yah”:
Better is a neighbor that is near, than a brother far off.
This neighbor is the Middle Pillar in the Godhead,
which is the Son of Yah.
(Zohar 2:115)
Here (Zohar 1:22a) the Zohar also identifies the Middle Pillar with the Word.
So the words “Let Us create man in Our own image” are spoken from the Father to the Mother (Holy Spirit) and this is the Elohim above, and these words are carried out by the Word which is the Son of Yah, the Middle Pillar, the Elohim below.
Just as we read in the so-called New Testament:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Eloah, and the Word was Eloah.
2 This was in the beginning, with Eloah.
3 Everything existed through Him, and without Him, not even one thing existed of that which existed.
(Yochanan (John) 1:1-3 HRV)
So now we have The Zohar, Philo and the so-called New Testament teaching the same basic things about the Image of Elohim as the Word.
The Truth about Kabbalah
By
James Scott Trimm
Part 3
The Middle Pillar
As we stated in Part 2, the Kabbalist Isaac Luria taught that the Messiah is at the heart of Kabbalah, and certainly that is the case in the so-called New Testament. The New Testament is filled with Kabbalah. The authors of the so-called New Testament were clearly Kabbalists.
Now some have tried to argue that the Kabbalah itself is influenced by the so-called New Testament. Now of course the Rabbis of the Zohar and other Kabbalistic writings have no reason to write things that would seem to justify concepts in the so-called New Testament. But none-the-less if we also compare the writings of Philo, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Targums, we find unshakeable evidence that these ideas predate the so-called New Testament. Therefore it will become clear that the so-called New Testament makes use of the Kabbalah and not vice versa.
The Middle Pillar of the Godhead
(Part 3 was previously published under the title “The Truth about the Shema”)
The opening of the Shema reads:
SH’MA YISRAEL YHWH ELOHEYNU YHWH ECHAD
“Hear O Israel, YHWH, our Elohim, YHWH is one (ECHAD)”
(Deut. 6:4)
Let us examine other passages in the Torah to understand how this word ECHAD (“one”) is used in the Torah:
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined
to his wife, and they shall become one [ECHAD] flesh.
(Gen. 2:24)
And YHWH said, “Indeed the people are one [ECHAD] and they
all have one language…
(Gen. 11:6)
Thus it is clear that the word ECHAD in no way requires a singularity and can refer to a composite unity.
Now let us to explore how this passage is understood by the Zohar:
The [profession of] unity that every day is [a profession of] unity
is to be understood and to be perceived. We have said in many places
that this prayer is a profession of Unity that is proclaimed:
”Hear O Yisrael, YHWH“ first, [then] “Eloheynu” [and] “YHWH” they are all One and thus He is called “One”.
Behold, these are three names, how can they be one? Is it because we call them one? (literally: And also concerning the proclamation that we call them one?). How these are one can only through the vision of the Holy Sprit be known. And these are through the vision of the closed eye (or the hidden eye) To make known that these three are one.
And this is the mystery of the voice that is heard. The voice is one. And is three GAUNIN: fire and air and water. And all these are one in the mystery of the voice.
And also here “YHWH, Eloheynu, YHWH” these are One. Three GAUNIN that are One. And this is the voice of the act of a son of man in [proclaiming] the Unity.
And to which he sees by the Unity of the “All” from Eyn Sof (the Inifinite One) to the end of the “All”. Because of the voice in which it is done, in these are three that are one.
And this is the [profession] of the daily profession of Unity that is revealed in the mystery of the Holy Spirit.
And there are many GAUNIN that are a Unity, and all of them are true, what the one does, that the other does, and what that one does, the other does.
(Zohar 2:43)
(The Aramaic word GA’UN (sing.)/GAUNIN (plural) comes from the word for “color” and refers to an “aspect, element, substance, essence”. )
Thus the Zohar understands the Sh’ma to mean that YHWH, Elohim and YHWH are three GA’UNIN. This section of the Zohar also recalls a reading from the Sefer Yetzirah:
Three “mothers”: Alef; Mem and Shin
Their foundation is a pan of merit
a pan of liability
and the tongue of decree deciding between them.
(Sefer Yetzirah 3:1)
Three “mothers”, Alef, Mem, Shin
in the universe are air, water, fire…
(Sefer Yetzirah 3:4a)
(Note: The letter SHIN has a gematria (numerical value) of 300 which is the same as the gematria of the phrase ”Ruach Elohim” (the Spirit of Elohim).)
As it we will demonstrate the “tongue of decree deciding between them” is the Middle Pillar of the Godhead which reconciles the two outer pillars of the Godhead.
The Three Pillars of the Godhead
The Zohar also calls these three GAUNIN the three pillars of the Godhead. The Zohar teaches that the two outer pillars are reconciled by the middle pillar just as the “tongue of decree” decides between the two pans of the scale in the Sefer Yetzirah. The Zohar reads as follows:
Why, it may be asked, was it necessary to repeat the word “light”
in this verse? The answer is that the first “light” refers to the
primordial light which is of the Right Hand, and is destined for
the “end of days”; while the second “light” refers to the Left Hand,
which issues from the Right.
The next words, “And God saw the light that it was good” (Gen. 1:4),
refer to the pillar which standing midway between them,
writes both sides, and therefore when the unity of the three,
right, left, and middle, was complete, “it was good”, since there
could be no completion until the third had appeared to remove
the strife between Right and Left, as it is written, “And God separated
between the light and between the darkness.” …
This is the Middle Pillar: Ki Tov (that it was good) threw light
above and below and on all other sides, in virtue of YHWH,
the name which embraces all sides.
(Zohar 1:16b)
The First Century Jewish Writer Philo says similarly that the Word reconciles the two sides:
…the Divine Word (Logos)…fills all things and becomes a mediator and arbitrator for the two sides….from the Divine Word (Logos), as from a spring, there divide and break forth two powers. One is the creative through which the Artificer placed and ordered all things. This is named “God”. And the royal, since through it the Creator rules over created things. This is called “Lord” And from these two powers have grown the others. For by the side of the creative power there grows the propitious of which is named “beneficial” while (besides) the royal the legislative, of which is aptly named “punitive”. And below these and beside them is the ark.”
(Philo on Q&A on Exodus, II.68)
The Middle Pillar of the Godhead is the Son of Yah
According to the Zohar the Middle Pillar of the Godhead is the Son of Yah:
Better is a neighbor that is near, than a brother far off.
This neighbor is the Middle Pillar in the Godhead,
which is the Son of Yah.
(Zohar 2:115)
The Zohar also says of the Son of YHWH:
The Holy One, blessed be He, has a son, whose glory (tifret)
shines from one end of the world to another. He is a great
and mighty tree, whose head reaches heaven, and whose roots
are set in the holy ground, and his name is “Mispar” and his
place is in the uppermost heaven… as it is written, “The heavens
declare (me-SaPRim) the glory (tifret) of God” (Ps. 19:1).
Were it not for this “Mispar” there would be neither hosts
nor offspring in any of the worlds.
(Zohar 2:105a)
This Zohar passage is intended to recall a passage from the Bahir:
Why are they called Sephirot?
Because it is written (Ps. 19:2),
“The heavens declare (me-SaPRim) the glory (tifret) of God.”
(Bahir 125)
The Zohar also says concerning the Son of Yah:
“We may also translate “he who withholds blessings
from the Son” (Prov. 11:26), whom the Father and Mother
have CROWNED and blessed with many blessings,
and concerning whom they commanded, “Kiss the SON
lest he be angry” (Ps. 2:12), since he is invested
with judgment (GEVURAH) and with mercy (CHESED)”
(Zohar 3:191b)
According to the Zohar, the Middle Pillar of the Godhead is not only known as the “Son of Yah” but also as “Metatron”:
Better is a neighbor that is near, than a brother far off.
This neighbor is the Middle Pillar in the godhead,
which is the Son of Yah.
(Zohar 2:115)
The Middle Pillar is also known as “Metatron”:
The Middle Pillar [of the godhead] is Metatron,
Who has accomplished peace above,
According to the glorious state there.
(Zohar 3:227)
In the Zohar we are also told that Metatron is “the firstborn”:
“And Abraham said to his oldest servant of his house…” (Gen. 24:2) Who is this of whom it said “his servant?” In what sense must this be understood? Who is this servant? R. Nehori answered:
“It is in no other sense to be understood than expressed in the word “His servant,”
His servant, the servant of Elohim, the chief to His service. And who is he? Metatron, as said. He is appointed to glorify the bodies which are in the grave.
This is the meaning of the words “Abraham said to His servant” that is to the servant of Elohim. The servant is Metatron, the eldest of His [YHWH's] House, who is the firstborn of all creatures of Elohim, who is the ruler of all He has; because Elohim has committed to Him the government over all His hosts.
(Zohar 1:129b)
So in Judaism both Israel and “The Son of Yah” are identified as the “first-born Son of YHWH”.
According to the first century Jewish writer Philo, this firstborn Son of Elohim is also known as “The Word.”
Philo Writes of the Word (Logos):
For there are, as it seems, two temples belonging to God; one being this world, in which the high priest is the divine word, his own firstborn son. The other is the rational soul, the priest of which is the real true man,
(On Dreams 215)
And if there be not as yet any one who is worthy to be called a son of God, neverthless let him labour earnestly to be adorned according to his Firstborn Word, the eldest of his angels, as the great archangel of many names; for He is called, “the Authority”, and “the Name of God”, and “the Word”, and “man according to God’s image”, and “He who sees Israel”. . . For even if we are not yet suitable to be called the sons of God, still we may deserve to be called the children of his eternal image, of his most sacred Word; for the image of God is his most ancient word.
( On the Confusion of Tongues XXVIII:146-147)
Thus, indeed, being a shepherd is a good thing, so that it is justly attributed, not only to kings, and to wise men, and to souls who are perfectly purified, but also to God, the ruler of all things; and he who confirms this is not any ordinary person, but a prophet, whom it is good to believe, he namely who wrote the psalms; for he speaks thus, “The Lord is my shepherd, and he shall cause me to lack Nothing;” (Ps. 23:1.) and let every one in his turn say the same thing, for it is very becoming to every man who loves God to study such a song as this, but above all this world should sing it. For God, like a shepherd and a king, governs (as if they were a flock of sheep) the earth, and the water, and the air, and the fire, and all the plants, and living creatures that are in them, whether mortal or divine; and he regulates the nature of the heaven, and the periodical revolutions of the sun and moon, and the variations and harmonious movements of the other stars, ruling them according to law and justice; appointing, as their immediate superintendent, his own right reason, his first-born son, who is to receive the charge of this sacred company, as the lieutenant of the great king; for it is said somewhere, “Behold, I am he! I will send my messenger before thy face, who shall keep thee in the Road.”(Ex. 23:20.)
(On Husbandry 50-51)
The Targums were authoritative Aramaic paraphrases of the books of the Tanak which were read in the synagogues along with the Hebrew of the Torah and Haftorah readings. Whenever the Targums come to passages where YHWH is anthropomorphisised or seen, or where two or more YHWHs are indicated by the text, the Targums will often substitute “The Word [Memra] of YHWH” for YHWH. For example in Gen. 19:4 the Tanak has:
Then YHWH caused to rain upon S’dom and upon Amora,
brimstone and fire from YHWH, out of heaven.
The Hebrew grammar here indicates that one YHWH rains fire from another YHWH) But Targum Jonathan substitutes “The Word of YHWH/the LORD” for the first of the two YHWHs as follows:
And the Word of the YHWH caused to descend
upon the peoples of Sodom and Gommorah,
brimstone and fire from the YHWH in heaven.
In another example the Torah has:
Ex. 24:1a (YHWH is the speaker, see Ex. 20:1-2)
Now He [YHWH] said to Moses, “come up to YHWH…”
But Targum Jonathan paraphrases the speaker in Ex. 20:1 with the substitution “the Word [Memra] of YHWH” in place of “YHWH.”
And the Word of the Lord spoke all these glorious words…
So it would seem that one of these entities called “YHWH” in these Torah passages was actually understood by the Targumists as being the “Word of YHWH.” It was, according to Targum Onkelos, this Word of YHWH that Abraham trusted in:
And Abraham trusted in the Word [Memra] of YHWH,
and He counted it to him for righteousness.
(Targum Onkelos Gen. 15:6)
Moreover Abraham prayed in the name of the Word of YHWH:
And Abraham worshipped and prayed
in the name of the Word [Memra] of YHWH,
and said, “You are YHWH who does see, but You cannot be seen.”
(Jerusalem Targum Gen. 22:14)
Note that here Abraham prays “in the name of the Word of YHWH” to the YHWH who “cannot be seen.” Here two YHWHs are very apparent. Abraham is praying in the name of the Word of YHWH but is praying to the YHWH who cannot be seen. This idea is reinforced elsewhere as follows:
And Hagar praised and prayed
in the name of the Word [Memra] Of YHWH
who had revealed Himself to her…
(Jerusalem Targum Gen. 16:3)
It was this Word of YHWH that Jacob also trusted in:
And Jacob vowed a vow, saying,
“If the Word [Memra] of YHWH will be my support,
and will keep me in the way that I go,
and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
so that I come again to my father’s house in peace;
then shall the Word [Memra]of YHWH be my God.
(Targum Onkelos on Gen. 28:20-21)
King David also urged Israel to trust in the Word of Yah as the Targum of Psalm 62 reads:
Trust in the Word of Yah at all times,
O people of the house of Israel!
Pour out before Him the sighings of your heart;
Say, God is our trust forever.
(Targum on Psalm 62:9)
This “Word of YHWH” was, according to Targum Jonathan, the Creator:
And the Word [Memra] of YHWH
created man in his likeness,
in the likeness of YHWH, YHWH created,
male and female created He them.
(Targ. Jonathan Gen. 1:27)
This idea is also put forward in the Jerusalem Targum:
And the Word [Memra] of YHWH said to Moses:
“I am He who said unto the world ‘Be!’ and it was:
and who in the future shall say to it ‘Be!’ and it shall be.”
And He said: “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel:
‘I Am’ has sent me to you.”
(Jerusalem Targum Ex. 3:14)
The Fragmentary Targum of the Torah also expresses that the Word of YHWH was the Creator:
The first night, when the “Word of YHWH”
was revealed to the world in order to create it,
the world was desolate and void,
and darkness spread over the face of the abyss
and the “Word of the Lord” was bright and illuminating
and He called it the first night.
(Fragmentary Targum Ex. 12:42)
That the Word of YHWH was the Creator can also be seen in the Tanak itself:
By the Word of YHWH were the heavens made,
And all the hosts of them by the Spirit of His mouth.
(Ps. 33:6)
The Word was also the covenant maker. For example the Noachdic covenant was between the Word and all mankind:
And YHWH said to Noah,
“This is the token of the covenant
which I have established between My Word [Memra]
and between all flesh that is upon the earth.
(Targum Onkelos Gen. 9:17)
The Word also made the Abrahamic covenant as Targum Onkelos also paraphrases:
And I will establish my covenant
between My Word [Memra] and between you…
(Targum Onkelos Gen. 17:7)
The Word of YHWH was also the giver of the Mosaic Covenant and the Torah as the Jerusalem Targum (as quoted above) makes the Torah giver “the Word of YHWH” in Ex. 20:1. It was to th e Word that Jacob turned to for salvation:
Our father Jacob said: “My soul does not wait for salvation
such as that wrought by Gideon, the son of Joash,
for that was but temporal; neither for a salvation
like that of Samson, which was only transitory;
but for that salvation which You have promised to come,
through Your Word unto Your people, the children of Israel;
for your salvation my soul hopes.”
(Targum Jonathan Gen. 49:18)
That the Word of YHWH is the savior is expressed elsewhere:
But Israel shall be saved by the Word of YHWH
with an everlasting salvation…
By the Word of YHWH shall all the seed of Israel be justified…
(Targum Jonathan Is. 45:17, 25)
But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah,
and I will save them by the Word of YHWH, their God.
(Targum Jonathan Hosea 1:7)
Furthermore Philo tells us that “The Word” (Logos) and the Messiah are one and the same:
“The head of all things is the eternal Word (Logos) of the eternal God, under which, as if it were his feet or other limbs, is placed the whole world, over which He passes and firmly stands. Now it is not because Messiah is Lord that He passes and sits over the whole world, for His seat with His Father and God but because for its perfect fullness the world is in need of the care and superintendence of the best ordered dispensation, and for its own complete piety, of the Divine Word (Logos), just as living creatures (need) a head, without which it is impossible to live.”
(Q&A on Exodus, II, 117)
Thus the Zohar teaches that the Sh’ma (Deut. 6:4) refers to the three pillars of the Godhead as being ECHAD and that the Middle Pillar of the Godhead reconciles the two outer Pillars. The Zohar further teaches that this Middle Pillar of the Godhead is the Son of Yah, the firstborn of all creation who will glorify all the bodies which are in the grave. This is the Word of YHWH in whom Abraham placed his faith and who made the covenant with Israel, and which is the Savior and is the Messiah.
The Story of Rabbi Shlomo Meir Ben Moshe
By
James Scott Trimm
Rabbi Shlomo Meir Ben Moshe (Salomon Meir Ben Moses) was an eminent rabbi of the seventeenth century. He was born at Casal in the duchy of Montserrat, in the year 1606. He was named Shlomo (Salomon) in memory of his grandfather, and Meir, which signifies “illuminating”, from the Torah reading from the day of his birtyh, which was the account of the birth of Moshe (Moses), whose entrance into the world tradition declares to have been distinguished by a supernatural light, which illuminated all his father’s house on that occasion.
When he was just thirteen year of age young Shlomo began to compose discourses in the Hebrew language; and he prosecuted his studies in the Talmud and Zohar for many years with such success, that he at length attained the reputation of one of the most learned Jews of that age.
Wherever he traveled, his lectures in the synagogues were heard with admiration; and the Jews at Jerusalem honored him with the title of “rabbi”, and frequently sent him to collect the eleemosynary contributions, which they are in the habit of receiving from their brethren in other countries of Asia, Africa, and Europe.
In 1665, at the age of fifty nine, Rabbi Shlomo came to the conclusion that Yeshua was in fact, the Messiah. The previously respected Rabbi soon found himself outcast from his Jewish brothers. And finding no Nazarene Jewish community in the 17th century, he saw no other option to become a Christian.
One of Rabbi Shlomo’s longtime friends had been a Jeweler named David Jouaillier. Jouaillier was so upset when he heard that Rabbi Moshe had embraced Yeshua as Messiah, that he publicly declared that he wished to have Rabbi Moshe’s heart, that he might broil it upon the coals, and then throw it to be devoured by the dogs.
One day Jouaillier accidentally ran into his former friend at the home of a common friend who was a Christian. Rabbi Shlomo inquired whether it was true that his old friend had uttered this savage wish. David acknowledged he had, and declared his persuasion, that, if their circumstances had been reversed, Rabbi Shlomo would have said the same. Shlomo asked his old friend if he would repeat this wish if Shlomo could prove that Yeshua was the Messiah. “By no means.” said David, “but how will you prove that faith to be true?”
Rabbi Moshe told his old friend that he could show him that Yeshua is the Messiah
in the very first word of the Torah.
David said that if Shlomo could do this, he would accept Yeshua as the Messiah immediately.
Rabbi Shlomo cautioned his friend to consider carefully that to which he was committing himself, but David was firm in his commitment.
Rabbi Shlomo began his exposition by pointing out that the first word of the Torah בראשית (bereshit) remarked that this word, literally translated, signifies In the beginning of, leaving an ellipsis, which some have supplied by inserting all, and others by repeating the second word in the text; as, In the beginning of all things, or In the beginning of the creation, Elohim created. This elliptical form of expression was used by Elohim, not for want of other words, but from design, to indicate some hidden mystery.
Divide the word into two, and you have בר אשית Bar ashith, I will appoint, set up, or place the Son. The word (בר) Bar has a twofold meaning : it also signifies grain, or bread, in allusion to the bread of the Passover, and to the words of Yeshua who said, ” I am the living bread, which came down from heaven.” There is great beauty in designating the Son by a term applicable also to bread, in preference to other words signifying only a Son; and there is likewise a striking propriety in the appellation here given to grain, which has been distinguished by three names adapted to the three different states in which men have been found:
Grain is also called דגן DAGAN which symbolizes that before the fall, man was to subsist on the produce of the tree of paradise, made into bread, and called דגן, which can also be translated, “of the garden.”
Wheat grain is also called חטא CHITTA which also means “sin” symbolizing the period from the fall of man to the coming of Messiah.
Finally grain is also called בר BAR which also means “son” symbolizing that since the coming of the Messiah, the bread symbolizes the incarnate Son of Yah ; according to the declaration of Yeshua, “If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever.”
David was delighted with the mystery being unfolded by Rabbi Shlomo.
Rabbi Shlomo then began to show his old friend a number of messages imbedded in the first word of the Torah, which he extracted via Notarikon (a Kabbalistic method by which a Hebrew word is taken to be an acronym, or by which an acronym is conversely made from a phrase.
The Rabbis have themselves found messages imbedded in the word בראשית. For example:
בראש’ת ראה אלוהים שיקבלו ישראל תורה
“In the beginning Elohim saw that Israel would receive the Torah”
Among messages Rabbi Moshe showed his friend:
“The Son, the Spirit, the Father, they are three, a perfect unity”
בן רוח אב שלושתם יחד תמים
“You shall worship My first-born, My first, whose name is Yeshua”
בכורי ראשוני אשר שמו ישוע תעבודו
“When the master shall come whose name is Yeshua, you shall worship”
בבוא רבן אשר שמו ישוע תעבודו
Rabbi Moshe showed his old friend many more proofs. David was overcome by the mysteries being unfolded by his old friend, and professed that Yeshua was in fact the Messiah.
The Story of Rabbi Tzvi Nassi
By
James Scott Trimm
Rabbi Tzvi Nassi (Hirsch Prinz) was born in Breslau, Silesia, on August 11th, 1800, he was the son of a rabbi and the youngest of six children. He was left an orphan at the age of fourteen and followed in his father’s footsteps as a Rabbi. In 1824 he published Predigten fur fromme Israeliten (“Sermons for Pious Israelites”).
In these early years Rabbi Nassi came to the conclusion that Yeshua was in fact the Jewish Messiah of Judaism and when he was about twenty-five years of age he began to introduce his congregations to readings from the New Testament. Rabbi Nassi had hoped to establish within the Jewish community, a synagogue of Jewish believers in Yeshua as the Messiah. Instead he was outcast from the Jewish community, alleged to have lost his mind. (In recent years anti-missionaries have claimed there is no evidence that Nassi had ever been a rabbi, saying that claim was a recent invention of Messianic Jews, but in fact the obituary published shortly after his death records his past as a rabbi.)
Having failed to restore a community of believers in Yeshua as Messiah within Judaism, Rabbi Nassi gave in and joined a Christian church and entered the ministry, changing his name to Christian William Henry Pauli. Despite this, Nassi never truly left his Jewishness behind and continued to immerse himself in his studies of the Targums, the Talumds, Midrashim, Sefer Yetzirah, the Bahir, the Zohar and Rabbinic commentaries.
Later he came to England, he was for some time a student in the University of Cambridge, and enjoyed the friendship of the late Rev. Charles Simeon. While at Cambridge he received an invitation from friends in Oxford. This he accepted, and on arriving at the latter University, he was appointed Lecturer in Hebrew. This post he held for thirteen years. Many of the undergraduates also attended his private classes for the study of the Hebrew language. At this time he published a Hebrew Grammar “Analecta Hebraica,” which became well known and much used by Hebrew students.
In 1863 Rabbi Nassi created quitre a stir when he published his monumental work, “The Great Mystery or How Can Three Be One?” which uses the Zohar and other Rabbinic sources to explore the truth of the deity of Messiah and the Three Pillars of the Godhead from a purely Jewish perspective. The title is taken from the following passage in the Zohar:
How can they (the three) be One?
Are they Truely One because we call them One?
How Three can be One can only be known
through the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
(Zohar 2:43)
A book which came to be passed around and studied secretly by Orthodox Jews for generations.
I was first exposed to Rabbi Nassi’s amazing treatise around 1988, at a time when I was struggling myself with the very issues discussed in the little book. At the time I was studying under my mentor, Rabbi Moyal, an Orthodox Rabbi from Israel, who had himself become a believer in Messiah. He gave me a copy of this little book which had been reprinted in Israel in 1970 and 1974. I was amazed at what I learned in such a short booklet. The book inspired me to research the subject further, and much of that research is found in the appendix to the edition which we now publish. Our own edition of this book is available from our online bookstore at: http://nazarenespace.com/page/books-dvds
In May 1874 Rabbi Nassi retired to Luton, in Bedfordshire, where he died on the 4th of May. He was the author of several works : “Sermons for Pious Israelites”; “The Great Mystery,” and a translation of the Aramaic Targum of Isaiah. During his last illness he we was reported to be overheard having conversations with “my Savior,” as he called Yeshua, as though he were visibly present to him, and by his side. His last words were “My Savior is nigh.”
While the Gentile Christian world came to know him as Reverend Christian William Henry Pauli, I will always remember him as Rabbi Tzvi Nassi.
The Amazing Story of Rabbi Isaac Lichtenstein
(From an account written over 90 years ago)
Rabbi Isaac Lichtenstein was an Orthodox Rabbi in the 19th century who came to the conclusion that Yeshua was the Jewish Messiah of Judaism. He he refused to become a “Christian,” he never left Judaism, claiming instead that he had found “true Judaism” and continued for twenty years as Rabbi of an Orthodox Synagogue where he taught from the so-called “New Testament” and proclaimed Yeshua as the Messiah of Judaism.
He was not yet 20 when he became a Rabbi, and after officiating for several years in different communities in northern Hungary, Isaac Lichtenstein finally settled as District Rabbi in Tapio Szele, where he remained for nearly 40 years, laboring ceaselessly and unselfishly for the good of his people.
Early in his career a Jewish teacher in the communal school of his district casually showed him a German Bible. Turning the leaves, his eye fell on the name “Jesu Christi.” He became furiously angry and sharply reproved the teacher for having such a thing in his possession. Taking the book, he flung it across the room in a rage; it fell behind others on a shelf where, dusty and forgotten, it lay some thirty-odd years.
About that time a fierce wave of anti-Semitism broke out in Hungary, culminating in the now historic “Tisza Eslar affair”. In that picturesque little Hungarian town, situated on the Theiss, 12 Jews and a Jewess were thrown into prison, accused of having killed a Christian girl in order to use her blood for ritual purposes — the most tragic part of the case being that a little Jewish boy, who had been kept some time from his parents by the police commissary, was prevailed on by threats and cruelties to appear as the chief witness against his own father (the synagogue sexton) and recite a concocted, false tale of the supposed murdered girl.
As in every other case in which this diabolical charge was ever brought against the Jews, the blood accusation in Tisza Eslar was ultimately demonstrated to be false and baseless. It remains to the glory of true religion that a number of prominent men who were believers in Jesus, notably Dr. Franz Delitzsch, a Biblical scholar and Professor at Leipzig University, rose to the occasion not only to defend the Jews, but also to tear the mask from all who by their acts scandalized Messiah in the eyes of Jewry.
The mental state of Rabbi Lichtenstein at this time is best revealed in his Judenspiegel (Jewish Mirror):
” ‘Often have they oppressed me from my youth, may Israel say’ (Psalm 129). No long explanation is needed to show that in these few words the Psalmist sums up the bitter experiences and sorrows which we, at least of the older generation, have suffered from our youth up at the hands of the Christian populations surrounding us.
“Mockery, scorn, blows, and all manner of humiliation, have been our portion even at the hands of Christian children. I remember still the stones which were thrown at us as we left the synagogue, and how, when bathing in the river, and powerless to prevent, we saw them cast our clothing, with laughter and insult, into the water.
“Once with sorrow and weeping, I saw my father felled to the ground without the least hesitation by a nobleman, so-called, because he had not quickly enough made room for him on a narrow path. But these sad experiences are known well enough to need no dwelling on; and would to God that such persecution of the Jews by the Christians were altogether a thing of the forgotten past!
“As impressions of early life take a deep hold, and as in my riper years I still had no cause to modify these impressions, it is no wonder that I came to think that Yeshua Himself was the plague and curse of the Jews — the origin and promoter of our sorrows and persecutions.
“In this conviction I grew to years of manhood, and still cherishing it I became old. I knew no difference between true and merely nominal Christianity; of the fountainhead of Christianity itself I knew nothing. Strangely enough it was the horrible Tisza Eslar blood accusation which first drew me to read the New Testament. This trail brought from their lurking-places all our enemies, and once again, as in olden times, the cry re-echoed, ‘Death to the Jew!’ The frenzy was excessive, and among the ringleaders were many who misused the name of Messiah and His doctrine as a cloak to cover their abominable doings.
“These wicked practices of men wearing the name of Jesus only to further their evil designs aroused the indignation of some true Christians, who, with pen on fire and warning voices, denounced the lying rage of the anti-Semites. In articles written by the latter in defense of the Jews, I often met with passages where Yeshua was spoken of as He Who brings joy to man, the Prince of peace, and the Redeemer; and His Gospel was extolled as a message of love and life to all people. I was surprised and scarcely trusted my eyes when I espied in a hidden corner the New Testament which some 30 years before I had in vexation taken from a Jewish teacher, and I began to turn over its leaves and read. How can I express the impression which I then received? “Not the half had been told me of the greatness, power and glory of this Book, formerly a sealed book to me. All seemed so new, arid yet it did me good, like the sight of an old friend who has laid aside his dusty, travel-worn garments, and appears in in festive attire, like a bridegroom in wedding robes, or a bride adorned with her jewels.” For two or three years Rabbi Lichtenstein kept these convictions locked in his own breast. He began, however, in his synagogue to preach strange and new doctrines which both interested and astonished his hearers. At last he could contain himself no longer. Preaching one Sabbath from Yeshua’s parable of the whited sepulcher, he openly avowed that his subject was taken from the New Testament and spoke of Yeshua as the true Messiah, the Redeemer of Israel. Ultimately he embodied his ideas in three publications appearing in rapid succession which created a tremendous sensation among the Jews, not only in Hungary, but throughout the continent of Europe. And no wonder; for here was an old and respected Rabbi, still in office, calling upon his people in burning words to align themselves under the banner of Yeshua of Nazareth, and to hail Him as their true Messiah and King.
As was inevitable, no sooner did official Jewry realize the significance of Rabbi Lichtenstein’s position and writings than a storm of persecution broke loose upon him. From the Jewish pulpit and in the Press anathemas were hurled at his head, and he who but a few weeks before was classed among the noblest leaders and teachers was now described as a disgrace and reproach to his nation — all because he dared pronounce the name of Yeshua.
The falsehood was spread that he had sold himself to the missionaries. Some even asserted that he had never written the pamphlets himself, but had only been bribed to affix his name to them. He was cited to appear before the assembled rabbinate in Budapest. On entering the hall he was greeted with the cry, “Retract! Retract!”
“Gentlemen,” said the Rabbi, “I shall most willingly retract if you convince me I am wrong.”
Chief Rabbi Kohn proposed a compromise. Rabbi Lichtenstein might believe whatever he liked in his heart, if he would only refrain from preaching about Yeshua. As to those dreadful pamphlets which he had already written, the mischief could be undone by a very simple process. The Synod of Rabbis would draw up a document to the effect that the Rabbi wrote what he did in a fit of temporary insanity and all that would be required of him would be to add his name to this statement. Rabbi Lichtenstein answered calmly but indignantly that this was a strange proposal to make to him seeing that he had only just come into his right mind. Then they demanded that he should resign his position and be formally baptized to indicate that he was leaving the Jewish people, but he replied that he had no intention of joining the state approved church. He had found in the New Testament the true Judaism, and would remain as before with his congregation, and preach it in the synagogue.
He did so, and this in spite of many persecutions and reproaches which were heaped upon him. From his official place as District Rabbi he continued to teach and to preach from the New Testament. This was a touching testimony to the strong attachment of his own community, which alone had the power to make request for his dismissal, Judaism being a state religion in Hungary. As a matter of fact much pressure was brought to bear upon them, and some members of the congregation and the relatives of his wife were completely ruined by loss of trade; but still they clung to him.
By this time Rabbi Lichtenstein and his writings had become widely known, and different church and missionary organizations sought his services. The Papacy soon learned of the existence and significance of the man, and a special emissary from the Pope visited Tapio Szele with tempting offers if he would but enter the service of Rome. To all he had but one reply: “I will remain among my own nation, I love Messiah, I believe in the New Testament; but I am not drawn to join Christianity. Just as the prophet Jeremiah, after the destruction of Jerusalem, in spite of the generous offers of Nebuchadnezzar and the captain of his host, chose rather to remain and lament among the ruins of the holy city, and with the despised remnant of his brethren, so will I remain among my own brethren, as a watchman from within and to plead with them to behold in Yeshua the true glory of Israel.”
At last, however, after losing his all in the endeavor to save some of the members of his congregation from ruin, and with his health much impaired by the many trials and sorrows which fell to his lot in consequence of his bold stand for the truth, he voluntarily resigned his office as District Rabbi. He settled in Budapest, where he found ample scope for his talents, but the opposition to him was relentless. He was shadowed and even physically attacked on the street. His barber was bribed to disfigure his beautiful beard. His landlord kept a close watch on everyone who visited him ‘and reported to the rabbinical authorities. But as a stream stemmed in its course forces for itself new channels, so he was continually interviewed and drawn into discussion by Jews from every walk of life.
“Wisdom cries without and causes her voice to be heard in the street,” he wrote to his friend, David Baron, a Hebrew Christian Scholar. “Doctors, professors and officials, as also educated ladies, come to my house. Many families of position also visit us who condemn the harsh conduct of the rabbinate here in relation to me. Many foreigners also visit me. I have often very grave, important discussions with Talmudists and Rabbis from a long distance, who wish to bring me to a compromise; and it is worthy to note that many who had formerly no knowledge of the New Testament, and stared blankly and incredulously at me when I quoted its sublime doctrines, have afterwards begged to possess one.”
In a letter to his son, a doctor, Rabbi Lichtenstein wrote “From every line in the New Testament, from every word, the Jewish spirit streamed forth light, life, power, endurance, faith, hope, love, charity, limitless and indestructible faith in God.”
For over twenty years it was given to Rabbi Lichtenstein to witness in many parts of Europe to the truth as he saw it in Messiah. At last the storms of controversy, of misunderstanding and antagonism, began to tell on him. His spirit, however, remained undaunted. About this time he wrote: “Dear Jewish brethren, I have been young, and now am old. I have attained the age of 80 years, which the Psalmist speaks of as the utmost period of human life on earth. When others of my age are reaping with joy the fruit of their labors, I am alone, almost forsaken, because I have lifted up my voice in warning, ’0 Israel, turn to the Lord thy God, for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take these words and turn thee to the Lord thy God.’ ‘Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way.’
“I, an honored Rabbi for the space of 40 years, am now, in my old age, treated by my friends as one possessed by an evil spirit, and by my enemies as an outcast. I am become a butt of mockers who point the finger at me. But while I live I will stand on my watchtower, though I may stand there all alone. I will listen to the words of God, and look for the time when He will return to Zion in mercy, and Israel shall fill the world with his joyous cry, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest””
Quite unexpectedly he was taken ill and lingered only a short while. As he realized that his end was approaching, in the presence of his wife and the nurse, he said:
“Give my warmest thanks and greetings, to my brethren and friends; goodnight, my children; goodnight, my enemies, you can injure me no more. We have one God and one Father of all who are called children in heaven and on earth, and one Messiah who gave up His life on the cursed tree for the salvation of men. Into Thy hands I commend my spirit.”
On the morning of Friday, October 16, 1909, at the age of 85, Rabbi Lichtenstein entered into the presence of his Lord.
The Letter of Peter which he sent to Philip
"Peter, the apostle of Jesus Christ, to Philip, our beloved brother and our fellow apostle, and (to) the brethren who are with you: greetings!
Now I want you to know, our brother, that we received orders from our Lord and the Savior of the whole world that we should come together to give instruction and preach in the salvation which was promised us by our Lord Jesus Christ. But as for you, you were separate from us, and you did not desire us to come together and to know how we should organize ourselves in order that we might tell the good news. Therefore would it be agreeable to you, our brother, to come according to the orders of our God Jesus?"
When Philip had received these (words), and when he had read them, he went to Peter rejoicing with gladness. Then Peter gathered the others also. They went upon the mountain which is called "the (mount) olives," the place where they used to gather with the blessed Christ when he was in the body.
Then, when the apostles had come together, and had thrown themselves upon their knees, they prayed thus saying, "Father, Father, Father of the light, who possesses the incorruptions, hear us just as thou hast taken pleasure in thy holy child Jesus Christ. For he became for us an illuminator in the darkness. Yea hear us!"
And they prayed again another time, saying, "Son of life, Son of immortality, who is in the light, Son, Christ of immortality, our Redeemer, give us power, for they seek to kill us!"
Then a great light appeared so that the mountains shone from the sight of him who had appeared. And a voice called out to them saying, "Listen to my words that I may speak to you. Why are you asking me? I am Jesus Christ who am with you forever."
Then the apostles answered and said, "Lord, we would like to know the deficiency of the aeons and their pleroma." And: "How are we detained in this dwelling place?" Further: "How did we come to this place?" And: "In what manner shall we depart?" Again: "How do we have the authority of boldness?" And: "Why do the powers fight against us?"
Then a voice came to them out of the light saying, "It is you yourselves who are witnesses that I spoke all these things to you. But because of your unbelief I shall speak again. First of all concerning the deficiency of the aeons, this is the deficiency, when the disobedience and the foolishness of the mother appeared without the commandment of the majesty of the Father. She wanted to raise up aeons. And when she spoke, the Arrogant One followed. And when she left behind a part, the Arrogant One laid hold of it, and it became a deficiency. This is the deficiency of the aeons. Now when the Arrogant One had taken a part, he sowed it. And he placed powers over it and authorities. And he enclosed it in the aeons which are dead. And all the powers of the world rejoiced that they had been begotten. But they do not know the pre-existent Father, since they are strangers to him. But this is the one to whom they gave power and whom they served by praising him. But he, the Arrogant One, became proud on account of the praise of the powers. He became an envier and he wanted to make an image in the place of an image, and a form in the place of a form. And he commissioned the powers within his authority to mold mortal bodies. And they came to be from a misrepresentation, from the semblance which had merged."
"Next concerning the pleroma: I am the one who was sent down in the body because of the seed which had fallen away. And I came down into their mortal mold. But they did not recognize me; they were thinking of me that I was a mortal man. And I spoke with him who belongs to me, and he harkened to me just as you too who harkened today. And I gave him authority in order that he might enter into the inheritance of his fatherhood. And I took [...] they were filled [...] in his salvation. And since he was a deficiency, for this reason he became a pleroma."
"It is because of this that you are being detained, because you belong to me. When you strip off from yourselves what is corrupted, then you will become illuminators in the midst of mortal men."
"And this (is the reason) that you will fight against the powers, because they do not have rest like you, since they do not wish that you be saved."
Then the apostles worshiped again saying, "Lord, tell us: In what way shall we fight against the archons, since the archons are above us?"
Then a voice called out to them from the appearance saying, "Now you will fight against them in this way, for the archons are fighting against the inner man. And you are to fight against them in this way: Come together and teach in the world the salvation with a promise. And you, gird yourselves with the power of my Father, and let your prayer be known. And he, the Father, will help you as he has helped you by sending me. Be not afraid, I am with you forever, as I previously said to you when I was in the body." Then there came lightning and thunder from heaven, and what appeared to them in that place was taken up to heaven.
Then the apostles gave thanks to the Lord with every blessing. And they returned to Jerusalem. And while coming up they spoke with each other on the road concerning the light which had come. And a remark was made concerning the Lord. It was said, "If he, our Lord, suffered, then how much (must) we (suffer)?"
Peter answered saying, "He suffered on our behalf, and it is necessary for us too to suffer because of our smallness." Then a voice came to them saying, "I have told you many times: it is necessary for you to suffer. It is necessary that they bring you to synagogues and governors, so that you will suffer. But he who does not suffer and does not [...] the Father [...] in order that he may [...]."
And the apostles rejoiced greatly and came up to Jerusalem. And they came up to the temple and gave instruction in salvation in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they healed a multitude.
And Peter opened his mouth, he said to his (fellow) disciples, "Did our Lord Jesus, when he was in the body, show us everything? For he came down. My brothers, listen to my voice." And he was filled with a holy spirit. He spoke thus: "Our illuminator, Jesus, came down and was crucified. And he bore a crown of thorns. And he put on a purple garment. And he was crucified on a tree and he was buried in a tomb. And he rose from the dead. My brothers, Jesus is a stranger to this suffering. But we are the ones who have suffered through the transgression of the mother. And because of this, he did everything like us. For the Lord Jesus, the Son of the immeasurable glory of the Father, he is the author of our life. My brothers, let us therefore not obey these lawless ones, and walk in [...]."
[...] Then Peter gathered together the others also, saying, "O, Lord Jesus Christ, author of our rest, give us a spirit of understanding in order that we also may perform wonders."
Then Peter and the other apostles saw him, and they were filled with a holy spirit, And each one performed healings. And they parted in order to preach the Lord Jesus. And they came together and greeted each other saying, "Amen."
Then Jesus appeared saying to them, "Peace to you all and everyone who believes in my name. And when you depart, joy be to you and grace and power. And be not afraid; behold, I am with you forever."
Then the apostles parted from each other into four words in order to preach. And they went by a power of Jesus, in peace.
The Suffering Servant in the Zohar
By
James Scott Trimm
(Zohar 2:167a)
This is the Middle Pillar: Ki Tob (that it was good) threw light above and below and on all other sides, in virtue of Tetragrammaton, the name which embraces all sides.
(Zohar 1:16b)
The First Century Jewish Writer Philo says similarly that the Word reconciles the two sides:
…the Divine Word (Logos)…fills all things and becomes a mediator and arbitrator for the two sides….from the Divine Word (Logos), as from a spring, there divide and break forth two powers. One is the creative through which the Artificer placed and ordered all things. This is named “God”. And the royal, since through it the Creator rules over created things. This is called “Lord” And from these two powers have grown the others. For by the side of the creative power there grows the propitious of which is named “beneficial” while (besides) the royal the legislative, of which is aptly named “punitive”. And below these and beside them is the ark.”
(Philo on Q&A on Exodus, II.68)
The Middle Pillar of the Godhead is the Son of Yah
According to the Zohar the Middle Pillar of the Godhead is the Son of Yah:
שכן קרוב מאח רחוק. דהיינו עמודא דאמצעיתא דאיהו בן יה,
Better is a neighbor that is near, than a brother far off.
This neighbor is the Middle Pillar in the Godhead,
which is the Son of Yah.
(Zohar 2:115)
The Zohar also says of the Son of YHWH:
The Holy One, blessed be He, has a son, whose glory (tifret)
shines from one end of the world to another. He is a great
and mighty tree, whose head reaches heaven, and whose roots
are set in the holy ground, and his name is “Mispar” and his
place is in the uppermost heaven… as it is written, “The heavens
declare (me-SaPRim) the glory (tifret) of God” (Ps. 19:1).
Were it not for this “Mispar” there would be neither hosts
nor offspring in any of the worlds.
(Zohar 2:105a)
This Zohar passage is intended to recall a passage from the Bahir:
Why are they called Sephirot?
Because it is written (Ps. 19:2),
“The heavens declare (me-SaPRim) the glory (tifret) of God.”
(Bahir 125)
The Zohar also says concerning the Son of Yah:
“We may also translate “he who withholds blessings
from the Son” (Prov. 11:26), whom the Father and Mother
have CROWNED and blessed with many blessings,
and concerning whom they commanded, “Kiss the SON
lest he be angry” (Ps. 2:12), since he is invested
with judgment (GEVURAH) and with mercy (CHESED)”
(Zohar 3:191b)
According to the Zohar, the Middle Pillar of the Godhead is not only known as the “Son of Yah” but also as “Metatron”:
Better is a neighbor that is near, than a brother far off.
This neighbor is the Middle Pillar in the godhead,
which is the Son of Yah.
(Zohar 2:115)
The Middle Pillar is also known as “Metatron”:
The Middle Pillar [of the godhead] is Metatron,
Who has accomplished peace above,
According to the glorious state there.
(Zohar 3:227)
In the Zohar we are also told that Metatron is “the firstborn”:
“And Abraham said to his oldest servant of his house…” (Gen. 24:2) Who is this of whom it said “his servant?” In what sense must this be understood? Who is this servant? R. Nehori answered:
“It is in no other sense to be understood than expressed in the word “His servant,”
His servant, the servant of Elohim, the chief to His service. And who is he? Metatron, as said. He is appointed to glorify the bodies which are in the grave.
This is the meaning of the words “Abraham said to His servant” that is to the servant of Elohim. The servant is Metatron, the eldest of His [YHWH's] House, who is the firstborn of all creatures of Elohim, who is the ruler of all He has; because Elohim has committed to Him the government over all His hosts.
(Zohar 1:129b)
So in Judaism both Israel and “The Son of Yah” are identified as the “first-born Son of YHWH”.
According to the first century Jewish writer Philo, this firstborn Son of Elohim is also known as “The Word.”
Philo Writes of the Word (Logos):
For there are, as it seems, two temples belonging to God; one being this world, in which the high priest is the divine word, his own firstborn son. The other is the rational soul, the priest of which is the real true man,
(On Dreams 215)
And if there be not as yet any one who is worthy to be called a son of God, neverthless let him labour earnestly to be adorned according to his Firstborn Word, the eldest of his angels, as the great archangel of many names; for He is called, “the Authority”, and “the Name of God”, and “the Word”, and “man according to God’s image”, and “He who sees Israel”. . . For even if we are not yet suitable to be called the sons of God, still we may deserve to be called the children of his eternal image, of his most sacred Word; for the image of God is his most ancient word.
( On the Confusion of Tongues XXVIII:146-147)
Thus, indeed, being a shepherd is a good thing, so that it is justly attributed, not only to kings, and to wise men, and to souls who are perfectly purified, but also to God, the ruler of all things; and he who confirms this is not any ordinary person, but a prophet, whom it is good to believe, he namely who wrote the psalms; for he speaks thus, “The Lord is my shepherd, and he shall cause me to lack Nothing;” (Ps. 23:1.) and let every one in his turn say the same thing, for it is very becoming to every man who loves God to study such a song as this, but above all this world should sing it. For God, like a shepherd and a king, governs (as if they were a flock of sheep) the earth, and the water, and the air, and the fire, and all the plants, and living creatures that are in them, whether mortal or divine; and he regulates the nature of the heaven, and the periodical revolutions of the sun and moon, and the variations and harmonious movements of the other stars, ruling them according to law and justice; appointing, as their immediate superintendent, his own right reason, his first-born son, who is to receive the charge of this sacred company, as the lieutenant of the great king; for it is said somewhere, “Behold, I am he! I will send my messenger before thy face, who shall keep thee in the Road.”(Ex. 23:20.)
(On Husbandry 50-51)
The Targums were authoritative Aramaic paraphrases of the books of the Tanak which were read in the synagogues along with the Hebrew of the Torah and Haftorah readings. Whenever the Targums come to passages where YHWH is anthropomorphisised or seen, or where two or more YHWHs are indicated by the text, the Targums will often substitute “The Word [Memra] of YHWH” for YHWH. For example in Gen. 19:4 the Tanak has:
Then YHWH caused to rain upon S’dom and upon Amora,
brimstone and fire from YHWH, out of heaven.
The Hebrew grammar here indicates that one YHWH rains fire from another YHWH) But Targum Jonathan substitutes “The Word of YHWH/the LORD” for the first of the two YHWHs as follows:
And the Word of the YHWH caused to descend
upon the peoples of Sodom and Gommorah,
brimstone and fire from the YHWH in heaven.
In another example the Torah has:
Ex. 24:1a (YHWH is the speaker, see Ex. 20:1-2)
Now He [YHWH] said to Moses, “come up to YHWH…”
But Targum Jonathan paraphrases the speaker in Ex. 20:1 with the substitution “the Word [Memra] of YHWH” in place of “YHWH.”
And the Word of the Lord spoke all these glorious words…
So it would seem that one of these entities called “YHWH” in these Torah passages was actually understood by the Targumists as being the “Word of YHWH.” It was, according to Targum Onkelos, this Word of YHWH that Abraham trusted in:
And Abraham trusted in the Word [Memra] of YHWH,
and He counted it to him for righteousness.
(Targum Onkelos Gen. 15:6)
Moreover Abraham prayed in the name of the Word of YHWH:
And Abraham worshipped and prayed
in the name of the Word [Memra] of YHWH,
and said, “You are YHWH who does see, but You cannot be seen.”
(Jerusalem Targum Gen. 22:14)
Note that here Abraham prays “in the name of the Word of YHWH” to the YHWH who “cannot be seen.” Here two YHWHs are very apparent. Abraham is praying in the name of the Word of YHWH but is praying to the YHWH who cannot be seen. This idea is reinforced elsewhere as follows:
And Hagar praised and prayed
in the name of the Word [Memra] Of YHWH
who had revealed Himself to her…
(Jerusalem Targum Gen. 16:3)
It was this Word of YHWH that Jacob also trusted in:
And Jacob vowed a vow, saying,
“If the Word [Memra] of YHWH will be my support,
and will keep me in the way that I go,
and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
so that I come again to my father’s house in peace;
then shall the Word [Memra]of YHWH be my God.
(Targum Onkelos on Gen. 28:20-21)
King David also urged Israel to trust in the Word of Yah as the Targum of Psalm 62 reads:
Trust in the Word of Yah at all times,
O people of the house of Israel!
Pour out before Him the sighings of your heart;
Say, God is our trust forever.
(Targum on Psalm 62:9)
This “Word of YHWH” was, according to Targum Jonathan, the Creator:
And the Word [Memra] of YHWH
created man in his likeness,
in the likeness of YHWH, YHWH created,
male and female created He them.
(Targ. Jonathan Gen. 1:27)
This idea is also put forward in the Jerusalem Targum:
And the Word [Memra] of YHWH said to Moses:
“I am He who said unto the world ‘Be!’ and it was:
and who in the future shall say to it ‘Be!’ and it shall be.”
And He said: “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel:
‘I Am’ has sent me to you.”
(Jerusalem Targum Ex. 3:14)
The Fragmentary Targum of the Torah also expresses that the Word of YHWH was the Creator:
The first night, when the “Word of YHWH”
was revealed to the world in order to create it,
the world was desolate and void,
and darkness spread over the face of the abyss
and the “Word of the Lord” was bright and illuminating
and He called it the first night.
(Fragmentary Targum Ex. 12:42)
That the Word of YHWH was the Creator can also be seen in the Tanak itself:
By the Word of YHWH were the heavens made,
And all the hosts of them by the Spirit of His mouth.
(Ps. 33:6)
The Word was also the covenant maker. For example the Noachdic covenant was between the Word and all mankind:
And YHWH said to Noah,
“This is the token of the covenant
which I have established between My Word [Memra]
and between all flesh that is upon the earth.
(Targum Onkelos Gen. 9:17)
The Word also made the Abrahamic covenant as Targum Onkelos also paraphrases:
And I will establish my covenant
between My Word [Memra] and between you…
(Targum Onkelos Gen. 17:7)
The Word of YHWH was also the giver of the Mosaic Covenant and the Torah as the Jerusalem Targum (as quoted above) makes the Torah giver “the Word of YHWH” in Ex. 20:1. It was to th e Word that Jacob turned to for salvation:
Our father Jacob said: “My soul does not wait for salvation
such as that wrought by Gideon, the son of Joash,
for that was but temporal; neither for a salvation
like that of Samson, which was only transitory;
but for that salvation which You have promised to come,
through Your Word unto Your people, the children of Israel;
for your salvation my soul hopes.”
(Targum Jonathan Gen. 49:18)
That the Word of YHWH is the savior is expressed elsewhere:
But Israel shall be saved by the Word of YHWH
with an everlasting salvation…
By the Word of YHWH shall all the seed of Israel be justified…
(Targum Jonathan Is. 45:17, 25)
But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah,
and I will save them by the Word of YHWH, their God.
(Targum Jonathan Hosea 1:7)
Furthermore Philo tells us that “The Word” (Logos) and the Messiah are one and the same:
“The head of all things is the eternal Word (Logos) of the eternal God, under which, as if it were his feet or other limbs, is placed the whole world, over which He passes and firmly stands. Now it is not because Messiah is Lord that He passes and sits over the whole world, for His seat with His Father and God but because for its perfect fullness the world is in need of the care and superintendence of the best ordered dispensation, and for its own complete piety, of the Divine Word (Logos), just as living creatures (need) a head, without which it is impossible to live.”
(Q&A on Exodus, II, 117)
Thus the Zohar teaches that the Sh’ma (Deut. 6:4) refers to the three pillars of the Godhead as being ECHAD and that the Middle Pillar of the Godhead reconciles the two outer Pillars. The Zohar further teaches that this Middle Pillar of the Godhead is the Son of Yah, the firstborn of all creation who will glorify all the bodies which are in the grave. This is the Word of YHWH in whom Abraham placed his faith and who made the covenant with Israel, and which is the Savior and is the Messiah.
In Our Image
By
James Scott Trimm
26 And Elohim said: Let us make man in our image; after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.
27 And Elohim created man in His own image: in the image of Elohim created He him; male and female created He them.
(Gen. 1:26-27 HRV)
What does this mean? Let US make man in OUR image?
The Zohar gives a very interesting answer:
And Elohim said, Let us make man (Gen. 1:26). The secret (SOD) is to them who fear him (Ps. 25:14)…
That most reverend Elder opened an exposition of this verse by saying ‘Simeon Simeon, who is it that said: “Let us make man?” Who is this Elohim?’ With these words the most reverend Elder vanished before anyone saw him.
R. Simeon, hearing that he had called him plain “Simeon”, and not “Rabbi Simeon”, said to his colleagues: ‘Of a surety this is the Holy One, blessed be He, of whom it is written: “And the Ancient of days was seated” (Dan. VII, 9). Truly now is the time to expound this mystery, because certainly there is here a mystery which hitherto it was not permitted to divulge, but now we perceive that permission is given.’
He then proceeded: ‘A king had several buildings to be erected, and he had an architect in his service who did nothing save with his consent (Prov. 8:30). The king is the supernal Wisdom above, the Middle Pillar is the king below: Elohim is the architect above, being as such the supernal Mother, and Elohim is also the architect below, being as such the Divine Presence (Shekinah) below. Now a woman may not do anything without the consent of her husband. And all the buildings were created through his Emanation (aziluth), the Father said to the Mother by means of the Word (amirah), “let it be so and so”, and straightway it was so, as it is written, “And he said, Elohim, let there be light, and there was light”: i.e. one said to Elohim, let there be light: the master of the building gave the order, and the architect carried it out immediately; and so with all that was constructed in the way of emanation.
(Zohar 1:22a)
The Zohar understands “US” and “OUR” to be reflected in the “male and female” image of Elohim mentioned in verse 27 and these are here referred to as “the Father” and “the Mother” just as YHWH is expressed as a Father (Mal. 1:6; Is. 63:16; 64:7) and as a Mother (Is. 66:13) in the Tanak. (YHWH as a “Mother” is the “Comforter in Is. 66:13 which is the Holy Spirit in Jn. 14:16-17, 27; 15:26; 16:7).
The Male and Female image of Father and Mother are the Elohim which is the “Architect above” while the “architect below” is the “Elohim below” or the “king below” and identified as the “Middle Pillar”. Elsewhere the Zohar identifies the Middle Pillar as the “Son of Yah”:
Better is a neighbor that is near, than a brother far off.
This neighbor is the Middle Pillar in the Godhead,
which is the Son of Yah.
(Zohar 2:115)
Here (Zohar 1:22a) the Zohar also identifies the Middle Pillar with the Word.
So the words “Let Us create man in Our own image” are spoken from the Father to the Mother (Holy Spirit) and this is the Elohim above, and these words are carried out by the Word which is the Son of Yah, the Middle Pillar, the Elohim below.
Just as we read in the Ketuvim Netzarim:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Eloah, and the Word was Eloah.
2 This was in the beginning, with Eloah.
3 Everything existed through Him, and without Him, not even one thing existed of that which existed.
(Yochanan (John) 1:1-3 HRV)
THE ALEF AND THE TAV
By
James Scott Trimm
In the King James Version of the Bible we read three times that Messiah says “I am Alpha and Omega” (Reveleation 1:8, 21:6, and 22:13). In the Aramaic text of Revelation, as we read in the Hebraic Root Version, that Yeshua actually said “I am Alef and I am Tav.”
The phrase “I am Alef and I am Tav” has a very special meaning in Judaism.
We read in Genesis 1:1
“In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth.”
בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת הארץ
The Zohar says of this verse:
BARA (ברא) represents the mysterious source from which the whole expanded. ELOHIM (אלהים) represents the force which sustains all below. The words ET HASHAMMAIM (את השמים) indicate that the two latter are on no account to be separated, and are male and female together. The word ET (את) consists of the letters ALEF (א) and TAV (ת), which include between them all the letters, as being the first and last of the alphabet. Afterwards HE (ה) was added, so that all the letters should be attached to HE (ה), and this gave the name ATTAH (אתה) (You); hence we read “and You (VE-ATTAH) (ואתה) keep all of them alive” (Neh. 9:6). ET (את) again alludes to YHWH, who is so called. HASHAMMAIM (השמים) is YHWH in his higher signification. The next word, VE-ET (ואת), indicates the firm union of male and female; it also alludes to the appellation VE-YHWH (ויהוה) (and YHWH), both explanations coming to the same thing. HA-ERETZ (הארץ) (the earth) designates an ELOHIM (אלהים) corresponding to the higher form, to bring forth fruit and produce. This name is here found in three applications, and thence the same name branches out to various sides.
(Zohar 1:15b)
Here we learn two important significations of the ALEF and the TAV in Genesis 1:1.
The first is that the ALEF and the TAV, being the first and last letters of the Hebrew Alphabet, are an abbreviation for all twenty-two letters.
Each of the twenty-two Hebrew letters represents one of twenty-two paths which connect the Sefirot of the Tree of Life. Each of these twenty-two letters represents a relationship between two of the Sefirot and a combination of two of the Sefirot. These twenty-two letters are part of the image of Elohim and they took part in the creation. When Messiah said that he is the ALEF and the TAV it was an abbreviation to indicate that Messiah the incarnate “Word” embodied the twenty-two letters. When Elohim created the heavens and the earth he did so through words. Elohim “said” things and they were so. Elohim created the universe by his Word, through the ALEF and the TAV meaning through the twenty-two Hebrew letters.
Each Hebrew word is more than a word, it is a matrix of dynamic relationships within the Godhead. Hebrew letters are also the building blocks of creation. In the upper worlds all things exist in their prime-material state as the strings of Hebrew letters and words which were the building blocks of creation. As we read in the Sefer Yetzirah:
Twenty-two Foundation letters: He engraved them,
He carved them, He permuted (TZIRUF) them,
He weighed them, He transformed them,
And with them, He depicted all that was formed
and all that would be formed.
(Sefer Yetzirah 2:2)
The Zohar gives us a second important significance to the ALEF and the TAV as they appear in Genesis 1:1 “indicates the firm union of male and female”.
Now we read in the Torah:
26 And Elohim said: Let us make man in our image; after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.
27 And Elohim created man in His own image: in the image of Elohim created He him; male and female created He them.
(Gen. 1:26-27 HRV)
What does this mean? Let US make man in OUR image?
The Zohar gives a very interesting answer:
And Elohim said, Let us make man (Gen. 1:26). The secret (SOD) is to them who fear him (Ps. 25:14)…
That most reverend Elder opened an exposition of this verse by saying ‘Simeon Simeon, who is it that said: “Let us make man?” Who is this Elohim?’ With these words the most reverend Elder vanished before anyone saw him.
R. Simeon, hearing that he had called him plain “Simeon”, and not “Rabbi Simeon”, said to his colleagues: ‘Of a surety this is the Holy One, blessed be He, of whom it is written: “And the Ancient of days was seated” (Dan. VII, 9). Truly now is the time to expound this mystery, because certainly there is here a mystery which hitherto it was not permitted to divulge, but now we perceive that permission is given.’
He then proceeded: ‘A king had several buildings to be erected, and he had an architect in his service who did nothing save with his consent (Prov. 8:30). The king is the supernal Wisdom above, the Middle Pillar is the king below: Elohim is the architect above, being as such the supernal Mother, and Elohim is also the architect below, being as such the Divine Presence (Shekinah) below. Now a woman may not do anything without the consent of her husband. And all the buildings were created through his Emanation (aziluth), the Father said to the Mother by means of the Word (amirah), “let it be so and so”, and straightway it was so, as it is written, “And he said, Elohim, let there be light, and there was light”: i.e. one said to Elohim, let there be light: the master of the building gave the order, and the architect carried it out immediately; and so with all that was constructed in the way of emanation.
(Zohar 1:22a)
The Zohar understands “US” and “OUR” to be reflected in the “male and female” image of Elohim mentioned in verse 27 and these are here referred to as “the Father” and “the Mother” just as YHWH is expressed as a Father (Mal. 1:6; Is. 63:16; 64:7) and as a Mother (Is. 66:13) in the Tanak. (YHWH as a “Mother” is the “Comforter in Is. 66:13 which is the Holy Spirit in Jn. 14:16-17, 27; 15:26; 16:7).
The Male and Female image of Father and Mother are the Elohim which is the “Architect above” while the “architect below” is the “Elohim below” or the “king below” and identified as the “Middle Pillar”. Elsewhere the Zohar identifies the Middle Pillar as the “Son of Yah”:
Better is a neighbor that is near, than a brother far off.
This neighbor is the Middle Pillar in the Godhead,
which is the Son of Yah.
(Zohar 2:115)
Here (Zohar 1:22a) the Zohar also identifies the Middle Pillar with the Word, and as the union of the male and female aspects of the Godhead, the ALEF and the TAV,
So the words “Let Us create man in Our own image” are spoken from the Father to the Mother (Holy Spirit) and this is the Elohim above, and these words are carried out by the Word which is the Son of Yah, the Middle Pillar, the Elohim below.
Just as we read in the Ketuvim Netzarim:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Eloah, and the Word was Eloah.
2 This was in the beginning, with Eloah.
3 Everything existed through Him, and without Him, not even one thing existed of that which existed.
(Yochanan (John) 1:1-3 HRV)
The Only Begotten Light
By
James Scott Trimm
Each of our four Gospels are written upon each of the four levels of understanding as understood in Judaism. The first letter from each of these four levels spells PaRDeS (paradise). These four levels of understanding are:
[P]ashat – The plain and literal
[R]emez – The hinted or implied
[D]rash – The allegorical of homiletical
[S]od – The hidden, secret, or mystical
As I have laid out in the past, each of the four Gospels are written on one of these four levels of understanding. Mark gives the pashat; Luke the remez; Matthew with drash and Yochanan (John) gives the Sod, the hidden secret and mystical account.
Yochanan opens his account saying:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Eloah, and the Word was Eloah.
2 This was in the beginning, with Eloah.
3 Everything existed through Him, and without Him, not even one thing existed of that which existed.
4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
5 And the Light brought light into the darkness, and the darkness did not over take it.
6 There was a man sent from Eloah, whose name was Yochanan.
7 This man came for a witness, that he might bear witness to the Light: that every man might believe through him.
8 He was not the Light, but came that he might bear witness to the Light.
9 For He was the light of truth, that which lights every man who comes into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was by His hand: and the world did not know Him.
11 He came to His, and His did not receive Him.
12 But those who did receive Him, those who believed in His Name, He gave power that they should be sons of Eloah:
13 Those who, neither by blood, nor by the will of flesh, nor by the will of man, were begotten, but by Eloah.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt with us, and we saw His glory: as the glory of the only begotten who is from the father, who is full of grace and truth.
(John 1:1-14 HRV)
In a previous series of articles I have explored the significance of Messiah as “the Word” but today I will explore the significance of Messiah as the “light” and as the “only begotten”.
The Zohar sheds light on this section of Yochanan:
Concerning this, too, it is written: “Let there be light, and there was light” (Gen. I, 3). Why, it may be asked, was it necessary to repeat the word “light” in this verse? The answer is that the first “light” refers to the primordial light which is of the Right Hand, and is destined for the “end of days”; while the second “light” refers to the Left Hand, which issues from the Right. The next words, “And God saw the light that it was good” (Gen. 1, 4), refer to the pillar which, standing midway between them, unites both sides, and therefore when the unity of the three, right, left, and middle, was complete, “it was good”, since there could be no completion until the third had appeared to remove the strife between Right and Left, as it is written, “And Elohim separated between the light and between the darkness” (Ibid.).
(Zohar 2:167a)
This is the Middle Pillar: Ki Tov (that it was good) threw light above and below and on all other sides, in virtue of YHWH, the name which embraces all sides.
(Zohar 1:16b)
According to the Zohar the Middle Pillar of the Godhead is the Son of Yah:
Better is a neighbor that is near, than a brother far off.
This neighbor is the Middle Pillar in the Godhead,
which is the Son of Yah.
(Zohar 2:115)
The Middle Pillar is the Ki Tov (That which is good), the light, and the Son of Yah.
The fact that the Son of Yah is the Middle Pillar, the light that is called in Genesis “Ki Tov” (That which is good) helps us to understand Yeshua’s exchange with the man who called him “Good Rabbi”, as we read:
16 And behold, one came near, and said to Him, Good Rabbi, and what good thing shall I do, that I may acquire the life of the world to come?
17 And He said to him: Why ask you me concerning what is good? There is none good but one: there is a good, and that is El. And if you desire to enter into the life of the world to come: keep the commandments of El.
(Matthew 19:16-17 HRV)
Messiah was acknowledging that this man was identifying him rightly as the Ki Tov, the Middle Pillar of the Godhead, the Son of Yah, the only begotten.
Now let us seek to understand the process whereby the light was “begotten”. The Zohar tells us much more:
(1) And Elohim said Let there be light, and there was light (Gen 1:3).
(2) From here is the beginning for finding treasures, how the world was created in particular.
(3) For until now, it was general, and it then returns to speaking in general terms so that it will be general, specific, general.
(4) Until now everything was suspended in the air by the secret of Ayn Sof.
(5) Once its power spread into the upper temple, the secret of Elohim, ‘utterance’ is written, “And Elohim said,” for above utterance is not written in particular, even though “In the beginning” is an utterance, it does not say, “and He said.”
(Zohar 1:16b)
The Zohar is saying that up until this point the Torah has given only generalities but not specifics as to how the world was created. In addition there is a double meaning in the actual Aramaic, that up until this point the universe had only a general existence without specific parts. The text points out that the first statement in the Torah “In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth…” although it is not preceded by the words “And Elohim said” is still regarded as a creative utterance. (The tradition of the Zohar is that the universe was created by ten utterances, each corresponding to the ten sefirot. While the phrase “He said” appears only nine times in the creation account, the first phrase of Torah is said to be an utterance as well).
The Zohar continues:
(6) This, “and He said,” establishes questions and knowledge.
(7) “And He said,” a power that was raised and lifted up silently, from the mystery of Ayn Sof, in the mystery of thought.
(8) “And he said,” now the temple begat, of that which she conceived from the holy seed, and she begat silently, and that which was begotten was heard from without, and the one giving birth gave birth silently and was not heard at all; once that which went forth from it went forth, a voice was made that was heard from without.
(9) “Let there be light.” Everything that emerged went forth by this mystery.
(Zohar 1:16b)
Here we are told just how the light was begotten. A power was raised and lifted up silently from within the very mind of Ayn Sof (the Infinite One) as a “holy seed” into the heavenly Temple from which it was begotten.
Like Yochanan, the Zohar tells us that everything (all creation) came into existence through this “light” which was begotten.
The Zohar continues:
(10) Yehi (יהי) (let there be) concerns the mystery of the Father and Mother symbolized by the letters Yod He became now a starting-point (symbolized by the second Yod) for further extension.
(Zohar 1:16b)
Here we are told that the Hebrew word Yehi (יהי) “let there be” points to the mystery of the begetting of the light. The first two letters spell YAH יה and consist of the letters yud י and heh ה. We are told that these two letters represent the Father and the Mother, and that the second yud י represents the light which was the starting point of creation.
So now when you read the first fourteen verses of Yochanan you will understand what it means when it identifies the Messiah as the “light” and as the “only begotten” and says that “Everything existed through Him, and without Him, not even one thing existed of that which existed.” Just as the Zohar tells us that “Everything that emerged went forth by this mystery.”
Messiah is the Son of Yah, the only begotten, the Ki Tov, the light, the Middle Pillar of the Godhead, and everything which emerged in creation went forth through Him.
Such is the testimony, not only of Yochanan, but of the Zohar as well.
He is the Brightness of His Glory
(The Zohar is the Messiah)
By
James Scott Trimm
We read in the Book of Hebrews:
1 In the days of old, YHWH spoke to the fathers in many times and in many manifestations, through the prophets.
2 It came to pass in the last days, He has spoken to us by His Son, who He appointed to be heir of all things, by Him who created all the worlds.
3 Through appointment, He, is the brightness [Zohar] of His glory, and He is the Maker of all things by the power of His Word, and who has accomplished by His power, the cleansing of our sins. Behold, He sits in high places to the right hand of the Sh’kinah.
(Heb. 1:1-3 HRV)
What does this mean “He is the Brightness of His Glory”? In the original Hebrew as found in the Munster Hebrew text of Hebrews this word is “ZOHAR”. Of course many know that there is a book known as the Zohar, but fewer know the original significance of the term. The Hebrew word ZOHAR appears only twice in the Tanak. One of these is in the Book of Daniel:
And they that are wise, shall shine as the brightness [Zohar] of the firmament, and they that turn the many to righteousness, as the stars; forever and ever.
(Daniel 12:3 HRV)
The other is in the Book of Ezekiel as part of Ezekiel’s description of the “Likeness” of Elohim:
Then I beheld, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of fire. From the appearance of his loins and downward, fire: and from his loins and upward, as the appearance of brightness (Zohar), as the color of electrum.
(Ezekiel 8:2 HRV)
This brings us to Ezekiel’s vision of the Merkavah (Divine Throne-Chariot):
22 And over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of a firmament; like the color of the terrible ice, stretched forth over their heads above.
23 And under the firmament were their wings conformable, the one to the other. This one of them had two which covered, and that one of them had two which covered, their bodies.
24 And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings like the noise of great waters; like the voice of Shaddai–a noise of tumult like the noise of a host. When they stood, they let down their wings.
25 For, when there was a voice above the firmament that was over their heads, as they stood, they let down their wings.
26 And above the firmament that was over their heads, was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone. And upon the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man, upon it; above.
27 And I saw as the color of electrum, as the appearance of fire round about enclosing it, from the appearance of his loins and upward. And from the appearance of his loins and downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness round about him.
28 As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of YHWH. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spoke.
(Ezekiel 1:22-28)
The “firmament” mentioned by Daniel is that which is above the four living creatures in Ezekiel 1:22. The Zohar is the brightness of the likeness seated on the Merkavah (Throne-Chariot).
It is this brightness which is the namesake of the book known as the Zohar. This is what the book called the Zohar says about the ZOHAR:
It is written: And they that are wise, shall shine as the brightness [Zohar] of the firmament, and they that turn the many to righteousness, as the stars; forever and ever (Dan. 12:3). There was indeed a “brightness” (Zohar). The Most Mysterious struck its void, and caused this point to shine. This “beginning” then extended, and made for itself a palace for its honor and glory. There it sowed a sacred seed which was to generate for the benefit of the universe, and to which may be applied the Scriptural words “the holy seed is the stock thereof” (Is. 6:13). Again there was Zohar, in that it sowed a seed for its glory, just as the silkworm encloses itself, as it were, in a palace of its own production which is both useful and beautiful. Thus by means of this “beginning” the Mysterious Unknown made this palace. This palace is called Elohim, and this doctrine is contained in the words, “By means of a beginning (he) created Elohim.”
The Zohar is that from which were created all the creative utterances through the extension of the point of this mysterious brightness. Nor need we be surprised at the use of the word “created” in this connection, seeing that we read further on, “And God created man in his image” (Gen. 1:27).
A further esoteric interpretation of the word Bereshith is as follows. The name of the starting-point of all is Ehyeh (I shall be). The holy name when inscribed at its side is Elohim, but when inscribed by circumscription [i.e. between the two Ehyeh's. v. Ex. 3:4.] is Asher, the hidden and recondite temple, the source of that which is mystically called Reshith. The word Asher (i.e. the letters, Aleph, Shin, Resh from the word Bereshith) is anagrammatically Rosh (head), the beginning which issues from Reshith. So when [15b] the point and the temple were firmly established together, then Bereshit combined the supernal Beginning with Wisdom. Afterwards the character of that temple was changed, and it was called “house” (beit). The combination of this with the supernal point which is called rosh gives Bereshith, which is the name used so long as the house was uninhabited. When, however, it was sown with seed to make it habitable, it was called Elohim, hidden and mysterious. The Zohar was hidden and withdrawn so long as the building was within and yet to bring forth, and the house was extended only so far as to find room for the holy seed. Before it had conceived and had extended sufficiently to be habitable, it was not called Elohim, but all was still included in the term Bereshith. After it had acquired the name of Elohim, it brought forth offspring from the seed that had been implanted in it.
(Zohar 1:15a-15b)
In the book called the Zohar the Zohar is likened to a “seed” which is elsewhere called the “Son of Yah”. The Zohar says that the Most Mysterious (the Infinite One) created a palace for himself called Elohim into which he placed his Zohar (brightness) like a seed sowed of himself, in much the same way that a silkworm encloses itself in a cocoon. The “seed” is elsewhere known as the “Son of Yah”. The book called the Zohar also says of the Zohar that he “is that from which were created all the creative utterances”.
Now we can better understand what Hebrews means when it says:
1 In the days of old, YHWH spoke to the fathers in many times and in many manifestations, through the prophets.
2 It came to pass in the last days, He has spoken to us by His Son, who He appointed to be heir of all things, by Him who created all the worlds.
3 Through appointment, He, is the brightness [Zohar] of His glory, and He is the Maker of all things by the power of His Word, and who has accomplished by His power, the cleansing of our sins. Behold, He sits in high places to the right hand of the Sh’kinah.
(Heb. 1:1-3 HRV)
Messiah is the Zohar of His glory. He is the namesake of the book known as the Zohar. Messiah is the brightness of the likeness which Ezekiel saw upon the throne. Messiah “is that from which were created all the creative utterances” in that “He is the Maker of all things by the power of His Word.”
The First Three Letters of Torah:
Remember Now Your Creators
By
James Scott Trimm
The first letter of the Torah is BEIT ב. The letter BEIT ב was originally a pictogram of a house, and the word BEIT means “house, place or dwelling”. The letter BEIT ב is also the symbol for the number 2. This teaches us that the beginning aspect of the Word is that He is the dwelling of the two.
The Messiah is the dwelling of the two. We learned this recently in the teaching on the Alef and the Tav. (If you missed it you may want to read it here: http://nazarenespace.com/profiles/blogs/the-alef-and-the-tav for some background material). In the Word the ALEF א and the TAV ת dwell together as one, the masculine and feminine aspects of the image of Elohim are harmonized. Loving kindness and might dwell together in harmony and wisdom and understanding dwell together in knowledge.
Beit is also the first letter of BEN בן meaning “son”.
The first two letters of Torah are – BAR בר which can mean “son” and “pure one” and can also refer to grain from which bread is made.
Rabbi Shlomo Meir Ben Moshe, a prominent 17th century Rabbi who accepted Yeshua as the Messiah in 1665 at the age of sixty five (you can read his story here: http://nazarenespace.com/profiles/blogs/the-story-of-rabbi-shlomo-m… ) taught concerning these first two letters of the Torah that the word (בר) Bar has a twofold meaning : it also signifies grain, or bread, in allusion to the bread of the Passover, and to the words of Yeshua who said, ” I am the living bread, which came down from heaven.” There is great beauty in designating the Son by a term applicable also to bread, in preference to other words signifying only a Son; and there is likewise a striking propriety in the appellation here given to grain, which has been distinguished by three names adapted to the three different states in which men have been found:
Grain is also called דגן DAGAN which symbolizes that before the fall, man was to subsist on the produce of the tree of paradise, made into bread, and called דגן, which can also be translated, “of the garden.”
Wheat grain is also called חטא CHITTA which also means “sin” symbolizing the period from the fall of man to the coming of Messiah.
Finally grain is also called בר BAR which also means “son” symbolizing that since the coming of the Messiah, the bread symbolizes the incarnate Son of Yah ; according to the declaration of Yeshua, “If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever.”
This brings us to the first three letters of Torah: ברא
My mentor Rabbi Moyal taught me concerning these first three letters. He showed me that these three letters are also the same three letters of the second word of the Torah meaning “created”. These same three letters also spell the Hebrew word for “Creator.” He also showed me that these are the initial letters of the words BEN (בן) (Son), RUACH (רוח) (Spirit) and ABBA (אבא) (Father), showing us that the Creator is the BEN, RUACH and ABBA, the Three Pillars of the Godhead, and that this is the reason that the Hebrew of Ecclesiastes 12:1 literally reads “Remember now your Creators” in the plural (though most translations render “Creator” here in the singular, this is actually the plural form of our same word for Creator discussed herein.)
(Rabbi Moyal was an Orthodox Rabbi from Israel who came to the conclusion in the late 20th Century, from studying the Talmud, Midrash and Zohar, that Yeshua is the Messiah.
You can read his story here.
I began writing this article this week and before I knew it, there were nine pages and I was not anywhere near done, so I realized I need to break this study down into several smaller studies, and that it will not be so simple as to break it into simple parts in order to break it down for presentation in small doses. Parts will have to be broken down into themes, while other portions can simply be presented in bite size pieces.
A Tale of Two Souls
By
James Scott Trimm
Did you know that as a believer you can have a second soul?
To begin with it is important to know that man has two inclinations, an evil inclination called the “Yetzer HaRa” and a good inclination called “Yetzer Tov”. The unusual spelling of Yetzer (“formed”) in Gen. 2:7 points us to the fat that man has within him two such inclinations. As we read in the Talmud:
R. Nahman b. R. Hisda expounded:
What is meant by the text, Then the Lord God
formed [va-yetzer] man? [The word va-yetzer] (Gen. 2:7)
is written with two yods, to show that God created
two inclinations, one good (tov) and the other evil (ra).
(b.Ber. 61a)
It has been taught: R. Jose the Galilean says,
The righteous are swayed by their good inclination,
as it says, My heart is slain within me. (Ps. 109:22)
The wicked are swayed by their evil inclination,
as it says, Transgression speaks to the wicked,
methinks, there is no fear of God before his eyes.
(Ps. 36:1) Average people are swayed by both
inclinations, as it says, Because He stands at
the right hand of the needy, to save him from them
that judge his soul. (Ps. 109:31) Raba said: People
such as we are of the average.
(b.Ber. 61b)
Likewise we read in the Wisdom of Ben Sira:
It was He who created man in the beginning.
And He left him in the power of his own inclination (Heb: yetzer).
If you will, you can keep the commandments,
and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice.
He has placed before you fire and water:
Stretch out your hand for whichever you wish.
(Sira 15:14-16)
The word for “average” above (in b.Ber. 61b) is “benoni” referring to an “intermediate one”, one who is caught in the conflict between these two inclinations.
Paul writes of this conflict in the benoni as follows:
14 For we know that the Torah is of the spirit,
but I am of the flesh and I am sold to sin.
22 For I rejoice in the Torah of Eloah in the inward son of man.
(Romans 7:14, 22 HRV)
Because of this, we are not weary, for even if our
outer man is corrupted, yet that which [is] inside
is renewed day by day.
(2Cor. 4:16 HRV)
for the flesh desires a thing which is opposed to
the Spirit and the Spirit desires a thing that is
opposed to the flesh and the two of these are
opposed to each other, that you do not do the thing
which you desire.
(Gal. 5:17 HRV)
And as we read in the Tanya:
Just as two kings wage war over a town,
which each wishes to capture and rule,
that is to say, to dominate its inhabitants according to his will,
so that they obey him in all that he decrees for them,
so do the two souls— the Divine and the vitalising animal soul…
wage war against each other over the body and all its limbs.
(Tanya Chapter 9)
It is this evil inclination that David refers to in the Psalms when he writes:
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity;
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
(Ps. 51:5)
The phrases “in iniquity” and “in sin” could also be translated “with iniquity” and “with sin” meaning that man was born with an evil inclination.
As we also read in 2Esdras:
And yet tookest thou not away from them a wicked heart, that thy law might bring forth fruit in them.
For the first Adam bearing a wicked heart transgressed, and was overcome; and so be all they that are born of him.
Thus infirmity was made permanent; and the law (also) in the heart of the people with the malignity of the root; so that the good departed away, and the evil abode still.
So the times passed away, and the years were brought to an end: then didst thou raise thee up a servant, called David:
Whom thou commandedst to build a city unto thy name, and to offer incense and oblations unto thee therein.
When this was done many years, then they that inhabited the city forsook thee,
And in all things did even as Adam and all his generations had done: for they also had a wicked heart:
(2Esdras 3:20-26)
This Yetzer HaRa (evil inclination) finds a comrade in our primal animal soul.
But you can have a second soul which is a ready comrade for the Yetzer Tov. As we read in the Tanya:
The second soul of a Jew is truly a part of Eloah above, as it is written, “And He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,” (Gen. 2:7) and “Thou didst breathe it [the soul] into me.” (b.Berachot 60b). And it is written in the Zohar, “He who exhales, exhales from within him,” that is to say, from his inwardness and his innermost, for it is something of his internal and innermost vitality that man emits through exhaling with force.
(Tanya LA 2)
In the previous chapter the Tanya refers to this second soul, saying that these two souls are the “souls” referenced in Isaiah 57:16:
For I will not contend forever,
neither will I be always wroth:
for the spirit that enwraps itself is from Me,
and the souls which I have made.
(Is. 57:16 HRV)
This concept of a Second Soul is also found in the Zohar as follows:
It behooves a man to labor in the study of the Torah, to strive to make progress in it daily, so as thereby to fortify his soul and his spirit: for when a man occupies himself in the study of the Torah, he becomes endowed with an additional and holy soul, as it is written: “the movement of living creatures”, that is, a soul (nefesh) derived from the holy center called “living” (hayah). Not so is it with the man who does not occupy himself with the study of the Torah: such a man has no holy soul, and the heavenly holiness does not rest upon him. But when a man earnestly studies the Torah, then the motion of his lips wins for him that “living soul” and he becomes as one of the holy angels, as it is written: “Bless the Lord, ye angels of his” (Ps. 103:20), to wit, those who occupy themselves in the study of the Torah, and who are therefore called His angels on earth. The same are alluded to in the words: “and let birds fly on the earth”. So much for his reward in this world. As regards the other world, we have been taught that the Holy One, blessed be He, will provide them with wings as of eagles, enabling them to fly across the whole universe, as it is written: “But they that wait for YHWH shall renew their strength, then shall mount up with wings as eagles” (Is. 40:31). This, then, is the interpretation of that which is written: “Let the waters swarm with the movement of living creatures”: the Torah, which is symbolized by water, possesses the virtue of implanting in her devotees a mobile soul derived from the place called “living” (hayah), as has already been said. David alluded to this when he said: “Create in me a clean heart, O Elohim”, so that I may be devoted to the Torah, and thus “renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Ps. 51:12).
(Zohar 1:12b)
According to the Zohar this second soul is alluded to in Psalm 51 in the phrase “and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” If we look at this verse in context we see:
11 (51:9) Hide Your face from my sins:
and blot out all my iniquities.
12 (51:10) Create me a clean heart, O Elohim:
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
13 (51:11) Cast me not away from Your presence:
and take not Your Ruach HaKodesh from me.
14 (51:12) Restore unto me the joy of Your salvation:
and let a willing spirit uphold me!
(Ps. 51:11-14(9-12) HRV)
Here we see that this second soul strives against the Yetzer HaRa (evil inclination) mentioned just a few verses earlier in 51:5 “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Ps. 51:5)
Now a spirit (ruach) is not a soul (nefesh) but it appears that according to the Zohar that there is in fact a spirit (ruach) attached to this second soul (nefesh) and from these verses we see that this spirit (ruach) is in fact the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit). Likewise the Ketivim Netzarim (Writings of the Nazarenes, known as the “New Testament”) indicate that Believers are endowed with a second spirit, i.e. the Ruach HaKodesh.
This second soul and second spirit are reinforcements to help the Yetzer Tov as we read in Ezekiel:
17 Therefore say, Thus says the Adonai YHWH: I will even gather you from the
peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered: and I will give you the land of Yisra’el.
18 And they shall come there, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof, and all the abominations thereof, from thence.
19 And I will give them–one heart–and I will put a new spirit within you. And I will remove the–stony heart–out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh,
20 That they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances, and do them: and they
shall be My people, and I will be their Elohim.
21 But as for them whose heart walks after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their way upon their own heads, says the Adonai YHWH
(Ezek. 11:17-21 HRV)
25 And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean. From all your uncleannesses and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. And I will take away, the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you, a heart of flesh.
27 And I will put My spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My ordinances, and do them.
(Ezekiel 36:25-27 HRV)
And as our Messiah Yeshua taught us:
But when the Spirit of Truth has come,
She will lead you in all Truth,
for She will not speak from the mind of the nefesh:…
(Jn. 16:13a HRV)
It is this second soul that renews our strength and allows us to mount up with wings like eagles:
But they that wait for YHWH shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with
wings as eagles: they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.
(Is. 40:31 HRV)
Ramban (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman) (1194-1270 C.E.) wrote one of the most authoritative Torah commentaries in Rabbinic Judaism. He puts this well when he writes:
And YHWH your Elohim will circumcise your heart (Deut. 30:6) It is this which the Rabbis have said, “If someone comes to purify himself, they assist him” [from on High]. The verse assures you that you will return to Him with all your heart and He will help you.
This following subject is very apparent from Scripture: Since the time of Creation, man has had the power to do as he pleased, to be righteous or wicked. This [grant of free will] applies likewise to the entire Torah period, so that people can gain merit upon choosing the good and punishment for preferring evil. But in the days of the Messiah, the choice of
their [genuine] good will be natural; the heart will not desire the improper and it will have no craving whatever for it. This is the “circumcision” mentioned here, for lust and desire are the “foreskin” of the heart, and circumcision of the heart means that it will not covet or desire evil.
Man will return at that time to what he was before the sin of Adam, when by his nature he did what should properly be done, and there were no conflicting desires in his will, as I have explained in Seder Bereshit.
It is this which Scripture states in [the Book of] Jeremiah 31:30], Behold, the days come, says YHWH, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers ..etc. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Eternal, I will put my Law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it.
This is a reference to the annulment of the evil inclination and to the natural performance by the heart of its proper function. Therefore Jeremiah said further, and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be My People; and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying: ‘Know YHWH; ‘for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them
Now, it is known that the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth and it is necessary to instruct them, but at that time it will not be necessary to instruct them [to avoid evil] for their evil inclination will then be completely abolished. And so it is declared by Ezekiel, A new heart will I also give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will cause you to walk in My statutes . (Ezekiel 36:26)
The new heart alludes to man’s nature, and the [new] spirit to the desire and will. It is this which our Rabbis have said : “And the years draw nigh, when you shall say: I have no pleasure in them; these are the days of the Messiah, as they will offer opportunity neither for merit nor for guilt,” for in the days of the Messiah there will be no [evil] desire in man but he will naturally perform the proper deeds and therefore there will be neither merit nor guilt in them, for merit and guilt are dependent upon desire.
(Ramban on Deut. 29:6)
Yichud: Unity with YHWH
By
James Scott Trimm
Our Messiah Yeshua said:
11 From now on, I am not in the world: but these are in the world. And I come to you, Set-Apart Father: keep them in Your Name that You gave Me, <that they be one, as we are. >
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your Name; those whom You gave Me I have kept, and not one of them is lost: except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
13 And now I come to you. And these things I speak in the world that My joy might be full in them.
14 I have given them Your word: and the world hated them because they were not of the world, as I am not of the world.
15 I do not ask that You take them from the world: but that You keep them from evil,
16 For they are not of the world, as I am not of the world.
17 Father, sanctify them by Your truth: for Your word is truth.
18 As you sent Me into the world, also I send them into the world.
19 And for their sakes, I sanctify My nefesh, that they also might be sanctified in truth.
20 And I do not ask for the sake of these alone, but also for the sake of those who will have trust in Me, through their word.
21 That all might be one, as You are My Father, in Me, and I am, in You: that they also might be one in us, that the world might believe that You sent Me.
22 And the glory that You gave Me I gave to them, that they might be one, as we are one.
23 I am in them, and You are in Me, that they be perfected into one: and that the world, might know that You sent Me, and that You have loved them, as also You loved Me.
(John 17:11-23 HRV)
Now there are three important things (among many other) that we can learn from these words:
1. Messiah wishes us to have Yichud (unity) with YHWH just as he has Yichud with YHWH. And how do we attain Yichud (unity)? Here we learn that Messiah wishes us to be one with one another through our unity with Messiah and YHWH who are also one.
2. Messiah teaches us that this unity is achieved through the Word of YHWH, also referred to here as the “truth” (And we know from Ps. 119:142, 151 that the Torah is truth).
3. Messiah teaches us that through this Yichud (unity) his joy of fills us.
So how do we obtain Yichud (unity) with YHWH through the Torah, and how does that Yichud fill us with the joy of Messiah?
The key is that the Torah and YHWH are one. As we read in the Tanya:
…the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are one. The meaning of this is that the Torah, which is the wisdom and will of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His glorious Essence are one, since He is both the Knower and the Knowledge, and so on,…
For the Holy One, blessed be He, has compressed His will and wisdom within the 613 commandments of the Torah, and in their laws, as well as within the combination of the letters of the Torah, the books of the Prophets and the Hagiographa, and in the exposition thereof which are to be found in the Agadot and Midrashim of our Rabbis of blessed memory. All this in order that each neshamah, or ruach and nefesh in the human body should be able to comprehend them through its faculty of understanding, and to fulfil them, as far as they can be fulfilled, in act, speech and thought, thereby clothing itself with all its ten faculties in these three garments….
(Tanya Chapter 4)
The Torah expresses the very mind of YHWH.
Now the human soul may be divided into its intellectual and emotional aspects. The intellectual aspects comprise the upper three sefirot, while the emotional aspects encompass the seven lower sefirot. As we read in the Tanya:
Now, each distinction and grade of the three— nefesh, ruach and neshamah— consists of ten faculties, corresponding to the Supernal Ten Sefirot (Divine manifestations), from which they have descended, which are subdivided into two, namely, the three “mothers” and the seven “multiples,” to wit: chochmah (wisdom) binah (understanding) and da at (knowledge); and the “seven days of Creation:” chesed (kindness), gevurah (power), tiferet (beauty), and so on.
Similarly is it with the human soul, which is divided in two— sechel (intellect) and middot (emotional attributes). The intellect includes chochmah, binah and da at (ChaBaD), whilst the middot are love of G-d, dread and awe of Him, glorification of Him, and so forth. ChaBaD [the intellectual faculties] are called “mothers” and source of the middot, for the latter are “offspring” of the former.
(Tanya Chapter 3)
Now through our intellect, we receive the Wisdom of the Torah, and having heard the Wisdom of Torah we subject it to Understanding. When Wisdom (chochmah) is subjected to Understanding (binah) the result is Knowledge (da’at)… it is Knowledge that brings Wisdom and Understanding together. When we receive as Wisdom a precept of Torah, and that precept like a seed enters into Understanding then that precept becomes part of us as our Knowledge. As we read in the Tanya:
Specifically: the faculties of ChaBaD in his soul are clothed in the comprehension of the Torah, which he comprehends in Pardes, to the extent of his mental capacity and the supernal root of his soul.
(Tanya Chapter 4)
Now, when an intellect conceives and comprehends a concept with its intellectual faculties, this intellect grasps the concept and encompasses it. This concept is [in turn] grasped, enveloped and enclothed within that intellect which conceived and comprehended it.
The mind, for its part, is also clothed in the concept at the time it comprehends and grasps it with the intellect. For example, when a person understands and comprehends, fully and clearly, any halachah (law) in the Mishnah or Gemara, his intellect grasps and encompasses it and, at the same time, is clothed in it.
(Tanya Chapter 5)
And as we read in 1Corinthians:
12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from Eloah, so that we might know the gifts that were given to us from Eloah,
13 Which also we speak, not in the teaching of words of the wisdom of sons of men, but in the teaching of the Spirit, and to spiritual men we compare spiritual things.
14 For the son of man who is in the nefesh, does not receive spiritual things, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to know that which is judged spiritually.
15 Now the spiritual man judges all things, and is not judged from man.
16 For who knows the mind of YHWH that he might instruct Him? But we have the mind of the Messiah.
(1Cor. 2:1-16)
From this knowledge comes faith, and the seven “middot” or emotions. Thus when we study Torah and that knowledge of Torah becomes a part of us and expresses itself in our thoughts, our words and our deeds, then we have Yichud with YHWH and that Yichud flows down through the seven middot expressing itself in the fear of YHWH and the joy of the love of YHWH. As we read in the Tanya:
And the middot, namely fear and love, together with their offshoots and ramifications, are clothed in the fulfilment of the commandments in deed and in word, namely, in the study of Torah which is “The equivalent of all the commandments.”
(Tanya Chapter 4)
The Torah Inside
By
James Scott Trimm
Observing Torah must not be empty and detached, simply going through the motions. Observing Torah flows from our internalization of Torah.
The Torah is the very expression of the mind of Elohim. When the wisdom of Torah gestates in our understanding it gives birth to a knowledge of Torah within us. This Torah within us unites with our mind and manifests itself in what we think, what we say and what we do, thus overcoming the evil inclination within us and uniting us with the mind of YHWH, thus “cleaving” to YHWH. We do not observe Torah as one trying to earn something, but with no mind of a reward, for its own sake, to bring us closer to YHWH, out of the love and awe that we have for Him.
This internalization of Torah is clear in the Talmud. One of the first disputes recorded in the Mishnah centers around the issue of how the shema should be recited:
The House of Shammai says: In the evening one should recline in order to recite the shema, and in the morning they should stand. As it is written “when you lie down and when you rise up.” (Deuteronomy 6:7)
But the House of Hillel says: Everyone may recite the Shema in his own way, as it is written: “And you shall go by the way” (Deuteronomy 7:7)
(m.Berachot 1:3)
The House of Shammai took the phrase “when you lie down and when you rise up.” (Deuteronomy 6:7) to mean that the shema should literally be said lying down and standing up.
But the House of Hillel taught that this simply referred to the time at which people lie down and the time at which people rise up, and not to the position in which one recites the shema.
Note that the House of Shammai were concerned primarily with the outward expression, with whether one was standing or reclining, while the House of Hillel were less concerned with such outward expression and much more concerned with the way in which one recited the Shema, that they made it their own way, that they meant it and walked in it. Note the difference in emphasis of the two houses.
Hillel was more concerned with the inner man, while Shammai was more concerned with the outer man. Hillel was concerned with the Spirit of the Law, while Shammai was more concerned with the Letter of the Law.
This overriding concept of sincerity is also found in the Mishna in tractate Menachot:
“…all are the same, the one who offers much and the one who offers little,
on condition that a man will direct his intention to Heaven.”
(m.Menachot 13:11)
Again, the act of Torah observance must not be an empty matter of going through the motions, it must proceed from our internalization of Torah.
The Torah and the Messiah are one. When we study Torah, the Wisdom of Torah gestates in our Understanding and gives birth to Knowledge of Torah. This is what is meant by having the Torah in our inward parts. Since the Torah and the Messiah are one, this is also having the Messiah within us. The Messiah within us is a spark of YHWH within us, a second soul. While our animal soul has an inclination to do evil, this second soul has an inclination to do good. This helps us to overcome our evil inclination. This occurs as Wisdom, Understanding and Knowledge of Torah within us flows from our mind down to our emotions, resulting in a love for Elohim that inclines us to keep the positive commandments, and awe for Elohim that inclines us not to violate the negative commandments.
THE WORD OF YHWH REVEALED Part1
THE WORD OF YHWH REVEALED
PART I
IN THE BEGINNING
Where do I begin…?
Yochanan (John) writes:
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him,
And without him was not any thing made that was made…
And the Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us,
(and we beheld his glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,)
full of grace and truth.
(John 1:1-3, 14 KJV)
And in Revelation he writes:
And he was clothed with a vesture,
dipped in blood: and his name is called
The Word of God.
(Rev. 19:13 KJV)
These statements MEANT something in context of Second Temple Judaism. And they meant something very significant. The concept of the “Word” (Greek: LOGOS; Aramaic: MEMRA; Hebrew: DAVAR) already had a very special and unique meaning in the Second Temple Era. The LOGOS/MEMRA was a very important concept in the Second Temple Era, and if we are to understand what Yochanan (John) is saying, we must understand this concept.
PHILO
Philo was an Alexandrian Jew who was born nearly 20 years before Yeshua and died around 20 years after his death. Philo was a “Hellenist Jew”. Not like the Hellenists of the Maccabean period who abandoned Torah for Paganism, but like Stephen (Acts 7) and the Hellenists in Acts 6. These Hellenists were Greek speaking Jews who remained Torah Observant (at least in there own understanding) while accepting Greek culture.
Josephus’ comments about Philo are so brief that we can quote them here in full:
“There was now a tumult arisen at Alexandria, between the Jewish inhabitants and the Greeks; and three ambassadors were chosen out of each party that were at variance, who came to Gaius. Now one of these ambassadors from the people of Alexandria was Apion, who uttered many blasphemies against the Jews; and, among other things that he said, he charged them with neglecting the honors that belonged to Caesar; for that while all who were subject to the Roman empire built altars and temples to Gaius, and in other regards universally received him as they received the gods, these Jews alone thought it a dishonorable thing for them to erect statues in honor of him, as well as to swear by his name. Many of these severe things were said by Apion, by which he hoped to provoke Gaius to anger at the Jews, as he was likely to be. But Philo, the principal of the Jewish embassage, a man eminent on all accounts, brother to Alexander the alabarch, and one not unskillful in philosophy, was ready to betake himself to make his defense against those accusations; but Gaius prohibited him, and bid him begone; he was also in such a rage, that it openly appeared he was about to do them some very great mischief. So Philo being thus affronted, went out, and said to those Jews who were about him, that they should be of good courage, since Gaius’s words indeed showed anger at them, but in reality had already set God against himself.” (Antiquities of the Jews, xviii.8, 1)
Rabbinic Judaism has forgotten Philo. He is never mentioned or cited in the Rabbinic literature which makes no great mention of any Alexandrian Jews.
THE LOGOS
Philo is very important to us because he writes much about the Second Temple Era Jewish concept of the “Word” (Greek: LOGOS). We should not seek to understand John 1:1-3, 15 1and Jn. 19:13 in a vacuum. Remember, Philo lived and wrote at the same time as the “New Testament” events were taking place. However Philo was far away in Alexandria Egypt, and apparently unaware of the budding Nazarene movement which had not yet come to Alexandria.
In order to understand Philo’s concept of the Word, we must understand Philo’s concept of Elohim. Philo saw a conflict within Elohim. On the one hand, he saw Elohim as beyond man and far removed from the finiteness of this universe. He refers to this concept in Greek as TO ON (that which exists) and TO ONTOS ON “that which alone truly exists”. This concept of Elohim is conceived as virtually outside this universe with no real contact with it. This unknowable Elohim appeared from Ex. 20:21. In Rabbinic Judaism (i.e. Kabbalah) this unknowable Elohim is called in Hebrew EIN SOF (without end/border; The Infinite One).
For Philo the Word (Logos) was a sort of bridge between the unknowable remote Elohim and the universe. The Word was a manifestation of the unknowable Elohim in this universe, an intermediary or mediator between man and Elohim. One can immediately see that Philo’s Word parallels Rabbinic Judaism’s (Kabbalah’s) SEFIROT.
Philo writes much about the concept of the “Word” (Greek: Logos)
…So that the Word (Logos) is, as it were, the charioteer of the powers,…
(On Flight and Finding XIX 101)
This is very important, as we have a first century Jew revealing to us the mystery of the throne-chariot.
The Mishna tells us:
They do not expound upon…
Ma’aseh Bereshit before [more than] two, or Ma’aseh Merkavah before [more than] one unless he was a sage and understands of his own knowledge.
(m.Hagigah 2:1)
In the Mishnah the Ma’aseh Merkavah (account of the throne-chariot) was a secret. But Philo tells us all about the secret, he tells us that the charioteer is the Word (Logos). It is generally accepted that the mysteries of the Ma’aseh Merkavah (account of the chariot – i.e. Ezek. 1-2) and Ma’aseh Bereshit (account of creation) were the material that later came to be referred to as “Kabbalah”. Philo tells us that the big secret of the chariot is that the charioteer is the Word.
Philo says:
…Every man in regard of his intellect is connected with Logos (Word),
being an impression of, or a fragment or emanation of that blessed
nature…
(Philo; On Creation LI (146))
Philo gave a very detailed description to the Word (Logos). To Philo the Word was the creator:
As therefore the city, when previously shadowed out in
the mind of architectural skill had no external place, but
was stamped solely in the mind of the workman, so in
the same manner neither can the world which existed in
ideas have had any other local position except the
Logos (Word) which made them…
(Philo; On Creation V (20))
Philo taught that the Word (Logos) was the shadow of God and was the instrument of creation.
…But the shadow of God is his Logos (Word),
which he used like an instrument when he was
making the world.
(Philo; Allegorical Interpretation III XXXI (96))
Not only does Philo speak of this “Word” but the ancient Targums do so as well. The Targums were Aramaic paraphrases of the books of the Tanak. Throughout the Targums we read of this entity called the “Word” (Aramaic: MEMRA). On many occasions the Targums paraphrase YHWH with the phase “Word of YHWH” and on some occasions the Word (MEMRA) is mentioned in the paraphrase where YHWH is not mentioned. The term is applied to YHWH in Targum Onkelos 179 times, the Jerusalem Targum 99 times and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan 321 times.
This “Word of YHWH” was, according to Targum Jonathan, the Creator:
And the Word [Memra] of YHWH created man in his likeness,
in the likeness of YHWH, YHWH created,
male and female created He them.
(Targ. Jonathan Gen. 1:27)
This idea is also put forward in the Jerusalem Targum:
And the Word [Memra] of YHWH said to Moses:
“I am He who said unto the world ‘Be!’ and it was:
and who in the future shall say to it ‘Be!’
and it shall be.” And He said: “Thus you shall say
to the children of Israel: ‘I Am’ has sent me to you.”
(Jerusalem Targum Ex. 3:14)
The Fragmentary Targum of the Torah also expresses that the Word of YHWH was the Creator:
The first night, when the “Word of YHWH”
was revealed to the world in order to create it,
the world was desolate and void,
and darkness spread over the face of the abyss
and the “Word of the Lord” was bright and illuminating
and He called it the first night.
(Fragmentary Targum Ex. 12:42)
That the Word of YHWH was the Creator can also be seen in the Tanak itself:
By the Word (DAVAR) of YHWH were the heavens made,
and all the hosts of them by the Spirit of His mouth.
(Ps. 33:6)
Whenever the Targums come to passages where YHWH is anthropomorphisised or seen, or where two or more YHWHs are indicated by the text, the Targums will substitute “The Word [Memra] of YHWH” for YHWH. For example in Gen. 19:24 the Tanak has:
And YHVH rained brimstone and fire upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah, from YHVH, from the heavens.
(Original Bible Project preliminary edition)
The Hebrew grammar here indicates that one YHWH rains fire from another YHWH. But Targum Jonathan substitutes “The Word of YHWH/the L-RD” for the first of the two YHWHs as follows:
And the Word of the YHWH caused to descend upon the peoples of Sodom and Gommorah, brimstone and fire from the YHWH in heaven.
In another example the Torah has:
Ex. 24:1a (YHWH is the speaker, see Ex. 20:1-2)
Now He [YHWH] said to Moses, “come up to YHWH…”
But Targum Jonathan paraphrases the speaker in Ex. 20:1 with the substitution “the Word [Memra] of YHWH” in place of “YHWH.”
“And the Word of the Lord spoke all these glorious words…”
So it would seem that one of these entities called “YHWH” in these Torah passages was actually understood by the Targumists as being the “Word of YHWH.”
Moreover Abraham prayed in the name of the Word of YHWH:
And Abraham worshipped and prayed
in the name of the Word [Memra] of YHWH,
and said, “You are YHWH who does see,
but You cannot be seen.”
(Jerusalem Targum Gen. 22:14)
Note that here Abraham prays “in the name of the Word of YHWH” to the YHWH who “cannot be seen.” Here two YHWH’s are very apparent. Abraham is praying in the name of the Word of YHWH but is praying to the YHWH who cannot be seen. This idea is reinforced elsewhere as follows:
And Hagar praised and prayed in the name of the Word [Memra] Of YHWH who had revealed Himself to her…
(Jerusalem Targum Gen. 16:3)
Of this very incident Philo writes:
But Hagar flees out of shame. And a proof of this is, that the angel, that is the WORD of God, met her, with the intent to recommend her what she ought to do, and to guide her in her return to her mistress’s house. For he encouraged her, and said unto her: “The Lord has heard the cry of thy humiliation,” which you uttered, not out of fear, nor yet out of hatred. For the one is the feeling of an ignoble soul, and the other of one which loves contention, but under the influence of that copy of temperance and modesty, shame.
(On Flight and Finding (5))
It was this Word of YHWH that Jacob also trusted in:
And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, “If the Word [Memra] of YHWH will be my support, and will keep me in the way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the Word [Memra]of YHWH be my Elohim.
(Targum Onkelos on Gen. 28:20-21)
THE WORD OF YHWH REVEALED
PART 2
THE IMAGE OF ELOHIM
By James Trimm
Philo’s concept of the “Word” (Logos) is the “image of Elohim” which served as the pattern for the creation of man in Gen. 1:26-27. Philo writes:
…For God does not seem to have availed himself
of any other animal existing in creation as his model
in the formation of man; but to have been guided,
as I have said before, by his own Word (Logos) alone…
(Philo; On Creation XLVIII (139))
But the divine Word (Logos) which is above these
does not come into any visible appearance,
inasmuch as it is not like to any of the things
that come under the external senses,
but is itself an image of God,
the most ancient of all the objects of intellect
in the whole world, and that which is placed
in the closest proximity to the only truly existing God,
without any partition or distance being interposed
between them:
(On Flight and Finding XVIII (101))
Now, Bezaleel, being interpreted, means God in his shadow.
But the shadow of God is his Word (Logos), which he used
like an instrument when he was making the world.
And this shadow, and, as it were, model, is the archetype of other things. For, as God is himself the model of that image which he has now called a shadow, so also that image is the model of other things,
as he showed when he commenced giving the law to the Israelites,
and said, “And God made man according to the image of God.”[Gen. 1:26] as the image was modeled according to God, and as man was modeled according to the image, which thus received the power and character of the model.
(Allegorical Interpretations III 96)
For if it was necessary to examine the mortal body
of the priest that it ought not be imperfect through
any misfortune, much more was it necessary to look
into his immortal soul, which they say is fashioned
in the form of the living God. Now the image of God
is the Word (Logos), by which all the world was made.
(The Special Laws I, 81)
What is the man who was created? And how is that man
distinguished who was made after the image of God? (Gen. 2:7).
This man was created as perceptible to the senses,
and in the similitude of a Being appreciable only by the intellect;
but he who in respect of his form is intellectual and incorporeal,
is the similitude of the archetypal model as to appearance,
and he is the form of the principal character;
but this is the Word (Logos) of God, the first beginning of all things,
the original species or the archetypal idea,
the first measure of the universe.
(Q & A on Gen. I, 4)
Why is it that he speaks as if of some other god,
saying that he made man after the image of God,
and not that he made him after his own image? (Gen. 9:6).
Very appropriately and without any falsehood
was this oracular sentence uttered by God,
for no mortal thing could have been formed
on the similitude of the supreme Father of the universe,
but only after the pattern of the second deity,
who is the Word (Logos) of the supreme Being;
since it is fitting that the rational soul of man should bear it
the type of the divine Word (Logos); since in his first Word (Logos)
God is superior to the most rational possible nature.
But he who is superior to the Word (Logos) holds his rank
in a better and most singular pre-eminence, and how could
the creature possibly exhibit a likeness of him in himself?
Nevertheless he also wished to intimate this fact,
that God does rightly and correctly require vengeance,
in order to the defense of virtuous and consistent men,
because such bear in themselves a familiar acquaintance
with his Word (Logos), of which the human mind is
the similitude and form.
(Q & A on Gen. II 62)
This parallels what we read in the Targum:
And the Word (Memra) of YHWH
created man in his likeness,
in the likeness of YHWH, YHWH created,
male and female created He them.
(Targ. Jonathan Gen. 1:27)
ADAM KADMON
We said before that Philo’s Word (Logos) parallels the SEFIROT of the Kabbalah in Rabbinic Judaism. In Kabbalah the SEFIROT are said to be manifested in “Adam Kadmon”. According to Genesis man was created in the “image of Elohim”. This “image of Elohim” was a manifestation of the Godhead, which served as a model for Adam.
…the form (image) of G-d in which He created man is actually G-d’s blueprint form for man. This “form” or “blueprint” consisted of G-d’s first thought in creation, and hence the highest level of creation. This is referred to as “Adam Kadmon” (Primeval Man).
(Bahir; Aryeh Kaplan; p. 95 in Kaplans commentary to Bahir 7)
“Adam Kadmon” means “before Adam” and refers to the “image of Elohim” after which we were created. Gershom Scholem writes:
In His active manifestations, the Godhead appears as the dynamic unity of the Sefiroth, portrayed as the “tree of the Sefiroth,” or the mystical human form (‘Adam Kadmon), who is none other than the concealed shape of Godhead itself.
(On the Mystical Shape of the Godhead; Basic Concepts in the Kabbalah; p. 39)
However, the Sefiroth do not appear only in the shape of the tree. They also appear in the form of Primal Man (‘Adam Kadmon),which corresponds to that of earthly man.
(ibid p. 43)
Thus he is not just the Tree and the Sefirot, he is Adam Kadmon, the image of Elohim:
The Holy One, blessed be He, has a son, whose glory (tifret) shines from one end of the world to another. He is a great and mighty tree, whose head reaches heaven, and whose roots are set in the holy ground, and his name is “Mispar” and his place is in the uppermost heaven,… as it is written, “The heavens declare (me-SaPRim) the glory (tifret) of God” (Ps. 19:1). Were it not for this “Mispar” there would be neither hosts Nor offspring in any of the worlds.
(Zohar 2:105a)
Adam Kadmon, however, was not just the image of Elohim. He was actually Elohim himself, as Gershom Scholem writes:
…God entered into the form of the Adam Kadmon…
(Kabbalah by Gershom Scholem p. 116)
The Adam Kadmon was “the likeness like the appearance of a man” which Ezekiel saw upon the throne (Ezek. 1:26) in his Merkavah vision (vision of the divine throne-chariot).
Remember, Philo tells us:
…So that the Word (Logos) is, as it were, the charioteer of the powers,…
(On Flight and Finding XIX 101)
In the so-called “New Testament” the “Word” is the Messiah Yeshua, of whom we read:
…the Messiah, who is the likeness of Elohim.
(2Cor. 4:4)
[his Son] who is the image of the invisible Elohim..
(Col. 1:15)
[the Son] who is the radiance of his glory,
and the image of his being…
(Heb. 1:3)
The identification of Messiah Yeshua with Adam Kadmon is also reflected in 1Cor. 15:45 where Yeshua is called “the last Adam”.
THE WORD OF YHWH REVEALED Part 3
THE WORD OF YHWH REVEALED
PART 3
THE MIDDLE PILLAR
By James Trimm
In order to understand Philo’s concept of the Word (Logos) it is important to understand Philo’s concept of Elohim. Philo says:
“The primal existence is God, and second the God-Word”
(Allegorical Interpretation II, 86)
“The Creator of the world sends out His powers
from an eternal and invisible place”
(Q&A on Genesis, II, 48)
Philo raises the question
“…regarding its Creator, asking of what sort this Being is so difficult to see, so difficult to conjecture. Is He a body or incorporeal or something exalted above these? Is He a single nature… Or a composite Being?…and seeing that this is a problem hard to pursue, hard to take in by thought, he prays that he may learn from God Himself what God is.”
(Flight and Finding, 164)
Philo doesn’t answer this question here, but he does answer these questions elsewhere. In On the Confusion of Tongues, 62, He calls God “incorporeal” and in a later section, he describes God as a “Triad” (Trinity). He refers to God as “…the Lord God of three natures…”(Philo; On the Change of Names II, 11). He also says:
…it is reasonable for one to be three and for three to be one, for they were one by a higher principle… …in the place of one, He makes the appearance of a triad [trinity]… He cannot be seen in his oneness without something [else], the chief Powers that that exist immediately with him… the Creative, which is called “Elohim” and the Kingly, which is called “Lord”… he begins to see the sovereign, holy, and divine vision in such a way that a single appearance appears as a triad [trinity], and the triad [trinity] as a unity.
(Philo; Questions on Genesis, IV, 2)
According to Philo God appears as a Triad — himself and his two Powers: Creative and Ruling. To the “purified soul,” however, God appears as One.
… the Father of the universe, who in the sacred scripture is called by his proper name,
‘I am that I am’; and the beings on each side are those most ancient powers which are always close to the living God, one of which is called his Creative Power, and the other his Royal Power. And the Creative Power is God, for it is by this that he made and arranged the universe; and the Royal Power is the Lord, for it is fitting that the Creator should lord it over and govern the creature. Therefore, the middle person of the three, being attended by each of his powers as by body-guard, presents to the mind, which is endowed with the faculty of sight, a vision at one time of one being, and at another time of three; …
(Abr. 119-123).
The reconciliation of these two opposing “powers”, the central power is the Word (Logos):
…the Divine Word (Logos)…fills all things and becomes a mediator and arbitrator for the two sides….from the Divine Word (Logos), as from a spring, there divide and break forth two powers. One is the creative through which the Artificer placed and ordered all things. This is named “God”. And the royal, since through it the Creator rules over created things. This is called “Lord” And from these two powers have grown the others. For by the side of the creative power there grows the propitious of which is named “beneficial” while (besides) the royal the legislative, of which is aptly named “punitive”. And below these and beside them is the ark.”
(Philo on Q&A on Exodus, II.68)
As we stated earlier Philo’s “Word” (Logos) parallels Kabbalah’s SEFIROT.
According to the Sefer Yetzirah there are ten sefirot:
Ten Sefirot of Nothingness ten and not nine ten and not eleven…
(Sefer Yetzirah 1:4)
The ten sefirot are arranged on a chart known as the “Tree of Life” under three columns known as the “three pillars of the Godhead”.
As we read in the Bahir:
Why are they called Sephirot?
Because it is written (Psalm 19:2),
“The heavens declare (me-SaPRim) the glory of God.”
And what are they?
They are three. Among them are three troops and three dominions.
(Bahir 125-126)
The Zohar describes the three pillars of the Godhead as follows:
Concerning this, too, it is written: “Let there be light, and there was light” (Gen. I, 3). Why, it may be asked, was it necessary to repeat the word “light” in this verse? The answer is that the first “light” refers to the primordial light which is of the Right Hand, and is destined for the “end of days”; while the second “light” refers to the Left Hand, which issues from the Right. The next words, “And God saw the light that it was good” (Gen. 1, 4), refer to the pillar which, standing midway between them, unites both sides, and therefore when the unity of the three, right, left, and middle, was complete, “it was good”, since there could be no completion until the third had appeared to remove the strife between Right and Left, as it is written, “And Elohim separated between the light and between the darkness” (Ibid.).
(Zohar 2:167a)
This is the Middle Pillar: Ki Tob (that it was good) threw light above and below and on all other sides, in virtue of Tetragrammaton, the name which embraces all sides.
(Zohar 1:16b)
THE SON AND METATRON
Philo Writes of the Word (Logos):
For there are, as it seems, two temples belonging to God; one being this world, in which the high priest is the divine word, his own firstborn son. The other is the rational soul, the priest of which is the real true man,
(On Dreams 215)
And if there be not as yet any one who is worthy to be called a son of God, neverthless let him labour earnestly to be adorned according to his Firstborn Word, the eldest of his angels, as the great archangel of many names; for He is called, “the Authority”, and “the Name of God”, and “the Word”, and “man according to God’s image”, and “He who sees Israel”. . . For even if we are not yet suitable to be called the sons of God, still we may deserve to be called the children of his eternal image, of his most sacred Word; for the image of God is his most ancient word.
( On the Confusion of Tongues XXVIII:146-147)
Thus, indeed, being a shepherd is a good thing, so that it is justly attributed, not only to kings, and to wise men, and to souls who are perfectly purified, but also to God, the ruler of all things; and he who confirms this is not any ordinary person, but a prophet, whom it is good to believe, he namely who wrote the psalms; for he speaks thus, “The Lord is my shepherd, and he shall cause me to lack Nothing;” (Ps. 23:1.) and let every one in his turn say the same thing, for it is very becoming to every man who loves God to study such a song as this, but above all this world should sing it. For God, like a shepherd and a king, governs (as if they were a flock of sheep) the earth, and the water, and the air, and the fire, and all the plants, and living creatures that are in them, whether mortal or divine; and he regulates the nature of the heaven, and the periodical revolutions of the sun and moon, and the variations and harmonious movements of the other stars, ruling them according to law and justice; appointing, as their immediate superintendent, his own right reason, his first-born son, who is to receive the charge of this sacred company, as the lieutenant of the great king; for it is said somewhere, “Behold, I am he! I will send my messenger before thy face, who shall keep thee in the Road.”(Ex. 23:20.)
(On Husbandry 50-51)
According to the Zohar, the Middle Pillar of the Godhead is also known as the “Son of Yah”:
Better is a neighbor that is near, than a brother far off.
This neighbor is the Middle Pillar in the godhead,
which is the Son of Yah.
(Zohar 2:115)
The Middle Pillar is also known as “Metatron”:
The Middle Pillar [of the godhead] is Metatron,
Who has accomplished peace above,
According to the glorious state there.
(Zohar 3:227)
And in the Zohar we are also told that Metatron is “the firstborn” and the “ruler of all He has” and “committed to Him the government over all His hosts”:
“And Abraham said to his oldest servant of his house…” (Gen. 24:2) Who is this of whom it said “his servant?” In what sense must this be understood? Who is this servant? R. Nehori answered:
“It is in no other sense to be understood than expressed in the word “His servant,”
His servant, the servant of Elohim, the chief to His service. And who is he? Metatron, as said. He is appointed to glorify the bodies which are in the grave. This is the meaning of the words “Abraham said to His servant” that is to the servant of Elohim. The servant is Metatron, the eldest of His [YHWH's] House, who is the firstborn of all creatures of Elohim, who is the ruler of all He has; because Elohim has committed to Him the government over all His hosts.
(Zohar 1:129b)
This recalls, not only what Philo has said about the “Word” (Logos) but also a statement by Paul in his letter to the Colossians:
Who is the image of Eloah, which is invisible, and the Firstborn of all creation. And by him was created everything that is in heaven and on earth, all that is seen and all that is not seen, whether thrones or sovereignties or principalities or authorities. Everything through him and by him was created. He was from before, and all and everything by him was established. And he is the head of the Assembly, because He is the head, And the Firstborn from among the dead, that he might be first in all.
(Col. 1:15-18)
THE WORD OF YHWH REVEALED Part 4
THE WORD OF YHWH REVEALED
PART 4
THE TRUE HIGH PRIEST
By James Trimm
THE TRUE HIGH PREIST
Philo makes a very interesting comment concerning the Torah command of the cities of refuge (Num. 35:6-28; Josh. 20:1-9). The Torah says:
And the assembly shall deliver the manslayer, out of the hand of the avenger of
blood, and the assembly shall restore him to his city of refuge, where he was fled. And he
shall dwell therein until the death of the High Priest, who was anointed with the Set-
Apart oil.
(Numbers 35:25)
Philo makes an interesting observation on this passage, he writes:
The fourth and last of the points which we proposed to discuss, is the appointing as a period for the return of the fugitives the death of the high priest, which, if taken in the literal sense, causes me great perplexity; for a very unequal punishment is imposed by this enactment on those who have done the very same things, since some will be in banishment for a longer time, and others for a shorter time; for some of the high priests live to a very old age, and others die very early, and some are appointed while young men, and others not until they are old. And again of those who are convicted of unintentional homicide, some have been banished at the beginning of the high priest’s entrance into office, and some when the high priest has been at the very point of death. So that some are deprived of their country for a very long time, and others suffer the same infliction only for a day, if it chance to be so; after which they lift up their heads, and exult, and so return among those whose nearest relations have been slain by them. This difficult and scarcely explicable perplexity we may escape if we adopt the inner and allegorical explanation in accordance with natural philosophy. For we say that the high priest is not a man, but is the Word (Logos) of God, who has not only no participation in intentional errors, but none even in those which are involuntary.
(On Flight 106-108)
Elsewhere he writes:
XXVI. (82) But Melchisedek shall bring forward wine instead of water, and shall give your souls to drink, and shall cheer them with unmixed wine, in order that they may be wholly occupied with a divine intoxication, more sober than sobriety itself. For the Word is a priest, having, as its inheritance the true God, and entertaining lofty and sublime and magnificent ideas about him, “for he is the priest of the most high God.”{38}{Genesis 14:18.} Not that there is any other God who is not the most high; for God being one, is in the heaven above, and in the earth beneath, and there is no other besides Him.”{39}{Deuteronomy 4:39.} But he sets in motion the notion of the Most High, from his conceiving of God not in a low and grovelling spirit, but in one of exceeding greatness, and exceeding sublimity, apart from any conceptions of matter.
(“De Allegoriis Legum,” iii. 26).
Philo thus concludes that the true High Priest is the Word (Logos). If we follow Philo’s logic through, then through the death of the Word, these exiles are set free.
MELCHIZADEK
Philo’s true “High Priest” (The Word) ties in well with a document found among the Dead Sea Scrolls known as The Melchizadek Document (11Q13). 11Q13 speaks of this Messiah as a figure called “Melchizedek.” In this document Is. 61:2 is quoted with “Melchizedek” substituted for YHWH. Furthermore the terms EL and ELOHIM are in 11Q13 applied to the Melchizedek/Messiah figure.
11Q13 Col. 4-9 quotes Is. 61:1-2 but substitutes “the year of Melchizedek’s favor” for “the year of YHWH’s favor” thus identifying the Melchizedek figure with YHWH in this passage. 11Q13 goes on to say:
…as it is written about him [Melchizedek] in the Songs of David,
“ELOHIM has taken his place in the council of EL;
in the midst of the ELOHIM he holds judgment”
(Ps. 82:1) Scripture also says about him [Melchizedek],
“Over it take your seat in the highest heaven;
EL will judge the peoples” (Ps. 7:7-8)
(11Q13 Col. 10-11)
The text of 11Q13 goes on to apply the passage “Your ELOHIM reigns” (Is. 52:7) to Melchizedek finally concluding:
“Your ELOHIM” (Is. 52:7) is Melchizedek, who will deliver them from the power of Belial.
(11Q13 Col. 24-25)
The Melchizadek figure of 11Q13 would free the captives (Is. 61:1-2) and through the Day of Atonement will “atone for all the Sons of Light”.
In Hebrews 4:14-7:28 Paul argues that Messiah Yeshua (The Word of Jn. 1:1-3, 14) is the true High Priest and true Melchizadek making atonement for us in the heavenly Temple by his blood.
THE PARAKLITA
Philo also describes the Word (Logos) not only as the “Son” of the “Father” but as a PARACLETE who is “perfect in all virtue” and procures “forgiveness of sins” as well as a “supply of unlimited blessings”:
…the twelve stones arranged on the breast in four rows of three stones each, namely the logeum, being also an emblem of that reason (Logos, Word) which holds together and regulates the universe. For it was indispensable that the man who was consecrated to the Father of the world, should have as a paraclete, his son, the being most perfect in all virtue, to procure forgiveness of sins, and a supply of unlimited blessings;
(Life of Moses II, 133-134)
This Greek word (paraclete) is also a Hebrew and Aramaic word also appears in the Mishna:
He who does even a single religious duty
gets himself a good advocate (or comforter Hebrew: paraklita)
he who does even a single transgression
gets himself a prosecutor.
(m.Avot 4:11a)
And in the Talmud it is used to refer to the sin offering::
R. Simeon said: For what purpose does a sin-offering come? —
[You ask,] ‘for what purpose does a sin-offering come?’
Surely in order to make atonement! —
Rather, [the question is:]
Why does it come before the burnt-offering?
[Because it is] like an intercessor (paraklita) who enters
[to appease the King]: When the intercessor (paraklita)
has appeased [him], the gift follows.
(b.Zev. 7b)
The Jewish Dictionary states:
…The sin offering is like the parclete (paraklita) before God,
it interceded for man and is followed by another…
a thank offering for the pardon obtained…
the two daily burnt offerings are called ‘the two parcletes’…
Jewish Dictionary pp. 514-515
Now Yochanan, who identifies the Messiah as the Word (logos) in Jn. 1:1-3, 14 and Rev. 19:13 also says of Messiah:
1 My sons, I write these [things] to you, that you do not sin: and if someone should sin, we have an advocate (paraklita) with the Father, Yeshua the Messiah, the just [One].
2 For He is the propitiation for our sins, and not on behalf of ours only, but also on behalf of [the sins of] the whole world.
(1st Yochanan (John) 2:1)
OUR SAVIOR
With all of this in mind, it is no surprise that the Targums tell us that the Word (Aramaic: Memra) is the source of our salvation. Jacob called upon the Word for his salvation:
Our father Jacob said: “My soul does not wait for salvation such as that wrought by Gideon, the son of Joash, for that was but temporal; neither for a salvation like that of Samson, which was only transitory; but for that salvation which You have promised to come, through Your Word unto Your people, the children of Israel; for your salvation my soul hopes.”
(Targum Jonathan Gen. 49:18)
That the Word of YHWH is the savior is expressed elsewhere in the Targums:
But Israel shall be saved by the Word of YHWH with an everlasting
salvation… By the Word of YHWH shall all the seed of Israel be justified…
(Targum Jonathan Is. 45:17, 25)
But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Word of YHWH, their Elohim.
(Targum Jonathan Hosea 1:7)
It was, according to Targum Onkelos, this Word of YHWH that Abraham trusted in, by which he was justified:
And Abraham trusted in the Word [Memra] of YHWH, and He counted it to him for righteousness.
(Targum Onkelos Gen. 15:6)
Likewise Paul quotes Gen. 15:6 in Romans 4:3 and Galatians 3:6 to prove his point that we are justified by faith in the Messiah.
THE MESSIAH
Now here is perhaps the most amazing thing, Philo believed “Word” (Logos) and the Messiah to be one and the same:
“The head of all things is the eternal Word (Logos) of the eternal God, under which, as if it were his feet or other limbs, is placed the whole world, over which He passes and firmly stands. Now it is not because Messiah is Lord that He passes and sits over the whole world, for His seat with His Father and God but because for its perfect fullness the world is in need of the care and superintendence of the best ordered dispensation, and for its own complete piety, of the Divine Word (Logos), just as living creatures (need) a head, without which it is impossible to live.”
(Q&A on Exodus, II, 117)
And with all of this in mind, we should not be surprised to read in the Zohar concerning Messiah:
“In the Garden of Eden there is a hall that is called the “hall of the afflicted.” Now it is into this hall that the Messiah goes and summons all the afflictions and pains and sufferings of Israel to come upon him. And so they all come upon him. And had he not eased the children of Israel of their sorrows, and taken their burden upon himself, there would be none who could endure the suffering of Israel in the penalty of neglecting the Torah. Thus it is written: “Surely our diseases he did bear and our pains he carried.” (Is. 53:5) As long as the children of Israel dwelt in the Holy Land, they averted all afflictions and sufferings from the world by the service of the sanctuary and by sacrifice. But now it is the Messiah who is averting them from the habitants of the world,”
(Zohar 2:212a)
So there you have it. I have a few times failed to resist the temptation to crack open the “New Testament” simply for the purpose of showing a clear parallel, but using the works of Philo, the Dead Sea Scrolls and Rabbinic literature I have laid out the concept of the Word as I believe it existed in the first century.
The Word is:
* The Image of Elohim from which we were created
* The Middle Pillar of the Three Pillars of the Godhead, reconciling to opposing “powers” or “pillars” and thus encompassing all three.
* The Firstborn Son of Yah
* The true High Priest, Melchizadek, redeeming us through his death.
* The Paraklete procuring forgiveness for our sins.
* Our Savior
* The Messiah
All of these concepts about the “Word” existed in the Second Temple Era and were all packed into this concept of the “Word” (Logos/Memra). Maybe you thought you knew what Yochanan meant when he said:
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him,
And without him was not any thing made that was made…
And the Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us,
(and we beheld his glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,)
full of grace and truth.
(John 1:1-3, 14 KJV)
And:
And he was clothed with a vesture,
dipped in blood: and his name is called
The Word of God.
(Rev. 19:13 KJV)
But now you really know what that meant in terms of Second Temple Era Judaism.
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The Deity of Messiah
And
The Three Pillars of the Godhead
By James Scott Trimm
Part 1
The Deity of Messiah is Scriptural
Introduction
There are several different positions that have to be dealt with in presenting the Deity of Messiah:
Judaic Anti-Deity Position – These reject the deity of Messiah because they insist it is contrary to Judaism. These are not persuaded by New Testament “proof texts”. They will dismiss such proof texts as invalid and even corruptions because they are supposedly not Jewish in theology. They will reject Tanak “proof texts” on the basis that Judaism supposedly does not understand the text that way.
Pure-Biblical Anti-Deity Position – These reject the deity of Messiah because they insist that it is contrary to Scripture. They are not persuaded by the demonstration that the doctrine is authentically Jewish. Many of these may actually look down upon Jewish tradition and especially Kabbalah.
Christian “Oneness” Theologians
Christian Orthodox Trinitarian Theologians
One finds oneself engaging on a debate on multiple fronts. Proving that the “New Testament” teaches the deity of Messiah to the “Judaic Anti-Deity” followers will generally only succeed in proving to their minds that the New Testament is in error. They must be shown that the teaching is authentically Jewish. However the “Pure-Biblical Anti-Deity” followers will misinterpret or misrepresent such arguments as “proof” that the doctrine is based only on extra-biblical sources and cannot be shown from the Scriptures themselves. And oftentimes single individuals will waffle between those two positions, not realizing their own inconsistency. All the while Orthodox Christian Trinitarians, Oneness Christians and others are raising their own issues along the way, which only serves to sidetrack the primary issue.
Therefore in order to deal with all of the issues in an organized manner this paper will be presented in five parts:
Part 1: The Deity of Messiah from the Scriptures
Part 2: The Deity of Messiah is Jewish
Part 3: Concerning Orthodox Trinitarian and Christian Oneness Theologies
Part 4: First Century Roots of the Kabbalistic Godhead Model
Part 5: Proof of the Ancient Nazarene Position
Part 1
The Deity of Messiah is Scriptural
Messiah as YHWH
The deity of Messiah is very easy to show from the Scriptures. The simplest way to show the deity of Messiah in the Scriptures is to point to instances where the “New Testament” quotes passages from the Tanak (“Old Testament”) and applies them to the Messiah.
For example in John 19:37, Zech. 12:10 is quoted:
But when they came to Yeshua, they saw that he was dead already
and did not break his legs.
But one of the soldiers stuck him in his side with a spear
and immediately blood and water came forth,…
For these things happened that the scripture might be fulfilled
which said, A bone of him will not be broken.(Ps. 34:21(20))
And again another scripture that said, They will look at him
whom they pierced. (Zech 12:10)
But now let us look at Zechariah 12:10 in context:
The burden of the word of YHWH concerning Israel.
The saying of YHWH, who stretched forth the heavens,
And laid the foundation of the earth,
And formed the spirit of man within him…
I will pour out upon the house of David,
And upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
The spirit of grace and supplication;
And they shall look at Me whom they pierced;
And they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only son….
(Zech. 12:1, 10)
The one being pierced in Jn. 19:37 is clearly Yeshua but the one being pierced in Zech. 12:10 is clearly YHWH.
Lets now look at the quotation of Is. 8:14 in Rom. 9:32:
Because it was not from faith but from “Works of the Law”,
for they stumbled at the stumbling stone.
(Rom. 9:32)
Now Paul is clearly referring here it Messiah, but lets now look at Is. 8:14 in context:
YHWH of hosts, Him shall you sanctify; and let Him be your
fear, and let Him be your dread. And He shall be for a sanctuary;
but for a stumbling stone and for a rock of offence
to both the houses of Israel…
(Is. 8:13-14)
Here it is clearly YHWH who is the “stumbling stone”.
OK now lets look at Phil. 2:10-11:
That at the name of Yeshua every knee will bow
that is in heaven or on earth and that is under the earth,
and every tongue will confess that Yeshua the Messiah is YHWH,
to the glory of Eloah the Father.
Here Paul clearly refer to Is. 45:23:
Thus says YHWH…
That unto Me every knee shall bow,
and every tongue shall swear.
(Is. 45:1, 23)
Clearly Paul applies a Tanak passage which clearly speaks of YHWH to the Messiah.
Now lets look at Rom. 10:9, 13:
And if you confess with your mouth our Adon Yeshua,
And you believe in your heart that Eloah raised him from the dead,
you will be saved. …
For all who will call on the name of YHWH will be saved.
(Rom. 10:9, 13)
Here Paul clearly quotes Joel 3:5 (2:32) but applies the passage to Yeshua despite the fact that Joel is clearly here speaking of YHWH.
There are several other examples: James 5:7 clearly speaks of the coming of Messiah as likened to the “former and latter rain” while in Hosea 6:3 this is clearly the coming of YHWH. Likewise Jude 1:14 & 1 Thes. 3:13 refer to the coming of Messiah yet quote 1Enoch 1:9 & Zech. 14:5 which clearly refer to the coming of YHWH. Finally in Mt. 22:41-46 Yeshua himself identifies himself with the “YHWH” at the right hand of “YHWH” in Ps. 110:1-2, 5.
The Three Pillars
Now in Romans 1:19-20 we are told that
what may be known of Elohim is manifest in them [mankind]
his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even his eternal power
and Godhead [or divine nature]…”
Then in Rom. 1:26-28 we are told that those who fail to perceive these things may fall into the errors of Homosexuality and Lesbianism. So when in creation were G-d’s invisible attributes manifested in man and made clearly seen. The answer is in the Torah, in Gen. 1:26, 27 where we read:
Then Elohim said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…
So Elohim created man in His own image;
in the image of Elohim He created him;
male and female He created them.
Now following the parallelism of the passage, “Our image”; “Our likeness” and “male and female” appear to be parallel terms.
Now there are passages in the Tanak in which YHWH is referred to in a male, fatherly aspect:
…If then I be a Father, Where is My honor?…
Says YHWH of Hosts…
(Mal. 1:6)
…You, O YHWH, are our Father,…
(Is. 63:16)
But now O YHWH, You are our Father…
(Is. 64:7)
But there are also passages in the Tanak in which YHWH is referred to in a female, motherly aspect:
As one whom his Mother comforts,
so will I comfort you…
(Is. 66:13)
Now YHWH as a “Father” and YHWH as a “Mother” are clearly two DIFFERENT aspects of YHWH, they are not the same thing.
Moreover YHWH as an allegorical “Mother” is also YHWH as a “comforter” which is the same as the Holy Spirit:
…the comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom my Father will send in my name…
(Jn. 14:27 see also Jn. 14:16-17; 15:26 & 16:7)
Now just as YHWH is expressed as an allegorical “Father” and an allegorical “Mother”, the combination of these two aspects produce an allegorical “son”:
Who has ascended up into heaven, and descended?
Who has gathered the wind in his fists?
Who has bound the waters in his garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His name? And what is His Son’s name, if you know?
(Prov. 30:4)
The kings of the earth stand up,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against YHWH, and against His Messiah…
YHWH said to me: “You are My Son,”
This day have I begotten you…
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry…
(Ps. 2:2, 7, 12)
So now we have a Godhead which is the “image of Elohim” and is “male and female” expressing YHWH to us as a Father, a Mother and a Son.
Since the Son is the combination of the Father and Mother aspects of YHWH he is the fullness of the everlasting Godhead: “in him dwells the fullness of the Godhead” (Col. 2:9).
Thus the Messiah encompasses all the image of Elohim from which we were created:
…the Messiah, who is the likeness of Elohim.
(2Cor. 4:4)
[his Son] who is the image of the invisible Elohim…
(Col. 1:15)
[the Son] who is the radiance of his glory,
and the image of his being…
(Heb. 1:3)
And thus we can see all three aspects of the Godhead in passages like:
I, yes, I have spoken, indeed, I have called him,
I have brought him, and he will make his way succeed.
Come near to me and hear this: from the beginning
I have not spoken in [the] secret; from the time that she was,
there I am, and now ADONAI YHVH has sent me and his spirit.
(Is. 48:15-16 Original Bible Project preliminary edition)
Note the speaker is YHWH. Here we have:
1. YHWH the speaker.
2. ADONAI YHWH who sent Him.
3. “she” i.e. “his spirit”
(“ruach” (spirit) is the only feminine word that “she” could refer to)
Another example of these three aspects is to be found in Hebrews 9:14:
How much more shall the blood of Messiah,
who through the eternal Spirit
offered himself without spot to Elohim,
purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living Elohim?
Here we again have three aspects:
1. The Messiah (who is YHWH)
2. The Spirit through which his blood is offered.
3. The Elohim to whom he offers himself.
These three aspects of the Godhead are called in the Aramaic “K’NUMEH” (plural) “K’NUMA” (singular) as we read in Yochanan (John) 5:26:
For the Father has life in his K’NUMA,
Thus he gave also the Son to have life in his K’NUMA.
(Jn. 5:26 from the Aramaic)
K’NUMA is an Aramaic word meaning “aspect, element, substance, essence”. The three aspects of the Godhead are three K’NUMEH but are only one YHWH.
ECHAD as a Unity
This brings us to the wording of the Sh’ma:
SH’MA YISRAEL: YHWH, ELOHEYNU, YHWH ECHAD
“Hear O Israel, YHWH, our Elohim, YHWH is one.”
(Deut. 6:4)
Let us examine other passages in the Torah to understand how this word ECHAD (“one”) is used in the Torah:
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined
to his wife, and they shall become one [ECHAD] flesh.
(Gen. 2:24)
And YHWH said, “Indeed the people are one [ECHAD] and they
all have one language…
(Gen. 11:6)
Thus it is clear that the word ECHAD in no way requires a singularity and can refer to a composite unity. Thus Deut. 6:4 may be taken as referring to the absolute unity of the three K’NUMEH of Father, Mother (Holy Spirit Comforter) and Son (Messiah).
The Deity of Messiah
And
The Three Pillars of the Godhead
By James Scott Trimm
Part 2
The Deity of Messiah is Jewish
Preface
The reader should know that the Zohar, Bahir and Sefer Yetzirah are the three most authoritative works of Kabbalah which is Jewish mysticism. The purpose of this part is to demonstrate that the deity of Messiah and three pillars of the Godhead is indeed a Jewish concept.
The Sh’ma
In Part 1 we discussed the meaning of the word ECHAD in the Sh’ma which reads:
SH’MA YISRAEL YHWH ELOHEYNU YHWH ECHAD
“Hear O Israel, YHWH, our Elohim, YHWH is one (ECHAD)”
(Deut. 6:4)
Now let us to explore how this passage is understood by the Zohar:
The [profession of] unity that every day is [a profession of] unity
is to be understood and to be perceived. We have said in many places
that this prayer is a profession of Unity that is proclaimed:
”Hear O Yisrael, YHWH“ first, [then] “Eloheynu” [and] “YHWH” they are all One and thus He is called “One”.
Behold, these are three names, how can they be one? Is it because we call them one? (literally: And also concerning the proclamation that we call them one?). How these are one can only through the vision of the Holy Sprit be known. And these are through the vision of the closed eye (or the hidden eye) To make known that these three are one (i.e. a Tri-Unity).
And this is the mystery of the voice that is heard. The voice is one. And is three GAUNIN: fire and air and water. And all these are one in the mystery of the voice.
And also here “YHWH, Eloheynu, YHWH” these are One. Three GAUNIN that are One. And this is the voice of the act of a son of man in [proclaiming] the Unity.
And to which he sees by the Unity of the “All” from Eyn Sof (the Inifinite One) to the end of the “All”. Because of the voice in which it is done, in these are three that are one (i.e. a Tri-Unity).
And this is the [profession] of the daily profession of Unity that is revealed in the mystery of the Holy Spirit.
And there are many GAUNIN that are a Unity, and all of them are true, what the one does, that the other does, and what that one does, the other does.
(Zohar 2:43)
(The Aramaic word GA’UN (sing.)/GAUNIN (plural) has the same meaning in the Zohar as the Aramaic word K’NUMA did in the Aramaic New Testament. GAUN comes from the word for “color” and refer to an “aspect, element, substance, essence”. )
Thus the Zohar understands the Sh’ma to mean that YHWH, Elohim and YHWH are three GA’UNIN. This section of the Zohar also recalls a reading from the Sefer Yetzirah:
Three “mothers”: Alef; Mem and Shin
Their foundation is a pan of merit
a pan of liability
and the tongue of decree deciding between them.
(Sefer Yetzirah 3:1)
Three “mothers”, Alef, Mem, Shin
in the universe are air, water, fire…
(Sefer Yetzirah 3:4a)
(Note: The letter SHIN has a gematria (numerical value) of 300 which is the same as the gematria of the phrase ”Ruach Elohim” (the Spirit of God).)
As it we will demonstrate the “tongue of decree deciding between them” is the Middle Pillar of the Godhead which reconciles the two outer pillars of the Godhead.
The Three Pillars of the Godhead
The Zohar also calls these three GAUNIN the three pillars of the Godhead. The Zohar teaches that the two outer pillars are reconciled by the middle pillar just as the “tongue of decree” decides between the two pans of the scale in the Sefer Yetzirah. The Zohar reads as follows:
Concerning this, too, it is written: “Let there be light, and there was light” (Gen. I, 3). Why, it may be asked, was it necessary to repeat the word “light” in this verse? The answer is that the first “light” refers to the primordial light which is of the Right Hand, and is destined for the “end of days”; while the second “light” refers to the Left Hand, which issues from the Right. The next words, “And God saw the light that it was good” (Gen. 1, 4), refer to the pillar which, standing midway between them, unites both sides, and therefore when the unity of the three, right, left, and middle, was complete, “it was good”, since there could be no completion until the third had appeared to remove the strife between Right and Left, as it is written, “And Elohim separated between the light and between the darkness” (Ibid.).
(Zohar 2:167a)
This is the Middle Pillar: Ki Tob (that it was good) threw light above and below and on all other sides, in virtue of Tetragrammaton, the name which embraces all sides.
(Zohar 1:16b)
The Middle Pillar of the Godhead is the Son of Yah
According to the Zohar the Middle Pillar of the Godhead is the Son of Yah:
Better is a neighbor that is near, than a brother far off.
This neighbor is the Middle Pillar in the Godhead,
which is the Son of Yah.
(Zohar 2:115)
The Zohar also says of the Son of YHWH:
The Holy One, blessed be He, has a son, whose glory (tifret)
shines from one end of the world to another. He is a great
and mighty tree, whose head reaches heaven, and whose roots
are set in the holy ground, and his name is “Mispar” and his
place is in the uppermost heaven… as it is written, “The heavens
declare (me-SaPRim) the glory (tifret) of God” (Ps. 19:1).
Were it not for this “Mispar” there would be neither hosts
nor offspring in any of the worlds.
(Zohar 2:105a)
This Zohar passage is intended to recall a passage from the Bahir:
Why are they called Sephirot?
Because it is written (Ps. 19:2),
“The heavens declare (me-SaPRim) the glory (tifret) of God.”
(Bahir 125)
The Zohar also says concering the Son of Yah:
“We may also translate “he who withholds blessings
from the Son” (Prov. 11:26), whom the Father and Mother
have CROWNED and blessed with many blessings,
and concerning whom they commanded, “Kiss the SON
lest he be angry” (Ps. 2:12), since he is invested
with judgment (GEVURAH) and with mercy (CHESED)”
(Zohar 3:191b)
Metatron
The Zohar also identifies the Middle Pillar as “Metatron”:
The Middle Pillar [of the Godhead] is Metatron,
Who has accomplished peace above,
according to the glorious state there.
(Zohar 3:227)
the Zohar teaches that Metatron is not just the Son of Yah, but that he is “first begotten of all the creatures of God”:
“And Abraham said to his oldest servant of his house…” (Gen. 24:2)
Who is this of whom it said “his servant?”
In what sense must this be understood? Who is this servant?
R. Nehori answered: “It is in no other sense to be understood
than expressed in the word “His servant,” His servant,
the servant of God, the chief to His service.
And who is he? Metatron, as said. He is appointed to glorify
the bodies which are in the grave. This is the meaning of the words
“Abraham said to His servant” that is to the servant of God.
The servant is Metatron, the eldest of His [YHWH's] House,
who is the first-begotten of all creatures of God,
who is the ruler of all He has; because God has committed to Him
the government over all His hosts.
(Zohar 1:129b)
The Memra (The Word)
Another term for the Middle Pillar of the Godhead in Judaism is the Memra (the “Word”). The eminent Kabbalah Scholar Gershom Scholem writes of the Memra:
…the memra– the paraphrase used in the Targumim,
the Aramaic Bible translations, to refer to God’s word.
The memra is not merely a linguistic device for overcoming
the problem of biblical anthropomorphisms; it has theological
significance in its own right. The memra….is…. a world-permeating
force, a reality in the world of matter or mind, the immanent aspect
of Elohim, holding all things under its omnipresent sway.
(On the Mystical Shape of the Godhead:
Basic Concepts in the Kabbalah, by Gershom Scholem pg 181-182)
The Targums were authoritative Aramaic paraphrases of the books of the Tanak which were read in the synagogues along with the Hebrew of the Torah and Haftorah readings. Whenever the Targums come to passages where YHWH is anthropomorphisised or seen, or where two or more YHWHs are indicated by the text, the Targums will often substitute “The Word [Memra] of YHWH” for YHWH. For example in Gen. 19:4 the Tanak has:
And YHVH rained brimstone and fire
upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah,
from YHVH, from the heavens.
(Original Bible Project preliminary edition)
The Hebrew grammar here indicates that one YHWH rains fire from another YHWH) But Targum Jonathan substitutes “The Word of YHWH/the LORD” for the first of the two YHWHs as follows:
And the Word of the YHWH caused to descend
upon the peoples of Sodom and Gommorah,
brimstone and fire from the YHWH in heaven.
In another example the Torah has:
Ex. 24:1a (YHWH is the speaker, see Ex. 20:1-2)
Now He [YHWH] said to Moses, “come up to YHWH…”
But Targum Jonathan paraphrases the speaker in Ex. 20:1 with the substitution “the Word [Memra] of YHWH” in place of “YHWH.”
And the Word of the Lord spoke all these glorious words…
So it would seem that one of these entities called “YHWH” in these Torah passages was actually understood by the Targumists as being the “Word of YHWH.” It was, according to Targum Onkelos, this Word of YHWH that Abraham trusted in:
And Abraham trusted in the Word [Memra] of YHWH,
and He counted it to him for righteousness.
(Targum Onkelos Gen. 15:6)
Moreover Abraham prayed in the name of the Word of YHWH:
And Abraham worshipped and prayed
in the name of the Word [Memra] of YHWH,
and said, “You are YHWH who does see, but You cannot be seen.”
(Jerusalem Targum Gen. 22:14)
Note that here Abraham prays “in the name of the Word of YHWH” to the YHWH who “cannot be seen.” Here two YHWHs are very apparent. Abraham is praying in the name of the Word of YHWH but is praying to the YHWH who cannot be seen. This idea is reinforced elsewhere as follows:
And Hagar praised and prayed
in the name of the Word [Memra] Of YHWH
who had revealed Himself to her…
(Jerusalem Targum Gen. 16:3)
It was this Word of YHWH that Jacob also trusted in:
And Jacob vowed a vow, saying,
“If the Word [Memra] of YHWH will be my support,
and will keep me in the way that I go,
and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
so that I come again to my father’s house in peace;
then shall the Word [Memra]of YHWH be my God.
(Targum Onkelos on Gen. 28:20-21)
King David also urged Israel to trust in the Word of Yah as the Targum of Psalm 62 reads:
Trust in the Word of Yah at all times,
O people of the house of Israel!
Pour out before Him the sighings of your heart;
Say, God is our trust forever.
(Targum on Psalm 62:9)
This “Word of YHWH” was, according to Targum Jonathan, the Creator:
And the Word [Memra] of YHWH
created man in his likeness,
in the likeness of YHWH, YHWH created,
male and female created He them.
(Targ. Jonathan Gen. 1:27)
This idea is also put forward in the Jerusalem Targum:
And the Word [Memra] of YHWH said to Moses:
“I am He who said unto the world ‘Be!’ and it was:
and who in the future shall say to it ‘Be!’ and it shall be.”
And He said: “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel:
‘I Am’ has sent me to you.”
(Jerusalem Targum Ex. 3:14)
The Fragmentary Targum of the Torah also expresses that the Word of YHWH was the Creator:
The first night, when the “Word of YHWH”
was revealed to the world in order to create it,
the world was desolate and void,
and darkness spread over the face of the abyss
and the “Word of the Lord” was bright and illuminating
and He called it the first night.
(Fragmentary Targum Ex. 12:42)
That the Word of YHWH was the Creator can also be seen in the Tanak itself:
By the Word of YHWH were the heavens made,
And all the hosts of them by the Spirit of His mouth.
(Ps. 33:6)
The Word was also the covenant maker. For example the Noachdic covenant was between the Word and all mankind:
And YHWH said to Noah,
“This is the token of the covenant
which I have established between My Word [Memra]
and between all flesh that is upon the earth.
(Targum Onkelos Gen. 9:17)
The Word also made the Abrahamic covenant as Targum Onkelos also paraphrases:
And I will establish my covenant
between My Word [Memra] and between you…
(Targum Onkelos Gen. 17:7)
The Word of YHWH was also the giver of the Mosaic Covenant and the Torah as the Jerusalem Targum (as quoted above) makes the Torah giver “the Word of YHWH” in Ex. 20:1. It was to th e Word that Jacob turned to for salvation:
Our father Jacob said: “My soul does not wait for salvation
such as that wrought by Gideon, the son of Joash,
for that was but temporal; neither for a salvation
like that of Samson, which was only transitory;
but for that salvation which You have promised to come,
through Your Word unto Your people, the children of Israel;
for your salvation my soul hopes.”
(Targum Jonathan Gen. 49:18)
That the Word of YHWH is the savior is expressed elsewhere:
But Israel shall be saved by the Word of YHWH
with an everlasting salvation…
By the Word of YHWH shall all the seed of Israel be justified…
(Targum Jonathan Is. 45:17, 25)
But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah,
and I will save them by the Word of YHWH, their God.
(Targum Jonathan Hosea 1:7)
Conclusion
Thus the Zohar teaches that the Sh’ma (Deut. 6:4) refers to the three pillars of the Godhead as being ECHAD. Moreover the Zohar also teaches that the Middle Pillar of the Godhead reconciles the two outer Pillars (Father and Mother). The Zohar further teaches that this Middle Pillar of the Godhead is the Son of Yah, the firstborn of all creation who will glorify all the bodies which are in the grave. This is the Word of YHWH in whom Abraham placed his faith and who made the covenant with Israel.
Deity of Messiah Part 3
The Deity of Messiah
And
The Three Pillars of the Godhead
By James Scott Trimm
Part 3 The Trinities of Christendom
Three Persons?
Now as shown in part one, the Aramaic “New Testament” refers to the components of the Godhead as K’NUMA (sing.)/K’NUMEH (plural). As we have learned both the Biblical and Jewish model of the Godhead contains two contrasting K’NUMEH/GAUNIN and a third K’NUMA/GAUN which was a combination or harmonization of the other two. This third K’NUMA/GAUN is the Son of Yah.
The original Aramaic followers of Yeshua maintained that there were three K’NUMEH and one PARSOPA or one KYANA. This Aramaic terminology continued to be used by the Aramaic speaking Assyrian Christians of the Church of the East (and still is).
The early Greek speaking believers used the Greek words HYPOSTASIS for K’NUMA and PROSOPON for PARSOPA. They maintained a belief in a Godhead with three HYPOSASIS (aspects, substances) and one PROSAPON (person). The earliest Greek “Church Fathers” also used these terms. However the later Greek “Church Fathers” inverted this formulation creating a Godhead of three PROSAPONS (persons) who are one in HYPOSTASIS (essence). Finally the Latin “Church Fathers” formulates a Trinity with three PERSONAS (persons) and only one SUBSTANTIA (essence. Substance).
Now by the year 362 C.E. the Roman Church had become embroiled in a crisis. The conflict in terminology was becoming a problem for Rome. Rome was promoting a Trinity with three persons (PERSONA) in one substance (SUBSTANTIA) but this formula was in conflict with the early Greek “Church Fathers”, a formulation which many Greek speaking Christians still held to. This left the Greek speaking Christians in a dispute. Some held to a Godhead with three aspects (HYPOSTASIS) and one person (PROSPOPON) while others held to a Trinity with three persons (PROSOPONS) who are one in substance/essence (HYPOSTASIS). The Ecclesiastical Council of Alexandria was held in 362 to resolve this dispute. The whole matter was wept under the rug at this council when Rome ruled that both Greek schools were using different words to say the same thing. Rome ruled that the “Old School” Greeks MEANT “PERSONA” when they used HYPOSTASIS and that they had MEANT “SUBSTANTIA” when they used the term PROSOPON. Thus Rome had succeeded in transforming the triune Godhead of three aspects in one person into three persons who are one in substance/essence.
The Mormons have taken this process a stage further. They teach a “Godhead” of three persons who are not one in essence but are one only in “purpose”. This variation brings Rome’s Trinity of three persons firmly into the territory of Tri-Theism.
So is it valid to say that there are three “persons” in the Godhead in English? It depends on what one means by “person”. There are several definitions of the word “person” in English. If you look in a Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary you will find that the first and most common definition of “person” in English is “a human being”. Certainly Elohim is not three “human beings”… in fact He is not even ONE “human being”. The last definition in the Unabridged Dictionary is “any of the three modes of the Trinity”. So one might argue that the aspects of the three pillars of the Godhead may be called “persons” by virtue of a special definition of the word in English apart from any other meaning of the word. However use of the word “person” in English creates confusion because it strongly implies agreement with the Roman Trinity of three persons who are one in essence. More accurate terms are “three pillars”; “three aspects”; “three GAUNIN”; “three K’NUMEH” or “three Tzachtzachot (splendors)”.
Now the Orthodox Christian Trinity with three “persons” who are one in essence has certain problems.
In Isaiah 9:6-7 the Son (the Messiah) is called “everlasting Father” while 1Cor. 15:45; 2Cor. 3:17 and Rom. 8:9-11 taken together seem to identify the Son with the Spirit.
According to the NT we as believers are immersed in the Messiah (Rom. 6:3-4; Gal. 3:27); we have the “Spirit of Messiah” which raised Messiah (Rom. 8:9-11) in our hearts (Gal. 4:6; Eph. 3:17), which is the “Spirit of God” (1Jn. 4:12-13) or the “Holy Spirit” (1Cor. 6:19; 1Thes. 4:8). This also would seem to identify the Messiah with the Holy Spirit.
Finally Col. 2:9 states of Messiah “in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead”.
These passages pose problems for the Orthodox Christian trinity of three “persons”.
How can the Messiah be called “everlasting Father” if they are different persons? How can the Messiah be identified with the Holy Spirit if they are different persons? And finally how can the Messiah have “all the fullness of the Godhead” dwelling within him if he is only one of three persons in the Godhead?
Absolute Oneness?
Many of these difficulties with the Orthodox Christian trinity have led to the advent of a doctrine known as “Oneness Theology” in certain Christian circles. Oneness theology teaches that the Father, the Holy Spirit and the Son are all one and the same thing.
However “Oneness Theology” has other problems. For example Messiah stated that the Father is greater than he (Jn. 14:28). But this cannot be the case if they are one and the same.
The distinction between the three K’NOMEH of the Godhead is clear in a number of other passages as well:
The Father sends the Spirit (Jn. 14:26); Messiah sends the Spirit (Jn. 15:26); the Father sends Messiah (Jn. 17:8; 20:21) and in Jn. 14-16 we read that Messiah would have to leave so that the Holy Spirit cold come.
Moreover as shown earlier, in Hebrews 9:14 Messiah presents himself through the Spirit to “Elohim”. This would not be possible if they were all one and the same.
In other examples:
Yeshua could not have been praying to himself in the garden when he said “let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will but as you will.” (Mt. 26:39)
Is. 11:1-2 says that Messiah would have the “fear of YHWH”… did he fear himself?
In. Mt. 13:32 the Son does not know the day nor hour of his return but the Father does. They cannot be one and the same.
In Rev. 5 the Lamb takes the sealed book from the right hand of the figure on the throne… but how could this be if they are one and the same?
Finally the Messiah is frequently described as sitting or standing at the right hand of the Father (a clear allusion to Ps. 110:1, 4) how could this be if they are one and the same?
Clearly Christian “Oneness Theology” cannot stand… the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are not one and the same thing, they are different aspects of the one Elohim.
Conclusion: The True Understanding of the Godhead
The true understanding of the Godhead resolves all of the difficulties found in both the Orthodox Christian and Oneness Christian models.
The true understanding of the Godhead understands the Son as the combination of the Father and the Spirit and thus the Son can be identified with either. However as a combination of these two he is a third, unique and distinct aspect within the one person of the Godhead. Thus the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are three K’NUMEH or three GAUNIN (aspects), which are but one PARSOPA (person).
Deity of Messiah Part 4
The Deity of Messiah
And
The Three Pillars of the Godhead
By James Scott Trimm
Part 4
The Kabbalistic Godhead Model in the First Century
The purpose of Part 4 in this series is to establish the fact that the Gohead model set forth in Part 2 was not simply a late innovation of the middle ages, but in fact can be traced back to Judaism at least back to the first century.The Essene Roots of KabbalahThe two most authoritative earliest works of Rabbinic Kabbalah are the Sefer Yetzirah and the Bahir.
The earliest known reference to the Sefer Yetzirah is found in the Jerusalem Talmud which mentions the book as having been used by Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya (j.San. 7:13 (41a)) who lived in the late first century. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya (47 BCE – 73 CE) was one of the five talmidim (students) of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai (m.Avot 2:8) who is said to have received his tradition from his colleague Rabbi Nehunia ben HaKana the traditional author of the Bahir. According to the Sefer HaTagin Rabbi Nehunia ben HaKana learned his teaching from a certain Menachem. Most scholars identify this Menechem as Menechem the prominent early first century Essene by that name mentioned by Josephus (Ant. 15:10:5). Thus the Kabbalistic tradition in Rabbinic Judaism can within its own tradition be traced back to early first century Essene Judaism, the sect of Judaism which most scholars believe were authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The Dead Sea Scrolls and Kabbalah
Now it is well known that researchers believe that Chritendom has roots at Qumran. What is less well known is that many researchers also see the roots of Kabbalah at Qumran.
Kabbalah had its beginning as “torat-ha-sod” as Adin Steinsaltz writes:
The sources state that torat ha-sod (mysticism)
was divided into two parts: Ma’aseh Bereshit (Act of Creation)
and Ma’aseh Merkavah (Divine Chariot). The former was more
theoretical and dealt with the creation of the world and the first
divine revelations. Ma’aseh Merkavah, based on the prophet
Ezekiel’s description of the Divine Chariot, is a study of the
prevailing relations between God and the world and apparently
contained the seeds of what later came to be known as
Kabbalah ma’asit (practical kabbalah).
(The Essential Talmud; Adin Steinsaltz p. 213)
And as G. Vermes writes:
The Throne-Chariot was a central subject of meditation
in ancient as well as in medieval Jewish esotericism
and mysticism, but the guardians of the Rabbinic orthodoxy
tended to discourage such speculation. The liturgical use
of Ezekiel’s chapter on the Chariot is expressly forbidden
in the Mishnah; it even lays down that no wise man is
to share his understanding of the Merkavah with a person
less enlightened than himself. As a result, there is very little
ancient literary material extant on the subject, and the Qumran
text is therefore of great importance to the study of the Origins
of Jewish mysticism.
(The Dead Sea Scroll in English; Second Edition; G.Vermes; p. 211)
Among the parallels between Kabbalah and Qumran esotericism is the strong parallel between the Metatron figure of Kabbalah and the Melchizadek figure at Qumran as P. Alexander writes:
The Merkabah literature has links also with Qumran.
Perhaps the closest Parallels are in the following texts:
The angelic liturgy (4QsirSabb) … The heavenly
Melchizedek (11QMelch) [also known as 11Q13]…
Physiognomies (4QCryptic)…
(OTP Vol. 1 pp. 250-251)
Regarding the Melchizedek/Metatron connection Alexander states:
In this text Melchizedek appears as being exalted
over all angels. It is stated that he will preside over
a heavenly assize and exact Punishment, with the help
of other angels, from Belial and his Minions. In view of
the priestly functions of Melchizedek in the Bible (Gen. 14:8;
Ps. 110:4), van der Woude has conjectured that at Qumran
Melchizedek may have been regarded as the high priest of
the heavenly Temple and identified with the archangel Michael,
who fulfills the role of the heavenly high priest in rabbinic tradition …
However all of this is very uncertain. A number of clear parallels
between the heavenly Melchizedek of Qumran and Metatron
of 3 Enoch at once suggest themselves: both figures hold exalted,
if not pre-eminent, positions among the angels, both are heavenly
judges… and both, apparently had earthly lives prior to their exalted,
heavenly states.
(ibid)
The Deity of Messiah in the Dead Sea Scrolls
The fact that the Qumran community believed in the deity of the Messiah can best be shown by examining the Qumran community’s understanding of Is. 61:1-2. Now we know from 4Q521 that the Qumran community saw the one “anointed” by YHWH in Is. 61:1-2 as the Messiah as this fragment reads:
For the heavens and the earth shall listen to His Messiah …
And then goes on to allude to Is. 61:1-2. Another reference to the figure of Is. 61:1-2 is made in another Qumran document known as 11Q13. 11Q13 speaks of this Messiah as a figure called “Melchizedek.” In this document Is. 61:2 is quoted with “Melchizedek” substituted for YHWH. Furthermore the terms EL and ELOHIM are in 11Q13 applied to the Melchizedek/Messiah figure.
11Q13 Col. 4-9 quotes Is. 61:1-2 but substitutes “the year of Melchizedek’s favor” for “the year of YHWH’s favor” thus identifying the Melchizedek figure with YHWH in this passage. 11Q13 goes on to say:
…as it is written about him [Melchizedek] in
the Songs of David, “ELOHIM has taken his place
in the council of EL; in the midst of the ELOHIM
he holds judgment” (Ps. 82:1)
Scripture also says about him [Melchizedek],
“Over it take your seat in the highest heaven;
EL will judge the peoples” (Ps. 7:7-8)
(11Q13 Col. 10-11)
The text of 11Q13 goes on to apply the passage “Your ELOHIM reigns” (Is. 52:7) to Melchizedek finally concluding:
“Your ELOHIM” (Is. 52:7) is Melchizedek,
who will deliver them from the power of Belial.
(11Q13 Col. 24-25)
It is therefore apparent that the Qumran community saw the Messiah as a Melchizedek figure who was identified as EL, ELOHIM and even YHWH.
Further evidence for belief in the deity of Messiah at Qumran is found in a reference in the Book of Enoch, (seven fragmentary copies of this book were found in cave four at Qumran). In Enoch 14 Enoch is having a vision of the divine throne in which the figure on the throne calls to Enoch “come near to Me and to My Holy Word.” (1En. 14: 24). Thus it would seem that the concept of the entity known as the “Word” of YHWH which we discussed in terms of Rabbinic Judaism earlier, was also held to by the Qumran community. It seems hard to escape the fact that in 1En. 14:24 the “Word” of YHWH seems to be positioned next to the throne of YHWH, just as Melchizedek is in Ps. 110.
Philo and Kabbalah
In addition to the Dead Sea Scrolls the first century Jewish writer Philo also wrote many things which demonstrate that this same Godhead model found in the Kabbalah existed in the first century. Philo believed that the essence of God was unknowable to man, but that man could know God thru his emanations. Philo writes:
…Every man in regard of his intellect is connected with Logos (Word),
being an impression of, or a fragment or emanation of that blessed
nature…
(Philo; On Creation LI (146))
Philo gave a very detailed description to the Word (Logos). To Philo the Word was the creator:
As therefore the city, when previously shadowed out in
the mind of architectural skill had no external place, but
was stamped solely in the mind of the workman, so in
the same manner neither can the world which existed in
ideas have had any other local position except the
Logos which made them…
(Philo; On Creation V (20))
Philo taught that the Word (Logos) was the shadow of God and that man was made in the image of the Word (Logos):
…But the shadow of God is his Word,
which he used like an instrument when he was
making the world.
(Philo; Allegorical Interpretation III XXXI (96))
…For God does not seem to have availed himself
of any other animal existing in creation as his model
in the formation of man; but to have been guided,
as I have said before, by his own Word alone…
(Philo; On Creation XLVIII (139))
Most astonishingly, Philo identifies the Word of God as God’s “first-born son!”:
…For God, like a shepherd and king, governs
(as if they were a flock of sheep) the earth, and the water,
and the fire, and the air and all the plants, and living
creatures that are in them, whether mortal or divine;
and he regulates the nature of the heaven, and the periodical
revolutions of the sun and moon, and the variations
and harmonious movements of the other stars, ruling them
according to law and justice; appointing as their immediate
superintendent, his own right Word [Logos], his first-born son,
who is to receive the charge of this sacred company,
as the lieutenant of the great king;…
(Philo; On Husbandry XII (45))
Philo also taught that “Wisdom” is the “Mother of the Word [Logos]” Philo also identified the three angels which appeared to Abraham in Gen. 18 as “God, the creative power”; “Lord, the ruling power”; and “the Word [Logos].” Not only did Philo teach that God’ first-born son is the “Word” and that “Wisdom” is his mother, Philo also clearly taught the concept of a Trinity. He refers to God as “…the Lord of three natures…”(Philo; On the Change of Names II, 11)
Elsewhere Philo writes:
…it is reasonable for one to be three and for three to be one,
for they were one by a higher principle… …he makes
the appearance of a trinity [triad]… He cannot be seen
in his oneness without something [else], the chief Powers
that that exist immediately with him… the Creative, which
is called “God” and the Kingly, which is called “Lord”…
[Abraham] begins to see the sovereign, holy, and divine vision
in such a way that single appearance appears as a trinity [triad],
and the trinity [triad] as a unity.
(Philo; Questions on Genesis, IV, 2)
Conclusion
In closing it is clear that the tradition of the Godhead model found in the Kabbalah tradition of Rabbinic Judaism can be traced back to a tradition held by the early first century Essenes who authored the Dead Sea Scrolls. This Godhead tradition also can be found in the writings of the first century Jewish writer Philo.
Deity of Messiah Part 5
Deity of Messiah
And
The Three Pillars of the Godhead
By James Scott Trimm
Part 5 The Kabbalistic Godhead Model Among the Ancient Nazarenes
The Minim
Now before beginning this section it is important to define an important Talmudic term MIN (singular) / MINIM (plural).
The fourth century “Church Father” Jerome writes of the Nazarenes and Ebionites:
What shall I say of the Ebionites who pretend to be Christians?
Today there still exists among the Jews in all the synagogues
of the East a heresy which is called that of the Minæans,
and which is still condemned by the Pharisees; [its followers]
are ordinarily called ‘Nazarenes’; they believe that Christ,
the son of God, was born of the Virgin Mary, and they hold him
to be the one who suffered under Pontius Pilate and ascended
to heaven, and in whom we also believe.”
(Jerome; Letter 75 Jerome to Augustine)
Now Ebionites and Nazarenes were two distinct groups with varying beliefs (the Ebionites split off from the Nazarenes round 70 C.E.) but both of these groups were known by Rabbinic Jews as “Minim” or as Jerome calls them in Latin “Mineans”.
According to the Dictionary of the Targumim, Talmud Babli, Yerushalami and Midrashic Literature Marcus Jastrow defines MIN “…sectarian, infidel… a Jewish infidel, mostly applied to Jew Christians”. Jastrow uses the term “Jew-Christians” to refer to Ebionites and Nazarenes although these groups did not call themselves “Christians”.
Many scholars believe that the term MIN began as an acronym for a Hebrew phrase meaning “Believers in Yeshua the Nazarene”.
Many Powers in Heaven
The Mishna states that the MINIM taught:
“There are many ‘powers’ in heaven”
Mym#b twyw#r hbrh
(m.San. 4:5)
Clearly the MINIM in this portion of the Mishna were Nazarenes and not Ebionites, since Ebionites clearly rejected the deity of Messiah.
The Mishna counters that man was created alone in order to disprove this teaching of the MINIM. In fact Man was created “male and female” in “our image”/”the image of Elohim” and after being separated into a male and female these two were ECHAD (all of this was discussed in part 1) just as the three K’NUMEH of the Godhead are ECHAD.
In the Gemara to this portion of Mishna (b.San. 38b) the Talmud discusses various proof texts that the MINIM used to support their teaching of “many powers in heaven” and attempts to rebut them:
R. Johanan sad: In all the passages which the Minim have taken
[as grounds] for their heresy, their refutation is found near at hand.
Thus: Let us make man in our image, (Gen. 1:26)
And God created [sing.] man in His own image; (Gen. 1:27)
Come, let us go down and there confound their language, (Gen. 11:7)
And the Lord came down [sing.] to see the city and the tower; (Gen. 11:5)
Because there were revealed [plur.] to him God, (Gen. 35:7)
Unto God who answereth [sing.] me in the day of my distress; (Gen. 35:3)
For what great nation is there that hath God so nigh [plur.] unto it,
as the Lord our God is [unto us] whensoever we call upon Him [sing.]; (Deut. 4:7)
And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, [like] Israel,
whom God went [plur.] to redeem for a people unto himself [sing.], (2Sam. 7:23)
Till thrones were placed and one that was ancient did sit. (Dan. 7:9)
Why were these [plurals] necessary? To teach R. Johanan’s dictum;
viz.: The Holy One, blessed be He, does nothing without consulting
His Heavenly Court (literally “Family”) , for it is written, The matter
is by the decree of the watchers, and the sentence by the word of
the Holy Ones.(Dan. 4:14)
This section of Talmud tells us that the MINIM used Tanak passages in which Elohim was referenced in a plural form as proof texts for their teaching of “many powers in the heavens”. Among their proof texts were Gen. 1:26; 11:7; 35:7; Deut. 4:7; Sam. 7:23 & Dan. 7:9). The Rabbinic Jews dismissed these as examples of Elohim speaking to “His Heavenly Court” (literally “Heavenly Family”) i.e. the “watchers” of Dan. 4:14.
Now I want to examine the first of these (Gen. 1:26) in more detail. This passage appears as a synonymous parallelism as follows:
And Elohim said: “Let us make man in our image,
After our likeness;…
And Elohim created man in His own image,
in the image of Elohim created He him;
male and female created He them.
(Gen. 1:26-27)
In context “our image” = “our likeness” = “the image of Elohim” = “male and female”. As we discussed in part one, Paul refers back to this point in Romans 1 to establish that there are invisible attributes in the Godhead made manifest in the creation that when ignored may lead persons into the errors of Homosexuality and Lesbianism. It is not speaking of the “Watchers” but the “male and female” “image of Elohim”.
Even the Rabbinic Jews realized that their explanation of Elohim speaking to the Watchers did not work for many of the MINIM proof texts (including Dan. 7:9) and so the Talmud goes on to address these passages:
Now, that is satisfactory for all [the other verses], but how explain
Till thrones were placed? (Dan. 7:9) One [throne] was for Himself
and one for David [Messiah]. Even as it has been taught:
One was for Himself and one for David: this is R. Akiba’s view.
R. Jose protested to him: Akiba, how long will thou profane the Sh’kinah?
Rather, one [throne] for justice, and the other for mercy.
Did he accept [this answer] from him or not? Come and hear!
For it has been taught: One is for justice and the other for charity;
this is R. Akiba’s view. Said R. Eleazar b. Azariah to him: Akiba,
what hast thou to do with Aggada? Confine thyself to [the study of]
Nega’im and Ohaloth [civil issues]. But one was a throne, the other
a footstool: a throne for a seat and a footstool in support of His feet (Is. 66:1).
Here Rabbi Akiba gets in trouble with the other Rabbis because he ADMITTED that the additional throne was for Messiah! Rabbi Jose said that the “thrones” were for “justice” (GEVURA) and “charity” (CHESED). Of course these are titles of sefirot which are regarded in Kabbalah a typical of the two opposing pillars of the three pillars of the Godhead. Finally the consensus of the Rabbis found that Rabbi Akiba and Rabbi Jose were giving to much away in the debate. They argued that “thrones” were plural to refer to the “throne” and the “footstool” of Isaiah 66:1.
It bears mentioning here that Is. 66:1 is also cited in Mt. 5:34-35. Both the Hebrew (DuTillet) version and the Old Syriac (s) Aramaic version of Matthew word the phrase “for it is the throne of Elohim” in the Hebrew and Aramaic with a plural possessive pronoun (in the English translation this possessive pronoun does not appear because it is not used in English grammar).
R. Nahman said: He who is as skilled in refuting the Minim
as is R. Idith, let him do so; but not otherwise. Once a Min
said to R. Idith: It is written, And unto Moses He said,
Come up to the Lord (Ex. 24:1). But surely it should have
stated, Come up unto me! It was Metatron, he replied,
whose name is similar to that of his Master, for it is written,
For my name is in him (Ex. 23:21). But if so, [he retorted,]
we should worship him! The same passage, however,
— replied R. Idith says: Be not rebellious against him,
i.e., exchange Me not for him. But if so, why is it stated:
He will not pardon your transgression? He answered:
By our troth we would not accept him even as a messenger,
for it is written, And he said unto him, If Thy [personal]
presence go not etc. (Ex. 33:15).
In the Targum resolves the issue of YHWH speaking of himself in the third person by naming the speaker in Ex. 20:1 as “the Word (MEMRA) of YHWH”. Here Rabbi Idith resolves the issue by making one of these “Metatron”. According to the Encyclopedia Judaica article on “Metatron” the Karite author Kirkisani had a different reading in his copy of this Talmud passage. His copy had Rabbi Idith saying “This is Metatron, who is the Lesser YHWH”. As we have shown in part 2, Metatron is identified in the Zohar as the Middle Pillar of the Godhead and as the Son of Yah.
A Min once said to R. Ishmael b. Jose: It is written,
Then the Lord caused to rain upon Sodom and Gomorrah
brimstone and fire from the Lord: (Gen. 19:24) but from him
should have been written! A certain fuller said,
Leave him to me, I will answer him. [He then proceeded,
’ It is written, And Lamech said to his wives, Ada and Zillah,
Hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech; (Gen. 4:23) but he should
have said, my wives! But such is the Scriptural idiom
so here too, it is the Scriptural idiom.
The Targum also resolves this issue by paraphrasing one of the occurrences of “YHWH” in Gen. 19:24 as “the Word (MEMRA) of YHWH”. A much lengthier paper could be written on Gen. 19:24 but it is beyond the scope of this article.
It is important to note that the Rabbis seem to stumble all over themselves in dealing with the proof texts presented by the Nazarenes (an this is even their account of the debate). They find themselves admitting that the Nazarene proof texts refer to the “Heavenly Family”; “Elohim and the Messiah”; “Gevura and Chesed”; “Metatron” and “The Lesser YHWH” while attempting to disagree with the Nazarene interpretations. It is also important to note that this debate can be easily dated. Rabbi Akiba who lived in the early second century is one of the debaters.
The Holy Spirit and the Nazarenes
It is also clear that the ancient Nazarenes saw the Holy Spirit as a sort of Heavenly Mother and the Messiah being her “Son” just as he is the Son of the Heavenly Father.
As the fourth century “Church Father” Jerome writes of the Nazarenes:
According to the Gospel written in the Hebrew speech,
which the Nazarenes read, the whole fount of the
Holy Spirit shall descend upon him… Further in the
Gospel which we have just mentioned we find
the following written:
When the Lord ascended from the water,
the whole fount of the Holy Spirit descended
and rested upon him, and said to him, “My Son,
in all the prophets I was waiting for you,
that you might come, and that I might rest in you.
For you are my rest; and you are my firstborn son,
who reigns forever.
(Jerome; Commentary on Is. 11:2)
Note that it is the Holy Spirit here and not the Father that refer to Messiah as “My Son”.
Moreover the third century “Church Father” Origin writes of the Nazarene Gospel according to the Hebrews:
And if any accept the Gospel according to the Hebrews,
where the Saviour himself saith, ‘Even now did my mother
the Holy Spirit take me by one of mine hairs, and carried me
away unto the great mountain Thabor’, he will be perplexed, &c. . . .
Origen on John, ii. 12.
“Kabbalistic” Terminology
Now are we to believe that the parallels between the Kabbalistic Godhead, Metatron and Memra; the Melchizadek figure of Qumran; Philo’s Triad and Logos and the terminology and concepts in the “New Testament” are just a coincidence?
Philo spoke of a Godhead which was a “Triad” while the Zohar speaks of three Pillars of the Godhead which are “one”. The New Testament speaks of the Father, the Holy Spirt and the Son as all being one Elohim.
Philo identifies one of his Triad members as being the “Son of God”; The Zohar identifies one of its three pillars as the “Son of Yah” and the Messiah is called in the New Testament the “Son of Elohim”.
Philo identifies his “Son of God” as the Logos (Word). Kabbalah identifies the Son of Yah as the Memra (Word). The New Testament identifies the Son of Elohim as the “Word”.
Philo identified the components of his Triad as “powers” while the Mishna ascribes that the Nazarenes identified them as “powers”.
Philo identifies the Logos as the “firstborn son” the Zohar says that Metatron (the Son of Yah) is “the first begotten of all the creatures of Elohim” and the New Testament says that Messiah is “the firstborn of all creation” (Col. 1:15)
Philo says that one of the members of his Triad is “Wisdom” and that “Wisdom is the Mother of the Word”; In Kabbalah one of the three Pillars of the Godhead is called the Mother and is identified with wisdom. And the Nazarenes saw the Holy Spirit as the Mother of Messiah.
Philo says his Word “is to receive the charge of this sacred company, as the lieutenant of the Great King”. The Zohar says of Metaron that he is “ruler of all he has; because Elohim has committed to him the government over all his hosts.” Similar descriptions of Messiah appear in the New Testament.
The Talmud says that Metatron is “the Lesser YHWH” while in the book of John the Messiah says the Father is “greater” than he.
Philo says the Word was “the model for the formation of man”. The Kabbalah teaches that the Adam Kadamon (the Three Pillars harmonized) was the blueprint for the creation of man and the NT says that Messiah was the image of Elohim from which man was created.
Scholars identify the Melchizadek figure of Qumran with the Metatron of Kabbalah while the New Testament identifies Messiah with Melchizadek (Heb. 7). And the Qumran scrolls identify this Melchizadek with the terms El, Elohim and YHWH and identifies him with the Messiah.
Are all of these things the most amazing coincidence of all time? Or is the Godhead concept of the Kabbalah also found in the Qumran scrolls and the writings of Philo in the first century? Are these the same concepts that also appear in the New Testament and among the ancient Nazarene Jews?
Conclusion
There can be no doubt that the ancient Nazarene Jews maintained a belief in the Three Pillars of the Godhead and the deity of Messiah. It is clear that their belief was very similar to that of Rabbinic Kabbalists, the Qumran Scrolls and the writings of Philo. Thus the Rabbinic concepts of Kabbalah presented in part 2 of this series descend from the same Godhead model expressed by Philo, in the Qumran Scrolls and the New Testament.
Philo of Alexandria:
A First Century Jew
Who Believed in the Deity of Messiah
By
James Scott Trimm
PHILO
Philo was an Alexandrian Jew who was born nearly 20 years before Yeshua and died around 20 years after his death. Philo was a “Hellenist Jew”. Not like the Hellenists of the Maccabean period who abandoned Torah for Paganism, but like Stephen (Acts 7) and the Hellenists in Acts 6. These Hellenists were Greek speaking Jews who remained Torah Observant (at least in there own understanding) while accepting Greek culture.
Josephus’ comments about Philo are so brief that we can quote them here in full:
“There was now a tumult arisen at Alexandria, between the Jewish inhabitants and the Greeks; and three ambassadors were chosen out of each party that were at variance, who came to Gaius. Now one of these ambassadors from the people of Alexandria was Apion, who uttered many blasphemies against the Jews; and, among other things that he said, he charged them with neglecting the honors that belonged to Caesar; for that while all who were subject to the Roman empire built altars and temples to Gaius, and in other regards universally received him as they received the gods, these Jews alone thought it a dishonorable thing for them to erect statues in honor of him, as well as to swear by his name. Many of these severe things were said by Apion, by which he hoped to provoke Gaius to anger at the Jews, as he was likely to be. But Philo, the principal of the Jewish embassage, a man eminent on all accounts, brother to Alexander the alabarch, and one not unskillful in philosophy, was ready to betake himself to make his defense against those accusations; but Gaius prohibited him, and bid him begone; he was also in such a rage, that it openly appeared he was about to do them some very great mischief. So Philo being thus affronted, went out, and said to those Jews who were about him, that they should be of good courage, since Gaius’s words indeed showed anger at them, but in reality had already set God against himself.”
(Antiquities of the Jews, xviii.8, 1)
Philo lived and wrote at the same time as the “New Testament” events were taking place. However Philo was far away in Alexandria Egypt, and apparently unaware of the budding Nazarene movement which had not yet come to Alexandria. Rabbinic Judaism has forgotten Philo. He is never mentioned or cited in the Rabbinic literature which makes no great mention of any Alexandrian Jews.
THE WORD
Philo is very important to us because he writes much about the Second Temple Era Jewish concept of the “Word” (Greek: LOGOS). In order to understand Philo’s concept of the Word, we must understand Philo’s concept of Elohim. Philo saw a conflict within Elohim. On the one hand, he saw Elohim as beyond man and far removed from the finiteness of this universe. He refers to this concept in Greek as TO ON (that which exists) and TO ONTOS ON “that which alone truly exists”. This concept of Elohim is conceived as virtually outside this universe with no real contact with it. This unknowable Elohim appeared from Ex. 20:21. (In Rabbinic Judaism (i.e. Kabbalah) this unknowable Elohim is called in Hebrew AYN SOF (without end/border; The Infinite One).
For Philo the Word (Logos) was a sort of bridge between the unknowable remote Elohim and the universe. The Word was a manifestation of the unknowable Elohim in this universe, an intermediary or mediator between man and Elohim. (One can immediately see that Philo’s Word parallels Rabbinic Judaism’s (Kabbalah’s) SEFIROT.)
Philo writes much about the concept of the “Word” (Greek: Logos)
…So that the Word (Logos) is, as it were, the charioteer of the powers,…
(On Flight and Finding XIX 101)
This is very important, as we have a first century Jew revealing to us the mystery of the throne-chariot.
The Mishna tells us:
They do not expound upon…
Ma’aseh Bereshit before [more than] two, or Ma’aseh Merkavah before [more than] one unless he was a sage and understands of his own knowledge.
(m.Hagigah 2:1)
In the Mishnah the Ma’aseh Merkavah (account of the throne-chariot) was a secret. But Philo tells us all about the secret, he tells us that the charioteer is the Word (Logos). It is generally accepted that the mysteries of the Ma’aseh Merkavah (account of the chariot – i.e. Ezek. 1-2) and Ma’aseh Bereshit (account of creation) were the material that later came to be referred to as “Kabbalah”. Philo tells us that the big secret of the chariot is that the charioteer is the Word.
Philo says:
…Every man in regard of his intellect is connected with Logos (Word),
being an impression of, or a fragment or emanation of that blessed
nature…
(Philo; On Creation LI (146))
THE WORD WAS THE CREATOR
Philo gave a very detailed description to the Word (Logos). To Philo the Word was the creator:
As therefore the city, when previously shadowed out in
the mind of architectural skill had no external place, but
was stamped solely in the mind of the workman, so in
the same manner neither can the world which existed in
ideas have had any other local position except the
Logos (Word) which made them…
(Philo; On Creation V (20))
Philo taught that the Word (Logos) was the shadow of Elohim and was the instrument of creation.
…But the shadow of God is his Logos (Word),
which he used like an instrument when he was
making the world.
(Philo; Allegorical Interpretation III XXXI (96))
(Not only does Philo speak of this “Word” but the ancient Targums do so as well. The Targums were Aramaic paraphrases of the books of the Tanak. Throughout the Targums we read of this entity called the “Word” (Aramaic: MEMRA). On many occasions the Targums paraphrase YHWH with the phase “Word of YHWH” and on some occasions the Word (MEMRA) is mentioned in the paraphrase where YHWH is not mentioned. The term is applied to YHWH in Targum Onkelos 179 times, the Jerusalem Targum 99 times and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan 321 times.)
This “Word of YHWH” was, according to Targum Jonathan, the Creator:
And the Word [Memra] of YHWH created man in his likeness,
in the likeness of YHWH, YHWH created,
male and female created He them.
(Targ. Jonathan Gen. 1:27)
This idea is also put forward in the Jerusalem Targum:
And the Word [Memra] of YHWH said to Moses:
“I am He who said unto the world ‘Be!’ and it was:
and who in the future shall say to it ‘Be!’
and it shall be.” And He said: “Thus you shall say
to the children of Israel: ‘I Am’ has sent me to you.”
(Jerusalem Targum Ex. 3:14)
The Fragmentary Targum of the Torah also expresses that the Word of YHWH was the Creator:
The first night, when the “Word of YHWH”
was revealed to the world in order to create it,
the world was desolate and void,
and darkness spread over the face of the abyss
and the “Word of the Lord” was bright and illuminating
and He called it the first night.
(Fragmentary Targum Ex. 12:42)
That the Word of YHWH was the Creator can also be seen in the Tanak itself:
By the Word (DAVAR) of YHWH were the heavens made,
and all the hosts of them by the Spirit of His mouth.
(Ps. 33:6)
THE WORD AS THE IMAGE OF ELOHIM AND PATTERN FOR OUR CREATION
Philo’s concept of the “Word” (Logos) is the “image of Elohim” which served as the pattern for the creation of man in Gen. 1:26-27. Philo writes:
…For God does not seem to have availed himself
of any other animal existing in creation as his model
in the formation of man; but to have been guided,
as I have said before, by his own Word (Logos) alone…
(Philo; On Creation XLVIII (139))
But the divine Word (Logos) which is above these
does not come into any visible appearance,
inasmuch as it is not like to any of the things
that come under the external senses,
but is itself an image of God,
the most ancient of all the objects of intellect
in the whole world, and that which is placed
in the closest proximity to the only truly existing God,
without any partition or distance being interposed
between them:
(On Flight and Finding XVIII (101))
Now, Bezaleel, being interpreted, means God in his shadow.
But the shadow of God is his Word (Logos), which he used
like an instrument when he was making the world.
And this shadow, and, as it were, model, is the archetype of other things.
For, as God is himself the model of that image which he has now called
a shadow, so also that image is the model of other things,
as he showed when he commenced giving the law to the Israelites,
and said, “And God made man according to the image of God.”[Gen. 1:26]
as the image was modeled according to God, and as man was modeled
according to the image, which thus received the power and character
of the model.
(Allegorical Interpretations III 96)
For if it was necessary to examine the mortal body
of the priest that it ought not be imperfect through
any misfortune, much more was it necessary to look
into his immortal soul, which they say is fashioned
in the form of the living God. Now the image of God
is the Word (Logos), by which all the world was made.
(The Special Laws I, 81)
What is the man who was created? And how is that man
distinguished who was made after the image of God? (Gen. 2:7).
This man was created as perceptible to the senses,
and in the similitude of a Being appreciable only by the intellect;
but he who in respect of his form is intellectual and incorporeal,
is the similitude of the archetypal model as to appearance,
and he is the form of the principal character;
but this is the Word (Logos) of God, the first beginning of all things,
the original species or the archetypal idea,
the first measure of the universe.
(Q & A on Gen. I, 4)
Why is it that he speaks as if of some other god,
saying that he made man after the image of God,
and not that he made him after his own image? (Gen. 9:6).
Very appropriately and without any falsehood
was this oracular sentence uttered by God,
for no mortal thing could have been formed
on the similitude of the supreme Father of the universe,
but only after the pattern of the second deity,
who is the Word (Logos) of the supreme Being;
since it is fitting that the rational soul of man should bear it
the type of the divine Word (Logos); since in his first Word (Logos)
God is superior to the most rational possible nature.
But he who is superior to the Word (Logos) holds his rank
in a better and most singular pre-eminence, and how could
the creature possibly exhibit a likeness of him in himself?
Nevertheless he also wished to intimate this fact,
that God does rightly and correctly require vengeance,
in order to the defense of virtuous and consistent men,
because such bear in themselves a familiar acquaintance
with his Word (Logos), of which the human mind is
the similitude and form.
(Q & A on Gen. II 62)
This parallels what we read in the Targum:
And the Word (Memra) of YHWH
created man in his likeness,
in the likeness of YHWH, YHWH created,
male and female created He them.
(Targ. Jonathan Gen. 1:27)
THE WORD AS THE OBJECT OF PRAYER
To Philo, it was the Word to whom the ancients petitioned and payed, for example Philo writes:
But Hagar flees out of shame. And a proof of this is, that the angel, that is the WORD of God, met her, with the intent to recommend her what she ought to do, and to guide her in her return to her mistress’s house. For he encouraged her, and said unto her: “The Lord has heard the cry of thy humiliation,” which you uttered, not out of fear, nor yet out of hatred. For the one is the feeling of an ignoble soul, and the other of one which loves contention, but under the influence of that copy of temperance and modesty, shame.
(On Flight and Finding (5))
Likewise we read in the Jerusalem Targum on this same incident:
And Hagar praised and prayed
in the name of the Word [Memra] Of YHWH
who had revealed Himself to her…
(Jerusalem Targum Gen. 16:3)
PHILO BELIEVED IN ELOHIM AS A TRIAD (TRINITY)
In order to understand Philo’s concept of the Word (Logos) it is important to understand Philo’s concept of Elohim. Philo says:
“The primal existence is God, and second the God-Word”
(Allegorical Interpretation II, 86)
“The Creator of the world sends out His powers
from an eternal and invisible place”
(Q&A on Genesis, II, 48)
Philo raises the question
“…regarding its Creator, asking of what sort this Being is so difficult to see, so difficult to conjecture. Is He a body or incorporeal or something exalted above these? Is He a single nature… Or a composite Being?…and seeing that this is a problem hard to pursue, hard to take in by thought, he prays that he may learn from God Himself what God is.”
(Flight and Finding, 164)
Philo doesn’t answer this question here, but he does answer these questions elsewhere. In On the Confusion of Tongues, 62, He calls God “incorporeal” and in a later section, he describes God as a “Triad” (Trinity). He refers to God as “…the Lord God of three natures…”(Philo; On the Change of Names II, 11). He also says:
…it is reasonable for one to be three and for three to be one, for they were one by a higher principle… …in the place of one, He makes the appearance of a triad [trinity]… He cannot be seen in his oneness without something [else], the chief Powers that that exist immediately with him… the Creative, which is called “Elohim” and the Kingly, which is called “Lord”… he begins to see the sovereign, holy, and divine vision in such a way that a single appearance appears as a triad [trinity], and the triad [trinity] as a unity.
(Philo; Questions on Genesis, IV, 2)
According to Philo God appears as a Triad — himself and his two Powers: Creative and Ruling. To the “purified soul,” however, God appears as One.
… the Father of the universe, who in the sacred scripture is called by his proper name,
‘I am that I am’; and the beings on each side are those most ancient powers which are always close to the living God, one of which is called his Creative Power, and the other his Royal Power. And the Creative Power is God, for it is by this that he made and arranged the universe; and the Royal Power is the Lord, for it is fitting that the Creator should lord it over and govern the creature. Therefore, the middle person of the three, being attended by each of his powers as by body-guard, presents to the mind, which is endowed with the faculty of sight, a vision at one time of one being, and at another time of three; …
(Abr. 119-123).
The reconciliation of these two opposing “powers”, the central power is the Word (Logos):
…the Divine Word (Logos)…fills all things and becomes a mediator and arbitrator for the two sides….from the Divine Word (Logos), as from a spring, there divide and break forth two powers. One is the creative through which the Artificer placed and ordered all things. This is named “God”. And the royal, since through it the Creator rules over created things. This is called “Lord” And from these two powers have grown the others. For by the side of the creative power there grows the propitious of which is named “beneficial” while (besides) the royal the legislative, of which is aptly named “punitive”. And below these and beside them is the ark.”
(Philo on Q&A on Exodus, II.68)
PHILO’S WORD IS THE SON OF ELOHIM
Philo Writes of the Word (Logos):
For there are, as it seems, two temples belonging to God; one being this world, in which the high priest is the divine Word, his own firstborn son. The other is the rational soul, the priest of which is the real true man,
(On Dreams 215)
And if there be not as yet any one who is worthy to be called a son of God, neverthless let him labour earnestly to be adorned according to his Firstborn Word, the eldest of his angels, as the great archangel of many names; for He is called, “the Authority”, and “the Name of God”, and “the Word”, and “man according to God’s image”, and “He who sees Israel”. . . For even if we are not yet suitable to be called the sons of God, still we may deserve to be called the children of his eternal image, of his most sacred Word; for the image of God is his most ancient word.
( On the Confusion of Tongues XXVIII:146-147)
Thus, indeed, being a shepherd is a good thing, so that it is justly attributed, not only to kings, and to wise men, and to souls who are perfectly purified, but also to God, the ruler of all things; and he who confirms this is not any ordinary person, but a prophet, whom it is good to believe, he namely who wrote the psalms; for he speaks thus, “The Lord is my shepherd, and he shall cause me to lack Nothing;” (Ps. 23:1.) and let every one in his turn say the same thing, for it is very becoming to every man who loves God to study such a song as this, but above all this world should sing it. For God, like a shepherd and a king, governs (as if they were a flock of sheep) the earth, and the water, and the air, and the fire, and all the plants, and living creatures that are in them, whether mortal or divine; and he regulates the nature of the heaven, and the periodical revolutions of the sun and moon, and the variations and harmonious movements of the other stars, ruling them according to law and justice; appointing, as their immediate superintendent, his own right reason, his first-born son, who is to receive the charge of this sacred company, as the lieutenant of the great king; for it is said somewhere, “Behold, I am he! I will send my messenger before thy face, who shall keep thee in the Road.”(Ex. 23:20.)
(On Husbandry 50-51)
PHILO’S WORD WAS A PRIEST LIKE MELCHIZADEK
Moreover Philo’s Word was a “priest” whom he compares to Melkizadek:
XXVI. (82) But Melchisedek shall bring forward wine instead of water, and shall give your souls to drink, and shall cheer them with unmixed wine, in order that they may be wholly occupied with a divine intoxication, more sober than sobriety itself. For the Word is a priest, having, as its inheritance the true God, and entertaining lofty and sublime and magnificent ideas about him, “for he is the priest of the most high God.”{38}{Genesis 14:18.} Not that there is any other God who is not the most high; for God being one, is in the heaven above, and in the earth beneath, and there is no other besides Him.”{39}{Deuteronomy 4:39.} But he sets in motion the notion of the Most High, from his conceiving of God not in a low and grovelling spirit, but in one of exceeding greatness, and exceeding sublimity, apart from any conceptions of matter.
(“De Allegoriis Legum,” iii. 26).
The fourth and last of the points which we proposed to discuss, is the appointing as a period for the return of the fugitives the death of the high priest, which, if taken in the literal sense, causes me great perplexity; for a very unequal punishment is imposed by this enactment on those who have done the very same things, since some will be in banishment for a longer time, and others for a shorter time; for some of the high priests live to a very old age, and others die very early, and some are appointed while young men, and others not until they are old. And again of those who are convicted of unintentional homicide, some have been banished at the beginning of the high priest’s entrance into office, and some when the high priest has been at the very point of death. So that some are deprived of their country for a very long time, and others suffer the same infliction only for a day, if it chance to be so; after which they lift up their heads, and exult, and so return among those whose nearest relations have been slain by them. This difficult and scarcely explicable perplexity we may escape if we adopt the inner and allegorical explanation in accordance with natural philosophy. For we say that the high priest is not a man, but is the Word (Logos) of God, who has not only no participation in intentional errors, but none even in those which are involuntary.
(On Flight 106-108)
PHILO’S WORD WAS A PARACLETE (ADVOCATE)
Philo also describes the Word (Logos) not only as the “Son” of the “Father” but as a PARACLETE who is “perfect in all virtue” and procures “forgiveness of sins” as well as a “supply of unlimited blessings”:
…the twelve stones arranged on the breast in four rows of three stones each, namely the logeum, being also an emblem of that reason (Logos, Word) which holds together and regulates the universe. For it was indispensable that the man who was consecrated to the Father of the world, should have as a paraclete, his son, the being most perfect in all virtue, to procure forgiveness of sins, and a supply of unlimited blessings;
(Life of Moses II, 133-134)
(Yeshua as the Messiah is called a PARACLETE in the Greek text of 1Jn. 2:1)
PHILO’S DIVINE WORD WAS THE MESSIAH
Now here is perhaps the most amazing thing, Philo believed this “Word” (Logos) and the Messiah to be one and the same:
“The head of all things is the eternal Word (Logos) of the eternal God, under which, as if it were his feet or other limbs, is placed the whole world, over which He passes and firmly stands. Now it is not because Messiah is Lord that He passes and sits over the whole world, for His seat with His Father and God but because for its perfect fullness the world is in need of the care and superintendence of the best ordered dispensation, and for its own complete piety, of the Divine Word (Logos), just as living creatures (need) a head, without which it is impossible to live.”
(Q&A on Exodus, II, 117)
The truth is that the doctrine of the Deity of Messiah was very much a Jewish idea already in the First Century. Philo, as a First Century Jew believed in the Messiah as:
* The Word
* The Creator
* The Image of Elohim from which we were created
* The Central aspect of Elohim as a Triad (Trinity)
* The Firstborn Son of Elohim
* A Heavenly High Priest like Melchizadek,
* A Paraclete (Advocate)
All of this was believe by a First Century Alexandrian Jew who by all accounts was unaware of the Messianic fervor surrounding Yeshua of Nazareth far away in Judea.
Through a Mirror, Darkly
By
James Scott Trimm
In the KJV of 1Corinthians we read:
8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
(1Cor. 13:8-13 KJV)
And as we read in the Aramaic as translated in the HRV:
8 Love never fails. For prophecies will cease, and tongues will be silent, and knowledge will cease.
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10 Now when that which is complete comes, then that which is partial will cease.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, and I thought as a child, and I reasoned as a child: but when I became a man, I ceased these [things] of youth.
12 Now as in a mirror, we see in a parable, but then face-to-face. Now I know in part, but then I will know, as I am known.
13 For there are these three that abide: trust, and hope, and love. But that which is the greatest of these, [is] love.
(1Cor. 13:8-13 HRV)
In order to understand these verses, it is necessary to understand that according to Jewish tradition, the revelation of YHWH is compared to a mirror. YHWH was revealed to Moses through a “clear mirror”, but to the other prophets after Moses only through a “dim mirror”, as we read in the Talmud:
[Do not] the contradictions between the Scriptural texts, however, still remain? — ‘I saw the Lord’,(Is. 6:2) [is to be understood] in accordance with what was taught: All the prophets looked into a dim mirror, but Moses looked into a clear mirror.—
(Yeb. 49b)
And also as we read in the Zohar:
R. Simeon remarked: ‘Ezekiel the prophet said: “As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it I fell upon my face, etc.” (Ez. 1: 28). This verse illustrates the difference between the other prophets and Moses, of whom it is written, “And there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses” (Deut. 34:10). For Moses gazed into the clear mirror of prophecy, whereas all the other prophets looked into a hazy mirror.
(Zohar 1:170b)
In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul is telling us that though the manifestations of the Ruach HaKodesh give the revelation of YHWH to us only through the dim mirror, the time will come when these dim mirror manifestations will cease and we will see through the same clear mirror through which Moses himself saw. This will happen when the Messiah returns. As we also read in the Zohar:
“Righteousness” reveals the Supernal Power and the reign of the Holy One, blessed be He, who delegates to that Righteousness authority to rule over all the worlds, to guide them and lead them towards perfection. For this reason does it go on to say: “Gave nations before him and made him rule over kings”, since all the kings of the world are under the authority of that “Righteousness”, as it is written: “And he will judge the world in righteousness” (Ps. 95:13). Moreover, when it says “Righteousness calleth to his foot”, the question is: Who calleth whom? The answer is that “Righteousness” calls to the resplendent mirror, which is ever bright and refulgent, as it is written: “Keep not thou silence, O God; hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God” (Psa. 83:1). Now the Holy One has let His light shine upon us on our way for the sake of my son Eleazar, who called down the supernal light upon us, and it has not waned. Happy is the lot of the righteous in this world and in the world to come.’
… And he who thus strengthens it becomes worthy of the white light, the light of the “refulgent mirror”, and of the world to come. This mystery is expressed in the words: “And those that seek me (meshahrai) shall find me” (Prov. 8:17), namely those who, out of the blackness of the dawn, prepare a light. The double n in yimzaunni (“they shall find me”) signifies that they will merit the two lights: the dim, blackish light of dawn and the white light of day: or, the mirror that is not refulgent and the mirror that is.
(Zohar 2:139a-140b)
Our teachers have laid down that Moses derived his prophetic vision from a bright mirror, whereas the other prophets derived their vision from a dull mirror. So it is written concerning Ezekiel: “I saw visions of God”, whereas in connection with the difference between Moses and all other prophets it says: “If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord will make Myself known to him in a vision…. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all my house: and with him I will speak mouth to mouth” (Num. 12: 7-8). R. Jose remarked that all the prophets are in comparison with Moses like females in comparison with males. The Lord did not speak to him in “riddles” (Ibid.), but showed him everything clearly. Blessed, indeed, was the generation in whose midst this prophet lived! Said R. Jose the son of R. Judah: ‘The Israelites saw the splendor of the glory of their Lord face to face; and, moreover, there were neither blind, nor lame, nor deaf, among them: they all saw (Ex. 20: 18); they all stood (Ibid. 19:17); they all heard (Ibid. 19:8). And of the Messianic Age it says: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped, then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing” (Isa. 35: 5-6)
(Zohar 2:82b)
(Note the word translated “parable” in 1Cor. 13:12 may also be translated “riddles” as we read in the Zohar above.)
This also agrees with what Paul writes in his second letter to the Corinthians:
11 For if that which has ended was glorious, that which remains will be increasingly glorious.
12 Therefore, because we have this hope, we conduct ourselves more boldly:
13 And not as Moshe who put a veil over his face so that the B’nai Yisra’el could not look on the consummation of that which was ended,
14 But they were blinded in their understanding. For until this day when the ancient Covenant is read, that veil rests upon them and it is not known that, in the Messiah it ended.
15 And until this day when Moshe is read, a veil is put over their heart:
16 But when any man from them should turn to YHWH, the veil is lifted from him. (Exodus 34:34)
17 Now YHWH Himself is Spirit, and where the Spirit of YHWH [is], [there] is freedom.
18 But all of us, with open faces, behold the magnificence of YHWH as in a mirror: and we are being changed into that likeness, from glory to glory, as by YHWH, the Spirit.
(2Cor. 3:11-18 HRV)
What does Paul mean by “from glory to glory”? He describes here the ladder of the Tree of life, as we read in the Zohar:
A “vision” (mar’eh=vision, or mirror) is so called because it is like a mirror, in which all images are reflected. (Thus we read: “And I appeared… as El Shaddai” (Ex. 6:2), this grade being like a mirror which showed another form, since all supernal forms are reflected in it.) AND BEHOLD A LADDER SET UP ON THE EARTH. This ladder signifies the grade on which the other grades rest, to wit, the “Foundation of the world”. AND THE TOP OF IT REACHED TO HEAVEN , so as to be attached to it. For this grade is the conclusion of the Body standing between the upper and the lower world in the same way as the sign of the covenant is situated at the end of the trunk of the body, between the thighs. AND BEHOLD, THE ANGELS OF GOD ASCENDING AND DESCENDING ON IT ; this alludes to the Chieftains who have charge of all the nations, and who ascend and descend on that ladder. When Israel are sinful, the ladder is lowered and the Chieftains ascend by it; but when Israel are righteous, the ladder is removed and all the Chieftains are left below and are deprived of their dominion. Jacob thus saw in this dream the domination of Esau and the domination of the other nations. According to another explanation, the angels ascended and descended on the top of the ladder; for when the top was detached, the ladder was lowered and the Chieftains ascended, but when it was attached again, the ladder was lifted and they remained below. But it comes to the same thing.
(Zohar 1:149b)
AND JOSEPH DREAMED A DREAM, ETC . On the subject of dreams, R. Hiya discoursed on the text: And he said: Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord do make myself known unto him in a vision, I do speak with him in a dream (Num. 12:6). ‘God’, he said, ‘has brought into existence a series of grades, one higher than the other, one drawing sustenance from the other, some on the right, others on the left, all arranged in a perfect hierarchy. Now all the prophets drew their inspiration from one side, from the midst of two certain grades which they beheld in a “dull mirror”, as it says: “I do make myself known unto him in a vision”, the word “vision” denoting, as has been explained, a medium reflecting a variety of colors; and this is the “dull mirror”.
(Zohar 1:183a)
In 2 Corinthians 3 Paul is telling us that our knowledge or the Torah was diminished after the death of Moses, as we also read in the Zohar:
On the death of Moses, the sun in his splendor was darkened and the Written Torah was locked up, that light of the luminous mirror. The Moon withdrew her light when King David died, and the Oral Torah ceased to shine. Since that time the lights of the Torah have remained hidden, and controversy has increased over the Mishnah (i.e. the traditional Law), and the wise men dispute, and all the great thinkers are in confusion, so that to succeeding generations the joy of the Torah has been lost. When a great man dies the scholars proclaim a fast. Seeing, then, that the joy of the Written and Oral Torahs was gathered in at this hour, is it not fitting that the gates of the Torah should close then? This, then, is the reason why we repeat the three “justifications of judgment”, as explained.’
(Zohar 2:156a-156b)
Thus if we approach Paul’s words from a Jewish perspective, we understand the significance of the “mirror” mentioned in 1Corinthians 13:12 and 2 Corinthians 3:18.
Prophecy, tongues and interpretation of tongues are a dim mirror through which we receive the revelations of YHWH, but when the Messiah returns and establishes the Messianic Kingdom, we shall know see though the same clear mirror through which Moses saw.
A Body You Have Clothed Me With
By
James Scott Trimm
One passage in which the “New Testament” is said to quote the Greek Septuagint is in Hebrews 10:5-6:
5 Concerning therefore His coming into the world it is said, Sacrifice and offering You do not desire, but a body, You have prepared for Me.
6 Burnt offering and sin offering, You do not ask for.
7 Then it said, Behold I come. For in the roll of the book it is written of Me. I will do Your will, Elohi,
(Heb. 10:5-7 HRV)
This passage is quoting from Psalms were we read in the Masoretic Text:
7 (40:6) Sacrifice and meal-offering You have no delight in: ears you have cut for me; burnt-offering and sin-offering have You not required.
8 (40:7) Then said I, Behold, I am come in the roll of the book, it is written of me.
(Psalm 40:7-8 (6-7) HRV)
Where the Masoretic Text has “ears you have cut for me” the Greek Septuagint has “a body you have clothed me with”. The Munster Hebrew text of Hebrews has “a body you have prepared for me” and the Aramaic Peshitta has “a body you have clothed me with” where they quote this passage in Heb. 10:5.
Is Hebrews quoting the Greek Septuagint, or is it quoting a (now lost) first century Hebrew text which agreed with the Septuagint in this verse?
Support for this idea comes from a surprising place indeed, the Zohar. In the Zohar we read:
THIS is the Book of the generations of Adam. In the day that Alhim created man, in the likeness of Alhim made he him.” (Gen. v., 1.) Said Rabbi Isaac: “The Holy One showed Adam the forms and features of his descendants that should appear in the world after him, and of the sages and kings who should rule over Israel. He also made known to him, that the life and reign of David would be of short duration. Then said Adam to the Holy One, ‘let seventy years of my earthly existence be taken and granted to the life of David.’ This request was granted, otherwise Adam’s life would have attained to a thousand years. This was the reason that David said: ‘For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work; I will triumph in the work of thine hands (Ps. xcii., 5), for thou hast filled me with joy in prolonging the days of my life. ‘It was thy own act and wish,’ said the Holy One, ‘when thou wast incarnated as Adam, the work of my hands and not of flesh and blood.’ Amongst the wise men and sages that should appear on the earth, Adam rejoiced greatly on beholding the form of Rabbi Akiba who would become distinguished by his great knowledge of the secret doctrine. On seeing, however, as in a vision, his martyrdom and cruel death, Adam became exceedingly sad and said: ‘Thine eyes beheld me ere I was clothed in a body and all things are written in thy book; each day hath its events that shall come to pass, are therein to be found.’ Observe that the book of the generations of Adam was that which the Holy One through the angel Rosiel, guardian of the great mysteries and secret doctrine, gave unto Adam whilst yet in the garden of Eden.
(Zohar 1:55a-55b as translated in The Sepher Ha-Zohar or the Book of Light; By Nurho de Manhar; p. 234-235; 1900-14)
Here the Zohar is also clearly alluding to Psalm 40:7-8 (6-7)… but with a reading that also agrees with the Septuagint against the Masoretic Text. Is the author of the Zohar quoting the Septuagint? Is he seeking to support the reading of the book of Hebrews against the Masoretic Text? Or is it possible that the ancient author of the Zohar was also holding a Hebrew text of Psalm 49:7-8 (6-7) that agreed with the Septuagint. This one passages supports both the Hebrew/Aramaic origin of Hebrews as well as the ancient origin of the text of the Zohar.
The Mystery of the Passover Wine Revealed:
The Yayin HaMeshumar: The Wine Which Has Been KeptBy
James Scott Trimm
The Prophet Isaiah writes:
And whereof from of old men have not heard,
nor perceived by the ear, neither has the eye seen
an Elohim beside You, who works for him that
waits for Him.
(Is. 64:3(4))
There is a Baraita on this verse that appears twice in the Talmud once in the Midrash Rabbah and four times in the Zohar.
The following is the Baraita as it appears in the Talmud:
What is the meaning of “Eye has not seen” (Is. 64:3)
Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said:
This is the wine that has been kept
in its grapes from the six days in the beginning.
(b.Berakot 34b; b.Sanhedrin 99a)
The phrase “wine that has been kept” in the Hebrew is Yayin HaMeshumar “wine of keeping”. The tradition of the Yayin HaMeshumar runs deep in traditional Judaism. It is the wine that will be served at the Messianic Feast when the Messiah re-establishes the Kingdom of Israel on earth.
In his first letter to the Corinthians Paul also quotes, or perhaps we should better say paraphrases Is. 64:3(4) as follows:
But as it is written:
The eye has not seen, and the ear has not heard,
and into the heart of a son of man has not entered
that which Eloah had prepared for those who love Him.
(1Cor. 2:9 HRV)
Note that Paul’s citation is influenced by the Baraita as the actual text of Isaiah says that “eye has not seen… an Elohim beside you” but Paul says “Eye has not seen… that which Eloah has prepared for those who love Him.” And the Baraita has “Eye has not seen… the wine which has been kept…”.
Now lets look at Paul’s quote in context:
But we speak the wisdom of Eloah
in a mystery that was hidden
And [that] Eloah had before separated
from before the ages for our glory.
That not one of the authorities of this world knew,
for if they had known it,
they would not have crucified the Adon of glory.
But as it is written:
The eye has not seen, and the ear has not heard,
and into the heart of a son of man has not entered
that which Eloah had prepared for those who love Him.
(1Cor. 2:7-9 HRV)
When we look at Paul’s context we see an even greater influence from the Baraita of the Yayin HaMeshumar “…a mystery that was hidden and that Eloah had before separated from before the ages… eye has not seen… that which Eloah has prepared for those who love Him.”
It is clear that Paul here must be referring to the Yayin HaMeshumar as his audience is, no doubt, familiar with this Baraita to Is. 64:3.
It is the Yayin HaMeshumar that Yeshua refers to when we read:
And afterwards he took the cup, and blessed,
and gave to them, saying,
“Drink you all of it,
for this is my blood of the New Covenant,
which is shed for many to atone for sinners,
And I tell you, hereafter I will not drink of the fruit of the vine,
until that day when I drink it new with you in the kingdom
of my Father which is in heaven.”
(Mt. 26:27-29)
The Yayin HaMeshumar is the blood of the New Covenant. At the Passover Sader the wine represents the blood of the lamb. Note that we read in Revelation that Messiah is the lamb slain “before the foundation of the world.” (Rev. 13:8) his blood is the wine kept in its grapes from the six days in the beginning.
In the Apocryphal Gospel of Thomas Yeshua is quoted as saying:
Yeshua said, “I shall give you what no eye has seen
and what no ear has heard and what no hand has touched
and what has never occurred to the mind of man.
(Gospel of Thomas 17)
Note that in 1Cor. 1:18-20 the same “wisdom” of which we are later told is “…in the mystery that was hidden … before separates from before the ages… which Eloah had prepared for those who love him.” (1Cor. 2:7-9) is also the “wisdom” which “takes away the wisdom of the wise” in 1Cor. 1:19 quoting Isaiah 29:14. In Isaiah 29:15 this wisdom is the contents of the sealed book (Is. 29:11-12, 14, 18). In Revelation this book is opened by the “lamb as if it was slain” (Rev. 5:6) a lamb slain “before the foundation of the world.” (Rev. 13:8).
This is the wine that will be served at the “marriage supper of the lamb” (Rev. 19:7) the great Messianic Banquet and Passover Sader.
In 1Corinthians, Paul has brought up the Yayin HaMeshumar at the beginning of his letter because he will be addressing this wine throughout his letter. In 1Cor. 5 he will discuss the recent Passover Sader at Corinth. In 1Cor. 11:23-34 he addresses the significance of the Passover and especially being worthy to drink the wine which is the Yayin Hameshumar.
In 1Cor. 15:54 he cites Isaiah 25:8 a passage of Isaiah which immediately follows the description of the Messianic Banquet in Isaiah 25:6-7:
6 And in this mountain shall YHWH of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
7 And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.
8: He will swallow up death in victory; and the Adonai YHWH will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for YHWH has spoken it.
Notice that the Yayin HaMeshumar is something which “from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither has the eye seen” (Is. 64:3) elsewhere Isaiah writes:
So shall he sprinkle many nations, kings shall shut their mouths
because of him, for that which had not been told them shall they see
and that which they have not heard shall they perceive.
(Is. 52:15)
Thus the “suffering servant” song of Isaiah 53 is the message that “eye has not seen”, it is the Yayin HaMeshumar.
The Midrash Rabbah to Num. 13:2 (500) says:
Because hr bared his soul unto death (Is. 53:12)
and bruised themselveswith the Torah which is sweeter than honey,
the Holy One, blessed be He, will hereafter give them to drink
of the wine kept in its grapes since the six days in the beginning….
(Midrash Rabbah to Numbers 13:2 (500))
Thus Paul writes:
But we speak the wisdom of Eloah
in a mystery that was hidden
And [that] Eloah had before separated
from before the ages for our glory.
That not one of the authorities of this world knew,
for if they had known it,
they would not have crucified the Adon of glory.
But as it is written:
The eye has not seen, and the ear has not heard,
and into the heart of a son of man has not entered
that which Eloah had prepared for those who love Him.
(1Cor. 2:7-9 HRV)
Not only is the Yayin HaMeshumar the blood of the Messiah, but it is more. It is the “mystery” of which the blood of Messiah is only part:
The Zohar says:
The Tzadik (The Righteous) is the Yesod (foundation) in Yah,
the mystery (SOD) which is the wine which has been kept
in its grapes from the six days in the beginning.
(Zohar; Roeh M’haimna on Pinchas)
There is a clear connection here because SOD (“mystery”) has a gematria (numerical value) of 70 which is also the gematria of YAYIN (“wine”). Just as the Zohar identifies the “mystery” with the Yayin HaMeshumar, so does Paul in 1Corinthians.
For Paul goes on to further identify the Yayin HaMeshumar as follows:
10 But Eloah has revealed [it] to us by his spirit, for the spirit searches into everything, even the deep things of Eloah.
11 For who is the son of man who knows what is in a son of man except the spirit of the son of man that [is] in him? So also, that which is in Eloah, no man knows except the Spirit of Eloah.
12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the spirit that is from Eloah, so that we might know the gifts that were given to us from Eloah;
13 Which also we speak, not in the teaching of words of the wisdom of sons of men, but in the teaching of the spirit, and to spiritual men we compare spiritual things.
14 For the son of man who is in the nefesh does not receive spiritual things, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to know that which is judged spiritually.
15 Now the spiritual man judges all things, and is not judged from man.
16 For who knows the mind of YHWH that he might instruct him? (Is. 40:13) But we have the mind of the Messiah.
(1Cor. 2:10-16)
Paul identifies the Yayin HaMeshumar with the “words of wisdom” (2:13) as well as the “mind of YHWH” or the “mind of Messiah” (1Cor. 2:16) and with the spiritual “gifts” (1Cor. 2:10-16) which he will elaborate upon later in the letter (1Cor. 12-14).
So next time you partake of the cup of redemption in the Passover sader, realize that this cup is symbolic of the Yayin HeMeshumar, the wine that has been kept from the six days in the beginning, the blood of the lamb slain from the foundation which has been hidden and separated and prepared for those who love him. It is not just the blood of the New Covenant, it is the Mind of YHWH and the spiritual gifts that he has prepared for us.
The Mystery of the Broken Matzah Revealed
By
James Scott Trimm
Very important to the Passover seder are the ceremonies related to the three matzah. The seder begins with three Matzahs which are kept in compartments in a special linen bag called a MATZAH TESH also referred to as a “unity” by the Rabbis. During the seder the middle matzah is broken. The broken portion is wrapped in linen and hidden away until the end of the seder, when it is brought out and eaten at the end of the meal as the AFIKIOMEN.
The three Matzahs recall the three measures of fine meal from which Sarah made three cakes for the “three men” who came to Avraham by the Oaks of Mamre.
1 And YHWH appeared unto him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day.
2 And he lifted up his eyes and looked. And behold, three men stood over against him. And when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed down to the earth,
3 And said, YHWH. If now I have found favor in your sight, pass not away I pray you, from your servant.
4 Let now a little water be fetched and wash your feet, and recline yourselves under the tree.
5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and stay you your heart. After that, you shall pass on, forasmuch as you are come to your servant. And They said: So do, as you have said.
6 And Avraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly, three measures of fine meal; knead it, and make cakes.
(Gen. 18:1-6 HRV)
The Hebrew word for “cakes” here is EGOT (plural for EGAH). The Greek translators used a very interesting word to translate this word with EGKRUFIAS. The typical word for such a “cake” is EGKRIS. The word EGKRUFIAS seems to merge this word with the Greek word KRUFIAS meaning “hidden, secret, concealed”. It may be that EGKRIS is fried, while EGKRUFIAS is baked by covering it with a cover which is covered in hot coals. At any rate the ancient Jewish writer Philo, who lived about the same time as Yeshua, quickly noticed the unusual Greek word here. Philo writes concerning Gen. 18:6:
Now it is very good that these three measures should, as it were, be kneaded together in the soul, and mixed up together, in order that so the soul, being persuaded that the supreme being is God, who has raised his head above all his powers, and who is beheld independently of them, and who makes himself visible in them, may receive the characters of his power and beneficence, and becoming initiated into the perfect mysteries, may not be too ready to divulge the divine secrets to any one, but may treasure them up in herself, and keeping a check over her speech, may conceal them in silence; for the words of the scripture are, “To make secret cakes (EGKRUFIAS)” (Gen. 18:6) because the sacred and mystic statements about the one uncreated Being, and about his powers, ought to be kept secret; since it does not belong to every one to keep the deposit of divine mysteries properly.
(On Birth of Able XV 59-60)
Philo goes on to tie these three measures for three cakes in with the “cakes” of unleavened bread eaten at Passover. He writes:
For the stream of the intemperate soul, flowing outwards through the mouth and tongue, is pumped up and poured into all ears. Some of which having wide channels, keeps that which is poured into them with all cheerfulness; but others, through the narrowness of the passages, are unable to be bedewed by it. But that which overflows being poured forth in an unrestrained manner, is scattered in every direction: so that what has been concealed escapes and floats on the top of it, and, like a random torrent of mud, bears along with it in its flood, things worthy of being tended with all care. In reference to which, those persons appear to me to have come to a right decision who have been initiated in the lesser mysteries before learning anything of these greater ones. “For they baked their flour which they brought out of Egypt , baking secret cakes (EGKRUFIAS) of unleavened Bread.” (Exodus 12:39). That is to say, they dealt with the untameable and savage passions, softening them with reason as they would knead bread; fore they did not divulge the manner of their kneading and improving it, as it was derived from some divine system of preparation; but they treasured it up in their secret stores, not being elated at the knowledge of the mystery, but yielding and being lowly as to their boasting.
(On Birth of Able XVI. 61-62)
Who were these “three men” in Genesis 18 which correspond to the three measures of flour for the three “secret cakes”? The Zohar comments on this passage saying:
Who were the “three men”? They are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…”
(Zohar 1:98b)
This does not mean that Abraham Isaac and Jacob appeared before Abraham. In the Kabbalah Abraham, Isaac and Jacob represent the Three Pillars of the Godhead, as we read in the Bahir:
Through the merit of Abraham who was worthy of the attribute of Kindness (CHESED), Isaac was worthy of the attribute of Terror (PACHAD), Jacob was worthy of the attribute of Truth, which is the attribute of Peace.
(Bahir 137)
Abraham… was worthy and took Kindness (CHESED) as his attribute, as it is written “Kindness to Abraham” (Mic. 7:20). Isaac… was worthy and took the attribute of Strength (GEVURAH), which is called Terror (PACHAD). It is thus written “And Jacob swore by the terror of Isaac his father.” (Gen. 31:53)… Abraham is above and Isaac is below him, you will be in the center and take all three. What is the center? It is peace , as it is written “You give truth to Jacob” (Mic. 7:20). Truth is identical with peace, as it is written “Words of peace and truth” (Est. 9:30) It is also written “For peace and truth will be in my days” (2Kn. 20:19)
(Bahir 190)
(Kindness, Truth/Peace and Strength/Terror are terms commonly used to refer to the Three Pillars.)
Throughout this chapter the scribes altered several occurrences of YHWH to “Adonai” (verses 3, 22, 27, 30, 31 and 32). These are six of the 134 places where the scribes altered Adonai to YHWH, all in this one chapter.
Philo says of these “three men”:
…the one in the middle is the Father of the universe, who in the sacred scriptures is called by his proper name, I am that I am; and the beings on each side are those most ancient powers which are always close to the living God, one of which is called his creative power, and the other his royal power. And the creative power is God, for it is by this that he made and arranged the universe; and the royal power is the Lord, for it is fitting that the Creator should lord it over and govern the creature. (122) Therefore, the middle person of the three, being attended by each of his powers as by body-guards, presents to the mind, which is endowed with the faculty of sight, a vision at one time of one being, and at another time of three;
(On Abraham XXIV 121b-122a)
After some bit more he writes that one of these three was the “Word”
For this reason, it seems to me to have been, that Sarah, (Genesis 18:15.) the namesake of virtue, who had previously laughed, denied her laughter to the person who questioned her as to the cause of it, fearing lest she might be deprived of her rejoicing, as belonging to no created being, but to God alone; on which account the holy Word (Logos) encouraged her, and said, “Be not afraid,” thou hast laughed a genuine laugh, and thou hast a share in real joy…
(On Abraham XXXVI 206)
Thus the Three Matzahs represent for us the Three Pillars of the Godhead, as we read in the Zohar:
Then Elohim said, “Let thee be light; and there was
light. And Elohim saw that the light was good…
Why, it may be asked, was it necessary to repeat the word “light” in this verse? The answer is that the first “light” refers to the primordial light which is of the Right Hand, and it is destined for the “end of days”; while the second “light” refers to the Left Hand, which issues from the Right.
The next words, “And God saw the light that it was good” (Gen. 1:4), refer to the pillar which, standing midway between them, unites both sides, and therefore when the unity of the three, right, left, and middle, was complete, “it was good”, since there could be no completion until the third had appeared to remove the strife between Right and Left, as it is written, “And God separated between the light and between the darkness.”…
This is the Middle Pillar: Ki Tov (that it was good) threw light above and below and on all other sides, in virtue of YHWH, the name which embraces all sides.
(Zohar 1:16b)
The Three Matzah are placed together to show their unity, as we read in the Zohar of the Three Pillars of the Godhead:
The [profession of] unity that every day is [a profession of] unity is to be understood and to be perceived. We have said in many places that this prayer is a profession of Unity that is proclaimed:
“Hear O Yisrael, YHWH“ first, [then] “Eloheynu” [and] “YHWH” they are all One and thus He is called “One”.
Behold, these are three names, how can they be one? Is it because we call them one? (literally: And also concerning the proclamation that we call them one?). How these are one can only through the vision of the Holy Sprit be known? And these are through the vision of the closed eye (or the hidden eye) To make known that these three are one (i.e. a Tri-Unity).
And this is the mystery of the voice that is heard. The voice is one. And is three GAUNIN: fire and air and water. And all these are one in the mystery of the voice.
And also here “YHWH, Eloheynu, YHWH” these are One. Three GAUNIN that are One. And this is the voice of the act of a son of man in [proclaiming] the Unity. And to which he sees by the Unity of the “All” from Eyn Sof (the Infinite One) to the end of the “All”. Because of the voice in which it is done, in these are three that are one (i.e. a Tri-Unity).
And this is the [profession] of the daily profession of Unity that is revealed in the mystery of the Holy Spirit.
And there are many GAUNIN that are a Unity, and all of them are true, what the one does, that the other does, and what that one does, the other does.
(Zohar 2:43)
Genesis 18 ends with:
And YHWH went His way as soon as He had left off speaking to Avraham, and
Avraham returned unto his place.
(Gen. 18:33 HRV)
And the next chapter begins:
And the two angels came to S’dom at even, and Lot sat in the gate of S’dom. And Lot
saw them, and rose up to meet them, and he fell down on his face to the earth.
(Gen. 19:2 HRV)
Why “two angels”? Because one of the “three men” being called “YHWH” in the previous chapter “went His way”, while the other two “came to S’dom”. As the Zohar comments on this passage:
Rabbi Jose pointed that the preceding verse, “And the Lord went His way as soon as he had left off peaking with Abraham”, indicates that only when the Shekinah departed from Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place, did the two angels come to Sodom at eve. It says two because one of the angels departed in the Shekinah, leaving only two.
(Zohar 1:106a-106b)
In verse 18 Lot addresses these two “angels” as YHWH. Once again the scribes have altered this passage to read Adonia, but the original read YHWH (This is one of 134 places where the MT reads “Adonai” but which the Masorah indicates that the text originally read “YHWH” and had been altered by the scribes in an attempt on their part to clarify the text.)
Then we get to verse 24 where we read:
Then YHWH caused to rain upon S’dom and upon Amora,
brimstone and fire from YHWH, out of heaven.
(Gen. 19:24 HRV)
The Zohar says of this passage:
And YHWH caused to rain upon Sodom. The term V’YHWH (and YHWH)
signifies the grade of the lower Court which requires authorization from on high.
(Zohar 1:107b)
The Targum Onkelos paraphrases the passage:
And the Word of YHWH caused to rain upon S’dom and upon Amora,
brimstone and fire from YHWH, out of heaven.
(Gen. 19:24 Targum Onkelos)
Thus identifying the YHWH which causes the rain to come down from YHWH out of Heaven to be the “Word of YHWH”.
It is worth noting that according to the Talmud (San. 38b) a certain Min used this very passage in debating the deity of Messiah with Rabbi Ishmael ben Jose.
It is important to define this Talmudic term MIN (singular) / MINIM (plural).
The fourth century “Church Father” Jerome writes of the Nazarenes and Ebionites:
What shall I say of the Ebionites who pretend to be Christians?
Today there still exists among the Jews in all the synagogues
of the East a heresy which is called that of the Minæans,
and which is still condemned by the Pharisees; [its followers]
are ordinarily called ‘Nazarenes’; they believe that Christ,
the son of God, was born of the Virgin Mary, and they hold him
to be the one who suffered under Pontius Pilate and ascended
to heaven, and in whom we also believe.”
(Jerome; Letter 75 Jerome to Augustine)
Now Ebionites and Nazarenes were two distinct groups with varying beliefs (the Ebionites split off from the Nazarenes round 70 C.E.) but both of these groups were known by Rabbinic Jews as ” Minim” or as Jerome calls them in Latin “Mineans”.
According to the Dictionary of the Targumim, Talmud Babli, Yerushalami and Midrashic Literature, Marcus Jastrow defines MIN “…sectarian, infidel… a Jewish infidel, mostly applied to Jew Christians”. Jastrow uses the term “Jew-Christians” to refer to Ebionites and Nazarenes although these groups did not call themselves “Christians”.
Many scholars believe that the term MIN began as an acronym for a Hebrew phrase meaning “Believers in Yeshua the Nazarene”.
The so-called “church fathers” also saw a special significance to this passage. Ireanaeus, who wrote around 185 C.E. writes:
And again, referring to the destruction of the Sodomites, the Scripture says:
“Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah
fire and brimstone from the Lord out of heaven.” (Gen. 19:24)
For it here points out that the Son, who had also been talking with Abraham, had received power to judge the Sodomites for their wickedness.
(Ireanaeus; Against Heresies 3:6:1)
When we examine the Zohar, the Targum, the Talmud, Philo and Ireaneus on this portion of Torah, it becomes clear that the three men that visit Avraham represent the three pillars of the Godhead. One of them returns to Heaven at the end of chapter 18, leaving “two angels” in chapter 19 which are also called “YHWH” and which cause fire and brimstone to rain out from YHWH which had returned to Heaven.
The Greek translator of the LXX and Philo knew that the unleavened “cakes” of Ex. 12:39 and the “cakes” of Gen. 18:6 contained a mystery. It was this mystery of the Three Pillars of the Godhead and the three Matzah of the Passover Seder that Yeshua referenced when, on the night of his betrayal he took the bread, and blessed and broke, and gave to His talmidim, saying: “Take you, and eat this, which is My body (Mt. 26:26; Lk. 22:19; Mk. 14:22) which is broken for your sakes; thus do for My memorial. (1Cor. 11:23-24).
This he broke into pieces and passed around to be eaten as the AFIKOMEN.
In the days before the destruction of the Temple, when the Passover lamb was still offered, a piece of the Passover lamb had to be the last thing eaten in the meal (m.Pessahim 10:8) so that one was left with the taste of the Passover lamb in the mouth. (b.Pes. 119b). Since the destruction of the Temple the broken middle matzah represents the Passover Lamb and becomes the AFIKOMEN. The word AFIKOMEN in Greek means “last thing eaten” but in Aramaic it means “My Presence has been raised up”.
This is the mystery of the three “secret cakes” of unleavened bread, and the broken middle matzah, the Middle Pillar of the Godhead, the Son of Yah.
The Truth about Kabbalah
By
James Scott Trimm
Part 1
There have been many broad sweeping attacks made on “Kabbalah” in the Hebraic Roots Community. The problem is that many of those who attack Kabbalah really do not know that much about it. This is complicated by the fact there are many things out there being called “Kabbalah” (sometimes spelled “Cabala” or “Qabala” or some other variation) which are not true Jewish Kabbalah, and this has created a good deal of misinformation on the topic as well.
The truth is that many Orthodox Rabbis who have come to know Yeshua as the Messiah, have come to their conclusions largely through Kabbalah.
In 1665 Jewish Kabbalist Solomon Meir Ben Moses accepted Yeshua as the Messiah when using Kabbalitic methods, he found a series of messages embedded in the first word of the Torah pointing to Yeshua as the Messiah.
In the 19th Century Rabbi Tzivi Nasi, an Orthodox Rabbi from Poland accepted Messiah and wrote a book called The Great Mystery: How Can Three Be One? Showing the Messiah as the incarnate Word, the Son of Yah and the Middle Pillar of the Godhead in the Zohar and other Kabbalistic texts.
(this book is available at http://nazarenespace.com/page/books-dvds )
In the 1980’s my old mentor Rabbi Moyal, an Orthodox Rabbi from Israel accepted Yeshua as the Messiah based largely on material he found in the Zohar.
(see http://nazarenespace.com/profiles/blogs/testimony-of-rabbi-moyal )
Until his death in 2006 Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri was one of the most renowned Mizrahi Haredi rabbis and kabbalists in Israel. He was known as “The Elder Kabbalist.” In January 2006, Rabbi Kaduri was hospitalized with pneumonia in the Bikur Holim hospital in Jerusalem, where there wasn’t an authomatic artificial respirator, which was donated by a close person. He died at around 10 p.m. on January 28, 2006 (29 Tevet 5766). He was alert and lucid until his last day. An estimated 300,000 people took part in his funeral procession on January 29, which started from the Nachalat Yitzchak Yeshivah and wound its way through the streets of Jerusalem to the Givat Shaul cemetery near the entrance to the city of Jerusalem. In 1908 Kaduri received a blessing by Yosef Chaim (Yoseph Ḥayyim) (1 September 1832 – 30 August 1909) who was a leading hakham (Sephardic Rabbi), authority on Jewish law (Halakha) and Master Kabbalist, that before his death Kaduri would see the Messiah. In a 1990 meeting with Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the last Rebbe of the Lubavitch movement, Schneerson also spoke a blessing to Kaduri that Kaduri would not pass from this world until he met the Messiah. These blessings was fulfilled on 9 Cheshvan 5764 (4 November 2003) in a mystical vision when Kaduri spoke with the Messiah and the Messiah revealed His name to Kaduri. Kaduri later told his disciples that the revealed name of the Messiah would be found hidden among his writings. Shortly before his death Rabbi Kaduri wrote a short note with instructions not to open until one year after his death. The note was penned in Hebrew and signed in the rabbi’s name. It read:
בעניין הר”ת [ראשי תיבות, ע.י.] של משיח. ירים העם ויוכיח שדברו ותורתו עומדים. באתי על החתום בחודש הרחמים [אלול, ע.י] התשס”ה,
יצחק כדורי
Concerning the letter abbreviation of the Messiah’s name, He will lift the people and prove that His Word and His Torah are valid.
This I have signed in the month of mercy (Elul),
Yitzhak Kaduri
The first letter of each word in the phrase in Hebrew spells Yahushua or in modern pronunciation Yehoshua, the long form of the name Yeshua.
(see: http://nazarenespace.com/xn/detail/2182335:BlogPost:162423 )
It was the Kabbalah that led each of these Orthodox Rabbis to Yeshua as the Messiah.
The Four Levels of the Oral Law
In a previous article I have shown that Moshe received not only the Written Torah on Mount Sinai, but an Oral Torah as well. (see: http://nazarenespace.com/page/nazarenes-and-the-oral-law ) The Oral Torah may be thought of as having four layers: The Pashat (the basic level); the Remez (the implied level); The Drash (the allegorical or homiletical level) and the Sod (the hidden, mystical or secret level).
As we dig deeper into the Torah we peal back these layers, each one getting deeper and more intense, like the layers of an onion.
In the Rabbinic literature the Mishna represents the Pashat level. The Talmud (the Gemara) contains the implied level, inferring from the Mishna. The Midrashim contain the allegorical or homiletical level. Finally the Zohar contains the Sod level. For this reason it is said that the Kabbalah is “The Soul of the Torah”.
The Kabbalah is not a book, it is an area of knowledge. It is the Sod level of the Oral Law. Just as the Talmud deals with the area of halacha (customs and practices), the Midrashim deal largely with Aggada (narrative material) the Zohar contains the Kabbalah.
The Mystery of Elohim
Now the minute the word “mysticism” is used, many people panic. The word “mysticism” derives from the word “mystery.” In this case the reference is to what Paul calls the “mystery of Eloah” (1Cor. 2:1).
1 My brothers, when I came to you, I declared to you the mystery of Eloah; not with
great words or with wisdom.
2 And I did not judge my nefesh among you, as though I knew a thing, except Yeshua
the Messiah, and also His being crucified.
3 And I was with you in much fear and in trembling.
4 And my words and my proclaiming was not by persuasion of words of wisdom, but by
demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 That your trust would not be by the wisdom of the sons of men, but by the power of
Eloah.
6 Now we speak wisdom among the mature; not the wisdom of this world, nor of the
authorities of this world who come to naught:
7 But we speak the wisdom of Eloah in a mystery that was hidden, and [that] Eloah had
before separated, from before the ages; for our glory,
8 That not one, of the authorities of this world knew: for if they had known it, they
would not have crucified the Adon of glory.
9 But as it is written, The eye has not seen, and the ear has not heard, and into the
heart of a son of man has not entered … that which Eloah has prepared for those
who love Him. (Isaiah 52:15; 64:3 (4))
10 But Eloah has revealed [it] to us by His Spirit, for the Spirit searches into everything,
even the deep things of Eloah.
11 For who is the Son of Man who knows what is in a son of man except the Spirit of the
Son of Man that [is] in him? So also, that which is in Eloah no man knows, except the
Spirit of Eloah.
12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from Eloah, so
that we might know the gifts that were given to us from Eloah,
13 Which also we speak, not in the teaching of words of the wisdom of sons of men, but
in the teaching of the Spirit, and to spiritual men we compare spiritual things.
14 For the son of man who is in the nefesh, does not receive spiritual things, for they are
foolishness to him, and he is not able to know that which is judged spiritually.
15 Now the spiritual man judges all things, and is not judged from man.
16 For who knows the mind of YHWH that he might instruct Him? (Isaiah 40:13; Wisdom 9:13) But we have the
mind of the Messiah.
(1Cor. 2:1-16 HRV)
In verse 9 Paul quotes from the Prophet Isaiah who writes:
And whereof from of old men have not heard,
nor perceived by the ear, neither has the eye seen
an Elohim beside You, who works for him that
waits for Him.
(Is. 64:3(4))
There is a Baraita (a pre-talmudic tradition of the oral law which was not incorporated in the Mishnah) on this verse that appears twice in the Talmud once in the Midrash Rabbah and four times in the Zohar. The following is the Baraita as it appears in the Talmud:
What is the meaning of “Eye has not seen” (Is. 64:3)
Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said:
This is the wine that has been kept
in its grapes from the six days in the beginning.
(b.Berakot 34b; b.Sanhedrin 99a)
The phrase “wine that has been kept” in the Hebrew is Yayin HaMeshumar “wine of keeping”. The tradition of the Yayin HaMeshumar runs deep in traditional Judaism. It is the wine that will be served at the Messianic Feast when the Messiah re-establishes the Kingdom of Israel on earth.
In his first letter to the Corinthians Paul also quotes, or perhaps we should better say paraphrases Is. 64:3(4) as follows:
But as it is written:
The eye has not seen, and the ear has not heard,
and into the heart of a son of man has not entered
that which Eloah had prepared for those who love Him.
(1Cor. 2:9 HRV)
Note that Paul’s citation is influenced by the Baraita as the actual text of Isaiah says that “eye has not seen… an Elohim beside you” but Paul says “Eye has not seen… that which Eloah has prepared for those who love Him.” And the Baraita has “Eye has not seen… the wine which has been kept…”.
Now lets look at Paul’s quote in context:
But we speak the wisdom of Eloah
in a mystery that was hidden
And [that] Eloah had before separated
from before the ages for our glory.
That not one of the authorities of this world knew,
for if they had known it,
they would not have crucified the Adon of glory.
But as it is written:
The eye has not seen, and the ear has not heard,
and into the heart of a son of man has not entered
that which Eloah had prepared for those who love Him.
(1Cor. 2:7-9 HRV)
When we look at Paul’s context we see an even greater influence from the Baraita of the Yayin HaMeshumar “…a mystery that was hidden and that Eloah had before separated from before the ages… eye has not seen… that which Eloah has prepared for those who love Him.”
It is clear that Paul here must be referring to the Yayin HaMeshumar as his audience is, no doubt, familiar with this Baraita to Is. 64:3.
Likewise the Zohar says:
The Tzadik (The Righteous) is the Yesod (foundation) in Yah,
the mystery (SOD) which is the wine which has been kept
in its grapes from the six days in the beginning.
(Zohar; Roeh M’haimna on Pinchas)
There is a clear connection here because SOD (“mystery”) has a gematria (numerical value) of 70 which is also the gematria of YAYIN (“wine”). Just as the Zohar identifies the “mystery” with the Yayin HaMeshumar, so does Paul in 1Corinthians.
For more on the Yayin HaMeshuamar see http://nazarenespace.com/profiles/blogs/the-yayin-hameshumar-the-wine )
Hermetic Cabala vs. Jewish Kabbalah
Not everything that is called Kabbalah is true Jewish Kabbalah. It is important to distinguish true Jewish Kabbalah from so-called Hermetic Kabbalah (often spelled Hermetic Cabala or Hermetic Qabbala) arose in the 1500’s. It grew out of a movement known as Christian Cabala that arose in the 1500’s during the renaissance when certain Christian scholars sought to combine Jewish Kabbalah with Christian mysticism. Some of these Christian mystics also sought to combine pagan Hermeticism. Hermeticism is a pagan occult teaching based on the alleged teachings of Hermes known to the Egyptians as “Thoth.”
Hermetic Cabala is not to be confused with Jewish Kabbalah they are clearly two very different things. For example one Hermetic Cabbalist writes:
…in devout Jewish circles in which Cabala had its origins,
involved using the idea of the symbolic alphabet as a way to
interpret the holy books of Judaism…. This belief can still
be found today in Cabalistic circles within orthodox Judaism,
but the main current of the magical Cabalistic tradition [Hermetic
Cabala] passed long ago beyond dogmatic reliance on any
one traditional set of Scriptures.
(Paths of Wisdom; Principles of the Practice of Magical Cabala
in the Western Tradition; John Michael Greer p. 21-22)
Any attempt to discredit Jewish Kabbalah because of the occult connections of Hermetic Cabala is dishonest to the highest degree. Hermetic Cabala is not rooted in Jewish Kabbalah, it departs from Jewish Kabbalah almost entirely. It is rooted in Gentile Christian Cabala and Pagan Hermeticism. Seeking to discredit Jewish Kabbalah because of the occultism of Hermetic Cabala is like trying to discredit Yeshua because of the pagan origins of Christmas.
Practical Kabbalah
The next issue to discuss is to attack so-called “occultism” in Jewish Kabbalah, especially that area of Jewish Kabbalah known as “Practical Kabbalah”. Some have wrongly associated “Practical Kabbalah” with sorcery and witchcraft.
In fact sorcery, necromancy and the use of unholy Names, are prohibited in Kabbalah. Learning about these matters was not prohibited. In fact, at times it is helpful information in combating the forces of evil. Unfortunately, because information on these matters was at times included in books with information on acceptable, practical Kabbalah, some Gentiles mistakenly grouped them all together giving Kabbalah in general a negative reputation among the Gentiles.
Manifestations of the Ruach
One of the areas of true practical Kabbalah is that which Paul calls the “manifestations of the Ruach” (1Cor. 12). Among these manifestations is the “working of miracles.” It has been pointed out that one man’s “miracle” is another man’s “sorcery”. For example the Talmud and the Toldot Yeshu both characterize Yeshua’s miracles as “sorcery” and Christians since the middle ages have also often characterized Jewish Practical Kabbalah as “witchcraft”.
It is important to distinguish “Practical Kabbalah” and the “manifestations of the Spirit” from “Witchcraft” or “Sorcery”. Terms like “Magician”, “witch”, and “sorcerer” are generally ascribed to those who make use of unholy names (names of demons, pagan gods) or engage in other harmful practices. In Exodus we read, “You shall not tolerate a sorceress to live.” (22:17).
The use of Names of Elohim and divine invocation, on the other hand, is thought of as being a higher class of activity. Practices, which invoke Elohim or other supernatural aid (such as angels) and/or use true sacred Names are permitted as “miracles”.
True practical Kabbalah deals with the manifestations of the Ruach and not witchcraft of Sorcery which the true Jewish Kabbalah actually forbids.
The Zohar Says….
Those who attack the Kabbalah often do so by quoting or citing something from the Zohar which they find objectionable. There are a number of reasons that this kind of attack is unwarranted.
The Zohar is to Kabbalah what the Talmud is to Halacha. One may cite or quote things from the Talmud that we as Nazarenes would not agree with, but that does not negate truth of the concept of the Oral Law. The Talmud is simply the Rabbinic account of the Oral Law. In the same way the Zohar is the Rabbinic account of the Kabbalah, and there may well be material in the Zohar that we as Nazarenes would disagree with, just as there is material in the Talmud we would disagree with.
Another problem with these kinds of attacks is that the Zohar, like the Talmud, includes debates and discussions by the Rabbis on the subjects it covers. Like the Talmud, the Zohar often presents contradictory and opposing views, and both minority and majority views in its own text.
Finally the Zohar often contains information that is intended to be understood as symbolic. Critics often misrepresent this material in a literal manner which it was not intended to be understood.
Kabbalah is Gnot Gnosticism
Another reason that is often used to attack Kabbalah is an alleged connection to Gnosticism, in fact one source goes so far as to call Kabbalah “Jewish Gnosticism”.
Of course “Gnosticism” actually comes from the Greek word Gnosis (Knowledge) and actually means “knowledge-ism”. Of course there is nothing wrong with knowledge, as we read in Hosea:
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge
I will also reject you, that you shall be no cohen to Me: seeing you have forgotten the law
of your Elohim, I also will forget your children.
(Hosea 4:6 HRV)
However when the term Gnosticsim is used it generally refers to the modern scholarly term used to describe a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices that were found among some of the early Christian groups called “gnostic” (“learned”) by Irenaeus and other early Christian “Church Fathers.”
Anyone who knows and understands the elements of Gnosticism could never confuse Kabbalah for Gnosticsim. Sure, Christian Gnostics were influenced by Kabbalah, because their Nazarene Jewish forefathers had passed the teachings of Kabbalah down to them. But there are very important differences between Kabbalah and Gnosicism.
An important characteristic of Gnosticsim was the teaching that the realization of Gnosis (esoteric or intuitive knowledge), is the way to salvation of the soul from the material world. They saw the material world as essentially evil and created through an intermediary being (demiurge) rather than directly by Elohim. In Gnosticsim this demiurge was seen as imperfect if not evil.
This is totally at odds with Kabbalah in which the Sefirot are aspects of Elohim who is the actual Creator and the creation itself is fundamentally good. Moreover the Zohar teaches salvation trough the atonement of the Messiah:
In the Garden of Eden there is a hall that is called the
“hall of the afflicted.” Now it is into this hall that
the Messiah goes and summons all the afflictions and pains
and sufferings of Israel to come upon him. And so they all
come upon him. And had he not eased the children of Israel
of their sorrow, and taken their burden upon himself, there
would be none who could endure the suffering of Israel
in penalty of neglecting the Torah. Thus it is written:
“Surely our diseases he did bear and our pains he carried.”
(Is. 53:5) As long as the children of Israel dwelt in the
Holy Land, they averted all afflictions and sufferings from
the world by the service of the sanctuary and by sacrifice.
But now it is the Messiah who is averting them from the
habitants of the world.
(Zohar 2:212a)
The Truth about Kabbalah (Part 2)
The Truth about Kabbalah
By
James Scott Trimm
Part 2
The Image of Elohim
The Kabbalist Isaac Luria taught that the Messiah is at the heart of Kabbalah, and certainly that is the case in the so-called New Testament. The New Testament is filled with Kabbalah. The authors of the so-called New Testament were clearly Kabbalists.
Now some have tried to argue that the Kabbalah itself is influenced by the so-called New Testament. Now of course the Rabbis of the Zohar and other Kabbalistic writings have no reason to write things that would seem to justify concepts in the so-called New Testament. But none-the-less if we also compare the writings of Philo, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Targums, we find unshakeable evidence that these ideas predate the so-called New Testament. Therefore it will become clear that the so-called New Testament makes use of the Kabbalah and not vice versa.
The Image of Elohim
At the core of Kabbalah is the “Image of Elohim” (Gen. 1:26-27). This “image of Elohim” was a manifestation of the Godhead, which served as a model for Adam called “Adom Kadmon” (“the primordial man”). Orthodox Jew and Kabbalist Aryeh Kaplan writes:
…the form (image) of Elohim in which He created man is actually Elohim’s blueprint form for man. This “form” or “blueprint” consisted of Elohim’s first thought in creation, and hence the highest level of creation. This is referred to as “Adam Kadmon” (Primeval Man).
(Bahir; Aryeh Kaplan; p. 95 in Kaplans commentary to Bahir 7)
Gershom Scholem writes:
In His active manifestations, the Godhead appears as the dynamic unity of the Sefiroth, portrayed as the “tree of the Sefiroth,” or the mystical human form (‘Adam Kadmon), who is none other than the concealed shape of Godhead itself.
(On the Mystical Shape of the Godhead; Basic Concepts in the Kabbalah; p. 39)
However, the Sefiroth do not appear only in the shape of the tree. They also appear in the form of Primal Man (‘Adam Kadmon),which corresponds to that of earthly man.
(ibid p. 43)
Philo writes similarly:
…For God does not seem to have availed himself
of any other animal existing in creation as his model
in the formation of man; but to have been guided,
as I have said before, by his own Word (Logos) alone…
(Philo; On Creation XLVIII (139))
And elsewhere:
As therefore the city, when previously shadowed out in
the mind of architectural skill had no external place, but
was stamped solely in the mind of the workman, so in
the same manner neither can the world which existed in
ideas have had any other local position except the
Logos (Word) which made them…
(Philo; On Creation V (20))
Not only does Philo identify the “Word” with this “Image of Elohim” which served as the model for our Creation. Elsewhere Philo identifies this “Word” as the Messiah:
“The head of all things is the eternal Word (Logos) of the eternal God, under which, as if it were his feet or other limbs, is placed the whole world, over which He passes and firmly stands. Now it is not because Messiah is Lord that He passes and sits over the whole world, for His seat with His Father and God but because for its perfect fullness the world is in need of the care and superintendence of the best ordered dispensation, and for its own complete piety, of the Divine Word (Logos), just as living creatures (need) a head, without which it is impossible to live.”
(Q&A on Exodus, II, 117)
Likewise we read in the so-called “New Testament”:
…the Messiah, who is the likeness of Elohim.
(2Cor. 4:4)
[his Son] who is the image of the invisible Elohim..
(Col. 1:15)
[the Son] who is the radiance of his glory, and the image of his being…
(Heb. 1:3)
The so-called New Testament teaches us to be conformed to this image of Elohim which was the original model for our creation:
But all of us, with open faces, behold the magnificence of YHWH as in a mirror, and we are being changed into that likeness from glory to glory as by the Spirit of YHWH.
(2Cor. 3:18) see 1Cor. 13:12; Ex. 33:18-34:8; 1Cor. 11:7
And from the first he knew he knew them and marked them out [to become] in the likeness of the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn of many brothers.
(Rom. 8:29)
And put on the newness that is renewed by knowledge, in the likeness of his Creator.
(Col. 3:10)
And like we have worn the likeness of the one who is from the dust, thus we will wear the likeness of the one who is from heaven.
(1Cor. 15:49)
All of this points back to Genesis where we read:
26 And Elohim said: Let us make man in our image; after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.
27 And Elohim created man in His own image: in the image of Elohim created He him; male and female created He them.
(Gen. 1:26-27 HRV)
What does this mean? Let US make man in OUR image?
The Zohar gives a very interesting answer:
And Elohim said, Let us make man (Gen. 1:26). The secret (SOD) is to them who fear him (Ps. 25:14)…
That most reverend Elder opened an exposition of this verse by saying ‘Simeon Simeon, who is it that said: “Let us make man?” Who is this Elohim?’ With these words the most reverend Elder vanished before anyone saw him.
R. Simeon, hearing that he had called him plain “Simeon”, and not “Rabbi Simeon”, said to his colleagues: ‘Of a surety this is the Holy One, blessed be He, of whom it is written: “And the Ancient of days was seated” (Dan. VII, 9). Truly now is the time to expound this mystery, because certainly there is here a mystery which hitherto it was not permitted to divulge, but now we perceive that permission is given.’
He then proceeded: ‘A king had several buildings to be erected, and he had an architect in his service who did nothing save with his consent (Prov. 8:30). The king is the supernal Wisdom above, the Middle Pillar is the king below: Elohim is the architect above, being as such the supernal Mother, and Elohim is also the architect below, being as such the Divine Presence (Shekinah) below. Now a woman may not do anything without the consent of her husband. And all the buildings were created through his Emanation (aziluth), the Father said to the Mother by means of the Word (amirah), “let it be so and so”, and straightway it was so, as it is written, “And he said, Elohim, let there be light, and there was light”: i.e. one said to Elohim, let there be light: the master of the building gave the order, and the architect carried it out immediately; and so with all that was constructed in the way of emanation.
(Zohar 1:22a)
The Zohar understands “US” and “OUR” to be reflected in the “male and female” image of Elohim mentioned in verse 27 and these are here referred to as “the Father” and “the Mother” just as YHWH is expressed as a Father (Mal. 1:6; Is. 63:16; 64:7) and as a Mother (Is. 66:13) in the Tanak.
YHWH as a “Mother” is the “Comforter” as Isaiah writes:
“As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you: and you shall be comforted in Yerushalayim.”
(Is. 66:13)
This “comforter” is what the so-called New Testament calls the Holy Spirit:
16 And I will ask of My Father, and He will give you another comforter that will be with you forever:
17 The spirit of Truth, that the world is not able to receive, because it has not seen, and does not know. But you know, because [the spirit] abides with you, and is in you.
(Jn. 14:16-17)
26 But the comforter, the Ruach HaKodesh, whom My Father will send in My Name, will teach you everything, and will remind you of that which I tell you.
(Jn. 14:26)
26 But when the comforter comes, whom I will send you from My Father–the Spirit of Truth who has proceeded from My Father–will testify concerning Me.
(Jn. 15:26)
7 But I tell you the truth: it is profitable for you that I go: for if I do not go, the Comforter will not come to you. But when I go, I will send the Comforter to you.
(Jn. 16:7)
Now Paul writes:
“what may be known of Elohim is manifest in them [mankind] his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead [or divine nature]…”
(Rom. 1: 19)
Then in Rom. 1:26-28 we are told that those who fail to perceive these things may fall into the errors of Homosexuality and Lesbianism. So when in creation were Elohim’s invisible attributes manifested in man and made clearly seen. The answer is in the Torah, in Gen. 1:26, 27 quoted above. Paul and the Zohar are saying the same thing here.
Now following the parallelism of the passage, “Our image”; “Our likeness” and “male and female” appear to be parallel terms.
These feminine and masculine attributes are represented in the Tanak as the Father (Jer. 31:9; Mal. 1:9; Is. 63:16; 64:8), the Mother (Is. 66:13) and the Son (Prov. 30:4; Ps. 2:2, 7, 12).
The Male and Female image of Father and Mother are the Elohim which the Zohar calls the “Architect above” while the “architect below” is the “Elohim below” or the “king below” and identified as the “Middle Pillar”. Elsewhere the Zohar identifies the Middle Pillar as the “Son of Yah”:
Better is a neighbor that is near, than a brother far off.
This neighbor is the Middle Pillar in the Godhead,
which is the Son of Yah.
(Zohar 2:115)
Here (Zohar 1:22a) the Zohar also identifies the Middle Pillar with the Word.
So the words “Let Us create man in Our own image” are spoken from the Father to the Mother (Holy Spirit) and this is the Elohim above, and these words are carried out by the Word which is the Son of Yah, the Middle Pillar, the Elohim below.
Just as we read in the so-called New Testament:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Eloah, and the Word was Eloah.
2 This was in the beginning, with Eloah.
3 Everything existed through Him, and without Him, not even one thing existed of that which existed.
(Yochanan (John) 1:1-3 HRV)
So now we have The Zohar, Philo and the so-called New Testament teaching the same basic things about the Image of Elohim as the Word.
The Truth about Kabbalah
By
James Scott Trimm
Part 3
The Middle Pillar
As we stated in Part 2, the Kabbalist Isaac Luria taught that the Messiah is at the heart of Kabbalah, and certainly that is the case in the so-called New Testament. The New Testament is filled with Kabbalah. The authors of the so-called New Testament were clearly Kabbalists.
Now some have tried to argue that the Kabbalah itself is influenced by the so-called New Testament. Now of course the Rabbis of the Zohar and other Kabbalistic writings have no reason to write things that would seem to justify concepts in the so-called New Testament. But none-the-less if we also compare the writings of Philo, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Targums, we find unshakeable evidence that these ideas predate the so-called New Testament. Therefore it will become clear that the so-called New Testament makes use of the Kabbalah and not vice versa.
The Middle Pillar of the Godhead
(Part 3 was previously published under the title “The Truth about the Shema”)
The opening of the Shema reads:
SH’MA YISRAEL YHWH ELOHEYNU YHWH ECHAD
“Hear O Israel, YHWH, our Elohim, YHWH is one (ECHAD)”
(Deut. 6:4)
Let us examine other passages in the Torah to understand how this word ECHAD (“one”) is used in the Torah:
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined
to his wife, and they shall become one [ECHAD] flesh.
(Gen. 2:24)
And YHWH said, “Indeed the people are one [ECHAD] and they
all have one language…
(Gen. 11:6)
Thus it is clear that the word ECHAD in no way requires a singularity and can refer to a composite unity.
Now let us to explore how this passage is understood by the Zohar:
The [profession of] unity that every day is [a profession of] unity
is to be understood and to be perceived. We have said in many places
that this prayer is a profession of Unity that is proclaimed:
”Hear O Yisrael, YHWH“ first, [then] “Eloheynu” [and] “YHWH” they are all One and thus He is called “One”.
Behold, these are three names, how can they be one? Is it because we call them one? (literally: And also concerning the proclamation that we call them one?). How these are one can only through the vision of the Holy Sprit be known. And these are through the vision of the closed eye (or the hidden eye) To make known that these three are one.
And this is the mystery of the voice that is heard. The voice is one. And is three GAUNIN: fire and air and water. And all these are one in the mystery of the voice.
And also here “YHWH, Eloheynu, YHWH” these are One. Three GAUNIN that are One. And this is the voice of the act of a son of man in [proclaiming] the Unity.
And to which he sees by the Unity of the “All” from Eyn Sof (the Inifinite One) to the end of the “All”. Because of the voice in which it is done, in these are three that are one.
And this is the [profession] of the daily profession of Unity that is revealed in the mystery of the Holy Spirit.
And there are many GAUNIN that are a Unity, and all of them are true, what the one does, that the other does, and what that one does, the other does.
(Zohar 2:43)
(The Aramaic word GA’UN (sing.)/GAUNIN (plural) comes from the word for “color” and refers to an “aspect, element, substance, essence”. )
Thus the Zohar understands the Sh’ma to mean that YHWH, Elohim and YHWH are three GA’UNIN. This section of the Zohar also recalls a reading from the Sefer Yetzirah:
Three “mothers”: Alef; Mem and Shin
Their foundation is a pan of merit
a pan of liability
and the tongue of decree deciding between them.
(Sefer Yetzirah 3:1)
Three “mothers”, Alef, Mem, Shin
in the universe are air, water, fire…
(Sefer Yetzirah 3:4a)
(Note: The letter SHIN has a gematria (numerical value) of 300 which is the same as the gematria of the phrase ”Ruach Elohim” (the Spirit of Elohim).)
As it we will demonstrate the “tongue of decree deciding between them” is the Middle Pillar of the Godhead which reconciles the two outer pillars of the Godhead.
The Three Pillars of the Godhead
The Zohar also calls these three GAUNIN the three pillars of the Godhead. The Zohar teaches that the two outer pillars are reconciled by the middle pillar just as the “tongue of decree” decides between the two pans of the scale in the Sefer Yetzirah. The Zohar reads as follows:
Why, it may be asked, was it necessary to repeat the word “light”
in this verse? The answer is that the first “light” refers to the
primordial light which is of the Right Hand, and is destined for
the “end of days”; while the second “light” refers to the Left Hand,
which issues from the Right.
The next words, “And God saw the light that it was good” (Gen. 1:4),
refer to the pillar which standing midway between them,
writes both sides, and therefore when the unity of the three,
right, left, and middle, was complete, “it was good”, since there
could be no completion until the third had appeared to remove
the strife between Right and Left, as it is written, “And God separated
between the light and between the darkness.” …
This is the Middle Pillar: Ki Tov (that it was good) threw light
above and below and on all other sides, in virtue of YHWH,
the name which embraces all sides.
(Zohar 1:16b)
The First Century Jewish Writer Philo says similarly that the Word reconciles the two sides:
…the Divine Word (Logos)…fills all things and becomes a mediator and arbitrator for the two sides….from the Divine Word (Logos), as from a spring, there divide and break forth two powers. One is the creative through which the Artificer placed and ordered all things. This is named “God”. And the royal, since through it the Creator rules over created things. This is called “Lord” And from these two powers have grown the others. For by the side of the creative power there grows the propitious of which is named “beneficial” while (besides) the royal the legislative, of which is aptly named “punitive”. And below these and beside them is the ark.”
(Philo on Q&A on Exodus, II.68)
The Middle Pillar of the Godhead is the Son of Yah
According to the Zohar the Middle Pillar of the Godhead is the Son of Yah:
Better is a neighbor that is near, than a brother far off.
This neighbor is the Middle Pillar in the Godhead,
which is the Son of Yah.
(Zohar 2:115)
The Zohar also says of the Son of YHWH:
The Holy One, blessed be He, has a son, whose glory (tifret)
shines from one end of the world to another. He is a great
and mighty tree, whose head reaches heaven, and whose roots
are set in the holy ground, and his name is “Mispar” and his
place is in the uppermost heaven… as it is written, “The heavens
declare (me-SaPRim) the glory (tifret) of God” (Ps. 19:1).
Were it not for this “Mispar” there would be neither hosts
nor offspring in any of the worlds.
(Zohar 2:105a)
This Zohar passage is intended to recall a passage from the Bahir:
Why are they called Sephirot?
Because it is written (Ps. 19:2),
“The heavens declare (me-SaPRim) the glory (tifret) of God.”
(Bahir 125)
The Zohar also says concerning the Son of Yah:
“We may also translate “he who withholds blessings
from the Son” (Prov. 11:26), whom the Father and Mother
have CROWNED and blessed with many blessings,
and concerning whom they commanded, “Kiss the SON
lest he be angry” (Ps. 2:12), since he is invested
with judgment (GEVURAH) and with mercy (CHESED)”
(Zohar 3:191b)
According to the Zohar, the Middle Pillar of the Godhead is not only known as the “Son of Yah” but also as “Metatron”:
Better is a neighbor that is near, than a brother far off.
This neighbor is the Middle Pillar in the godhead,
which is the Son of Yah.
(Zohar 2:115)
The Middle Pillar is also known as “Metatron”:
The Middle Pillar [of the godhead] is Metatron,
Who has accomplished peace above,
According to the glorious state there.
(Zohar 3:227)
In the Zohar we are also told that Metatron is “the firstborn”:
“And Abraham said to his oldest servant of his house…” (Gen. 24:2) Who is this of whom it said “his servant?” In what sense must this be understood? Who is this servant? R. Nehori answered:
“It is in no other sense to be understood than expressed in the word “His servant,”
His servant, the servant of Elohim, the chief to His service. And who is he? Metatron, as said. He is appointed to glorify the bodies which are in the grave.
This is the meaning of the words “Abraham said to His servant” that is to the servant of Elohim. The servant is Metatron, the eldest of His [YHWH's] House, who is the firstborn of all creatures of Elohim, who is the ruler of all He has; because Elohim has committed to Him the government over all His hosts.
(Zohar 1:129b)
So in Judaism both Israel and “The Son of Yah” are identified as the “first-born Son of YHWH”.
According to the first century Jewish writer Philo, this firstborn Son of Elohim is also known as “The Word.”
Philo Writes of the Word (Logos):
For there are, as it seems, two temples belonging to God; one being this world, in which the high priest is the divine word, his own firstborn son. The other is the rational soul, the priest of which is the real true man,
(On Dreams 215)
And if there be not as yet any one who is worthy to be called a son of God, neverthless let him labour earnestly to be adorned according to his Firstborn Word, the eldest of his angels, as the great archangel of many names; for He is called, “the Authority”, and “the Name of God”, and “the Word”, and “man according to God’s image”, and “He who sees Israel”. . . For even if we are not yet suitable to be called the sons of God, still we may deserve to be called the children of his eternal image, of his most sacred Word; for the image of God is his most ancient word.
( On the Confusion of Tongues XXVIII:146-147)
Thus, indeed, being a shepherd is a good thing, so that it is justly attributed, not only to kings, and to wise men, and to souls who are perfectly purified, but also to God, the ruler of all things; and he who confirms this is not any ordinary person, but a prophet, whom it is good to believe, he namely who wrote the psalms; for he speaks thus, “The Lord is my shepherd, and he shall cause me to lack Nothing;” (Ps. 23:1.) and let every one in his turn say the same thing, for it is very becoming to every man who loves God to study such a song as this, but above all this world should sing it. For God, like a shepherd and a king, governs (as if they were a flock of sheep) the earth, and the water, and the air, and the fire, and all the plants, and living creatures that are in them, whether mortal or divine; and he regulates the nature of the heaven, and the periodical revolutions of the sun and moon, and the variations and harmonious movements of the other stars, ruling them according to law and justice; appointing, as their immediate superintendent, his own right reason, his first-born son, who is to receive the charge of this sacred company, as the lieutenant of the great king; for it is said somewhere, “Behold, I am he! I will send my messenger before thy face, who shall keep thee in the Road.”(Ex. 23:20.)
(On Husbandry 50-51)
The Targums were authoritative Aramaic paraphrases of the books of the Tanak which were read in the synagogues along with the Hebrew of the Torah and Haftorah readings. Whenever the Targums come to passages where YHWH is anthropomorphisised or seen, or where two or more YHWHs are indicated by the text, the Targums will often substitute “The Word [Memra] of YHWH” for YHWH. For example in Gen. 19:4 the Tanak has:
Then YHWH caused to rain upon S’dom and upon Amora,
brimstone and fire from YHWH, out of heaven.
The Hebrew grammar here indicates that one YHWH rains fire from another YHWH) But Targum Jonathan substitutes “The Word of YHWH/the LORD” for the first of the two YHWHs as follows:
And the Word of the YHWH caused to descend
upon the peoples of Sodom and Gommorah,
brimstone and fire from the YHWH in heaven.
In another example the Torah has:
Ex. 24:1a (YHWH is the speaker, see Ex. 20:1-2)
Now He [YHWH] said to Moses, “come up to YHWH…”
But Targum Jonathan paraphrases the speaker in Ex. 20:1 with the substitution “the Word [Memra] of YHWH” in place of “YHWH.”
And the Word of the Lord spoke all these glorious words…
So it would seem that one of these entities called “YHWH” in these Torah passages was actually understood by the Targumists as being the “Word of YHWH.” It was, according to Targum Onkelos, this Word of YHWH that Abraham trusted in:
And Abraham trusted in the Word [Memra] of YHWH,
and He counted it to him for righteousness.
(Targum Onkelos Gen. 15:6)
Moreover Abraham prayed in the name of the Word of YHWH:
And Abraham worshipped and prayed
in the name of the Word [Memra] of YHWH,
and said, “You are YHWH who does see, but You cannot be seen.”
(Jerusalem Targum Gen. 22:14)
Note that here Abraham prays “in the name of the Word of YHWH” to the YHWH who “cannot be seen.” Here two YHWHs are very apparent. Abraham is praying in the name of the Word of YHWH but is praying to the YHWH who cannot be seen. This idea is reinforced elsewhere as follows:
And Hagar praised and prayed
in the name of the Word [Memra] Of YHWH
who had revealed Himself to her…
(Jerusalem Targum Gen. 16:3)
It was this Word of YHWH that Jacob also trusted in:
And Jacob vowed a vow, saying,
“If the Word [Memra] of YHWH will be my support,
and will keep me in the way that I go,
and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
so that I come again to my father’s house in peace;
then shall the Word [Memra]of YHWH be my God.
(Targum Onkelos on Gen. 28:20-21)
King David also urged Israel to trust in the Word of Yah as the Targum of Psalm 62 reads:
Trust in the Word of Yah at all times,
O people of the house of Israel!
Pour out before Him the sighings of your heart;
Say, God is our trust forever.
(Targum on Psalm 62:9)
This “Word of YHWH” was, according to Targum Jonathan, the Creator:
And the Word [Memra] of YHWH
created man in his likeness,
in the likeness of YHWH, YHWH created,
male and female created He them.
(Targ. Jonathan Gen. 1:27)
This idea is also put forward in the Jerusalem Targum:
And the Word [Memra] of YHWH said to Moses:
“I am He who said unto the world ‘Be!’ and it was:
and who in the future shall say to it ‘Be!’ and it shall be.”
And He said: “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel:
‘I Am’ has sent me to you.”
(Jerusalem Targum Ex. 3:14)
The Fragmentary Targum of the Torah also expresses that the Word of YHWH was the Creator:
The first night, when the “Word of YHWH”
was revealed to the world in order to create it,
the world was desolate and void,
and darkness spread over the face of the abyss
and the “Word of the Lord” was bright and illuminating
and He called it the first night.
(Fragmentary Targum Ex. 12:42)
That the Word of YHWH was the Creator can also be seen in the Tanak itself:
By the Word of YHWH were the heavens made,
And all the hosts of them by the Spirit of His mouth.
(Ps. 33:6)
The Word was also the covenant maker. For example the Noachdic covenant was between the Word and all mankind:
And YHWH said to Noah,
“This is the token of the covenant
which I have established between My Word [Memra]
and between all flesh that is upon the earth.
(Targum Onkelos Gen. 9:17)
The Word also made the Abrahamic covenant as Targum Onkelos also paraphrases:
And I will establish my covenant
between My Word [Memra] and between you…
(Targum Onkelos Gen. 17:7)
The Word of YHWH was also the giver of the Mosaic Covenant and the Torah as the Jerusalem Targum (as quoted above) makes the Torah giver “the Word of YHWH” in Ex. 20:1. It was to th e Word that Jacob turned to for salvation:
Our father Jacob said: “My soul does not wait for salvation
such as that wrought by Gideon, the son of Joash,
for that was but temporal; neither for a salvation
like that of Samson, which was only transitory;
but for that salvation which You have promised to come,
through Your Word unto Your people, the children of Israel;
for your salvation my soul hopes.”
(Targum Jonathan Gen. 49:18)
That the Word of YHWH is the savior is expressed elsewhere:
But Israel shall be saved by the Word of YHWH
with an everlasting salvation…
By the Word of YHWH shall all the seed of Israel be justified…
(Targum Jonathan Is. 45:17, 25)
But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah,
and I will save them by the Word of YHWH, their God.
(Targum Jonathan Hosea 1:7)
Furthermore Philo tells us that “The Word” (Logos) and the Messiah are one and the same:
“The head of all things is the eternal Word (Logos) of the eternal God, under which, as if it were his feet or other limbs, is placed the whole world, over which He passes and firmly stands. Now it is not because Messiah is Lord that He passes and sits over the whole world, for His seat with His Father and God but because for its perfect fullness the world is in need of the care and superintendence of the best ordered dispensation, and for its own complete piety, of the Divine Word (Logos), just as living creatures (need) a head, without which it is impossible to live.”
(Q&A on Exodus, II, 117)
Thus the Zohar teaches that the Sh’ma (Deut. 6:4) refers to the three pillars of the Godhead as being ECHAD and that the Middle Pillar of the Godhead reconciles the two outer Pillars. The Zohar further teaches that this Middle Pillar of the Godhead is the Son of Yah, the firstborn of all creation who will glorify all the bodies which are in the grave. This is the Word of YHWH in whom Abraham placed his faith and who made the covenant with Israel, and which is the Savior and is the Messiah.
The Story of Rabbi Shlomo Meir Ben Moshe
By
James Scott Trimm
Rabbi Shlomo Meir Ben Moshe (Salomon Meir Ben Moses) was an eminent rabbi of the seventeenth century. He was born at Casal in the duchy of Montserrat, in the year 1606. He was named Shlomo (Salomon) in memory of his grandfather, and Meir, which signifies “illuminating”, from the Torah reading from the day of his birtyh, which was the account of the birth of Moshe (Moses), whose entrance into the world tradition declares to have been distinguished by a supernatural light, which illuminated all his father’s house on that occasion.
When he was just thirteen year of age young Shlomo began to compose discourses in the Hebrew language; and he prosecuted his studies in the Talmud and Zohar for many years with such success, that he at length attained the reputation of one of the most learned Jews of that age.
Wherever he traveled, his lectures in the synagogues were heard with admiration; and the Jews at Jerusalem honored him with the title of “rabbi”, and frequently sent him to collect the eleemosynary contributions, which they are in the habit of receiving from their brethren in other countries of Asia, Africa, and Europe.
In 1665, at the age of fifty nine, Rabbi Shlomo came to the conclusion that Yeshua was in fact, the Messiah. The previously respected Rabbi soon found himself outcast from his Jewish brothers. And finding no Nazarene Jewish community in the 17th century, he saw no other option to become a Christian.
One of Rabbi Shlomo’s longtime friends had been a Jeweler named David Jouaillier. Jouaillier was so upset when he heard that Rabbi Moshe had embraced Yeshua as Messiah, that he publicly declared that he wished to have Rabbi Moshe’s heart, that he might broil it upon the coals, and then throw it to be devoured by the dogs.
One day Jouaillier accidentally ran into his former friend at the home of a common friend who was a Christian. Rabbi Shlomo inquired whether it was true that his old friend had uttered this savage wish. David acknowledged he had, and declared his persuasion, that, if their circumstances had been reversed, Rabbi Shlomo would have said the same. Shlomo asked his old friend if he would repeat this wish if Shlomo could prove that Yeshua was the Messiah. “By no means.” said David, “but how will you prove that faith to be true?”
Rabbi Moshe told his old friend that he could show him that Yeshua is the Messiah
in the very first word of the Torah.
David said that if Shlomo could do this, he would accept Yeshua as the Messiah immediately.
Rabbi Shlomo cautioned his friend to consider carefully that to which he was committing himself, but David was firm in his commitment.
Rabbi Shlomo began his exposition by pointing out that the first word of the Torah בראשית (bereshit) remarked that this word, literally translated, signifies In the beginning of, leaving an ellipsis, which some have supplied by inserting all, and others by repeating the second word in the text; as, In the beginning of all things, or In the beginning of the creation, Elohim created. This elliptical form of expression was used by Elohim, not for want of other words, but from design, to indicate some hidden mystery.
Divide the word into two, and you have בר אשית Bar ashith, I will appoint, set up, or place the Son. The word (בר) Bar has a twofold meaning : it also signifies grain, or bread, in allusion to the bread of the Passover, and to the words of Yeshua who said, ” I am the living bread, which came down from heaven.” There is great beauty in designating the Son by a term applicable also to bread, in preference to other words signifying only a Son; and there is likewise a striking propriety in the appellation here given to grain, which has been distinguished by three names adapted to the three different states in which men have been found:
Grain is also called דגן DAGAN which symbolizes that before the fall, man was to subsist on the produce of the tree of paradise, made into bread, and called דגן, which can also be translated, “of the garden.”
Wheat grain is also called חטא CHITTA which also means “sin” symbolizing the period from the fall of man to the coming of Messiah.
Finally grain is also called בר BAR which also means “son” symbolizing that since the coming of the Messiah, the bread symbolizes the incarnate Son of Yah ; according to the declaration of Yeshua, “If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever.”
David was delighted with the mystery being unfolded by Rabbi Shlomo.
Rabbi Shlomo then began to show his old friend a number of messages imbedded in the first word of the Torah, which he extracted via Notarikon (a Kabbalistic method by which a Hebrew word is taken to be an acronym, or by which an acronym is conversely made from a phrase.
The Rabbis have themselves found messages imbedded in the word בראשית. For example:
בראש’ת ראה אלוהים שיקבלו ישראל תורה
“In the beginning Elohim saw that Israel would receive the Torah”
Among messages Rabbi Moshe showed his friend:
“The Son, the Spirit, the Father, they are three, a perfect unity”
בן רוח אב שלושתם יחד תמים
“You shall worship My first-born, My first, whose name is Yeshua”
בכורי ראשוני אשר שמו ישוע תעבודו
“When the master shall come whose name is Yeshua, you shall worship”
בבוא רבן אשר שמו ישוע תעבודו
Rabbi Moshe showed his old friend many more proofs. David was overcome by the mysteries being unfolded by his old friend, and professed that Yeshua was in fact the Messiah.
The Story of Rabbi Tzvi Nassi
By
James Scott Trimm
Rabbi Tzvi Nassi (Hirsch Prinz) was born in Breslau, Silesia, on August 11th, 1800, he was the son of a rabbi and the youngest of six children. He was left an orphan at the age of fourteen and followed in his father’s footsteps as a Rabbi. In 1824 he published Predigten fur fromme Israeliten (“Sermons for Pious Israelites”).
In these early years Rabbi Nassi came to the conclusion that Yeshua was in fact the Jewish Messiah of Judaism and when he was about twenty-five years of age he began to introduce his congregations to readings from the New Testament. Rabbi Nassi had hoped to establish within the Jewish community, a synagogue of Jewish believers in Yeshua as the Messiah. Instead he was outcast from the Jewish community, alleged to have lost his mind. (In recent years anti-missionaries have claimed there is no evidence that Nassi had ever been a rabbi, saying that claim was a recent invention of Messianic Jews, but in fact the obituary published shortly after his death records his past as a rabbi.)
Having failed to restore a community of believers in Yeshua as Messiah within Judaism, Rabbi Nassi gave in and joined a Christian church and entered the ministry, changing his name to Christian William Henry Pauli. Despite this, Nassi never truly left his Jewishness behind and continued to immerse himself in his studies of the Targums, the Talumds, Midrashim, Sefer Yetzirah, the Bahir, the Zohar and Rabbinic commentaries.
Later he came to England, he was for some time a student in the University of Cambridge, and enjoyed the friendship of the late Rev. Charles Simeon. While at Cambridge he received an invitation from friends in Oxford. This he accepted, and on arriving at the latter University, he was appointed Lecturer in Hebrew. This post he held for thirteen years. Many of the undergraduates also attended his private classes for the study of the Hebrew language. At this time he published a Hebrew Grammar “Analecta Hebraica,” which became well known and much used by Hebrew students.
In 1863 Rabbi Nassi created quitre a stir when he published his monumental work, “The Great Mystery or How Can Three Be One?” which uses the Zohar and other Rabbinic sources to explore the truth of the deity of Messiah and the Three Pillars of the Godhead from a purely Jewish perspective. The title is taken from the following passage in the Zohar:
How can they (the three) be One?
Are they Truely One because we call them One?
How Three can be One can only be known
through the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
(Zohar 2:43)
A book which came to be passed around and studied secretly by Orthodox Jews for generations.
I was first exposed to Rabbi Nassi’s amazing treatise around 1988, at a time when I was struggling myself with the very issues discussed in the little book. At the time I was studying under my mentor, Rabbi Moyal, an Orthodox Rabbi from Israel, who had himself become a believer in Messiah. He gave me a copy of this little book which had been reprinted in Israel in 1970 and 1974. I was amazed at what I learned in such a short booklet. The book inspired me to research the subject further, and much of that research is found in the appendix to the edition which we now publish. Our own edition of this book is available from our online bookstore at: http://nazarenespace.com/page/books-dvds
In May 1874 Rabbi Nassi retired to Luton, in Bedfordshire, where he died on the 4th of May. He was the author of several works : “Sermons for Pious Israelites”; “The Great Mystery,” and a translation of the Aramaic Targum of Isaiah. During his last illness he we was reported to be overheard having conversations with “my Savior,” as he called Yeshua, as though he were visibly present to him, and by his side. His last words were “My Savior is nigh.”
While the Gentile Christian world came to know him as Reverend Christian William Henry Pauli, I will always remember him as Rabbi Tzvi Nassi.
The Amazing Story of Rabbi Isaac Lichtenstein
(From an account written over 90 years ago)
Rabbi Isaac Lichtenstein was an Orthodox Rabbi in the 19th century who came to the conclusion that Yeshua was the Jewish Messiah of Judaism. He he refused to become a “Christian,” he never left Judaism, claiming instead that he had found “true Judaism” and continued for twenty years as Rabbi of an Orthodox Synagogue where he taught from the so-called “New Testament” and proclaimed Yeshua as the Messiah of Judaism.
He was not yet 20 when he became a Rabbi, and after officiating for several years in different communities in northern Hungary, Isaac Lichtenstein finally settled as District Rabbi in Tapio Szele, where he remained for nearly 40 years, laboring ceaselessly and unselfishly for the good of his people.
Early in his career a Jewish teacher in the communal school of his district casually showed him a German Bible. Turning the leaves, his eye fell on the name “Jesu Christi.” He became furiously angry and sharply reproved the teacher for having such a thing in his possession. Taking the book, he flung it across the room in a rage; it fell behind others on a shelf where, dusty and forgotten, it lay some thirty-odd years.
About that time a fierce wave of anti-Semitism broke out in Hungary, culminating in the now historic “Tisza Eslar affair”. In that picturesque little Hungarian town, situated on the Theiss, 12 Jews and a Jewess were thrown into prison, accused of having killed a Christian girl in order to use her blood for ritual purposes — the most tragic part of the case being that a little Jewish boy, who had been kept some time from his parents by the police commissary, was prevailed on by threats and cruelties to appear as the chief witness against his own father (the synagogue sexton) and recite a concocted, false tale of the supposed murdered girl.
As in every other case in which this diabolical charge was ever brought against the Jews, the blood accusation in Tisza Eslar was ultimately demonstrated to be false and baseless. It remains to the glory of true religion that a number of prominent men who were believers in Jesus, notably Dr. Franz Delitzsch, a Biblical scholar and Professor at Leipzig University, rose to the occasion not only to defend the Jews, but also to tear the mask from all who by their acts scandalized Messiah in the eyes of Jewry.
The mental state of Rabbi Lichtenstein at this time is best revealed in his Judenspiegel (Jewish Mirror):
” ‘Often have they oppressed me from my youth, may Israel say’ (Psalm 129). No long explanation is needed to show that in these few words the Psalmist sums up the bitter experiences and sorrows which we, at least of the older generation, have suffered from our youth up at the hands of the Christian populations surrounding us.
“Mockery, scorn, blows, and all manner of humiliation, have been our portion even at the hands of Christian children. I remember still the stones which were thrown at us as we left the synagogue, and how, when bathing in the river, and powerless to prevent, we saw them cast our clothing, with laughter and insult, into the water.
“Once with sorrow and weeping, I saw my father felled to the ground without the least hesitation by a nobleman, so-called, because he had not quickly enough made room for him on a narrow path. But these sad experiences are known well enough to need no dwelling on; and would to God that such persecution of the Jews by the Christians were altogether a thing of the forgotten past!
“As impressions of early life take a deep hold, and as in my riper years I still had no cause to modify these impressions, it is no wonder that I came to think that Yeshua Himself was the plague and curse of the Jews — the origin and promoter of our sorrows and persecutions.
“In this conviction I grew to years of manhood, and still cherishing it I became old. I knew no difference between true and merely nominal Christianity; of the fountainhead of Christianity itself I knew nothing. Strangely enough it was the horrible Tisza Eslar blood accusation which first drew me to read the New Testament. This trail brought from their lurking-places all our enemies, and once again, as in olden times, the cry re-echoed, ‘Death to the Jew!’ The frenzy was excessive, and among the ringleaders were many who misused the name of Messiah and His doctrine as a cloak to cover their abominable doings.
“These wicked practices of men wearing the name of Jesus only to further their evil designs aroused the indignation of some true Christians, who, with pen on fire and warning voices, denounced the lying rage of the anti-Semites. In articles written by the latter in defense of the Jews, I often met with passages where Yeshua was spoken of as He Who brings joy to man, the Prince of peace, and the Redeemer; and His Gospel was extolled as a message of love and life to all people. I was surprised and scarcely trusted my eyes when I espied in a hidden corner the New Testament which some 30 years before I had in vexation taken from a Jewish teacher, and I began to turn over its leaves and read. How can I express the impression which I then received? “Not the half had been told me of the greatness, power and glory of this Book, formerly a sealed book to me. All seemed so new, arid yet it did me good, like the sight of an old friend who has laid aside his dusty, travel-worn garments, and appears in in festive attire, like a bridegroom in wedding robes, or a bride adorned with her jewels.” For two or three years Rabbi Lichtenstein kept these convictions locked in his own breast. He began, however, in his synagogue to preach strange and new doctrines which both interested and astonished his hearers. At last he could contain himself no longer. Preaching one Sabbath from Yeshua’s parable of the whited sepulcher, he openly avowed that his subject was taken from the New Testament and spoke of Yeshua as the true Messiah, the Redeemer of Israel. Ultimately he embodied his ideas in three publications appearing in rapid succession which created a tremendous sensation among the Jews, not only in Hungary, but throughout the continent of Europe. And no wonder; for here was an old and respected Rabbi, still in office, calling upon his people in burning words to align themselves under the banner of Yeshua of Nazareth, and to hail Him as their true Messiah and King.
As was inevitable, no sooner did official Jewry realize the significance of Rabbi Lichtenstein’s position and writings than a storm of persecution broke loose upon him. From the Jewish pulpit and in the Press anathemas were hurled at his head, and he who but a few weeks before was classed among the noblest leaders and teachers was now described as a disgrace and reproach to his nation — all because he dared pronounce the name of Yeshua.
The falsehood was spread that he had sold himself to the missionaries. Some even asserted that he had never written the pamphlets himself, but had only been bribed to affix his name to them. He was cited to appear before the assembled rabbinate in Budapest. On entering the hall he was greeted with the cry, “Retract! Retract!”
“Gentlemen,” said the Rabbi, “I shall most willingly retract if you convince me I am wrong.”
Chief Rabbi Kohn proposed a compromise. Rabbi Lichtenstein might believe whatever he liked in his heart, if he would only refrain from preaching about Yeshua. As to those dreadful pamphlets which he had already written, the mischief could be undone by a very simple process. The Synod of Rabbis would draw up a document to the effect that the Rabbi wrote what he did in a fit of temporary insanity and all that would be required of him would be to add his name to this statement. Rabbi Lichtenstein answered calmly but indignantly that this was a strange proposal to make to him seeing that he had only just come into his right mind. Then they demanded that he should resign his position and be formally baptized to indicate that he was leaving the Jewish people, but he replied that he had no intention of joining the state approved church. He had found in the New Testament the true Judaism, and would remain as before with his congregation, and preach it in the synagogue.
He did so, and this in spite of many persecutions and reproaches which were heaped upon him. From his official place as District Rabbi he continued to teach and to preach from the New Testament. This was a touching testimony to the strong attachment of his own community, which alone had the power to make request for his dismissal, Judaism being a state religion in Hungary. As a matter of fact much pressure was brought to bear upon them, and some members of the congregation and the relatives of his wife were completely ruined by loss of trade; but still they clung to him.
By this time Rabbi Lichtenstein and his writings had become widely known, and different church and missionary organizations sought his services. The Papacy soon learned of the existence and significance of the man, and a special emissary from the Pope visited Tapio Szele with tempting offers if he would but enter the service of Rome. To all he had but one reply: “I will remain among my own nation, I love Messiah, I believe in the New Testament; but I am not drawn to join Christianity. Just as the prophet Jeremiah, after the destruction of Jerusalem, in spite of the generous offers of Nebuchadnezzar and the captain of his host, chose rather to remain and lament among the ruins of the holy city, and with the despised remnant of his brethren, so will I remain among my own brethren, as a watchman from within and to plead with them to behold in Yeshua the true glory of Israel.”
At last, however, after losing his all in the endeavor to save some of the members of his congregation from ruin, and with his health much impaired by the many trials and sorrows which fell to his lot in consequence of his bold stand for the truth, he voluntarily resigned his office as District Rabbi. He settled in Budapest, where he found ample scope for his talents, but the opposition to him was relentless. He was shadowed and even physically attacked on the street. His barber was bribed to disfigure his beautiful beard. His landlord kept a close watch on everyone who visited him ‘and reported to the rabbinical authorities. But as a stream stemmed in its course forces for itself new channels, so he was continually interviewed and drawn into discussion by Jews from every walk of life.
“Wisdom cries without and causes her voice to be heard in the street,” he wrote to his friend, David Baron, a Hebrew Christian Scholar. “Doctors, professors and officials, as also educated ladies, come to my house. Many families of position also visit us who condemn the harsh conduct of the rabbinate here in relation to me. Many foreigners also visit me. I have often very grave, important discussions with Talmudists and Rabbis from a long distance, who wish to bring me to a compromise; and it is worthy to note that many who had formerly no knowledge of the New Testament, and stared blankly and incredulously at me when I quoted its sublime doctrines, have afterwards begged to possess one.”
In a letter to his son, a doctor, Rabbi Lichtenstein wrote “From every line in the New Testament, from every word, the Jewish spirit streamed forth light, life, power, endurance, faith, hope, love, charity, limitless and indestructible faith in God.”
For over twenty years it was given to Rabbi Lichtenstein to witness in many parts of Europe to the truth as he saw it in Messiah. At last the storms of controversy, of misunderstanding and antagonism, began to tell on him. His spirit, however, remained undaunted. About this time he wrote: “Dear Jewish brethren, I have been young, and now am old. I have attained the age of 80 years, which the Psalmist speaks of as the utmost period of human life on earth. When others of my age are reaping with joy the fruit of their labors, I am alone, almost forsaken, because I have lifted up my voice in warning, ’0 Israel, turn to the Lord thy God, for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take these words and turn thee to the Lord thy God.’ ‘Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way.’
“I, an honored Rabbi for the space of 40 years, am now, in my old age, treated by my friends as one possessed by an evil spirit, and by my enemies as an outcast. I am become a butt of mockers who point the finger at me. But while I live I will stand on my watchtower, though I may stand there all alone. I will listen to the words of God, and look for the time when He will return to Zion in mercy, and Israel shall fill the world with his joyous cry, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest””
Quite unexpectedly he was taken ill and lingered only a short while. As he realized that his end was approaching, in the presence of his wife and the nurse, he said:
“Give my warmest thanks and greetings, to my brethren and friends; goodnight, my children; goodnight, my enemies, you can injure me no more. We have one God and one Father of all who are called children in heaven and on earth, and one Messiah who gave up His life on the cursed tree for the salvation of men. Into Thy hands I commend my spirit.”
On the morning of Friday, October 16, 1909, at the age of 85, Rabbi Lichtenstein entered into the presence of his Lord.
The Letter of Peter which he sent to Philip
"Peter, the apostle of Jesus Christ, to Philip, our beloved brother and our fellow apostle, and (to) the brethren who are with you: greetings!
Now I want you to know, our brother, that we received orders from our Lord and the Savior of the whole world that we should come together to give instruction and preach in the salvation which was promised us by our Lord Jesus Christ. But as for you, you were separate from us, and you did not desire us to come together and to know how we should organize ourselves in order that we might tell the good news. Therefore would it be agreeable to you, our brother, to come according to the orders of our God Jesus?"
When Philip had received these (words), and when he had read them, he went to Peter rejoicing with gladness. Then Peter gathered the others also. They went upon the mountain which is called "the (mount) olives," the place where they used to gather with the blessed Christ when he was in the body.
Then, when the apostles had come together, and had thrown themselves upon their knees, they prayed thus saying, "Father, Father, Father of the light, who possesses the incorruptions, hear us just as thou hast taken pleasure in thy holy child Jesus Christ. For he became for us an illuminator in the darkness. Yea hear us!"
And they prayed again another time, saying, "Son of life, Son of immortality, who is in the light, Son, Christ of immortality, our Redeemer, give us power, for they seek to kill us!"
Then a great light appeared so that the mountains shone from the sight of him who had appeared. And a voice called out to them saying, "Listen to my words that I may speak to you. Why are you asking me? I am Jesus Christ who am with you forever."
Then the apostles answered and said, "Lord, we would like to know the deficiency of the aeons and their pleroma." And: "How are we detained in this dwelling place?" Further: "How did we come to this place?" And: "In what manner shall we depart?" Again: "How do we have the authority of boldness?" And: "Why do the powers fight against us?"
Then a voice came to them out of the light saying, "It is you yourselves who are witnesses that I spoke all these things to you. But because of your unbelief I shall speak again. First of all concerning the deficiency of the aeons, this is the deficiency, when the disobedience and the foolishness of the mother appeared without the commandment of the majesty of the Father. She wanted to raise up aeons. And when she spoke, the Arrogant One followed. And when she left behind a part, the Arrogant One laid hold of it, and it became a deficiency. This is the deficiency of the aeons. Now when the Arrogant One had taken a part, he sowed it. And he placed powers over it and authorities. And he enclosed it in the aeons which are dead. And all the powers of the world rejoiced that they had been begotten. But they do not know the pre-existent Father, since they are strangers to him. But this is the one to whom they gave power and whom they served by praising him. But he, the Arrogant One, became proud on account of the praise of the powers. He became an envier and he wanted to make an image in the place of an image, and a form in the place of a form. And he commissioned the powers within his authority to mold mortal bodies. And they came to be from a misrepresentation, from the semblance which had merged."
"Next concerning the pleroma: I am the one who was sent down in the body because of the seed which had fallen away. And I came down into their mortal mold. But they did not recognize me; they were thinking of me that I was a mortal man. And I spoke with him who belongs to me, and he harkened to me just as you too who harkened today. And I gave him authority in order that he might enter into the inheritance of his fatherhood. And I took [...] they were filled [...] in his salvation. And since he was a deficiency, for this reason he became a pleroma."
"It is because of this that you are being detained, because you belong to me. When you strip off from yourselves what is corrupted, then you will become illuminators in the midst of mortal men."
"And this (is the reason) that you will fight against the powers, because they do not have rest like you, since they do not wish that you be saved."
Then the apostles worshiped again saying, "Lord, tell us: In what way shall we fight against the archons, since the archons are above us?"
Then a voice called out to them from the appearance saying, "Now you will fight against them in this way, for the archons are fighting against the inner man. And you are to fight against them in this way: Come together and teach in the world the salvation with a promise. And you, gird yourselves with the power of my Father, and let your prayer be known. And he, the Father, will help you as he has helped you by sending me. Be not afraid, I am with you forever, as I previously said to you when I was in the body." Then there came lightning and thunder from heaven, and what appeared to them in that place was taken up to heaven.
Then the apostles gave thanks to the Lord with every blessing. And they returned to Jerusalem. And while coming up they spoke with each other on the road concerning the light which had come. And a remark was made concerning the Lord. It was said, "If he, our Lord, suffered, then how much (must) we (suffer)?"
Peter answered saying, "He suffered on our behalf, and it is necessary for us too to suffer because of our smallness." Then a voice came to them saying, "I have told you many times: it is necessary for you to suffer. It is necessary that they bring you to synagogues and governors, so that you will suffer. But he who does not suffer and does not [...] the Father [...] in order that he may [...]."
And the apostles rejoiced greatly and came up to Jerusalem. And they came up to the temple and gave instruction in salvation in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they healed a multitude.
And Peter opened his mouth, he said to his (fellow) disciples, "Did our Lord Jesus, when he was in the body, show us everything? For he came down. My brothers, listen to my voice." And he was filled with a holy spirit. He spoke thus: "Our illuminator, Jesus, came down and was crucified. And he bore a crown of thorns. And he put on a purple garment. And he was crucified on a tree and he was buried in a tomb. And he rose from the dead. My brothers, Jesus is a stranger to this suffering. But we are the ones who have suffered through the transgression of the mother. And because of this, he did everything like us. For the Lord Jesus, the Son of the immeasurable glory of the Father, he is the author of our life. My brothers, let us therefore not obey these lawless ones, and walk in [...]."
[...] Then Peter gathered together the others also, saying, "O, Lord Jesus Christ, author of our rest, give us a spirit of understanding in order that we also may perform wonders."
Then Peter and the other apostles saw him, and they were filled with a holy spirit, And each one performed healings. And they parted in order to preach the Lord Jesus. And they came together and greeted each other saying, "Amen."
Then Jesus appeared saying to them, "Peace to you all and everyone who believes in my name. And when you depart, joy be to you and grace and power. And be not afraid; behold, I am with you forever."
Then the apostles parted from each other into four words in order to preach. And they went by a power of Jesus, in peace.
The Suffering Servant in the Zohar
By
James Scott Trimm
Isaiah the prophet writes:
Behold, My servant shall prosper:
he shall be exalted and lifted up,
and shall be very high.
(Isaiah 52:13)
he shall be exalted and lifted up,
and shall be very high.
(Isaiah 52:13)
These are the opening words of the Servant portion of Isaiah 52-53. The identity of this servant figure has been hotly contested for centuries. The anti-missionaries argue that this figure only represents Israel. On the other hand believers in Yeshua as the Messiah have long argued that the servant is the Messiah.
Of course I have written in the past about the interpretation of these verses as they appear in the Targums, Midrashim, Talmuds etc. ( http://nazarenespace.com/profiles/blogs/of-whom-does-the-prophet ) but today I want to examine in depth, the understanding of this servant in the Zohar.
In the Zohar we read of this verse:
R. Simeon further discoursed on the text: Behold, my servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high (Is. 52:13). ‘Happy is the portion of the righteous’, he said, ‘to whom the Holy One reveals the ways of the Torah that they may walk in them. This verse contains an esoteric meaning. When God created the world, He made the moon, and made her small, for she possesses no light of her own, but because she accepted her diminution she receives reflected light from the sun and from the other superior luminaries.
(Zohar 1:181a)
(Zohar 1:181a)
Now to fully understand Rabbi Simeon’s meaning here, we must look to another passage in the Zohar:
It is strange that the Messiah should be called “poor” [in Zech. 9:9]. R. Simeon explained that it is because he has nothing of his own, and he is compared to the holy moon above, which has no light save from the sun. This Messiah will have dominion and will be established in his place. Below he is “poor”, because he is of the side of the moon, and above he is poor, being a “mirror which does not radiate”, “the bread of poverty”. Yet withal he “rides upon an ass and upon a colt”, to overthrow the strength of the Gentiles; and God will keep him firm.
(Zohar 1:238a)
(Zohar 1:238a)
So we can see plainly that Rabbi Simeon in the Zohar is identifying the servant of Isaiah 52:13 as the Messiah.
Now as we continue to read our initial passage of the Zohar (1:181a) the passage immediately continues with:
Now, as long as the Temple existed, Israel were assiduous in bringing offerings, which together with all the other services performed by the priests, Levites, and Israelites had for their object to weave bonds of union and to cause luminaries to radiate.
(Zohar 1:181a)
(Zohar 1:181a)
This brings us to another passage in which the Zohar alludes to the “servant” of Isaiah 52 and 53 saying:
In the Garden of Eden there is a hall that is called the
"hall of the afflicted." Now it is into this hall that
the Messiah goes and summons all the afflictions and pains
and sufferings of Israel to come upon him. And so they all
come upon him. And had he not eased the children of Israel
of their sorrow, and taken their burden upon himself, there
would be none who could endure the suffering of Israel
in penalty of neglecting the Torah. Thus it is written:
"Surely our diseases he did bear and our pains he carried."
(Is. 53:5) As long as the children of Israel dwelt in the
Holy Land, they averted all afflictions and sufferings from
the world by the service of the sanctuary and by sacrifice.
But now it is the Messiah who is averting them from the
habitants of the world.
(Zohar 2:212a)
"hall of the afflicted." Now it is into this hall that
the Messiah goes and summons all the afflictions and pains
and sufferings of Israel to come upon him. And so they all
come upon him. And had he not eased the children of Israel
of their sorrow, and taken their burden upon himself, there
would be none who could endure the suffering of Israel
in penalty of neglecting the Torah. Thus it is written:
"Surely our diseases he did bear and our pains he carried."
(Is. 53:5) As long as the children of Israel dwelt in the
Holy Land, they averted all afflictions and sufferings from
the world by the service of the sanctuary and by sacrifice.
But now it is the Messiah who is averting them from the
habitants of the world.
(Zohar 2:212a)
Our initial passage of Zohar (1:181a-b) continues:
But after the Temple was destroyed there was a darkening of the lights, the moon ceased to receive light from the sun, the latter having withdrawn himself from her, so that not a day passes but is full of grievous distress and afflictions. The time, however, will come for the moon to resume her primordial light, and in allusion to this it is written: “Behold, my servant will prosper.” That is to say, there will be a stirring in the upper realms as of one who catches a sweet odour and stands alert. “He shall be exalted”, from the side of the most exalted luminaries; “and lifted up”, from the side of Abraham; “and shall be high”, from the side of Isaac; “very”, from the side of Jacob. At that time, then, the Holy One will cause a stirring on high with the object of enabling the moon to shine with her full splendour, as we read: “Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of the seven days” (Ibid. XXX, 26). There will thus be added to the moon an exalted spirit whereby all the dead that are in the dust will be awakened. This is the esoteric meaning of “my servant”, viz. the one that has in his hand the key of his Master.
(Zohar 1:181a-181b)
(Zohar 1:181a-181b)
The Zohar tells us that the revealing of Messiah is like the revealing of the moon. Initially the moon cannot be seen, however in time the moon is gradually restored to its full light. So it is with Messiah, and when the Messiah is fully revealed, the resurrection will take place.
We read in Matthew:
38 Behold, your house is forsaken; to you desolate.
39 And I tell you, that you will not see Me here after,
until you say,
Blessed is He that comes in the Name of YHWH!
(Matt. 23:38-39)
39 And I tell you, that you will not see Me here after,
until you say,
Blessed is He that comes in the Name of YHWH!
(Matt. 23:38-39)
Of course this is quoting Ps. 118:26:
"Blessed be he that comes in the Name of YHWH; we bless you out of the House of YHWH." (Ps. 118:26).
Above this is the phrase “the stone the builders rejected is become the chief corner-stone” (Ps. 118:22)
Now we read in the Zohar concerning the stone that the builders rejected:
David, indeed, was king in this world and will be king in the time to come; hence “the stone the builders rejected is become the chief corner-stone”. For, when the sun turns away his face from the moon, and does not shine upon her, she has no light whatever and so does not shine, but is poverty-stricken and dark on all sides; but when the sun turns towards her and radiates his light upon her, then her face is illumined and she adorns herself for him as a woman for a man. She thus is then invested with the dominion of the world. So David adorned himself after this very manner. Now he would appear poor and dejected, but then again he would be revelling in riches. Hence David's declaration, “I am small and despised, yet have I not forgotten thy precepts.” It behoves, indeed, every man to follow this example and to humble himself in every respect so as to become a vessel in which the Holy One, blessed be He, may find delight. This lesson has also been expounded in connection with the phrase, “with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit’ (Isa. LVII, 15).’
(Zohar 2:232b)
(Zohar 2:232b)
The Zohar says that when this stone is rejected "the sun turns away his face from the moon, and does not shine upon her."
Earlier the Zohar says:
So it says: AND HIS HAND HAD HOLD ON ESAU'S HEEL , i.e he put his hand on Esau's heel in order thereby to force him down. According to another explanation, the words “and his hand had hold” imply that he could not escape him entirely, but his hand was still clinging to his brother's heel. Esoterically speaking, the moon was obscured through the heel of Esau; hence it was necessary to deal with him cunningly, so as to thrust him downwards and make him adhere to the region assigned to him.’
(Zohar 1:138a)
(Zohar 1:138a)
The moon is obscured "through the heel of Esau", and therefore the stone is rejected "through the heel of Esau" because the sun "turns away his face".
And to whom does the sun refer:
Moses asked: ' Shall they remain in pledge for ever?’ God replied: ‘No, only Until the sun appears’ that is, till the coming of the Messiah; for it says, But unto you that fear My name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in its wings (Mal.3:20).
(Midrash Rabba Ex. 31:10)
(Midrash Rabba Ex. 31:10)
So what does this mean?
It points us to Gen. 25:26 which reads:
And after that, came forth his brother. And his hand had hold on Esav's heel, and his
name was called Ya’akov. And Yitz’chak was threescore years old when she bore them.
name was called Ya’akov. And Yitz’chak was threescore years old when she bore them.
If we take the first letter of each word (a process called Notarikon) starting with the name Ya'akov (Jacob) and ending with Esav (Esau) going backwards we spell the name YESHUA, and if we continue through the next two words we read "Yeshua comes."
So the moon is obscured in shining the light of Messiah by the heal of Esau.
Now the last letter in YESHUA in the Hebrew is an AYIN and that is the initial letter of the name ESAU in "Esau's heel". So if the heal of "Esau" is taken from YESHUA we have "YESHU".
"Yeshu" is a name used in Rabbinic Judaism which refers to the anathema Rabbinic Judaism associates with Yeshua.
For Rabbinic Jews is is a acronym for a curse on the name of Yeshua meaning "may the name be blotted out forever".
But Yeshua said:
38 Behold, your house is forsaken; to you desolate.
39 And I tell you, that you will not see Me here after,
until you say,
Blessed is He that comes in the Name of YHWH!
(Matt. 23:38-39)
39 And I tell you, that you will not see Me here after,
until you say,
Blessed is He that comes in the Name of YHWH!
(Matt. 23:38-39)
They will say "Blessed is He that comes in the Name of YHWH!" (Ps. 118:26) when they accept the "stone that the builder rejected" (Ps. 118:22). This happens when the AYIN is restored to the name YESHUA, the reversal of the anathema, thus the Messiah, the Sun of Righteousness, will shine his light on the moon, which was obscured by the "heel of Esau". And when the “heel of Esau” no longer obscures the “Sun of Righteousness” and YESHU is restored to YESHUA, then we can clearly see that “Yeshua comes”!
Our original Zohar passage continues:
So, too, in the verse: “And Abraham said unto his servant, etc.” (Gen. 24:2), the servant is an allusion to the moon as already explained. Also, the servant is identical with Metatron, who is the servant and messenger of his Master, and who was, as we read further, the elder of his house, the same who is alluded to in the text: “I have been young, and now am old” (Ps. 37:25). “That ruled over all that he had”; this applies to the same Metatron by reason of his displaying the three colours, green, white, and red. “Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh”; this is symbolic of the foundation of the world, for this servant was destined to bring to life again the dwellers in the dust, and to be made the messenger by the spirit from on high to restore the spirits and souls to their places, to the bodies that were decomposed underneath the dust.
(Zohar 1:181b)
(Zohar 1:181b)
The Zohar also identifies the Metatron as the “Middle Pillar”
The Middle Pillar [of the Godhead] is Metatron,
Who has accomplished peace above,
according to the glorious state there.
(Zohar 3:227)
Who has accomplished peace above,
according to the glorious state there.
(Zohar 3:227)
And according to the Zohar the Middle Pillar is the Son of Yah:
Better is a neighbor that is near, than a brother far off.
This neighbor is the Middle Pillar in the Godhead,
which is the Son of Yah.
(Zohar 2:115)
This neighbor is the Middle Pillar in the Godhead,
which is the Son of Yah.
(Zohar 2:115)
And what is the Middle Pillar? The Zohar says:
Concerning this, too, it is written: “Let there be light, and there was light” (Gen. I, 3). Why, it may be asked, was it necessary to repeat the word “light” in this verse? The answer is that the first “light” refers to the primordial light which is of the Right Hand, and is destined for the “end of days”; while the second “light” refers to the Left Hand, which issues from the Right. The next words, “And God saw the light that it was good” (Gen. 1:4), refer to the pillar which, standing midway between them, unites both sides, and therefore when the unity of the three, right, left, and middle, was complete, “it was good”, since there could be no completion until the third had appeared to remove the strife between Right and Left, as it is written, “And Elohim separated between the light and between the darkness” (Ibid.).
(Zohar 2:167a)
And:
(Zohar 2:167a)
And:
This is the Middle Pillar: Ki Tov (that it was good) threw light above and below and on all other sides, in virtue of YHWH, the name which embraces all sides.
(Zohar 1:16b)
(Zohar 1:16b)
For more on Messiah as the only begotten light of the Middle Pillar see:
http://nazarenespace.com/profiles/blogs/the-only-begotten-light
http://nazarenespace.com/profiles/blogs/the-only-begotten-light
In this passage of Zohar (1:181a-181b) we see not only that the servant of Isaiah 52-53 is the Messiah, but that the identity of Messiah is initially obscured form Israel but gradually revealed to Israel. The Zohar also tells us that this same figure is the Son of Yah and the Middle Pillar of the Godhead.
The Great and Awesome Day of Yahweh (Yâ-hwéh)
יוֹם יׇהְוֶה הַ־גַּדוֹל וְהַנּוֹרָא
But I will produce signs in the heavens and mighty deeds on the earth - blood and fire and mushroom-clouds of smoke! The luminary orb, it shall be turned to darkness, and the moon into blood, before the Great and the Awesome Day of Yâ-hwéh is to come.
[Yâhuw’Ë´l 2:30-31]
Christians say they will escape their judgment in a rapture...
Christians in general long for the Day of the return of their Savior, and the end of this evil age. It doesn't seem to register in their awareness that His first advent was to die our sins, but the next one shall be His coming in Judgment! They thus tend to ignore this verse in their sermons:
Woe to the ones longing for the Day of Yâ-hwéh! Why is this, for you to long for the Day of Yâ-hwéh? That day is darkness and not light; It is as though a man fled from before the lion and the bear met him, and he entered the house and he rested his hand on the wall, and the snake bit him! Won't the Day of Yâ-hwéh be darkness and not light, even pitch-dark and without any brightness?
[Amos 5:18-20]
Since their KJV Bibles are so poorly translated as well as linguistically archaic, they are forced to rely on their Pastors' study and interpretation of it, since trying to make sense out of it themselves is an exercise in mental acrobatics and philosophical gymnastics. Thus most of them have been convinced that they are awaiting a total escape from any judgment at all through a sudden out-of-the-blue rapture up to the third heaven. Nothing could be farther from the Truth. Examine what our Sovereign Yâhuwshúa` tells His pupils (disciples) on the Mount of Olives in MattithYâ´huw 24; He told them what they would have to live through themselves along the wait for the Sign of His presence, and the coming of the end of the age. Though they sleep now, other members of His body continue to live here.
The Great and Awesome Day of Yahweh (Yâ-hwéh)
יוֹם יׇהְוֶה הַ־גַּדוֹל וְהַנּוֹרָא
But I will produce signs in the heavens and mighty deeds on the earth - blood and fire and mushroom-clouds of smoke! The luminary orb, it shall be turned to darkness, and the moon into blood, before the Great and the Awesome Day of Yâ-hwéh is to come.
[Yâhuw’Ë´l 2:30-31]
Christians say they will escape their judgment in a rapture...
Christians in general long for the Day of the return of their Savior, and the end of this evil age. It doesn't seem to register in their awareness that His first advent was to die our sins, but the next one shall be His coming in Judgment! They thus tend to ignore this verse in their sermons:
Woe to the ones longing for the Day of Yâ-hwéh! Why is this, for you to long for the Day of Yâ-hwéh? That day is darkness and not light; It is as though a man fled from before the lion and the bear met him, and he entered the house and he rested his hand on the wall, and the snake bit him! Won't the Day of Yâ-hwéh be darkness and not light, even pitch-dark and without any brightness?
[Amos 5:18-20]
Since their KJV Bibles are so poorly translated as well as linguistically archaic, they are forced to rely on their Pastors' study and interpretation of it, since trying to make sense out of it themselves is an exercise in mental acrobatics and philosophical gymnastics. Thus most of them have been convinced that they are awaiting a total escape from any judgment at all through a sudden out-of-the-blue rapture up to the third heaven. Nothing could be farther from the Truth. Examine what our Sovereign Yâhuwshúa` tells His pupils (disciples) on the Mount of Olives in MattithYâ´huw 24; He told them what they would have to live through themselves along the wait for the Sign of His presence, and the coming of the end of the age. Though they sleep now, other members of His body continue to live here.
Question: Did He say "don't worry, because you will escape all these things in a rapture which will take you up to heaven to be with Me there"? Did He say "you will not be here to see the Abomination of Desolation"? No. He said:
¶ Therefore, whenever ye shall see the Abomination (detestable Idol) of the desolation, which was spoken of through Dâ´niyyË´'l the predicator, who said that it would be standing where it should not, [Márquwç 13: 14] within the Separate Place - he who reads, let him understand -
Then those within Yâhuwthâ´h, let them flee among the mountains;
And he who is at the building, let him not come back unto his house, nor to take anything out of his house;
And he who is in the field, let him not return back to take his garments!
And hówy (woe) to them that are pregnant and that are near to giving birth, and to them that breastfeed in those days!
And pray that your flight may not be in winter, nor on Shabbâ´th,
For there shall then be a great oppression of such a sort as hasn't existed from the beginning of the world's creation, which 'Elohíym created, [Márquwç 13: 19] until now, no, nor ever shall be;
And unless those days had been shortened by Yâ-hwéh, there would not have any flesh been saved, but due to the selected which He chose, [Márquwç 13: 20] those days shall be shortened.
[MattithYâ´huw 24:15-22]
Question: Is there supposed to be any difference between His pupils and these Christians who believe in a rapture? Christians don't claim there is any, and if they'd have the correct persuasion, there shouldn't be any! Therefore, what was told to His pupils (disciples) is supposed to apply to Christians. But if you approach them with this reasoning, in an unthinking knee-jerk reaction to it, they will allege that those pupils were "Jews" and they are "Gentiles". THEN THEY ARE ALLEGING THAT THESE DISCIPLES AREN'T EVEN THE SAME RELIGION AS THEY ARE! But spiritually, ironically, they wouldn't be far from the truth: for the pupils of Yâhuwshúa` are true Yâhuwdím, but these are not those "Jews", they are those circumcised of heart, to whom are entrusted the Words of Yâ-hwéh, and Gentiles (gowyim) are heathen masses which follow after pagan demons. (See Who's who? Jews, Israel, Jacob, and Gentiles, what REALLY is "Replacement Theology"?)
A simple verse which tells us that we are to stay on earth and be protected is found in Yâhuwchânâ´n's Glad Tidings (John) 17:15 -
I do not request that You should take them out of the world, rather that You should guard them from the harmful.
And Disclosure (Revelation) 3:10 -
...because you did guard the Word of My perseverance. I will also guard you from the Hour of the Trial that is about to come upon the whole Habitable World, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
¶ Therefore, whenever ye shall see the Abomination (detestable Idol) of the desolation, which was spoken of through Dâ´niyyË´'l the predicator, who said that it would be standing where it should not, [Márquwç 13: 14] within the Separate Place - he who reads, let him understand -
Then those within Yâhuwthâ´h, let them flee among the mountains;
And he who is at the building, let him not come back unto his house, nor to take anything out of his house;
And he who is in the field, let him not return back to take his garments!
And hówy (woe) to them that are pregnant and that are near to giving birth, and to them that breastfeed in those days!
And pray that your flight may not be in winter, nor on Shabbâ´th,
For there shall then be a great oppression of such a sort as hasn't existed from the beginning of the world's creation, which 'Elohíym created, [Márquwç 13: 19] until now, no, nor ever shall be;
And unless those days had been shortened by Yâ-hwéh, there would not have any flesh been saved, but due to the selected which He chose, [Márquwç 13: 20] those days shall be shortened.
[MattithYâ´huw 24:15-22]
Question: Is there supposed to be any difference between His pupils and these Christians who believe in a rapture? Christians don't claim there is any, and if they'd have the correct persuasion, there shouldn't be any! Therefore, what was told to His pupils (disciples) is supposed to apply to Christians. But if you approach them with this reasoning, in an unthinking knee-jerk reaction to it, they will allege that those pupils were "Jews" and they are "Gentiles". THEN THEY ARE ALLEGING THAT THESE DISCIPLES AREN'T EVEN THE SAME RELIGION AS THEY ARE! But spiritually, ironically, they wouldn't be far from the truth: for the pupils of Yâhuwshúa` are true Yâhuwdím, but these are not those "Jews", they are those circumcised of heart, to whom are entrusted the Words of Yâ-hwéh, and Gentiles (gowyim) are heathen masses which follow after pagan demons. (See Who's who? Jews, Israel, Jacob, and Gentiles, what REALLY is "Replacement Theology"?)
A simple verse which tells us that we are to stay on earth and be protected is found in Yâhuwchânâ´n's Glad Tidings (John) 17:15 -
I do not request that You should take them out of the world, rather that You should guard them from the harmful.
And Disclosure (Revelation) 3:10 -
...because you did guard the Word of My perseverance. I will also guard you from the Hour of the Trial that is about to come upon the whole Habitable World, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
When the suffering starts, they will scurry like rats on board a sinking ship, and look to everything except His true name for salvation. See in the following scripture the prediction of a false hope for escape claimed by the geopolitical (tribal) house of Yisrâ’Ë´l (USA/GB) and the geopolitical (tribal) house of Yâhuwthâ´h (Jews) even after the Judgment season starts, who believe they are exempt from any judgment also.
Go through her vineyards and ravage, but do not make a complete destruction. Strip off her branches [Romans 11:16-25] because these are not Yâ-hwéh's. Since the [geopolitical] house of Yisrâ'Ë´l and the [geopolitical] house of Yâhuwthâ´h has surely been treacherous to me! Declares Yâ-hwéh, they denied about Yâ-hwéh and they said: "It is not He and there will not come any harm to us, and we will never see sword or famine! And the predicators, they are as wind and the Word is not in them - thus as they say, may it be done to them!" Therefore thus says Yâ-hwéh, the Mighty Ones of hosts: because ye have spoken this word, look! I am making My words in your mouth be for a Fire, and this people be woods, and it shall consume them!"
[YirmYâ´huw "Jeremiah" 5:10-14]
That this is about these "houses" means geopolitically and tribally is true as the very next verses talk about the invasion of China into Yisrâ’Ë´l's (USA's) territory, seen in the Chinese plans code-named "Long March", also the name of their new long-range nuclear missile made possible by security concessions of the Clinton administration. Should we ignore that China supplied the weapons and equipment used by Al Qaeda? China has also been encroaching on our hemisphere in other ways, including getting control of the Panama Canal's and Long Beach CA's ports.
Go through her vineyards and ravage, but do not make a complete destruction. Strip off her branches [Romans 11:16-25] because these are not Yâ-hwéh's. Since the [geopolitical] house of Yisrâ'Ë´l and the [geopolitical] house of Yâhuwthâ´h has surely been treacherous to me! Declares Yâ-hwéh, they denied about Yâ-hwéh and they said: "It is not He and there will not come any harm to us, and we will never see sword or famine! And the predicators, they are as wind and the Word is not in them - thus as they say, may it be done to them!" Therefore thus says Yâ-hwéh, the Mighty Ones of hosts: because ye have spoken this word, look! I am making My words in your mouth be for a Fire, and this people be woods, and it shall consume them!"
[YirmYâ´huw "Jeremiah" 5:10-14]
That this is about these "houses" means geopolitically and tribally is true as the very next verses talk about the invasion of China into Yisrâ’Ë´l's (USA's) territory, seen in the Chinese plans code-named "Long March", also the name of their new long-range nuclear missile made possible by security concessions of the Clinton administration. Should we ignore that China supplied the weapons and equipment used by Al Qaeda? China has also been encroaching on our hemisphere in other ways, including getting control of the Panama Canal's and Long Beach CA's ports.
Some groups have done hard work to prove where the "lost" ten tribes of Yisrâ’Ë´l (Israel) migrated, and found that the US and Scotland are where the tribe of Ephrayim established itself geopolitically. In our Who's who page, we prove that a even a tribe is not a race, but a people, and can be composed of any race that joins to it. In that page we also prove that Christians are spiritual Yisrâ’Ë´l scripturally (Yshá`Yâhuw "Isaiah" 43:10) and being thus Yisrâ'Ë´l both ways, tribally and spiritually, can there be any doubt that we are the natural branches of the olive tree? So compare the above scripture [YirmYâ´huw "Jeremiah" 5:10-14] to these. In them, Paulus is speaking to heathen masses who convert, not to current true believers, nor to Christians:
¶ Now if the Firstfruit is pure, also the lump of dough; and if the Root is pure [Yâhuwshúa`], also the branches.
But if some of the branches were "stripped off" ["because these are not Yâ-hwéh's."(YirmYâ´huw 5:10-14)], but you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and became a fellow partaker of the Root and of the oil [gladness] of the olive tree,
Do not boast against the branches [Christians]; but if you do boast against them, you do not sustain the Root, rather, the Root sustains you.
Then you shall say,
"Those branches were broken off that I might be grafted in!"
Well said. They were stripped off by unbelief, but you stand by believing. Do not be lofty-minded, instead fear!
For if Yâ-hwéh spared not the instinctive branches, fear lest He should neither spare you!
See, then, Yâ-hwéh's kindness and severity: upon those that fell - severity, but upon you - kindness, provided you continue in the kindness, else you also will be stripped off!
And yet those stripped ones, if they do not continue in unbelief, shall be grafted in, for Yâ-hwéh is able to graft them in again! [Christians resurrect at 7th trump and shall be grafted back in]
For if you were cut out from the instinctive wild olive tree, and were, contrary to your instinct, grafted in unto a good olive tree, how much more shall these instinctive ones be grafted into their own olive tree?
For my brothers, I do not wish you to be ignorant of this secret, that ye may not think your selves wise: that hardening away to part of Yisrâ’Ë´l has happened until the fullness of the heathen masses be come in!
[Romans 11:16-25]
This means that the secret of Yâ-hwéh described in Yshá’Yâhuw ("Isaiah") is that Christians are blind until the complete Great Multitude of heathen masses are entered into His Kingdom! Páulus continues:
After the Secret of Yâ-hwéh (7th Trumpet) [Disclosure 10:6-7]
¶ And then all Yisrâ'Ë´l shall be made to live thus according as it has been written [Yshá`Yâhuw 45:25],
""So a Redeemer shall come to Tsiyyówn and to the ones repenting from rebellion [apostasy] in Ya`aqóv" declares Yâ-hwéh:
"And I am this, My covenant to them, when I may have taken away their sins." [says Yâ-hwéh, "My spirit that is upon you and My Word that I put in your mouth, they shall not depart from your mouth, or from the mouth of your seed, or from the mouth of the seed of your seed," says Yâ-hwéh, "from now even until eternity!" [Yshá`Yâhuw 59: 20-21]
Indeed, as regards the glad tidings, [Yisrâ’Ë´l's hardened ones (name-denying Christians) are] enemies due to your sakes [Páulus speaks to the heathen masses], but as regards the being chosen, they are beloved due to the fathers' sakes.
For the gifts and the calling of Yâ-hwéh are irrevocable!
For just as ye also once were [heathen masses] refusing to believe in Yâ-hwéh, but now have been shown mercy to their rebellious disbelief, [1st century]
Thus also these [hardened Yisrâ’Ë´l] now are rebelliously unpersuadable to the mercy to be had on you, in order that they [later (To the `Ivriym 4:1)] may have mercy shown them also.
For Yâ-hwéh included everyone to be rebelliously unpersuadable in order that He may show mercy to all men.
[Romans 11:16-32]
The Decreed ANNIHILATION
Scripturally, the annihilation of His people with the exception of a small remnant left surviving is found in nearly every book of scripture in the Pre-Advent and in the Post-Advent scriptures. It comes to "the Many" for forsaking Him and worshipping other mighty ones, demons, in a case of mistaken identity called "The Great Confusion". The Great Confusion in Hebrew is Bâvél ha-Gathówl, which appears in establishment mistranslations as "Babylon the Great". It also fits geographically since postdiluvian worship of the Lie originated in Bâvél, a city of Nimrod. Scripture says His people are captives to this Confusion (Bâvél) still, and promises great things to the few who endure in the Truth, to survive, be empowered, protected, and to enter the coming Kingdom, alive, to be with our Deliverer and Mighty Ones.
Part of the Great Confusion is also to not realize who is Who, thus, Christians who continue worshipping "God", "Lord", and "Dios", which actually are deities of the heathen masses, think that doesn't matter, not realizing that this defines them as His people who are in adultery with other mighty ones, something prophesied ALL throughout scripture! It frankly would take writing the whole Tenakh to put all the references here, so we are forced to limit our references to a few. One scripture should be enough, for a humble seeker of Truth.
¶ Now if the Firstfruit is pure, also the lump of dough; and if the Root is pure [Yâhuwshúa`], also the branches.
But if some of the branches were "stripped off" ["because these are not Yâ-hwéh's."(YirmYâ´huw 5:10-14)], but you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and became a fellow partaker of the Root and of the oil [gladness] of the olive tree,
Do not boast against the branches [Christians]; but if you do boast against them, you do not sustain the Root, rather, the Root sustains you.
Then you shall say,
"Those branches were broken off that I might be grafted in!"
Well said. They were stripped off by unbelief, but you stand by believing. Do not be lofty-minded, instead fear!
For if Yâ-hwéh spared not the instinctive branches, fear lest He should neither spare you!
See, then, Yâ-hwéh's kindness and severity: upon those that fell - severity, but upon you - kindness, provided you continue in the kindness, else you also will be stripped off!
And yet those stripped ones, if they do not continue in unbelief, shall be grafted in, for Yâ-hwéh is able to graft them in again! [Christians resurrect at 7th trump and shall be grafted back in]
For if you were cut out from the instinctive wild olive tree, and were, contrary to your instinct, grafted in unto a good olive tree, how much more shall these instinctive ones be grafted into their own olive tree?
For my brothers, I do not wish you to be ignorant of this secret, that ye may not think your selves wise: that hardening away to part of Yisrâ’Ë´l has happened until the fullness of the heathen masses be come in!
[Romans 11:16-25]
This means that the secret of Yâ-hwéh described in Yshá’Yâhuw ("Isaiah") is that Christians are blind until the complete Great Multitude of heathen masses are entered into His Kingdom! Páulus continues:
After the Secret of Yâ-hwéh (7th Trumpet) [Disclosure 10:6-7]
¶ And then all Yisrâ'Ë´l shall be made to live thus according as it has been written [Yshá`Yâhuw 45:25],
""So a Redeemer shall come to Tsiyyówn and to the ones repenting from rebellion [apostasy] in Ya`aqóv" declares Yâ-hwéh:
"And I am this, My covenant to them, when I may have taken away their sins." [says Yâ-hwéh, "My spirit that is upon you and My Word that I put in your mouth, they shall not depart from your mouth, or from the mouth of your seed, or from the mouth of the seed of your seed," says Yâ-hwéh, "from now even until eternity!" [Yshá`Yâhuw 59: 20-21]
Indeed, as regards the glad tidings, [Yisrâ’Ë´l's hardened ones (name-denying Christians) are] enemies due to your sakes [Páulus speaks to the heathen masses], but as regards the being chosen, they are beloved due to the fathers' sakes.
For the gifts and the calling of Yâ-hwéh are irrevocable!
For just as ye also once were [heathen masses] refusing to believe in Yâ-hwéh, but now have been shown mercy to their rebellious disbelief, [1st century]
Thus also these [hardened Yisrâ’Ë´l] now are rebelliously unpersuadable to the mercy to be had on you, in order that they [later (To the `Ivriym 4:1)] may have mercy shown them also.
For Yâ-hwéh included everyone to be rebelliously unpersuadable in order that He may show mercy to all men.
[Romans 11:16-32]
The Decreed ANNIHILATION
Scripturally, the annihilation of His people with the exception of a small remnant left surviving is found in nearly every book of scripture in the Pre-Advent and in the Post-Advent scriptures. It comes to "the Many" for forsaking Him and worshipping other mighty ones, demons, in a case of mistaken identity called "The Great Confusion". The Great Confusion in Hebrew is Bâvél ha-Gathówl, which appears in establishment mistranslations as "Babylon the Great". It also fits geographically since postdiluvian worship of the Lie originated in Bâvél, a city of Nimrod. Scripture says His people are captives to this Confusion (Bâvél) still, and promises great things to the few who endure in the Truth, to survive, be empowered, protected, and to enter the coming Kingdom, alive, to be with our Deliverer and Mighty Ones.
Part of the Great Confusion is also to not realize who is Who, thus, Christians who continue worshipping "God", "Lord", and "Dios", which actually are deities of the heathen masses, think that doesn't matter, not realizing that this defines them as His people who are in adultery with other mighty ones, something prophesied ALL throughout scripture! It frankly would take writing the whole Tenakh to put all the references here, so we are forced to limit our references to a few. One scripture should be enough, for a humble seeker of Truth.
Moshéh warned against doing this in MANY places, but due to adulterated scriptures, Christians do not take it to heart; for example in Deuteronomy 29: 18-21 -
(Moshéh speaking) "Watch lest there be among you a man or a woman or family or tribe that their heart is turning today from Yâ-hwéh our Mighty Ones to go to worship the mighty ones of those heathen masses, lest there be among you a root of poison and bitterness: Though it shall be when he hears the words of this oath, and he blesses himself in his heart, saying,
"Safety shall be mine because I shall walk by the stubbornness of my heart, in order to add drunkenness to thirst",
Yâ-hwéh will not want to forgive him, because the wrath of Yâ-hwéh and His jealousy shall always burn against that man, so all of the curses having been written in this scroll shall fall on him, and Yâ-hwéh shall blot his name out from under the heavens, and Yâ-hwéh shall single him out for disaster from all of the tribes of Yisrâ’Ë´l according to all of the curses of the Covenant having been written in this scroll of the Law."
Yâhuwshúa`, the son of Nuwn (called "Joshua" in the establishment translations), in chapter 24 of his book, gathered all the tribes of Yisrâ’Ë´l at Shkhem ("Shechem") and announced that Yâ-hwéh said what He had done for them, and then he offered them a choice:
"So now, fear Yâ-hwéh, and serve Him wholly and faithfully, and throw away the mighty ones that your fathers worshipped across the [Euphrates, in Bâvél (Babylon)] river and in Mitsrayim ["Egypt"] and serve Yâ-hwéh! But if it is undesirable in your eyes to serve Yâ-hwéh, choose for you today Whom you shall serve, whether the mighty ones that your fathers served when across the river, or whether the mighty ones of the Emoriy in whose land you are living,
But I, and my household, we shall serve Yâ-hwéh.
And the people answered him:
Far be it from us to forsake Yâ-hwéh to serve other mighty ones! ...
We also, we shall serve Yâ-hwéh because He is our Mighty Ones!
Then Yâhuwshúa` ("Joshua") said to the people:
You are not able to serve Yâ-hwéh because He is a pure Mighty Ones, He is a jealous Mighty Ones; He shall not bear with your apostasy or with your sins. Since you SHALL forsake Yâ-hwéh and you SHALL serve foreign mighty ones, then He SHALL turn and He SHALL bring disaster upon you and He will ANNIHILATE you, after when He was good to you!
has your pastor explained these verses to you? Romans 9:26-29
"And yet shall the number of the sons of Yisrâ’Ë´l [the witnesses for the Anointed One being the Pure One of Yisrâ'Ë´l] like the SAND OF THE SEA, which cannot be measured nor can be counted, and it shall be that in the place where it was said to them - You are not My people - they will be called Bnëy Ël-Chây! (the Sons of the living Mighty One)"
[Howshea 1: 10]
(1) The Remnant survives to return to Kingdom, Adulterous Yisrâ'Ë´l (Christianity) exterminated
But Yshá`Yâhuw cries concerning Yisrâ’Ë´l,
"Because although your people, Yisrâ’Ë´l, are as the "SAND OF THE SEA", a remnant shall be saved of them,
[for the extermination determined is overwhelming in righteousness: Because my Sovereign Yâ-hwéh of Hosts is the One doing the termination and determination in the midst of the whole Land:]"
[Yshá`Yâhuw 10: 22-23]
For the matter is being fulfilled and being executed in righteousness, because Yâ-hwéh will execute the matter of termination upon the earth.
And according as Yshá`Yâhuw said before this,
"Unless Yâ-hwéh of Hosts had preseved to us a small remnant, we would have become like Çthóm, we would have resembled `Amorâ´h!"
[Yshá`Yâhuw 1: 9]
Everyone thinks it is talking about someone ELSE. If you don't know who's who in prophecy (see Who's who? Jews, Israel, Jacob, and Gentiles, what REALLY is "Replacement Theology"?) you won't get the dire warning that these verses give about Christianity! For the sheer abundance of scriptures dedicated to this message, we should all take note, especially since your Pastors pretend scripture talks to us everywhere EXCEPT in these passages! Doesn't it strike anyone as odd that, to excuse the "Rapture to heaven" doctrine, one must prejudicially dig far and wide and bend and twist individual scripture verses to suggest this meaning? But about this ubiquitous dire warning, Pastors bend it away from its intended audience.
(Moshéh speaking) "Watch lest there be among you a man or a woman or family or tribe that their heart is turning today from Yâ-hwéh our Mighty Ones to go to worship the mighty ones of those heathen masses, lest there be among you a root of poison and bitterness: Though it shall be when he hears the words of this oath, and he blesses himself in his heart, saying,
"Safety shall be mine because I shall walk by the stubbornness of my heart, in order to add drunkenness to thirst",
Yâ-hwéh will not want to forgive him, because the wrath of Yâ-hwéh and His jealousy shall always burn against that man, so all of the curses having been written in this scroll shall fall on him, and Yâ-hwéh shall blot his name out from under the heavens, and Yâ-hwéh shall single him out for disaster from all of the tribes of Yisrâ’Ë´l according to all of the curses of the Covenant having been written in this scroll of the Law."
Yâhuwshúa`, the son of Nuwn (called "Joshua" in the establishment translations), in chapter 24 of his book, gathered all the tribes of Yisrâ’Ë´l at Shkhem ("Shechem") and announced that Yâ-hwéh said what He had done for them, and then he offered them a choice:
"So now, fear Yâ-hwéh, and serve Him wholly and faithfully, and throw away the mighty ones that your fathers worshipped across the [Euphrates, in Bâvél (Babylon)] river and in Mitsrayim ["Egypt"] and serve Yâ-hwéh! But if it is undesirable in your eyes to serve Yâ-hwéh, choose for you today Whom you shall serve, whether the mighty ones that your fathers served when across the river, or whether the mighty ones of the Emoriy in whose land you are living,
But I, and my household, we shall serve Yâ-hwéh.
And the people answered him:
Far be it from us to forsake Yâ-hwéh to serve other mighty ones! ...
We also, we shall serve Yâ-hwéh because He is our Mighty Ones!
Then Yâhuwshúa` ("Joshua") said to the people:
You are not able to serve Yâ-hwéh because He is a pure Mighty Ones, He is a jealous Mighty Ones; He shall not bear with your apostasy or with your sins. Since you SHALL forsake Yâ-hwéh and you SHALL serve foreign mighty ones, then He SHALL turn and He SHALL bring disaster upon you and He will ANNIHILATE you, after when He was good to you!
has your pastor explained these verses to you? Romans 9:26-29
"And yet shall the number of the sons of Yisrâ’Ë´l [the witnesses for the Anointed One being the Pure One of Yisrâ'Ë´l] like the SAND OF THE SEA, which cannot be measured nor can be counted, and it shall be that in the place where it was said to them - You are not My people - they will be called Bnëy Ël-Chây! (the Sons of the living Mighty One)"
[Howshea 1: 10]
(1) The Remnant survives to return to Kingdom, Adulterous Yisrâ'Ë´l (Christianity) exterminated
But Yshá`Yâhuw cries concerning Yisrâ’Ë´l,
"Because although your people, Yisrâ’Ë´l, are as the "SAND OF THE SEA", a remnant shall be saved of them,
[for the extermination determined is overwhelming in righteousness: Because my Sovereign Yâ-hwéh of Hosts is the One doing the termination and determination in the midst of the whole Land:]"
[Yshá`Yâhuw 10: 22-23]
For the matter is being fulfilled and being executed in righteousness, because Yâ-hwéh will execute the matter of termination upon the earth.
And according as Yshá`Yâhuw said before this,
"Unless Yâ-hwéh of Hosts had preseved to us a small remnant, we would have become like Çthóm, we would have resembled `Amorâ´h!"
[Yshá`Yâhuw 1: 9]
Everyone thinks it is talking about someone ELSE. If you don't know who's who in prophecy (see Who's who? Jews, Israel, Jacob, and Gentiles, what REALLY is "Replacement Theology"?) you won't get the dire warning that these verses give about Christianity! For the sheer abundance of scriptures dedicated to this message, we should all take note, especially since your Pastors pretend scripture talks to us everywhere EXCEPT in these passages! Doesn't it strike anyone as odd that, to excuse the "Rapture to heaven" doctrine, one must prejudicially dig far and wide and bend and twist individual scripture verses to suggest this meaning? But about this ubiquitous dire warning, Pastors bend it away from its intended audience.
The coming kingdom will first only occupy the promised land
When Yâhuwshúa` comes at the sixth seal, He will occupy the Land promised to the Seed of ’Avrâhâ´m, which Galátas 3:16 identifies as He Himself. The Kingdom He establishes there shall spread to include the whole planet after the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, because the whole world will have joined His people Yisrâ’Ë´l, and its borders are to be determined by the numbers of its people. But there is a time period between His coming to judge His house first (1 Këph 4:17) and the judgment of the heathens (nations) is described in this passage in Miykhâ´h 4 as well as Yshá`Yâhuw 2:1-5. It is the period of time the Great Multitude in Revelation 7 enters the Kingdom. Some who have never considered this will object to this concept. To those I ask, so if not, then what time period does this passage describe? Because none of the Christian end-prophecy scenarios allow for such a situation as this passage describes!! It cannot be after the marriage supper of the Lamb since there will be no more unconverted humans then.
Miykhâ´h 4:1-5 And it shall be on the last of the days, the mountain of the Temple of Yâ-hwéh shall be established as the chief of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and the peoples will stream to Him. And many heathen masses shall come and they shall say, "Come and let us go to the mountain of Yâ-hwéh and to the house of the Mighty Ones of Ya`aqóv, and He will teach us His ways so we may walk in His paths!" Because the Law shall go out from Tsiyyówn and the Word of Yâ-hwéh from Yruwshâláim. And He shall judge between many peoples and He will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide, and they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, a nation shall not take up a sword against a nation, and they shall not train anymore for war. And every man shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree and no one shall make them afraid because the mouth of Yâ-hwéh of hosts has spoken! Because all of the peoples, they might walk each by the name of their mighty ones, but we, we shall walk by the name of Yâ-hwéh our Mighty Ones for ever and ever.
Some have used that passage to venture to suggest that there would exist unconverted heathens on earth during the millenial reign of Yâhuwshúa`. This is scripturally impossible. Here is another scripture which you will seldom find explained beyond the part about `Immanuw ’Ël. It also mentions this time period:
When Yâhuwshúa` comes at the sixth seal, He will occupy the Land promised to the Seed of ’Avrâhâ´m, which Galátas 3:16 identifies as He Himself. The Kingdom He establishes there shall spread to include the whole planet after the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, because the whole world will have joined His people Yisrâ’Ë´l, and its borders are to be determined by the numbers of its people. But there is a time period between His coming to judge His house first (1 Këph 4:17) and the judgment of the heathens (nations) is described in this passage in Miykhâ´h 4 as well as Yshá`Yâhuw 2:1-5. It is the period of time the Great Multitude in Revelation 7 enters the Kingdom. Some who have never considered this will object to this concept. To those I ask, so if not, then what time period does this passage describe? Because none of the Christian end-prophecy scenarios allow for such a situation as this passage describes!! It cannot be after the marriage supper of the Lamb since there will be no more unconverted humans then.
Miykhâ´h 4:1-5 And it shall be on the last of the days, the mountain of the Temple of Yâ-hwéh shall be established as the chief of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and the peoples will stream to Him. And many heathen masses shall come and they shall say, "Come and let us go to the mountain of Yâ-hwéh and to the house of the Mighty Ones of Ya`aqóv, and He will teach us His ways so we may walk in His paths!" Because the Law shall go out from Tsiyyówn and the Word of Yâ-hwéh from Yruwshâláim. And He shall judge between many peoples and He will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide, and they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, a nation shall not take up a sword against a nation, and they shall not train anymore for war. And every man shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree and no one shall make them afraid because the mouth of Yâ-hwéh of hosts has spoken! Because all of the peoples, they might walk each by the name of their mighty ones, but we, we shall walk by the name of Yâ-hwéh our Mighty Ones for ever and ever.
Some have used that passage to venture to suggest that there would exist unconverted heathens on earth during the millenial reign of Yâhuwshúa`. This is scripturally impossible. Here is another scripture which you will seldom find explained beyond the part about `Immanuw ’Ël. It also mentions this time period:
Yshá`Yâhuw 7:10-17
And Yâ-hwéh added, speaking to ’Âchâ´z saying,
"Request for yourself a Sign from Yâ-hwéh your Mighty Ones, made deep to Sh'ówl and made exalted to the heights!"
But ’Âchâ´z said,
"I will not request it so I will not test Yâ-hwéh."
And he [Yshá`Yâhuw] said,
"Listen now, house of Dâwíth, is it insufficient for you to tire out men, as you wish to also tire out my Mighty Ones? Therefore My Sovereign will give Himself to you for a sign [Luwqá 2: 34, Nikódemos 16: 2]: Look! The virgin [of Yisrâ’Ë´l] is pregnant and is bearing a Son, and she will call His name 'the Power with us' (`Immâ´nuw ’Ë´l). He will eat butter and honey [spiritual food from the heavens] for Him to know to reject the evil and to choose the good, because by the time the Youth recognizes to reject the evil and to choose the good [Judgment Day], the country that you are loathing will be forsaken because of her two kings. Yâ-hwéh shall bring upon you [royals] and upon your people [Yâhuwthâ´h] and upon the house of your father [Dâwíth] such days as have not come since the time ’Ephráyim [Anglo-america] is to turn away from Yâhuwthâ´h unto the King of Successful One ('Ashshúwr) [the impostor from Germany (Dâ´niyyË´'l 11: 21)]. And it shall be at that day that Yâ-hwéh will whistle for the fly that dominates the allotment in the [filthy] ends of the watercourses of Entrenchments (Mitsráyim) [= king #1 - an Anglo-pope, the preacher of the Lie] and for the bee that is in the land of Successful One ('Ashshúwr) [= king #2 - the image of the Beast, from Germany], and they will come and all of them will settle into the steep ravines and in the crevices of the rocks and on all of the thornbushes [apostate Christians] and at all of the water holes. [seen in Daniel 11:40] On that day, my Sovereign shall shave [her, the Land] with the razor of the hired laborer from across the river, the King of Successful One ('Ashshúwr) [the 4th seal Great tribulation by the anointed falsifier from Germany], the head and the hair of the legs and it will also take off the beard! And it shall be during that day, a Man will keep alive a heifer of a cow and two goats [the Remnant]. And it shall be from the abundance of the milk produced, He will eat butter, because all of the ones remaining [remnant 144,000] in the midst of the Land [of Yisrâ'Ë´l] will eat butter and honey. And it shall be in that Day, there shall be a thousand of the Vine worth a thousand of silver at every place instead of the briers and instead of the thorns [apostate Christians], that were there. By the arrows and by the bow He will invade there because all of the Land shall be of the brier [pope - preacher of the Lie] and thorn [image of the Beast]. But all of the mountains [kingdoms outside] that were cultivated by the hoe [Christianity] you shall not invade there, which is the fear of the brier and thorn, though it shall become for the ranging of cattle and for the sheep to run."
Note above that AFTER Yâ-hwéh Yâhuwshúa` has shaved off the presence of all the riff-raff of Germans and Anglos, the "Holy Roman Empire" off of the Land when He appears suddenly at His temple, note that the precious Remnant live there and richly produce for our Sovereign Yâ-hwéh Yâhuwshúa`, in the Land. Yet there is mention of FUTURE invasion of the kingdoms outside the Land, and this being the fear of the Preacher of the Lie and the Impostor. This describes that there IS a period of time between His coming and the conquest of the rest of the world!
The Sixth Seal is The Day of Yâ-hwéh
For some reason, it eludes most Christian scholars that the description of the Great and Astonishing Day of Yâ-hwéh given in many places in the Preadvent Scriptures ("Old Testament") exactly matches the description of the events of the Sixth Seal in Disclosure (Revelation).
(Yowm Kippuríym 7/10/5997)
And I saw when He opened the sixth seal, and look! There was a great earthquake, and the luminary orb became black as mohair sackcloth, and the moon became as blood,
And the stars of the heavens fell into the earth; in the manner a fig tree throws its unripe figs, when it is shaken by a great wind! [Chanówkh 89: 32-33]
And the skies were dissolved, as a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain (kingdom) and habitable land was removed out of their state. [Dâ´niyyË´’l 2: 34-35]
And the kings of the earth, and the great, and the generals, and the rich, and the powerful, and every bondman, and everyone free hid their selves in the caves and in the hollow rocks of the mountains;
And they were saying to the mountains and to the hollow rocks,
"Fall upon us! And hide us [Howshë´`á 10: 8, Luwqá' 23: 30] from the Face of the Lamb
that is come! And who is able to stand the great Day of His wrath?"
[Malachi 3:2]
[Disclosure 6:12-17]
And this Great and Astonishing Day of Yâ-hwéh, also matches the description in MattithYâ´huw 24 of the events which immediately precede the coming of the Son of 'Âthâ´m, our Deliverer Yâhuwshúa`, coupled with the appearance of His star sign (a comet)!
¶ And there shall be signs in the luminary orb and moon and stars, and the restraint of communities on the earth in a state of confusion ("the raging seas and tumult...") [Yshá`Yâhuw 17: 12-13)]
Men exhausted from trembling fear and apprehension of what is coming onto the habitable earth [Róman Empire], for the forces of the heavens shall be agitated [Luwqá' 21: 25-26]
Instead, immediately after the oppression of those days, the luminary orb shall be turned to darkness, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall out from the heavens, with the forces of the heavens, they shall be toppled. [Chanówkh 89: 32-33]
And then shall the Sign of the Son of 'Âthâ´m appear in the skies, and then shall all the races of the earth beat their breasts in grief, and then they shall see the Son of 'Âthâ´m coming over the clouds of the sky with great Force and Honor [Márquwç 13: 26] and great radiance.
And He shall send forth His envoys with the sound of a great trumpet, and a great voice, that they shall assemble upon Tsiyyówn His selected ones from the four winds, from one extreme of the skies as far as their other extreme.
[MattithYâ´huw 24:29-31]
Explain the astronomical events of the Day of Yâ-hwéh
Some have said that what is described is merely an eclipse and a meteor shower. Not so. During an eclipse, the moon is dark, not blood, and the entire planet is not darkened, nor does it last all day until the evening as it is described in ZkharYâ´hu 14:7 -
"And it shall be a singular day which is known to Yâ-hwéh, no daytime and no nighttime and it shall be at the time of evening that there shall be Light!"
Evening would be after nightfall, at the beginning of the true day. This is because the Light which will shine during the night-time will be the Sign of the Son of 'Âthâ´m and this is the star announcing His presence. Of course this dark Day-time will begin at different times depending on your time zone, and the time zone which scripture uses as a point of reference is the one at Yruwshâláim, just as with geography, e.g. King of the North, King of the South. Here is a clue that this darkness during the Day-time may begin at high NOON, Yruwshâláim time.
"And it shall be in that Day"
declares the Sovereign Yâ-hwéh,
"then I will make the luminary orb go out at noon and I will darken it for the earth during the daylight!"
[Amos 8:9]
Look at this! There is an interesting statement in YirmYâ´huw Chapter 31, immediately following the famed description of the New covenant quoted in `Ivriym ("Hebrews") 8: 8-12, using this strange Day and night cycle alteration to announce when it will be that His people will not be heathen masses anymore:
“Look! Days are coming,”
declares Yâ-hwéh,
“when I will cut a new covenant with the house of Yisrâ’Ë´l and with the house of Yâhuwthâ´h:
Not like the covenant that I made with their forefathers on a day I took them by their hand to lead them out from the Land of Mitsráyim because they, they broke My covenant, so I, I loathed them,”
declares Yâ-hwéh:
“For this is the covenant that I will cut with the house of Yisrâ’Ë´l after those days –”
declares Yâ-hwéh,
“I shall put My Law in their center, and on their hearts I shall write it, and I shall be to them for Mighty Ones, and they, they shall be to Me as a people:
And each will not still teach his neighbor or his brother, saying:
‘Acknowledge Yâ-hwéh!’
Because all of them, from their least even unto their greatest shall acknowledge Me;”
declares Yâ-hwéh,
“Thus shall I pardon their wickedness, and I shall not remember their sin anymore.”
Thus says Yâ-hwéh, Who grants a luminary orb for a light by day, Who decrees a moon and stars for a light for the night, Who stirs up the sea so its waves roar, Yâ-hwéh of hosts is His name,
“If these decrees are removed from before Me, declares Yâ-hwéh, then also the seed of Yisrâ’Ë´l, they shall cease from being a heathen mass before Me for all time.”
[YirmYâ´huw 31: 31-36]
In other words, while the luminary orb lights the day and the night is lit by the moon and stars, Christianity continues being a heathen mass in His sight due to their spiritual adultery, and will continue to be so until the Day the luminary orb is not granted to furnish light by day and the moon and the stars are not our night-light. On THAT Day, apostate rebel idolatrous Christianity will be exterminated, leaving behind a surviving remnant that are a people and not heathens, and never will be again. For those who do not understand, people are alive (believers), but heathens are cadavers spiritually. To see why Christainity is Yisrâ’Ë´l, see Who's who.
The best scientific explanation I have heard about how this solar blackout could occur is that the luminary orb will undergo a burnout of its surface when it switches from being a hydrogen star to being a helium star, and that it will continue to give heat (infrared) but its surface will become black, and that it should last a day. This goes well with the changing of the age, and with the verses which speak of a change in the intensity of its light in Yshá`Yâhuw ("Isaiah") 30:26 -
And the light of the moon shall be like the light of the luminary orb, and the light of the luminary orb, it shall be sevenfold, like the light of seven days, on the day Yâ-hwéh bandages the bruise of His people and He cures the wounds He inflicted!
And scripture does not support the idea that what is described is merely a meteor shower. Remember from Disclosure ("Revelation") that envoys ("angels") have stars. This falling of the stars from the skies is part of the judgment of the envoys which abandoned their first estate and crossed with women, begetting giants. They were judged and found guilty and cast into the abyss to await the effectuation of their sentence, which will be done in the sight of all men at the time of the sixth seal. Their stars will be cast down, and their judgment comes. See the scripture download in Chanówkh ("Enoch") 87:5 and 89:33, which in its context describes the 6th seal judgments.
And Yâ-hwéh added, speaking to ’Âchâ´z saying,
"Request for yourself a Sign from Yâ-hwéh your Mighty Ones, made deep to Sh'ówl and made exalted to the heights!"
But ’Âchâ´z said,
"I will not request it so I will not test Yâ-hwéh."
And he [Yshá`Yâhuw] said,
"Listen now, house of Dâwíth, is it insufficient for you to tire out men, as you wish to also tire out my Mighty Ones? Therefore My Sovereign will give Himself to you for a sign [Luwqá 2: 34, Nikódemos 16: 2]: Look! The virgin [of Yisrâ’Ë´l] is pregnant and is bearing a Son, and she will call His name 'the Power with us' (`Immâ´nuw ’Ë´l). He will eat butter and honey [spiritual food from the heavens] for Him to know to reject the evil and to choose the good, because by the time the Youth recognizes to reject the evil and to choose the good [Judgment Day], the country that you are loathing will be forsaken because of her two kings. Yâ-hwéh shall bring upon you [royals] and upon your people [Yâhuwthâ´h] and upon the house of your father [Dâwíth] such days as have not come since the time ’Ephráyim [Anglo-america] is to turn away from Yâhuwthâ´h unto the King of Successful One ('Ashshúwr) [the impostor from Germany (Dâ´niyyË´'l 11: 21)]. And it shall be at that day that Yâ-hwéh will whistle for the fly that dominates the allotment in the [filthy] ends of the watercourses of Entrenchments (Mitsráyim) [= king #1 - an Anglo-pope, the preacher of the Lie] and for the bee that is in the land of Successful One ('Ashshúwr) [= king #2 - the image of the Beast, from Germany], and they will come and all of them will settle into the steep ravines and in the crevices of the rocks and on all of the thornbushes [apostate Christians] and at all of the water holes. [seen in Daniel 11:40] On that day, my Sovereign shall shave [her, the Land] with the razor of the hired laborer from across the river, the King of Successful One ('Ashshúwr) [the 4th seal Great tribulation by the anointed falsifier from Germany], the head and the hair of the legs and it will also take off the beard! And it shall be during that day, a Man will keep alive a heifer of a cow and two goats [the Remnant]. And it shall be from the abundance of the milk produced, He will eat butter, because all of the ones remaining [remnant 144,000] in the midst of the Land [of Yisrâ'Ë´l] will eat butter and honey. And it shall be in that Day, there shall be a thousand of the Vine worth a thousand of silver at every place instead of the briers and instead of the thorns [apostate Christians], that were there. By the arrows and by the bow He will invade there because all of the Land shall be of the brier [pope - preacher of the Lie] and thorn [image of the Beast]. But all of the mountains [kingdoms outside] that were cultivated by the hoe [Christianity] you shall not invade there, which is the fear of the brier and thorn, though it shall become for the ranging of cattle and for the sheep to run."
Note above that AFTER Yâ-hwéh Yâhuwshúa` has shaved off the presence of all the riff-raff of Germans and Anglos, the "Holy Roman Empire" off of the Land when He appears suddenly at His temple, note that the precious Remnant live there and richly produce for our Sovereign Yâ-hwéh Yâhuwshúa`, in the Land. Yet there is mention of FUTURE invasion of the kingdoms outside the Land, and this being the fear of the Preacher of the Lie and the Impostor. This describes that there IS a period of time between His coming and the conquest of the rest of the world!
The Sixth Seal is The Day of Yâ-hwéh
For some reason, it eludes most Christian scholars that the description of the Great and Astonishing Day of Yâ-hwéh given in many places in the Preadvent Scriptures ("Old Testament") exactly matches the description of the events of the Sixth Seal in Disclosure (Revelation).
(Yowm Kippuríym 7/10/5997)
And I saw when He opened the sixth seal, and look! There was a great earthquake, and the luminary orb became black as mohair sackcloth, and the moon became as blood,
And the stars of the heavens fell into the earth; in the manner a fig tree throws its unripe figs, when it is shaken by a great wind! [Chanówkh 89: 32-33]
And the skies were dissolved, as a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain (kingdom) and habitable land was removed out of their state. [Dâ´niyyË´’l 2: 34-35]
And the kings of the earth, and the great, and the generals, and the rich, and the powerful, and every bondman, and everyone free hid their selves in the caves and in the hollow rocks of the mountains;
And they were saying to the mountains and to the hollow rocks,
"Fall upon us! And hide us [Howshë´`á 10: 8, Luwqá' 23: 30] from the Face of the Lamb
that is come! And who is able to stand the great Day of His wrath?"
[Malachi 3:2]
[Disclosure 6:12-17]
And this Great and Astonishing Day of Yâ-hwéh, also matches the description in MattithYâ´huw 24 of the events which immediately precede the coming of the Son of 'Âthâ´m, our Deliverer Yâhuwshúa`, coupled with the appearance of His star sign (a comet)!
¶ And there shall be signs in the luminary orb and moon and stars, and the restraint of communities on the earth in a state of confusion ("the raging seas and tumult...") [Yshá`Yâhuw 17: 12-13)]
Men exhausted from trembling fear and apprehension of what is coming onto the habitable earth [Róman Empire], for the forces of the heavens shall be agitated [Luwqá' 21: 25-26]
Instead, immediately after the oppression of those days, the luminary orb shall be turned to darkness, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall out from the heavens, with the forces of the heavens, they shall be toppled. [Chanówkh 89: 32-33]
And then shall the Sign of the Son of 'Âthâ´m appear in the skies, and then shall all the races of the earth beat their breasts in grief, and then they shall see the Son of 'Âthâ´m coming over the clouds of the sky with great Force and Honor [Márquwç 13: 26] and great radiance.
And He shall send forth His envoys with the sound of a great trumpet, and a great voice, that they shall assemble upon Tsiyyówn His selected ones from the four winds, from one extreme of the skies as far as their other extreme.
[MattithYâ´huw 24:29-31]
Explain the astronomical events of the Day of Yâ-hwéh
Some have said that what is described is merely an eclipse and a meteor shower. Not so. During an eclipse, the moon is dark, not blood, and the entire planet is not darkened, nor does it last all day until the evening as it is described in ZkharYâ´hu 14:7 -
"And it shall be a singular day which is known to Yâ-hwéh, no daytime and no nighttime and it shall be at the time of evening that there shall be Light!"
Evening would be after nightfall, at the beginning of the true day. This is because the Light which will shine during the night-time will be the Sign of the Son of 'Âthâ´m and this is the star announcing His presence. Of course this dark Day-time will begin at different times depending on your time zone, and the time zone which scripture uses as a point of reference is the one at Yruwshâláim, just as with geography, e.g. King of the North, King of the South. Here is a clue that this darkness during the Day-time may begin at high NOON, Yruwshâláim time.
"And it shall be in that Day"
declares the Sovereign Yâ-hwéh,
"then I will make the luminary orb go out at noon and I will darken it for the earth during the daylight!"
[Amos 8:9]
Look at this! There is an interesting statement in YirmYâ´huw Chapter 31, immediately following the famed description of the New covenant quoted in `Ivriym ("Hebrews") 8: 8-12, using this strange Day and night cycle alteration to announce when it will be that His people will not be heathen masses anymore:
“Look! Days are coming,”
declares Yâ-hwéh,
“when I will cut a new covenant with the house of Yisrâ’Ë´l and with the house of Yâhuwthâ´h:
Not like the covenant that I made with their forefathers on a day I took them by their hand to lead them out from the Land of Mitsráyim because they, they broke My covenant, so I, I loathed them,”
declares Yâ-hwéh:
“For this is the covenant that I will cut with the house of Yisrâ’Ë´l after those days –”
declares Yâ-hwéh,
“I shall put My Law in their center, and on their hearts I shall write it, and I shall be to them for Mighty Ones, and they, they shall be to Me as a people:
And each will not still teach his neighbor or his brother, saying:
‘Acknowledge Yâ-hwéh!’
Because all of them, from their least even unto their greatest shall acknowledge Me;”
declares Yâ-hwéh,
“Thus shall I pardon their wickedness, and I shall not remember their sin anymore.”
Thus says Yâ-hwéh, Who grants a luminary orb for a light by day, Who decrees a moon and stars for a light for the night, Who stirs up the sea so its waves roar, Yâ-hwéh of hosts is His name,
“If these decrees are removed from before Me, declares Yâ-hwéh, then also the seed of Yisrâ’Ë´l, they shall cease from being a heathen mass before Me for all time.”
[YirmYâ´huw 31: 31-36]
In other words, while the luminary orb lights the day and the night is lit by the moon and stars, Christianity continues being a heathen mass in His sight due to their spiritual adultery, and will continue to be so until the Day the luminary orb is not granted to furnish light by day and the moon and the stars are not our night-light. On THAT Day, apostate rebel idolatrous Christianity will be exterminated, leaving behind a surviving remnant that are a people and not heathens, and never will be again. For those who do not understand, people are alive (believers), but heathens are cadavers spiritually. To see why Christainity is Yisrâ’Ë´l, see Who's who.
The best scientific explanation I have heard about how this solar blackout could occur is that the luminary orb will undergo a burnout of its surface when it switches from being a hydrogen star to being a helium star, and that it will continue to give heat (infrared) but its surface will become black, and that it should last a day. This goes well with the changing of the age, and with the verses which speak of a change in the intensity of its light in Yshá`Yâhuw ("Isaiah") 30:26 -
And the light of the moon shall be like the light of the luminary orb, and the light of the luminary orb, it shall be sevenfold, like the light of seven days, on the day Yâ-hwéh bandages the bruise of His people and He cures the wounds He inflicted!
And scripture does not support the idea that what is described is merely a meteor shower. Remember from Disclosure ("Revelation") that envoys ("angels") have stars. This falling of the stars from the skies is part of the judgment of the envoys which abandoned their first estate and crossed with women, begetting giants. They were judged and found guilty and cast into the abyss to await the effectuation of their sentence, which will be done in the sight of all men at the time of the sixth seal. Their stars will be cast down, and their judgment comes. See the scripture download in Chanówkh ("Enoch") 87:5 and 89:33, which in its context describes the 6th seal judgments.
When will it be? What happened to Y2K?
Elsewhere on this site we show scriptures showing that the Day of Yâ-hwéh will be on a Day of Atonement (Yowm Kippuwrim), the 10th day of the 7th Hebrew month [Hebrews 1:6, Deuteronomy 32:43]. Thus here, we have scripturally calculated that this Day should come on 7/10/5997 since creation, which is predicted on the History of Man to fall on 9/12-13/2024 AD (see calendar). But what about the promise that the persecution preceding His coming will be shortened? It isn't that He will change the DATE of when He returns, nor that He will make the months shorter either, though He stops the persecution for a 1290-day time interval between this persecution time and the death of the witnesses which starts on 9/11/2024, two days before His return. It's that the BEGINNING of this Great Persecution will be DELAYED. Yes, it will be delayed THREE WEEKS. How? The impostor will make his aggressive move against the King of the South on 7/22-23/2024 AD, which is the "Yehuwthím" appointed date called "Tzom Tammuz", a minor "Yehuwthíy" fast day commemorating the breach of the walls of Yruwshâláim before the destruction of the Second Temple. But you may ask, but this is not the REAL fourth month! It will be the fifth month per the accurate History of Man document. True: the "Yehuwthím" will think this date to be the seventeenth day of the fourth month called "Tammuz" because they will have not correctly identified the true first month of the year due to their unscriptural method of determining the month of the year, since they eliminated Chanówkh from their canon. This day marks their beginning of the three-week mourning period leading up to Tisha B'Av, which we do see happening in YchezqË´’l 8:14. And the Christian military crusade which surrounds the Impostor and halts him from invading the Pure Place will hold it for those same THREE WEEKS before the Impostor's armed forces overcome them and allow him access. The fact that Tisha B'Av is the "saddest day in Jewish history" and commemorates the destruction of the physical Temple TWICE on the same date will be quite a strong motivation for the Impostor to wait these three weeks to do his dirty deed on that day! These three weeks are called the DAYS OF RETRIBUTION (KJV - "Days of Vengeance" - Luke 21:20-24). So a week into them, the Impostor abolishes the continual offering, but Yâ-hwéh is Who delays this Persecution for these three weeks before the Impostor profanes the Temple of the Fortress and stands where he should not, and begins the GENOCIDE.
Elsewhere on this site we show scriptures showing that the Day of Yâ-hwéh will be on a Day of Atonement (Yowm Kippuwrim), the 10th day of the 7th Hebrew month [Hebrews 1:6, Deuteronomy 32:43]. Thus here, we have scripturally calculated that this Day should come on 7/10/5997 since creation, which is predicted on the History of Man to fall on 9/12-13/2024 AD (see calendar). But what about the promise that the persecution preceding His coming will be shortened? It isn't that He will change the DATE of when He returns, nor that He will make the months shorter either, though He stops the persecution for a 1290-day time interval between this persecution time and the death of the witnesses which starts on 9/11/2024, two days before His return. It's that the BEGINNING of this Great Persecution will be DELAYED. Yes, it will be delayed THREE WEEKS. How? The impostor will make his aggressive move against the King of the South on 7/22-23/2024 AD, which is the "Yehuwthím" appointed date called "Tzom Tammuz", a minor "Yehuwthíy" fast day commemorating the breach of the walls of Yruwshâláim before the destruction of the Second Temple. But you may ask, but this is not the REAL fourth month! It will be the fifth month per the accurate History of Man document. True: the "Yehuwthím" will think this date to be the seventeenth day of the fourth month called "Tammuz" because they will have not correctly identified the true first month of the year due to their unscriptural method of determining the month of the year, since they eliminated Chanówkh from their canon. This day marks their beginning of the three-week mourning period leading up to Tisha B'Av, which we do see happening in YchezqË´’l 8:14. And the Christian military crusade which surrounds the Impostor and halts him from invading the Pure Place will hold it for those same THREE WEEKS before the Impostor's armed forces overcome them and allow him access. The fact that Tisha B'Av is the "saddest day in Jewish history" and commemorates the destruction of the physical Temple TWICE on the same date will be quite a strong motivation for the Impostor to wait these three weeks to do his dirty deed on that day! These three weeks are called the DAYS OF RETRIBUTION (KJV - "Days of Vengeance" - Luke 21:20-24). So a week into them, the Impostor abolishes the continual offering, but Yâ-hwéh is Who delays this Persecution for these three weeks before the Impostor profanes the Temple of the Fortress and stands where he should not, and begins the GENOCIDE.
Now that we have passed into the Papist Calendar year "21st century", most of you may forget that there was a general Christian panic around the Papist year 2000, because they were thinking that "Christ Jesus" would possibly return that year, maybe even at midnight during their New Year Celebrations! (As if!!) Y2K was sparking "holy ghost" revivals and doomsayers and red heifers and white buffaloes and suicide cults, even atheist environmentalists were preaching ecological doom. But nothing happened, just as Yâ-hwéh predicted in Miykhâ´h 7:4 - "...the day of visitation of your watchmen has come, now is the time of their confusion." And as we drift forwards from that date, we steadily see more and more hardening of hearts of the Christians against those Chicken Littles proclaiming repentance because "the end is near". The scoffers predicted in 2 Këph 3:3-4 were not around much before Y2K, at that point they were limited pretty much to atheists, but now Christians themselves are in the hardening process. There are a few more premature dates which certain groups, especially near-miss namers espouse, e.g. 2011, 2012, etc., which as they pass without incident will only serve to confirm their doubts, especially in those names, and since they happen to associate us with them, they will not believe us when the true date arrives WE are announcing. This plethora of false doomsdays is no accident, this is quite within the plan of Sâtân.
I must mention here our intense personal disdain for the Hollywood movie "2012" because it is not merely absolutely ridiculous, it is an accusation that Yâ-hwéh would judge the world with water again, which He promised not to, and that humanity without Him could and would save itself from their judgments by their own preparations, and even that Queen Elizabeth would be one of their elite rescuees. Royalty will be severely judged per Chanówkh. It will be very quiet in 2012, and every scorner will be hardened even more.
I must mention here our intense personal disdain for the Hollywood movie "2012" because it is not merely absolutely ridiculous, it is an accusation that Yâ-hwéh would judge the world with water again, which He promised not to, and that humanity without Him could and would save itself from their judgments by their own preparations, and even that Queen Elizabeth would be one of their elite rescuees. Royalty will be severely judged per Chanówkh. It will be very quiet in 2012, and every scorner will be hardened even more.
Know and understand this to be able to believe 2 Këph 3:9, that "Yâ-hwéh does not delay the promise, as some declare a delay", because the final event is nevertheless slated to happen at the appointed time. The problem with their missed expectations is in the very design of their Papist calendar system. The vague Christian recollection which led them to panic about Y2K is in Howshë´`á -
“I shall go, I will return to My place until when they admit their guilt and they in their misery will seek My Face, they shall earnestly Seek Me.”
Come and let us return to Yâ-hwéh because He is Who tore to pieces and He will cure us, He injured but He will bind our wounds! After two days [2,000 years] He will revive us, on the third day, He will restore us so we may live in His presence. So let us acknowledge, let us eagerly hurry to acknowledge Yâ-hwéh! His coming will appear like a daybreak, and He will come to us like the winter rain, like a spring rain which waters the earth.
[Howshë´`á 5:15-6:3]
These are the "two days" that Këph is referring to in Këph 3:8, where he says "do not let this one thing lie hidden from you, that one day with Yâ-hwéh is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day." But NOTICE! From what point are these two days (2,000 years) counted? FROM THE TIME HE RETURNS TO HIS PLACE! From the date of His Ascension, NOT from His date of birth! (He died and resurrected, on 1/14/4000 (4/07/27 AD) and resurrected 1/17/4000 true date, and ascended 40 days later. The Papist calendar is supposed to be based on His date of BIRTH, although they missed it by five years too late (5 BC), even by their own admission, yet they won't backtrack and correct themselves. What happens then, two days (2,000 years) after His ascension (1/1/6001 true date, 3/27-28/2028 AD)? According to this scripture, "He will revive us". This is speaking of the First Resurrection, the one of believers, which is written in 1 Qorinthíym 15:52 to happen at the last trumpet, the Seventh Trumpet. This is the beginning of the Thousand-year reign of our Sovereign Yâhuwshúa`, which is the Shabbâ´th Rest Day (1,000 years). So it isn't even speaking about His coming in Judgment... It is talking about "the fulfillment of the astonishing things" (Daniel 12:6). And remember He swore that "for a time, times and a half, and when the power of the people of the Pure One is to break, all of these things will be completed". What then does this mean? What happens 3 1/2 years before the First Resurrection? HIS COMING IN JUDGMENT! (Daniel 12:1) When is this? The Day of Atonement 7/10/5997 true date, approximately 9/12-13/2024 AD (see calendar). Can you imagine how jaded and hardened Christians will be by then against doomsayers? They won't even pause to listen to sound reasoning by then.
For a full compilation of the dates calculated from scripture for these events, see The History of Man.
Who will survive?
“But I will give wonders in the heavens and on the earth - blood and fire and billows of smoke! The luminary orb, it will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the Great and the Astonishing Day of Yâ-hwéh is to come. Yet, it shall be that everyone who shall have called on the name of Yâ-hwéh, he shall be delivered! For on the Mountain of Tsiyyówn and in Yruwshâláim shall the escaped remnant be; just as Yâ-hwéh said, even among the survivors whom Yâ-hwéh is calling.”
“I shall go, I will return to My place until when they admit their guilt and they in their misery will seek My Face, they shall earnestly Seek Me.”
Come and let us return to Yâ-hwéh because He is Who tore to pieces and He will cure us, He injured but He will bind our wounds! After two days [2,000 years] He will revive us, on the third day, He will restore us so we may live in His presence. So let us acknowledge, let us eagerly hurry to acknowledge Yâ-hwéh! His coming will appear like a daybreak, and He will come to us like the winter rain, like a spring rain which waters the earth.
[Howshë´`á 5:15-6:3]
These are the "two days" that Këph is referring to in Këph 3:8, where he says "do not let this one thing lie hidden from you, that one day with Yâ-hwéh is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day." But NOTICE! From what point are these two days (2,000 years) counted? FROM THE TIME HE RETURNS TO HIS PLACE! From the date of His Ascension, NOT from His date of birth! (He died and resurrected, on 1/14/4000 (4/07/27 AD) and resurrected 1/17/4000 true date, and ascended 40 days later. The Papist calendar is supposed to be based on His date of BIRTH, although they missed it by five years too late (5 BC), even by their own admission, yet they won't backtrack and correct themselves. What happens then, two days (2,000 years) after His ascension (1/1/6001 true date, 3/27-28/2028 AD)? According to this scripture, "He will revive us". This is speaking of the First Resurrection, the one of believers, which is written in 1 Qorinthíym 15:52 to happen at the last trumpet, the Seventh Trumpet. This is the beginning of the Thousand-year reign of our Sovereign Yâhuwshúa`, which is the Shabbâ´th Rest Day (1,000 years). So it isn't even speaking about His coming in Judgment... It is talking about "the fulfillment of the astonishing things" (Daniel 12:6). And remember He swore that "for a time, times and a half, and when the power of the people of the Pure One is to break, all of these things will be completed". What then does this mean? What happens 3 1/2 years before the First Resurrection? HIS COMING IN JUDGMENT! (Daniel 12:1) When is this? The Day of Atonement 7/10/5997 true date, approximately 9/12-13/2024 AD (see calendar). Can you imagine how jaded and hardened Christians will be by then against doomsayers? They won't even pause to listen to sound reasoning by then.
For a full compilation of the dates calculated from scripture for these events, see The History of Man.
Who will survive?
“But I will give wonders in the heavens and on the earth - blood and fire and billows of smoke! The luminary orb, it will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the Great and the Astonishing Day of Yâ-hwéh is to come. Yet, it shall be that everyone who shall have called on the name of Yâ-hwéh, he shall be delivered! For on the Mountain of Tsiyyówn and in Yruwshâláim shall the escaped remnant be; just as Yâ-hwéh said, even among the survivors whom Yâ-hwéh is calling.”
[Yâhuw'Ë´l 2:30-32]
“Return, apostate sons” Declares Yâ-hwéh, “because I, I shall rule over you; yet I will choose you [plural], one from a town and two from a clan, and I will bring you to Tsiyyówn [Zion]”
[YirmYâ´huw ("Jeremiah") 3:14]
In these verses above, and throughout scripture, we see that those who shall be saved from the 6th seal annihilation of His rebel house are the remnant of Yisrâ’Ë´l (Christianity), which actually number 144,000, 12,000 from each tribe of Yisrâ’Ë´l as it says in Disclosure ("Revelation") 7 and 14. And as we discuss in the Who's who page, this means from the geopolitical areas these tribes settled. This term "tribe" does not mean a group defined by bloodlines nor by race. This is the little flock, the small remnant which is reserved even now, and the Seed of the Virgin of Yisrâ’Ë´l, which is described in Disclosure ("Revelation") 14 as Virgins (spiritual, not sexual [2 Qorinthíym ("Corinthians")11:2]), and described as those who maintain the testimony of Yâhuwshúa` so they keep the commandments of Yâ-hwéh, as those on whose lips is found no guile (meaning they do not use the Lie, any false names)! In other words, these are those few who He reserves to believe on His true name and to keep it in their hearts and on their lips.
“Return, apostate sons” Declares Yâ-hwéh, “because I, I shall rule over you; yet I will choose you [plural], one from a town and two from a clan, and I will bring you to Tsiyyówn [Zion]”
[YirmYâ´huw ("Jeremiah") 3:14]
In these verses above, and throughout scripture, we see that those who shall be saved from the 6th seal annihilation of His rebel house are the remnant of Yisrâ’Ë´l (Christianity), which actually number 144,000, 12,000 from each tribe of Yisrâ’Ë´l as it says in Disclosure ("Revelation") 7 and 14. And as we discuss in the Who's who page, this means from the geopolitical areas these tribes settled. This term "tribe" does not mean a group defined by bloodlines nor by race. This is the little flock, the small remnant which is reserved even now, and the Seed of the Virgin of Yisrâ’Ë´l, which is described in Disclosure ("Revelation") 14 as Virgins (spiritual, not sexual [2 Qorinthíym ("Corinthians")11:2]), and described as those who maintain the testimony of Yâhuwshúa` so they keep the commandments of Yâ-hwéh, as those on whose lips is found no guile (meaning they do not use the Lie, any false names)! In other words, these are those few who He reserves to believe on His true name and to keep it in their hearts and on their lips.
so If salvation depends on calling His name, what happens to "God" believers?
"But you are the ones who forsake Yâ-hwéh, the ones misplacing the mountain of My pureness, the ones lining up unto the God [גַּד Fortune distributor], a meal, and the ones pouring out a drink offering for the Money [ מְנִי Fate, Luck], wine with preservatives: So I will destine ye for the sword and ALL OF YOU WILL BOW DOWN TO THE Beast-to-be-slaughtered, for I addressed, but you did not respond, I spoke the word, but you did not listen attentively; and you made the Evil One in My eyes and you chose what displeased Me: Due to this, my Sovereign Yâ-hwéh says: See My bondmen: they will eat, but ye, ye will go hungry! See My bondmen: they will drink, but ye, ye will go thirsty! See My bondmen: they will rejoice, but ye, ye will be ashamed! See My bondmen: they will sing from the joy of the heart, but ye, ye will cry out from the anguish of the heart, and ye will wail from the brokenness of the spirit. And ye will leave your name for a curse-word for My chosen ones, and the Sovereign Yâ-hwéh will put you to death, but for His bondmen, He shall be called another name, that the one invoking blessing on the earth will bless by the True Mighty Ones, and the one taking an oath on the earth will take an oath by the True Mighty Ones, because the past troubles will be forgotten, and indeed they will be hidden from My eyes, because look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and the former things will not be remembered, and they will not come to mind."
[Yshá`Yâhuw 65: 11-17]
Can it be any clearer that Yâ-hwéh wants us to call Him by His true name? Besides this passage, which should put the fear of Yâ-hwéh into every God-believer, there are other New Testament passages which deal with this issue, since Fortune in Aramaic is "Mammon". See what happens when we translate it into Hebrew:
¶ No one is able to serve two sovereigns! For either he will hate the one and he will love the other; or he will hold to one and he will despise the other! Ye are not able to serve Yâ-hwéh and God (Fortune).
[MattithYâ´huw 6:24]
Doesn't Yâ-hwéh search the hearts and minds and know Who I'm talking about?
"If we forgot the NAME of our Mighty Ones, or we spread out our hands to a FOREIGN Mighty One; would not the Mighty Ones have discovered this? Since He is the One knowing the secrets of the heart! As For Your sake we are put to death the whole day; we were reckoned as sheep of the slaughter!"
[Ps. 44: 20-22]
Answer: yes, but since you did not do the will of the Father, Yâ-hwéh Yâhuwshúa` will reject you even if you are in His bosom (Matt. 7:23 Judaicon, see this website's translation). The will of the Father is that everyone who DISCERNS the Son and puts his trust in Him might possess endless life (Yâhuwchânâ´n's Glad Tidings 6:40). Whoever voluntarily does not acknowledge the name of the Son is NOT discerning Him. Therefore this person is rejecting His justification by not believing on His name (Acts 10:43), and since the wages of sin is death, they are not reckoned righteous, rather they are reckoned as sheep for the slaughter.
"But you are the ones who forsake Yâ-hwéh, the ones misplacing the mountain of My pureness, the ones lining up unto the God [גַּד Fortune distributor], a meal, and the ones pouring out a drink offering for the Money [ מְנִי Fate, Luck], wine with preservatives: So I will destine ye for the sword and ALL OF YOU WILL BOW DOWN TO THE Beast-to-be-slaughtered, for I addressed, but you did not respond, I spoke the word, but you did not listen attentively; and you made the Evil One in My eyes and you chose what displeased Me: Due to this, my Sovereign Yâ-hwéh says: See My bondmen: they will eat, but ye, ye will go hungry! See My bondmen: they will drink, but ye, ye will go thirsty! See My bondmen: they will rejoice, but ye, ye will be ashamed! See My bondmen: they will sing from the joy of the heart, but ye, ye will cry out from the anguish of the heart, and ye will wail from the brokenness of the spirit. And ye will leave your name for a curse-word for My chosen ones, and the Sovereign Yâ-hwéh will put you to death, but for His bondmen, He shall be called another name, that the one invoking blessing on the earth will bless by the True Mighty Ones, and the one taking an oath on the earth will take an oath by the True Mighty Ones, because the past troubles will be forgotten, and indeed they will be hidden from My eyes, because look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and the former things will not be remembered, and they will not come to mind."
[Yshá`Yâhuw 65: 11-17]
Can it be any clearer that Yâ-hwéh wants us to call Him by His true name? Besides this passage, which should put the fear of Yâ-hwéh into every God-believer, there are other New Testament passages which deal with this issue, since Fortune in Aramaic is "Mammon". See what happens when we translate it into Hebrew:
¶ No one is able to serve two sovereigns! For either he will hate the one and he will love the other; or he will hold to one and he will despise the other! Ye are not able to serve Yâ-hwéh and God (Fortune).
[MattithYâ´huw 6:24]
Doesn't Yâ-hwéh search the hearts and minds and know Who I'm talking about?
"If we forgot the NAME of our Mighty Ones, or we spread out our hands to a FOREIGN Mighty One; would not the Mighty Ones have discovered this? Since He is the One knowing the secrets of the heart! As For Your sake we are put to death the whole day; we were reckoned as sheep of the slaughter!"
[Ps. 44: 20-22]
Answer: yes, but since you did not do the will of the Father, Yâ-hwéh Yâhuwshúa` will reject you even if you are in His bosom (Matt. 7:23 Judaicon, see this website's translation). The will of the Father is that everyone who DISCERNS the Son and puts his trust in Him might possess endless life (Yâhuwchânâ´n's Glad Tidings 6:40). Whoever voluntarily does not acknowledge the name of the Son is NOT discerning Him. Therefore this person is rejecting His justification by not believing on His name (Acts 10:43), and since the wages of sin is death, they are not reckoned righteous, rather they are reckoned as sheep for the slaughter.
why will name-denying Christians be annihilated?
Romans Chapter 10
Why Yisrâ'Ë´l ("Christians") fail to rectify
¶ My brothers: indeed the good pleasure of my own heart and supplication to Yâ-hwéh on behalf of Yisrâ'Ë´l is for deliverance.
For I bear witness of them that they have zeal for Yâ-hwéh, but not about acknowledgment! [Howshea 4:6]
For they do not acknowledge Yâ-hwéh's justification [through belief in Yâhuwshúa` the Deliverer], and seeking to establish their own justification, they submitted not to the rectification of Yâ-hwéh! [Yshá`Yâhuw 66: 17]
Since the Anointed is the accomplishment of the Law unto rectification for everyone that believes.
The logic is simple yet brutal. Those Christians who refuse to enter the New Covenant are still under the Old Covenant. The New Covenant is Justification and the Old Covenant is condemnation. Christians are spiritual Yisrâ’Ë´l, since they testify that the Anointed is the mighty One in Person (Ishá`Iâjuw "Isaiah" 43:1-10). Yisrâ’Ë´l is the people to whom the Law was given. To Yisrâ’Ë´l, all the Law shall be fulfilled, every jot and tittle, and it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for this to not be so. The wages of sin for all Yisrâ’Ë´l is death. Release from sin is only possible through believing in His name (Deeds "Acts" 10:43). And there exists only one name given by the heavens among men by which we must be saved (Deeds "Acts" 4:12), so only by His TRUE name, Yâhuwshúa`, is it possible for any Christian to be blameless from their sins at His coming. Anyone who trusts and professes any other name is thus still under their sins. Therefore, everyone who has not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of the Power is already condemned (Yshá`Yâhuw "John" 3:18).
the pulling up by the roots of the foreign vine
Yâhuwshúa` said:
"I am the true Vine, and My Father is the land-worker. Every branch on Me not bearing fruit, He takes it away, and everyone that bears fruit [Testifying His name - To the `Ivríym "Hebrews" 13: 15], He prunes it in order that it might bear more fruit. Ye are already clean through the Word that I told you. Stay within Me and I shall stay within you. Just as the branch is not capable to bear fruit from itself unless it might stay on the Vine, neither thus ye, unless ye might stay within Me. I am the Vine; and ye are the branches. He who stays within Me and I within him, this one will bear much fruit, because apart from Me ye are not able to do even one thing. If anyone might not stay within Me, he is thrown out as a broken limb, and is withered, and they gather them and throw them into a fire so they are burned. [Yshá`Yâhuw 27: 10-11]. If ye stay within Me and My Words might stay within you, ye shall ask whatever ye wish, and it shall come to pass for you. By this promise is My Father honored, in order that ye should bear much fruit, and ye should become My pupils." (Yâhuwchânâ´n ("John") 15:1-8)
Yâhuwshúa` also said,
"Every plant which My Father in the heavens has not planted shall be rooted up." (Matt. 15:13)
He also said,
"A (foreign) vine has been planted apart from the Father. Since it is not strong, it will be pulled up by its roots and destroyed." Tâ'ówm ("Thomas") 40
Yâ-hwéh also said,
"...And it shall be desolation because you forgot the Mighty Ones of your salvation, and you did not remember the Rock of your fortress! According to this manner, you shall plant plantations of Pleasant ones (Na`amâníym [2 Kings 5]), but you shall sow the foreign vine: you shall plant an unbelieving plantation, and an unbelieving seed.
On the day of your planting, you shall fence around it carefully, and at the morning you shall make your posterity break out [in leprosy]… The harvest is a pile on the day of the disease and incurable pain. Though in the day that ye plant ye shall be deceived, nonetheless if you sow the Seed at daybreak, it shall spring up for a crop in the Day in which you shall obtain an inheritance, and as a father of man, you shall obtain an inheritance for your sons [Septuagint (LXX)]." [Yshá`Yâhuw (Isaiah) 17:9-11]
the key of Dâwíth versus its nub which will give way
In the Book of Yshá`Yâhuw (Isaiah), Yâ-hwéh promised to replace evil Shevnâ´h with ’Elyâqíym His servant, who He granted the Key of Dâwíth. The Key of Dâwíth is the Key of acknowledging Yâ-hwéh Yâhuwshúa` (see Key_of_Dawith). See what He says about the Key of Dâwíth and its poor substitute, its nub (translated "peg" in the NIV). And take note that the manner that it is used in its context indicates that this nub belong to the Key – in other words, the nub is the nub of the Key WORN DOWN to the point of its not being recognized anymore as a key! It is the DEGENERATION of the name of Yâhuwshúa` to “Jesus”!:
“And I will grant the Key of the house of Dâwíth to be his responsibility, and it will open and there will be none to shut, and it will shut and there will be none to open. And I will drive its NUB into a firm place, and it will be for a throne of honor for the house of its father (Pope); and everyone esteemed of the house of its father (Pope) will hand on it, the offsprings and the offshoots (denominations), all of the lesser vessels, from the vessels of the bowls even to all of the vessels of the jars. In that Day,” declares Yâ-hwéh of hosts, “the NUB driven into the firm place will give way, and it will be sheared off, and it will fall, and the load that is on it will be cut down, because Yâ-hwéh has spoken!”
[Yshá’Yâhuw "Isaiah" 22:22-25]
more on the ecumenical reunification
The above passage also describes that the various offshoots, spinoffs, and denominations of this PEG "Jesus Christ" will be reunited to depend (hang) on the PEG of its father, the Pope. Even today we are made conscious of the extraordinary efforts having been made by recent Popes to accomplish this ecumenical reunification!
Bâvél Ha-Gâthówl (“Babylon the Great") is the great confusion, an epithet for the worship of the lie (false religion)
It is not a reference to America. Surely it is easy to confuse these since America is Ephrayim which is tribal Yisrâ’Ë´l, richly blessed since his 7 times (years, 360 x 7) punishment expired 3224 – 5744 (749 BC – 1771 AD), and now it is involved in the NWO Angloamerican empire and it has practiced whoredoms also politically and financially, as is foretold for Spiritual Yisrâ’Ë´l (Christianity) spiritually. But Bâvél Ha-Gâthówl is the mother of all whores, and is embodied by the institution which sits its father (Pope) on the throne over our captive people, the desolation of Zion which is called Christianity, which helps throw away the Key of Dâwíth and uses its NUB for a throne, presenting their pontiff "bridge" as a representative of the Son on the earth! How is the Bâvél-RCC the mother of America? Look at the Masonic role in the founding of our nation. Look at our pledge of allegiance, "One nation (heathen mass), under GOD (Fortune)" Isn't Bâvél-Christianity the mother of America? Perhaps she is her grandmother, because she first begat the Anglican whore. Isn't America named for an Italian Medici bookie for the Catholic Church, Amerigo Vespucci?
Descend and settle among the debris, virgin daughter of Confusion (Bâvél)! Settle on the Land, there is no throne,daughter of the Kasdiym, because they shall not call you shy and delicate anymore!
Take millstones and grind flour [yourself]! Remove your fasteners [brassiere]! Strip off that skirt, bare the leg, wade through the rivers [of death]!
Your [spiritual] nakedness will be exposed and your rebuke [also meaning pudenda] will be exhibited - I will obtain vengeance though I will not strike a man!
The One redeeming us, Yâ-hwéh of Hosts is His name, is the Pure One of Yisrâ'Ë´l! [Yâhuwshúa`]
Stay silent and go into the darkness, daughter of the Increases (Kasdiym), because you shall not be called the Mistress of the kingdoms anymore.
I was angry with My people so I dishonored My inheritance and I gave them into your hand: you did not show mercies to them, you made your yoke too heavy on the aged.
And you said "I will always continue an eternal mistress forever!" You did not fix these things to your heart, you did not remember its consequences!
So now listen to this, O hedonistic one living in security, who is saying to herself, "It is I, and there exists no other one besides me; I will not be deserted and I will not suffer the loss of children!"
But both of these will overtake you in a moment, on a single Day: loss of children and desertion, as in their totality they will come upon you, by he multitude of your sorceries, in the potency of your exceedingly many alliances!...
[Yshá'Yâhuw "Isaiah" 47: 1-9]
Though the Day of the Judgment of the House of the Mighty One is the end of the line for name-denying Christians, this dark day is the beginning of happiness for the surviving remnant who will be with Him, and who soon will be rejoined by their once-rebellious deceased brothers when they resurrect at the 7th Trumpet! This is why Paulus in Romans 8 says that even during that period that they are counted as sheep for the slaughter, we more than vanquish!
what happens to THE LIE (the anointed falsifier) when Yâhuwshúa` comes?
Preconceived traditions and uninspired translations give the idea that the anointed falsifier will be destroyed at the coming of our Sovereign suddenly to His temple. It is not so, since he has yet more things to do, most prominently he is seen leading the armies of the Beast against the Lamb at the Marriage Dinner of the Lamb. As with every careless mistranslation, it has led to various misconceptions in doctrine in the victimized congregations reading them. The truth is, when Our Sovereign Yâ-hwéh Yâhuwshúa` arrives at the 6th seal, the Lie will be exiled from the promised land and will set up Bâvél where it belongs, in the valley of Shinar, and he will be disarmed from his power to harm and kill until all the servants of Yâ-hwéh Yâhuwshúa` shall have returned and been sealed, at the end of the 5th trumpet period. See these scriptures:
The alteration of scripture to insert the Lie, and the exile of Wickedness to her place, Bâvél
ZkharYâ´hu 5: 1-11
"And again I did lift my eyes and I looked, and see! A flying scroll. And He asked me:
"What are you seeing?"
And I answered:
"I am seeing a flying scroll, its length is twenty cubits and its width is ten cubits."
And He said to me:
"This is the 'Âlâ´h (curse) going out over the face of the whole earth, because everyone having been a thief from this curse, according to it, shall be erased; and everyone filling it in from this curse, according to it, shall be erased. And I will send it out,
declares Yâ-hwéh of Hosts,
and it will enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of the one filling in the falsehood for My name, and it will remain inside of his house and it will destroy it and its timbers and its stones!
And the Envoy speaking to me came forward and he said to me:
"Lift your eyes now, and look! What is this one going abroad?"
And I asked:
"What is it?"
And he replied:
"This is the Egyptian measuring basket ('Ëyphâ´h), the one going abroad",
and he added:
"This is their vision source throughout all the earth ["Holy Bible"]."
Then see! The cover of lead was raised and this one woman was sitting within the Egyptian measuring basket. And he said:
"This is the Wickedness! [the LorD XezVs ChrIstos 666]"
And He pushed her into the interior of the Egyptian measuring basket and He pushed the cover of lead over its mouth. And I lifted up my eyes and I looked, and see! Two women going out with wind in their wings and their wings were like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the Egyptian measuring basket out of the earth and out of the heavens. And I said to the Envoy, the One speaking to me:
"To where are they carrying the Egyptian measuring basket?"
And He replied to me:
"To build for it a house in the land of Shin`â´r. When it is ready, then it will be set there on her place [the image of the beast exiled to Bâvél]."
Romans Chapter 10
Why Yisrâ'Ë´l ("Christians") fail to rectify
¶ My brothers: indeed the good pleasure of my own heart and supplication to Yâ-hwéh on behalf of Yisrâ'Ë´l is for deliverance.
For I bear witness of them that they have zeal for Yâ-hwéh, but not about acknowledgment! [Howshea 4:6]
For they do not acknowledge Yâ-hwéh's justification [through belief in Yâhuwshúa` the Deliverer], and seeking to establish their own justification, they submitted not to the rectification of Yâ-hwéh! [Yshá`Yâhuw 66: 17]
Since the Anointed is the accomplishment of the Law unto rectification for everyone that believes.
The logic is simple yet brutal. Those Christians who refuse to enter the New Covenant are still under the Old Covenant. The New Covenant is Justification and the Old Covenant is condemnation. Christians are spiritual Yisrâ’Ë´l, since they testify that the Anointed is the mighty One in Person (Ishá`Iâjuw "Isaiah" 43:1-10). Yisrâ’Ë´l is the people to whom the Law was given. To Yisrâ’Ë´l, all the Law shall be fulfilled, every jot and tittle, and it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for this to not be so. The wages of sin for all Yisrâ’Ë´l is death. Release from sin is only possible through believing in His name (Deeds "Acts" 10:43). And there exists only one name given by the heavens among men by which we must be saved (Deeds "Acts" 4:12), so only by His TRUE name, Yâhuwshúa`, is it possible for any Christian to be blameless from their sins at His coming. Anyone who trusts and professes any other name is thus still under their sins. Therefore, everyone who has not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of the Power is already condemned (Yshá`Yâhuw "John" 3:18).
the pulling up by the roots of the foreign vine
Yâhuwshúa` said:
"I am the true Vine, and My Father is the land-worker. Every branch on Me not bearing fruit, He takes it away, and everyone that bears fruit [Testifying His name - To the `Ivríym "Hebrews" 13: 15], He prunes it in order that it might bear more fruit. Ye are already clean through the Word that I told you. Stay within Me and I shall stay within you. Just as the branch is not capable to bear fruit from itself unless it might stay on the Vine, neither thus ye, unless ye might stay within Me. I am the Vine; and ye are the branches. He who stays within Me and I within him, this one will bear much fruit, because apart from Me ye are not able to do even one thing. If anyone might not stay within Me, he is thrown out as a broken limb, and is withered, and they gather them and throw them into a fire so they are burned. [Yshá`Yâhuw 27: 10-11]. If ye stay within Me and My Words might stay within you, ye shall ask whatever ye wish, and it shall come to pass for you. By this promise is My Father honored, in order that ye should bear much fruit, and ye should become My pupils." (Yâhuwchânâ´n ("John") 15:1-8)
Yâhuwshúa` also said,
"Every plant which My Father in the heavens has not planted shall be rooted up." (Matt. 15:13)
He also said,
"A (foreign) vine has been planted apart from the Father. Since it is not strong, it will be pulled up by its roots and destroyed." Tâ'ówm ("Thomas") 40
Yâ-hwéh also said,
"...And it shall be desolation because you forgot the Mighty Ones of your salvation, and you did not remember the Rock of your fortress! According to this manner, you shall plant plantations of Pleasant ones (Na`amâníym [2 Kings 5]), but you shall sow the foreign vine: you shall plant an unbelieving plantation, and an unbelieving seed.
On the day of your planting, you shall fence around it carefully, and at the morning you shall make your posterity break out [in leprosy]… The harvest is a pile on the day of the disease and incurable pain. Though in the day that ye plant ye shall be deceived, nonetheless if you sow the Seed at daybreak, it shall spring up for a crop in the Day in which you shall obtain an inheritance, and as a father of man, you shall obtain an inheritance for your sons [Septuagint (LXX)]." [Yshá`Yâhuw (Isaiah) 17:9-11]
the key of Dâwíth versus its nub which will give way
In the Book of Yshá`Yâhuw (Isaiah), Yâ-hwéh promised to replace evil Shevnâ´h with ’Elyâqíym His servant, who He granted the Key of Dâwíth. The Key of Dâwíth is the Key of acknowledging Yâ-hwéh Yâhuwshúa` (see Key_of_Dawith). See what He says about the Key of Dâwíth and its poor substitute, its nub (translated "peg" in the NIV). And take note that the manner that it is used in its context indicates that this nub belong to the Key – in other words, the nub is the nub of the Key WORN DOWN to the point of its not being recognized anymore as a key! It is the DEGENERATION of the name of Yâhuwshúa` to “Jesus”!:
“And I will grant the Key of the house of Dâwíth to be his responsibility, and it will open and there will be none to shut, and it will shut and there will be none to open. And I will drive its NUB into a firm place, and it will be for a throne of honor for the house of its father (Pope); and everyone esteemed of the house of its father (Pope) will hand on it, the offsprings and the offshoots (denominations), all of the lesser vessels, from the vessels of the bowls even to all of the vessels of the jars. In that Day,” declares Yâ-hwéh of hosts, “the NUB driven into the firm place will give way, and it will be sheared off, and it will fall, and the load that is on it will be cut down, because Yâ-hwéh has spoken!”
[Yshá’Yâhuw "Isaiah" 22:22-25]
more on the ecumenical reunification
The above passage also describes that the various offshoots, spinoffs, and denominations of this PEG "Jesus Christ" will be reunited to depend (hang) on the PEG of its father, the Pope. Even today we are made conscious of the extraordinary efforts having been made by recent Popes to accomplish this ecumenical reunification!
Bâvél Ha-Gâthówl (“Babylon the Great") is the great confusion, an epithet for the worship of the lie (false religion)
It is not a reference to America. Surely it is easy to confuse these since America is Ephrayim which is tribal Yisrâ’Ë´l, richly blessed since his 7 times (years, 360 x 7) punishment expired 3224 – 5744 (749 BC – 1771 AD), and now it is involved in the NWO Angloamerican empire and it has practiced whoredoms also politically and financially, as is foretold for Spiritual Yisrâ’Ë´l (Christianity) spiritually. But Bâvél Ha-Gâthówl is the mother of all whores, and is embodied by the institution which sits its father (Pope) on the throne over our captive people, the desolation of Zion which is called Christianity, which helps throw away the Key of Dâwíth and uses its NUB for a throne, presenting their pontiff "bridge" as a representative of the Son on the earth! How is the Bâvél-RCC the mother of America? Look at the Masonic role in the founding of our nation. Look at our pledge of allegiance, "One nation (heathen mass), under GOD (Fortune)" Isn't Bâvél-Christianity the mother of America? Perhaps she is her grandmother, because she first begat the Anglican whore. Isn't America named for an Italian Medici bookie for the Catholic Church, Amerigo Vespucci?
Descend and settle among the debris, virgin daughter of Confusion (Bâvél)! Settle on the Land, there is no throne,daughter of the Kasdiym, because they shall not call you shy and delicate anymore!
Take millstones and grind flour [yourself]! Remove your fasteners [brassiere]! Strip off that skirt, bare the leg, wade through the rivers [of death]!
Your [spiritual] nakedness will be exposed and your rebuke [also meaning pudenda] will be exhibited - I will obtain vengeance though I will not strike a man!
The One redeeming us, Yâ-hwéh of Hosts is His name, is the Pure One of Yisrâ'Ë´l! [Yâhuwshúa`]
Stay silent and go into the darkness, daughter of the Increases (Kasdiym), because you shall not be called the Mistress of the kingdoms anymore.
I was angry with My people so I dishonored My inheritance and I gave them into your hand: you did not show mercies to them, you made your yoke too heavy on the aged.
And you said "I will always continue an eternal mistress forever!" You did not fix these things to your heart, you did not remember its consequences!
So now listen to this, O hedonistic one living in security, who is saying to herself, "It is I, and there exists no other one besides me; I will not be deserted and I will not suffer the loss of children!"
But both of these will overtake you in a moment, on a single Day: loss of children and desertion, as in their totality they will come upon you, by he multitude of your sorceries, in the potency of your exceedingly many alliances!...
[Yshá'Yâhuw "Isaiah" 47: 1-9]
Though the Day of the Judgment of the House of the Mighty One is the end of the line for name-denying Christians, this dark day is the beginning of happiness for the surviving remnant who will be with Him, and who soon will be rejoined by their once-rebellious deceased brothers when they resurrect at the 7th Trumpet! This is why Paulus in Romans 8 says that even during that period that they are counted as sheep for the slaughter, we more than vanquish!
what happens to THE LIE (the anointed falsifier) when Yâhuwshúa` comes?
Preconceived traditions and uninspired translations give the idea that the anointed falsifier will be destroyed at the coming of our Sovereign suddenly to His temple. It is not so, since he has yet more things to do, most prominently he is seen leading the armies of the Beast against the Lamb at the Marriage Dinner of the Lamb. As with every careless mistranslation, it has led to various misconceptions in doctrine in the victimized congregations reading them. The truth is, when Our Sovereign Yâ-hwéh Yâhuwshúa` arrives at the 6th seal, the Lie will be exiled from the promised land and will set up Bâvél where it belongs, in the valley of Shinar, and he will be disarmed from his power to harm and kill until all the servants of Yâ-hwéh Yâhuwshúa` shall have returned and been sealed, at the end of the 5th trumpet period. See these scriptures:
The alteration of scripture to insert the Lie, and the exile of Wickedness to her place, Bâvél
ZkharYâ´hu 5: 1-11
"And again I did lift my eyes and I looked, and see! A flying scroll. And He asked me:
"What are you seeing?"
And I answered:
"I am seeing a flying scroll, its length is twenty cubits and its width is ten cubits."
And He said to me:
"This is the 'Âlâ´h (curse) going out over the face of the whole earth, because everyone having been a thief from this curse, according to it, shall be erased; and everyone filling it in from this curse, according to it, shall be erased. And I will send it out,
declares Yâ-hwéh of Hosts,
and it will enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of the one filling in the falsehood for My name, and it will remain inside of his house and it will destroy it and its timbers and its stones!
And the Envoy speaking to me came forward and he said to me:
"Lift your eyes now, and look! What is this one going abroad?"
And I asked:
"What is it?"
And he replied:
"This is the Egyptian measuring basket ('Ëyphâ´h), the one going abroad",
and he added:
"This is their vision source throughout all the earth ["Holy Bible"]."
Then see! The cover of lead was raised and this one woman was sitting within the Egyptian measuring basket. And he said:
"This is the Wickedness! [the LorD XezVs ChrIstos 666]"
And He pushed her into the interior of the Egyptian measuring basket and He pushed the cover of lead over its mouth. And I lifted up my eyes and I looked, and see! Two women going out with wind in their wings and their wings were like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the Egyptian measuring basket out of the earth and out of the heavens. And I said to the Envoy, the One speaking to me:
"To where are they carrying the Egyptian measuring basket?"
And He replied to me:
"To build for it a house in the land of Shin`â´r. When it is ready, then it will be set there on her place [the image of the beast exiled to Bâvél]."
This exile is confirmed in 2 Thessalonikeans, yet hidden by establishment mistranslations
And then the Lawless One will be revealed, whom Yâ-hwéh Yâhuwshúa` will take away with the breath of His mouth, and render entirely idle by the sign above (epiphany) of His coming to where he is, the one coming according to the operation of the Adversary, within all of the force and signs and wonders of the Lie,
[2 Thessalonikeans 2:8-9]
This exile of the Lie is also described in Yshá`Yâhuw ("Isaiah"), where the Lie is called a calf, of which the Golden Calf of Aharon was a foreshadow
Yshá`Yâhuw 27: 7-11
"Did He strike him [Yisrâ’Ë´l] like the striking of the one [the impostor] striking Him? Or was he [Yisrâ’Ë´l] killed like the killing of the ones he [the impostor] was killing? By driving her away, by her exile You did contend with her [the Land] - He removed her with His fierce wind [6th seal] on the day of the east wind [Great Tribulation, 4th seal]. For thus by this will the sin of Ya`aqóv be atoned for, and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin: by his making all of his altar stones crushed like chalk stones, there will not be an Ashërâ´h image, nor an obelisk left standing! Because the fortified city [Old Yruwshâláim] is a solitary habitation, divorced [MattithYahuw 23:37-39] and abandoned like the uninhabited land. There a calf [the image of the beast (compare Exodus 32:8] grazes and there he squats and he terminates her branches: The flock that dwelt there shall be given up, to be a forsaken flock, and much time shall pass for them without pasture or rest. And after a time, there shall be nothing green at all within it. Due to the withering, when her twigs are dry, they are broken off, women [the deceived who take orders] come from a goddess and make fires with them [burn them at the stake], because this is a people of no understanding; for this, their Maker does not have compassion on them and their Creator does not show favor to them. [The new inquisition of the Great Tribulation] [see the calf also in Hosea 8:4-7].
And it shall be in that Day, Yâ-hwéh shall thresh from the flowing stream of the River [Phrâth] unto the River [Genesis 15: 18] of Entrenchments (Mitsráyim) [Nile], and ye, ye shall be gathered up, one by one, sons of Yisrâ’Ë´l!
And then the Lawless One will be revealed, whom Yâ-hwéh Yâhuwshúa` will take away with the breath of His mouth, and render entirely idle by the sign above (epiphany) of His coming to where he is, the one coming according to the operation of the Adversary, within all of the force and signs and wonders of the Lie,
[2 Thessalonikeans 2:8-9]
This exile of the Lie is also described in Yshá`Yâhuw ("Isaiah"), where the Lie is called a calf, of which the Golden Calf of Aharon was a foreshadow
Yshá`Yâhuw 27: 7-11
"Did He strike him [Yisrâ’Ë´l] like the striking of the one [the impostor] striking Him? Or was he [Yisrâ’Ë´l] killed like the killing of the ones he [the impostor] was killing? By driving her away, by her exile You did contend with her [the Land] - He removed her with His fierce wind [6th seal] on the day of the east wind [Great Tribulation, 4th seal]. For thus by this will the sin of Ya`aqóv be atoned for, and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin: by his making all of his altar stones crushed like chalk stones, there will not be an Ashërâ´h image, nor an obelisk left standing! Because the fortified city [Old Yruwshâláim] is a solitary habitation, divorced [MattithYahuw 23:37-39] and abandoned like the uninhabited land. There a calf [the image of the beast (compare Exodus 32:8] grazes and there he squats and he terminates her branches: The flock that dwelt there shall be given up, to be a forsaken flock, and much time shall pass for them without pasture or rest. And after a time, there shall be nothing green at all within it. Due to the withering, when her twigs are dry, they are broken off, women [the deceived who take orders] come from a goddess and make fires with them [burn them at the stake], because this is a people of no understanding; for this, their Maker does not have compassion on them and their Creator does not show favor to them. [The new inquisition of the Great Tribulation] [see the calf also in Hosea 8:4-7].
And it shall be in that Day, Yâ-hwéh shall thresh from the flowing stream of the River [Phrâth] unto the River [Genesis 15: 18] of Entrenchments (Mitsráyim) [Nile], and ye, ye shall be gathered up, one by one, sons of Yisrâ’Ë´l!
Passover, Prayer, Fasting and Laying Teffilin
By
James Scott Trimm
By
James Scott Trimm
Certain shedim (”Demons”) cannot be removed simply by evoking the Name. These shedim can only be removed though prayer and fasting, as Yeshua says:
Then came near to him the talmidim privately, and asked him, "Why could not we cast him out?"
And he answered them and said, "On account of your lack of trust. Truly I say to you, "If you have trust as a grain of mustard seed, and shall tell this mountain, 'Pass away from here,' it will immediately pass away, and the thing will not be withheld from you.
(Mt. 17:19-21 HRV see also Mk. 9:18, 28-29)
And he answered them and said, "On account of your lack of trust. Truly I say to you, "If you have trust as a grain of mustard seed, and shall tell this mountain, 'Pass away from here,' it will immediately pass away, and the thing will not be withheld from you.
(Mt. 17:19-21 HRV see also Mk. 9:18, 28-29)
Various commentaries have interpreted the “faith” that can “move… a mountain” in various ways. However in the context here the “mountain” represents a demon. Why does Yeshua use a “mountain” to represent a shed?
In the scriptures “mountains” often represent “kingdoms” (for example in Daniel 2:35, 44) and “Kingdoms” often correspond to shedim. For example “the prince of the Kingdom of Persia” (Dan. 10:13, 20) and “the prince of Greece” (Dan. 10:20). The “mountains” here are “powers and principalities”, the Sacred Name alone may not be enough to cast out or otherwise take authority over these shedim.
Daniel prayed and fasted for 21 (7 * 3) days in order to receive a prophecy (Dan. 10). The Prince of Persia resisted the angel who was sent to bring this prophecy to Daniel (Dan. 10:13) but it appears that Daniel’s 21 days of prayer and fasting invoked and strengthened the angel Michael into the heavenly battle and overcame this shed. Prayer and fasting has an impact in the ongoing war in the heavens (Dan. 10; Eph. 6:11-13, 18).
The Shema, the Tefillin and Mezuzah
There are three times of prayer throughout the day: Shaharit (morning prayer), Minhah (afternoon payer) and Maariv (evening prayer). (Two of these correspond to the time of sacrifice at the Temple in ancient times.) These three times of prayer are mentioned in the Scriptures:
And when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house--now his windows were open in his upper chamber toward Yerushalayim--and he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his Elah, as he did
(Dan. 6:11 (6:10) HRV; Ps. 55:17)
(Dan. 6:11 (6:10) HRV; Ps. 55:17)
Traditionally the Sh’ma is recited as part of the morning and evening payers in fulfillment of Deut. 6:4-7:
HEAR, O YISRA’EL: YHWH OUR ELOHIM, YHWH IS ONE.
And you shall love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
And these words, which I command you this day, shall be upon your heart;
and you shall teach them diligently unto your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.
(Deut. 6:4-7 HRV)
And you shall love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
And these words, which I command you this day, shall be upon your heart;
and you shall teach them diligently unto your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.
(Deut. 6:4-7 HRV)
(some see the phrase “when you sit in the house, and when you walk by the way” as pointing to the afternoon prayer as well)
According to the Jerusalem Talmud the reciting of the Shema repels the shedim (demons):
On what ground was it ordained that the Shema
should be recited at home in the evening?
to put harmful spirits to flight.
(j.Ber. 2d)
should be recited at home in the evening?
to put harmful spirits to flight.
(j.Ber. 2d)
The Babylonian Talmud teaches that the Shema is like a two edged sword which repels the shedim (demons):
Whoever reads the Shema upon his bed is as though he holds
a two edged sword in his hand (to ward off evil spirits); as it
is said “Let the high praises of Elohim be in their mouth,
and a two edged sword in their hand” (Ps. 149:6)
(b.Ber. 5a)
This is much like what Paul says when he identifies the Word of Elohim with a two edged sword (Heb. 4:12) and lists it as part of the full Armor of Elohim by which we may be "able to stand firm against the tactics of the Akel Kartza" (Eph. 6:10-18)
a two edged sword in his hand (to ward off evil spirits); as it
is said “Let the high praises of Elohim be in their mouth,
and a two edged sword in their hand” (Ps. 149:6)
(b.Ber. 5a)
This is much like what Paul says when he identifies the Word of Elohim with a two edged sword (Heb. 4:12) and lists it as part of the full Armor of Elohim by which we may be "able to stand firm against the tactics of the Akel Kartza" (Eph. 6:10-18)
Closely connected with both the daily prayers and the Passover is the wearing of the tefillin. The tefillin are two black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with certain biblical verses (Ex. 13:1-16; Deut. 6:4-9; 11:13-21). The arm-tefillin, is worn on the upper arm, while the head-tefillin is placed above the forehead in literal fulfillment of the following passages from the Torah:
And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand,
and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.
(Deut. 6:8; 11:18; Ex. 13:9; 13:16 HRV)
and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.
(Deut. 6:8; 11:18; Ex. 13:9; 13:16 HRV)
This custom was followed not only by Pharisees, but by Essenes as well. As several sets of Teffillin were found at Qumran.
The wearing of the Tefillin is mentioned by Yeshua:
And so all their works they do
that they may be seen by the sons of men,
for they make broad the straps of their t’ffila,
and enlarge the corners of their mantles,
(Mt. 23:5 HRV)
that they may be seen by the sons of men,
for they make broad the straps of their t’ffila,
and enlarge the corners of their mantles,
(Mt. 23:5 HRV)
Here he does not suggest that wearing Tefillin should not be done, but that one should not broaden the straps to make a big show of using Tefillin. In fact, one cannot follow this rule not to broaden the straps of one’s Teffilin, if one does not use them. This rule from Yeshua presupposes that one is using Teffilin.
We read in the Zohar:
Prayer which is not whole-hearted is pursued by numbers of destructive angels, according to the Scriptural expression: “all her pursuers have overtaken her, etc.” (Lam. I, 3).Therefore it is well to preface one's prayer with the verse, “but he is merciful and forgiveth iniquity, etc.” (Ps. LXXVIII, 38). The word “iniquity” signifies Samael, who is the serpent; “he will not destroy” signifies the destroyer; “he turneth his anger away” refers to the demon Af (anger); “and doth not stir up all his wrath” refers to the demon Hemah (wrath). To these powers are attached many destructive angels, which are under seven chiefs with seventy under-chiefs, dispersed in every firmament, and under them are myriads of others. When an Israelite wearing tzitzit and tefilln prays with devotion, then the words of the Scripture are fulfilled: “All the peoples of the earth shall see that the name of the Lord is called upon thee and they shall fear thee” (Deut. XXVIII, 10). We have agreed that “the name of the Lord” refers to the tefillin of the head; and when the destructive angels see the name of Tetragrammaton on the head of him who is praying, they at once take to flight, as it is written, “a thousand shall fall at thy side” (Ps. XCI, 7).
(Zohar 1:23b)
We read in the Zohar:
Prayer which is not whole-hearted is pursued by numbers of destructive angels, according to the Scriptural expression: “all her pursuers have overtaken her, etc.” (Lam. I, 3).Therefore it is well to preface one's prayer with the verse, “but he is merciful and forgiveth iniquity, etc.” (Ps. LXXVIII, 38). The word “iniquity” signifies Samael, who is the serpent; “he will not destroy” signifies the destroyer; “he turneth his anger away” refers to the demon Af (anger); “and doth not stir up all his wrath” refers to the demon Hemah (wrath). To these powers are attached many destructive angels, which are under seven chiefs with seventy under-chiefs, dispersed in every firmament, and under them are myriads of others. When an Israelite wearing tzitzit and tefilln prays with devotion, then the words of the Scripture are fulfilled: “All the peoples of the earth shall see that the name of the Lord is called upon thee and they shall fear thee” (Deut. XXVIII, 10). We have agreed that “the name of the Lord” refers to the tefillin of the head; and when the destructive angels see the name of Tetragrammaton on the head of him who is praying, they at once take to flight, as it is written, “a thousand shall fall at thy side” (Ps. XCI, 7).
(Zohar 1:23b)
Two of the passages concerning the wearing of Tefillin tell us that Tefillin are specifically worn as a remembrance of Passover:
Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to YHWH.
Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with you, neither shall there be leaven seen with you, in all your borders.
And you shall tell your son in that day, saying: It is because of that which YHWH did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.
And it shall be for a sign unto you upon your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that the Torah of YHWH may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand has YHWH brought you out of Egypt.
You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.
And it shall be when YHWH shall bring you into the land of the Kena’anites, as He swore unto you and to your fathers, and shall give it you,
that you shall set apart unto YHWH all that opens the womb; every firstling that is a male, which you have coming of a beast, shall be YHWH’s.
And every firstling of an ass you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and all the first-born of man among your sons shall you redeem.
And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying: What is this? that you shall say unto him: By strength of hand YHWH brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage;
and it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go that YHWH slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the first-born of man, and the first-born of beast; therefore I sacrifice to YHWH all that opens the womb, being males; but all the first-born of my sons I redeem.
And it shall be for a sign upon your hand, and for frontlets between your eyes; for by strength of hand YHWH brought us forth out of Egypt.'
(Ex. 13:6-16 HRV)
Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with you, neither shall there be leaven seen with you, in all your borders.
And you shall tell your son in that day, saying: It is because of that which YHWH did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.
And it shall be for a sign unto you upon your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that the Torah of YHWH may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand has YHWH brought you out of Egypt.
You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.
And it shall be when YHWH shall bring you into the land of the Kena’anites, as He swore unto you and to your fathers, and shall give it you,
that you shall set apart unto YHWH all that opens the womb; every firstling that is a male, which you have coming of a beast, shall be YHWH’s.
And every firstling of an ass you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and all the first-born of man among your sons shall you redeem.
And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying: What is this? that you shall say unto him: By strength of hand YHWH brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage;
and it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go that YHWH slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the first-born of man, and the first-born of beast; therefore I sacrifice to YHWH all that opens the womb, being males; but all the first-born of my sons I redeem.
And it shall be for a sign upon your hand, and for frontlets between your eyes; for by strength of hand YHWH brought us forth out of Egypt.'
(Ex. 13:6-16 HRV)
The other two passages concerning the Tefillin tie them closely to the Mezuzah:
And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.
And you shall write them upon the door-posts of your house, and upon your gates.
(Deut. 6:8-9; 11:18-20 HRV)
And you shall write them upon the door-posts of your house, and upon your gates.
(Deut. 6:8-9; 11:18-20 HRV)
The Mezuzah is a piece of parchment normally contained in a decorative case and affixed to the doorpost of a Jewish home. I is inscribed with verses from the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21).
The practice of affixing a Mezuzah to the doorpost seems to have been kept by not only Pharisees, but Essenes as well, in fact a Mezuzah parchment containing portions of Deut. 10:1-11:1 was found at Qumran.
The connection of the Mezuzah with Passover is obvious. Like the Mezuzah the blood of the Passover lamb was placed on the doorpost so that the “angel of death” would Passover the home.
Similarly the Mezuzah and Tefillin is seen as a guardian of a Jewish home, keeping the shedim (demons) outside:
R. Eliezer b. Jacob said, Whosoever has the tefillin on his head,
the tefillin on his arm, the tzitzit on his garment,
and the mezuzah on his doorpost, is protected.
He will not fall into sin, for it is written,
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken;(Eccl. 4:12)
and it is also written, The angel of YHWH encamps
round about them that fear Him, and delivers them. (Ps. 34:8).
(b. Menachot 43b)
the tefillin on his arm, the tzitzit on his garment,
and the mezuzah on his doorpost, is protected.
He will not fall into sin, for it is written,
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken;(Eccl. 4:12)
and it is also written, The angel of YHWH encamps
round about them that fear Him, and delivers them. (Ps. 34:8).
(b. Menachot 43b)
In fact the Greek word for “tefillin” is “phylactery” which is a Greek word meaning “guardian”. The head tefillin symbolizes for us the helmet of salvation while the hand teffilin symbolizes the shield of faith.
An example of the protection of the tefillin can be found in Revelation:
And the fifth sounded and I saw a star that fell from heaven upon the earth, and the key of the pit of the abyss was given to him.
And smoke went up from the pit as the smoke of a great furnace that is burning and the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.
And from the smoke locusts went out upon the earth, and the authority that is to the scorpions of the earth was given to them.
And it was told to them that they should not harm the grass of the earth or any herb, not even the trees, but only the sons of men who did not have the seal of Eloah between their eyes,
(Rev. 9:1-4 HRV)
And smoke went up from the pit as the smoke of a great furnace that is burning and the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.
And from the smoke locusts went out upon the earth, and the authority that is to the scorpions of the earth was given to them.
And it was told to them that they should not harm the grass of the earth or any herb, not even the trees, but only the sons of men who did not have the seal of Eloah between their eyes,
(Rev. 9:1-4 HRV)
This refers back to another passage in Revelation:
And after this, I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth and holding the four winds so that the wind would not blow on the earth and not on the sea and not on any tree.
And I saw another angel who ascended from the rising of the sun and he had the seal of the living Eloah and he cried aloud with a loud voice to the four angles, those to whom it was given to harm the earth and the sea.
And he said, Do not harm the earth nor the sea, not even the trees, until we seal the servants of Eloah between their eyes.
And I heard the number of those sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand from all the tribes of Yisra'el:
(Rev. 7:1-4 HRV)
And I saw another angel who ascended from the rising of the sun and he had the seal of the living Eloah and he cried aloud with a loud voice to the four angles, those to whom it was given to harm the earth and the sea.
And he said, Do not harm the earth nor the sea, not even the trees, until we seal the servants of Eloah between their eyes.
And I heard the number of those sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand from all the tribes of Yisra'el:
(Rev. 7:1-4 HRV)
Note that these “sealed” ones are “firstborn” and are redeemed by the blood of the lamb, referring back to the imagery of the blood of the Passover lamb on the doorpost and the Mezuzah. This sealing of Israel on the forehead refers back to a section in the book of Ezekiel:
Then he called in my ears with a loud voice, saying: 'Cause you them that have charge over the city to draw near, every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.'
And, behold, six men came from the way of the upper gate, which lies toward the north, every man with his weapon of destruction in his hand; and one man in the midst of them clothed in linen, with a writer's inkhorn on his side. And they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar.
And the glory of the Elohim of Yisra’el was gone up from the cheruv, whereupon it was, to the threshold of the house; and He called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writer's inkhorn on his side.
And YHWH said unto him: 'Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Yerushalayim, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that are done in the midst thereof.'
And to the others He said in my hearing: 'Go you through the city after him, and smite; let not your eye spare, neither have you pity;
(Ezek. 9:1-5 HRV)
And, behold, six men came from the way of the upper gate, which lies toward the north, every man with his weapon of destruction in his hand; and one man in the midst of them clothed in linen, with a writer's inkhorn on his side. And they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar.
And the glory of the Elohim of Yisra’el was gone up from the cheruv, whereupon it was, to the threshold of the house; and He called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writer's inkhorn on his side.
And YHWH said unto him: 'Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Yerushalayim, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that are done in the midst thereof.'
And to the others He said in my hearing: 'Go you through the city after him, and smite; let not your eye spare, neither have you pity;
(Ezek. 9:1-5 HRV)
Those being protected in Ezekiel 9 are those who sigh and cry over the “abominations” of Ezekiel 8. The abominations of Ezekiel 8 are all relate to Easter and that those who “sigh and cry because of the [Easter] abominations” do so because they have made Passover “a memorial between your eyes” (Ex. 13:9) and thus have received the mark/seal of YHWH on their foreheads. (Listen to “Passover vs. Easter” a Truth Talk Podcast Special Presentation at http://nazarenespace.com/profiles/blogs/passover-vs-easter-2 for a full understanding of Ezekiel 8-9 as it relates to Easter vs. Passover).
No ministry even comes close to the work we are doing for the restoration of the ancient sect of the Nazarenes. Yet there is so much more to be done in these areas, and so much more to be done to bring the message of Torah and Messiah to this lost world.
How is This Haggadah Different from Others?
How is This Haggadah Different from Others?
Traditionally in the Seder we ask the question “ How is this night different from all others?”. The question that obviously comes to our minds is, “Why a new Haggadah?” and how is this haggadah different from others?
For many years now we have gotten requests for a Nazarene Passover Haggaah. Well now we have finally produced one. A lot of thought and years of research have gone into this Haggadah.
This Haggadah eliminates the egg from the ceremony. The egg in the traditional Haggadah appears to be adopted from the Easter egg and Pagan sources. While the egg is placed on the traditional seder plate, it never plays a part in any ritual in the traditional seder, and it clearly does not belong in the seder.
This Haggadah is based primarily on the traditional seder. However in this Haggadah you will learn about the tradition of the Yayin HaMeshumar (the Wine that has been kept in its grapes from creation) and the true inner meaning of the Three Matzahs and the Afikomen. We have included relevant quotes and citations from the Talmud, Midrashim, Zohar, Philo, the Apocrypha, the Ketuvim Netzarim (The so-called “New Testament”) and the Gospel according to the Hebrews.
It is our hope that through this Haggadah you will gain the highest SOD (hidden) understanding of the elements of the Passover Seder.
James Scott Trimm
Worldwide Nazarene Assembly of Elohim
The Crossing of the Red Sea
A Picture of the Process of Salvation
By James Scott Trimm
We read in Exodus:
13 And Moshe said unto the people, Fear you not. Stand still, and see the salvation of YHWH, which He will work for you today! For whereas you have seen the Egyptians today, you shall see them again, no more, forever.
14 YHWH will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.
(Ex. 14:13-14 HRV)
Therefore we have a picture of the “salvation of YHWH” in Exodus 14:19-29
19 And the angel of Elohim, who went before the camp of Yisra’el, removed, and went behind them. And the pillar of cloud removed from before them, and stood behind them.
20 And it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Yisra’el. And there was the cloud and the darkness here, yet gave it light by night there: and the one came not near the other all the night.
21 And Moshe stretched out his hand over the sea. And YHWH caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
22 And the children of Yisra’el went into the midst of the sea upon the dry earth, and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
23 And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea; all
Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
24 And it came to pass in the morning watch, that YHWH looked forth upon the host of the Egyptians, through the pillar of fire and of cloud, and discomfited the host of the Egyptians.
25 And He took off their chariot wheels, and made them to drive heavily, so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Yisra’el, for YHWH fights for them against the Egyptians.
26 And YHWH said unto Moshe: Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians; upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.
27 And Moshe stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared. And the Egyptians fled against it, and YHWH overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.
28 And the waters returned and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, even all the host of Pharaoh that went in after them into the sea: there remained not so much as one of them.
29 But the children of Yisra’el walked upon dry land, in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
(Ex. 14:19-29 HRV)
Philo writes of this:
(2.265) Again, when you see, amid the wars and disasters of life, the merciful hand of God and his favourable power held over you and standing in defence of you, be silent yourself; for that champion stands in no need of any assistance. And there are proofs of this fact recorded in the sacred writings; such, for instance, as the verse, "The Lord will fight for us, and ye shall be Silent." (Ex 14:14.)
(2.266) And if you see the genuine offspring and the firstborn of Egypt destroyed, namely desire, and pleasures, and pain, and fear, and iniquity, and mirth, and intemperance, and all the other qualities which are similar and akin to these, then marvel and be silent, dreading the terrible power of God;
(Philo; Dreams Book 2; 40; 265-266)
So Philo sees an allegory here where the “Egyptians” represent “desire, and pleasures, and pain, and fear, and iniquity, and mirth, and intemperance, and all the other qualities which are similar and akin to these.” In other words Philo sees the Egyptians as representing the sin-nature which the Rabbis call the Yetzer Ra, the Evil inclination.
The ancient Nazarenes saw the same allegory in this story. Paul alludes to this picture of the “salvation of YHWH” when he writes:
1 But I want you to know, my brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, (Wisdom 19:7; Ex. 14:13-29)
2 And all were immersed by the hand of Moshe in the cloud and in the sea,
(1Cor. 10:1-2 HRV)
You may have been told that you are saved, the Scriptures actually teach that salvation is a process which we "work out" (Phil. 2:12) with two primary phases. The first of these phases takes place now, but the second phase does not take place until the resurrection.
In the book of Romans, Paul lays out the two phases of salvation as follows:
But Elohim commends his love toward us,
in that, while we were yet sinners, Messiah died for us.
Much more then, being now justified by his blood,
we shall be saved from wrath through him.
For if, when we were enemies,
we were reconciled to Elohim by the death of his Son,
much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
The first phase of salvation is "justification" or "reconciliation".
This is the present phase of Salvation, as Paul writes elsewhere:
(For he said, I have heard thee in a time accepted,
and in the day of salvation have I succored you:
behold, now is the accepted time; behold,
now is the day of salvation.)
(2Cor. 6:2)
Who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works,
but according to his own purpose and grace,
which was given us in Messiah Yeshua before the world began,
(2Tim. 1:9)
Not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to his mercy he saved us,
by the washing of regeneration,
and renewing of the Ruach HaKodesh;
(Titus 3:5)
The second stage of salvation comes in the future, as the Scriptures
state repeatedly:
For whosoever shall call upon the name of YHWH shall be saved.
(Rom. 10:13)
So Messiah was once offered to bear the sins of many;
and unto them that look for him
shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
(Heb. 9:28)
Are they not all ministering spirits,
sent forth to minister for them
who shall be heirs of salvation?
(Heb. 1:14)
So how does this two phase process work?
How often are we asked "are you saved"? or who often do we hear of
"the plan of salvation" yet the amazing truth is that the vast
majority of people who ask us if we are "saved" or approach us with a
"plan of salvation" even know what salvation is or how to get "saved".
This booklet will explain to you, from the Scriptures themselves,
what salvation really is and how you can be "saved".
When someone asks "are you saved"? the natural question is "saved from
what?" "Saved" is a verb that begs for a direct object. Yet many who
ask you "are you saved" cannot actually tell you what they mean. What
do you need to be saved from? The Scriptures, however, give us a clear
answer to this question. At the time of Messiah's birth, his mother
Miriam (Mary), following instructions from YHWH, names Messiah
"Yeshua" (the Hebrew word for "salvation"). Matthew writes of this event:
And behold she will bear a son, and you will call his name
Yeshua; for he will save his people from all their sins.
(Matt. 1:21)
Here is the answer to our question. Messiah came to save us from all of our sins. Thus Yochanan (John) spoke of Messiah saying:
And on the day that followed, Yochanan saw Yeshua, who was walking
toward him, and said, Behold, the lamb of Eloah who takes away the sin
of the world.
(Jn. 1:29)
Messiah came to save us from our sins, to take away the sins of the world. That is what "Salvation" is and what we need to be "saved" from. Moreove this is not a "New Testament" idea, this is an idea drawn right out of the Tanak ("Old Testament"):
Behold, YHWH's hand is not shortened, that it cannot
save, neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear;
But your iniquities have separated between you and
your Elohim, and your sins have hid His face from
you, that he will not hear.
(Isaiah 59:1-2)
Man needs to be saved from sin.
Now lets take a moment to examine these words "save" and "salvation". These English words have a lot of baggage attached to them, a lot of theology that has been read into them over the last few centuries, instead of reading theology out of the words. As a result, it can be helpful to translate this same Hebrew word "YESHUA" with other English
words that convey its meaning. Other words are "deliver/deliverance" or "rescue". There are two Aramaic words that are used for "salvation" in the Aramaic "New Testament", one of these is CHAI meaning "life, to vivify" and the other is P'RAK which comes from a root meaning "to separate" and invokes the image of one being "rescued" by being "separated" from a threat. In this case we need to be separated from "sin".
Now that we know that "sin" is what Messiah came to deliver (save) us from, we must understand just what "sin" is. Simply put, sin is falling short of observing tht Torah. As the Tanak says:
And if any one sin, and do any of the things which YHWH has commanded
not to be done, though he know it not, yet is he guilty, and shall
bear his iniquity.
(Lev. 5:17)
But Yahu took no heed to walk in the Torah of YHWH, the Elohim of
Yisra'el, with all his heart; he departed not from the sins of
Yarov'am, with which he made Yisra'el to sin.
(2Kings 10:31)
With my whole heart have I sought You; O let me not err from Your
commandments.
Your word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against You.
(Ps. 119:10-11)
Perhaps the clearest definition of "sin" is given in the "New Testament" itself:
Whoever commits sin transgresses also the Torah,
for sin is the transgression of the Torah.
(1Jn. 3:4)
So simply put, "sin" may be defined as "transgression of the Torah". Messiah, then, came to rescue (save) us from transgression of the Torah (Mt. 1:21) and to "take away Torah transgression" (Jn. 1:29).
This is exactly what Scriptural "salvation" is all about, don't trust a thing that I say, look these Scriptures up for yourself! Elohim wants to rescue you from transgressing the Torah by taking away Torah transgression!
But there us a serious problem in being rescued from Torah transgression. The problem is that sin is bred into us. As the Psalmist writes:
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity;
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
(Ps. 51:5)
While in Christian culture, a baby is viewed as the picture of innocence, in Jewish (and Scriptural) understanding a baby is the picture of evil. Now you may be culturally shocked at this concept, but allow me to explain. A baby is born only caring about itself and its own needs, it does not have the capacity to care about others. This is the very definition of evil. Ever since the fall of Adam, we have been born with this sinful nature, as Paul writes:
12: Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin;
and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
13: (For until the Torah sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed
when there is no law.
14: Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moshe, even over them that
had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is
the figure of him that was to come.
15: But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through
the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of Elohim, and
the gift by grace, which is by one man, Yeshua the Messiah, has
abounded unto many.
16: And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the
judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many
offences unto justification.
17: For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they
which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness
shall reign in life by one, Yeshua the Messiah.)
18: Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to
condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came
upon all men unto justification of life.
19: For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the
obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
20: Moreover the Torah entered, that the offence might abound. But
where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
21: That as sin has reigned unto death, even so might grace reign
through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
(Rom. 5:12-21)
This inclination to do evil is called the Yetzer Ra (evil inclination). The inclination to do good (Yetzer Tov), by contrast,
develops in time as one grows older. The result is that there are two natures within man, each struggling for control. Paul writes:
14 For we know that the Torah is of the spirit,
but I am of the flesh and I am sold to sin.
22 For I rejoice in the Torah of Eloah in the inward son of man.
(Romans 7:14, 22 HRV)
Because of this, we are not weary, for even if our
outer man is corrupted, yet that which [is] inside
is renewed day by day.
(2Cor. 4:16 HRV)
for the flesh desires a thing which is opposed to
the Spirit and the Spirit desires a thing that is
opposed to the flesh and the two of these are
opposed to each other, that you do not do the thing
which you desire.
(Gal. 5:17 HRV)
Or as we read in the Talmud:
R. Nahman b. R. Hisda expounded:
What is meant by the text, Then the Lord God
formed [wa-yizer] man? [The word wa-yizer] (Gen. 2:7)
is written with two yods, to show that God created
two inclinations, one good (tov) and the other evil (ra).
(b.Ber. 61a)
It has been taught: R. Jose the Galilean says,
The righteous are swayed by their good inclination,
as it says, My heart is slain within me. (Ps. 109:22)
The wicked are swayed by their evil inclination,
as it says, Transgression speaks to the wicked,
methinks, there is no fear of God before his eyes.
(Ps. 36:1) Average people are swayed by both
inclinations, as it says, Because He stands at
the right hand of the needy, to save him from them
that judge his soul. (Ps. 109:31) Raba said: People
such as we are of the average.
(b.Ber. 61b)
And in the Dead Sea Scrolls:
Thus far, the spirits of truth and falsehood have been
struggling in the heart of man. Men have walked both
in wisdom and folly. If a man casts his portion
with the truth, he does righteously and hates perversity;
if he casts it with falsehood, he does wickedly and
abominates truth. For Elohim has appointed them in
equal measure until the final age, until 'He makes all
things new'. He foreknows the effect of their works in
every epoch of the world, and He has made men heirs
to them that they might know good and evil. But [when the
time] of Inquisition [comes], He will determine the fate
of every living being in accordance with
which of the [two spirits he has chosen to follow].
(Manual of Discipline 4, 26)
The process of salvation begins with justification, but since "salvation" ultimately is the doing away with the sin nature, the second phase of salvation involves the death of Yetzer Ra ("inclination to do evil"). When we die, our Yetzer Ra will die with us, but in the resurrection only our Yetzer Tov will be resurrected with us.
3 Or do you not know, that we who are immersed in Yeshua the Messiah are immersed
into His death?
4 We are buried with Him in immersion to death: that as Yeshua the Messiah arose from
among the dead in the glory of His Father, so also we will walk in renewed life.
5 For if we were planted together with Him in the likeness of His death, so we will also
be in His resurrection.
(Rom. 6:3-5 HRV)
Through the death and resurrection of Messiah, we die and are resurrected with him. Through our covenant relationship with Messiah, we are his joint heirs. Thus when our Yetzer Ra dies and only our Yetzer Tov is resurrected, Messiah will have truly rescued us from sin and we shall experience the final phase of salvation: inheritance.
Rom. 7:1-7 taken from my translation from the Aramaic:
1. Or do you not know, my brothers, (for I speak to
learned ones of the Torah), that the Torah has
authority over a man as long as he is alive,
2. As a woman who is bound by the Torah to her
husband as long as he is alive. But if her husband
dies, she is freed by the Torah from her husband.
3. And if while her husband is alive she has intercourse with
another man, she becomes an adulteress. But if her husband
dies, she is freed by the Torah; and she is not an adulteress if
she marries another.
Paul takes an illustration from Jewish Law. A woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive. She cannot marry another as long as he lives (unless he divorces her; she has no right to divorce) until her death.
4. And now, my brothers, you also are dead to the Torah in the body
of the Messiah that you might be [married] to another who arose from
the place of the dead, that you might bear fruit to Eloah.
As far as the Torah is concerned we die with Messiah and are freed from our former husband (sin) thus allowing us to be brides to Messiah.
5. For while we were in the flesh, the passions of sins that are in
the Torah were working in our members, so that we would bear fruit
unto death.
6. But now we are brought to an end by the Torah, and we are dead to
that which was holding us, that we should serve from now on in the
renewal of the spirit and not in the oldness of the writing.
The Torah allows us to be brides either to YHWH or to sin. When we are freed from sin we can become brides to Messiah,
7. What therefore are we saying? Is the Torah sin? Absolutely not!
But I did not learn sin except by the hand of the Torah. For I had
not known covetousness except that the Torah said, Do not covet.
Paul is concerned that his reader might misunderstand him and think that the Torah is sin and that therefore misunderstand his illustration as teaching that our previous bridegroom was the Torah which we are freed from in order to be bound to Messiah. Absolutely not! Paul says. Sin was our first love and former husband from whom the Torah frees us, but THE TORAH IS NOT SIN (it simply recognizes that we are married either to sin or Messiah) and since the TORAH IS NOT SIN then the Torah is NOT our former husband and we are NOT freed from Torah to be joined to Messiah. In fact the Torah is the instrument that allows us to be married to the Messiah. Without the Torah there is no marriage at all.
Ramban (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman) (1194-1270 C.E.) wrote one of the most authoritative Torah commentaries in Rabbinic Judaism. He gives a very similar understanding to Paul here:
And YHWH your Elohim will circumcise your heart (Deut. 30:6) It is this which the Rabbis have said, "If someone comes to purify himself, they assist him" [from on High]. The verse assures you that you will return to Him with all your heart and He will help you.
This following subject is very apparent from Scripture: Since the time of Creation, man has had the power to do as he pleased, to be righteous or wicked. This [grant of free will] applies likewise to the entire Torah period, so that people can gain merit upon choosing the good and punishment for preferring evil. But in the days of the Messiah, the choice of
their [genuine] good will be natural; the heart will not desire the improper and it will have no craving whatever for it. This is the "circumcision" mentioned here, for lust and desire are the "foreskin" of the heart, and circumcision of the heart means that it will not covet or desire evil.
Man will return at that time to what he was before the sin of Adam, when by his nature he did what should properly be done, and there were no conflicting desires in his will, as I have explained in Seder Bereshit.
It is this which Scripture states in [the Book of] Jeremiah 31:30], Behold, the days come, says YHWH, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers ..etc. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Eternal, I will put my Law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it.
This is a reference to the annulment of the evil inclination and to the natural performance by the heart of its proper function. Therefore Jeremiah said further, and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be My People; and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying: 'Know YHWH; 'for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them
Now, it is known that the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth and it is necessary to instruct them, but at that time it will not be necessary to instruct them [to avoid evil] for their evil inclination will then be completely abolished. And so it is declared by Ezekiel, A new heart will I also give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will cause you to walk in My statutes . (Ezekiel 36:26)
The new heart alludes to man's nature, and the [new] spirit to the desire and will. It is this which our Rabbis have said : "And the years draw nigh, when you shall say: I have no pleasure in them; these are the days of the Messiah, as they will offer opportunity neither for merit nor for guilt," for in the days of the Messiah there will be no [evil] desire in man but he will naturally perform the proper deeds and therefore there will be neither merit nor guilt in them, for merit and guilt are dependent upon desire.
(Ramban on Deut. 29:6)
Salvation is a process. We receive justification and reconciliation now, but the completion of the process will ultimately involve our death and resurrection, only then will our salvation be complete.
Just as the Egyptians followed the Hebrews into the Red Sea but the Hebrews alone emerged alive, when we enter into the death burial and resurrection of Messiah as symbolized by water immersion, only our New Man emerges alive in the resurrection, while our Old Man will be left behind in death.
Worldwide Nazarene Assembly of Elohim
The Crossing of the Red Sea
A Picture of the Process of Salvation
By James Scott Trimm
We read in Exodus:
13 And Moshe said unto the people, Fear you not. Stand still, and see the salvation of YHWH, which He will work for you today! For whereas you have seen the Egyptians today, you shall see them again, no more, forever.
14 YHWH will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.
(Ex. 14:13-14 HRV)
Therefore we have a picture of the “salvation of YHWH” in Exodus 14:19-29
19 And the angel of Elohim, who went before the camp of Yisra’el, removed, and went behind them. And the pillar of cloud removed from before them, and stood behind them.
20 And it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Yisra’el. And there was the cloud and the darkness here, yet gave it light by night there: and the one came not near the other all the night.
21 And Moshe stretched out his hand over the sea. And YHWH caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
22 And the children of Yisra’el went into the midst of the sea upon the dry earth, and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
23 And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea; all
Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
24 And it came to pass in the morning watch, that YHWH looked forth upon the host of the Egyptians, through the pillar of fire and of cloud, and discomfited the host of the Egyptians.
25 And He took off their chariot wheels, and made them to drive heavily, so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Yisra’el, for YHWH fights for them against the Egyptians.
26 And YHWH said unto Moshe: Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians; upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.
27 And Moshe stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared. And the Egyptians fled against it, and YHWH overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.
28 And the waters returned and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, even all the host of Pharaoh that went in after them into the sea: there remained not so much as one of them.
29 But the children of Yisra’el walked upon dry land, in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
(Ex. 14:19-29 HRV)
Philo writes of this:
(2.265) Again, when you see, amid the wars and disasters of life, the merciful hand of God and his favourable power held over you and standing in defence of you, be silent yourself; for that champion stands in no need of any assistance. And there are proofs of this fact recorded in the sacred writings; such, for instance, as the verse, "The Lord will fight for us, and ye shall be Silent." (Ex 14:14.)
(2.266) And if you see the genuine offspring and the firstborn of Egypt destroyed, namely desire, and pleasures, and pain, and fear, and iniquity, and mirth, and intemperance, and all the other qualities which are similar and akin to these, then marvel and be silent, dreading the terrible power of God;
(Philo; Dreams Book 2; 40; 265-266)
So Philo sees an allegory here where the “Egyptians” represent “desire, and pleasures, and pain, and fear, and iniquity, and mirth, and intemperance, and all the other qualities which are similar and akin to these.” In other words Philo sees the Egyptians as representing the sin-nature which the Rabbis call the Yetzer Ra, the Evil inclination.
The ancient Nazarenes saw the same allegory in this story. Paul alludes to this picture of the “salvation of YHWH” when he writes:
1 But I want you to know, my brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, (Wisdom 19:7; Ex. 14:13-29)
2 And all were immersed by the hand of Moshe in the cloud and in the sea,
(1Cor. 10:1-2 HRV)
You may have been told that you are saved, the Scriptures actually teach that salvation is a process which we "work out" (Phil. 2:12) with two primary phases. The first of these phases takes place now, but the second phase does not take place until the resurrection.
In the book of Romans, Paul lays out the two phases of salvation as follows:
But Elohim commends his love toward us,
in that, while we were yet sinners, Messiah died for us.
Much more then, being now justified by his blood,
we shall be saved from wrath through him.
For if, when we were enemies,
we were reconciled to Elohim by the death of his Son,
much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
The first phase of salvation is "justification" or "reconciliation".
This is the present phase of Salvation, as Paul writes elsewhere:
(For he said, I have heard thee in a time accepted,
and in the day of salvation have I succored you:
behold, now is the accepted time; behold,
now is the day of salvation.)
(2Cor. 6:2)
Who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works,
but according to his own purpose and grace,
which was given us in Messiah Yeshua before the world began,
(2Tim. 1:9)
Not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to his mercy he saved us,
by the washing of regeneration,
and renewing of the Ruach HaKodesh;
(Titus 3:5)
The second stage of salvation comes in the future, as the Scriptures
state repeatedly:
For whosoever shall call upon the name of YHWH shall be saved.
(Rom. 10:13)
So Messiah was once offered to bear the sins of many;
and unto them that look for him
shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
(Heb. 9:28)
Are they not all ministering spirits,
sent forth to minister for them
who shall be heirs of salvation?
(Heb. 1:14)
So how does this two phase process work?
How often are we asked "are you saved"? or who often do we hear of
"the plan of salvation" yet the amazing truth is that the vast
majority of people who ask us if we are "saved" or approach us with a
"plan of salvation" even know what salvation is or how to get "saved".
This booklet will explain to you, from the Scriptures themselves,
what salvation really is and how you can be "saved".
When someone asks "are you saved"? the natural question is "saved from
what?" "Saved" is a verb that begs for a direct object. Yet many who
ask you "are you saved" cannot actually tell you what they mean. What
do you need to be saved from? The Scriptures, however, give us a clear
answer to this question. At the time of Messiah's birth, his mother
Miriam (Mary), following instructions from YHWH, names Messiah
"Yeshua" (the Hebrew word for "salvation"). Matthew writes of this event:
And behold she will bear a son, and you will call his name
Yeshua; for he will save his people from all their sins.
(Matt. 1:21)
Here is the answer to our question. Messiah came to save us from all of our sins. Thus Yochanan (John) spoke of Messiah saying:
And on the day that followed, Yochanan saw Yeshua, who was walking
toward him, and said, Behold, the lamb of Eloah who takes away the sin
of the world.
(Jn. 1:29)
Messiah came to save us from our sins, to take away the sins of the world. That is what "Salvation" is and what we need to be "saved" from. Moreove this is not a "New Testament" idea, this is an idea drawn right out of the Tanak ("Old Testament"):
Behold, YHWH's hand is not shortened, that it cannot
save, neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear;
But your iniquities have separated between you and
your Elohim, and your sins have hid His face from
you, that he will not hear.
(Isaiah 59:1-2)
Man needs to be saved from sin.
Now lets take a moment to examine these words "save" and "salvation". These English words have a lot of baggage attached to them, a lot of theology that has been read into them over the last few centuries, instead of reading theology out of the words. As a result, it can be helpful to translate this same Hebrew word "YESHUA" with other English
words that convey its meaning. Other words are "deliver/deliverance" or "rescue". There are two Aramaic words that are used for "salvation" in the Aramaic "New Testament", one of these is CHAI meaning "life, to vivify" and the other is P'RAK which comes from a root meaning "to separate" and invokes the image of one being "rescued" by being "separated" from a threat. In this case we need to be separated from "sin".
Now that we know that "sin" is what Messiah came to deliver (save) us from, we must understand just what "sin" is. Simply put, sin is falling short of observing tht Torah. As the Tanak says:
And if any one sin, and do any of the things which YHWH has commanded
not to be done, though he know it not, yet is he guilty, and shall
bear his iniquity.
(Lev. 5:17)
But Yahu took no heed to walk in the Torah of YHWH, the Elohim of
Yisra'el, with all his heart; he departed not from the sins of
Yarov'am, with which he made Yisra'el to sin.
(2Kings 10:31)
With my whole heart have I sought You; O let me not err from Your
commandments.
Your word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against You.
(Ps. 119:10-11)
Perhaps the clearest definition of "sin" is given in the "New Testament" itself:
Whoever commits sin transgresses also the Torah,
for sin is the transgression of the Torah.
(1Jn. 3:4)
So simply put, "sin" may be defined as "transgression of the Torah". Messiah, then, came to rescue (save) us from transgression of the Torah (Mt. 1:21) and to "take away Torah transgression" (Jn. 1:29).
This is exactly what Scriptural "salvation" is all about, don't trust a thing that I say, look these Scriptures up for yourself! Elohim wants to rescue you from transgressing the Torah by taking away Torah transgression!
But there us a serious problem in being rescued from Torah transgression. The problem is that sin is bred into us. As the Psalmist writes:
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity;
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
(Ps. 51:5)
While in Christian culture, a baby is viewed as the picture of innocence, in Jewish (and Scriptural) understanding a baby is the picture of evil. Now you may be culturally shocked at this concept, but allow me to explain. A baby is born only caring about itself and its own needs, it does not have the capacity to care about others. This is the very definition of evil. Ever since the fall of Adam, we have been born with this sinful nature, as Paul writes:
12: Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin;
and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
13: (For until the Torah sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed
when there is no law.
14: Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moshe, even over them that
had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is
the figure of him that was to come.
15: But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through
the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of Elohim, and
the gift by grace, which is by one man, Yeshua the Messiah, has
abounded unto many.
16: And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the
judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many
offences unto justification.
17: For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they
which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness
shall reign in life by one, Yeshua the Messiah.)
18: Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to
condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came
upon all men unto justification of life.
19: For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the
obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
20: Moreover the Torah entered, that the offence might abound. But
where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
21: That as sin has reigned unto death, even so might grace reign
through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
(Rom. 5:12-21)
This inclination to do evil is called the Yetzer Ra (evil inclination). The inclination to do good (Yetzer Tov), by contrast,
develops in time as one grows older. The result is that there are two natures within man, each struggling for control. Paul writes:
14 For we know that the Torah is of the spirit,
but I am of the flesh and I am sold to sin.
22 For I rejoice in the Torah of Eloah in the inward son of man.
(Romans 7:14, 22 HRV)
Because of this, we are not weary, for even if our
outer man is corrupted, yet that which [is] inside
is renewed day by day.
(2Cor. 4:16 HRV)
for the flesh desires a thing which is opposed to
the Spirit and the Spirit desires a thing that is
opposed to the flesh and the two of these are
opposed to each other, that you do not do the thing
which you desire.
(Gal. 5:17 HRV)
Or as we read in the Talmud:
R. Nahman b. R. Hisda expounded:
What is meant by the text, Then the Lord God
formed [wa-yizer] man? [The word wa-yizer] (Gen. 2:7)
is written with two yods, to show that God created
two inclinations, one good (tov) and the other evil (ra).
(b.Ber. 61a)
It has been taught: R. Jose the Galilean says,
The righteous are swayed by their good inclination,
as it says, My heart is slain within me. (Ps. 109:22)
The wicked are swayed by their evil inclination,
as it says, Transgression speaks to the wicked,
methinks, there is no fear of God before his eyes.
(Ps. 36:1) Average people are swayed by both
inclinations, as it says, Because He stands at
the right hand of the needy, to save him from them
that judge his soul. (Ps. 109:31) Raba said: People
such as we are of the average.
(b.Ber. 61b)
And in the Dead Sea Scrolls:
Thus far, the spirits of truth and falsehood have been
struggling in the heart of man. Men have walked both
in wisdom and folly. If a man casts his portion
with the truth, he does righteously and hates perversity;
if he casts it with falsehood, he does wickedly and
abominates truth. For Elohim has appointed them in
equal measure until the final age, until 'He makes all
things new'. He foreknows the effect of their works in
every epoch of the world, and He has made men heirs
to them that they might know good and evil. But [when the
time] of Inquisition [comes], He will determine the fate
of every living being in accordance with
which of the [two spirits he has chosen to follow].
(Manual of Discipline 4, 26)
The process of salvation begins with justification, but since "salvation" ultimately is the doing away with the sin nature, the second phase of salvation involves the death of Yetzer Ra ("inclination to do evil"). When we die, our Yetzer Ra will die with us, but in the resurrection only our Yetzer Tov will be resurrected with us.
3 Or do you not know, that we who are immersed in Yeshua the Messiah are immersed
into His death?
4 We are buried with Him in immersion to death: that as Yeshua the Messiah arose from
among the dead in the glory of His Father, so also we will walk in renewed life.
5 For if we were planted together with Him in the likeness of His death, so we will also
be in His resurrection.
(Rom. 6:3-5 HRV)
Through the death and resurrection of Messiah, we die and are resurrected with him. Through our covenant relationship with Messiah, we are his joint heirs. Thus when our Yetzer Ra dies and only our Yetzer Tov is resurrected, Messiah will have truly rescued us from sin and we shall experience the final phase of salvation: inheritance.
Rom. 7:1-7 taken from my translation from the Aramaic:
1. Or do you not know, my brothers, (for I speak to
learned ones of the Torah), that the Torah has
authority over a man as long as he is alive,
2. As a woman who is bound by the Torah to her
husband as long as he is alive. But if her husband
dies, she is freed by the Torah from her husband.
3. And if while her husband is alive she has intercourse with
another man, she becomes an adulteress. But if her husband
dies, she is freed by the Torah; and she is not an adulteress if
she marries another.
Paul takes an illustration from Jewish Law. A woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive. She cannot marry another as long as he lives (unless he divorces her; she has no right to divorce) until her death.
4. And now, my brothers, you also are dead to the Torah in the body
of the Messiah that you might be [married] to another who arose from
the place of the dead, that you might bear fruit to Eloah.
As far as the Torah is concerned we die with Messiah and are freed from our former husband (sin) thus allowing us to be brides to Messiah.
5. For while we were in the flesh, the passions of sins that are in
the Torah were working in our members, so that we would bear fruit
unto death.
6. But now we are brought to an end by the Torah, and we are dead to
that which was holding us, that we should serve from now on in the
renewal of the spirit and not in the oldness of the writing.
The Torah allows us to be brides either to YHWH or to sin. When we are freed from sin we can become brides to Messiah,
7. What therefore are we saying? Is the Torah sin? Absolutely not!
But I did not learn sin except by the hand of the Torah. For I had
not known covetousness except that the Torah said, Do not covet.
Paul is concerned that his reader might misunderstand him and think that the Torah is sin and that therefore misunderstand his illustration as teaching that our previous bridegroom was the Torah which we are freed from in order to be bound to Messiah. Absolutely not! Paul says. Sin was our first love and former husband from whom the Torah frees us, but THE TORAH IS NOT SIN (it simply recognizes that we are married either to sin or Messiah) and since the TORAH IS NOT SIN then the Torah is NOT our former husband and we are NOT freed from Torah to be joined to Messiah. In fact the Torah is the instrument that allows us to be married to the Messiah. Without the Torah there is no marriage at all.
Ramban (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman) (1194-1270 C.E.) wrote one of the most authoritative Torah commentaries in Rabbinic Judaism. He gives a very similar understanding to Paul here:
And YHWH your Elohim will circumcise your heart (Deut. 30:6) It is this which the Rabbis have said, "If someone comes to purify himself, they assist him" [from on High]. The verse assures you that you will return to Him with all your heart and He will help you.
This following subject is very apparent from Scripture: Since the time of Creation, man has had the power to do as he pleased, to be righteous or wicked. This [grant of free will] applies likewise to the entire Torah period, so that people can gain merit upon choosing the good and punishment for preferring evil. But in the days of the Messiah, the choice of
their [genuine] good will be natural; the heart will not desire the improper and it will have no craving whatever for it. This is the "circumcision" mentioned here, for lust and desire are the "foreskin" of the heart, and circumcision of the heart means that it will not covet or desire evil.
Man will return at that time to what he was before the sin of Adam, when by his nature he did what should properly be done, and there were no conflicting desires in his will, as I have explained in Seder Bereshit.
It is this which Scripture states in [the Book of] Jeremiah 31:30], Behold, the days come, says YHWH, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers ..etc. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Eternal, I will put my Law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it.
This is a reference to the annulment of the evil inclination and to the natural performance by the heart of its proper function. Therefore Jeremiah said further, and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be My People; and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying: 'Know YHWH; 'for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them
Now, it is known that the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth and it is necessary to instruct them, but at that time it will not be necessary to instruct them [to avoid evil] for their evil inclination will then be completely abolished. And so it is declared by Ezekiel, A new heart will I also give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will cause you to walk in My statutes . (Ezekiel 36:26)
The new heart alludes to man's nature, and the [new] spirit to the desire and will. It is this which our Rabbis have said : "And the years draw nigh, when you shall say: I have no pleasure in them; these are the days of the Messiah, as they will offer opportunity neither for merit nor for guilt," for in the days of the Messiah there will be no [evil] desire in man but he will naturally perform the proper deeds and therefore there will be neither merit nor guilt in them, for merit and guilt are dependent upon desire.
(Ramban on Deut. 29:6)
Salvation is a process. We receive justification and reconciliation now, but the completion of the process will ultimately involve our death and resurrection, only then will our salvation be complete.
Just as the Egyptians followed the Hebrews into the Red Sea but the Hebrews alone emerged alive, when we enter into the death burial and resurrection of Messiah as symbolized by water immersion, only our New Man emerges alive in the resurrection, while our Old Man will be left behind in death.
YAHUAHSHUA
The Messiah
"Repent and be Baptized in the Name
of YAHUAHSHUA the Messiah."
Sabbath: Weekly Sabbath (Friday sunset to Saturday sunset).
Feast Days: Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of Pentecost, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles, and the Last Great Day.
Food Laws: Leviticus 11:1-31, Acts 15:20,29.
Messiah's Death: Wednesday at 3:00PM, and 3 days & 3 nights in the tomb.
The Messiah
"Repent and be Baptized in the Name
of YAHUAHSHUA the Messiah."
Sabbath: Weekly Sabbath (Friday sunset to Saturday sunset).
Feast Days: Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of Pentecost, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles, and the Last Great Day.
Food Laws: Leviticus 11:1-31, Acts 15:20,29.
Messiah's Death: Wednesday at 3:00PM, and 3 days & 3 nights in the tomb.
Write: YAHUAHSHUA the Messiah
P.O.Box 10089, Westway Centre Post Office,
1735 Kipling Avenue, Etobicoke,
Ontario, M9R 4E2 CANADA
P.O.Box 10089, Westway Centre Post Office,
1735 Kipling Avenue, Etobicoke,
Ontario, M9R 4E2 CANADA
TOPICS
0.0) Introduction:
The whole purpose of creating this web page is to help people of all Nations to understand and worship the true Creator of Heaven and Earth in spirit and in truth.
Let's start first with the name of the Almighty and of His Beloved Son. The very first thing that you teach a child in worshiping is the Name of the one being worshiped.
Most people can figure out the name of the Almighty from the Old Testament, but very few know or understand what the Messiah's name is!
To those who are not too acquainted with the Hebrew Language; Hebrew is read from right to left while English is read from left to right.
Please keep in mind that due to the limitations of the space on this Web Page the articles here are just a short version. Any one of these topics could easily take up the entire Web Page and more.
Your comments are more than welcome, please write.
1.0) Name of the Almighty and of the Messiah:
The name of the Almighty in the Old Testament is YAHUAH (yod, he, vav, he) with four Hebrew letters and appears close to 7000 times.
The Messiah carries the fullness of His Father's name of all four Hebrew letters of YOD, HE, VAV, HE written as YAHUAH in English. About 169 different names of people in the Old Testament carry two or three letters of the Father's name of YAH (yod, he) or YAHU (yod, he, vav) but never ever with the fourth Hebrew letter "he". The only exception being the Messiah himself as written in Jeremiah 23:6 & Jeremiah 33:16. There you will see the Messiah's future name of YAHUAHTSADAQ (yod, he, vav, he, tsaddi, daleth, qoph) with 7 Hebrew letters which is also the future name of New Jerusalem as also noted in Revelation 3:12 and means YAHUAH IS RIGHTEOUSNESS.
The Messiah's present name from the Hebrew is YAHUAHSHUA (yod, he, vav, he, shin, vav, ayin) with 7 Hebrew letters which means YAHUAH IS SALVATION and which can be proved using the Old Testament Hebrew & Greek manuscripts, and comparing them to the New Testament Greek manuscripts.
If you check the New Testament Greek manuscripts, you will find the Greek name used for the Messiah as IHCOYC(iota, eta, sigma, omicron, upsilon, sigma) and other variations such as IHCOY, IHCOYN, IHCOI depending on the grammatical structure of the sentence. This is a poor attempt to transliterate the name JOSHUA from the Hebrew O.T.. In the N.T. Greek manuscripts you will find the name IHCOYCand its variations abbreviated as IC,IN, IY or as IHC, IHN, IHY (also called the nomina sacra) with a line over the top of these abbreviated letters which can stand for a name, a word, or a number in the Greek manuscripts. It is very rare to see the name IHCOYC written out in full in the N.T. Greek manuscripts.
Now that we have some idea what the name for the Messiah looks like in the Greek. We have to go back to the Hebrew to look for his true name, for he was a Hebrew of Hebrew parents and he had a Hebrew name. We can't compare Greek with Hebrew but we can compare Greek with Greek. The Old Testament was translated into the Greek about 300 years before the Messiah in the Septuagint (LXX). So if we take the name for the Messiah in the Greek N.T. and we look for an identical name in the Greek O.T. we will find that the only name that does match is the name for JOSHUA and is also written as IHCOYC in the Old Testament Greek with its variations.
In the O.T. Greek the name IHCOYC is usually written out in full but there are manuscripts where it is also abbreviated just like in the N.T. Greek.
Now that we have established that the Messiah's name in the N.T. Greek is identical to the name of JOSHUA in the O.T. Greek, we must find out what the Hebrew name is.
The name of JOSHUAin the O.T. Hebrew is usually written as YOD, HE, VAV, SHIN, AYIN (five letters) and pronounced as YAHUSHUA. But is also written in its fuller form twice as YOD, HE, VAV, SHIN, VAV, AYIN (six letters) in Judges 2:7 & Deuteronomy 3:21 also pronounced as YAHUSHUA.
The only difference of whether the second VAV is visible or not is a cosmetic one. Since Hebrew is a consonantal language the vowels are visually put in as the reader reads the word. The second VAV is there in both cases but in the more common occurrence it is understood and put in while reading, while in the rare occurrence it is there visually. In both cases the name is identical and pronounced the same. For example, the word BEN in Hebrew means son and is spelled as BN (beth, nun) and the vowel sound of E is put in and pronounced while reading the word but is not there visually.
We have now established the name of JOSHUA in Hebrew as YAHUSHUA (yod, he, vav, shin, vav, ayin) with six Hebrew letters. We have also proved that the Messiah's name and Joshua's name are identical in the Greek. But there is one major difference between the names of these two men. And that difference is the fourth letter of the Father's name. Joshua only carries three letters of the Father's name as do other people in the O.T. . The Messiah carries the fullness of His Father's name with all four letters and so the Messiah's name is YAHUAHSHUA (yod, he, vav, he, shin, vav, ayin) with seven Hebrew letters. Some of the N.T. scriptures that prove the Messiah's unique name are: Acts 4:12; Ephesians 1:20,21; Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 1:4.
We also know that the Messiah's name is unique because there are other people in both the O.T. and in the N.T. with the name of Jesus. In Acts 7:45 and Hebrews 4:8 the Jesus here is Joshua the son of Nun. In Colossians 4:11 it is Jesus called Justus. In Acts 13:6 there is Bar-Jesus where the word Bar is Aramaic for son.
We are not saved through common names such as Jesus or Joshua. There are thousands of people even today in the Spanish speaking world that use the name of Jesus as their first or last name. Also in Israel, a lot of people have the name of Yahushua. The Messiah's name is unique and there is only one person with that name and that is the Messiah himself. There is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved. When we call upon the Messiah using his name, we are actually calling upon His Father because the Messiah's name carries the Father's name and means YAHUAH (the Father) is SALVATION. So when we pray to YAHUAH the Father we petition Him through His Beloved Son YAHUAHSHUA our High Priest after the Order of MelechiTsadaq and our Passover Lamb that perfect sacrifice who died for our sins that we may have Eternal Life.
Many people also say that no one knows the proper pronunciation of the Father's name of YAHUAH any more and that it has been lost. Which is not true. Anyone who can read Hebrew knows it but will not pronounce it and replaces the name with other words such as Elohim (the Mighty Ones), Adonai (Master), Ha Shem (The Name), or G_D. But there is a very easy and simple way to know and pronounce the Father's name. Most people know and pronounce the name of the Tribe of Judah which in the Hebrew is YAHUDAH (yod, he, vav, daleth, he). The only difference between the spelling for the name of YAHUDAH and the Father's name of YAHUAH is one letter the D (daleth). So if you remove the letter D from the name YAHUDAH you have the proper pronunciation for the Father's name of YAHUAH.
INDEX OF TOPICS:
1.1) Distortions of the Name thru Time and Language:
It is astonishing how many distorted names that the Almighty and the Messiah are called by. For example:
the name of God, Lord, Amen, the Tetragrammaton, Jehovah, Yahweh, Yahvah, Iao, Jesus, Christ, Yeshua, Yahshua, Adonai, Ha Shem, G_D, etc. just to name a few.
From the scriptures, it is very plain that the Father has one name and that name is YAHUAH (yod, he, vav, he).
With the hybrid forms of Jehovah, Yahweh and Yahvah we can quickly check to see that the distortions come over time because the value of the letters of the alphabet have changed. For instance, the letter J developed from the Roman letter I during the middle ages and at one time even was the same letter. The same can be said for the letter U and W which both are derived from the Roman letter V which originally carried an "oo" or "uu" sound. Even the name for the letter W still carries the old value of double UU or as it is called in French double V V. So back in the middle ages all three of these variations would have been pronounced as YAHUAH.
Yeshua (yod, shin, vav, ayin) is a short form of Yahushua.
All the different forms, variations and substitutes can be traced back in time. Again the word "God" is Teutonic and was used to worship stones and other pagan objects.
"Lord" is old English and comes from two words "half" meaning loaf and "weird" meaning guardian, essentially "guardian of the loaf".
"Amen" is an Egyptian god whose name literally means "hidden" and was used in conjunction with other Egyptian deities as "Amen-Ra" for example. The Hebrew word amen means "so be it" and we should say "so be it" when we agree to a prayer rather than the word "Amen". Even though the word Amen in both the Old and New Testaments is a clean and acceptable word and in Revelation the Messiah is also called the Amen. We should use the Father's name and the Messiah's name when we pray so that there is no confusion as to who we are praying to.
INDEX OF TOPICS:
1.2) The Messiah's Name thru Languages:
a) JESUS = English, transliterated from the Latin.
b) IESOUS = Latin, transliterated from the Greek.
c) IHCOYC = Greek, poor transliteration of the Hebrew name Joshua.
d) YOD, HE, VAV, SHIN, VAV, AYIN = Hebrew, properly translated to and pronounced in English as YAHUSHUA, the fullest form of the Hebrew name of Joshua and means YAHU is Salvation.
e) YOD, HE, VAV, HE, SHIN, VAV, AYIN = Hebrew, properly translated to and pronounced in English as YAHUAHSHUA, the full Hebrew name of the Messiah after his resurrection from the dead and means YAHUAH is SALVATION.
INDEX OF TOPICS:
1.3)The Only Tribe of Israel to carry the Father's Name:
The only tribe of Israel to carry the Father's name is the tribe of YAHUDAH (Judah).
The name of the members of the tribe of YAHUDAH are called YAHUDI.
The Messiah was of the tribe of YAHUDAH and was a YAHUDI.
The Messiah carries the name of His Heavenly Father in his present name of YAHUAHSHUA as well as in his future name of YAHUAHTSADAQ.
The Messiah is our High Priest after the Order of MelechiTsadaq which from the Hebrew means MY KING is RIGHTEOUSNESS.
So you see, all the scriptures are interwoven with meaning and purpose to help us to understand more about our Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son.
INDEX OF TOPICS:
1.4) Names in the Hebrew O.T. with YAH or YAHU:
There are about 169 people in the Hebrew Old Testament who have a part of our Heavenly Father's name of YAH or YAHU as part of their name. Here are some examples:
a) ISAIAH = YESHAYAHU which means Salvation of YAHU and is the Messiah's present name backwards less one letter.
b) ZEDEKIAH = TSADAQYAHUwhich means Righteousness of YAHU and is the Messiah's future name backwards less one letter.
c) JOSHUA, JEHOSHUA, JEHOSHUAH = YAHUSHUA which means YAHU is Salvation and was the name of the Messiah while he was alive on this earth.
d) JEHOZADAK, JOSEDECH = YAHUTSADAQ which means YAHU is Righteousness which is the Messiah's future name less one letter.
e) ELIJAH = ALIYAHU which means My Mighty One is YAHU.
f) JOSEPH = YAHUCEPHwhich means YAHU will Add.
Originally people in the O.T. used the full form of YAHU in their own names but later started to shorten it to YAH (yod, he) or YU (yod, vav). An example of the use of YU in a name is in the name of Joseph which now is written as the shorter form YUCEPH. The fuller form of Joseph used to be YAHUCEPH.
As you can see, translating the Hebrew names into the English or any other language for that matter can create many variations for the same name, but in the Hebrew the name is consistent.
To further illustrate this, take an Israeli Telephone Book in English and check the names of people who carry the name YAHU as part of their own name. You will find YAHU translated as YAHU, YAHOO, IAHU, IAHOU, IAHOO, etc. but the Hebrew would still be the same three letters of YOD, HE, VAV.
Note: As an English speaking person you can quickly check the Hebrew and Greek names in the Bible using a "Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible" which has a Hebrew and Greek Dictionary at the back of it: You simply look up the English word or name in the English Concordance in the main section which will point you to the Hebrew or Greek which it stands for in the appropriate Dictionary at the back.
INDEX OF TOPICS:
2.0) The True Biblical Calendar:
The true calendar has to meet all of the specifications for units of time given in the Bible.
The true calendar has to be solar as the Feast Days are directly linked to the agricultural year. The true calendar also has to have the following units of time:
1 Day = night time + day time = 24 Hours (Gen.1:5, John 11:9)
1 Week = 7 Days (Gen.1:1-31; Gen.2:1-3)
1 Month = 30 Days (Gen.7:11,24; Gen.8:3,4; Rev.11:2,3; Rev.12:6; Rev.13:5)
1 Year = 12 Months (I Kings 4:7; I Chronicles 27:1-15)
1 Year = 12 Months x 30 Days = 360 Days
1st Day of the Year = 5th Day of the week (Gen.1:14-19; Since the solar year is based on the sun and the sun was created or reset on the 4th Day of the Week, it makes sense that the solar year starts with the 5th Day of the Week after the creation or resetting of the sun was complete. Sundown on Wednesday marks the end of the 4th Day, and begins the 5th Day of the Week. So the Year begins at sundown on Wednesday night with the beginning of the 5th Day of the Week.
The agricultural year is directly linked to the Feast Days and the Calendar (Ex.23:14-17; Ex.34:21-23).
1st Month = Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread -beginning of the Barley Harvest with the Sheaf Offering (Ex.12:2; Lev.23:5-15).
3rd Month= Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) - end of the Wheat Harvest (Lev.23:16-22).
7th Month = Feast of Tabernacles - the end of the agricultural year and the ingathering of grapes, olives, pomegranates, dates, etc. (Lev.23:23-44).
Now that we know what units of time the true calendar consists of, we can now look for a calendar that meets these criteria.
The True Calendar of the Bible
The only Calendar that meets all of these criteria is the Solar Calendar found at Qumran mentioned in Mismarot from Cave IV, also mentioned in the Book of Enoch (I Enoch) Chap.72-75, as well as in the Book of Jubilees Chap.6:23-38, and has the following characteristics:
This calendar has 1 Week = 7 Days, 1 Month = 30 Days, 1 Year = 12 Months, 1 Year= 360 Days plus 4 intercalary days to make an even 364 Day Year which is perfectly divisible by the 7 day week to give 52 Weeks a year, 1st Day of the Year = 5th Day of the Week; 1st Month = start of the Barley Harvest.
This is a fixed Calendarwith the 1st Day of the Year and the 1st Day of each 3 month period falling on Wednesday night the beginning of the 5th Day of the Week. The dates of the feasts are also fixed with a particular day of any given month being on the same day of the week every year. One intercalary day is fixed at the end of each 3 month period and acts as a buffer or division point between the next season or 3 month period. Each season or 3 month period has exactly 13 weeks. Here is what the reconstructed calendar looks like (keeping in mind that as Sabbath is on Saturday but starts Friday night so all the days in this calendar start the night before):
The 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th Months
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
. . . . 1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 .
The 2nd, 5th, 8th, and 11th Months
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
. . . . . . 1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30 . . . . . .
The 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th Months
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
. 1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31 . . .
Note: The 31st Day of the 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th Months is an Intercalary Day.
Reference: "Ten Years of Discovery in the Wilderness of Judea" by J.T.Milik 1959
For more info refer to:
#2.2)The Feast Days of Yahuah.
#2.3)Passover and the Crucifixion of the Messiah.
#26.0)Passover and Crucifixion Chart for the Messiah's Death in 30CE.
#27.0)Feast Days for the 364 Day Sacred Calendar - 2000CE to 2011CE.
#30.0)Keeping Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
#31.0)Keeping the Feast of Weeks (Feast of Pentecost).
INDEX OF TOPICS:
2.1) Intercalating the True Calendar of the Bible:
To date scholars have not been able to determine how to properly intercalate this calendar. Of necessity, since we as believers have to know when to keep the Feast Days using the True Calendar of the Bible, we also must be able to intercalate this calendar.
The solar year consists of approximately 365 1/4 days per year. The beginning of the solar year also starts at the Spring or Vernal Equinox on about March 21. In scientific terms this is 0 degrees or 360 degrees. Since the length of the solar year is not evenly divisible by a whole number of days it is difficult to have a solar calendar line up with the solar year.
The Gregorian Calendar which most of us use, has 365 days. But to keep the calendar in line with the solar year the 1/4 day must be accounted for. To take care of this loss of 1/4 days per year, the Gregorian Calendar is intercalated every 4 years during which time 4 x 1/4 days = 1 day was lost. Therefore, every four years we have a leap year of 366 days and that extra day is added on February 29.
With the True Biblical Calendar a year consists of 360 days + 4 intercalary days to give 364 days per year. So 1 1/4 days is lost each year. Therefore, every 5 or 6 years this calendar is intercalated by one week.
This method is very simple and the calendar becomes self correcting. The calendar gets its starting point when the Spring Equinox is on the 4th Day of the Week Jerusalem Time between Tuesday sunset to Wednesday sunset. As 5 or 6 years pass, the Spring Equinox again is on the 4th Day of the Week. This is when the calendar is intercalated by one week. This keeps the calendar always within approximately one week from the Spring Equinox.
It is critical to keep the calendar synchronized with the Spring Equinox because the Feast Days along with the calendar are directly linked to the agricultural year which is in turn directly linked to the solar year.
For more info refer to:
#27.0)Feast Days for the 364 Day Sacred Calendar - 2000CE to 2011CE.
INDEX OF TOPICS:
2.2)The Feast Days of YAHUAH:
The Feast Days of YAHUAH or as it is written in Lev.23:1-44, the Moadi (Hebrew word which means fixed, set or appointed times) of YAHUAH are:
a) Sabbath - the weekly Sabbath on the 7th Day of the Week from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset.
b) Passover - on the 14th Day of the 1st Month from Tuesday sunset to Wednesday sunset. The Messiah observed the Passover with his disciples on Tuesday night after sunset; later was taken by the mob led by Judas Iscariot; and on Wednesday at 12Noon he was crucified and died at 3PM.
c) Feast of Unleavened Bread - from the 15th Day of the 1st Month to the 21st Day of the 1st Month, starting Wednesday sunset and ending a week later at Wednesday sunset. In the middle of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is the Sheaf Offering of the Barley on the 18thDay of the 1st Month and marks the beginning of the Barley Harvest.
d) Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) - 50 days from the time of the Sheaf Offering of Barley (the barley was offered on the 18th Day of the 1st Month the 1st Day of the Week). Then 7 Sabbaths (7 Sabbaths x7 days = 49 days) had to be complete, "even unto the morrow after the 7th Sabbath shall you number 50 days". So Pentecost was on the 7th Day of the 3rd Month on the 1st Day of the Week Sunday but actually started on Saturday night the night before at sunset. The name Pentecost derives its origin from the Greek word "Pente" which means 50. Pentecost celebrates the end of the Wheat Harvest. The Holy Spirit was poured out on the Day of Pentecost. The Wheat Harvest also represents the end of this system and the return of the Messiah (Matt. 13:18-30; Matt. 14:36-43).
e) Feast of Trumpets - on the 1st Day of the 7th Month. In the Hebrew it is called Yom Taruah or Day of Great (earth shattering) Noise. The scriptures indicate that this is the day on which the Messiah will return the second time.
f) Day of Atonement - on the 10th Day of the 7th Month. In the Hebrew it is called Yom Kippur or Day of Pitch (tar) in the sense of wiping out either our sins or our names from the Book of Life. It is also a Day of Judgement.
g) Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths) - from the 15th Day to the 21st Day of the 7th Month. This is the Harvest Feast that marks the end of the agricultural year. The 22nd Day of the 7th Month is the Last Great Day, a High Sabbath that signifies a transition from the completion of the old agricultural year to the beginning of a new one. The Messiah in John 7:37-39 talks about those who believe in him, out of their belly shall flow rivers of living water. In Ezekiel 47:1-12 we are told that living water shall flow from the sanctuary into the dead sea and the dead sea shall be healed. This I believe will happen in the last year of the 6000 years from Adam when the Messiah has established his Kingdom on this earth and ushers in the 1000 year Millennium of his reign.
For more info refer to:
#26.0)Passover and Crucifixion Chart for the Messiah's Death in 30CE.
#27.0)Feast Days for the 364 Day Sacred Calendar - 2000CE to 2011CE.
#30.0)Keeping Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
#31.0)Keeping the Feast of Weeks (Feast of Pentecost).
INDEX OF TOPICS:
2.3) Passover and the Crucifixion of the Messiah:
The timing for the Messiah's death and crucifixion is the most detailed event recorded in the entire Bible. We know the hour, the day, the month and the year.
The Messiah kept the Passover with his disciples on Tuesday night after sunset on the 14th Day of the 1st Month (Luke 22:7-14; Lev.23:5; Matt.26:18-20).
All four of the Gospels indicate that the Messiah was crucified at 12Noon (6th Hour) on Wednesday still the 14th Day of the 1st Month. There was darkness from 12Noon (6th Hour) until 3PM (9th Hour) when the Messiah died. This is backed up in Matt.27:45-46,50; Mark 15:33-34,37; Luke 23:44-46; and John 19:14-18. Daniel prophesied that the Messiah would be cut off in the middle of the week (Daniel 9:26-27).
However, there is one scripture in Mark 15:25 which says that "it was the 3rd Hour (9AM) and they crucified him". Usually there are at least two scriptures to confirm something. And when there is only one, it should always be prayed about. Something else that makes this particular scripture suspect is the short and long version of Mark Chap.16 which the oldest and most reliable Greek manuscripts differ about. So Mark Chap.15 & 16 should always be looked at a little more closely.
We also know that Wednesday sunset would have started the High Sabbath of the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the 15th Day of the 1st Month (John 19:31) which was not a regular Sabbath.
We also know that the Messiah had to be in the tomb for 3 days and 3 nights (Matt.12:40; Jonah 1:17). The evening of Wednesday would have been the 1st Night and Thursday the 1st Day. The evening of Thursday the 2nd Night and Friday the 2nd Day. The evening of Friday the 3rd Night and Saturday the 3rd Day.
So the Messiah rose from the dead on Saturday the regular Sabbath the 7th Day of the Week before sunset. After sunset would have started the 1st Day of the Week which agrees with Matt.28:1 "in the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first of the week"; John 20:1 "the first of the week comes Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark". Again as stated earlier, Mark Chap.16 is problematic and Mark 16:2 is out weighed by the other scriptures.
The year that the Messiah died can be narrowed down by pooling information from scripture, the Talmud, historical events, the different calendars at the time, astronomical events at the time, etc. One sure reference point that we have is the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70CE. The Messiah foretold in the dual prophecy of Matt.24:1-51 the destruction of Jerusalem in 70CE as well as his Second Coming in our time now. The Messiah said in Matt.24:34, "this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled" and a generation in the Bible is 40 Years. So, 70CE less 40 years gives the year 30CE.
At the time of the Messiah's death, in Matt.27:51 we are told that the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom and the earth did quake and the rocks rent. In the Talmud in Yoma 39b we are told, "Forty years before the Temple was destroyed (70CE - 40 years = 30CE) ...the gates of the Hekel (Holy Place) opened by themselves".
Pontius Pilate became governor of Judea in 26CE and died in 36CE.
The True Hebrew Solar Calendar and the Jewish Lunar-Solar Calendar are identical in the year 30CE for the 1st Month of the year and the 14th Day of the 1st Month which is Passover the day the Messiah was crucified was the same for both calendars in that year.
From scripture, we can assume that the year the Messiah was crucified was also a Jubilee Year. The Jubilee Year is a year of release when those that are in bondage, servitude or debt were given their freedom. In the larger picture, it is through the shedding of the blood of the Messiah our Passover Lamb that are sins are forgiven and we are made free from the bondage of sin. For without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin (Hebrews 9:1-28). With the Messiah's death, the prophecies in Isaiah 61:1-2 and Luke 4:18 are also fulfilled where it is written, "YAHUAH has anointed me...to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of YAHUAH".
From other events in the Bible, we can also narrow down the age of the Messiah and when he died. We know that he started his ministry when he was 30 years old (Luke 3:23). We also know that he was not yet 50 years old (John 8:57). We know that he was born during the fall feasts because he was 6 months younger than his cousin John the Baptist (who was conceived soon after his father Zacharias a priest of the course of Abia served in the Temple - the timing of the course of Abia can be figured out). We know that the Messiah was born before Herod died in 5BCE. There is also a similarity to King David and the Messiah; because David began to reign when he was 30 years old and reigned 40 1/2 years (I Chronicles 3:4; II Samuel 5:4-5). The Messiah was 40 1/2 years old when he died and was the perfect sacrifice.
The scriptures back up the fact that the Messiah would have been at least 40 years old and stress the significance of the number 40. The children of Israel in the wilderness for one generation of 40 years; Moses and the Messiah both fasted for 40 days and 40 nights; the rains cleansed the earth for 40 days during the flood at the time of Noah; Miriam the Messiah's mother had to cleanse herself for 40 days after giving birth to the Messiah a male child; the wine that was offered up and presented in the temple had to be finished fermenting and be at least 40 days old.
In conclusion, the Messiah was 40 1/2 years old when he died. He also died on Wednesday at 3PM on April 5 in the year 30CE on Passover day the 14th Day of the 1st Month in a Jubilee Year.
For more info refer to:
#26.0)Passover and Crucifixion Chart for the Messiah's Death in 30CE
#30.0)Keeping Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
#31.0)Keeping the Feast of Weeks (Feast of Pentecost).
INDEX OF TOPICS:
3.0) Key to Understanding the Book of Revelation:
Understanding the 6th Seal in Rev.6:12-17 is the KEY to understanding the entire Book of Revelation. The 6th Seal is clearly the RETURN of the MESSIAH. The 6th Seal can be directly linked to Matt.24:26-31; Mark 13:24-27; Luke 17:23-24; Luke 21:25-28: Rev.19:11-21 and also to the 7th Trumpet in Rev.11:15-19 and to the 7th Vial in Rev.16:17-21. Once the Return of the Messiah is established as a reference point, all the other events can be related to before or after his coming.
For more information refer to:
#25.0)The 7 Seals, 7 Trumpets, and 7 Vials Correlation Chart.
INDEX OF TOPICS:
3.1) The Great Tribulation:
We know from Matt.24:29 that the Great Tribulation is immediately before the Messiah's Return. The Gospel accounts of what will happen during the Great Tribulation are written in Matt.24:4-51; Luke 21:8-36; Mark 13:5-37 and Luke 17:22-37.
The Book of Revelation goes into more detail with the duration in time of the Great Tribulation which will be 3 1/2 Years. All the following major events will happen during that 3 1/2 Years of the Great Tribulation:
a) The Two Witnesses will prophecy for 1,260 Days (Rev.11:3; Malachi 4:5). These two witnesses will be the two people in scripture that have never died but will have to come back to die and they are Elijah (ALIYAHU) and Enoch (HANUCH).
b) Jerusalem given unto the control of the Nations (United Nations?) for 42 Months (Rev.11:2).
c) Believers in the Wilderness for 1,260 Days (Rev.12:6).
d) Beast continues (makes war) for 42 Months (Rev.13.5).
e) Satan cast unto the earth for the 3 1/2 Years (Rev.12.9). Satan (the Dragon) is in league with the Beast (Rev.13:4) until Satan is bound for 1000 Years at the coming of the Messiah (Rev.20:1-6).
f) The 4th and 5th Seals (Rev.6:7-11).
g) The First Six Trumpets (Rev.8:7-12; Rev.9:1-21).
h) The First Six Vials (Rev.16:2-16).
To the best of our understanding at this time, the Great Tribulation will begin in the Spring of the Year 2008.
For more information refer to:
#25.0)The 7 Seals, 7 Trumpets, and 7 Vials Correlation Chart.
INDEX OF TOPICS:
3.2) The Mark of the Beast:
The term "The Mark of the Beast" comes from the N.T. in Revelation 13:17,18. The number 666 is the number and not the Mark of the Beast. We are told to count or compute the number of the Beast.
The oldest record we have of Revelation 13:17,18 is in the Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri P47 dated the 3rd Century CE in which, the number 666 is written in Greek as three Greek letters Chi, Xi, Sigma with a single line across the top of these three letters.
In this particular N.T. Greek manuscript, the line across the top of these three letters means that these three letters together stand for a word, a name, or a number. In later Greek manuscripts this disappears completely and is replaced with the number "666" written out in full as three full words as "six hundred, sixty and six".
The only viable explanation for what this number 666 stands for is as follows:
In the old Roman world and even today, the Roman Alphabet letters stood for letters and for numbers. For example, the Roman counting system only used the Roman letters I, V, X, L, C, and D; while the letter M which stood for 1000 was originally two D's back to back to form what latter was perceived as the letter M and so is not an additional letter. So the Roman counting system consists of the following letters and values:
Roman Letter Numerical Value
I 1
V 5
X 10
L 50
C 100
D 500
Total 666
In addition to standing for numbers, the letters can also form words and looking at the various possible combinations we do have one that stands out and is:
DICLUX: where DI is the Latin for GOD and C in Greek is the Roman equivalent of S which makes a word plural where DIC = GODS and where LUX is the Latin for LIGHT. So DICLUX stands for GODS OF LIGHT.
In our modern day hi-tech society this meaning and terminology makes a lot of sense. Cities all over the world never sleep and with the help of electricity there is artificial LIGHT 24 hours a day all year round.
There is also a small elite and secretive group that apparently control the world called the ILLUMINATI, the enlightened ones. And no wonder for in II Corinthians 11:14,15 we are told that Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light; therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness. We know that Satan temporarily controls the world (Luke 4:5,6) until his lease runs out and then the Messiah will return and establish the Kingdom of YAHUAH on this earth.
During the Great Tribulation there will be four aspects of the Beast that we as believers will have to avoid - namely the 1)IMAGE, 2)MARK, 3)NAME and 4)NUMBER of the Beast. We have to avoid worshiping the Image of the Beast; and avoid taking the Mark, Name or Number of the Beast to buy or sell (Rev.13:15-18; Rev.14:9-11; Rev.15:2).
INDEX OF TOPICS:
3.3) The Return of the Messiah:
From the scriptures we know that the Messiah will return immediately after the Great Tribulation of 3 1/2 Years (Matt.24:29-30). Immediately after the 3 1/2 years comes the 1st Day of the 7th Month which is the Feast of Trumpets, in the Hebrew called YOM TARUAH (Day of Great Noise). So the Messiah will Return on the Feast of Trumpets. The scriptures indicate that the HOUR of the Messiah's Return will be at 12NOON during the day (Jer.20:16; Amos 8:9; Zech.14:1-21; II Thessalonians 2:8; Acts 26:13; Habakkuk 3:3-6; Hebrews 1:3).
The Great Day of YAHUAH and the Return of the Messiah is one and the same event (Rev.6:16-17; Rev.19:15; Rev.11:15-19; Rev.16:17-21).
a) The Great Day of YAHUAH represents the Wrath of YAHUAH: (Isa.13:19,13; Zeph.1:15; Joel 2:11; Zech.12:9; Jer.30:7-11; Dan.12:1-13; Ezek.7:1-27).
b) The Signs of the Messiah's Return are the same as the Great Day of YAHUAH (Rev.6:12-14; Matt.24:29; Isa.13:10; Joel 2:10; Joel 3:15; Mark 13:24; Luke 21:25; Zech.14:5-7; Isa.24:1-23,20-23).
c) The Messiah will come with an Army on the Great Day of YAHUAH and he will rule the earth (Rev.19:14,15,19; Isa.13:3,4-9,11-19; Zeph.1:7; Joel 2:1-9; Joel 3:2-14; Jer.25:30-37; Zech.12:9-10; Zech.13:6; Zech.14:2,4,5).
For more information refer to:
#25.0)The 7 Seals, 7 Trumpets, and 7 Vials Correlation Chart.
INDEX OF TOPICS:
5.0) Chronology of the Messiah's Life on Earth:
12BCE - Messiah born possibly on the Day of Atonement, during the Fall Feasts, at the End of the Agricultural Year.
12BCE - Haley's Comet at Perihelion on October 5.
7BCE - Wise men come and Herod kills the children of Bethlehem.
7BCE - Herod executes two of his own sons.
7BCE - Triple Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on May 27, Oct. 6, & Dec. 1 (the Star of Bethlehem?).
7BCE - The Messiah is a young child of about 5 years old.
5BCE - Herod dies. Messiah is about 7 years old.
19CE - The Messiah starts his Ministry at 30 years of age.
26CE - Pontius Pilate appointed Governor of Judea.
30CE - The Messiah is Crucified on Wednesday April 5 at 12Noon and dies at 3PM.
30CE - Jubilee Year.
30CE - The Messiah is 40 1/2 years old.
INDEX OF TOPICS:
6.0) Important Variances in the N.T. Manuscripts:
0.0) Introduction:
The whole purpose of creating this web page is to help people of all Nations to understand and worship the true Creator of Heaven and Earth in spirit and in truth.
Let's start first with the name of the Almighty and of His Beloved Son. The very first thing that you teach a child in worshiping is the Name of the one being worshiped.
Most people can figure out the name of the Almighty from the Old Testament, but very few know or understand what the Messiah's name is!
To those who are not too acquainted with the Hebrew Language; Hebrew is read from right to left while English is read from left to right.
Please keep in mind that due to the limitations of the space on this Web Page the articles here are just a short version. Any one of these topics could easily take up the entire Web Page and more.
Your comments are more than welcome, please write.
1.0) Name of the Almighty and of the Messiah:
The name of the Almighty in the Old Testament is YAHUAH (yod, he, vav, he) with four Hebrew letters and appears close to 7000 times.
The Messiah carries the fullness of His Father's name of all four Hebrew letters of YOD, HE, VAV, HE written as YAHUAH in English. About 169 different names of people in the Old Testament carry two or three letters of the Father's name of YAH (yod, he) or YAHU (yod, he, vav) but never ever with the fourth Hebrew letter "he". The only exception being the Messiah himself as written in Jeremiah 23:6 & Jeremiah 33:16. There you will see the Messiah's future name of YAHUAHTSADAQ (yod, he, vav, he, tsaddi, daleth, qoph) with 7 Hebrew letters which is also the future name of New Jerusalem as also noted in Revelation 3:12 and means YAHUAH IS RIGHTEOUSNESS.
The Messiah's present name from the Hebrew is YAHUAHSHUA (yod, he, vav, he, shin, vav, ayin) with 7 Hebrew letters which means YAHUAH IS SALVATION and which can be proved using the Old Testament Hebrew & Greek manuscripts, and comparing them to the New Testament Greek manuscripts.
If you check the New Testament Greek manuscripts, you will find the Greek name used for the Messiah as IHCOYC(iota, eta, sigma, omicron, upsilon, sigma) and other variations such as IHCOY, IHCOYN, IHCOI depending on the grammatical structure of the sentence. This is a poor attempt to transliterate the name JOSHUA from the Hebrew O.T.. In the N.T. Greek manuscripts you will find the name IHCOYCand its variations abbreviated as IC,IN, IY or as IHC, IHN, IHY (also called the nomina sacra) with a line over the top of these abbreviated letters which can stand for a name, a word, or a number in the Greek manuscripts. It is very rare to see the name IHCOYC written out in full in the N.T. Greek manuscripts.
Now that we have some idea what the name for the Messiah looks like in the Greek. We have to go back to the Hebrew to look for his true name, for he was a Hebrew of Hebrew parents and he had a Hebrew name. We can't compare Greek with Hebrew but we can compare Greek with Greek. The Old Testament was translated into the Greek about 300 years before the Messiah in the Septuagint (LXX). So if we take the name for the Messiah in the Greek N.T. and we look for an identical name in the Greek O.T. we will find that the only name that does match is the name for JOSHUA and is also written as IHCOYC in the Old Testament Greek with its variations.
In the O.T. Greek the name IHCOYC is usually written out in full but there are manuscripts where it is also abbreviated just like in the N.T. Greek.
Now that we have established that the Messiah's name in the N.T. Greek is identical to the name of JOSHUA in the O.T. Greek, we must find out what the Hebrew name is.
The name of JOSHUAin the O.T. Hebrew is usually written as YOD, HE, VAV, SHIN, AYIN (five letters) and pronounced as YAHUSHUA. But is also written in its fuller form twice as YOD, HE, VAV, SHIN, VAV, AYIN (six letters) in Judges 2:7 & Deuteronomy 3:21 also pronounced as YAHUSHUA.
The only difference of whether the second VAV is visible or not is a cosmetic one. Since Hebrew is a consonantal language the vowels are visually put in as the reader reads the word. The second VAV is there in both cases but in the more common occurrence it is understood and put in while reading, while in the rare occurrence it is there visually. In both cases the name is identical and pronounced the same. For example, the word BEN in Hebrew means son and is spelled as BN (beth, nun) and the vowel sound of E is put in and pronounced while reading the word but is not there visually.
We have now established the name of JOSHUA in Hebrew as YAHUSHUA (yod, he, vav, shin, vav, ayin) with six Hebrew letters. We have also proved that the Messiah's name and Joshua's name are identical in the Greek. But there is one major difference between the names of these two men. And that difference is the fourth letter of the Father's name. Joshua only carries three letters of the Father's name as do other people in the O.T. . The Messiah carries the fullness of His Father's name with all four letters and so the Messiah's name is YAHUAHSHUA (yod, he, vav, he, shin, vav, ayin) with seven Hebrew letters. Some of the N.T. scriptures that prove the Messiah's unique name are: Acts 4:12; Ephesians 1:20,21; Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 1:4.
We also know that the Messiah's name is unique because there are other people in both the O.T. and in the N.T. with the name of Jesus. In Acts 7:45 and Hebrews 4:8 the Jesus here is Joshua the son of Nun. In Colossians 4:11 it is Jesus called Justus. In Acts 13:6 there is Bar-Jesus where the word Bar is Aramaic for son.
We are not saved through common names such as Jesus or Joshua. There are thousands of people even today in the Spanish speaking world that use the name of Jesus as their first or last name. Also in Israel, a lot of people have the name of Yahushua. The Messiah's name is unique and there is only one person with that name and that is the Messiah himself. There is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved. When we call upon the Messiah using his name, we are actually calling upon His Father because the Messiah's name carries the Father's name and means YAHUAH (the Father) is SALVATION. So when we pray to YAHUAH the Father we petition Him through His Beloved Son YAHUAHSHUA our High Priest after the Order of MelechiTsadaq and our Passover Lamb that perfect sacrifice who died for our sins that we may have Eternal Life.
Many people also say that no one knows the proper pronunciation of the Father's name of YAHUAH any more and that it has been lost. Which is not true. Anyone who can read Hebrew knows it but will not pronounce it and replaces the name with other words such as Elohim (the Mighty Ones), Adonai (Master), Ha Shem (The Name), or G_D. But there is a very easy and simple way to know and pronounce the Father's name. Most people know and pronounce the name of the Tribe of Judah which in the Hebrew is YAHUDAH (yod, he, vav, daleth, he). The only difference between the spelling for the name of YAHUDAH and the Father's name of YAHUAH is one letter the D (daleth). So if you remove the letter D from the name YAHUDAH you have the proper pronunciation for the Father's name of YAHUAH.
INDEX OF TOPICS:
1.1) Distortions of the Name thru Time and Language:
It is astonishing how many distorted names that the Almighty and the Messiah are called by. For example:
the name of God, Lord, Amen, the Tetragrammaton, Jehovah, Yahweh, Yahvah, Iao, Jesus, Christ, Yeshua, Yahshua, Adonai, Ha Shem, G_D, etc. just to name a few.
From the scriptures, it is very plain that the Father has one name and that name is YAHUAH (yod, he, vav, he).
With the hybrid forms of Jehovah, Yahweh and Yahvah we can quickly check to see that the distortions come over time because the value of the letters of the alphabet have changed. For instance, the letter J developed from the Roman letter I during the middle ages and at one time even was the same letter. The same can be said for the letter U and W which both are derived from the Roman letter V which originally carried an "oo" or "uu" sound. Even the name for the letter W still carries the old value of double UU or as it is called in French double V V. So back in the middle ages all three of these variations would have been pronounced as YAHUAH.
Yeshua (yod, shin, vav, ayin) is a short form of Yahushua.
All the different forms, variations and substitutes can be traced back in time. Again the word "God" is Teutonic and was used to worship stones and other pagan objects.
"Lord" is old English and comes from two words "half" meaning loaf and "weird" meaning guardian, essentially "guardian of the loaf".
"Amen" is an Egyptian god whose name literally means "hidden" and was used in conjunction with other Egyptian deities as "Amen-Ra" for example. The Hebrew word amen means "so be it" and we should say "so be it" when we agree to a prayer rather than the word "Amen". Even though the word Amen in both the Old and New Testaments is a clean and acceptable word and in Revelation the Messiah is also called the Amen. We should use the Father's name and the Messiah's name when we pray so that there is no confusion as to who we are praying to.
INDEX OF TOPICS:
1.2) The Messiah's Name thru Languages:
a) JESUS = English, transliterated from the Latin.
b) IESOUS = Latin, transliterated from the Greek.
c) IHCOYC = Greek, poor transliteration of the Hebrew name Joshua.
d) YOD, HE, VAV, SHIN, VAV, AYIN = Hebrew, properly translated to and pronounced in English as YAHUSHUA, the fullest form of the Hebrew name of Joshua and means YAHU is Salvation.
e) YOD, HE, VAV, HE, SHIN, VAV, AYIN = Hebrew, properly translated to and pronounced in English as YAHUAHSHUA, the full Hebrew name of the Messiah after his resurrection from the dead and means YAHUAH is SALVATION.
INDEX OF TOPICS:
1.3)The Only Tribe of Israel to carry the Father's Name:
The only tribe of Israel to carry the Father's name is the tribe of YAHUDAH (Judah).
The name of the members of the tribe of YAHUDAH are called YAHUDI.
The Messiah was of the tribe of YAHUDAH and was a YAHUDI.
The Messiah carries the name of His Heavenly Father in his present name of YAHUAHSHUA as well as in his future name of YAHUAHTSADAQ.
The Messiah is our High Priest after the Order of MelechiTsadaq which from the Hebrew means MY KING is RIGHTEOUSNESS.
So you see, all the scriptures are interwoven with meaning and purpose to help us to understand more about our Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son.
INDEX OF TOPICS:
1.4) Names in the Hebrew O.T. with YAH or YAHU:
There are about 169 people in the Hebrew Old Testament who have a part of our Heavenly Father's name of YAH or YAHU as part of their name. Here are some examples:
a) ISAIAH = YESHAYAHU which means Salvation of YAHU and is the Messiah's present name backwards less one letter.
b) ZEDEKIAH = TSADAQYAHUwhich means Righteousness of YAHU and is the Messiah's future name backwards less one letter.
c) JOSHUA, JEHOSHUA, JEHOSHUAH = YAHUSHUA which means YAHU is Salvation and was the name of the Messiah while he was alive on this earth.
d) JEHOZADAK, JOSEDECH = YAHUTSADAQ which means YAHU is Righteousness which is the Messiah's future name less one letter.
e) ELIJAH = ALIYAHU which means My Mighty One is YAHU.
f) JOSEPH = YAHUCEPHwhich means YAHU will Add.
Originally people in the O.T. used the full form of YAHU in their own names but later started to shorten it to YAH (yod, he) or YU (yod, vav). An example of the use of YU in a name is in the name of Joseph which now is written as the shorter form YUCEPH. The fuller form of Joseph used to be YAHUCEPH.
As you can see, translating the Hebrew names into the English or any other language for that matter can create many variations for the same name, but in the Hebrew the name is consistent.
To further illustrate this, take an Israeli Telephone Book in English and check the names of people who carry the name YAHU as part of their own name. You will find YAHU translated as YAHU, YAHOO, IAHU, IAHOU, IAHOO, etc. but the Hebrew would still be the same three letters of YOD, HE, VAV.
Note: As an English speaking person you can quickly check the Hebrew and Greek names in the Bible using a "Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible" which has a Hebrew and Greek Dictionary at the back of it: You simply look up the English word or name in the English Concordance in the main section which will point you to the Hebrew or Greek which it stands for in the appropriate Dictionary at the back.
INDEX OF TOPICS:
2.0) The True Biblical Calendar:
The true calendar has to meet all of the specifications for units of time given in the Bible.
The true calendar has to be solar as the Feast Days are directly linked to the agricultural year. The true calendar also has to have the following units of time:
1 Day = night time + day time = 24 Hours (Gen.1:5, John 11:9)
1 Week = 7 Days (Gen.1:1-31; Gen.2:1-3)
1 Month = 30 Days (Gen.7:11,24; Gen.8:3,4; Rev.11:2,3; Rev.12:6; Rev.13:5)
1 Year = 12 Months (I Kings 4:7; I Chronicles 27:1-15)
1 Year = 12 Months x 30 Days = 360 Days
1st Day of the Year = 5th Day of the week (Gen.1:14-19; Since the solar year is based on the sun and the sun was created or reset on the 4th Day of the Week, it makes sense that the solar year starts with the 5th Day of the Week after the creation or resetting of the sun was complete. Sundown on Wednesday marks the end of the 4th Day, and begins the 5th Day of the Week. So the Year begins at sundown on Wednesday night with the beginning of the 5th Day of the Week.
The agricultural year is directly linked to the Feast Days and the Calendar (Ex.23:14-17; Ex.34:21-23).
1st Month = Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread -beginning of the Barley Harvest with the Sheaf Offering (Ex.12:2; Lev.23:5-15).
3rd Month= Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) - end of the Wheat Harvest (Lev.23:16-22).
7th Month = Feast of Tabernacles - the end of the agricultural year and the ingathering of grapes, olives, pomegranates, dates, etc. (Lev.23:23-44).
Now that we know what units of time the true calendar consists of, we can now look for a calendar that meets these criteria.
The True Calendar of the Bible
The only Calendar that meets all of these criteria is the Solar Calendar found at Qumran mentioned in Mismarot from Cave IV, also mentioned in the Book of Enoch (I Enoch) Chap.72-75, as well as in the Book of Jubilees Chap.6:23-38, and has the following characteristics:
This calendar has 1 Week = 7 Days, 1 Month = 30 Days, 1 Year = 12 Months, 1 Year= 360 Days plus 4 intercalary days to make an even 364 Day Year which is perfectly divisible by the 7 day week to give 52 Weeks a year, 1st Day of the Year = 5th Day of the Week; 1st Month = start of the Barley Harvest.
This is a fixed Calendarwith the 1st Day of the Year and the 1st Day of each 3 month period falling on Wednesday night the beginning of the 5th Day of the Week. The dates of the feasts are also fixed with a particular day of any given month being on the same day of the week every year. One intercalary day is fixed at the end of each 3 month period and acts as a buffer or division point between the next season or 3 month period. Each season or 3 month period has exactly 13 weeks. Here is what the reconstructed calendar looks like (keeping in mind that as Sabbath is on Saturday but starts Friday night so all the days in this calendar start the night before):
The 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th Months
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
. . . . 1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 .
The 2nd, 5th, 8th, and 11th Months
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
. . . . . . 1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30 . . . . . .
The 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th Months
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
. 1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31 . . .
Note: The 31st Day of the 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th Months is an Intercalary Day.
Reference: "Ten Years of Discovery in the Wilderness of Judea" by J.T.Milik 1959
For more info refer to:
#2.2)The Feast Days of Yahuah.
#2.3)Passover and the Crucifixion of the Messiah.
#26.0)Passover and Crucifixion Chart for the Messiah's Death in 30CE.
#27.0)Feast Days for the 364 Day Sacred Calendar - 2000CE to 2011CE.
#30.0)Keeping Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
#31.0)Keeping the Feast of Weeks (Feast of Pentecost).
INDEX OF TOPICS:
2.1) Intercalating the True Calendar of the Bible:
To date scholars have not been able to determine how to properly intercalate this calendar. Of necessity, since we as believers have to know when to keep the Feast Days using the True Calendar of the Bible, we also must be able to intercalate this calendar.
The solar year consists of approximately 365 1/4 days per year. The beginning of the solar year also starts at the Spring or Vernal Equinox on about March 21. In scientific terms this is 0 degrees or 360 degrees. Since the length of the solar year is not evenly divisible by a whole number of days it is difficult to have a solar calendar line up with the solar year.
The Gregorian Calendar which most of us use, has 365 days. But to keep the calendar in line with the solar year the 1/4 day must be accounted for. To take care of this loss of 1/4 days per year, the Gregorian Calendar is intercalated every 4 years during which time 4 x 1/4 days = 1 day was lost. Therefore, every four years we have a leap year of 366 days and that extra day is added on February 29.
With the True Biblical Calendar a year consists of 360 days + 4 intercalary days to give 364 days per year. So 1 1/4 days is lost each year. Therefore, every 5 or 6 years this calendar is intercalated by one week.
This method is very simple and the calendar becomes self correcting. The calendar gets its starting point when the Spring Equinox is on the 4th Day of the Week Jerusalem Time between Tuesday sunset to Wednesday sunset. As 5 or 6 years pass, the Spring Equinox again is on the 4th Day of the Week. This is when the calendar is intercalated by one week. This keeps the calendar always within approximately one week from the Spring Equinox.
It is critical to keep the calendar synchronized with the Spring Equinox because the Feast Days along with the calendar are directly linked to the agricultural year which is in turn directly linked to the solar year.
For more info refer to:
#27.0)Feast Days for the 364 Day Sacred Calendar - 2000CE to 2011CE.
INDEX OF TOPICS:
2.2)The Feast Days of YAHUAH:
The Feast Days of YAHUAH or as it is written in Lev.23:1-44, the Moadi (Hebrew word which means fixed, set or appointed times) of YAHUAH are:
a) Sabbath - the weekly Sabbath on the 7th Day of the Week from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset.
b) Passover - on the 14th Day of the 1st Month from Tuesday sunset to Wednesday sunset. The Messiah observed the Passover with his disciples on Tuesday night after sunset; later was taken by the mob led by Judas Iscariot; and on Wednesday at 12Noon he was crucified and died at 3PM.
c) Feast of Unleavened Bread - from the 15th Day of the 1st Month to the 21st Day of the 1st Month, starting Wednesday sunset and ending a week later at Wednesday sunset. In the middle of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is the Sheaf Offering of the Barley on the 18thDay of the 1st Month and marks the beginning of the Barley Harvest.
d) Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) - 50 days from the time of the Sheaf Offering of Barley (the barley was offered on the 18th Day of the 1st Month the 1st Day of the Week). Then 7 Sabbaths (7 Sabbaths x7 days = 49 days) had to be complete, "even unto the morrow after the 7th Sabbath shall you number 50 days". So Pentecost was on the 7th Day of the 3rd Month on the 1st Day of the Week Sunday but actually started on Saturday night the night before at sunset. The name Pentecost derives its origin from the Greek word "Pente" which means 50. Pentecost celebrates the end of the Wheat Harvest. The Holy Spirit was poured out on the Day of Pentecost. The Wheat Harvest also represents the end of this system and the return of the Messiah (Matt. 13:18-30; Matt. 14:36-43).
e) Feast of Trumpets - on the 1st Day of the 7th Month. In the Hebrew it is called Yom Taruah or Day of Great (earth shattering) Noise. The scriptures indicate that this is the day on which the Messiah will return the second time.
f) Day of Atonement - on the 10th Day of the 7th Month. In the Hebrew it is called Yom Kippur or Day of Pitch (tar) in the sense of wiping out either our sins or our names from the Book of Life. It is also a Day of Judgement.
g) Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths) - from the 15th Day to the 21st Day of the 7th Month. This is the Harvest Feast that marks the end of the agricultural year. The 22nd Day of the 7th Month is the Last Great Day, a High Sabbath that signifies a transition from the completion of the old agricultural year to the beginning of a new one. The Messiah in John 7:37-39 talks about those who believe in him, out of their belly shall flow rivers of living water. In Ezekiel 47:1-12 we are told that living water shall flow from the sanctuary into the dead sea and the dead sea shall be healed. This I believe will happen in the last year of the 6000 years from Adam when the Messiah has established his Kingdom on this earth and ushers in the 1000 year Millennium of his reign.
For more info refer to:
#26.0)Passover and Crucifixion Chart for the Messiah's Death in 30CE.
#27.0)Feast Days for the 364 Day Sacred Calendar - 2000CE to 2011CE.
#30.0)Keeping Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
#31.0)Keeping the Feast of Weeks (Feast of Pentecost).
INDEX OF TOPICS:
2.3) Passover and the Crucifixion of the Messiah:
The timing for the Messiah's death and crucifixion is the most detailed event recorded in the entire Bible. We know the hour, the day, the month and the year.
The Messiah kept the Passover with his disciples on Tuesday night after sunset on the 14th Day of the 1st Month (Luke 22:7-14; Lev.23:5; Matt.26:18-20).
All four of the Gospels indicate that the Messiah was crucified at 12Noon (6th Hour) on Wednesday still the 14th Day of the 1st Month. There was darkness from 12Noon (6th Hour) until 3PM (9th Hour) when the Messiah died. This is backed up in Matt.27:45-46,50; Mark 15:33-34,37; Luke 23:44-46; and John 19:14-18. Daniel prophesied that the Messiah would be cut off in the middle of the week (Daniel 9:26-27).
However, there is one scripture in Mark 15:25 which says that "it was the 3rd Hour (9AM) and they crucified him". Usually there are at least two scriptures to confirm something. And when there is only one, it should always be prayed about. Something else that makes this particular scripture suspect is the short and long version of Mark Chap.16 which the oldest and most reliable Greek manuscripts differ about. So Mark Chap.15 & 16 should always be looked at a little more closely.
We also know that Wednesday sunset would have started the High Sabbath of the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the 15th Day of the 1st Month (John 19:31) which was not a regular Sabbath.
We also know that the Messiah had to be in the tomb for 3 days and 3 nights (Matt.12:40; Jonah 1:17). The evening of Wednesday would have been the 1st Night and Thursday the 1st Day. The evening of Thursday the 2nd Night and Friday the 2nd Day. The evening of Friday the 3rd Night and Saturday the 3rd Day.
So the Messiah rose from the dead on Saturday the regular Sabbath the 7th Day of the Week before sunset. After sunset would have started the 1st Day of the Week which agrees with Matt.28:1 "in the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first of the week"; John 20:1 "the first of the week comes Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark". Again as stated earlier, Mark Chap.16 is problematic and Mark 16:2 is out weighed by the other scriptures.
The year that the Messiah died can be narrowed down by pooling information from scripture, the Talmud, historical events, the different calendars at the time, astronomical events at the time, etc. One sure reference point that we have is the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70CE. The Messiah foretold in the dual prophecy of Matt.24:1-51 the destruction of Jerusalem in 70CE as well as his Second Coming in our time now. The Messiah said in Matt.24:34, "this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled" and a generation in the Bible is 40 Years. So, 70CE less 40 years gives the year 30CE.
At the time of the Messiah's death, in Matt.27:51 we are told that the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom and the earth did quake and the rocks rent. In the Talmud in Yoma 39b we are told, "Forty years before the Temple was destroyed (70CE - 40 years = 30CE) ...the gates of the Hekel (Holy Place) opened by themselves".
Pontius Pilate became governor of Judea in 26CE and died in 36CE.
The True Hebrew Solar Calendar and the Jewish Lunar-Solar Calendar are identical in the year 30CE for the 1st Month of the year and the 14th Day of the 1st Month which is Passover the day the Messiah was crucified was the same for both calendars in that year.
From scripture, we can assume that the year the Messiah was crucified was also a Jubilee Year. The Jubilee Year is a year of release when those that are in bondage, servitude or debt were given their freedom. In the larger picture, it is through the shedding of the blood of the Messiah our Passover Lamb that are sins are forgiven and we are made free from the bondage of sin. For without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin (Hebrews 9:1-28). With the Messiah's death, the prophecies in Isaiah 61:1-2 and Luke 4:18 are also fulfilled where it is written, "YAHUAH has anointed me...to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of YAHUAH".
From other events in the Bible, we can also narrow down the age of the Messiah and when he died. We know that he started his ministry when he was 30 years old (Luke 3:23). We also know that he was not yet 50 years old (John 8:57). We know that he was born during the fall feasts because he was 6 months younger than his cousin John the Baptist (who was conceived soon after his father Zacharias a priest of the course of Abia served in the Temple - the timing of the course of Abia can be figured out). We know that the Messiah was born before Herod died in 5BCE. There is also a similarity to King David and the Messiah; because David began to reign when he was 30 years old and reigned 40 1/2 years (I Chronicles 3:4; II Samuel 5:4-5). The Messiah was 40 1/2 years old when he died and was the perfect sacrifice.
The scriptures back up the fact that the Messiah would have been at least 40 years old and stress the significance of the number 40. The children of Israel in the wilderness for one generation of 40 years; Moses and the Messiah both fasted for 40 days and 40 nights; the rains cleansed the earth for 40 days during the flood at the time of Noah; Miriam the Messiah's mother had to cleanse herself for 40 days after giving birth to the Messiah a male child; the wine that was offered up and presented in the temple had to be finished fermenting and be at least 40 days old.
In conclusion, the Messiah was 40 1/2 years old when he died. He also died on Wednesday at 3PM on April 5 in the year 30CE on Passover day the 14th Day of the 1st Month in a Jubilee Year.
For more info refer to:
#26.0)Passover and Crucifixion Chart for the Messiah's Death in 30CE
#30.0)Keeping Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
#31.0)Keeping the Feast of Weeks (Feast of Pentecost).
INDEX OF TOPICS:
3.0) Key to Understanding the Book of Revelation:
Understanding the 6th Seal in Rev.6:12-17 is the KEY to understanding the entire Book of Revelation. The 6th Seal is clearly the RETURN of the MESSIAH. The 6th Seal can be directly linked to Matt.24:26-31; Mark 13:24-27; Luke 17:23-24; Luke 21:25-28: Rev.19:11-21 and also to the 7th Trumpet in Rev.11:15-19 and to the 7th Vial in Rev.16:17-21. Once the Return of the Messiah is established as a reference point, all the other events can be related to before or after his coming.
For more information refer to:
#25.0)The 7 Seals, 7 Trumpets, and 7 Vials Correlation Chart.
INDEX OF TOPICS:
3.1) The Great Tribulation:
We know from Matt.24:29 that the Great Tribulation is immediately before the Messiah's Return. The Gospel accounts of what will happen during the Great Tribulation are written in Matt.24:4-51; Luke 21:8-36; Mark 13:5-37 and Luke 17:22-37.
The Book of Revelation goes into more detail with the duration in time of the Great Tribulation which will be 3 1/2 Years. All the following major events will happen during that 3 1/2 Years of the Great Tribulation:
a) The Two Witnesses will prophecy for 1,260 Days (Rev.11:3; Malachi 4:5). These two witnesses will be the two people in scripture that have never died but will have to come back to die and they are Elijah (ALIYAHU) and Enoch (HANUCH).
b) Jerusalem given unto the control of the Nations (United Nations?) for 42 Months (Rev.11:2).
c) Believers in the Wilderness for 1,260 Days (Rev.12:6).
d) Beast continues (makes war) for 42 Months (Rev.13.5).
e) Satan cast unto the earth for the 3 1/2 Years (Rev.12.9). Satan (the Dragon) is in league with the Beast (Rev.13:4) until Satan is bound for 1000 Years at the coming of the Messiah (Rev.20:1-6).
f) The 4th and 5th Seals (Rev.6:7-11).
g) The First Six Trumpets (Rev.8:7-12; Rev.9:1-21).
h) The First Six Vials (Rev.16:2-16).
To the best of our understanding at this time, the Great Tribulation will begin in the Spring of the Year 2008.
For more information refer to:
#25.0)The 7 Seals, 7 Trumpets, and 7 Vials Correlation Chart.
INDEX OF TOPICS:
3.2) The Mark of the Beast:
The term "The Mark of the Beast" comes from the N.T. in Revelation 13:17,18. The number 666 is the number and not the Mark of the Beast. We are told to count or compute the number of the Beast.
The oldest record we have of Revelation 13:17,18 is in the Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri P47 dated the 3rd Century CE in which, the number 666 is written in Greek as three Greek letters Chi, Xi, Sigma with a single line across the top of these three letters.
In this particular N.T. Greek manuscript, the line across the top of these three letters means that these three letters together stand for a word, a name, or a number. In later Greek manuscripts this disappears completely and is replaced with the number "666" written out in full as three full words as "six hundred, sixty and six".
The only viable explanation for what this number 666 stands for is as follows:
In the old Roman world and even today, the Roman Alphabet letters stood for letters and for numbers. For example, the Roman counting system only used the Roman letters I, V, X, L, C, and D; while the letter M which stood for 1000 was originally two D's back to back to form what latter was perceived as the letter M and so is not an additional letter. So the Roman counting system consists of the following letters and values:
Roman Letter Numerical Value
I 1
V 5
X 10
L 50
C 100
D 500
Total 666
In addition to standing for numbers, the letters can also form words and looking at the various possible combinations we do have one that stands out and is:
DICLUX: where DI is the Latin for GOD and C in Greek is the Roman equivalent of S which makes a word plural where DIC = GODS and where LUX is the Latin for LIGHT. So DICLUX stands for GODS OF LIGHT.
In our modern day hi-tech society this meaning and terminology makes a lot of sense. Cities all over the world never sleep and with the help of electricity there is artificial LIGHT 24 hours a day all year round.
There is also a small elite and secretive group that apparently control the world called the ILLUMINATI, the enlightened ones. And no wonder for in II Corinthians 11:14,15 we are told that Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light; therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness. We know that Satan temporarily controls the world (Luke 4:5,6) until his lease runs out and then the Messiah will return and establish the Kingdom of YAHUAH on this earth.
During the Great Tribulation there will be four aspects of the Beast that we as believers will have to avoid - namely the 1)IMAGE, 2)MARK, 3)NAME and 4)NUMBER of the Beast. We have to avoid worshiping the Image of the Beast; and avoid taking the Mark, Name or Number of the Beast to buy or sell (Rev.13:15-18; Rev.14:9-11; Rev.15:2).
INDEX OF TOPICS:
3.3) The Return of the Messiah:
From the scriptures we know that the Messiah will return immediately after the Great Tribulation of 3 1/2 Years (Matt.24:29-30). Immediately after the 3 1/2 years comes the 1st Day of the 7th Month which is the Feast of Trumpets, in the Hebrew called YOM TARUAH (Day of Great Noise). So the Messiah will Return on the Feast of Trumpets. The scriptures indicate that the HOUR of the Messiah's Return will be at 12NOON during the day (Jer.20:16; Amos 8:9; Zech.14:1-21; II Thessalonians 2:8; Acts 26:13; Habakkuk 3:3-6; Hebrews 1:3).
The Great Day of YAHUAH and the Return of the Messiah is one and the same event (Rev.6:16-17; Rev.19:15; Rev.11:15-19; Rev.16:17-21).
a) The Great Day of YAHUAH represents the Wrath of YAHUAH: (Isa.13:19,13; Zeph.1:15; Joel 2:11; Zech.12:9; Jer.30:7-11; Dan.12:1-13; Ezek.7:1-27).
b) The Signs of the Messiah's Return are the same as the Great Day of YAHUAH (Rev.6:12-14; Matt.24:29; Isa.13:10; Joel 2:10; Joel 3:15; Mark 13:24; Luke 21:25; Zech.14:5-7; Isa.24:1-23,20-23).
c) The Messiah will come with an Army on the Great Day of YAHUAH and he will rule the earth (Rev.19:14,15,19; Isa.13:3,4-9,11-19; Zeph.1:7; Joel 2:1-9; Joel 3:2-14; Jer.25:30-37; Zech.12:9-10; Zech.13:6; Zech.14:2,4,5).
For more information refer to:
#25.0)The 7 Seals, 7 Trumpets, and 7 Vials Correlation Chart.
INDEX OF TOPICS:
5.0) Chronology of the Messiah's Life on Earth:
12BCE - Messiah born possibly on the Day of Atonement, during the Fall Feasts, at the End of the Agricultural Year.
12BCE - Haley's Comet at Perihelion on October 5.
7BCE - Wise men come and Herod kills the children of Bethlehem.
7BCE - Herod executes two of his own sons.
7BCE - Triple Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on May 27, Oct. 6, & Dec. 1 (the Star of Bethlehem?).
7BCE - The Messiah is a young child of about 5 years old.
5BCE - Herod dies. Messiah is about 7 years old.
19CE - The Messiah starts his Ministry at 30 years of age.
26CE - Pontius Pilate appointed Governor of Judea.
30CE - The Messiah is Crucified on Wednesday April 5 at 12Noon and dies at 3PM.
30CE - Jubilee Year.
30CE - The Messiah is 40 1/2 years old.
INDEX OF TOPICS:
6.0) Important Variances in the N.T. Manuscripts:
a) Scriptures Known NOT TO BE PART of the Original Text:
Mark 16:9-20
Luke 22:43,44
Luke 23:34 [And Yahuahshua said,"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."]
John 7:53-8:11
Mark 16:9-20
Luke 22:43,44
Luke 23:34 [And Yahuahshua said,"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."]
John 7:53-8:11
b) Scriptures which are of DOUBTFUL AUTHENTICITY with regard to the Original Text:
Matthew 12:47 All of verse 47.
Matthew 16:2b-3 Half of verse 2 and all of verse 3.
Matthew 21:44 All of verse 44.
Luke 8:43 Part of verse 43.
Romans 16:25-27 All of verses 25-27.
Matthew 12:47 All of verse 47.
Matthew 16:2b-3 Half of verse 2 and all of verse 3.
Matthew 21:44 All of verse 44.
Luke 8:43 Part of verse 43.
Romans 16:25-27 All of verses 25-27.
c) Scriptures DERIVED NOT FROM the Basic Textual Witnesses, BUT FROM Modern Editors:
Matthew 17:21 All of verse 21.
Matthew 18:11 All of verse 11.
Matthew 23:14 All of verse 14.
Mark 7:16 All of verse 16.
Mark 9:44,46 All of verses 44 & 46.
Mark 11:26 All of verse 26.
Mark 15:28 All of verse 28.
Luke 17:36 All of verse 36.
Luke 23:17 All of verse 17.
John 5:3b-4 Verses 3b-4.
Acts 8:37 All of verse 37.
Acts 15:34 All of verse 34.
Acts 24:6b-8a Verses 6b-8a.
Acts 28:29 All of verse 29.
Romans 16:24 All of verse 24.
d) Miscellaneous Variances:
I John 5:7 (In the King James Bible) "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." This verse doesn't appear in the Greek Manuscripts.
Revelation 13:1a is actually Revelation 12:18 which changes the meaning.
Revelation 14:1 The Greek N.T. Manuscripts read "who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads."
The word Calvary comes from the Latin Vulgate and is not in the Greek N.T. Manuscripts.
Revelation 22:19 Should read "Tree of Life" instead of "Book of Life".
Reference: "Greek-English New Testament" by Nestle-Aland 1993 (based on the 7th Printing of the 26th Edition of the Novum Testamentum Graece).
INDEX OF TOPICS:
7.0) Tools to Study the Bible (including the Manuscripts):
To begin to study the Bible, you will need a good translation of the Bible. Personally, I prefer the King James Bible which although has errors in it, it is the most widely used Bible and some important study books like the "Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible" is based on it. The New International Version is more accurate but it too has some errors. You should always go back to the O.T. Hebrew and N.T. Greek Manuscripts whenever you have any questions or doubts about any scriptures. As long as the Bible you choose is a translation as opposed to a paraphrase Bible you will be OK. You should also pick a Bible that has study helps built into it, such as marginal references, the Messiah's words in red, with indexes, concordances, and maps at the back of it.
Now that you have chosen a Bible version, you are now ready to gather other study books, keeping in mind that some of these study tools are based on a particular Bible version. Also, the following books are suggestions only as there are new and more up-to-date books coming out all the time so please shop around and check out the books before you buy them, as these can be expensive:
A) Books to Study the Bible in English:
a) Concordance (English):
"Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible", by James Strong 1982 (Note: with Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries at the back of the book).
B) Books to Study the Hebrew O.T.:
a) Hebrew Text (Hebrew):
"Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia", by R.Kittel 1990
b) Hebrew Interlinear (Hebrew/English):
"The Interlinear Hebrew/Greek English Bible", by Jay Green 1979 (note: the O.T. Hebrew in 3 Volumes is not too bad but the N.T. Greek in 1 Volume is poor).
c) Hebrew Lexicon (Hebrew word/English meaning):
"Gesenius' Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament", by Samuel P. Tregelles 1974
d) Hebrew Analytical Lexicon (Hebrew word points to root word/English meaning ):
"The Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon", by Benjamin Davidson 1995
e) Hebrew Concordance (Hebrew word/English listing of Biblical verses):
"Englishman's Hebrew and Chaldee Concordance of the Old Testament", Published by, Samuel Bagster & Sons 1971
f) Hebrew Concordance (Hebrew word/Hebrew listing of Biblical verses with Latin notes):
"The Mandelkern Biblical Concordance" by Dr. Solomon Mandelkern 1896
g) Hebrew O.T. Manuscripts:
"The Text of the Old Testament", by Ernst Wurthwein 1995 (in English)
C) Books to Study the Greek N.T.:
a) Greek Text and Manuscripts (Greek/English):
"Greek-English New Testament", by E.Nestle and Kurt Aland 1993 (Note: based on the 26th Edition of Novum Testamentum Graece 7th Printing).
b) Greek Interlinear (Greek/English):
"The New Greek/English Interlinear New Testament", by R.K.Brown and P.W.Comfort 1993 (Note: based on the "Greek New Testament" UBS 4th Edition, Nestle-Aland 26th Edition).
c) Greek Lexicon (Greek word/English meaning):
"Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament", by Joseph H. Thayer 1997
d) Greek Analytical Lexicon (Greek word points to root word/English meaning):
"The Analytical Greek Lexicon", Published by, Samuel Bagster & Sons
e) Greek Concordance (Greek word/English listing of Bible verses):
"The Englishman's Greek Concordance of the New Testament", Published by Zondervan 1974
f) Greek N.T. Manuscripts:
"The Text of the New Testament", by Kurt and Barbara Aland 1989
g) Greek N.T.Manuscript (Codex B) (Interlinear):
"The Emphatic Diaglott", by Benjamin Wilson 1942 (Note: copy can be obtained from the Jehovah's Witnesses).
D) Books to Study the Greek O.T.:
a) Greek O.T. Septuagint (LXX) (Greek/English):
"The Septuagint with Apocrypha: Greek and English", by Sir Lancelot C.L. Brenton 1980
b) Greek Concordance of the Septuagint (Greek word/Greek listing of Biblical verses with some reference to the Hebrew):
"A Concordance to the Septuagint and the Other Greek Versions of the Old Testament (including the Apocryphal Books)" in 3 Vols., by Edwin Hatch 1983.
INDEX OF TOPICS:
8.0) Names in Paleo-Hebrew Script dated about 1000 BCE:
It is very important to go back in time and find the oldest possible Biblical Hebrew and Greek Manuscripts. With time, things get watered down where the original meaning gets lost or distorted. A good example of this type of distortion is the number 666 in Revelation 13:18. The oldest manuscript of the Book of Revelation is the Greek Biblical Papyri Manuscript P47 (dated 3rd Century CE) in which the number 666 of Revelation 13:18 is relevant and understood in the context of that manuscript; but is lost and watered down in later Greek N.T. Manuscripts.
The oldest record we have of the Father's name of YAHUAH is in the Moabite Stone dated about 890 BCE in Paleo-Hebrew script and appears as follows:
The Messiah's present name of YAHUAHSHUA in Paleo-Hebrew script would appear as:
The fifth letter from the right, the shin "W" looks like a serpent which could signify the Messiah's victory over Satan (the Serpent) and the world. Also in Numbers 21:7-9 Moses was commanded to make a brass serpent and put it on a pole and the children of Israel who looked upon it were saved.
The sixth letter from the right, the vav "Y" could represent the upright pole that the Messiah was crucified on and also looks like a man praying with his arms stretched out in beseeching YAHUAH.
The seventh letter from the right, the ayin "O" could represent the circle of life of all mankind from birth to death.
The Messiah's future name of YAHUAHTSADAQ in Paleo-Hebrew script would appear as:
The fifth letter from the right, the tsaddi "h" could represent the throne chair on which the Messiah will sit on in Jerusalem when he rules as King of Kings for 1000 years on this earth.
The sixth letter from the right, the daleth "A" could represent an eye or the seven eyes which are the seven spirits of YAHUAH that the Messiah has (Rev.3:1; 4:5; 5:6; Isaiah 11:2).
The seventh letterfrom the right, the qoph "P" could represent the tree of life which we will have access to again through the Messiah.
The Messiah's future name of YAHUAHTSADAQ has other hidden treasures in it. The numerical value for this name is 220 which is 22 times 10. 10 is a number of judgement. 22 is a number of completion: the Fall Feasts have 22 days and the Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters. The Messiah is the WORD OF YAHUAH (John 1:1,14) and he compares himself to the alphabet in Rev.1:8,11. There is something very important in Genesis 1:1 which is not translated into English in the King James Bible: first, there are seven Hebrew words in Genesis 1:1 and two of them are aleph-tau a two letter word that most scholars don't know what it means. Some do have the right idea, that since aleph is the 1st letter and tau is the 22nd letter of the Hebrew Alphabet, that these two letters represent all 22 letters and consequently the WORD OF YAHUAH (the Messiah as well as the written word of YAHUAH), as the entire Bible is composed of combinations of these 22 letters.
There are two other names in the Paleo-Hebrew script important to know, the names of Elijah and Enoch. I believe that these are the two witnesses mentioned in Rev.11:3-12 that will appear on this earth with the start of the 3 1/2 Year Great Tribulation as early as March in the year 2008 CE.
These two witnesses could be using their old Paleo-Hebrew names and would appear as:
INDEX OF TOPICS:
9.0) The City of YAHUAH in the Center of the Hollow Earth:
In these Last Days, we are told in Daniel that knowledge will increase. There is a concept in the Bible which for most people is hard to understand. But it is also written that the wise shall understand. This is a topic that I personally am reluctant to talk about because of ridicule. This topic is, The Hollow Earth.
I believe that I am duty bound to reveal to the world the wonderful truth about the physical location of the Kingdom of Heaven. This knowledge will not affect your salvation but is a very real comfort to know and will help us to understand many things in scripture, that without which we would be kept in the dark. So here goes.
The earth is hollow with large openings at the North and South Poles. These two regions are covered by heavy cloud cover most of the time and difficult to see even from space. The interior of the earth has land and oceans and rivers. It flourishes with animals, plant life and beings similar to humans but larger. In the center of the interior of the earth is what most people understand to be a central sun. In reality, this so called sun is the City of YAHUAH which gives heat and light to the interior of the earth. There is no night there! It is daytime all the time. Because of the openings at the top and bottom to the interior of the earth, it is referred to in scripture as the Bottomless Pit!
The Hollow Earth
Evidence from the Bible:
1) Job 26:7-10 "He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them. He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it. He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end."
2)Revelation 21:23,25 "And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of YAHUAH did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And ... there shall be no night there."
3)Revelation 22:5 "And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for YAHUAH Elohim giveth them light ..."
4)Exodus 8:22 "...I am YAHUAH in the midst of the earth."
5)Psalm 74:12 "For YAHUAH is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth."
6)Philippians 2:10 "That at the name of YAHUAHSHUA, every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth."
7)Revelation 5:3,13 "And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth ..."
8)Exodus 20:4 "... in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth."
9)Isaiah 66:1 "...The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool ..."
10)Matthew 5:35 "Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool ..."
11)Matthew 12:40 "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Note:Please keep in mind that the tomb where the Messiah was laid was above ground level!
12)Revelation 9:1,2,11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1,3 "And the fifth angel sounded, ... and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit."
13)Job 1:6,7 "Now there was a day when the sons of YAHUAH came to present themselves before YAHUAH, and Satan came also among them. And YAHUAH said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered YAHUAH, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."
14)Revelation 21:1-27 "... the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from YAHUAH out of heaven ... the wall of the city had twelve foundations ... and the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: ... and the breadth and the height of it are equal." Note: This description is of the physical City of YAHUAH in the center of the earth; the New Jerusalem that will come down from Heaven will be a spiritual City made up of the living stones (believers) with the Messiah as the chief corner stone -- I Peter 2:5-7; Matt.16:18; I Corinthians 3:9-17; Ephesians 2:19-22.
Note: Another Bible related source is "The Book of Enoch", by R.H. Charles 1972. In Chapter XIV 9-21 Enoch describes The City of YAHUAH: "... bore me into heaven. And I went in till I drew nigh to a wall which is built of crystals and surrounded by tongues of fire...And I went into the tongues of fire and drew nigh to a large house which was built of crystals: ... A flaming fire surrounded the walls, and its portals blazed with fire. ... And I looked and saw therein a lofty throne: ... And the Great Glory sat thereon, and His raiment shone more brightly than the sun and was whiter than any snow. None of the angels could enter and could behold His face by reason of the magnificence and glory, and no flesh could behold Him. The flaming fire was round about Him, and none around could draw nigh Him."
Physical Evidence and Proof:
1)Satellite Photos: there are over 2000 U.S. Government Satellite photos of the poles. One of the most clear, was taken by the ESSA-7 satellite on November 23, 1968 when there was almost no cloud cover; the ice fields on the surface can be observed, and the hole at the North Pole can be clearly seen. (ESSA = Environmental Science Services Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce)
Ref: A plate of this photo appears in "Secret of the Ages: UFO's From Inside the Earth", by Brinsley LePoer Trench 1974
2)Arctic Explorer Dr. Fridtjof Nansen:
In the Record Log of the voyage of exploration of the ship Fram (1893-96) on Friday February 16, 1894 at 80 degrees 1 minute North Latitude Dr.Nansen writes: "To-day another noteworthy thing happened, which was that about midday we saw the sun, or, to be more correct, an image of the sun, for it was only a mirage. ... I soon discovered that it could not be the sun itself. The mirage was at first like a flattened-out glowing red streak of fire on the horizon; later there were two streaks, the one above the other, with a dark space between; and from the main top I could see four, or even five such horizontal lines directly over one another, and all of equal length; as if one could only imagine a square dull-red sun with horizontal dark streaks across it."
Note: on page 361 Dr. Nansen has a sketch of this square sun showing a third above the horizon, the rest below the horizon.
Ref: "Farthest North", by Fridtjof Nansen 1897 (consisting of 2 Volumes).
3)Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd of the U.S. Navy:
a)February 1947 before his 7 Hour flight of 1,700 Miles beyond the North Pole said, "I'd like to see that land beyond the (North) Pole. That area beyond the Pole is the center of the Great Unknown."
b)November 1955 he quoted: "This is the most important expedition in the history of the world." (before departing to explore land beyond the South Pole).
c)January 1956 Radio announcement from Byrd's Antarctic expedition, confirmed by the American press of February 5, 1956 : "On January 13th, members of the United States expedition accomplished a flight of 2,700 Miles from the base at McMurdo Sound, which is 400 miles west of the South Pole, and penetrated a land extent of 2,300 Miles beyond the Pole."
d)Before his death, Rear Admiral Byrd said: ..."that enchanted continent in the sky, land of everlasting mystery!"
These are strong indications that Rear Admiral Byrd flew into the earth's interior both at the North and South Poles.
Ref: "The Hollow Earth", by Dr. Raymond Bernard 1976
4)Seismology and the Earth's Structure:
The main body of information about the physics of the earth comes from studies of earthquake waves, which provide the equivalent of X-ray pictures of the interior. It has been determined from the P waves and S waves produced from earthquakes that the interior of the earth has three main layers, the mantle, the outer core and the inner core. If the earth was one solid medium the waves would go through the earth in a straight line. But the waves are refracted and reflected within the earth indicating three layers. Personally I understand these three layers to be the thickness of the earth which is the outer shell, the air inside the earth and the City of YAHUAH in the center of the earth.
Ref: "Scientific American", March 1975
5)Airline Pilots fly around the North and South Poles and not over them:
The magnetic north and south poles are not a point. They are a circumference around the poles. When a pilot tries to fly over the pole, the navigational instruments go haywire.
6)The Northern and Southern Lights:
The Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) and the Aurora Australis (Southern Lights) are luminous displays of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres respectively. Visible in a variety of colours and forms over areas near the geomagnetic poles. I believe that these lights are radiating from the City of YAHUAH through the polar openings.
7)Norse Father and Son sail into the Inner Earth:
A Norse father and son sailed into the inner earth and spent 2 years there. They describe the people, their religion and their sun.
Ref: "The Smoky God", by Willis George Emerson
Other References:
"Phantom of the Poles", by William Reed 1906
"A Journey to the Earth's Interior or Have the Poles Really been Discovered", by Marshall B. Gardner 1920
INDEX OF TOPICS:
Matthew 17:21 All of verse 21.
Matthew 18:11 All of verse 11.
Matthew 23:14 All of verse 14.
Mark 7:16 All of verse 16.
Mark 9:44,46 All of verses 44 & 46.
Mark 11:26 All of verse 26.
Mark 15:28 All of verse 28.
Luke 17:36 All of verse 36.
Luke 23:17 All of verse 17.
John 5:3b-4 Verses 3b-4.
Acts 8:37 All of verse 37.
Acts 15:34 All of verse 34.
Acts 24:6b-8a Verses 6b-8a.
Acts 28:29 All of verse 29.
Romans 16:24 All of verse 24.
d) Miscellaneous Variances:
I John 5:7 (In the King James Bible) "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." This verse doesn't appear in the Greek Manuscripts.
Revelation 13:1a is actually Revelation 12:18 which changes the meaning.
Revelation 14:1 The Greek N.T. Manuscripts read "who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads."
The word Calvary comes from the Latin Vulgate and is not in the Greek N.T. Manuscripts.
Revelation 22:19 Should read "Tree of Life" instead of "Book of Life".
Reference: "Greek-English New Testament" by Nestle-Aland 1993 (based on the 7th Printing of the 26th Edition of the Novum Testamentum Graece).
INDEX OF TOPICS:
7.0) Tools to Study the Bible (including the Manuscripts):
To begin to study the Bible, you will need a good translation of the Bible. Personally, I prefer the King James Bible which although has errors in it, it is the most widely used Bible and some important study books like the "Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible" is based on it. The New International Version is more accurate but it too has some errors. You should always go back to the O.T. Hebrew and N.T. Greek Manuscripts whenever you have any questions or doubts about any scriptures. As long as the Bible you choose is a translation as opposed to a paraphrase Bible you will be OK. You should also pick a Bible that has study helps built into it, such as marginal references, the Messiah's words in red, with indexes, concordances, and maps at the back of it.
Now that you have chosen a Bible version, you are now ready to gather other study books, keeping in mind that some of these study tools are based on a particular Bible version. Also, the following books are suggestions only as there are new and more up-to-date books coming out all the time so please shop around and check out the books before you buy them, as these can be expensive:
A) Books to Study the Bible in English:
a) Concordance (English):
"Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible", by James Strong 1982 (Note: with Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries at the back of the book).
B) Books to Study the Hebrew O.T.:
a) Hebrew Text (Hebrew):
"Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia", by R.Kittel 1990
b) Hebrew Interlinear (Hebrew/English):
"The Interlinear Hebrew/Greek English Bible", by Jay Green 1979 (note: the O.T. Hebrew in 3 Volumes is not too bad but the N.T. Greek in 1 Volume is poor).
c) Hebrew Lexicon (Hebrew word/English meaning):
"Gesenius' Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament", by Samuel P. Tregelles 1974
d) Hebrew Analytical Lexicon (Hebrew word points to root word/English meaning ):
"The Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon", by Benjamin Davidson 1995
e) Hebrew Concordance (Hebrew word/English listing of Biblical verses):
"Englishman's Hebrew and Chaldee Concordance of the Old Testament", Published by, Samuel Bagster & Sons 1971
f) Hebrew Concordance (Hebrew word/Hebrew listing of Biblical verses with Latin notes):
"The Mandelkern Biblical Concordance" by Dr. Solomon Mandelkern 1896
g) Hebrew O.T. Manuscripts:
"The Text of the Old Testament", by Ernst Wurthwein 1995 (in English)
C) Books to Study the Greek N.T.:
a) Greek Text and Manuscripts (Greek/English):
"Greek-English New Testament", by E.Nestle and Kurt Aland 1993 (Note: based on the 26th Edition of Novum Testamentum Graece 7th Printing).
b) Greek Interlinear (Greek/English):
"The New Greek/English Interlinear New Testament", by R.K.Brown and P.W.Comfort 1993 (Note: based on the "Greek New Testament" UBS 4th Edition, Nestle-Aland 26th Edition).
c) Greek Lexicon (Greek word/English meaning):
"Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament", by Joseph H. Thayer 1997
d) Greek Analytical Lexicon (Greek word points to root word/English meaning):
"The Analytical Greek Lexicon", Published by, Samuel Bagster & Sons
e) Greek Concordance (Greek word/English listing of Bible verses):
"The Englishman's Greek Concordance of the New Testament", Published by Zondervan 1974
f) Greek N.T. Manuscripts:
"The Text of the New Testament", by Kurt and Barbara Aland 1989
g) Greek N.T.Manuscript (Codex B) (Interlinear):
"The Emphatic Diaglott", by Benjamin Wilson 1942 (Note: copy can be obtained from the Jehovah's Witnesses).
D) Books to Study the Greek O.T.:
a) Greek O.T. Septuagint (LXX) (Greek/English):
"The Septuagint with Apocrypha: Greek and English", by Sir Lancelot C.L. Brenton 1980
b) Greek Concordance of the Septuagint (Greek word/Greek listing of Biblical verses with some reference to the Hebrew):
"A Concordance to the Septuagint and the Other Greek Versions of the Old Testament (including the Apocryphal Books)" in 3 Vols., by Edwin Hatch 1983.
INDEX OF TOPICS:
8.0) Names in Paleo-Hebrew Script dated about 1000 BCE:
It is very important to go back in time and find the oldest possible Biblical Hebrew and Greek Manuscripts. With time, things get watered down where the original meaning gets lost or distorted. A good example of this type of distortion is the number 666 in Revelation 13:18. The oldest manuscript of the Book of Revelation is the Greek Biblical Papyri Manuscript P47 (dated 3rd Century CE) in which the number 666 of Revelation 13:18 is relevant and understood in the context of that manuscript; but is lost and watered down in later Greek N.T. Manuscripts.
The oldest record we have of the Father's name of YAHUAH is in the Moabite Stone dated about 890 BCE in Paleo-Hebrew script and appears as follows:
The Messiah's present name of YAHUAHSHUA in Paleo-Hebrew script would appear as:
The fifth letter from the right, the shin "W" looks like a serpent which could signify the Messiah's victory over Satan (the Serpent) and the world. Also in Numbers 21:7-9 Moses was commanded to make a brass serpent and put it on a pole and the children of Israel who looked upon it were saved.
The sixth letter from the right, the vav "Y" could represent the upright pole that the Messiah was crucified on and also looks like a man praying with his arms stretched out in beseeching YAHUAH.
The seventh letter from the right, the ayin "O" could represent the circle of life of all mankind from birth to death.
The Messiah's future name of YAHUAHTSADAQ in Paleo-Hebrew script would appear as:
The fifth letter from the right, the tsaddi "h" could represent the throne chair on which the Messiah will sit on in Jerusalem when he rules as King of Kings for 1000 years on this earth.
The sixth letter from the right, the daleth "A" could represent an eye or the seven eyes which are the seven spirits of YAHUAH that the Messiah has (Rev.3:1; 4:5; 5:6; Isaiah 11:2).
The seventh letterfrom the right, the qoph "P" could represent the tree of life which we will have access to again through the Messiah.
The Messiah's future name of YAHUAHTSADAQ has other hidden treasures in it. The numerical value for this name is 220 which is 22 times 10. 10 is a number of judgement. 22 is a number of completion: the Fall Feasts have 22 days and the Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters. The Messiah is the WORD OF YAHUAH (John 1:1,14) and he compares himself to the alphabet in Rev.1:8,11. There is something very important in Genesis 1:1 which is not translated into English in the King James Bible: first, there are seven Hebrew words in Genesis 1:1 and two of them are aleph-tau a two letter word that most scholars don't know what it means. Some do have the right idea, that since aleph is the 1st letter and tau is the 22nd letter of the Hebrew Alphabet, that these two letters represent all 22 letters and consequently the WORD OF YAHUAH (the Messiah as well as the written word of YAHUAH), as the entire Bible is composed of combinations of these 22 letters.
There are two other names in the Paleo-Hebrew script important to know, the names of Elijah and Enoch. I believe that these are the two witnesses mentioned in Rev.11:3-12 that will appear on this earth with the start of the 3 1/2 Year Great Tribulation as early as March in the year 2008 CE.
These two witnesses could be using their old Paleo-Hebrew names and would appear as:
INDEX OF TOPICS:
9.0) The City of YAHUAH in the Center of the Hollow Earth:
In these Last Days, we are told in Daniel that knowledge will increase. There is a concept in the Bible which for most people is hard to understand. But it is also written that the wise shall understand. This is a topic that I personally am reluctant to talk about because of ridicule. This topic is, The Hollow Earth.
I believe that I am duty bound to reveal to the world the wonderful truth about the physical location of the Kingdom of Heaven. This knowledge will not affect your salvation but is a very real comfort to know and will help us to understand many things in scripture, that without which we would be kept in the dark. So here goes.
The earth is hollow with large openings at the North and South Poles. These two regions are covered by heavy cloud cover most of the time and difficult to see even from space. The interior of the earth has land and oceans and rivers. It flourishes with animals, plant life and beings similar to humans but larger. In the center of the interior of the earth is what most people understand to be a central sun. In reality, this so called sun is the City of YAHUAH which gives heat and light to the interior of the earth. There is no night there! It is daytime all the time. Because of the openings at the top and bottom to the interior of the earth, it is referred to in scripture as the Bottomless Pit!
The Hollow Earth
Evidence from the Bible:
1) Job 26:7-10 "He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them. He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it. He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end."
2)Revelation 21:23,25 "And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of YAHUAH did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And ... there shall be no night there."
3)Revelation 22:5 "And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for YAHUAH Elohim giveth them light ..."
4)Exodus 8:22 "...I am YAHUAH in the midst of the earth."
5)Psalm 74:12 "For YAHUAH is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth."
6)Philippians 2:10 "That at the name of YAHUAHSHUA, every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth."
7)Revelation 5:3,13 "And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth ..."
8)Exodus 20:4 "... in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth."
9)Isaiah 66:1 "...The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool ..."
10)Matthew 5:35 "Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool ..."
11)Matthew 12:40 "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Note:Please keep in mind that the tomb where the Messiah was laid was above ground level!
12)Revelation 9:1,2,11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1,3 "And the fifth angel sounded, ... and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit."
13)Job 1:6,7 "Now there was a day when the sons of YAHUAH came to present themselves before YAHUAH, and Satan came also among them. And YAHUAH said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered YAHUAH, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."
14)Revelation 21:1-27 "... the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from YAHUAH out of heaven ... the wall of the city had twelve foundations ... and the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: ... and the breadth and the height of it are equal." Note: This description is of the physical City of YAHUAH in the center of the earth; the New Jerusalem that will come down from Heaven will be a spiritual City made up of the living stones (believers) with the Messiah as the chief corner stone -- I Peter 2:5-7; Matt.16:18; I Corinthians 3:9-17; Ephesians 2:19-22.
Note: Another Bible related source is "The Book of Enoch", by R.H. Charles 1972. In Chapter XIV 9-21 Enoch describes The City of YAHUAH: "... bore me into heaven. And I went in till I drew nigh to a wall which is built of crystals and surrounded by tongues of fire...And I went into the tongues of fire and drew nigh to a large house which was built of crystals: ... A flaming fire surrounded the walls, and its portals blazed with fire. ... And I looked and saw therein a lofty throne: ... And the Great Glory sat thereon, and His raiment shone more brightly than the sun and was whiter than any snow. None of the angels could enter and could behold His face by reason of the magnificence and glory, and no flesh could behold Him. The flaming fire was round about Him, and none around could draw nigh Him."
Physical Evidence and Proof:
1)Satellite Photos: there are over 2000 U.S. Government Satellite photos of the poles. One of the most clear, was taken by the ESSA-7 satellite on November 23, 1968 when there was almost no cloud cover; the ice fields on the surface can be observed, and the hole at the North Pole can be clearly seen. (ESSA = Environmental Science Services Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce)
Ref: A plate of this photo appears in "Secret of the Ages: UFO's From Inside the Earth", by Brinsley LePoer Trench 1974
2)Arctic Explorer Dr. Fridtjof Nansen:
In the Record Log of the voyage of exploration of the ship Fram (1893-96) on Friday February 16, 1894 at 80 degrees 1 minute North Latitude Dr.Nansen writes: "To-day another noteworthy thing happened, which was that about midday we saw the sun, or, to be more correct, an image of the sun, for it was only a mirage. ... I soon discovered that it could not be the sun itself. The mirage was at first like a flattened-out glowing red streak of fire on the horizon; later there were two streaks, the one above the other, with a dark space between; and from the main top I could see four, or even five such horizontal lines directly over one another, and all of equal length; as if one could only imagine a square dull-red sun with horizontal dark streaks across it."
Note: on page 361 Dr. Nansen has a sketch of this square sun showing a third above the horizon, the rest below the horizon.
Ref: "Farthest North", by Fridtjof Nansen 1897 (consisting of 2 Volumes).
3)Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd of the U.S. Navy:
a)February 1947 before his 7 Hour flight of 1,700 Miles beyond the North Pole said, "I'd like to see that land beyond the (North) Pole. That area beyond the Pole is the center of the Great Unknown."
b)November 1955 he quoted: "This is the most important expedition in the history of the world." (before departing to explore land beyond the South Pole).
c)January 1956 Radio announcement from Byrd's Antarctic expedition, confirmed by the American press of February 5, 1956 : "On January 13th, members of the United States expedition accomplished a flight of 2,700 Miles from the base at McMurdo Sound, which is 400 miles west of the South Pole, and penetrated a land extent of 2,300 Miles beyond the Pole."
d)Before his death, Rear Admiral Byrd said: ..."that enchanted continent in the sky, land of everlasting mystery!"
These are strong indications that Rear Admiral Byrd flew into the earth's interior both at the North and South Poles.
Ref: "The Hollow Earth", by Dr. Raymond Bernard 1976
4)Seismology and the Earth's Structure:
The main body of information about the physics of the earth comes from studies of earthquake waves, which provide the equivalent of X-ray pictures of the interior. It has been determined from the P waves and S waves produced from earthquakes that the interior of the earth has three main layers, the mantle, the outer core and the inner core. If the earth was one solid medium the waves would go through the earth in a straight line. But the waves are refracted and reflected within the earth indicating three layers. Personally I understand these three layers to be the thickness of the earth which is the outer shell, the air inside the earth and the City of YAHUAH in the center of the earth.
Ref: "Scientific American", March 1975
5)Airline Pilots fly around the North and South Poles and not over them:
The magnetic north and south poles are not a point. They are a circumference around the poles. When a pilot tries to fly over the pole, the navigational instruments go haywire.
6)The Northern and Southern Lights:
The Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) and the Aurora Australis (Southern Lights) are luminous displays of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres respectively. Visible in a variety of colours and forms over areas near the geomagnetic poles. I believe that these lights are radiating from the City of YAHUAH through the polar openings.
7)Norse Father and Son sail into the Inner Earth:
A Norse father and son sailed into the inner earth and spent 2 years there. They describe the people, their religion and their sun.
Ref: "The Smoky God", by Willis George Emerson
Other References:
"Phantom of the Poles", by William Reed 1906
"A Journey to the Earth's Interior or Have the Poles Really been Discovered", by Marshall B. Gardner 1920
INDEX OF TOPICS:
10.0) Lost Books of the Bible:
A)Lost Books stated or quoted from in Scripture:
1)Joshua 10:13 - Book of Jasher
2)2 Samuel 1:18 - Book of Jasher
3)Numbers 21:14 - Book of the Wars of YAHUAH
4)1 Kings 11:41 - Book of the Acts of Solomon
5)1 Kings 14:19 - Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
6)1 Kings 15:7 - Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Yahudah.
7)1 Chronicles 9:1 - Book of the Kings of Israel and Yahudah.
8)1 Chronicles 29:29 - Book of Samuel the Seer; Book of Nathan the Prophet; Book of Gad the Seer.
9)2 Chronicles 12:15 - Book of Shemaiah the Prophet; Book of Iddo the Seer.
10)2 Chronicles 20:34 - Book of Jehu the Son of Hanani.
11)2 Chronicles 24:27 - Commentary of the Book of the Kings.
12)2 Chronicles 33:18 - Book of the Kings of Israel.
13)Ezra 4:15 - Book of the Records.
14)Nehemiah 12:23 - Book of the Chronicles.
15)Esther 6:1 - Book of Records of the Chronicles.
16)Esther 10:2 - Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia.
17)Jude 14,15 - quoted from the Book of Enoch Chap.1 verse 9 "And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones to execute judgement upon all, and to destroy all the unrighteous: And to convict all flesh of all the works of their unrighteousness which they have unrighteously committed, and of all the hard things which unrighteous sinners have spoken against Him."
18)2 Timothy 3:8 - information from the Book of Jasher Chap. 79 verse 27.
B)Books of the Apocrypha included in the Old and New Testament Greek and in the King James Bible of (1611):
Books of the Apocrypha are contained in the Old and New Testament Greek in the Codex Vaticanus 1209 (Codex B - 4th century C.E.); Codex Sinaiticus (Codex Aleph - 4th century C.E.); and Codex Alexandrinus (Codex A - 5th century C.E.). The King James Bible of 1611 also had most of these books in it.
In the Old Testament:
1)1 Esdras
2)2 Esdras
3)Tobit
4)Judith
5)Additions to the Book of Esther
6)Wisdom of Solomon
7)Ecclesiasticus (Wisdom of Yahushua Son of Sirach)
8)Baruch
9)Letter of Jeremiah
10)The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Young Men
11)Susanna
12)Bel and the Dragon
13)The Prayer of Manasseh
14)1 Maccabees
15)2 Maccabees
In the New Testament:
a) In the Codex Alexandrinus:
1)1 Clement
2)2 Clement
b) In the Codex Sinaiticus:
1)Barnabas
2)Hermas (Shepherd) - Visions: A,B,C,D,E
3)Hermas (Shepherd) - Commands: A,B,C,D
C)Ancient Books related to the Bible:
1)The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch)
2)Secrets of Enoch (2 Enoch)
3)Book of Jasher
4)Book of Jubilees
IN SUMMARY:
There are too many Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha Books of the Old and New Testaments to list here. It is important to know that these books exist or have been lost. We should always keep an open mind to learning new truth and to relearning lost truth. Both the Old and New Testaments are a collecion of books. Over the millennia books have been added and removed from both the Old and New Testaments. It truly is a miracle that we have the Bible today; and I believe that there is more than enough in it for salvation, guidance and comfort.
However, there are those that desire to learn as much as possible and dig relentlessly through the Lost Books of the Bible. There are definitely golden bits of truth to find but the enormous amount of material to sift through can be overwhelming and extremely time consuming for the little benefit that it will yield.
It is much better and more profitable to focus on studying the Old and New Testament Books that we already have. Heaven only knows how much we can learn from studying the Old and New Testaments in the Hebrew and the Greek, as well as in the English.
Bibliography:
1)"The Book of Enoch", by R.H.Charles 1972
2)"Book of Jasher" 1840
3)"Book of Jubilees", by Rev. George H. Schodde 1888
4)"The Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden", 1974 [Note: includes 1 & 2 Clement; Barnabas; 1,2 & 3 Hermas - Visions, Commands, & Similitudes; The Secrets of Enoch; etc.]
5)"The Book of the Secrets of Enoch", by W.R. Morfill and R.H. Charles 1896
6)"The Oxford Annotated Apocrypha: The Apocrypha of the Old Testament", by Bruce M. Metzger 1977
7)"The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: Apocalyptic Literature and Testaments" Vol.1 & 2, by James H. Charlesworth 1983
8)Article: "Why Study the Pseudepigrapha?", Biblical Archaeologist December 1983
9)Article: "Why Study the Septuagint?", Biblical Archaeologist September 1986
11)"The Septuagint with Apocrypha: Greek and English", by Sir Lancelot C.L. Brenton 1980
12)"An Introduction to the Old Testament in Greek", by Henry Barclay Swete 1968
13)"The Apocryphal New Testament", by Montague Rhodes James 1980
14)"New Testament Apocrypha" Volume 1 (Gospels and Related Writings), by Edgar Hennecke 1963
15)"New Testament Apocrypha" Volume 2 (Writings Relating to the Apostles Apocalypses and Related Subjects), by Edgar Hennecke 1965
INDEX OF TOPICS:
12.0)Free Downloadable Powerful Bible Study Software:
Introduction:
The Best available Bible Study Software at no cost to you is the Online Bible Bible Study Software which includes: Bibles of many languages, the Hebrew Old Testament, the Greek New Testament, the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint - LXX), the King James Bible, Hebrew Lexicon, Greek Lexicon, Bible Commentaries, Bible Dictionaries, Apocrypha of the Old Testament in Greek and English, Latin Vulgate, etc.
The beauty of the main Online Bible program is that you can call up several program modules on the screen at the same time. For instance, you can have the English King James Bible, the Hebrew Old Testament, and the Greek Old Testament on the screen all at the same time! And each is searchable like a concordance. You can also compare different versions of say the New Testament Greek such as the Textus Receptus (the Greek on which the King James Bible is based on) to the Westcott-Hort 1881 Greek New Testament (which is based on the most important collection of the New Testament Greek Manuscripts - the only better version of the Greek New Testament being the Nestle-Aland, "Greek-English New Testament", 27th Edition OR the United Bible Societies 4th Edition "The Greek New Testament").
You can do very powerful Bible searches and studies in English, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and most other languages from around the world! If this is not a sure sign that we are in the last days, I don't know what is. We are told in scripture that His Word must first be preached in all the world and then shall the end come (Matthew 24:14).
Two Online Bible Web Sites - For Free Downloadable Software are as follows (both are different):
Note: Both of these two Online Bible Web Sites are different but the software modules are interchangeable depending on the version of the program and the version of the modules.
1)http://www.onlinebible.org
2)http://www.davepohl.com/winonlinebible.html
Suggestions Before Downloading the Software:
a)Point#1: The Files you will download are Zipped(Compressed).
b)Point#2: Create structured Directories on your C: Drive as follows:
1)Create a Main Directory called, Online Bible.
2)Create a Sub-Directory for each version, eg. Version 9.01.
3)Create a Sub-Sub-Directory for each Module that you will download, eg. KJB - King James Bible.
c)Point#3: Once you have created the Directory containers, then you can begin to download each module in its own directory container.
d)Point#4: Once the Zipped file is copied to its appropriate Directory container, you can UnZip(Uncompress the file). This way you have all the Unzipped files for that module in one container.
e)Point#5: Now you can install the Main Online Bible Program. The program usually requires at least one other Module eg. a Bible Module before it will install properly. To install the individual modules, follow Steps #4 to #10 in Point#6 when you get to the dialogue box while installing the main program.
f)Point#6:Once you have installed the program, you can always add more modules as in Version 9.01 by:
1)clicking on the Tools Menu.
2)then click on User Module Tools.
3)then click on Restore.
4)in the dialogue box double click on C:\.
5)double click on Online Bible Directory that you created.
6)double click on Version 9.01 Sub-Directory that you created.
7)double click on the Module Directory that you created of the module that you want to install eg. KJB.
8)click on the File that appears in the 2nd Window of the diaglogue box eg. av.101.
9)click OK button.
10)when it finishes installing the module click the EXIT button.
A)Lost Books stated or quoted from in Scripture:
1)Joshua 10:13 - Book of Jasher
2)2 Samuel 1:18 - Book of Jasher
3)Numbers 21:14 - Book of the Wars of YAHUAH
4)1 Kings 11:41 - Book of the Acts of Solomon
5)1 Kings 14:19 - Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
6)1 Kings 15:7 - Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Yahudah.
7)1 Chronicles 9:1 - Book of the Kings of Israel and Yahudah.
8)1 Chronicles 29:29 - Book of Samuel the Seer; Book of Nathan the Prophet; Book of Gad the Seer.
9)2 Chronicles 12:15 - Book of Shemaiah the Prophet; Book of Iddo the Seer.
10)2 Chronicles 20:34 - Book of Jehu the Son of Hanani.
11)2 Chronicles 24:27 - Commentary of the Book of the Kings.
12)2 Chronicles 33:18 - Book of the Kings of Israel.
13)Ezra 4:15 - Book of the Records.
14)Nehemiah 12:23 - Book of the Chronicles.
15)Esther 6:1 - Book of Records of the Chronicles.
16)Esther 10:2 - Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia.
17)Jude 14,15 - quoted from the Book of Enoch Chap.1 verse 9 "And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones to execute judgement upon all, and to destroy all the unrighteous: And to convict all flesh of all the works of their unrighteousness which they have unrighteously committed, and of all the hard things which unrighteous sinners have spoken against Him."
18)2 Timothy 3:8 - information from the Book of Jasher Chap. 79 verse 27.
B)Books of the Apocrypha included in the Old and New Testament Greek and in the King James Bible of (1611):
Books of the Apocrypha are contained in the Old and New Testament Greek in the Codex Vaticanus 1209 (Codex B - 4th century C.E.); Codex Sinaiticus (Codex Aleph - 4th century C.E.); and Codex Alexandrinus (Codex A - 5th century C.E.). The King James Bible of 1611 also had most of these books in it.
In the Old Testament:
1)1 Esdras
2)2 Esdras
3)Tobit
4)Judith
5)Additions to the Book of Esther
6)Wisdom of Solomon
7)Ecclesiasticus (Wisdom of Yahushua Son of Sirach)
8)Baruch
9)Letter of Jeremiah
10)The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Young Men
11)Susanna
12)Bel and the Dragon
13)The Prayer of Manasseh
14)1 Maccabees
15)2 Maccabees
In the New Testament:
a) In the Codex Alexandrinus:
1)1 Clement
2)2 Clement
b) In the Codex Sinaiticus:
1)Barnabas
2)Hermas (Shepherd) - Visions: A,B,C,D,E
3)Hermas (Shepherd) - Commands: A,B,C,D
C)Ancient Books related to the Bible:
1)The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch)
2)Secrets of Enoch (2 Enoch)
3)Book of Jasher
4)Book of Jubilees
IN SUMMARY:
There are too many Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha Books of the Old and New Testaments to list here. It is important to know that these books exist or have been lost. We should always keep an open mind to learning new truth and to relearning lost truth. Both the Old and New Testaments are a collecion of books. Over the millennia books have been added and removed from both the Old and New Testaments. It truly is a miracle that we have the Bible today; and I believe that there is more than enough in it for salvation, guidance and comfort.
However, there are those that desire to learn as much as possible and dig relentlessly through the Lost Books of the Bible. There are definitely golden bits of truth to find but the enormous amount of material to sift through can be overwhelming and extremely time consuming for the little benefit that it will yield.
It is much better and more profitable to focus on studying the Old and New Testament Books that we already have. Heaven only knows how much we can learn from studying the Old and New Testaments in the Hebrew and the Greek, as well as in the English.
Bibliography:
1)"The Book of Enoch", by R.H.Charles 1972
2)"Book of Jasher" 1840
3)"Book of Jubilees", by Rev. George H. Schodde 1888
4)"The Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden", 1974 [Note: includes 1 & 2 Clement; Barnabas; 1,2 & 3 Hermas - Visions, Commands, & Similitudes; The Secrets of Enoch; etc.]
5)"The Book of the Secrets of Enoch", by W.R. Morfill and R.H. Charles 1896
6)"The Oxford Annotated Apocrypha: The Apocrypha of the Old Testament", by Bruce M. Metzger 1977
7)"The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: Apocalyptic Literature and Testaments" Vol.1 & 2, by James H. Charlesworth 1983
8)Article: "Why Study the Pseudepigrapha?", Biblical Archaeologist December 1983
9)Article: "Why Study the Septuagint?", Biblical Archaeologist September 1986
11)"The Septuagint with Apocrypha: Greek and English", by Sir Lancelot C.L. Brenton 1980
12)"An Introduction to the Old Testament in Greek", by Henry Barclay Swete 1968
13)"The Apocryphal New Testament", by Montague Rhodes James 1980
14)"New Testament Apocrypha" Volume 1 (Gospels and Related Writings), by Edgar Hennecke 1963
15)"New Testament Apocrypha" Volume 2 (Writings Relating to the Apostles Apocalypses and Related Subjects), by Edgar Hennecke 1965
INDEX OF TOPICS:
12.0)Free Downloadable Powerful Bible Study Software:
Introduction:
The Best available Bible Study Software at no cost to you is the Online Bible Bible Study Software which includes: Bibles of many languages, the Hebrew Old Testament, the Greek New Testament, the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint - LXX), the King James Bible, Hebrew Lexicon, Greek Lexicon, Bible Commentaries, Bible Dictionaries, Apocrypha of the Old Testament in Greek and English, Latin Vulgate, etc.
The beauty of the main Online Bible program is that you can call up several program modules on the screen at the same time. For instance, you can have the English King James Bible, the Hebrew Old Testament, and the Greek Old Testament on the screen all at the same time! And each is searchable like a concordance. You can also compare different versions of say the New Testament Greek such as the Textus Receptus (the Greek on which the King James Bible is based on) to the Westcott-Hort 1881 Greek New Testament (which is based on the most important collection of the New Testament Greek Manuscripts - the only better version of the Greek New Testament being the Nestle-Aland, "Greek-English New Testament", 27th Edition OR the United Bible Societies 4th Edition "The Greek New Testament").
You can do very powerful Bible searches and studies in English, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and most other languages from around the world! If this is not a sure sign that we are in the last days, I don't know what is. We are told in scripture that His Word must first be preached in all the world and then shall the end come (Matthew 24:14).
Two Online Bible Web Sites - For Free Downloadable Software are as follows (both are different):
Note: Both of these two Online Bible Web Sites are different but the software modules are interchangeable depending on the version of the program and the version of the modules.
1)http://www.onlinebible.org
2)http://www.davepohl.com/winonlinebible.html
Suggestions Before Downloading the Software:
a)Point#1: The Files you will download are Zipped(Compressed).
b)Point#2: Create structured Directories on your C: Drive as follows:
1)Create a Main Directory called, Online Bible.
2)Create a Sub-Directory for each version, eg. Version 9.01.
3)Create a Sub-Sub-Directory for each Module that you will download, eg. KJB - King James Bible.
c)Point#3: Once you have created the Directory containers, then you can begin to download each module in its own directory container.
d)Point#4: Once the Zipped file is copied to its appropriate Directory container, you can UnZip(Uncompress the file). This way you have all the Unzipped files for that module in one container.
e)Point#5: Now you can install the Main Online Bible Program. The program usually requires at least one other Module eg. a Bible Module before it will install properly. To install the individual modules, follow Steps #4 to #10 in Point#6 when you get to the dialogue box while installing the main program.
f)Point#6:Once you have installed the program, you can always add more modules as in Version 9.01 by:
1)clicking on the Tools Menu.
2)then click on User Module Tools.
3)then click on Restore.
4)in the dialogue box double click on C:\.
5)double click on Online Bible Directory that you created.
6)double click on Version 9.01 Sub-Directory that you created.
7)double click on the Module Directory that you created of the module that you want to install eg. KJB.
8)click on the File that appears in the 2nd Window of the diaglogue box eg. av.101.
9)click OK button.
10)when it finishes installing the module click the EXIT button.
Important Online Bible Modules to Download:
1) A copy of the main Online Bible program. The most current version is 1.00 dated August 17,2000. The previous version 9.01 was very good. Some of the older versions such as 8.12 and 8.10.05 are still available. However, you have to watch the version of the modules that you will use with it. For example, some of the Bible modules and other software will only work with versions 8.12 or higher. And you also have to make sure you get the right version for your particular computer operating system, whether it is Windows 95/98/2000/NT or MacIntosh etc.
2) King James Bible in English or your preferred English or other language Bible (with or without links to Strong's Numbers).
3) BHS - Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (the Old Testament Masoretic Hebrew Text).
4) BHM - Biblia Hebraica Morphological (the Old Testament Masoretic Hebrew Text with the prefixes and suffixes of the Hebrew word separated by a colon).
5) Westcott-Hort 1881 Greek New Testament (a good N.T. Greek text based on important major N.T. Greek Manuscripts).
6) Textus Receptus (Greek New Testament on which the King James Bible is based on). Two versions are the 1550 Stephens or 1894 Scrivener. The Textus Receptus is based on poorer manuscripts and is not as reliable as Westcott-Hort 1881 or Nestle-Aland 27th Edition (or UBS4 - United Bible Societies 4th Edition), Greek New Testaments.
7) LXX Greek Old Testament Septuagint (in Greek). Which is usually based on the Codex Vaticanus 1209 Septuagint. The New Testament part of the Codex Vaticanus 1209 is one of the oldest most complete and valuable manuscripts we have for the Greek New Testament dated about the 4th Century C.E.(A.D.).
8) LXX Apocrypha of the Greek Old Testament Septuagint (in Greek).
9) LXXE English Translation of the Septuagint by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton 1851. Which is based on the Codex Vaticanus 1209 early 4th Century C.E.and supplemented by Codex Alexandrinus 5th Century C.E.(another very important major manuscript for the Old and New Testament Greek).
10) APC Apocrypha 1769 (in English) of the Old Testament by Oxford Press. This is missing 2Esdras 7:36-105 which is lacking from the standard editions of the Latin Vulgate and from the King James version. They are present in the Syriac, Ethiopic, Arabic, and Armenian versions, and in two Latin manuscripts. The section was probably deliberately cut out of an ancestor of most extant Latin manuscripts because of dogmatic reasons, for the passage contains an emphatic denial of the value of prayers for the dead. 3Maccabees and 4Maccabees is also missing.
11) RAPC Revised Apocrypha (in English). This version has 2Esdras 7:36-105, as well as 3Maccabees and 4Maccabees.
12) 1905 Syriac Peshitta New Testament (in Aramaic written with Hebrew characters). The Greeks had called Aramaic by a word they coined, "Syriac", and this artificial term was used in the West, but not in the East, where it has always been known by its own name, "lishana aramaya". A good source in book form is, "The New Covenant Aramaic Peshitta Text with Hebrew Translation", by the Bible Society in Jerusalem 1986.
13) Vulgate - Jerome's 405AD Latin Vulgate (in Latin). In Luke 23:33 in the King James Bible we have the only occurrence of the word, "Calvary" but in the Greek manuscripts it is the word "kranion" which means skull. So where do we get the word "Calvary" from? It comes from the Latin word "Calvariae" which also means skull. So the word Calvary comes from the Latin Bible. The terms used for the name of the Creator in the Latin Bible are Deus, Deo, Dei, Di etc. which in a good Latin Dictionary is the Greek god "Zeus"!!!
14) Hebrew Lexicon (Dictionary). To look up Hebrew words with the meaning given in English.
15) Greek Lexicon (Dictionary). To look up Greek words with the meaning given in English.
16) 1917 Jewish Publication Society Old Testament.
17) Easton's Bible Dictionary.
18) Original Strong's Lexicon.
19) Matthew Henry Concise Commentary.
20) Manual for your particular version of the Online Bible Main Program. Please remember if you download the manual in .PDF format, you will need Adobe Acrobat to read it.
1) A copy of the main Online Bible program. The most current version is 1.00 dated August 17,2000. The previous version 9.01 was very good. Some of the older versions such as 8.12 and 8.10.05 are still available. However, you have to watch the version of the modules that you will use with it. For example, some of the Bible modules and other software will only work with versions 8.12 or higher. And you also have to make sure you get the right version for your particular computer operating system, whether it is Windows 95/98/2000/NT or MacIntosh etc.
2) King James Bible in English or your preferred English or other language Bible (with or without links to Strong's Numbers).
3) BHS - Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (the Old Testament Masoretic Hebrew Text).
4) BHM - Biblia Hebraica Morphological (the Old Testament Masoretic Hebrew Text with the prefixes and suffixes of the Hebrew word separated by a colon).
5) Westcott-Hort 1881 Greek New Testament (a good N.T. Greek text based on important major N.T. Greek Manuscripts).
6) Textus Receptus (Greek New Testament on which the King James Bible is based on). Two versions are the 1550 Stephens or 1894 Scrivener. The Textus Receptus is based on poorer manuscripts and is not as reliable as Westcott-Hort 1881 or Nestle-Aland 27th Edition (or UBS4 - United Bible Societies 4th Edition), Greek New Testaments.
7) LXX Greek Old Testament Septuagint (in Greek). Which is usually based on the Codex Vaticanus 1209 Septuagint. The New Testament part of the Codex Vaticanus 1209 is one of the oldest most complete and valuable manuscripts we have for the Greek New Testament dated about the 4th Century C.E.(A.D.).
8) LXX Apocrypha of the Greek Old Testament Septuagint (in Greek).
9) LXXE English Translation of the Septuagint by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton 1851. Which is based on the Codex Vaticanus 1209 early 4th Century C.E.and supplemented by Codex Alexandrinus 5th Century C.E.(another very important major manuscript for the Old and New Testament Greek).
10) APC Apocrypha 1769 (in English) of the Old Testament by Oxford Press. This is missing 2Esdras 7:36-105 which is lacking from the standard editions of the Latin Vulgate and from the King James version. They are present in the Syriac, Ethiopic, Arabic, and Armenian versions, and in two Latin manuscripts. The section was probably deliberately cut out of an ancestor of most extant Latin manuscripts because of dogmatic reasons, for the passage contains an emphatic denial of the value of prayers for the dead. 3Maccabees and 4Maccabees is also missing.
11) RAPC Revised Apocrypha (in English). This version has 2Esdras 7:36-105, as well as 3Maccabees and 4Maccabees.
12) 1905 Syriac Peshitta New Testament (in Aramaic written with Hebrew characters). The Greeks had called Aramaic by a word they coined, "Syriac", and this artificial term was used in the West, but not in the East, where it has always been known by its own name, "lishana aramaya". A good source in book form is, "The New Covenant Aramaic Peshitta Text with Hebrew Translation", by the Bible Society in Jerusalem 1986.
13) Vulgate - Jerome's 405AD Latin Vulgate (in Latin). In Luke 23:33 in the King James Bible we have the only occurrence of the word, "Calvary" but in the Greek manuscripts it is the word "kranion" which means skull. So where do we get the word "Calvary" from? It comes from the Latin word "Calvariae" which also means skull. So the word Calvary comes from the Latin Bible. The terms used for the name of the Creator in the Latin Bible are Deus, Deo, Dei, Di etc. which in a good Latin Dictionary is the Greek god "Zeus"!!!
14) Hebrew Lexicon (Dictionary). To look up Hebrew words with the meaning given in English.
15) Greek Lexicon (Dictionary). To look up Greek words with the meaning given in English.
16) 1917 Jewish Publication Society Old Testament.
17) Easton's Bible Dictionary.
18) Original Strong's Lexicon.
19) Matthew Henry Concise Commentary.
20) Manual for your particular version of the Online Bible Main Program. Please remember if you download the manual in .PDF format, you will need Adobe Acrobat to read it.
Hints when Searching the Hebrew and Greek Texts:
a) Searching the Hebrew Text:
Keep in mind that the Hebrew you are searching is the Masoretic Text which uses final letters and vowel points. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew Alphabet but the Masoretic Text introduces final letters for Kaph, Mem, Nun, Pe, and Tsaddi. The Final Letters are used at the end of words. To type the final letter, for example for Mem: to get the Final Mem, use Shift key + letter M key. For the vowel points, the only letter you have to watch out for is the Shin. Use the S key for the regular Shin, and the V key for the other Shin.
Hebrew also has prefixes and suffixes added to a word. So you should use the wild card asterisk * before a word for prefixes and and asterisk * after the word for suffixes otherwise the search will not pull up all the variant occurrences.
The other thing that you should keep in mind is that in Hebrew you may have several ways to spell the same word. That is why to get the meaning of a word, it is usually necessary to find the root word using an Analytical Hebrew Lexicon. Unfortunately, this will not help you to find all the possible different spellings for that particular word.
Just remember, Hebrew is read from right to left.
b) Searching the Greek Text:
Searching the Greek Text is much easier than the Hebrew. In Greek there is only one final letter and that is the Final Sigma. To get the Final Sigma just press the V key on your keyboard. But again as in the Hebrew, Greek words can have a variety of spellings, so you will need to use an Analytical Greek Lexicon to find the root word and its meaning. Greek words don't have prefixes, but the endings of the words do change depending on the grammatical structure and context of the sentence. For example, the Messiah's name in Greek can be IHCOYC, IHCOY, IHCOYN, IHCOI, IHCOYE. In which case, his title of XPICTOC will change with it and match the ending. For example, IHCOYC XPICTOC, IHCOY XPICTOY, IHCOYN XPICTON, etc.. (Note: the Greek letter P is the letter Rho, with an R sound.). One way to call up these variety of different endings is to use the wild card asterisk * where the differences start. For example, IHCO* will bring up IHCOYC, IHCOY, IHCOI, IHCOYN, etc..
c) Tutorial Function in the Main Online Bible Program:
As you start up the Main Online Bible Program, the first window has a Tutorial Function button which will open to give you more info on how to use the Online Bible Program.
d) Manual for the Online Bible Program:
The manual will give you very valuable tools and commands on how to use the Online Bible Program more quickly and efficiently when doing searches.
Conclusion:
These powerful tools to study the Word of YAHUAH have only been made available in the last few years and will enable us to speed things up considerably when studying His Word. What would take me months or even a year of tedious searching and researching literally takes me just minutes on the computer!!! And it really doesn't make any difference whether you are using the English, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, or some other language!
Praise be to YAHUAH for the joy of having such wonderful tools to work with.
INDEX OF TOPICS:
13.0) Revealing Light for the Last Days from the Dead Sea Scrolls:
A)Discovery of the Scrolls in 1947:
Knowledge will increase in the Last Days according to Daniel 12:4,9. Is it a coincidence that the Dead Sea Scrolls were found just about a year before the State of Israel was created in 1948? In scripture, the Messiah gives the parable of the budding of the fig tree which is an indicator that the Kingdom of Yahuah is near (Matthew 24:32-33; Luke 21:29-31).
In the spring of 1947, Muhammed adh-Dhib discovered as many as eight scrolls in Cave 1 at Qumran near the Dead Sea. This discovery included the Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsaa) which is the most complete and well preserved Biblical manuscript ever found at Qumran. To believers, this is a very important event because the name of Isaiah in Hebrew is YeshaYahu (means Salvation of Yahu) which is the Messiah's name backwards. The book of Isaiah also includes prophecies of the Messiah.
Near the Dead Sea, there were found about 800 manuscripts and 100,000 fragments. Of this number, approximately 230 manuscripts (about 30%) are Biblical. Of these 230, only a small number preserve a considerable part of the Biblical books. The rest are mostly poorly preserved but still valuable in helping us to understand the early Hebrew Old Testament. Included among the best preserved Biblical manuscripts are:
1)Isaiah 1QIsaa(1QIsaa ) (almost the entire 66 Chapters of Isaiah).
2)Isaiah 1QIsab (1QIsab + 1Q8) (about 45 partial Chapters).
3)Exodus 4QpaleoGen-Exodl (4Q11) (about 20 partial Chapters).
4)Exodus 4QpaleoExodm (4Q22) (about 31 partial Chapters).
5)Leviticus & Numbers 4QLev-Numa (4Q23) (about 25 partial Chapters).
6)Numbers 4QNumb (4Q27) (about 24 partial Chapters).
7)1&2Samuel 4QSama (4Q51) (about 42 partial Chapters).
8)Minor Prophets 4QXIIg (4Q82) (partial Chapters of 9 Books of the Minor Prophets).
9)Leviticus 11QpaleoLeva (11Q1) (about 18 partial Chapters).
10)Psalms 11QPsa (11Q5) (about 38 partial Chapters).
11)Job Aramaic Targum 11QtgJob (11Q10) (about 25 partial Chapters).
12)Minor Prophets 8HevXIIgk (8Hev1) (partial Chapters of 7 Books of the Minor Prophets).
13)Minor Prophets Mur XII (Mur 88) (partial Chapters of 9 Books of the Minor Prophets).
Another important aspect of the Biblical manuscripts found in the Dead Sea area is their age. They are about 1000 years older than any other Hebrew Old Testament Biblical manuscripts ever found. We do not have any Hebrew manuscript of the entire Old Testament earlier than the tenth century. The oldest dated manuscript is the Codex Cairensis which only contains the Prophets and is dated 895 A.D..
In some of the Dead Sea Scrolls the Father's name of YAHUAH stands out in a very special way, for instance:
a) In the Psalms Scroll 11QPsa the Father's name of YAHUAH is written in Old Paleo-Hebrew script while the rest of the manuscript is in normal square Hebrew script. The same can be seen in the Habakkuk Commentary 1QpHab.
Ref: 1)"The Dead Sea Psalms Scroll", by J.A. Sanders 1967.
2)"The Dead Sea Scrolls of St.Mark's Monastery Vol.1: The Isaiah Manuscript and the Habakkuk Commentary", by Millar Burrows 1950.
b) In the Greek Septuagint Minor Prophets Scroll 8HevXIIgr from Nahal Hever (near the Dead Sea) the Father's name of YAHUAH is written in Old Paleo-Hebrew script while the rest of the manuscript is in Uncial Greek.
Ref: "Discoveries in the Judaean Desert Volume 8: The Greek Minor Prophets Scroll from Nahal Hever", 1990 by Emanuel Tov, R.A.Kraft & P.J.Parsons.
c) In the Greek Septuagint Genesis and Deuteronomy (P.Fouad 266) papyri (not from the Dead Sea area) dated 1st Century B.C.E. the Father's name of YAHUAH is written in square Hebrew script while the rest of the manuscript is in Uncial Greek.
Ref: "Three Rolls of the Early Septuagint: Genesis and Deuteronomy", by Zaki Aly and Ludwig Koenen 1980.
d)In the Psalms fragments of 1QPsb (1Q11) the Father's name of YAHUAH is written in Paleo-Hebrew script while the rest of the manuscript is in square Hebrew script.
Ref: "Discoveries in the Judaean Desert" Vol.1,1955, p.71.
e)In the Exodus fragments of 2QExodb (2Q3) the Father's name of YAHUAH is written in Paleo-Hebrew script while the rest of the manuscript is in square Hebrew script.
Ref: "Discoveries in the Judaean Desert" Vol.3,1962, p.52-55.
f)In the Lamentations fragments of 3QLam (3Q3) the Father's name of YAHUAH is written in Paleo-Hebrew script while the rest of the manuscript is in square Hebrew script.
Ref: "Discoveries in the Judaean Desert" Vol.3,1962, p.95.
The name of YAHUAH is the Key to understanding who the Creator is, who His son the Messiah is, who the Holy Spirit of YAHUAH is, in identifying His word, His Laws, His Sabbath, His Feast Days, His Calendar, etc. and the scribes understood this only too well! Just to give you an idea of the importance of His Name, His name of YAHUAH appears almost 7,000 times in the Hebrew Old Testament. His people and prophets carry two or three letters (YAH or YAHU) of His name. The numerical value of His name in Hebrew is 26, a number which occurs frequently in His Sacred 364 Day Calendar. In 6 months there are 7 Days X 26 Weeks. In the 3 1/2 Years Great Tribulation there will be 7 Half Years X 26 Weeks or 7 x 7 Days X 26 Weeks (49 Days X 26 Weeks -- counting the 4 Intercalary Days per year). When the Messiah returns on the Feast of Trumpets immediately after the 3 1/2 Years of Great Tribulation, that day will be exactly the 26th Jubilee of Days from the beginning of the Great Tribulation! From this understanding of the Calendar, I pray that YAHUAH will also enlighten us about the events that are unfolding in these last days, especially during the Great Tribulation.
B)The 1990-1991 Milestone:
Up to 1991 only about half or 400 manuscripts of the Dead Sea Scrolls were made available or published over 44 years since 1947. In 1991, the few scholars who had control over the scrolls were forced by circumstance to make available the rest of the scrolls. Important events at this time were:
1)1989 - Iron Curtain falls in Eastern Europe.
2)1990 - At the beginning of the Gulf War with Iraq, President Bush talks about the "New World Order" for the first time.
3)1990 - Was the Last Jubilee of the 6000 years from Adam; and the 1st Year of the Last 22 Years to the end of the 6000 years from Adam.
4)The Book of Isaiah has 66 Chapters, which could represent 66 years. From 1945 to 2011 is exactly 66 years. 1945 was the end of World War II, the creation of the United Nations, the start of mass immigration of the Jewish people to Israel (the first time in 2000 years to establish a homeland) and the dropping of the first atomic bomb which changed the world forever. 2011 is the end of the 6000 years from Adam. The discovery of the Great Isaiah Scroll 1QIsaa was the first of the scrolls to be found and also the most well preserved and complete of all the Biblical scrolls. Isaiah's name of YeshaYahu is the Messiah's name backwards. The Book of Isaiah has prophecies of the Messiah in it. The Messiah is the Aleph and the Tau which represents the 22 letters of the Hebrew Alphabet! The Book of Isaiah has 66 chapters which is equal to 3 X 22. And surprisingly enough, in these last days, the entire book of the Bible has exactly 66 books in it! And the last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation has exactly 22 Chapters! From 1990 (the last Jubilee of the 6000 years from Adam), to 2011 (the end of the 6000 years from Adam) is the last 22 years!
5)i)1945 + 22 years = 1967: In 1967 was the Six Day War which gave Israel complete control of Jerusalem, the first time in almost 2,000 years!
ii)1967 + 22 years = 1989: In 1989 the Iron Curtain in Europe fell which ended Russian aggression and isolation from the rest of the world. The doors were now open to global unity.
iii)1989 + 22 years = 2011: In 1990, President Bush of the United States declares the New World Order in his speech during the Gulf War Crisis. In 1991, the 2nd half of the Dead Sea Scrolls are made available to the World.
iv)The Last 22 Years from 1990 to 2011: In this year 2000, we have already come to the 11th year, the half way point in the Last 22 years. From scripture, these Last 22 years are a type of the 22 Days of the Fall Feasts which occur in the 7th Month.
v)The Isaiah and Psalms Manuscripts from the Dead Sea Area:
The largest number of Biblical manuscripts found in the Dead Sea area were that of the Book of Isaiah. The second largest number of Biblical manuscripts found in the Dead Sea area were that of the Book of the Psalms. Of the approximately 142 Prophecies of the Messiah in the Old Testament, 40 are in the Book of Isaiah, and 40 in the Book of Psalms. This accounts for about 56% of all the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament in just these two books! And there are 39 Books in the Old Testament. Again, the name Isaiah is the Messiah's name backwards, YeshaYahu, and means Salvation of Yahu. This knowledge from the Dead Sea Scrolls is a wake up call to the World, for the Great Day of YAHUAH and the Return of the Messiah is drawing nigh!!!
C)Flood of Information now available on 2nd Half of the Dead Sea Scrolls (since 1991):
There are a lot of variations between the Biblical manuscripts of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Hebrew Masoretic Text, as well as the Old Testament Greek Septuagint . Most of the variations are very minor but there are some that will definitely change our understanding of the Old and New Testament scriptures. With this new wealth of information now available to us, we can now study and find new revelations of YAHUAH's word in the Old Testament.
Sources for Studying the Dead Sea Scrolls:
1)A Good Internet Web Site, "Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature":
http://orion.mscc.huji.ac.il/index.html
2)On CD-ROM:
a)"Dead Sea Scrolls Electronic Reference Library, 2" (Non-Biblical, includes Dead Sea Scroll database), by Emanuel Tov 1999 E.J.Brill Publisher $259.00U.S.
b)"The Dead Sea Scrolls Electronic Reference Library on CD", Vol.1: CDD0019, Vol.2:CDD0099 (all 800 Texts from 11 Caves) Note: This info was obtained from the Yale University web site at:
http://www.library.yale.edu/div/overview.htm
3)Tools for Sourcing Material on the DSS:
a)"The Dead Sea Scrolls Catalogue: Documents, Photographs, and Museum Inventory Numbers", by Stephen A. Reed,1994: SBL Resources for Biblical Study 32.
Comments: Excellent for cross-referencing DSS manuscript inventory numbers.
b)"The Dead Sea Scrolls: Major Publications and Tools for Study", Joseph A. Fitzmyer 1990.
Comments: Excellent.
c)"A Bibliography of the Finds in the Desert of Judah 1970-95", by Florentino Garcia Martinez 1996.
Comments: Excellent.
d)"The Dead Sea Scrolls & Modern Translations of the Old Testament", by Harold Scanlin 1993
Comments: Excellent! Includes Chart of the Biblical Manuscripts, Textual Criticism, bibliography, etc.
e)"The Unpublished Qumran Texts from Caves4 & 11", by Emanual Tov : Biblical Archaeologist June 1992.
4)Facsimiles and Transliteration of 1QIsaa :
a)"The Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsaa ) A New Edition",
by Donald Parry and Elisha Qimron 1999 in Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah Vol.32 E.J.Brill.
b)"The Dead Sea Scrolls of St.Mark's Monastery Vol.1: The Isaiah Manuscript and the Habakkuk Commentary", by Millar Burrows 1950.
c)"Scrolls from Qumran Cave1", by J.C.Trever 1972 (includes the Great Isaiah Scroll, Order of the Community, and Habakkuk Commentary).
5)Facsimiles and Transliteration of 11QPsa :
a)"The Dead Sea Psalms Scroll", by J.A.Sanders 1967.
6)"Discoveries in the Judaean Desert" the Series:
This series of books consists of 36 Volumes and costs about $100,000 per volume to publish. As of August 2000, 28 Volumes have been published. This is a very important source of info. Here is a list of the volumes that have Biblical manuscripts and have been published:
a)1955 - Vol.1: Cave1 Partials of Biblical Texts.
b)1962 - Vol.3: A)Texts, B)Plates, Small Caves of Qumran 2Q-7Q,&10Q Biblical Texts (in French).
c)1965 - Vol.4: Cave11 Psalms w/plates 11QPsa .
d)1990 - Vol.8: Greek Minor Prophets from Nahal Hever.
e)1992 - Vol.9: Cave4 Paleo-Gen.,Exod.,Deut.,Job; LXX Greek Lev.,Num.,Deut.
f) 1994 - Vol.12: Cave4 Gen.,Exod.,Lev.,Num..
g)1995 - Vol.14: Cave4 Deut.,Josh.,Judges, Kings.
h)1997 - Vol.15: Cave4 Isaa-r ,Jera-e ,Ezeka-c .
i) 2000 - Vol.16: Cave4 Psalms to Chronicles (Not Published till September 2000).
j) 1998 - Vol.23: Cave11 11Q2-8,20-31 Lev.,Deut.,Ezek.,Psa.,Jubilees, etc.
7)Facsimiles of the Dead Sea Scrolls:
a)"The Dead Sea Scrolls on Microfiche. A Comprehensive Facsimile Edition of the Texts from the Judean Desert", by E.Tov and S.J.Pfann (E.J.Brill) 1993, 134 fiche.
b)"A Facsimile Edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls" Vol.1&2 1991, by R.H.Eisenman and J.M.Robinson.
c)"Companion Volume to the Dead Sea Scrolls Microfiche Edition", by Emanuel Tov and S.J.Pfann 1995.
8)Translation and Transliteration of Most of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Reference to the rest:
a)"The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition", Vol.1 1Q1-4Q273 1997; Vol.2 4Q274-11Q31 1998; by Florentino Garcia Martinez and E.J.C.Tigchelaar.
Comments: Excellent. Includes Index of Manuscripts by Name and by Inventory Number.
9)Textual Criticism:
a)"The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Origins of the Bible", by Eugene Ulrich 1997
Comments: Good info on the Paleo-Hebrew Biblical MSS from Qumran Cave4. Good comparison of variants to the Masoretic Text. Good info on LXX Septuagint MSS from Qumran.
10)"Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah" the Series:
This series of books is also a good source of info for the Dead Sea Scrolls.
a)Example: "Time to Prepare the Way in the Wilderness" 1995 : Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah, Vol.16.
11)Qumran Messianism:
a)"Qumran - Messianism: Studies on the Messianic Expectations in the Dead Sea Scrolls", by J.H.Charlesworth, H.Lichtenberger, & G.S.Oegema 1998.
12)Concordances:
a)"Graphic Concordance to the Dead Sea Scrolls", by James H. Charlesworth 1991.
b)"A Preliminary Concordance to the Hebrew and Aramaic Fragments from Qumran Cave II-X Including Especially the Unpublished Material from Cave 4", by R.E.Brown, J.A.Fitzmyer, W.G.Oxtoby, and J.Teixidor 1988.
13)Calendar:
a)"Calendars in the Dead Sea Scrolls: Measuring Time", by James C. VanderKam 1998.
Conclusion:
A lot of answers to Old and New Testament questions will undoubtedly be found in this great wealth of knowledge from the Dead Sea Scrolls.
INDEX OF TOPICS:
14.0) Signs that we are in the Last Days:
A)Sign Number #1:
All summer long, the news coverage on TV reported on the massive forest fires in the United States and Canada. The drought in Texas and other parts of the world also left the grass dry and burnt up. Many of these forest fires even though they may be put out on the surface, are still burning underground where the fire fighters can't get at them. It is predicted by official sources that these underground fires could start the burning of the trees again next Spring above ground. In Queensland,Australia the entire State is dry like a tinderbox and could erupt into flame at any time. Other parts of the world are also affected because of unusual weather patterns and global warming.
B)Sign Number #2:
There is absolutely nothing being reported in the news media at all about this second sign. Hard to believe as it is, there is Major Construction going on, on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem! It began in November of 1999 last year. The Waqf, the Muslim religious trust responsible for the Temple Mount began in November 1999, in the dead of night, to dump hundreds of truckloads of earth from the Temple Mount into the Kidron Valley and municipal garbage dumps. About 6,000 tons of earth were removed to open an authorized emergency exit for the al-Marawani Mosque, creating a huge hole about 200 feet long and 75 feet wide. The exit, enlarged beyond the approved width, has become, ...'a monumental entry gate'.
The Construction continued in the Spring of 2000, to open what was supposed to be simply an emergency exit for the al-Marawani Mosque, located in the underground area popularly called Solomon's Stables. Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, though opposed by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), Israel's attorney general Elyakim Rubinstein and Jerusalem mayor Ehud Olmert, has signaled that he will not impede the Waqf's activities. Following a June 28,2000 meeting, a spokesman for Barak announced that the prime minister will allow paving work to continue along 600 feet of what is now an exposed earthen area inside the eastern wall of the Temple Mount. Barak rejected any limits on the extent of the paving. Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, perhaps fearing that intervention would adversely affect peace talks with the Palestinians, has been unwilling to call a halt to the work.
This spring and early summer of 2000, trucks and tractors returned to the Temple Mount, bringing building materials in and carting earth away through the Lion's Gate, just north of the Temple Mount. For 200 yards along the inside of the Temple Mount's eastern wall, from the al-Marawani Mosque's new entrance to somewhat south of the Golden Gate, lie stacks of paving stones, scaffolding, wood and iron materials.
The Waqf's plans for building on the Temple Mount are contained in a detailed report given to Barak and revealed on June 18,2000 by Nadav Shragai, correspondent for the newspaper Ha'aretz. Shragai writes that a master plan includes erecting another Muslim prayer area on the Temple Mount, "along the eastern wall, a smaller version of the Ka'aba Mosque in Mecca." Hardly mentioned in press reports is the fact that there already is another Muslim prayer hall on the Temple Mount, inaccessible to all but a few visitors and also prepared without archaeological oversight by the IAA.
Sources:
a)"More Temple Mount Antiquities Destroyed, A Personal View", by Suzanne F. Singer : Biblical Archaeology Review,Sept./Oct.2000,p.28-33.
b)"Furor Over Temple Mount Construction", by Strata : Biblical Archaeology Review,March/April,2000.
a) Searching the Hebrew Text:
Keep in mind that the Hebrew you are searching is the Masoretic Text which uses final letters and vowel points. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew Alphabet but the Masoretic Text introduces final letters for Kaph, Mem, Nun, Pe, and Tsaddi. The Final Letters are used at the end of words. To type the final letter, for example for Mem: to get the Final Mem, use Shift key + letter M key. For the vowel points, the only letter you have to watch out for is the Shin. Use the S key for the regular Shin, and the V key for the other Shin.
Hebrew also has prefixes and suffixes added to a word. So you should use the wild card asterisk * before a word for prefixes and and asterisk * after the word for suffixes otherwise the search will not pull up all the variant occurrences.
The other thing that you should keep in mind is that in Hebrew you may have several ways to spell the same word. That is why to get the meaning of a word, it is usually necessary to find the root word using an Analytical Hebrew Lexicon. Unfortunately, this will not help you to find all the possible different spellings for that particular word.
Just remember, Hebrew is read from right to left.
b) Searching the Greek Text:
Searching the Greek Text is much easier than the Hebrew. In Greek there is only one final letter and that is the Final Sigma. To get the Final Sigma just press the V key on your keyboard. But again as in the Hebrew, Greek words can have a variety of spellings, so you will need to use an Analytical Greek Lexicon to find the root word and its meaning. Greek words don't have prefixes, but the endings of the words do change depending on the grammatical structure and context of the sentence. For example, the Messiah's name in Greek can be IHCOYC, IHCOY, IHCOYN, IHCOI, IHCOYE. In which case, his title of XPICTOC will change with it and match the ending. For example, IHCOYC XPICTOC, IHCOY XPICTOY, IHCOYN XPICTON, etc.. (Note: the Greek letter P is the letter Rho, with an R sound.). One way to call up these variety of different endings is to use the wild card asterisk * where the differences start. For example, IHCO* will bring up IHCOYC, IHCOY, IHCOI, IHCOYN, etc..
c) Tutorial Function in the Main Online Bible Program:
As you start up the Main Online Bible Program, the first window has a Tutorial Function button which will open to give you more info on how to use the Online Bible Program.
d) Manual for the Online Bible Program:
The manual will give you very valuable tools and commands on how to use the Online Bible Program more quickly and efficiently when doing searches.
Conclusion:
These powerful tools to study the Word of YAHUAH have only been made available in the last few years and will enable us to speed things up considerably when studying His Word. What would take me months or even a year of tedious searching and researching literally takes me just minutes on the computer!!! And it really doesn't make any difference whether you are using the English, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, or some other language!
Praise be to YAHUAH for the joy of having such wonderful tools to work with.
INDEX OF TOPICS:
13.0) Revealing Light for the Last Days from the Dead Sea Scrolls:
A)Discovery of the Scrolls in 1947:
Knowledge will increase in the Last Days according to Daniel 12:4,9. Is it a coincidence that the Dead Sea Scrolls were found just about a year before the State of Israel was created in 1948? In scripture, the Messiah gives the parable of the budding of the fig tree which is an indicator that the Kingdom of Yahuah is near (Matthew 24:32-33; Luke 21:29-31).
In the spring of 1947, Muhammed adh-Dhib discovered as many as eight scrolls in Cave 1 at Qumran near the Dead Sea. This discovery included the Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsaa) which is the most complete and well preserved Biblical manuscript ever found at Qumran. To believers, this is a very important event because the name of Isaiah in Hebrew is YeshaYahu (means Salvation of Yahu) which is the Messiah's name backwards. The book of Isaiah also includes prophecies of the Messiah.
Near the Dead Sea, there were found about 800 manuscripts and 100,000 fragments. Of this number, approximately 230 manuscripts (about 30%) are Biblical. Of these 230, only a small number preserve a considerable part of the Biblical books. The rest are mostly poorly preserved but still valuable in helping us to understand the early Hebrew Old Testament. Included among the best preserved Biblical manuscripts are:
1)Isaiah 1QIsaa(1QIsaa ) (almost the entire 66 Chapters of Isaiah).
2)Isaiah 1QIsab (1QIsab + 1Q8) (about 45 partial Chapters).
3)Exodus 4QpaleoGen-Exodl (4Q11) (about 20 partial Chapters).
4)Exodus 4QpaleoExodm (4Q22) (about 31 partial Chapters).
5)Leviticus & Numbers 4QLev-Numa (4Q23) (about 25 partial Chapters).
6)Numbers 4QNumb (4Q27) (about 24 partial Chapters).
7)1&2Samuel 4QSama (4Q51) (about 42 partial Chapters).
8)Minor Prophets 4QXIIg (4Q82) (partial Chapters of 9 Books of the Minor Prophets).
9)Leviticus 11QpaleoLeva (11Q1) (about 18 partial Chapters).
10)Psalms 11QPsa (11Q5) (about 38 partial Chapters).
11)Job Aramaic Targum 11QtgJob (11Q10) (about 25 partial Chapters).
12)Minor Prophets 8HevXIIgk (8Hev1) (partial Chapters of 7 Books of the Minor Prophets).
13)Minor Prophets Mur XII (Mur 88) (partial Chapters of 9 Books of the Minor Prophets).
Another important aspect of the Biblical manuscripts found in the Dead Sea area is their age. They are about 1000 years older than any other Hebrew Old Testament Biblical manuscripts ever found. We do not have any Hebrew manuscript of the entire Old Testament earlier than the tenth century. The oldest dated manuscript is the Codex Cairensis which only contains the Prophets and is dated 895 A.D..
In some of the Dead Sea Scrolls the Father's name of YAHUAH stands out in a very special way, for instance:
a) In the Psalms Scroll 11QPsa the Father's name of YAHUAH is written in Old Paleo-Hebrew script while the rest of the manuscript is in normal square Hebrew script. The same can be seen in the Habakkuk Commentary 1QpHab.
Ref: 1)"The Dead Sea Psalms Scroll", by J.A. Sanders 1967.
2)"The Dead Sea Scrolls of St.Mark's Monastery Vol.1: The Isaiah Manuscript and the Habakkuk Commentary", by Millar Burrows 1950.
b) In the Greek Septuagint Minor Prophets Scroll 8HevXIIgr from Nahal Hever (near the Dead Sea) the Father's name of YAHUAH is written in Old Paleo-Hebrew script while the rest of the manuscript is in Uncial Greek.
Ref: "Discoveries in the Judaean Desert Volume 8: The Greek Minor Prophets Scroll from Nahal Hever", 1990 by Emanuel Tov, R.A.Kraft & P.J.Parsons.
c) In the Greek Septuagint Genesis and Deuteronomy (P.Fouad 266) papyri (not from the Dead Sea area) dated 1st Century B.C.E. the Father's name of YAHUAH is written in square Hebrew script while the rest of the manuscript is in Uncial Greek.
Ref: "Three Rolls of the Early Septuagint: Genesis and Deuteronomy", by Zaki Aly and Ludwig Koenen 1980.
d)In the Psalms fragments of 1QPsb (1Q11) the Father's name of YAHUAH is written in Paleo-Hebrew script while the rest of the manuscript is in square Hebrew script.
Ref: "Discoveries in the Judaean Desert" Vol.1,1955, p.71.
e)In the Exodus fragments of 2QExodb (2Q3) the Father's name of YAHUAH is written in Paleo-Hebrew script while the rest of the manuscript is in square Hebrew script.
Ref: "Discoveries in the Judaean Desert" Vol.3,1962, p.52-55.
f)In the Lamentations fragments of 3QLam (3Q3) the Father's name of YAHUAH is written in Paleo-Hebrew script while the rest of the manuscript is in square Hebrew script.
Ref: "Discoveries in the Judaean Desert" Vol.3,1962, p.95.
The name of YAHUAH is the Key to understanding who the Creator is, who His son the Messiah is, who the Holy Spirit of YAHUAH is, in identifying His word, His Laws, His Sabbath, His Feast Days, His Calendar, etc. and the scribes understood this only too well! Just to give you an idea of the importance of His Name, His name of YAHUAH appears almost 7,000 times in the Hebrew Old Testament. His people and prophets carry two or three letters (YAH or YAHU) of His name. The numerical value of His name in Hebrew is 26, a number which occurs frequently in His Sacred 364 Day Calendar. In 6 months there are 7 Days X 26 Weeks. In the 3 1/2 Years Great Tribulation there will be 7 Half Years X 26 Weeks or 7 x 7 Days X 26 Weeks (49 Days X 26 Weeks -- counting the 4 Intercalary Days per year). When the Messiah returns on the Feast of Trumpets immediately after the 3 1/2 Years of Great Tribulation, that day will be exactly the 26th Jubilee of Days from the beginning of the Great Tribulation! From this understanding of the Calendar, I pray that YAHUAH will also enlighten us about the events that are unfolding in these last days, especially during the Great Tribulation.
B)The 1990-1991 Milestone:
Up to 1991 only about half or 400 manuscripts of the Dead Sea Scrolls were made available or published over 44 years since 1947. In 1991, the few scholars who had control over the scrolls were forced by circumstance to make available the rest of the scrolls. Important events at this time were:
1)1989 - Iron Curtain falls in Eastern Europe.
2)1990 - At the beginning of the Gulf War with Iraq, President Bush talks about the "New World Order" for the first time.
3)1990 - Was the Last Jubilee of the 6000 years from Adam; and the 1st Year of the Last 22 Years to the end of the 6000 years from Adam.
4)The Book of Isaiah has 66 Chapters, which could represent 66 years. From 1945 to 2011 is exactly 66 years. 1945 was the end of World War II, the creation of the United Nations, the start of mass immigration of the Jewish people to Israel (the first time in 2000 years to establish a homeland) and the dropping of the first atomic bomb which changed the world forever. 2011 is the end of the 6000 years from Adam. The discovery of the Great Isaiah Scroll 1QIsaa was the first of the scrolls to be found and also the most well preserved and complete of all the Biblical scrolls. Isaiah's name of YeshaYahu is the Messiah's name backwards. The Book of Isaiah has prophecies of the Messiah in it. The Messiah is the Aleph and the Tau which represents the 22 letters of the Hebrew Alphabet! The Book of Isaiah has 66 chapters which is equal to 3 X 22. And surprisingly enough, in these last days, the entire book of the Bible has exactly 66 books in it! And the last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation has exactly 22 Chapters! From 1990 (the last Jubilee of the 6000 years from Adam), to 2011 (the end of the 6000 years from Adam) is the last 22 years!
5)i)1945 + 22 years = 1967: In 1967 was the Six Day War which gave Israel complete control of Jerusalem, the first time in almost 2,000 years!
ii)1967 + 22 years = 1989: In 1989 the Iron Curtain in Europe fell which ended Russian aggression and isolation from the rest of the world. The doors were now open to global unity.
iii)1989 + 22 years = 2011: In 1990, President Bush of the United States declares the New World Order in his speech during the Gulf War Crisis. In 1991, the 2nd half of the Dead Sea Scrolls are made available to the World.
iv)The Last 22 Years from 1990 to 2011: In this year 2000, we have already come to the 11th year, the half way point in the Last 22 years. From scripture, these Last 22 years are a type of the 22 Days of the Fall Feasts which occur in the 7th Month.
v)The Isaiah and Psalms Manuscripts from the Dead Sea Area:
The largest number of Biblical manuscripts found in the Dead Sea area were that of the Book of Isaiah. The second largest number of Biblical manuscripts found in the Dead Sea area were that of the Book of the Psalms. Of the approximately 142 Prophecies of the Messiah in the Old Testament, 40 are in the Book of Isaiah, and 40 in the Book of Psalms. This accounts for about 56% of all the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament in just these two books! And there are 39 Books in the Old Testament. Again, the name Isaiah is the Messiah's name backwards, YeshaYahu, and means Salvation of Yahu. This knowledge from the Dead Sea Scrolls is a wake up call to the World, for the Great Day of YAHUAH and the Return of the Messiah is drawing nigh!!!
C)Flood of Information now available on 2nd Half of the Dead Sea Scrolls (since 1991):
There are a lot of variations between the Biblical manuscripts of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Hebrew Masoretic Text, as well as the Old Testament Greek Septuagint . Most of the variations are very minor but there are some that will definitely change our understanding of the Old and New Testament scriptures. With this new wealth of information now available to us, we can now study and find new revelations of YAHUAH's word in the Old Testament.
Sources for Studying the Dead Sea Scrolls:
1)A Good Internet Web Site, "Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature":
http://orion.mscc.huji.ac.il/index.html
2)On CD-ROM:
a)"Dead Sea Scrolls Electronic Reference Library, 2" (Non-Biblical, includes Dead Sea Scroll database), by Emanuel Tov 1999 E.J.Brill Publisher $259.00U.S.
b)"The Dead Sea Scrolls Electronic Reference Library on CD", Vol.1: CDD0019, Vol.2:CDD0099 (all 800 Texts from 11 Caves) Note: This info was obtained from the Yale University web site at:
http://www.library.yale.edu/div/overview.htm
3)Tools for Sourcing Material on the DSS:
a)"The Dead Sea Scrolls Catalogue: Documents, Photographs, and Museum Inventory Numbers", by Stephen A. Reed,1994: SBL Resources for Biblical Study 32.
Comments: Excellent for cross-referencing DSS manuscript inventory numbers.
b)"The Dead Sea Scrolls: Major Publications and Tools for Study", Joseph A. Fitzmyer 1990.
Comments: Excellent.
c)"A Bibliography of the Finds in the Desert of Judah 1970-95", by Florentino Garcia Martinez 1996.
Comments: Excellent.
d)"The Dead Sea Scrolls & Modern Translations of the Old Testament", by Harold Scanlin 1993
Comments: Excellent! Includes Chart of the Biblical Manuscripts, Textual Criticism, bibliography, etc.
e)"The Unpublished Qumran Texts from Caves4 & 11", by Emanual Tov : Biblical Archaeologist June 1992.
4)Facsimiles and Transliteration of 1QIsaa :
a)"The Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsaa ) A New Edition",
by Donald Parry and Elisha Qimron 1999 in Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah Vol.32 E.J.Brill.
b)"The Dead Sea Scrolls of St.Mark's Monastery Vol.1: The Isaiah Manuscript and the Habakkuk Commentary", by Millar Burrows 1950.
c)"Scrolls from Qumran Cave1", by J.C.Trever 1972 (includes the Great Isaiah Scroll, Order of the Community, and Habakkuk Commentary).
5)Facsimiles and Transliteration of 11QPsa :
a)"The Dead Sea Psalms Scroll", by J.A.Sanders 1967.
6)"Discoveries in the Judaean Desert" the Series:
This series of books consists of 36 Volumes and costs about $100,000 per volume to publish. As of August 2000, 28 Volumes have been published. This is a very important source of info. Here is a list of the volumes that have Biblical manuscripts and have been published:
a)1955 - Vol.1: Cave1 Partials of Biblical Texts.
b)1962 - Vol.3: A)Texts, B)Plates, Small Caves of Qumran 2Q-7Q,&10Q Biblical Texts (in French).
c)1965 - Vol.4: Cave11 Psalms w/plates 11QPsa .
d)1990 - Vol.8: Greek Minor Prophets from Nahal Hever.
e)1992 - Vol.9: Cave4 Paleo-Gen.,Exod.,Deut.,Job; LXX Greek Lev.,Num.,Deut.
f) 1994 - Vol.12: Cave4 Gen.,Exod.,Lev.,Num..
g)1995 - Vol.14: Cave4 Deut.,Josh.,Judges, Kings.
h)1997 - Vol.15: Cave4 Isaa-r ,Jera-e ,Ezeka-c .
i) 2000 - Vol.16: Cave4 Psalms to Chronicles (Not Published till September 2000).
j) 1998 - Vol.23: Cave11 11Q2-8,20-31 Lev.,Deut.,Ezek.,Psa.,Jubilees, etc.
7)Facsimiles of the Dead Sea Scrolls:
a)"The Dead Sea Scrolls on Microfiche. A Comprehensive Facsimile Edition of the Texts from the Judean Desert", by E.Tov and S.J.Pfann (E.J.Brill) 1993, 134 fiche.
b)"A Facsimile Edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls" Vol.1&2 1991, by R.H.Eisenman and J.M.Robinson.
c)"Companion Volume to the Dead Sea Scrolls Microfiche Edition", by Emanuel Tov and S.J.Pfann 1995.
8)Translation and Transliteration of Most of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Reference to the rest:
a)"The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition", Vol.1 1Q1-4Q273 1997; Vol.2 4Q274-11Q31 1998; by Florentino Garcia Martinez and E.J.C.Tigchelaar.
Comments: Excellent. Includes Index of Manuscripts by Name and by Inventory Number.
9)Textual Criticism:
a)"The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Origins of the Bible", by Eugene Ulrich 1997
Comments: Good info on the Paleo-Hebrew Biblical MSS from Qumran Cave4. Good comparison of variants to the Masoretic Text. Good info on LXX Septuagint MSS from Qumran.
10)"Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah" the Series:
This series of books is also a good source of info for the Dead Sea Scrolls.
a)Example: "Time to Prepare the Way in the Wilderness" 1995 : Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah, Vol.16.
11)Qumran Messianism:
a)"Qumran - Messianism: Studies on the Messianic Expectations in the Dead Sea Scrolls", by J.H.Charlesworth, H.Lichtenberger, & G.S.Oegema 1998.
12)Concordances:
a)"Graphic Concordance to the Dead Sea Scrolls", by James H. Charlesworth 1991.
b)"A Preliminary Concordance to the Hebrew and Aramaic Fragments from Qumran Cave II-X Including Especially the Unpublished Material from Cave 4", by R.E.Brown, J.A.Fitzmyer, W.G.Oxtoby, and J.Teixidor 1988.
13)Calendar:
a)"Calendars in the Dead Sea Scrolls: Measuring Time", by James C. VanderKam 1998.
Conclusion:
A lot of answers to Old and New Testament questions will undoubtedly be found in this great wealth of knowledge from the Dead Sea Scrolls.
INDEX OF TOPICS:
14.0) Signs that we are in the Last Days:
A)Sign Number #1:
All summer long, the news coverage on TV reported on the massive forest fires in the United States and Canada. The drought in Texas and other parts of the world also left the grass dry and burnt up. Many of these forest fires even though they may be put out on the surface, are still burning underground where the fire fighters can't get at them. It is predicted by official sources that these underground fires could start the burning of the trees again next Spring above ground. In Queensland,Australia the entire State is dry like a tinderbox and could erupt into flame at any time. Other parts of the world are also affected because of unusual weather patterns and global warming.
B)Sign Number #2:
There is absolutely nothing being reported in the news media at all about this second sign. Hard to believe as it is, there is Major Construction going on, on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem! It began in November of 1999 last year. The Waqf, the Muslim religious trust responsible for the Temple Mount began in November 1999, in the dead of night, to dump hundreds of truckloads of earth from the Temple Mount into the Kidron Valley and municipal garbage dumps. About 6,000 tons of earth were removed to open an authorized emergency exit for the al-Marawani Mosque, creating a huge hole about 200 feet long and 75 feet wide. The exit, enlarged beyond the approved width, has become, ...'a monumental entry gate'.
The Construction continued in the Spring of 2000, to open what was supposed to be simply an emergency exit for the al-Marawani Mosque, located in the underground area popularly called Solomon's Stables. Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, though opposed by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), Israel's attorney general Elyakim Rubinstein and Jerusalem mayor Ehud Olmert, has signaled that he will not impede the Waqf's activities. Following a June 28,2000 meeting, a spokesman for Barak announced that the prime minister will allow paving work to continue along 600 feet of what is now an exposed earthen area inside the eastern wall of the Temple Mount. Barak rejected any limits on the extent of the paving. Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, perhaps fearing that intervention would adversely affect peace talks with the Palestinians, has been unwilling to call a halt to the work.
This spring and early summer of 2000, trucks and tractors returned to the Temple Mount, bringing building materials in and carting earth away through the Lion's Gate, just north of the Temple Mount. For 200 yards along the inside of the Temple Mount's eastern wall, from the al-Marawani Mosque's new entrance to somewhat south of the Golden Gate, lie stacks of paving stones, scaffolding, wood and iron materials.
The Waqf's plans for building on the Temple Mount are contained in a detailed report given to Barak and revealed on June 18,2000 by Nadav Shragai, correspondent for the newspaper Ha'aretz. Shragai writes that a master plan includes erecting another Muslim prayer area on the Temple Mount, "along the eastern wall, a smaller version of the Ka'aba Mosque in Mecca." Hardly mentioned in press reports is the fact that there already is another Muslim prayer hall on the Temple Mount, inaccessible to all but a few visitors and also prepared without archaeological oversight by the IAA.
Sources:
a)"More Temple Mount Antiquities Destroyed, A Personal View", by Suzanne F. Singer : Biblical Archaeology Review,Sept./Oct.2000,p.28-33.
b)"Furor Over Temple Mount Construction", by Strata : Biblical Archaeology Review,March/April,2000.
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