Tag: constitution

Parashah Korach 2020 (Korach) Numbers 16 – 18

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This is a well-known story of rebellion; Korach, a Levite, jealous of Moses organized other Levites, all leaders within their tribes, to rebel against Moses and Aaron and to appoint a different leader (who he thought should be himself.)

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Meanwhile, Dathan and Abiram, from the tribe of Reuben, also led a rebellion against Moses for their failure to enter the land, having just been driven out by the inhabitants.

Moses tells the men, a total of 250 of them, to bring their fire pans to the Tent of Meeting in the morning and God will show them what he wants. Moses also goes to the tents of Korach, Abiram, and Dathan and calls them out to tell them how God will handle this rebellion, which isn’t really against Moses and Aaron but is against God.

First, Moses tells those whose tents are close to these men to move away from them because if they don’t, they might suffer the same punishment that the rebels will have to undergo. Fortunately for them, the surrounding families listen.

Moses then tells the rebels that if God hasn’t placed Moses in charge, Abiram, Dathan, and Korach will live long lives. On the other hand, if God is the one who put Moses in charge, then the earth will open its mouth and swallow these men and all they have- family, tents, and possessions- and send them to Sheol, alive!

No sooner does Moses finish speaking than the ground splits open and Abiram, Dathan, Korach, their families, and their tents are swallowed up, after which the ground closes over them.

At the same time, fire comes out from the Tent of Meeting and totally incinerates all 250 men, being so hot that their brass offering plates are melted.

Despite this obvious show of God’s intervention and appointment of Moses and Aaron, the people still are in an uproar and blame Moses for the death of the men. God sends a plague among the people that starts to kills multitudes, but Aaron takes incense from the altar and goes into the crowd and stands between the people and the plague to stop it.

God has the 12 tribal leaders each bring their staff to the Tent of Meeting, Aaron representing the Levites, and tells Moses to say to the people that the staff which grows buds will belong to the one who is God’s choice for serving him as Cohen. In the morning, only one staff has buds on it, Aaron’s staff, and more than buds, it has flowers and ripe almonds, as well.

This parashah ends with God giving the instructions, again, regarding how the Cohen and Levite are to serve him and that they are to be paid from the tithes.

For those of you who follow this ministry (thank you!), you know I rarely ever allow politics to enter these messages. However, when we look at what happened in this Shabbat reading and what is happening in the US today, there is such a direct relationship I can’t ignore it.

The rebellion within the United States, with cities of two separate states declaring themselves as a sovereign entity, is exactly what happened to the nation of Israel under Moses. There is such a spirit of rebellion against legitimate authority that I would think Korach has found his way back up from Sheol!

We have a President who was legally elected, yet since the very day he took office, there have been rebellions against his authority and position. And not just by outside forces, but by the leaders of states within the Union. Just like under Korach (or should I say, Pelosi?), many important and powerful leaders of the tribes of America (i.e., Congresspersons and Senators) have taken up their firepans and tried to oust President Trump, with little more than weak and often (we found out later) manufactured stories claiming he was disqualified for office.

Today there are the CHAD and CHAZ groups in their separate states who are declaring themselves free of the properly instituted authorities, such as the police. They have established zones of anarchy, and proliferate violence as their means of control.

In truth, they have no control: that is SOP within an anarchistic society. Sooner or later the proper authority, which has been authorized by the Constitution, will remove these rebels and (hopefully) prosecute them in accordance with their illegal activities.

If God had not intervened on behalf of Moses and Aaron, it is very likely that the general populace would have gone along with Korach, Abiram, and Dathan. What has been proven in the Bible (as shown by the Israelites) is that the crowd will follow whoever is popular or promises them what they want.  We saw this at the sin of the Golden Calf (Exodus 32), we saw it with the Korach rebellion (Numbers 16), we saw it with their constant complaining which caused God to send snakes (Numbers 21), and we saw it during the Sin of Baal-Peor when Balaam had the Midianite women entice the men into sinful behavior (Numbers 25.) 

The people rebelled against proper authority (that would be God, of course), times too numerous to mention here, from the very day they were freed from Egyptian bondage until the time of the Babylonian exile.

America has been through tough times before and came out of it stronger, but I am concerned about what is happening to her today. The pandemic has shown that we are a society composed of easily frightened, easily duped, and easily led sheep. We know that people are like sheep, easily led astray (Isaiah told us that) but it is one thing to read about it in the Bible, and quite another to see how true it is when people wear face masks and isolate themselves because they are told lies and exaggerations without questioning the truth of it.

And common sense? Well, that is rare under any condition, but it is so rare today that it seems to be an extinct commodity.

We need to remember, just as the Israelites were reminded, that God is in charge and that whoever is in charge, legally, was placed there by God. We are told this in Romans 13 (CJB):

Everyone is to obey the governing authorities. For there is no authority that is not from God, and the existing authorities have been placed where they are by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities is resisting what God has instituted; and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.

If people are dissatisfied with the leadership, there are legal means for removing the leaders, and those procedures should be followed. It takes longer than open rebellion, but it is the legal and correct way to oust a bad leader. In the meantime, we are obligated legally and spiritually to respect our leaders.

Today’s parashah is so perfectly timed to what is happening in the US today that you might even think God planned it. If you ask me, I don’t think what is happening is from God; on the contrary, it seems evident to me that this is the work of Satan. Our society has a spirit of Korach running rampant through it, and our legislative bodies have a spirit of Absalom taking charge of them. Rebellion, social unrest, lies, and false teachings abound, while the people show they are mindless sheep, blind to the truth, speechless against the evil (you can’t understand what they say through the cloth masks, anyway), being led dancing to their own destruction.

I am afraid. I am afraid for our country, for our economy, and for the people who claim to be doing what they do to save lives, while what they are doing is refusing to acknowledge that the Emperor is not wearing any clothes. And more than anything else, I am afraid and concerned about how so many people can so blatantly disobey the law and get away with it; and I don’t mean just the rioters in the streets, but the elected leaders of our cities, states and our federal government, whose members are sworn to defend the Constitution.

I don’t how this will all turn out, if we will have a new normal or if we will even be able to return to the old normal, but I trust in God to get us through it and will wait, patiently on the Lord (although I have to say, I am SO fed up with all this mishigas!)

Thank you for being here and please subscribe, share these messages with others, and check out my website and books. I am starting on my 4th book, which I am calling “The ‘I Don’t Want to Read the Bible!‘ Bible.”

Until next time, L’hitraot and Shabbat Shalom!

Parashah Tzav (Order) Leviticus 6:1 – 8:36

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This parashah covers sacrifice and ordination rules, but that is not what I want to talk about today.

The Torah is more than just a “book”- it is a narrative (that archaeological discoveries are proving to be historically accurate), it is a Ketubah (marriage certificate) between God and His people, it is a national constitution which outlines and sets the foundation for a nation, and it is a penal code.

It also tells us who God is, who we are, how this all started and how it will all end.

Leviticus is the most legalistic (if I may use that word) book of the Torah. In this book we are told all the laws, commandments, regulations, and ordinances that we must obey in order to receive the blessings of God and salvation. It separates the Jews from the Gentiles, sin from righteousness and death from salvation. Although Torah is often misinterpreted to mean “Law” when it really means “Teaching”, Leviticus is a very legal book. It not only covers laws regarding sacrifice, but also health code, restitution for theft and negligence, penal codes outlining the punishments for these crimes (which, by the way, was at that time the most humane of all penal codes) and generally how we should treat each other.

Too many Christian teachings are that the Torah is not valid for Christians, but how can they say that when Torah outlines how human beings are supposed to live together? Does the blood of Jesus Christ overrule common decency? Does the sacrifice of the Messiah mean that we don’t have to obey laws? Does the promise of salvation through Jesus’s death mean that we can ignore everything else God told us to do?

I don’t think so! Christians are always saying, “Do as Jesus did” but there are almost none who do. Hey! Get with the program, Folks- what Jesus did was to follow the Torah! He kept every single commandment, and (like it or not) He also taught everyone else to keep every single commandment. That’s right- He never once preached anything against or in lieu of Torah.

Jesus is called the Living Word, is He not? Well, what “word” do you think He is? Torah! That was the only “word” that existed, that was the “word” He taught from, that was the “word” He taught about, and that is the “word” He was. Jesus was Torah in the flesh.

Yeshua (that’s Jesus’s real name, in case you didn’t know) also said that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. If that is true, and He is the Living Torah, then for Him to preach or teach or even suggest doing anything against or in opposition to all that is in the Torah would be preaching against Himself, and if that is what He did then His kingdom cannot stand.

But that can’t be, because His kingdom will always stand, our words will fade away but His words will never fade away, and He built His kingdom on a rock (Kefa) that the gates of Hell cannot overpower.

Read Isaiah 40:8; read Daniel 2:44; Read 1 Peter 1:25; for that matter, read any part of the Bible where it talks about the kingdom of God and you will see that God will place all kingdoms under the feet of the Messiah, and that he will rule forever.

It is impossible for us humans to be perfect according to the Torah. That is why Yeshua had to do what He did, so that we could have this eternal “Get Out of Jail Free” card. But that doesn’t mean we can ignore the Torah. The Torah is where God tells us how He wants us to live: how we are to worship Him, how we are to treat each other, what is good for us, what is not good for us, and how to live long, fruitful, and joyful lives.

Why would anyone want to ignore that?

If you have been told that you are saved by the Blood of Jesus and that the Jews are saved by their Torah, you have been led down the path to destruction. Torah is for everyone and everyone who professes to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, not to mention accept His son, Yeshua, as their Messiah and Savior, is required to honor and follow the way God says we should live, which is (you guessed it!) in the Torah.

Here is the Torah, in a nutshell:

  • Genesis and Exodus take us from the beginning of existence to God giving us His rulings and instructions regarding how we are to worship Him and live together.
  • Leviticus specifies and explains those instructions.
  • Numbers is the historical narrative of the things that happened while in the desert
  • Deuteronomy is a recap of everything up to just before they enter the Land God promised, ending with the promise of the Messiah to come.

Read Leviticus. It is somewhat long, a little boring in parts (I can’t believe how many different things that skin disease can infect) and very detailed, but it is important to know because, well, it is what God tells us to do. It is what Moses did, it is what the Prophets did, it is what (most of) the Kings of Judah did, and it is what Yeshua did.

And it is what we should do, too!

Parashah Mishpatim (Ordinances) Exodus 21 – 24

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This parashah gives us many of the civil laws we are to follow, starting with laws regarding slaves/bondsmen. It is interesting to note that there is only one Hebrew word for both slave and bondsman, indicating that the system of slavery we think of (that within the Roman, Greek and American/European cultures) is not what slavery was to God, or for the Children of Israel. The system of slavery we know is based on the premise that the slave is property and can be treated (or mistreated) in any manner to which the owner wants to act. A Hebrew slave was a human being with rights, and the Hebrew who was purchased as a slave by another Hebrew was to be treated with respect and compassion. As with the other rules regarding the Shemitah year (the 7th year), a Hebrew who had been purchased as a slave was to be set free.

The other ordinances in this parashah create the basic penal system for the Israelites: it deals with restitution for theft, mistreatment of other’s property, marriage and dowry regulations, punishment for murder and punishment for manslaughter, restitution for accidental injury, kidnapping, matricide/patricide, witchcraft and moral offences.

We also hear from God how we are to act in accordance with testimony in court, the dispensing of  justice, and finally, as is done throughout the Tanakh, an exhortation to remember and obey these laws. If we remember to do as God tells us, and we do so in accordance with His commandments, God will bless us and protect us. If we fail to obey, well….not so good for us.

This parashah ends with Moses going up the mountain to meet with God and receive the Ten Commandments from God.

What can we say about the laws and regulations of the Torah that hasn’t been said already? How many times do we need to reflect on how the Torah established a system of laws and commandments that honored God and people, with truth, justice and (no, not the American Way)… reverence?

Yet, despite how we are told we must treat each other with respect and honor, we fail to do so. I guess that is because what looks good on paper doesn’t always translate as well into reality. The sinful nature of people, the lure of the worldly pleasures, and the influence of the enemy of God surround us: they are in the advertisements we see in all the media, the lies we are told by those we trust in positions of authority, and even in the relationships we form with family and friends.

I heard someone once say that humanity is a wonderful thing- it’s the people that screw it up.  How true.

Yeshua said that the most important commandments of all are to love the Lord your God and to love each other. On these two laws pivot the Prophets and all the other writings in the Torah.  This parashah is part of “all the other writings” that Yeshua referred to. When we think about it, the “Golden Rule” is all we really need to obey in order to follow the ordinances found in this parashah (for your edification, the Golden Rule is not from the New Covenant writings but is only referred to there- it is found in Leviticus 19:18.) If we love God we will want to do as He says out of love, not out of fear. We should treat others out of love, also: if we can’t do so because of our love for people then we should do so because of our love for God.

Personally, I really don’t like people. I do ministry, I teach others the Word of God, I am a member of the leadership where I worship, but I really don’t like people.

That doesn’t stop me from doing my very best to treat all people with respect and compassion because I want to honor and worship God (another item on my list of “To Be’s” – compassionate. Having compassion for others is hard for me to do.) My love of God forces me to love people. Begrudgingly, I confess, but God sees the heart and values what is in our heart as much, or more, than what we do. My heart needs work, and I think we all could confess to that one. So, I do what God wants me to do because God wants me to do it. One day, perhaps, the Ruach (Spirit) will so fill me that I will truly want to be loving to all people, as God wants us all to be. Maybe.

Until then, I will do as God says to the best of my abilities, and constantly try to make my “best” better. These laws and commandments are all part of the Torah that establishes a nation. The Torah is more than a book of history and commandments: it is a national constitution, a penal system, a Ketubah (marriage certificate) between God and His people. And the people God marries are not just the Jews- it is anyone who chooses to worship Him.

If you choose to worship God, and you accept His Messiah as your Messiah, then these laws are for you. The Torah is your constitution, it is your User Manual for how to worship God, directly and indirectly.

Remember what Yeshua told us in Mattitayu 25:40-45: whatever we do to others, we do to Him. David said in Psalm 51 that when he sinned against others he sinned first and foremost against God- in fact, his sin was against God, and God alone. If there is any message that we need to learn from this parashah, it might be this:

What we do unto others, we do unto God.

That one needs to sink in because it is really important to remember.

 

Parashah Mishpatim (Regulations) Exodus 21 – 24:18

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This section of the Torah is where we see the judicial, or penal code, side of the Torah.

Torah doesn’t mean “law” but is properly translated more as “teachings”, and is a multi-faceted book. It is a Ketuba (marriage certificate), a penal code (as we see in this parashah and other parts of the Torah), a constitution (in that it defines the way the nation will operate and the rights of the citizens, therein) and a historical documentation of the birth of the world and the creation of humanity. It is also a prophetic book, which tells us exactly what will happen to this new “nation of priests”, of the coming of Messiah and where humanity will finally end up.

The regulations in the Torah come from God, directly, and one of the arguments I have heard from people who constantly try to demean God and the validity of the Bible as His word is that it is not a unique document. They use the fact that other cultures and peoples had the same or similar laws in effect before the Torah, so because these rules and regulations were not original they imply the Bible is the work of men. The History Channel (which I normally like to watch, so long as they are not doing something about God) has historically (pun intended) debunked the Bible, and even brought God’s existence into question. But it’s not just them. The argument against these laws (as I started to talk about before I went a little off tangent) are meant to make it seem that the Bible is not the word of God, because what He is proclaiming  to the children of Israel are not “original”. It is often pointed out that Hammurabi had these in his code before Moses, and there are other such arguments.

So what? Leviticus 11 outlines the rules about which animals we can eat and which ones we can’t eat, yet Noah already knew this. He brought on 7 pairs of clean animals and one pair of unclean. Just because laws are written down in Torah doesn’t mean they have to be original and new to prove they are from God. And, likewise, just because they weren’t written down before Torah doesn’t mean they weren’t valid.

Shaul tells us that the Torah created sin, in that before there was Torah there was nothing telling us exactly what was wrong and what wasn’t. Because Torah spelled it out, it made the right “right” and the wrong “wrong.” Shaul never argues against the Torah, however, even though Romans and other letters have been misconstrued to make it seem that way.

Just because a law exists doesn’t mean it is a good law, and if it doesn’t exist that doesn’t mean the actions not specifically outlawed are good.  How many laws do we still have on the books that are outdated, either culturally or technologically? Here are some examples I just took off the Internet:

* Horses are forbidden to eat fire hydrants in Marshalltown, Iowa.

* In Fairbanks, Alaska it is considered an offense to feed alcoholic beverages to a moose.

* (Prescott, Arizona) No one is permitted to ride their horse up the stairs of the county court house.

* (Calif.) Animals are banned from mating publicly within 1,500 feet of a tavern, school, or place of worship.

* (Devon, Ct.) It is unlawful to walk backwards after sunset.

* (Florida) If an elephant is left tied to a parking meter, the parking fee has to be paid just as it would for a vehicle.

I don’t know how true these are, but I am sure everyone reading this knows what I am talking about with regards to crazy laws that are still laws. Just because laws are written down doesn’t make them realistic, just because they were not written down doesn’t make the action valid, and just because they already existed somewhere else doesn’t mean they aren’t from God.

The point of all this rhetoric I am spouting is that just because the mishpatim (regulations) that God gave to His people aren’t the very first time someone was told how to act doesn’t mean there is no God. It doesn’t mean Moshe made these up himself, and it doesn’t indicate or diminish the importance of what they represent: the encoding of a system of just and fair laws that, at that time, were more respectful of the individual rights and the treatment that each person should receive under the law than any other codes or laws of that day.

Another wrongful argument is that “an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth” requirement is cruel and unjust. The Rabbi’s are explicit in the Chumash (Soncino edition) about this: they say “life for life” (specifically in Ex. 21:23) is a legal term meaning “fair compensation.” They justify this by referencing Lev. 24:21 where it says “He that killeth a beast shall make it good; and he that killeth a man shall be put to death.”  The “eye for an eye “, which is similar to the Code of Hammurabi, is different here in that it is not an absolute term to be taken literally (as it was under the Code of Hammurabi), but instead is, as the Rabbi’s say, telling us justice should be rendered in a fair and reasonable manner.

This parashah is about God commanding that we should have compassion and fairness when we render justice. It is a penal code. He also states that the widow and orphan, as well as the stranger, must be treated with (as I see it) a little extra compassion because they have no one to represent their rights or to protect them in the world. In fact, God says that if these people are not treated well, and they call out to Him, He, Himself, will act on their behalf. I don’t know about you, but I certainly wouldn’t want God to be angry with me!

What I take from this parashah is that we should all be fair and just to each other, the rich treated no differently than the poor, no one offering or accepting a bribe, and to remember that God is aware of what we do and if there is no one on Earth to protect or enforce the rights of a person, when that person calls to God for help, God will answer on their behalf.

That is both a warning to those who think to oppress others, and a comfort to those who are being oppressed.

The parashah ends with God telling the people how He will bring them into the land, and also warns them that He has provided His angel before them (Moshe?) and not to rebel against the angel because, ultimately, God will punish them for disobedience. He tells them, as we see throughout the Torah, that they will receive blessings if they obey and if they don’t (which usually ends up more a prophecy than a warning) they will receive the same treatment that God has planned for the people there already. In other words, as He reminds us throughout the Bible, God will use the Israelites as His rod of punishment against those nations that have rebelled and sinned against Him, and if the people God has chosen should end up doing the same thing that the ones they punish do, then they, the punishers, will become the punished.

And that’s exactly what happens, isn’t it? And it didn’t take them long, did it? The people make an oath and form a blood covenant with God to obey all these mishpatim. Then Moshe climbs up Mt. Horeb (Mt. Sinai) and within 40 days the people break their covenant.

The Torah is valid: it was before Moshe wrote it, and it has never changed. God gave us the Torah and told us that these laws and regulations are to be observed throughout all our generations. That means forever.

And despite what you may have been taught about Torah being only for the Jews, the truth is that Yeshua upheld the Torah, Shaul upheld the Torah, James upheld the Torah and God hasn’t changed His mind about any part of the Torah. So if you think that you don’t have to obey the Torah, you better get your head out of where it is now and back where the sun can shine on it! The Torah tells us how God wants us to act, to Him and to each other, and He hasn’t changed any part of it.

And God will hold YOU responsible for what you do or what you don’t do when you have to face Him. With Yeshua as our Messiah we are saved from our sins, true, but there are different levels in heaven and some will be the greatest and some will be the least. I am glad just to know I will be there, but since I am going to be there, why would I want to be the least? Those who obey God will be told, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” and those that don’t will be told something else. I don’t know what, and I won’t tell you what because, well…I don’t know. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s something along the lines of, “Okay, you’re in, but someone has to clean the toilets and since you didn’t want to do anything else I told you to do while you were on Earth, you can do this while you are here in Heaven.”

Sit at the table with God or clean the toilets? Make your choice now.