Jacob Ben Avraham

2 KINGS 4:42-5:19 We read about “Naaman” the Syrian who was healed of his Tzara-at, whatever kind he had, He was healed, not because of anything he could pay Elisha, but what he did in OBEDIENCE and FAITH. He went and bathed in the River Jordan, when down 7 times, again, “7” is YHVH’s perfect number, it kind of symbolizes baptism in a way. When we came up the seventh time, he was healed of his disease. At first, he expected a show from Elisha, wanting him to come out and maybe wave his hand over his disease, yet when he sent his servant, he got discouraged and left. It took his servants to convince Naaman to bathe in the Jordan. What could he lose? Sometimes, it takes advice from people in low places, humble servants to convince the "big-shots". Naaman had to taste "humble pie" to receive healing from his tza-ra-at. On the other hand, we see that Gehezi, Elisha’s servant was stricken with “Tzara-at” because of his selfish motives and because he lied to his master. In that he lied to Elisha, his speech was "leshon-Hara" in a way evil and untruthful. This act of "Motzi-a-ra" speaking evil or untruth, brought about his becoming a "metzorah" We can become clean inside when we obey God’s Word, and accept Yeshua as Savior and LORD, Yeshua is the “Living Water” and when we “bathe in Him” we become clean, our “Tamei” becomes “tahor” our "nega" (plague, sore) is healed and brings about "oneg" (pleasure). LUKE 17:11-17 Not the official Parashah reading, but this deals also with the healing of 10 who suffered with some sort of skin ailment, which made them “Tamei” and “outcasts”. Yeshua healed them all, only for the asking, YET only ONE returned to say “thanks”. Do we take our Salvation for granted? Do we think we deserve it? Remember that only through the grace of YHVH does he allow us into HIS family. Do we really live like “B’nei Malach?” (children of the King) or….do we succumb to the deceiver and lair of all times? Do we praise and thank Him for so great a gift such as YESHUAH (Salvation)? do we thank and praise YESHUA for YESHUAH? Something to think about. Ben Avraham Cd Delgado, (San Salvador) El Salvador A "farewell" cake our Houston congregation made for us before we left for El Salvador

PARASHOT: “Tazriah” (she bears seed) and “Metsora” (infected ones). Leviticus 12 and 13 We are now in El Salvador. New life, reduced living space, new ministry, but still teaching God's Word to those who will listen and learn. Slower WiFi, takes forever for it to connect. Turn on the PC, and in 30 minutes, you're connected. Until the WiFi quits, and it quits whenever it wants to. Our new Congregation is: "The Fig Tree and Yeshua" Messianic Congregation. (CBC Salem, La Higuera y Yeshua) This week we have a double Torah portion; “Tazriah” which talks about when a woman gives childbirth, and “Metsora” which talks about “Tzara-at” which most Bibles interpret as “leprosy” but in actuality, the word “Tzara-at” covers ALL skin afflictions and diseases, including the dreaded disease called leprosy, medically known as “Hanson’s disease. Go to google “images” and see it, but be sure you don’t eat anything beforehand, it is quite horrible. Leviticus Chapter 12 covers childbirth, and YHVH deems “unclean” a woman after giving birth, and she has to stay put in her tent, 7 days plus 33 days. All together, “40” days, “40” is the number for testings’ and trials. Why, we might wonder, should a woman be rendered “Tamei” or “Unclean” because of giving birth? Only YHVH has the pure and true answer. It isn’t that she has sinned by giving birth, on the contrary, she has given life! Some rabbinical midrashim (commentaries) state that there is both “death” and “life” during childhood. “Life” is the new baby, yet “death” because the woman loses fluids (blood) which symbolizes life. Not that the woman actually dies, but the “lost blood” however much or little, still symbolizes death. The child is in the womb for 9 months, this is a protected area, a world in itself. Then the child comes out into the world, a new world contrary to where it was. It has life both inside the womb and outside the womb, yet the child comes forth with the sin nature, and the sin nature brings death. For a female child, the purification time is longer, 2 weeks plus 66 days, altogether, “80” days, the number “8” is the number of “new beginning” If we remember when Yeshua was born, Miryam and Yosef brought two turtle doves to be sacrificed after she went through her ritual cleansing, Yosef brought Yeshua to be circumcised on the 8th day. There is one way we can look at why a woman had to be unclean for 7 days for a male child and 14 days for a female child. According to the Book of Jubilees which is part of the Dead Sea Scrolls. It says the following: Chap 3: "In the first week, Adam was created, and his rib (his wife) in the second week. Then He (God) showed her unto him. For this reason, the commandment was given to keep in their (women) defilement, for a male, 7 days, and for a female, 14 days" Remember, Adam was created outside the Garden of Eden, because the Torah reads that he was "Placed" in the Garden after he was created When we look at Messiah Yeshua. His blood was lost, causing death, just as a woman who loses blood through childbirth, symbolizes death. Yet Yeshua rose again, from the grave, thus bringing “life” and “hope” to all mankind. The woman brings forth a baby, which is “new life”. New life, but as I mentioned, new life with a sinful nature, which brings death. Yet through the death of Messiah, the curse of sin has been broken and thus brings us eternal life. On the 8th day, the mitzvah of “Brit Milah” (Circumcision) is performed in all males that are born. As we know, this was a sign of the covenant with Abraham. Some Jewish denominations still place high priority on Brit Milah, yet how important is it really? Moshe stresses that which is most important, and that is the “circumcision of the heart” (Brit Milah b’lev). He does not, however, state that circumcision is no longer necessary nor important, only that the emphasis should be placed on the heart and not so much on the flesh. Removing the “fore-skin” of the heart is surrendering our fleshly nature to Adonai, that we are to walk more in the spirit and less in the flesh. Chapter 13 deals with two kinds of “Tzara-at” skin diseases (all kinds, both major and minor) and “mold & mildew on clothing. In ancient times, the person with a skin disease had to be isolated outside the camp until he or she got better, and was “healed” there were probably some ointments available then, probably primitive, the priests were not doctors, but acted as “judges” who would “judge” the person “healed” if the disease was temporary, today we have many kinds of skin ailments, Psoriasis, Eczema, simple rashes caused by allergies, scabies, ringworm, etc., were all based under the word “Tzara-at” when the person was well and the disease was no more, the person would offer a sacrifice and return to the camp. Here again, we see a form of “death” (cast out, rejected) and “rebirth” entering into the body of Israel once again after healing. The word "Metzorah" comes from the root word in Hebrew "Motzi-a-ra" (One who speaks evil) or slander, gossip of another. One could say that "Tza-arat" was an outward revelation of an inward or spiritual condition. Imagine if God's rule was that because of speaking evil or slandering another person, one would break out in hives, or get a skin disease. I think we would all at one time or another, be scratching and breaking out in rashes But let’s take a look at this a step further. When talking about symbolism, one could symbolize the “Metsora” (the one infected) as “Yeshua” in the following manner; In the beginning of Chapter 13, “and YHVH spoke unto Moshe and Aaron saying; when a MAN shall have in the skin of his flesh…” Since every word in the Torah is put there for a purpose, the fact that the word “Adam” (man) is used is important. It could have been “Ish” or “Enosh” but it is “Adam”. This also has meaning. If we were to take the acronyms A.D.M (since that is how “Adam” is spelled in Hebrew) and apply a bit of meaning to the letters “Alef” “Dalet” and “Mem” we can see “Adam’ “David” and “Mashiach” two titles of “Mashiach” are “Mashiach HaAdam Sheni” (Messiah Yeshua, the Second Adam) and “Mashiach Ben David” (Messiah Yeshua, Son of David) Our Messiah accepted and brought upon himself all of our “leprosy” of sinfulness, which affects not only our exterior but also our inner being. He was nailed to the cross “outside” of the city, just as one afflicted with leprosy was cast outside of the city. Then he was made whole once again, arising on the third day. Isaiah 53 says that he bore our grief, carried our sorrows and was stricken and smitten of God, just as a leper is in the same condition, in a state of sorrow and smitten with a deadly disease that consumes the flesh. We remember that the Roman whips “ate up” the flesh of our Messiah, all for our sakes. The lost world has Him cast out of the camp, out of the city, he has been rejected by the world, yet we, who are saved and "born again" have invited Him to come inside the camp or the city, the one who bore our "leprosies". In another way, the “Metsora” is US! We have been afflicted with “spiritual leprosy” being our “sinful nature” at birth. When the pure soul from Heaven is introduced into the human body, it becomes part of it and partakes of the sin nature. Both the body and the soul suffer, the body ages, contracts diseases, etc., and without the “born-again” experience, we are “cast outside” of the city, we are forbidden entrance into the Kingdom of God. When we become members of the family of God through Yeshua, He acts as the “priest” who “heals” us. In ancient times, the priest had to visit the leper to see if leprosy had left the body, “leprosy” being “any kind of skin disease. The priest had no power to heal, only to observe and pronounce “tahor” (clean) or declare “Tamei” (unclean). However, Yeshua HAS the power to heal, as Isaiah says, “By His stripes, we are healed” of the “Tza-arat Nefesh” (the leprosy of the soul). So, we are the “Metsorat” that are HEALED, and integrated into the body of Messiah, yet He is the "Metzorah" who bore all of our diseases according to Isaiah 53. Guess we can look at it both ways. One more thing; The word "nega" means "plague, or sore" yet when it is healed, the "nega" becomes "oneg" (pleasure, joy) in Hebrew, they are the same letters, yet shuffled around. There is joy when our plague is healed. If we were to analyze our spiritual lives and maturity honestly, how many of us would have to cry out “Tamei” (unclean) and go run and hide? Yet there is forgiveness and a new beginning in our Messiah Yeshua, who paid our sin price and penalty on Calvary’s cross once and forever. We can “come in the camp again” when we confess of sins before a Holy God, accept His forgiveness, and accept His inner “healing”. Ben Avraham Ciudad Delgado, (San Salvador) El Salvador A view from one side of our house,

ISAIAH 43:21-44:23 YHVH speaks through the Prophet Yeshayahu and is complaining that Israel has forgotten about God, they no longer bring sacrifices, but are engrossed in sin, He explains that craftsmen will use their skill to make idols, that have no value, what a waste of craftsmanship! They can take iron and make a plowshare, swords, and even an idol. Is the fault in the iron? Or in the craftsman? Iron is just material from the ground, the craftsman can turn it into something for usefulness or for idolatry. The worker in wood can cut down trees, make perhaps a plow, or a wheel, use the wood for fuel for fire, or make a wooden idol. Is it the wood’s fault? or does the fault lie with the craftsman? Even today, we can use money either to buy food for our family, pay our bills, or buy and sell drugs! Does the fault lie in the money? Or the use of it? We can use money to honor or dishonor God and those around us, the choice is ours. God cries out to Israel; “I SHALL WIPE OUT YOUR TRANSGRESSIONS LIKE A CLOUD, AND YOUR SINS LIKE A MIST, RETURN TO ME AND I SHALL REDEEM YOU” (44:22) The promise still stands. If we “shuv”(return) to HIM, HE will save us! MARK 11:1-12:44 There are several themes in these verses. Yeshua is in all of them. One theme is that when he went into the temple in Yerushalayim, he threw over the money tables and chased out the money changers, saying “My house is a House of prayer but you have made it a den of thieves” there are many synagogues and some churches that refuse to conduct business on the Sabbath or on the day of worship because they are reminded of that verse. However, Yeshua called them “thieves” these money changers were exchanging foreign money such as Greek “drachmas” and Roman “Denarii” for Israel “Shekels” in order to buy sacrifice animals. Many times, the money changers would not honor the exchange rate, and would “cheat” the clients. If 12 Mexican pesos equaled 1 US dollar, it would be like accepting the 12 pesos and giving the person 75 cents! Perhaps these money changers were cheating in this way. In 12:29-31 Yeshua quotes the “Shema” Hear O Israel YHVH is our Elohim, YHVH is ONE (Echad) and he continues, Love Elohim with all your heart, being, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Yeshua just summed up all the 613 commandments in two verses! Because all the commandments have to do with our relationship with YHVH and our relationship with our fellow man. That is the purpose of Bible study, to learn of these commandments and put them into practice, so as to deepen our relationship with Messiah Yeshua and to be a good witness to our fellow man, and…bring lost mankind to a saving relationship with Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Christ) This in no way does away with the Torah nor its commandments, as many believe. Yeshua fulfilled all the requirements of the Torah, to live a perfect life without sin before God. All we need to do is to accept His once-and-for-all sacrifice for our sins and live a righteous and godly lifestyle before God and our fellow man. The commandments have no power to save, only Yeshua, His blood-stained sacrifice, and faith in HIM. Shalom

PARASHA: “Vayikra” (and he called) LEVITICUS 1:1-6:7 The basic theme of Leviticus is "Holiness to GOD" and "coming near to Him" We all receive that calling (VaYikra) yet not all respond. As the scriptures say: "Many are called but only a few are chosen". Yet who are those who are chosen? They are the ones who answer the calling. Yet answering the call requires walking in Holiness, and not according to the ways of the lost world. Are you up to that? God tells us: "Be ye, Holy, for I am HOLY" yet His Holiness is complete and perfect, ours is always lacking because of original sin. We are in the process of "becoming Holy" which is a lifetime goal. The word “VaYikra” is interesting, as it occurs 3 times. It means “called to (and a person’s name) In other words, Adonai called Moshe from where “he was” to where “Adonai is”. So as to “bridge the gap of distance” The first “VaYikra” was when Moshe was in the desert attending Yitro’s flock of sheep. Moshe sees the “burning bush” and then, Adonai “Calls to” Moshe to come “closer”, thus, bridging the gap of distance. The second time it occurs is when Adonai “calls to” Moshe to go up Har Sinai, to receive the Torah commandments, and thus, to teach those to HIS people. In both occasions, “fire” is what separated Moshe from Adonai, yet Adonai still “called to” and said to “come near” This is the third time, at the beginning of Leviticus, the Mishkan is finished, and the glory cloud rests on it, and then, Adonai “calls to” Moshe, to “come near”. The tabernacle has been built according to Adonai’s instructions, it is HIS home, and now, He invites Moshe and the priests into HIS home. Today, Adonai “calls to us all” to come near his glory, through our relationship with Messiah Yeshua, who bridges that “gap” of distance, through his own blood, He is the “Korban” that brings us near, we are sinful, and He is holy. We responded to His call, because He calls us by name! We start the book of Leviticus, this part of the Torah has to do with the Mishkan (the tabernacle) now ready to be used, and the sacrificial system that will be instituted within the Mishkan. All the sacrifices point to and illustrate MESSIAH YESHUA (Jesus the Christ) who he is and what his one-time sacrifice means to us as believers. Even though the sacrificial system was completed with Messiah’s death on Calvary, it is still worthwhile studying the meaning of it all, since it is a very integral part of the Torah. One interesting part of the word; “Vayikra” is that in Hebrew, there is a small “Aleph” at the end of the word. Some ask why? Why is the “Aleph” small and a bit elevated? One answer is that it reminds us that we must approach God in a humble way, we must humble ourselves when we look up to HIM. The other answer is that Adonai “humbled” himself when He came to earth as man, in the form of Yeshua, exposing himself to heat, cold, happiness, sadness, getting tired, and finally, feeling the pain of the nails and the whips, all for our sakes. The letter “Alef” is really made up of one “Vav” and two “yods” one on one side of the “Vav” and the other on the other side, one on top and one on the bottom. One can see the symbolism, two “hands” and the “nail”. Two “Yods” and one “Vav” sum “26” and also the sacred name YHVH also sums “26” in gematria. The first thing you must do is read over the scripture verses, from Chapter 1:1 through 6:7. Now we are ready for a discussion. The whole idea of a “Korban” (offering) is to generate the idea of “substitution”. Also, the word “Korban” symbolizes “coming close to God.” Our sin separates us from God, yet through the blood, in our case, the blood of Yeshua, we come “close” to God. The sacrificial system involves; a gift, a death, a substitute, and a renewed “close” relationship. “The gift (HaMatanah)” comes from the person offering, which is an animal. The animal, which would be a goat, a lamb, a bull, or a bird, would be killed and the blood splattered on the altar (Mizbeach), the animal would be a “substitute” for the person who offers it. The sins of the person “transfer” to the animal. Through the sacrifice, the relationship between the offeror and YHVH is renewed. But remember that the “sacrifices” are just symbolic of what they really mean, Which is Messiah Yeshua taking on ALL of our sins and him being nailed to the cross, and shedding his blood for our sins, giving us a “renewed” relationship with Him, through a “born-again” experience. There were 5 kinds of “korbanot” (offerings); 1. The burnt offering (Olah) 2. The sin offering, 3. The guilt or trespass offering; 4. The Peace offering (Korban Shelamim) 5. The grain or meat offering (Minchah). Each one identifies our relationship with Messiah Yeshua. THE BURNT OFFERING (Olah) This involved an animal sacrifice, the animal was completely burned on the altar and the ashes were taken away and buried “outside the camp” the head, the inner organs, and the legs were burned as well. The pieces of the animal were arranged on the altar and burned. The head could symbolize our “thoughts” and the inner organs could represent our “inner being, the heart, and the legs, our “walk” all of these were “offered up” to YHVH, thus symbolizing our “complete surrender to God in all that we are and have. The altar as you remember was made of hardwood overlaid with bronze and had a grill in the middle, and under the grill were earth and stones. Wood was laid on the grill and the animals were cut up and laid on the grill and burned. This reminds us of Yeshua who was “sacrificed” by his own free will on a WOODEN cross and was consumed by the “fires of judgment” He was judged for OUR SINS. The animal’s throat was cut and the blood was poured out and splashed on the altar. The person offering the animal showed that he/his family was “offering themselves to the LORD”. It also symbolizes our awareness of our sin nature. This sacrifice originated in Genesis, with Adam and Eve, Abel offered an “Olah Korban” so did Abraham, when he offered up the ram instead of his son Isaac, and so did Noah, when he left the ark. THE SIN OFFERING (korban chatat) This also involved an animal sacrifice. It symbolized our specific sins that we commit by mistake, (active) or something we do not do, or forget to do (passive). In this korban, the person would offer the animal as a sacrifice, the person would place his hands on the head of the animal, transferring his “sins” into the animal, which would be the “substitute. The animal’s throat would be cut and the blood splattered on the altar. The priest would offer on the altar the fat, the liver, and the kidneys of the animal. These could symbolize our inner being. In this, the person confessed their sins and they did it by free will, and the animal symbolized Yeshua who paid our sin price in full. THE TRESPASS OR GUILT OFFERING; This involved the same process, only that the person who committed an offense against another would also have to bring compensation for the wrongdoing, either in payment in silver or gold or payment with animals. When we offend another person, be the person a brother or sister in Messiah or an unbeliever, we need to “compensate” the sin, if we can do it, sometimes, we cannot, if the sin is against the person’s character, no amount of money can repay the damage done, only a sincere confession in humbleness. So, we need to watch our “walk”. THE PEACE OFFERING (Shelamim). The word “Shelamim” comes from “Shalom” (peace) this was an enjoyable sacrifice in which both the priest and the offeror and his family would enjoy “roast beef, goat, or lamb” This was a “thankfulness” offering for blessings received. The animal was offered in the same way, only the meat was shared between the priest and his family, and the offeror and his family. We see this kind of “korban” even today in the parks, when families go out and BBQ ribs (hopefully beef and not pork) chicken, beef sausage, steaks, etc., many times they invite friends and family to enjoy in the “grilling and BBQ” they also have bread, or tostadas, tortillas, drinks, salad, etc. to accompany the meal. THE MEAL OR MEAT OFFERING (Minchah) this was a non-blood offering on the altar, in this korban, fine flour was offered, mixed with olive oil, and frankincense, and also, the flour was made into cakes, rolls of bread, or flatbreads (tortillas) but made without leaven or honey. These usually accompanied the peace offerings, to make the meal a “feast”. The fine flour symbolizes “YESHUA THE BREAD OF LIFE” the oil THE RUACH HA KODESH (The Holy Spirit) the frankincense, OUR FELLOWSHIP THROUGH PRAYER. The animal itself represented Yeshua who gave his life for us and took upon himself ALL of our sins, past, present, and future. The word “KORBAN” (sacrifice) comes from the Hebrew verb KARAV which means; “to come near” We can only come near to YHVH through the shed blood of Messiah Yeshua, who was the “sacrificed lamb” the Bible says that “without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission of sins” Our sins were “atoned for once and forever. That is why the “new covenant” or “renewed” covenant is a BETTER covenant, because there is no more need for animal sacrifices, because YESHUA took their place. Ben Avraham

Well, the color blue reminds us of Heaven, the sky, even a bit of royalty, since mank Kings wore robes of purple and blue.

PARASHA: VaYakhel (and he assembled) and P’Kudei (Accountings of) EX 35:1-38:20 and EX 38:21-40:38 Before embarking on this Parasha, there is one point from last week that I would like to bring to light. It is in Exodus 34:7 “Keeping mercy” (Notzer Chesed). In the Hebrew Bible, the first letter of the word “Notzer” is enlarged, a large “Nun”. Yet why? Some rabbis say that it is the first time that this word is used. If we were to look at the word “notzer” in Paleo-Hebrew symbolism, would see the word as; “The first righteous one who gives life”. Since the “Nun” is enlarged, perhaps we could look at it as “life-eternal” something “bigger” than our life on earth. Who is it that “keeps mercy” for many thousands, if not millions who trust in Him? Is it not Yeshua who was raised in “Nazareth” (Natzeret) as a (Notzri) Nazarene? In both words, we have the same three letters, “Nun” “Tzadik” and “Resh” “N” “TZ” and “R”. Can we say that Exodus 34:7 is a shadow of “Yeshua” who is the one who “keeps mercy” reserved for all who trust and believe in Him? I would say so! These are the final chapters of Exodus (Shemot) and Moshe talks about honoring the Sabbath day, the prohibition of lighting a fire on the Sabbath, gathering an offering to build the tabernacle and its furnishings, the appointment of persons to make certain items, and finally, the building project in detail and the outcome. All these are worth talking about. ” Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of rest to YHVH” ” You shall kindle no fire throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath day.” These are very important statements, commandments repeated from before. Even before the building project begins, YHVH wants his people to know the work days, rules, and regulations. In this “work-a-holic” world in which we live, the believer should know when to stop and rest. YHVH commands it, for our own good and mental soundness. Too many people work all seven days a week, perhaps 10 or more hours each day to make a “lot of money” only to spend the extra money at the hospital when they have a nervous breakdown because of all the extra work hours. The Sabbath is a day to spend with the family, at the family’s place of worship., be it at a synagogue or at a church. It is a time to spend with the LORD, to worship, learn from HIS WORD, and fellowship with other believers. It is a time to leave the things of the house alone, perhaps eat out, and return home at the end of the Sabbath. It is intended as a “day of rest” so, “rest” means exactly that, “rest”. When we look at the commandment; “Thou shalt kindle no fire throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath” we need to ask ourselves, what was fire used mainly for? Probably for cooking! To boil water, prepare food in different ways. Manna fell from the sky and the Israelites perhaps ate it as is, or boiled it, and made it into bread, they probably roasted goats or lambs from the flocks, and heated ovens for “Manna flat bread” It was a task and a half to start and maintain a fire, cooking, preparing and all that. So, YHVH is saying STOP! just for the Sabbath, and take a break from it all. Stop slaving over the hot stove and rest, prepare something on Friday, that is why HE gave a “double-portion” of Manna on Friday. Today, how can we put that “mitzvah” into good use without “overdoing it” as some Jewish sects do, not, turning on a light switch, not driving a car, etc? Well, to start, we can prepare meals for Saturday on Friday, and on the Sabbath, just heat them up. Another idea, eat something light like salad and sandwiches. Many churches and synagogues have the custom of eating out or eating “in”. Some Jewish synagogues have “Oneg” a lunch prepared for the members and guests after service. Some church Sunday school classes go out to eat as families after services on Sundays. Why not? Give the housewife or house-husband a break from kitchen duty! Don’t they deserve it? Anyway, the Sabbath was made for man and woman, to “rest” take it easy, and enjoy the some time with God. Another way we can look at this commandment is that “kindling a fire” could also refer to our “tempers” many have very hot tempers which flare up. The Sabbath is a time of peace, not to sow arguments over this and that, just take it easy and relax, let our temperaments be cool and calm. If someone wants to start an argument on the Sabbath, just walk away and leave it alone. It can wait for another day. The rest of these two Parashot have to do with the Tabernacle. The order to build it, to take up an offering of materials, to assign workers, to “build it” to “put it all together” and finally, to invite YHVH to come down and dwell in it, which he DID, at the close of the book of Exodus. So, go ahead and read the chapters. How can we look at this in light of our lives as born-again believers in Messiah Yeshua? The “tabernacle” today is YHVH’s dwelling place which is each and every “Kehilah” (congregation) where born-again believers meet to worship the LORD, singing praises and teaching his WORD. The tabernacle is also the body of all believers, with the Ruach HaKodesh dwelling inside of us! YHVH has given each and every believer some gift and talent to “maintain” the “Mishkan of Believers” as YHVH chose different individuals to build the furniture of the Mishkan, so HE has selected different believers with different talents to maintain the Kehilah. The root word of “Mishkan” are the letters SH+K+N, (Shaken) meaning to “dwell with” or one could say “to live among” This is the Hebrew word for “Tabernacle” (Mishkan). If we are to look at this word from an ancient Hebraic view, the letters would be “Sheen” (the all-consuming fire) “Kaph” (anointing), and “Nun” (life). We can see the symbolism in these three letters; “The All-consuming fire (Adonai) wants to anoint the lives (of all believers) through HIS presence and ministry of teaching from his Torah, through his chosen teachers, preachers, rabbis, etc. He inhabited the Tabernacle with HIS divine presence and ministered to the People of Israel through the Levites and the priests. When we look at the gematria for the letters “Sheen” “kaph” and “Nun” we get 300+20+50 = 370. We can look at this sum through symbolism seeing; Elohim (300) who is perfect (7) is eternal (0). 3+7+0=10. 10 is the number of the Law (Torah) His Word is Perfect, for all eternity. So, what does every article of tabernacle furniture symbolize in relationship with Yeshua and believers? 1. The Mishkan itself with the curtains, poles, staves, etc. = A “fence” to keep holiness in and ungodliness out! Once inside, you are in the holy place, where YHVH dwells, and where the priests minister. Our Kehilot are “holy places” where the LORD dwells and where we join for fellowship with other believers. 2. “Aron HaKodesh” (The Ark of the Covenant) the “heart” of the Mishkan, where the tablets of the commandments are kept, together with a pot of Manna, and Aron’s rod. It symbolizes the believer who “should” shine like “gold” both inwardly as well as outwardly. We should be mindful of the commandments to put them into action as “unto good works” Yeshua is our “Manna” the “Bread of Life” and the Rod of Aron is our “Rod of authority, our high priesthood of believers” the “Shekinah glory” which rested above the mercy seat is the everlasting presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. 3. “The Table of Incense” it symbolizes our prayers as they go up “like smoke” unto the heavenlies, even to the Throne of Grace. One thing to point out, all the furniture with the exception of the Menorah, was made of Acacia wood overlaid with gold, the wood symbolizes the humanity of Yeshua and the gold “purity”. The incense was made of various ingredients but making an exact replica of the original substance is forbidden, most worshippers today that use incense use a mixture of Frankincense and Myrrh, which is readily available. It is a relaxing aroma that helps one to go to sleep at night. 4. “The Golden Menorah” was made of one solid piece of gold, hammered, and formed into a seven-branch candlestick. It had seven lamps which were filled with olive oil and burned all night. In the morning, the priest would come into the Holy Place and trim the wicks and re-fill the lamps with olive oil. We look at the Menorah as “Yeshua Ha Or Olam” (Yeshua who is the light of the world, the Eternal Light) we are the 6 branches that are on either side of the “Shamash” the helper lamp which is in the middle, Yeshua said, “Ye are the light of the world” that means “every believer is a light in dark places” but our light comes from Yeshua” we have no light of our own, like the moon, moonlight is sunlight reflected off the lunar surface. The oil symbolizes the Ruach Ha Kodesh, (The Holy Spirit) and the wicks are “us” we need to be in contact with the “oil” in order to have brightness. 5. “The Table of Shewbread” was made of hardwood overlaid with gold. Had 12 loaves of bread, symbolizing the 12 tribes of Israel. The table and bread symbolize “Yeshua HaLechem Chayim” (Yeshua the Bread of Life) This reminds us of the "unleavened bread at the time of Passover, that also symbolizes "Yeshua" who bore our sins. 6. Outside the holy place are two items, the bronze laver, and the Brazen Altar. The bronze laver was a huge bronze bowl filled with water. The priests would wash their hands and feet after offering blood sacrifices. It was made of bronze which symbolizes “judgment” when the water was still, the priest would see his reflection in the water. When we look in still water, or in a mirror, we see our reflection, we see who we are, sinners saved by grace, yet we still have a sinful nature, and Yeshua went through “judgment” in our place, we have been “washed” in his blood and made clean. Remember that Yeshua washed the feet of his talmidim. 7. “the Bronze Altar” (Mizbeach) (pronunciation = “ach” like Johann Sebastian Bach) not “beach” which is by the ocean. This was made of hardwood overlaid with bronze, symbolizing the humanity of Yeshua who was judged in the “fires of our sin”. The animal sacrifices were performed on this altar, the blood was poured out at the base of the altar, and the animals roasted on a grill. Think of the Mizbeach as a big BBQ pit. The brazen altar symbolizes the cross of Messiah Yeshua, and the animals symbolizing Yeshua himself who poured out his blood for us sinners, who incurred “our judgment” in his own body. We see the materials that went into building the tabernacle; gold, silver, bronze, fine linen, wood, blue, purple, scarlet, and animal skins, They all have symbolic meanings; Gold=purity (of Messiah) and the goal of every follower of Mashiach, Silver=redemption (Yeshua redeemed us from the curse of sin) bronze=Judgment (Yeshua was judged for our sins, Fine linen= our new nature and our walk with the LORD, wood=Humanity of Messiah, Blue=Heaven, Purple=Royalty, (we are royalty in Messiah Yeshua, part of his royal family) Scarlet=blood. Animal skins=the covering of our sins before, but now, our sins have been erased, not just covered. At the end of Exodus, in 40:38 it says that YHVH settled upon the Mishkan in a cloud. Now his presence is visible. Messiah is still with us in the form of the Holy Spirit, WE are the living Tabernacles and the Spirit of God lives in our hearts, as well as within the “Kehilot” of believers who come together for worship. We read that “Bezalel” was chosen by Adonai to build many pieces of furniture that went into the Mishkan. He was filled with the “Ruach Elohim” (The Spirit of God) so as to fulfill this tremendous task. He was given “Knowledge” (da’at) “Understanding” (Binah) and “Wisdom” or skill (Chochma). Today, we acquire knowledge from books, or through listening to others, we can read the WORD and acquire knowledge, but hopefully, it will not stop there. From knowledge we get “understanding” and from there, we put those to use in the form of “wisdom” or “skills”. “Bezaleel” is introduced as “Bezaleel, son of Uri, son of Hur of the tribe of Y’hudah” the rabbis say that he is given three names, or three identities, Bezaleel, Son of Uri, Son of Hur. Even though we know that it is the same person. In a way, we have three names or three identities. One name is the name that our parents gave us. Another name could be how the community around us may call us, like “teacher” “helper” “counselor” “pastor” “rabbi” etc, the third name is the name that Adonai will give us in the World to Come. We will have an “eternal name” that perhaps, may reflect on the kind of life we lived on earth. “B’tzel’el” means “in the shadow of EL” (God). So, he walked in HIS shadow, as an obedient servant, and was given the blessing of building a great part of the Mishkan. Together, using our spiritual gifts, we all contribute in building-up our congregations in serving God.

PARASHA: “Ki Tisa” (when you elevate) EXODUS 30:11-34:35 Here’s an interesting question; “Does God have faces? If yes, how many? Think about this question and we’ll come to the answer later on in this study. Can a man look upon the "face" of God and live to tell about it? we'll soon find out. This parashah starts out by numbering the people, those who are 20 years old and older, Each person has to give one-half shekel of silver. (about $4.50). Since it is not appropriate to count “people” perhaps as to not trust in “numbers” for strength, which might lead to pride, YHVH tells Moshe to collect silver, and for each half-shekel of silver, one person is represented. The silver is to be used for the Mishkan, for repair and maintenance. The count was also to determine those eligible to be part of the army of Israel, a fighting force that would conquer the pagans of Canaan in the future. Every born-again believer is “numbered” in the eyes of YHVH for HIS army of adopted sons and daughters, we are fighting a spiritual battle against a hardened enemy, HaSatan, who has his own army of demons, devils, and unsaved humans working for him. Even though there will be many battles, the war has already been won, it was won 2000 years ago, on Calvary’s cross. YHVH came down in flesh and blood and paid our sin price in full. We are fighting against an enemy who has lost the war, but he has an attitude and will not relent, He wants to cause havoc among all believers. YHVH commands Moshe to prepare incense and anointing oil. The incense is to be used in worship, burned on the table of incense, which is before the “Kadosh-Kedoshim” (Holy of Holies), and also, on the bread, and on the sacrifices. Incense is still used today in religious services, it has a calming effect on the emotional and nervous systems of those who are around it. There are many distinct aromas, the aromas that are similar to the incense that was used in the tabernacle and temple would be frankincense and some even say “musk” scent, however, no one can be sure of the original ingredients, what they are today, besides, YHVH prohibits an exact duplication of the formula. Some people light incense before going to bed at night. We do, using frankincense and Myrrh. The anointing oil was used to anoint the Levites and priests “on their heads” and not on the flesh, the ingredients were sweet cinnamon, calamus, cassia, myrrh, and olive oil, there are oils today that are used for anointing, yet it was prohibited to replicate the “exact” recipe. In Remez, the incense symbolizes our prayers that go upward toward heaven, and the oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit who is with us all the time. Through the Ruach HaKodesh, our prayers go up and are heard by our Messiah Yeshua. We see later on in this parashah that Moshe goes up Mt. Sinai to receive the tablets of the Mitzvoth, and as we all know the story, after a while, the people wonder; “and Moshe? What happened to him?” their faith was weak, and when faith is weak, the enemy HaSatan will take advantage, Aaron who was left in charge was pressured into relenting, with gold earrings, the people made a “golden Calf”. “This is our god,” they said, could one think that they replaced YHVH with this false god? The Egyptian god “hapis” took the form of a cow or bull, and perhaps, they had a miniature one of those gods with them. I would think they still believed in YHVH but they wanted to “See” with their eyes, some kind of form, breaking of course the commandment, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image”. True faith is “believing” even if we cannot see something that is invisible. Yeshua said to his talmidim; “Blessed are those who do not see yet believe”. Do we trust Adonai, even when we cannot see the immediate results? That is what testing is all about, He will try our faith, will we trust HIM even unto the end? YHVH lives in the infinite dimension of time and space, while we live in the finite dimension. He can see the end while we can’t even see around the corner. He has everything under control, we just have to believe and wait on him, as the Israelites should have done. It would have saved a lot of grief, lives, and dishonor. Moshe comes back down only to witness the disaster, and breaks the tablets as a sign of a “broken covenant” between YHVH and the people. It is like getting married and on the same wedding night, the bride goes out and commits adultery. YHVH wants to DESTROY the people and start over with Moshe. YET, Moshe intercedes before YHVH for Am Israel. Just as Moshe interceded, so did YESHUA intercede before the Father on our behalf, and still does. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Yeshua’s words). “Yet now, if you will forgive their sin, and if not, blot ME out of thy book” (Moshe’s words) and…. YHVH forgave them. Just like YHVH forgives us of our sins, when we confess and turn from our wicked ways. Now we will answer the question; Does God have faces? If yes, how many? First of all, we know that this is not literal, since God is not human, so as to say He has a face or faces. So, this must be a Derashic question, with a spiritual or symbolic answer. The reason for this is because we read in Exodus 33:11; “YHVH would speak to Moses face to face, as one man speaks to another..” Yet in another part of scripture, we read: “You can not see my face, for man may not see me and live” (Exodus 33:20) So, how did Moshe and God speak “face to face?” The English reads, “face to face” but in the original Hebrew, it reads; “Panim El Panim” or “faces to faces” The word “El” could also be read as “God” because that is one of His names. So we could also look at it as; “faces God faces” It makes no sense in English, but in Hebrew, it does make sense. When a person has mood changes, the face changes as well. We can make “sad faces’ “happy faces” “ angry faces” etc… So, let’s read on and see if we can understand “Panim El Panim”. Moshe wants to see the glory “HaKavod YHVH” he goes back up for a second copy of the commandments. “Show me thy glory!” the LORD responded; “I will make all my goodness go before thee” yet, he said that no one could see the “face” of YHVH, who can look upon the pure essence of YHVH? For it would drive the spirit out of the body, So, as YHVH passed by, Moshe saw the “after-effect” the “tail end”. Yet 70 elders and Moses "saw" God on his throne, and saw the emerald floor beneath the throne. So, they "Saw" God, yet lived to tell about it. It could be like trying to look a the mid-day sun in full summertime. You can't it is too bright. However, you could look at the sunrise and the sunset with no problem. It's the same sun yet at different times, with different potentials. Perhaps, what the elders saw was the "glory" of God in a less powerful and pure state. It could be similar to my experience in seeing Haley’s comet back in 1987. While I was in college, I went to Lynchburg College Observatory which was open to the public, we could see Haley’s comet going back out into space and I saw the “tail end” of the comet, which was just a faint glow at that time. Now Moshe gets the second set of tablets, and YHVH gives them to him with these words: “YHVH, YHVH God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy unto the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and their children’s children……” Could we dare say that these “attributes” or “personalities” could be expressed in the words “Panim El Panim” The “faces of God’s character?” He has the face of mercy, the face of Grace, the face of long-suffering, the faces of goodness and truth, the face of forgiveness, yet He also has the faces of judgment, punishment, wrath, and jealousy “El Kana” (Jealous God) This is something to think about and ponder over. These are good descriptions of our God. He IS full of mercy and showed us grace, in that we were yet sinners, He came to earth in human form and died for us all. He is “long-suffering” in that he puts up with our “stuff’ our “attitudes” and “rebellions” and gives us second, third, and fourth “chances” to repent, He could have wiped out Israel in one second, but he didn’t. He gave us his Torah, the Bible which is full of “goodness” and IS the TRUTH, he forgives sin, but ONLY when we come to him as repentant sinners and trust Yeshua as our Savior and LORD. He does not clear the guilty ONLY WHEN the guilty DO NOT REPENT! And yes, the sins of the fathers can affect the children, just look at the public schools today, the students are rebellious, and disrespectful because they have learned that from THEIR PARENTS! If the kids hear the parents fuss and cuss, they will too, If the parents smoke dope, they will have the tendency to do the same, children will copy their parents in all ways, HOWEVER, the blood of Yeshua can heal all of that, the generational curses can be cut short when YESHUA comes into the lives of families. Moshe returns to the congregation with the new set of tablets, and YHVH instructs him and reminds him of his commandments, “Yes, I will go before thee…only observe all that I am commanding thee this day…. And toward the end, YHVH mentions, “thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother’s milk” which is a repeated commandment, this was discussed before, it symbolizes a separation between, “life and death” of the “clean and unclean” Moshe comes down “glowing” like a thousand-watt light bulb, why? He has been in the presence of YHVH right there, in the middle of the Shekinah glory! If he glowed with God’s glory, Moshe being a sinner like all of us, can you imagine how Adam and Eve glowed before the fall? Being in constant fellowship with Elohim? It was only after the fall that the “light covering” left, and they found themselves “naked!” In stead of seeing the "glory" of God, which passed by within a few seconds maybe, he received a revelation in His NAME! The WORD and revelation last forever, while an image or vision is temporary. Yeshua said; “Ye are the light of the world” Yes, we are, yet we have no light of our own, we reflect the light of Messiah Yeshua, in our own lives. Is our light bright, like that which reflected from Moshe? Or…dim? Moshe asks YHVH a very interesting question; “You say bring this people up, but who is going with me?” Without guidance, we can go nowhere. It is like walking in the dark without a flashlight or being in the middle of the ocean without a compass. Where will we go? Who will lead us? Adonai has the answer Moshe is searching for; “My presence goes, and I shall give you rest” (vs 14) The “Ruach Elohim” will go with the people, and they will receive “shalom”. There are two kinds of rest, “physical rest” from our labors, and “spiritual rest” that is from within us. Before, we were burdened with the curse of sin, but once we accept Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Christ) as our LORD and Savior, we have his “presence” inside of us to give us “peace” (shalom) Moshe wants to experience the “essence” of YHVH, but who can know who He really is? Can we grasp the meaning of the universe? The mind of God? We are limited, to what we can fathom as fallen beings, but YHVH listens to Moshe and gives him an answer; “I shall cause all my goodness to pass before you, and I shall proclaim the Name of YHVH………See, there is a place with me, and you shall stand on the ROCK……. (vss 19,21) There was a special place, a special ROCK, where Moshe was placed, he “Stood” upon the ROCK” (HaTzur) In the picturesque/symbolic ancient Hebrew, the letters can symbolize, “The first Tzadik to receive the nail” The ROCK symbolizes YESHUA, who IS the TZADIK (the righteous one) who received the Nail and paid our sin price in full, and thus…giving us SHALOM (rest) from our spiritual torment of being lost, sinners. The name YHVH proclaimed is HAVAYAH, (the essence of existence) who is “Haya” (the past) Hoveh (the present), and “Yiyah” (the future) and who is YESHUAH (salvation of YAH) Ben Avraham At radio station KYST-920 AM on the dial, Saturday morning Bible study in Spanish, from 6:30 am to 8:00 am, we're online if you want to tune in.

A QUICK MIDRASH ON THE BOOK OF ESTHER, SINCE PURIM IS UPON US. The Festival of Purim (lots) starts this year tonight, March 6th and goes through March 8th. Tonight is a full moon. It seems like all of God's appointed days are "full moon" days. So, what is Purim all about? We need to go to the Book of Esther because it all starts there. A long time ago, in a palace called Sushan, in the kingdom of Persia, there was a king named Ahasuerus who had just a little too much to drink, he had a 180-day party and all the wine you wanted. On one occasion, he called for his wife to show her off to all of his drunk friends. She refused to obey because she had her own party and was entertaining her own friends as well. She refused to be an object of lust before her husband's friends and VIPs. That decision got her fired as wife and queen. Vashti said "No" to the king, her integrity cost her her position as queen. When King Ahasuerus sobered up and the Manischewitz ran out, and he realized what he had done, there would be no going back since it was a final and permanent decree, Vashti would be no more wife nor queen, so, Persia was without a queen and the king without a wife. ” OK then, let's have a beauty contest, the prettiest girl gets to be queen, that'll work,” said his advisors and that was what happened. So, we know the rest of the story, Esther (Hadassah) the niece of Mordechai becomes queen. This is not by accident, even though YHVH's name is never mentioned, He is still controlling the situation. The Book of Esther reveals YHVH's activity in spite of his name being omitted. He is still there on the scene, behind the scene, controlling all the events; We can even see symbolism in the characters and events. Did it just happen that Vashti got fired and the king arranged for a beauty contest? And that of all the pretty women in the kingdom, all virgins, that Hadassah (Esther) was chosen... I would say that YHVH arranged the whole thing...put everything and everyone in its place and in his and her place, for a reason. HaSatan is always out to destroy the Jewish people, and this time, he used Haman to try and do it. So, Haman is a type of HaSatan. God places Mordechai at the right place at the right time, in order to learn of two plots, one plot to assassinate the king, the other to murder all the Jews of the provinces controlled by Persia. He sends word to his niece, now queen, of the plans, both plans were revealed by Mordechai, to Queen Esther. Now she has to let the king know. But he hasn't sent for her in a month, to go before the king without being summoned is a death penalty, but she prays and fasts and so do the Jews of the Shushan area, Since the king loves Esther, He receives her, she touches his scepter, and she invites him to two parties, along with Haman, Now Haman already has an attitude against Mordechai since he will not bow before his presence, I think YHVH has a bit of a sense of humor, Haman rides on a horse and looks down at the people under him, and everyone bows before him in homage, except Mordechai. Now, The king orders Mordechai to ride a horse, and wear a crown, and royal apparel, while Haman is below him and has to look up! Interesting change of events. Haman's plot to have the Jews killed is revealed, and the king is wroth. He orders Haman to be hanged on the same gallows (75 feet high) that he meant for Mordechai. That was one big and tall neck-stretcher! Haman probably grew a few more inches in a matter of seconds in that fall from “heaven to earth” by a rope. Remind you of someone who was cast down from “the heavens to earth?” a few thousand years ago? The Jews defended themselves on the 13th day of Adar, which was today, March 6th! And won the battle, they also collected the “spoils of war” which was a custom back then, and still is in some parts. To the victor go the spoils, like weapons, money, combat equipment, etc., that the enemy used. Mordechai, who became a leader under the king much as Pharaoh appointed Yosef as Vizor, appointed the days 14h and 15th of Adar as two days to remember, and we should also remember the 13th as well, the day that the Jews gained victory over their enemies. This year, 2023, they are March 6th, 7th, and 8th. The King and Esther can symbolize YHVH and mankind, the only way to gain access to our Heavenly Father is through YESHUA, the scepter can symbolize YESHUA, we can only come by invitation, the Father invites us to come to him THROUGH YESHUA, if the scepter is not extended, you don't come, without the scepter, death is for sure, We can look at it this way too. Esther can symbolize YESHUA, and the king, our Heavenly Father, As Esther intervened before the king for her people, so does YESHUA intervene before the Father on our behalf. Esther, the bride, and wife, can also symbolize all believers, the “Kehilah” of Messiah. And the king, Messiah Yeshua. As King Ahasuerus loved Esther so much that he listened to her petition, so Yeshua loves his bride and soon-to-be wife, so much that he gave up his life for us all, on Calvary's cross. His bride consists of all believers everywhere. He listens to our petitions and our prayers, and he responds according to his perfect will. Satan was defeated again back then. Never bow the head or knee to HaSatan, as Mordechai resisted Haman, so should all believers resist the temptations that are thrown at us by the father of lies. So, let us rejoice this day and tomorrow, remembering the Feast of Lots, (Purim) which fell upon the 13th day of Adar, a day meant for the destruction of the Jewish people, but death and destruction were changed to continued life and prosperity for “b'nei Israel” and so we continue to exist, and will always exist, and be the apple of our Savior's eye, for all eternity. THE BOOK OF ESTHER - Midrash and Symbolism The reading of the book of Esther during the time of Purim is customary, and when one reads the entire book, one will notice that the name of God is never mentioned. We do not see the name of God written in the entire book, yet the intervention of Adonai is clearly there. There is also symbolism in the characters that play a part in this true Biblical drama of suspense and final victory. The characters are; King Ahasuerus, king of Persia, Vashti, Esther, Mordechai, and Haman. There are more characters but these are the main players. As we know from the reading, the king throws a six-month party, gets drunk, and invites queen Vashti to his part of the party to show her to his guests, she refuses, she is deposed, and she is replaced by Esther who becomes the new queen of Persia. The first symbolism that we could see is this; The king could be a picture of Yeshua who receives his bride (Esther) He extends the scepter to receive her, and when we accept Yeshua as Messiah and LORD in our lives, we are joining in the “body of the bride”. (of course, we would never imagine our Messiah as a drunkard, that would be the exception). The second symbolism could be that the king symbolizes the master. The master calls for his servant (Vashti) she refuses the master’s request to come. The master then turns to the second servant, (Esther) and she accepts the follow the master (in marriage). Which one of the servants do we identify ourselves with? Of course, with Esther. We must be careful never to say “No” to our LORD, Messiah, and Master, least we be replaced by someone else who will heed the calling. Saying “No” to Yeshua in serving him in ways of his calling could result in lost blessings, being replaced by someone else who WILL obey. The third symbolism can be in the character of Mordechai. He acted as Esther’s counselor and advisor. He supported her in all ways. We as the body of Mashiach need counselors in ministry, those that will support us, and guide us. There are no “Lone Rangers” in ministry. As the Apostle Paul had Barnabas, we also need our “Mordechai” who will advise us and give us that “push” when we need to be “pushed” a bit. The fourth symbolism is that of Haman, who of course, as we can all imagine, symbolizes Satan, who wishes to destroy the Jewish people. Esther and the King team up to destroy Haman. She invites the king and Haman to her party, and Haman gets stretched out on the end of the rope. Now, here is something interesting that can be seen only in the original Hebrew language. In Esther 9:7-9 it mentions the 10 sons of Haman who were executed and hung on the gallows for all to see besides their father Haman. In the original Hebrew text, there is a long space between each of the sons of Haman. 10 sons, and 10 spaces between the names, but why? Could this be pointing to something? It would be like writing the deaths of John Jones, and____________________________Bobby Brown, and____________________________Joe Blow, and______________________ . In the spelling of the names of three of the sons of Haman, some of the Hebrew letters are written in miniature. 5 letters in all. One letter, the "Vav" is enlarged, so we have 6. The letters "Sheen" (sh) "Tav" (T) and "Zayin" (Z) total 707 in gematria. We count "6" times from Adam, 707 Adam 0-707, 1707, 2707, 3707, 4707, 5707. These are thousands of years according to the Hebrew calendar. the year 5707 happens to be 1946, the year of the Nuremberg Nazi criminal trials. Guess how many Nazi criminals were hung on the gallows? 10! So, we can, in a way, write the names of those criminals in the spaces between the sons of Haman; 1. Hans Frank, 2. Wilhem Frick, 3 Alfred Jodl, 4. Ernst Kaltenbrunner, 5. Wilhem Keitel, 6. Joachim Von Ribbentrop, 7. Afred Rosenberg, 8. Fritz Sauckel, 9. Arthur Seyss-Inquart, 10. Julius Streicher. Like Haman and his sons, the enemies of Israel, these men, who also hated the Jews, also met a like fate. So, we can put them all together, 20 enemies of the Jews who were judged and condemned to death. Satan was behind all of this of course. Yeshua destroyed the curse of sin and death whose author is Satan. Satan was conquered at Calvary’s cross. The body of Messiah, his beloved bride and “queen” is also involved because when we direct a person to accept Yeshua as Messiah and LORD, being “Born-again” (John 3:3) we are taking another soul from the grasp of HaSatan. We are pulling the “rope” that hangs Haman. And as the word “Purim” starts with the letter “P” (Pey) and ends with the letter “M” (mem) we are to use our “mouth” (Pey) to share this story with the “masses of humanity” (mem) to all who would listen and understand. Ben Avraham

EZEKIEL 43: 10-27 The prophet receives a vision of the heavenly temple, which is an exact replica of the tabernacle and temple on earth. When YHVH gave the instructions to Moshe to make the tabernacle and later, when Solomon built the temple, it was with the plan of the heavenly temple that was in mind. When Yeshua died for our sins, He went up to the Heavenlies and placed his own blood on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant, meaning that our sins are forgiven, erased, and blotted out forever! One day soon, we will all see that heavenly temple with our new eyes created for eternity. Every piece of furniture, both in the Mishkan (the tabernacle) and the "Beit HaMikdash" (The Temple) points to Yeshua/Jesus. The Brazen Altar = HIS atoning death and judgment of our sins. The Bronze Lavar = Yeshua the Living Water. The Menorah = Yeshua, the Light of the World. The Golden table of Shewbread = Yeshua, the Bread of Life. The Altar of Incense = Our prayers and HIS mediation between us and the Father. The Ark of the Covenant = His Holy presence forever. MARK 5:1-6:56 This is when Yeshua heals the man who was possessed by demons. There were one thousand demons inside the body of this man, since demons are in the spirit world, the physical body is not an obstacle, no, they didn't feel “crowded”. And since the demons have to obey the voice of God, they left, and as we read, they went into the bodies of swine. we can see how far away some Israelites were, from walking in fellowship and obedience to the Torah, since they herded swine, which was and still is, an unclean animal, unsuitable for eating although many Christians believe the contrary. When the swine took a suicide leap from the cliff into the Sea of Galilee, they told Yeshua to “Leave”! Imagine that, telling “God” that he was not welcome in their city. “Hey, you just ruined our business, get out of here!” well, THEY had no business herding and raising pigs, to begin with. Sheep and goats would have been better. How do we react when God calls our attention to something, do we tell him to “get away from us?” or do we “welcome” his visit and correct our sinful ways? The man who was demonized, now in his right mind wanted to follow Yeshua, yet Yeshua told him; “go and tell what has happened to you to your family and people” Even though he wanted to follow Yeshua personally, Yeshua sent him on another mission, to “evangelize and be a living witness” He had credibility, since everyone knew him. YHVH sends each and every one of us on special missions to fulfill while we are on earth. He has equipped each and every believer with the gifts of the spirit to fulfill our missions. Let us be faithful to HIM who has provided us with such a blessing as eternal life. Shalom Ben Avraham

Thank you for your comment Marilyn, hope all is well in Aussieland. Stay away from those Funnelweb spiders. I hear they pack a painful bite. Hey GrahamPaul, you DID buy the book that describes all, or rather "books" 66 in all!

PARASHA: “Tetsaveh” (you shall command) EXODUS 27:20-30 In this parashah, we will see the preparation of the Menorah, and the clothing of the priests. The study starts out with preparing olive oil to fill the lamps of the Menorah, The Torah tells us that it was a “permanent light” (Ner Tamid). It would be the only light outside of the “Kadosh Kedoshim” (The HOLY of Holies) where the “Shekinah” illuminated that small area where the only article was the “Aron Ha Kodesh” (The Ark of the Covenant. The first theme is “Light” and this would be in the form of the Menorah. But why do we associate “light” with “God?” One reason is that “light” is not so much an object we can touch. One could call “light” an essence. We can’t see “light” yet we can see the reaction when light beams hit an object. Go inside a dark, dusty room and turn on a flashlight and you might say “See, I see a beam of light!” yet what we are seeing is “light particles reflecting against dust particles” so, we are seeing the particles of dust, which “are” objects reacting to the “light particles” which are invisible. Shine a flashlight inside a dark yet clean room, and you will see a circle of light on the wall. You see the light reflected against the wall, not the light itself. Light beams or rays are invisible, yet objects will react to those same light beams. God is invisible in His pure form, yet He radiates light, and we as believers reflect HIS light in our lives as believers, in the forms of mitzvoth (good works) our changed characters and personalities, and how we look at the world and the material things in the world. There are so many scriptures about light and how we as believers should “walk in the light, as HE is in the light” Let HIS light be seen in us at all times. Verse 20 states; “And thou shalt command the children of Israel that they bring unto thee pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually.” In the original Hebrew, this verse has 15 words. The word “Shemen” (oil) is the “eighth” word. It is the “middle word” with 7 words before and after. Is this coincidence? from the word “Shemen” we get “Shemini” (eighth). What does the number 8 symbolize? It symbolizes a “New Beginning.” This is a “New Beginning” after their slavery in Egypt. While in Egypt, Pharaoh symbolized the “light of Ra!” yet now, the “light of Elohim” would be the light of “Yeshuah” (OR YESHUAH) the Light of Salvation. The instrument of light would be the Menorah, which would hold the “shemen” the “Olive Oil.” The “Ner Tamid” (eternal Light) also reminds us of Isaiah 60:19 which states; …YHVH shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory” The Menorah was “outside” the curtain, yet still inside the tabernacle. In the same room with the Menorah was the Table of Shewbread, where the 12 loaves of bread were, and the Table of Incense. Here we have a three-fold symbolism of Messiah Yeshua. The table of Shew Bread, “Yeshua HaLechem Chaim” (Yeshua the Bread of Life) and the incense altar, where our “Prayers go upward to heaven” and where “Yeshua intercedes on our behalf. The Menorah is “Yeshua HaOr Olam v'ha Or Tamid” (Yeshua the Light of the World and the Eternal Light. The Menorah was to burn all night, and in the morning, the high priest (Aaron) would come in to trim the wicks and prepare the Menorah for the evening lighting. The Menorah was all about “Light” in the words “from Morning to evening” (the lamps of the Menorah were to burn” we can see the Hebrew word “Ad” (ayin and dalet) The word “Ad “means “witness” during the evening, the Shekinah Elohim was the outside light, while the lamps were the inside lights. During the day, the Shenika glory which was above the Mercy Seat of the Aron Ha Kodesh (Ark of the Covenant) was the inner light of the Mishkan (Tabernacle). There is a difference between light and darkness, Good and Evil, Holiness, and Sin, and the lost and the saved. The olive oil in the lamps symbolizes the anointing of the Holy Spirit, which the wicks can symbolize every believer. If we are to burn bright, we must be in constant contact with the oil, if not, we will “burn out” In pagan cultures, darkness was when evil came about, demons, etc. In ancient Egypt, their god “Ra” went to sleep at night, so the Egyptians were without protection against the “evils of the night”. Those who ventured out usually took a cat with them, symbolizing “Bastet” the goddess of the night, who would protect the person against “evil”. Wow, what if the cat saw a mouse or a dog, and....ran off? Oh, well. The Menorah that burned during the night symbolized “Elohim” who would be the “light in the evening” as well as in the day. The light was inside the tabernacle, and also, outside in the form of the “column of Fire” We are blessed by the presence of the Ruach HaKodesh (The Holy Spirit) at all times, in the day and during the night, inside and out, the believer is NEVER alone, the Light of G-d is forever with us. The Menorah had seven branches, it was made of pure gold, the middle branch was called the “Shamash” or the “helper”. “Seven” is the perfect number of holiness. “Six” branches (six is the number of mankind) are on either side of the Shamash, three on the right and three on the left. Mankind needs the presence of Yeshua, to fulfill his destiny, to get right again, into a right relationship with his creator through Yeshua, through the “New birth” (John 3:3). The wicks are “all of us” and the oil that goes into the lamps,is the “Holy Spirit” we need to be in continuous contact and communion with the Ruach HaKodesh, so that our lamps will “shine brightly” continuously, after all, Yeshua said to his followers, “Ye are the Light of the world” (Atem ha Orot ha olam). Israel's purpose was to be the “light to the Gentiles” to go into the world and teach the pagan peoples who worshipped idols, that there was only ONE GOD, to bring the Torah to the world. This is what happened during the “scattering” of the tribes of Israel to the nations, now, there are “Y'hudim” in all nations, and in all nations, there are many who worship our LORD and God. Even among the Jewish peoples of the world, there are many Messianic believers who embrace Yeshua HaMashiach. The next chapter talks about the vestments of the priests. Clothing has always been a thing of importance. The world says, “according to how a person dresses, that person IS.” A “bum” or “hobo” (a word of the 1930s), usually has dirty and torn clothes, unkempt hair, and a scraggly beard, HOWEVER, that “bum” or “hobo” might be a “born again believer” who is going through hard times, maybe that person has fallen out of fellowship with the LORD. I think that everyone has his or her favorite “Super Hero” like Superman, Batman, The Flash, etc…All these superheroes wear special clothing, and uniforms, which make them “stand out” from the regular crowd. Their mission is to protect “Joe Citizen” and uplift honor and the law. The Cohenim were the same, their “special clothing” lifted them “above the rest” as “reps for God” going on “their behalf” before a righteous and holy God. Many ask what was the first “clothing” like. How were Adam and Eve dressed? If we go back to Genesis, we can get an idea and answer that question to the best of our ability. “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, yet they were not ashamed; Gen 2:25. This verse is insinuating that there IS SHAME connected to nakedness, yet, Adam and Eve did not have any physical clothing at that time. This was before their sin. But was there something that covered their bodies? If we remember, Moshe was with the LORD for 40 days and nights. When he came down from Mt. Sinai, he was “aglow” His was shining with the Ruach HaKodesh. Could that be the case with Adam and Chavah? Many believe that they were covered with a “skin of light” (play on words) Since these two Hebrew words are the same pronunciation; “OR” yet the first letters are different. “Light” is spelled with an “Aleph” which symbolizes the spiritual essence of Adonai (Aleph, Vav, Resh) The other word “OR” (skin) is spelled with an “Ayin” (Ayin, Vav, Resh) . The letter “Ayin” symbolizes, the “eye” or “insight” “Skin” is something we can “see” Our souls/spirits are inside our bodies, and our bodies are covered with “skin” on the outside. So the “light” covered the “skin” meaning the oneness in the relationship with the Creator. However, after the sin of Adam and Chavah, we read the verse; “Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew that they were naked” (Gen 3:7) …” I was afraid because I was naked so I hid myself (Adam) Gen 3:10. Here we can relate “nakedness” with “fear” yet not before, only NOW. How is it that NOW they realized that they were naked? It was because the covering of light was lifted up, and taken away from their bodies, leaving them only with their “skin”. “Nakedness” And “shame/fear = broken relationship with the Creator! Adonai made them new clothing, an “animal skin covering” which required the sacrifice and death of an innocent animal. This first material clothing symbolizes our Messiah who died and not only “covered” our sins, but completely “atoned for” them. With physical clothing, Adam and Eve could now have fellowship with the creator again. YHVH looking down at them and seeing the animal skin covering would think of the future covenant of blood of Yeshua. When my family went to worship at our congregation, we all put on our suit and ties, and mom wore her best dress. Yet today, some come to synagogue or church dressed as if they were going on a walk in the park, or to the beach. I mean, God still sees our hearts, even if we wear a sport shirt or long sleeve shirt with a suit and tie, BUT... if we are going to meet with the KING of Kings, shouldn't we wear our BEST? What would you wear if the president of your nation invited you to his house? The completely white tunic was worn on Yom Kippur, when the Cohen Gadol would enter the “Holy of Holies” to meet with YHVH. Perhaps this completely white tunic reminds us of the white glowing light that must of covered the bodies of Adam and Eve before their sin. We are also reminded that the clothing of Yeshua was “glowing white” when He was on Mt. Tabor, when he met with Moshe and Eliyahu. There the three represented the whole Torah! Moshe, the Torah, Eliyahu, the Prophets, and Yeshua, the Brit HaDashah, “The New Covenant” As you read the parashah chapters and verses, we see the tunic/robe, bonnet, ephod, breastplate, etc., all meaningful. The onyx stones on the priests’ shoulders had the names of the tribes of Israel engraved, the priest would “shoulder the burden” of the nation, taking the animal sacrifices (that represented Yeshua's death) would intercede before YHVH on the nation's behalf. Now, Yeshua intercedes before the Father on our behalf with his “once only” death/sacrifice for all sin for ALL time. The breastplate would have 12 stones engraved with the names of the tribes of Israel, “Israel was/is next to YHVH's heart! As we are too, since we are all part of the commonwealth of Israel. Two interesting things are the “Urim and Thumim” no one knows exactly what they were, but there are suggestions, they might have been two stones that lit up and glowed when the priest would ask YHVH a question, the “Urim and Thumim' (Lights and perfections) were placed under the breastplate. When the priest went before YHVH seeking an answer to some judgment concerning the people, the stones would light up “illuminating” the priest with perhaps special wisdom from God, and it would be a “Perfect” response from God. Some say that there was a parchment with the most sacred name of God (Y H V H) on it, and placed inside the breastplate, and then, some think, that the letters of the names of the tribes of Israel that were engraved on the stones, would glow. The priest under the anointing of the Spirit of God, would then put the letters together and would “read” God's answer. But these are just ideas, nothing 100% certain. In heaven, we will discover what the “Urim and Thumim were/are! “ Today, we have the Word of God. YHVH speaks to us through his written Word, but also, through dreams, at times, through other people who are very sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, YHVH conveys messages through events in our lives. If we look back on our lives, we can see that YHVH has been right there working and preparing events/people to bring us to where we are now. In chapter 29, we have the anointing/dedication of Aaron and his sons for the ministry. The sacrifices were a bullock and two rams, unleavened bread with olive oil. All these point to Yeshua, these were clean animals, whose blood symbolizes the blood of our Messiah, just like the unleavened bread, “Yeshua the Bread of Life” and the oil, the “Ruach HaKodesh” a little bit of the blood was placed on Aaron's right ear lobe, right thumb, and on the right toe, the same was done to his sons. What does this symbolize? We could say that as priests, “May they always HEAR, LISTEN TO the voice of God, that they might DO his will, and follow his commandments, and WALK in HIS footsteps, FOLLOWING the path of Torah. This would be the same expectation of ministers who are anointed as rabbis, chaplains, pastors, priests, etc. that they might always listen to the voice of God, and follow/do his will through his Word, to serve those who are placed under their leadership. We don't use blood today, but we do use anointing oil, so, the next time you might be called to anoint a minister, place some anointing oil on the right ear lobe, on the right thumb, and the right toe, (or on top of the shoe) for those that don't wear sandals. Chapter 30 talks about the altar of incense, which was made of shittim wood overlaid with gold, again, the humanity of Yeshua and the purity of HIM who is God. On this altar, the incense was burned, symbolizing our prayers that go up to YHVH as a sweet savor. A final thought on “clothing” let us “clothe” ourselves in the Spirit of God so that we might be spiritually controlled. Just as the Ark of the Covenant was “clothed” inside and out by pure gold, we should also be “clothed” inside and out with vestments that are God-honoring. Shalom, Ben Avraham

1 KINGS 5:12-6:13 The tabernacle was used for many, many years. It followed “B'nei Israel” when they crossed over the Jordan, but 480 years later, it was replaced by the first temple which Melech Shlomo (King Solomon) built. It must have been magnificent. The Ark of the Covenant and the furniture that were inside the Mishkan were transferred to the new temple. Yet many years later, after the death of Shlomo, the priesthood corrupted themselves, and the kings as well. The temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, and the furniture was taken away. However, it is said that (according to some stories) the Levite priests hid the Ark of the Covenant from the invading Babylonians, and later, shipped it down the Nile River to the city of Axom in Ethiopia, and it is still there today. The other story is that it never left Jerusalem. It was hidden in a cave under Mt. Calvary and when Yeshua was crucified on the cross, during the brief earthquake, a crack opened up where our Savior was hanging on the cross, and his blood dripped down the crack and anointed the Ark of the Covenant which was directly below it a few hundred feet down. But as I said, these are stories. Today our bodies are the "temples" of the Holy Spirit, it is where the Ruach HaKodesh comes to live when we accept Jesus as LORD and Savior. We honor the Spirit of God in our bodies. Do we defile it with unhealthy food or unhealthy physical practices? smoking? etc A believer can walk away from God, we can go astray, and the Ruach HaKodesh will call for us, to invite us back into fellowship, yet for how long? Will the Spirit of God call us back indefinitely? Or...like the Spirit of God that finally, “Left” the presence of the Temple, leaving it “Ichabod” just an empty building, can we become like an “empty vessel? Just walking around empty and lifeless? But just as a believer is capable of going astray and walk away from the presence of God, the believer can also return, and be received with open arms by the Father. One day, the third temple will be built, and the presence of YHVH will be there, and Yeshua will be back to rule the earth. We will be there too, to share in this rule for one thousand years, and then...into eternity. MARK 3:1-4:41 Here we see Yeshua on the sabbath, and he heals a man with a withered hand, yet receives criticism from the Prushim (Pharisees). Yet Yeshua explains, “doing a good deed on the sabbath is permitted” so, YES, if one works, doing a “mitzvah” on the Sabbath is permitted if it is to bless another, help another, be it to bring medicine for someone who is sick, help repair a hole in a roof (if you see the rain clouds a comin'!). Yeshua went down to the Lake and more people came to be healed. The Sea of Galilee is a peaceful place to swim in. Just standing in the water and feeling the fish nibble at your feet, is quite an experience. I swam down about 10 feet in The Sea of Galilee or "Lake Tiberias" as some call it and brought up a ceramic dish. Still have it, a free souvenir. But just looking at the Lake brings back thoughts of Yeshua there 2000 years ago, healing those with illnesses. He still does, and he heals our souls as well. The saucer I found 10 feet under the lake, nothing fancy, just meaningful because of where I found it

Parashah: “T'rumah” (offering) EXODUS 25:1-27:19 In this Torah study, we see that a request is made for a “free-will offering” so that the tabernacle can be built and the articles of furnishings for the same. As we remember, when the Israelites left Egypt, they left with quite a treasure that the Egyptians gave them so that they would leave. We could consider this, “back pay” for all the work they had done for four-hundred years. Egypt had quite a wealth in gold, silver, gems, fine fabrics, etc., and now, Egypt remained poor and in ruins while “B'nei Yisrael” left with the “spoils of war” a war which YHVH fought against the gods of Egypt, and won. So, in a battle, the spoils of war belong to the victor. So, while the Israelites were protected, G-d fought against the demonic entities, in the guise of the “gods of Egypt” Pharaoh included. So, rightly, the riches and spoils of Egypt belong to YHVH, being carried by HIS people. Also, they could also be considered "back-pay" for 400 years of labor. So, where in the desert are the people going to spend it all? they are just carrying it around, a lot of extra weight and burden that could be put to good use. The plan is to build a place where YHVH can come down and live with his chosen people. It isn't that YHVH can only live in one place, He is eternal, everywhere, yet He will “rest” with His people, minister to His people right there, visible by a cloud by day and fire by night. The “invisible God” will be “visible” in those two ways. In “Yitro” The Torah was given to Israel, the marriage “Ketubah” was given in the form of the Ten Commandments, written in stone, In “Mishpatim” “justice” was given, and some more commandments explained by YHVH through Moshe, and now, YHVH is saying “Take ME into your life, make ME a place to dwell among you” Yet first, the people have to gather the materials in order to make HIM a “Mikdash” (Sanctuary) yet more on this word later. The materials would be “freely given” The Word says; “Take for me an offering” (Terumah) yet at the end of the verse, the word is “Terumati” (my offering). Question, is it Israel’s offering, or God’s offering? It is BOTH. Israel gave and God made sure it was enough, and it was “more than enough”. Remember in the New Covenant when the boy offered 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes? “He gave” and then, Yeshua multiplied the offering, “HE gave BACK”. In the days of Elisha, the widow gave a bit of wheat and oil to make some bread for the prophet, then, GOD through Elisha gave back! Many pots of olive oil were left over, enough to sell and pay off the widow’s debt. Whatever we have to offer, Adonai will bless and double it in only a way that HE will be glorified. There is also an interesting word in verse 2; “meiet kol ish” (of every man). Each man would give an offering, a free-will offering. The word “meiet” is really the letter “M” with “ET”. “ET” carries the symbolism of “God of the Covenant” or the “Alef and the Tav”. So, what can we see here? It is that since every man would give a free-will offering, we are reminded that Yeshua, who is the “Alef and the Tav” gave HIMSELF as a free-will offering for sin, once and only once on Calvary’s cross for ALL MANKIND, (Kol ish!). The letter “m” (mem) can mean “of” or “from” it also symbolizes “Mashiach” and “water”. Messiah is the “Living Water”. We look at 25:8, and there is something interesting; “.and let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them…” thus said Adonai speaking to Moshe. The word “to dwell among” is “Shakhn’ti” and it not only means “to dwell among” it also means “to dwell inside” and that is the way it is today, the “Ruach Elohim” the “Spirit of God dwells “inside” of every born-again believer. God is our “neighbor”. The word “neighbor” in Hebrew is the word; “Shakhein” and we can see those letters in the word “shakhn’ti” the three main letters in the word “Shakhein” are “sheen” “kaph” and “nun” “sh” “k” “n” we can also see those letters “inside” the word “Mishkan” (tabernacle) and the word “Shekinah” (the Shekinah glory) today we know it as the Spirit of God, who dwells inside every believer. So, YHVH is our “neighbor” who dwells inside of us 24-7. Another word “Tabernacle” is “sanctuary” (Mikdash) Something interesting about this word is that in Hebrew, the word has 4 letters; “m” “k” “d” and “sh” (mem, qof, dalet, sheen). The letter “k” or “Qof” symbolizes “holiness” it is right in the middle of the word. Without the “Qof” we would have the other 3 letters and if one puts the “Sheen” (sh) first, the word would be “Sh +m+d” (Shemed) which means “vanity”. What is the symbolism here? A sanctuary without holiness would be a place for vanity. Without holiness, what else is there besides vanity?      Something else is here.  The words "Mikdash" (Sanctuary) and "Mishkan (Tabernacle) are both used.  Within the word, "Mikdash" are the letters that spell out the word "Kadosh" (Holy) So, Adonai wants a "Holy Sanctuary" for Him to dwell in to have fellowship with his people.  Also, the word "Mishkan" (Tabernacle) and "Kadosh" (holy) have the same gematria, (410)   when we add these numbers  4+1+0 = 5   "5" is the number of "grace" by grace Adonai came and dwelt with His people.   "Mikdash" has the gematria of  444.   4+4+4 = 12.   All "12" tribes contributed to the building of the Mikdash or Mishkan   (same place, different words)  The building project was, one could say, financed by Egypt. For 4 hundred years, Israel worked for a hard taskmaster, “Pharaoh and Company” building edifices dedicated to false gods, now, Israel has a new master, The Creator of the Universe, the Maker of Man, the future “Yeshua Ha Mashiach” A place will be built for HIM to minister to his people, and every piece of furniture will reflect who HE IS. There are 13 general items for the building project; 1. Gold, 2. Silver, 3. Brass, 4. Blue, purple, and scarlet fabric, 5. Fine linen, 6. Goat’s hair, 7. Ram’s skins, 8. Sealskins, 9. Acacia-wood, 10. Oil, 11. Spices, 12. Onyx stones, 13. Other gemstones. The number “13” in Gematria is the sum of the letters in the word “Echad” which means “ONE in unity”. With those materials, the Mishkan/Mikdash was built, so that Adonai could be ONE with HIS PEOPLE, which now includes all believers. We are all ONE with Messiah Yeshua. Gold, silver, precious stones, fabric, and wood. Now there is a question, where did the wood come from? Is there any Shitim and Acacia trees in the desert? If one looks at the desert of Saudi Arabia today, even through “google maps” or “google earth” one can see almost no trees, just bare mountains. But we are talking about a desert almost 4000 years ago, it was probably very different, it had to be, remember that the Israelites brought with them cattle and sheep, what are they going to eat? Sand? No, there had to have been vegetation, trees. They could have cut the trees down in the desert and fashioned them into boards for the “Mishkan” (tabernacle) or they might have brought them out of Egypt, already cut and fashioned, perhaps some of the Egyptian lumber yards just gave them all that, since not all of the Egyptians were rich in gold and silver (just an idea) This is a “free-will offering” Moshe states, “of every man whose heart maketh him willing”. So it was not forced, it was “of free will”. We know that the people gladly gave, so much that later on, Moshe has to say, “Stop giving already, we have enough”. Can you imagine a pastor or rabbi from a church or synagogue that would say to his congregation, “OK brothers and sisters, we have enough money for all of our needs, you can stop giving?” I don't think that will ever happen, when one gives of his or her time, talent, and treasure, God gives back many times over. Money is like a conduit, it should flow like water through a pipe, to be spread out, not backed up. There are many who hoard money like a squirrel hoards nuts in a tree, no amount in the bank seems to be enough. One rich man was asked, “how much is enough?' he said, “only one dollar more...” and it never ends. Adonai has promised us that He would provide for ALL of our needs, through his abundance in grace, both in spiritual ways, physical, and material ways, if we will only trust Him. We ask ourselves, what kind of “T’rumot” (offerings) can we “offer up” today? Gold, silver, and bronze? Yes, that would be money, from our paychecks, tithes, and offerings. Fine linen, blue, purple, and scarlet threads? Yes, that would be clothing. There are ministries that collect used and new clothing to donate to the poor and needy. I would say, we can offer up almost anything of value to someone in need. But most of all, we can “offer up ourselves” as living sacrifices. We can offer up our abilities to serve, offer up our spiritual gifts since that is why God has given spiritual gifts, to edify the body of Messiah. The Hebrew word for "service" is "Avodah" within this word there are two letters that stand out; A + D ("Ad" in Hebrew is "witness" when we serve, they are always witnesses, both on earth and in heaven. They see us. Now, on to the building project So, the building project is starting, with the “tent of meeting” (The tabernacle/Mishkan) with its wooden boards, bars, clamps, and curtains of linen, the furniture that would go inside; The brazen Altar, the brazen Laver, the Menorah, the table of shew-bread, the incense altar, and finally, the Ark of the Covenant, (Aron Ha Kodesh. Each and every one of these pieces reflects who Yeshua is and his finished work on Calvary's cross. The Ark of the Covenant is mentioned first, made of acacia wood overlaid with gold, both inside and out. Inside this box would be the tables of the Law, the “Torah” It symbolizes the purity and sinlessness of YHVH. The wood; the humanity of Yeshua who was YHVH in the flesh, both God and man. As it was covered with gold inside and out, it symbolizes that we also should be, through the Holy Spirit, “pure” inside and out, both physically, and spiritually, where people can see and where only God can see, inside us. The Torah, God's teaching and instruction to us, is inside the Ark, as the “Living Torah” who is Yeshua is inside of us, and also, his teaching, his “Torah” inside of us, to understand, learn from, and put into action in our daily lives. The Cherubim that are on top of the Kaporet look down upon the mercy seat, and they remind us of God's Holy Angels that are around us and who protect us. The “Shekinah Glory” the “Holy Presence of YHVH” was on top of the “Kaporet” (the cover) and when the high priest would sprinkle blood on the cover, YHVH would see the blood. The blood on the cover symbolized (before Yeshua) that the sins of man were “covered” for one year, but after Calvary, the sins of all of us were “erased” “wiped away” and “blotted out” forever. The 7 branch Menorah (candlestick) was made of pure gold, with 7 branches, the “perfect number of God” the six branches would extend from the center branch, just like we, believers, depend on the center branch, or “trunk” for our sustenance, there were “6” branches, (number of man) connected to the “7th” main branch. This Menorah symbolizes “Yeshua” as the “Light of the World” and the oil inside it as the “Ruach Ha Kodesh” (The Holy Spirit) We see the “wicks” that are inside the lamps as “believers” who depend on the “oil” (the Ruach HaKodesh) for our continuous growth, as part of the body of Messiah Yeshua. The table of shew-bread symbolizes Messiah Yeshua as the “Bread of Life” with 12 loaves of unleavened bread. The bread was to be there, “continuously” the priests would eat the bread on the sabbath and more bread was placed on the table, so that there would be “always the presence of “the Bread of Life” As believers, the living Torah is our spiritual bread, and we must partake daily of this bread. No wonder Yeshua was born in Bethlehem, yet in Hebrew, the name is “Beit-Lechem” the “House of Bread” Again, the table was made of Acacia wood overlaid with gold, the purity of the sinless presence of God and the humanity of Messiah Yeshua. Then there is the table of Incense, also made of acacia wood overlaid with gold. This is where coals from the brazen altar were placed, and incense burned. The incense symbolizes our prayers, which go up to Heaven as the sweet-smelling incense smoke also goes up. The curtains of the tabernacle were to be made of fine linen, with the colors, blue, purple, and scarlet. These colors remind us of “blue skies of heaven above” “purple” (the color of royalty, Yeshua the King), and scarlet, (the color of blood) reminding us of Yeshua's blood that was shed for all our sins, past, present, and future. And of course, the wooden planks that remind us of the humanity of Yeshua. In the outer court of the tabernacle, there is the brazen altar, made of bronze and filled with water. This is where the priests washed their hands and feet. Bronze symbolizes judgment, imagine when the priests approached the still waters in the bronze laver, they would be able to see their reflection in the water. Imagine that is us looking into a mirror, what do we see? The image of a holy God, yet tainted with sin, we need to judge ourselves, and turn from our sinful ways, repent of our sins, like Yeshua said, “Your sins are forgiven, GO, and SIN NO MORE”. Finally, there is the brazen altar, which is really the first thing a person would see inside the tabernacle. It symbolizes Yeshua who was judged for our sins. It is made of acacia wood overlaid with bronze. The bronze symbolizes the judgment that Messiah Yeshua went through to pay our sin price. The animal sacrifices were placed on the grills which were on top of the altar. The animals symbolize our Messiah Yeshua, their blood symbolizes HIS blood, and the fire symbolizes the “fires of judgment” that Yeshua endured on the cross of Calvary, once and only once. It was sufficient, for our sins, past, present, and future. Let not his sacrifice for sin be for naught. If you have never placed your faith in Yeshua as Messiah, Savior, and LORD, do it now. The Shoe-Man. Always ready to fix your footwear. Can you walk in the shoes of Messiah Yeshua? Quite a challenge

JEREMIAH 34:8-22, 33:25-26 Jeremiah is known as the “weeping prophet” because Israel had returned to idolatry, and corruption, YHVH sends him with a message to Israel, “Repent” and “turn from your sins”, one of the sins was to go back on their word. Jeremiah told them that God had said, “release your slaves” since they had not released them after 7 years, they did that, but afterward, they “re-captured” their slaves and returned them to captivity, this is to be “double-minded” for “appearance sake” they released the slaves/servants, but when they thought that “the prophet wasn't looking” they went back on their word. Result? Babylon came and captured Israel! And king Zedekiah was taken to Babylon as a slave. How well do we as believers respond when someone calls our attention? When we are in the wrong, do we really repent, and turn from our sins? or.... when we think no one is looking, go back to our sins? Our old attitudes, our old “issues?” A thief looks ahead, in back, to the left, to the right, to make sure that no one is looking, but the thief never looks “up”! Yes, our Heavenly Father who is on high is looking down on us all, and observes ALL our actions, even in private, so, we really are NEVER alone! Someone is always watching us. God, his holy angels, Satan and his demons, all that are in the spirit realm are always watching our every move. So, make sure our lives are holy, unto God on high. MARK 1:1-2:28 The talmid/disciple Mark writes about John the Baptist, and his ministry to prepare the people for the coming of his cousin, Yeshua, preparing hearts, and minds. Baptism was important in Jewish life, it symbolized who was once unclean, is now clean, from “Tamei” to “Tahor”, from “death to life”. When a born-again believer is baptized, the believer identifies himself or herself with Yeshua in death and life, death, burial, and resurrection. But John was just “preparing” the way for He who is THE WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE. In the early part of the first century, the followers of Yeshua were known as "those of the WAY" even before the name "Christian" was used. "Christian" came from the Greek "Kristianos" from "Kristos" while "Messianics" came from the original Hebrew "Mashiach" or "Messiah" Both titles point to those who follow Yeshua. Yet the way God looks at us is; "B'nei Elohim" (Sons and daughters of God) Yeshua is the WAY to eternal life, He is the TRUTH, which is the opposite of lies and deception, and He is LIFE eternal, to those who embrace Him as Savior and LORD. So, How are we to walk our “Halacha?” (Spiritual walk) we need to walk in HIS WAYS. What are HIS WAYS? The way of the Torah, obedient to HIS mitzvoth. If we are walking in HIS WAYS, We are walking in the TRUTH, and if we walk in the TRUTH, and we have accepted the LIVING TRUTH (Emet Chai) then we have ETERNAL LIFE, No wonder Yeshua identifies himself by these three words. Yeshua went walking along the Sea of Galilee, and there he invited Kefa and Andrew to come with him, and later, at K’far Nachum (Capernaum) went to the synagogue there and began to teach the people. I thank God that I visited that same synagogue back in 2015 when I went to Israel to serve the IDF with the reserve units. My friend Alon and I went by car to Capernaum, walk around, and visited the part of the lake that served as a dock for the fishing boats, that is probably where Yeshua met Kefa and Andrew. We are all called by Yeshua through his spirit, to follow him, do we follow Him? or...do we expect HIM to follow US? He teaches us through HIS word, are we listening? Shalom The dawning of a new day on the Sea of Galilee, at Tiberias

PARASHA: “Mishpatim” (Judgments) EXODUS 21:1-24:18 “Bringing to light the meaning of some difficult commandments" This parashah involves the giving of a variety of commandments, that Elohim gave to Moshe to give/write down, and teach to “b'nei Israel” the first has to do with servants and their treatment. The system of slavery in Israel back in Biblical times was very much different than the cruel slavery of Africans here in the United States, starting from the 1600s, into colonial days, up until the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. Unfortunately, the slave owners used the bible as a “reason” to own slaves, as they said, “The Bible permits slavery!” Yes, but only in extreme circumstances when one could not pay one's debts. And the person was only a slave for 6 years, in year 7, the master had to release the slave, and give the slave gifts of oil, wine, and wheat, so he or she could start life over again. The slave could not be abused like slaves were whipped and abused under American slavery. But if the slave wished to remain with the master, the master could make a hole in the slave's ear and put in a ring, indicating that the slave was a slave for life, (being the choice of the slave) but “life” was up to 50 years, until the year of “Jubilee” if the slave chose to be with his or her master for “life” and the year, let's say was “40” then, “Life” was 10 years more, and then the slave would be released. It is interesting to read that the scripture says in Exodus 21:6 “Then his master will bring him before Elohim and shall bring him to the door or the doorpost and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl” The word, Elohim, can not only mean “God” but also, “Those who represent God” perhaps Levites, officials of the Tabernacle, the temple, city, etc. The word “Master” is a form of “Adonai” in this part, it is spelled; “Adonav” (his master). The doorpost was the official place of doing business, like at the county clerk’s office. So, the person who loved his master made his love for him official, before “Adonav” (His master) before “Elohim” (God himself and before those who represent Him. If the slave was hurt in any way, say the master hit the slave and knocked a tooth out, or put an eye out, the slave was to be released immediately, and with compensation. Not so in America during the years of slavery. Rav Shaul/Paul the Apostle talks about being “bond slaves” to Messiah Yeshua, and that is our state. Would we want to be “released” from following HIM? Would we want to be under a “different master?” There are only two that claim our lives; Yeshua or HaSatan. We were “bought with a price” the price of blood, and we were released from Satan's bondage, to follow and subject ourselves to a new master, “Adonai” which means; “my master” We are “servants” to the Most High God. The Hebrew word for “Slave” and “servant” is the same word: “Eved” slaves/servants were not considered “objects of purchase” or “property” they were considered “human beings” just like we are considered in the eyes of YHVH his “servants’ “children” “adopted sons and daughters”. Do not sons and daughters serve their parents? ”An eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe; (21:24....) if you read on, we see that it doesn't mean, “if you knock out my tooth, I have a right to knock your tooth out too” or “if you blind me in on eye, I have the right to put out your eye” or in modern terminology, “If you break my stereo, I have the right to go into your house and smash your stereo” how I ask you, does that solve the problem? It doesn't, it just creates more problems. If we look at this situation in light of scripture, it is saying in other words; “just compensation for hurt or damage received” How would that work? If I broke your arm accidentally or on purpose, I would be responsible for taking you to the doctor and paying the medical bill, and even, paying you “lost wages” if you couldn't work. It doesn't mean that the other guy could break “my arm too”. If you broke my stereo, then I would expect you to either pay to have it fixed or buy me another one of equal value, (arm for an arm, stereo for stereo, etc.) We continue to read about many rules, commandments, and judgments, that make very good sense, even today, yet many of these judgments are not practiced today, everyone is off to the lawyers for a lawsuit. My opinion is that if the legal system today, was set up to reflect the Biblical standards of criminal justice in accordance with God's Word, there would be a lot less crime. The criminals would think twice before committing crimes. An example would be the following; A man goes to prison for stealing a car, sells it, and spends the money, so the prisoner has to work in prison and the money he would make would be sent to the victim to compensate the loss. His sentence would end only when the sum is completed. Or...the court system would pay the victim the money lost in the theft, and the thief would have to work to pay back the court. This type of punishment would reflect more the Torah standard of criminal justice. We come now to Exodus 23:19. “You shall bring the first fruits of thy land unto the House of YHVH, thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk” One commandment does not even reflect the other. It would be like saying, “turn out the lights when you leave the house, hey, don't forget to check the mailbox for mail”. What has one got to do with the other? G-d is saying here to bring your tithe to the House of YHVH but then goes on to a different subject. Would this; “seething a kid in its mother's milk” be taken literally? In order to break this commandment, one would have to take a kid goat, butcher it, cut up the meat, then take the mother goat, milk her, then boil the meat in the mother's milk. Who would go to the trouble to do all that? Today, when people make stew, the meat is usually boiled/seethed in water with condiments, not in milk. But if we look at this commandment in a derashic sense, (the moral and spiritual sense) we could get this understanding; It may be all about the separation of life and death, of the clean from unclean (Tamei from tahor) good from bad. In “Basar v'chalav” (meat and milk) we can see that the word “Chalav”(milk) spelled in Hebrew is “Chet, Lamed, Beit (ch+l+v) yet the word “fat” is also spelled (ch+l+v) yet pronounced “Chelev” They are related, “milk” is a form of “fat”, and the fat of an animal was offered up on the altar to YHVH, as a “sweet savor” a “pleasant smell” unto YHVH, this was part of the worship service. We worship G-d with our full “heart” and the word “Ch+l+v” contains the letters “lamed” and “beit” (l+v) (Lev) which means “heart” Milk symbolizes “life” a baby is nurtured by its mother's milk to live, to have life. Yet the flesh (Basar) symbolizes death, as a believer, to be in the “flesh” is the opposite to being “in the spirit, full of life”. Once the animal is cut up, if not used, the flesh sits and rots, flies come around, and it becomes “Tamei” (unclean) when we are in the “flesh” we are in a way of speaking, “unclean” spiritually, until we confess our sins, and become as “milk” (full of life) again, walking in the spirit, and, like the fat of a clean animal, being a “sweet savor unto YHVH . This is just one way one can look at this prohibition of boiling a kid in its mother's milk, from a Derashic (moral and spiritual) standpoint. (watch “Basar v' Chalav/Meat and Milk” on YouTube “Kehilah Melech Yisrael”) ”if you meet an enemy's ox or his ass going astray, you will bring it back to him again” (Ex 23:4) This is one way to make your enemy, your friend, make peace with him. Would not this be for today as well, of course, it would! It may not be an ox, maybe his wallet with his ID and money. “Do not oppress the stranger, seeing you were strangers in the land of Egypt?” other bibles say “foreigner” the USA used to welcome all immigrants, but now many are being oppressed, being deported, being cheated in wages, we must turn this around and start helping those who come to this country to seek a better life, thus turning a curse into a blessing. If you read from chap 21 to 24 and look carefully at the commandments/judgments, you will see that most make perfect sense even in our modern days. God's Word is right on the money! Shalom, From Ben Avraham Shabbat dawn, 2/18/23 at 6:30 am. Outside the studio window of Radio KYST; 920 AM on the dial. Our weekly Spanish language Torah study.

ISAIAH 6:1-7:6 ” KADOSH, KADOSH, KADOSH, ADONAI TZEVA’OT” ... Holy, Holy, Holy, is YHVH of hosts” When the Torah mentions the “Holiness” of God, the word is KADOSH, the “O” is there, (the letter “vav” in Hebrew) but when “holiness” is mentioned referring to mankind, the “O” is missing, and we have KAD_SH, this “missing “vav” symbolizes the “incompleteness of our holiness, because of our inborn “sin nature” Yeshayahu (Isaiah) is being asked by God, “Whom shall I send, who will go for US?” (Elohim) The Prophet answers, “Here am I, send me!” and God responds, “Go, and tell the people!” That should be our attitude as well, we have those orders too from God, to “tell the people” about Yeshua, to teach those who will listen, to his WORD, even though many will not understand at the beginning, or will refuse, we have to try, WE (all believers) are responsible for taking the “Good News” to others who will listen, and with the modern technology, the internet, this has become possible, what used to be almost impossible, now is possible, with fingers going across the keyboard and with the click of the mouse, the word is sent out. Isaiah must be saying right now, “Oh how I wish I had a laptop back then!” MATTHEW 27:1-28:20 This relates to the age-old story of Yeshua's trial, execution, and resurrection, this story we know well, He did it to pay the price of our sins, past, present, and future, His one-time-only sacrifice was good forever, and still IS good forever. But many people still reject this sacrifice, reject this free gift of salvation, for a short-lived world of pleasure, for an eternity of suffering and pain. When we look at Passover, which is coming up soon, we are reminded of the “Passover lambs” which were sacrificed/slaughtered on the eve of Passover. The blood of the lambs sprinkled on the doorposts of the Israelite houses in Goshen, thus protecting them from the Angel of Death. We could also presume that if an Egyptian family did the same, they also would have been spared being struck dead by the Death Angel. (the firstborn that is). All those sacrificed lambs point to Yeshua, who was the “Lamb of God” who took away the curse of sin from the world. The unleavened bread which was eaten that night, which we still eat on Passover, is “Yeshua the Bread of Life”. The Lamb of God and the Living Bread go together. Pilate wrote these words on the cross, YESHUA OF NAZARETH, KING OF THE JEWS, in Hebrew it would have been 'YESHUA HA NOTZRI, V'HA MELECH Y'HUDIM. Within this title are the letters YHVH, which explain who Yeshua is really, God on earth, made flesh and blood, whose blood was shed to set us free. Ben Avraham Good times with some of the grandkids (Miami, FL) (Vanessa, Jessica, Julian, and Kathy)

Nice to hear from you again. Of course, we will not be judged according to the commandments, but according to what we have done with Messiah Yeshua as our LORD and Savior. However, our receiving or losing rewards might be according to how we have acted to the commandments, whether keeping or ignoring. Just a thought. I still think you are the image of my mother. You look just like her (Antonnetta Nappi Macarro) (1912-1971)

PARASHA: “Yitro” (Jethro) EXODUS 18:1-20:26 (Good Advice from Jethro and the "Ten Commandments") We see in this parashah, a lot of wisdom on the part of Moshe and Yitro, his father-in-law. First, we learn that Moshe had sent his wife and children back to stay with her father and his son's grandfather. I believe this was for safekeeping. When one sees danger, it is wise to care for one's family, as Moshe did, His wife and children might have been in danger. The Egyptians might have retaliated, might have kidnapped his wife and children, or killed them, so Moshe took precautions, which is a good thing. The second piece of wisdom comes from Yitro, He is a man of experience, so he says; “Moshe, what are you doing to this people?” hey, you are only one man, and a few million of them? Come on dude, get wise-er, this isn't a one-man deal here." no such things as “lone rangers” in ministry, even the “Lone-Ranger” was not alone, he had “Tonto”. Ministry is to be shared with other believers, that is why the Ruach Ha Kodesh has given the Spiritual gifts, to be shared, to minister to others, by many, not just one. The rabbi cannot do it alone, and neither can the pastor. The rabbi needs his co-workers, and so does the pastor, if not, they are going to run themselves ragged. This is called “pastor/rabbi Burn-out” Another thing to point out is that it directs us to a question. The scripture says that Moshe sat in judgment of the people and made known the ordinances of God. But…Moshe and the people had not received the Torah yet. That came afterward. So, if Moshe hadn’t received the commandments yet, how did he know the ordinances of God with which to judge the people? Two possibilities. The “Oral Torah” was probably given to Adam, who passed it on to Seth, from Seth to Enoch and from Enoch to Methuselah, and so forth until it reached Moses. So, he knew, from the teaching of the patriarchs. The other possibility is that during the time that Moshe was sent back to Egypt, God revealed his laws and statutes to him personally through visions or dreams. Remember that God spoke to Moshe as one man speaks to another. These are just possibilities, then on Sinai, they were given on stone tablets and written down on parchment papers or o lamb skins. From the “Oral Torah to the Written Torah.” This is the parashah of the “Ten Mitzvoth” the “Ten Commandments” but before the giving of these, YHVH presents the deal to the people, kind of like when the bride-groom presents himself to the bride, these are beautiful words; ” Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you unto myself, therefore IF you harken unto my voice and keep my covenant, THEN ye shall be my own treasure from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine, and you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation” (19:4-6) It is all conditional, like all contracts, and covenants. We see the “IF” and “THEN” He says that He bore Israel on eagles' wings. An eagle will carry her young on her wings to protect them from harm. So did YHVH, He brought Israel through the Sea on dry land, and brought them nigh unto Har Sinai, now, they have to decide, will they accept YHVH as their one and only God? And obey HIS words? It is like asking the bride to accept the groom as her only husband, provider, and loving ruler, (not tyrant) BUT…even though Israel broke the covenant many times, YHVH has remained faithful and we are HIS HOLY PEOPLE, his ELECT, whether we were born and raised in Israel or from the nations, doesn't matter, we are HIS because we have accepted HIS sacrifice in YESHUA our “Goel” (Redeemer), and we choose the follow his Torah, his LIVING Torah. The HE lays out the first 10 of the 613 commandments, which generalize, one can say “all” of the Torah: We need to realize that the first ten were given directly by Adonai to his people, HIS voice to HIS people, the other 603 were given to the people THROUGH Moshe, but still, they are all GOD’s commandments. Moshe simply did not make them up. ”ANOCHI YHVH ELOHEIHA” ( I AM ADONAI YOUR GOD) with the I AM emphasized, one can say “Ani” (I) or Anochi (I really AM) He is saying, I am who I have claimed to be, the God who took you out of Egypt and brought you here, I am ready to be your God, so if that is the case, there can only be ONE God in your life, that is ME, I don't want statues of me, that what the Egyptians did, so, don't do as they did, (It took one day to take Israel out of Egypt, but 40 years to take Egypt out of Israel if you get the meaning). Don't bow down and worship other gods, that will NOT be accepted. It is interesting to see that the word “Egyptians” and “Egypt” is the same in Hebrew, it is the word “Mitzraim”. When Israel crossed the Red Sea, the “Egyptians” were drowned in the sea, yet “Egypt” followed Israel still, in the manner of “mindset” “philosophy”, “and influence”. Today when we reject the ways of the world, and come to “Yeshua” there are still “world-ways” one tends to follow, sometimes we do things even without thinking, which reminds us of the “ways of the world” (evil things). Yet we see today, even though we don't make or bow down to silver, gold, wooden statues that symbolize who God is, or TRY to symbolize who he is, sorry guys, they didn't have cameras back then to take pictures, many bow down and consider more important things like; football, soccer, money, sex, TV, fast cars, work, you name it, if these come before our worship and service to our God YHVH, then those things ARE OUR gods!! put them in their proper places, lest YHVH take them from us by force!! THOU SHALT NOT TAKE THE NAME OF YHVH IN VAIN.... What is being said here? When many take oaths, and promises, many times the name of GOD is used; like “I swear to God I'll pay you back next week” Well, if next week rolls around and you pay back what you owe, you will have HONORED the NAME of GOD, yet if you don't, you will have taken the NAME of God in vain! It is better not to make promises and use God's name, we can always say “I'll do my best to pay you back as soon as I am able” and leave it at that. One can take the name of the LORD thy GOD in vain without words, our mere actions and comportment speak of God and who He is, if we behave unlike born-again believers, if we behave like a lost person, using foul language in front of others, getting upset and throwing temper fits, we are TAKING HIS NAME IN VAIN. And using those ugly 4 letter words, And other sorts of ugly language...well. that is not swearing, that is just plain vulgar. REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY TO KEEP IT HOLY.... The sabbath is and always will be Saturday, it was never changed to Sunday, nothing wrong with going to church on Sunday, to me, it is a “double blessing” to worship Adonai two days straight. Yes, the early believers met on the first day of the week (Sunday) to break bread and have fellowship, this was “Havdalah” this was the close of the Sabbath and the welcome of the new week. This was a “custom” that they did, and we still do, it was not a CHANGE of sabbaths. Yeshua resurrected on the first day of the week, Baruch HaShem!! great! And we also can worship on Sundays at local churches, but it was NEVER a change of sabbaths. We should dedicate the sabbath day to be in the Synagogue or at church, to worship, and learn from his word through God's chosen ministers, Sunday school teachers, and Torah teachers. Go home and rest, or take the family out to lunch, give the wife a break from the kitchen, or eat lunch at the synagogue (Oneg) and leave the material things and worldly things to the next day. Rest means rest! I have read in rabbinical commentaries that when “The World keeps the Sabbath perfectly...THEN… Messiah will return!” well, He still has never returned, does that mean that the world has not kept Shabbos perfectly? Guess so. Shabbat is Satan's perfect and favorite time to stir up trouble and tempers so that we will NOT have a restful Shabbat. Be aware of that. HONOR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER... This really needs no explanation, it is common sense to honor our parents and respect them because of WHO they are, and what they have done for us. My mom and dad used to say to me; “We went without many times to give you the things that you have today” Our parents give us love, and raise us, hopefully, to love God. ( I can't speak for all of you readers, since everyone is different) But, if our parents gave us love and taught us about God and Yeshua/Jesus, then, we ought to do the same for our kids. Honoring fathers and mothers does not mean sticking them in a rest home when they are old and going off and forgetting about them. It doesn't work like that. Were your parents rotten to you? Did they mistreat you? Well, love them anyway! It is what Yeshua taught. THOU SHALT NOT MURDER, THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, THOU SHALT NOT STEAL..... Ever wonder why those three commandments are together? If one commits adultery, sleeping with another man's wife or husband, one is “murdering” a marital relationship, and “stealing” what does not belong to you, being another person's spouse. Yeshua explains it even better, He said if you only “think” of sleeping, or having sex with another person's wife or husband, that person has already committed adultery in his or her mind, it gets pretty intense if you look at it that way. “Murder” does NOT include going to war and fighting for your nation, you are DEFENDING your family and homeland. “Stealing?” that can be a two or three-page explanation, if you come back late from lunch, you are “stealing” time from your employer, if you do not do your very best, then you are “stealing” from your employer, your own ability and usefulness. Can a man rob God? Malachi says, “Yes” God speaking through his prophet, “You have ROBBED me of your tithes and offerings” One can rob from God when we do not utilize our spiritual gifts, or waste them on worldly things. The rabbis of old say that every sin is a manner of theft. We need to think about that. DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS.... This is another lengthy subject, but with simple words, always tell the truth, and do not hide the truth from others. If to know that some thieves are planning to rob your neighbor, and you remain silent and do not alert your neighbor, it is if you opened your neighbor's door for the thieves, you are being false. To tell a half-truth is to be false. Yes, the truth at times can be costly, and painful, but being false can be worse. It seems that at times the cheaters and liars get ahead in this world, and those who are 100 percent truthful about everything are left behind sucking their thumbs. DO NOT COVET.... Be satisfied with what you have, the job you have, the bank account you have, the car you have, with the wife or husband you have...Coveting can lead to worse crimes, look at Aachen, who coveted the Babylonian tunic and gold from Jericho, it cost him his life, and his family's lives too. If you want more than you have already, take it to the LORD in prayer, if the LORD sees that there is nothing wrong with giving you a little more, HE will give it to you in HIS perfect time. You never know, people with “more things” usually have “more headaches” or “more” to worry about. I remember what the TV preacher Rex Humbard said once, “God may give you what you want, but you're not going to want what you get!” So, give thanks for what you already have, when we go to heaven, we will leave it ALL BEHIND. Ben Avraham A passageway in the old city of Joppa, Israel

JUDGES 4:4-5:31 In this reading, we read about Devorah and Jael, two women of God who played an important role in Israel's history. We read about many “men of God” but very few “women of God” but they are out there, and today, we have many women who are used mightily by God in ministry. Through Deborah and Jael, Sisera and his army were vanquished, just as Moshe was an example of a godly leader, Deborah was also a leader, and Jael, whose name in Hebrew “Yah-El” means "God's strength, was also instrumental in defeating Sisera. The name "Ya-El" also means "Ibex" which is a mountain goat with long horns. Yet the name is spelled with three Hebrew letters; Yod, Ayin, and Lamed. It is a combination of "the strength of the hand and arm with the insight of leadership" So, with God's strength and insight, she developed the plan to put Sisera asleep so as to kill him, which showed intelligent leadership, so, she lived up to her name It is interesting that when Sisera came to Ya-El's tent and asked for some water, she gave him goat's milk instead.(Yael gave Sisera milk from a Yael? play on words?) It was all in her plan to vanquish the enemy with a fatal headache. Milk induces sleep because it has a property called "tryptophan." Now, I am sure that Ya-El didn't know that name but through experience, she knew that milk relieves stress and calms the nerves. So, when Sisera drank his fill, he fell asleep and never woke up (in this life) If you are a woman and reading this Parashah, never say “because I am a woman, God cannot use me” Yes, he can, there are ministries for women, mostly, women ministering to other women, reaching out to those who have been abused in marriages, victims of rape, assault, homeless women, etc. YOU my sister, have a place in ministry. Venture out and discover what it is, just be available. MATTHEW 26:1-75 This chapter deals with Yeshua's final days with his talmidim on earth, His anointing by the generous woman who poured the “nard” perfume on him, the betrayal by “Y'hudah Ish Kariot” (Judas, the man from the region of Kariot) in every group of disciples, there are always a few who are “fakers” We have the final “Pesach” dinner with his disciples and Peter's denial, But there is a lot we can learn from this, Peter denied knowing Yeshua, out of fear, but Judas openly rejected him by identifying him by a kiss on the cheek. Both sins are forgivable, the only difference is that Peter confessed and received forgiveness, while Judas felt remorse, but did not cry out for forgiveness, but went out and committed suicide. There is sin that leads to remorse and a “feeling sorry for oneself” and the sin that leads to remorse, and from remorse to confession, and from confession to forgiveness, and from forgiveness to restored fellowship. How many readers out there have chosen the latter? We are all sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God, but the confession of sins, and receiving forgiveness is something only you can do, I cannot do it for you. Yeshua receives ALL who come to him, no matter how bad or evil you have been, nor what you have done, no sin is beyond forgiveness. Just ask, and turn from your sin, and forgiveness and restoration are yours. Shabbat Shalom Ben Avraham "Old Tom" behind the cooler

PARASHAH: “B'shalach” (when he let go) EXODUS 13:17-17:16 Good question to ponder. Have we left "Egypt" behind, or do we have Egyptian baggage with us still? The ways of the old fleshly nature still hang around. We left the lost world when Yeshua/Jesus came our Savior and LORD, yet the carnal nature still raises his ugly head. It took God one day to take Israel out of Egypt, yet it took 40 years to take Egypt out of Israel. We are coming down to the “showdown” where Pharaoh gets what he deserves for defying the God of Israel, going back on his word to “let Israel go”, you cannot pursue Israel without getting hurt, and Pharaoh and his army got to drink bitter waters, went off the “deep end” received a very fatal “water baptism”. Yet before all this happens, there are some interesting verses to look at. Exodus 17: 18 states that; “The children of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt” yet it also states that Elohim did not lead them through the land of the F’lishtim: (The Philistines) because an encounter with them might entice war, frighten them and cause them to go back to Egypt. But if they had weapons, why would they fear a battle? One can assume that even though they had weapons if they didn’t know how to use them, they would be no good. We can say the same thing about a Bible. It is useless in the hands of one who does not know how to use it, or uses it in wrongful ways, inventing “strange” doctrines, or taking verses out of context. The Israelites were ex-slaves, not men of war. Another question, where did they get the weapons? Were the weapons among the spoils of Egypt? They might have been. But here is another view from a Derashic perspective (Moral and spiritual) The word for “armed” in Hebrew which is used is “chamushim” the wise rabbis of old state that this word has roots in the words "chamesh” (the number 5) and “chamishim” (50). So how does this a part in this verse? It is said that it was the 5th generation after Yosef that left Egypt, if a generation is 80 years, it would add up to 400 years. Also, the number 5 symbolizes “grace”. So, the Israelites not only left Egypt with some spears and swords but they were also armed with the “grace” that Elohim bestowed on them. More importantly, they were armed with the protection, blessings, and leadership of Elohim who led them out of Egypt. The number “50” also reminds us of the “50 gates of understanding” which the ancient rabbis say are 50 questions that Elohim asked Job at the end of the Book of Job. Another midrash is that only 1 out of 5 Israelites left Egypt. Now I ask you if all of Israel was witness to the destruction of Egypt by Elohim, why would they want to stay behind? Other sages say that only 1 out of 5 households put blood on their doorposts. Remember that these are ideas presented by unsaved rabbis. However, I ask you again, if Israel is witness to all the miracles and judgments, why would they NOT want to put lamb’s blood on their doorposts? I would like to answer the question using a question. If we can have eternal life through the blood and sacrifice of Yeshua for our sins, past, present, and future, why do so many people still REJECT Him? The scripture states that ‘Wide is the way that leads to destruction, but narrow is the way that leads to eternal life.’ Another word for “armed” is “equipped”. One could also say that “B’nei Yisrael” went out of Egypt “equipped” with the “5” promises that Adonai gave to His people; 1) Elohim will deliver Israel out from under the burden of Egyptian Slavery; 2) Israel will be REDEEMED by the ARM of Elohim-YHVH; 3) Elohim-YHVH will take Israel as HIS people and will be their GOD; 4) Israel will be brought into the chosen land of promise; 5) The promised land will be an INHERITANCE. But let’s look at the Peshat, the literal meaning of the word; “armed” it could also come from the Egyptian word “chams” which is “lance” but I ask you to ponder on this. The Israelites were ex-slaves, not warriors. If they came out of Egypt with lances, swords, etc.… How would they know how to use them? Without training, it would be very difficult to be victorious in a battle. As believers, we have the Word of God, but if we are unskilled in using His WORD, or if we do not know how to interpret it correctly, we could actually do much harm to others, just like a sword in the hands of a child, the child could cut himself, or hurt one of his friends. Another thing to ponder upon is that when the word “Egyptians” is used, the word “Mitzraim” is used, which also means “Egypt” (the nation of). One can say that even though “B’nei Yisrael” left Egypt, Egypt still followed them out! They left with the Egyptian culture, ways, language, and all that was part of them in those 400 years as slaves. It took Elohim one day to take Israel out of Egypt, but it took 40 years to take Egypt out of Israel! We are the same way, even though we are born-again believers, we still carry around the garbage related to our “Yetzer-Hara” (sin nature) but little by little, the Ruach HaKodesh takes that from us as we mature in the faith. We might wonder how many Israelites left Egypt, probably about 2 million, plus those Egyptians that “saw the light” plus the sheep and cattle, it was a huge people group that headed eastward across the Sinai Peninsula and then headed south after reaching “Midol” (an Egyptian army base, where weapons were stored). We are told...” and it was told the King of Egypt that the people were fled” ...14:5. What? Didn't he already know that? Of course, he did, he let them go! It was probably a team of scouts that were sent out to track down the Israelites to see where they were going, and they gave their report back to Pharaoh. Now, this took place a few days later, and now Pharaoh is sorry he let them go. What? Didn't he remember the plagues? Some people never learn, they love misery. Now Pharaoh musters together his entire army! Another mistake is never to send out your entire armed forces, always leave behind reserve units. But Pharaoh was not a wise general. This probably took another few days, thus giving Israel about a week's head start, it would take quite a few days for about 2 million people to cross the Sinai Peninsula. The name “Elohim” and “YHVH” are both used in this Parashah, “Elohim” is used at the beginning of this parashah, in Chap 13:17 meaning the “Strong, powerful God” yet the name YHVH later on, shows the personal name, (coming from “Havayah” meaning “to exist”) shows the personal relationship as “Adonai” which we also say when reading YHVH, anytime the word LORD is used in scripture, it is the name YHVH. YHVH takes them across the Sinai Peninsula to thus entice the Egyptians, to utterly finish destroying them thus ending the powerful rule of Egypt, Egypt never recovered from that defeat, it formed another army years later, but it never had the power it once had with Rameses, Thutmose, Narmer, and other pharaohs of the past dynasties. When the Israelites get to the beach, they get ready to cross, in Hebrew, it is known as “Yam Suf” and in English, it is known as “Nuweba Beach” it is a tourist resort today in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. We see that YHVH goes behind the Israelites to protect them, in the form of darkness to the Egyptians, yet light to the Israelites. To us as believers, Yeshua is our light, for us to follow, but to Satan, Yeshua is the conquering king, without the light of Yeshua, without the light of the Torah, we live in darkness, spiritual darkness. Chapter 14:13 is interesting. Moshe says; “Fear not and stand still and see the SALVATION of YHVH” in Hebrew, the word “Salvation” is “YESHUAT” we have the name of our Messiah “Yeshua” plus the “Tav” Symbolically, we can see that Yeshua is part of Elohim, and He is moving to bring HIS people through the sea, It also reminds us that the “Tav” (T) symbolizes the covenant, it takes the form of the cross in Paleo-Hebrew. We have the name “Yeshua” and the “cross” He is saving his people from physical destruction by the Egyptians, and in the future, He will die to save the world from Spiritual destruction. In gematria, “Yeshuat” adds up to 786. Reading from right to left, one way to understand the message of this sum of numbers is; “MAN achieves ETERNAL life (a new beginning) through the PERFECT God who is Yeshua, who is part of Elohim. Now YHVH tells Moshe to “lift up your rod and your hand” and cause the sea to part, and it did, divide in two, we read that Israel crossed on “dry land” what with a strong wind to dry up the sea bottom, today this area is known as the “Gulf of Aqaba” they crossed a small stretch of sea bottom, about 10 miles across, to get to the land of Midian, now known as Saudi Arabia, if you go to Google Earth, and look up “Nuweba Beach” you can see the area that the Israelites crossed over at. Then, YHVH gives the order to Moshe to raise his hand over the water again, and the waters closed up again and drowned the Egyptian army, the army was halfway across, and we see something in the words, “hand” (Yad), and “rod” (Mateh) that make us think. The “rod” is a symbol of authority, of rulership. The “hand” is a symbol of “power and strength” the Torah speaks of YHVH revealing his “Holy Arm” the “arm is connected to the hand” the ancient Hebrew symbol of the “Yod” is the extended “arm and hand” so we can see the message here, “Moshe” is the authority as he shows his leadership by raising his rod, and his hand opens and closes the sea, thus demonstrating his strength and power, but of course, it is not HIS, it is GOD's leadership and strength, being revealed THROUGH Moshe. When the people follow Moshe, it is as if they are following GOD, trusting in his leadership and strength. When we receive Yeshua as Messiah, we trust in HIM as our leader and our strength, and we follow HIM through his WORD, yet many hope that Yeshua will follow THEM! (not going to happen) . Today, you can see on YouTube what is left of the Egyptian chariots at the bottom of the Gulf of Aqaba, they are coral formations that look like mushrooms, probably the axle and wheels of the chariots, look up, “The real Exodus Crossing." When the Israelites crossed over and they saw the dead Egyptians along the shore, Moses lifted up his voice and "sang a song" known as "HaShir Moshe" (The Song of Moses). This is in chapter 15. I'd like to look at verse 2; "Yah is my strength and my song and He has become my salvation. This is my God: I will glorify him; My father's God: I will exalt him" The word "Salvation" is the name "YESHUA!" and we look at the name "Yah" which consists of only two Hebrew letters; "Yod" and "Hey" Y + H. When we look at the symbolism, we see "Behold the hand and arm." In the ancient Hebrew letter "Yod" we see a picture of a "Hand connected to the arm." By God's mighty arm, he brought the Israelites out of Egypt, and by his hand (through Moses) he caused the waves of the sea to open and close. Open to HIS people, and CLOSE on top of the Egyptians. Yeshua (Jesus) is God (Eli) in the flesh. ("Eli" My God). When we look at all this from a moral and spiritual insight (Derash) We have been rescued from HaSatan, by our Leader, who is strong, whose “hand” struck the death blow to Satan, whose “hands” bore the nails of Calvary's cross, and who leads us to a new life, we have been set apart (Made holy) to follow HIM for all of our days, (Should we choose to) of course it is a choice, but the “good Shepherd always “looks back” for his lost or misguided sheep, to lead them back to the fold. We see other events that show God's protection and provision for his people, in verses 22-27 we see the “bitter waters made sweet” Moshe threw into the water “a tree” probably cut it down and threw it in, the waters were made sweet, the Torah is also called, “The TREE of LIFE” (Etz Chaim) that changes our bitterness to sweetness, from sorrow to happiness, from lost to saved. In chapter 16, the provision of “Manna” in the desert “Bread from Heaven” (Lechem BaShamayim) another provision from YHVH, symbolizes “Yeshua the Bread of Life” and in chap 17, “Water from the Rock” this rock is there today in the Saudi Arabian desert very close to Mt. Sinai, it seems to be about 50 feet tall and has a crack down the middle. Go to “google images” and click on “The water-rock at Horeb” Moshe was told to “strike the rock” and he did with his staff/rod” and out flowed water so that the congregation and the livestock could drink. This symbolizes “Yeshua the Solid Rock” (Yeshua HaTzur) and Yeshua who is the Living Water. (Yeshua Mayim Chayim). It also symbolizes that Yeshua was “struck ONLY ONCE for our sins at Calvary, ONLY ONCE meaning “nailed to the cross and died one time” and when Moshe got mad later on and struck the rock again, he was punished by God and couldn't enter the promised land. Messiah's one-time death paid it all. If you haven't already, have you accepted his free gift of salvation? Ben Avraham "Old Tom" the kitten maker, awakening from a snooze 1 post • Page 1 of 1

JEREMIAH 46:13-28 Many years later, after the fall of Egypt at Passover, disaster strikes, this time, YHVH uses Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon as an instrument of destruction against Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar invaded and conquered Egypt in the year 605 B.C.E and was ruled by Babylon for 43 years. Also, the Prophet Ezekiel foresees the exile of the nation of Egypt for 40 years (probably during the Millennium). God will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, but bring them back again after. (Ezekiel 29) Just as Israel was in the desert for 40 years, Egypt will also "wander" for the same time. It seems like Egypt was not humbled after the Passover experience. You would think that the pharaohs that rose to power after the time of Passover would have realized the author of Egypt's destruction, but seems like they did not, a hard heart is hard to break at times. There are people today that have hardened hearts, that still resist the will of YHVH, to become sons of God, servants of Yeshua, and talmidim. At times, God will humble us through accidents, illnesses, etc.. don't wait for that to happen, HUMBLE THY SELF IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD! He loves you and wants you as his own! God loves the Egyptian people also. Today in Egypt there are born-again believers and the Coptic church is alive and well. Just like Israel was chastised, so Egypt will also be chastised. We must remember however that Egypt was home to our Messiah Yeshua during his younger years. As Hosea 11:1 states; "Out of Egypt I called my son!" We can look at that in two ways. Israel was like "Adonai's son" who was called out of Egypt by Moses and brought to the promised land 40 years later. Yet also YESHUA is the "Son of God" (HaBen Elohim) who was "called out of Egypt" when the time was right to begin his ministry. MAT 25:1-46; JOHN 19:31-37 ”The Ten Talents” A “talent” was a “weight” of money thousands of years ago. It was a lot, one could have a “talent” of gold, or silver, or copper, brass, bronze, etc. And like money today, it could be invested, or wisely spent, We also use the word “talent” as something that we have, like an “ability” to do good. As believers, we all have “talents” or “abilities” given to us through the Ruach HaKodesh (The Holy Spirit), with which to serve our LORD and Savior on earth. But, like the evil servant in the parable, who did nothing with his talent, only buried it, there are believers today who are doing the same. Many have more than one talent, or “spiritual gift” and they are not using it (or them). They are going to waste, or are squandering them in “things of the world. Can you sing? Yes, are you singing for God? Can you write? Are you writing for God? Can you teach? Are you teaching God's word to others? Can you play an instrument? Are you playing for the LORD? Think about the talents you have. How are you using them? John 19:31-37 talks about the Eve of Pesach, since part of this Parasha is all about Passover, it is fitting that these verses be read. The bodies of the two criminals and of Yeshua were to be taken down from the crosses where they were crucified. The scripture says “cursed is he who hangs on a tree, (from Deuteronomy 21:22,23) Yeshua already carried our “curse” and that of the two thieves. All was accomplished during that special Passover. It also states that a Roman soldier pierced the side of Yeshua with a spear, and out came blood and water which was proof that He was really dead. Blood and water have special symbolism. The blood symbolizes the wine which we drink during Passover, and during the beginning of each sabbath. Symbolically, we are inviting Yeshua to come inside of us, and continue to be part of our lives. The water is Yeshua who is the “Living Water” the blood also symbolizes “life” so through His death, we have “Life” and that is “Life Eternal”. “They shall look upon Him whom they pierced” (vs 37) One day in the future, Yeshua will return in the clouds of Heaven, and “ALL” will see Him coming, “They” means “All” even those very soldiers who pierced Him, with the flagellum and with the spear, will SEE HIM someday soon. And ALL will have to answer for their actions. Shalom Ben Avraham Remember the Holocaust, May it never be repeated!

PARASHA: “BO” (enter) EXODUS 10:1-13:16 The Parasha starts out; “And the LORD said unto Moshe; ‘Go in unto Pharaoh’…” Strange, the word “Go” in Hebrew is “Sh’lach”, but the Hebrew scriptures read “Bo” (enter) so, in reality, the Word of God is saying; “Enter, or Come in unto Pharaoh” But why? One way of looking at this is that Adonai is already there in the palace of pharaoh, and HE is inviting Moshe to come where He is to do business with pharaoh! And what a business deal! Let’s make him an offer he can’t refuse! Freedom for Israel…or the plagues! So, it is “God against Pharaoh and his gods” guess who wins? The plagues against the Egyptian gods continue, it is our “Creator God YHVH” against Pharaoh and his false deities. Guess who is winning, yes, you know it. However, I need to point out that many of us peg Pharaoh and the Egyptians as the “bad guys” and the Israelites as the “good guys”. But we need to take note of something that many believers have in common with pharaoh, After the plague of locusts, pharaoh said; “I have sinned against the LORD your God, (notice that he said “YOUR” ) and against you, Now, therefore, forgive I pray thee my sin only this once and entreat the LORD your God that he may take away this death only”(Ex 10:17) and even before that, pharaoh spoke saying; “I have sinned this time, the LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked, entreat the LORD that there be no more mighty thunderings and hail, and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer (EX 9:27,28) All of these plagues were directed against the false gods of Egypt. The Nile had a goddess, the cattle god was “Apis” in the form of a bull. The sun-god “Ra” was directly attacked by the plague of darkness; In chap 10; 22-23 Moshe speaks of a “darkness which could be felt” per instructions of YHVH, Moshe stretched out his hand towards the heavens, and “darkness” descended over Egypt. We ask ourselves; “How can a person ‘feel’ darkness, it isn’t ‘physical’ yet it could be felt by the Egyptians. I would think that the “darkness” that the Egyptians felt was more spiritual and emotional than physical. It was a darkness so “thick” that one person could not see another. Perhaps a sort of supernatural darkness came from YHVH, perhaps a “moist and humid” darkness, so that when the Egyptians went to light their lamps, they would not light. I experienced such a darkness when I was living in Mexico in 1973. A “campesino” showed me a cave which was in the middle of a forest. No one could find the exit, for it extended for miles. “Cuidado” (careful he told me) “People have gone crazy inside there.” Well, I just had to go in to find out myself. After going in about thirty feet the cave turned to the right. I went to the right about 10 feet and all of a sudden, there was pitch darkness, so dark that I could not see my hand in front of my face. I felt instant fear, so much so that I turned and left the way I came in. As soon as I saw the light outside, I breathed a sigh of relief. I did not go back inside. (Well, that day I did not have a lantern with me, nor a flashlight). Perhaps the darkness which was felt was that of “fear”. There is a spiritual darkness in which many people dwell, without the light of the Torah, of Yeshua, we live in darkness, yet the scripture tells us that in the dwellings of the Israelites, there was light. Their lamps were lit and they could see each other, the three days of darkness were like three regular evenings for the Israelites, they had lights, and they had the light of YHVH, the promise of redemption, the coming of the first Passover, freedom was just around the corner, just a few days ahead. Pharaoh seems to be repentant yet it is just “lip service” in Spanish it would be “de diente a labio” or from “tooth to lip” he continues to rebel against YHVH, and refuses to let Israel go. How many believers claim to love God and admit that they are sinners and wicked, and we all are because of our “yetzer hara” (evil inclination) or in simple words, “sin nature” yet we ignore the Torah, we disobey HIS commandments…or…we promise that we will obey, yet we go back on our promise. I think this is true for ALL of us from time to time, for some more often than others. Even the Israelites, once they got out of Egypt, began to complain, gripe, grumble and groan, and break G-d’s commandment making an idol calf of gold. Are we any better? Do we not grumble and complain too? For this and for that? We break YHVH’s commandments, and we say, “sorry” and seem repentant, but continue in the same sins, I think we are like Pharaoh as much as the Israelites. Sometimes, we want to compromise, not follow ALL of Adonai’s instructions, and perhaps not follow the whole Torah. Adonai’s instructions to Moshe, as he revealed to the pharaoh, were to leave Egypt, the whole people, with all their properties (herds and flocks), go to the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD, yet pharaoh said he would comply…but…not all the way; “go sacrifice to your God in the land” (just stay in Egypt) “go to the wilderness, but not so far away” (yes, so we can keep an eye on you that you don’t run away!) “Go serve the LORD, the men only” (yet Adonai wants “all the people”) “go serve the LORD, but your herds and flocks stay here” (so, how are they going to sacrifice without the flocks and the herds?) Do we follow wholeheartedly? Or do we pick and choose? Do we follow Torah only when convenient? Or parts that won’t interrupt our lifestyles? Do we follow some commandments and not follow others saying “these aren’t for us, only for Israel” if we are picking and choosing, then we are like pharaoh, trying to “bargain” or make “Compromise” with the LORD through his chosen servant? I would like to add this detail also. It is about “HaMateh” (The Staff) this is the staff or the rod of Moshe and Aaron, the one that was used to bring about the plagues. It is very interesting how it relates to the power of Elohim through Moshe. The word “Mateh” in Hebrew has two meanings. One is “Rod” or “Staff” and it represents the power and authority of the holder of the same. It also means “Tribe” and in the plural; “Matot” (Tribes). When Moshe was still before YHVH at Har Sinai, He told Moshe to use the “Mateh” to show the people HIS power. The power of Elohim-YHVH through Moshe. Moshe would be as “Elohim” before Pharaoh. The rod would be the symbol of authority, as it also represents the “Tribe” of “Kol Israel” of “All Israel” united as One Tribe. “Mateh Echad”. If we look at the staff of Moshe through spiritual eyes, just imagine the name YHVH carved into this staff or rod of judgment. We look at the value of the letters Y H V H. The first two letters “Yod and Hey” 10 and 5. Those two letters form the shorter form of the name of God; “YaH”. The letter “Yod” = 10. It can symbolize the “10” plagues that were to befall Egypt, by the “Arm” (Yod) of Elohim. The hand is part of the arm, remember that. Then we see the letter “Hey” which has the value of “5”. We can sum up the promises of YHVH as the following; 1) Elohim will deliver Israel out from under the burden of Egyptian Slavery; 2) Israel will be REDEEMED by the ARM of Elohim-YHVH; 3) Elohim-YHVH will Israel as HIS people and will be their GOD; 4) Israel will be brought into the chosen land of promise; 5) The promised land will be an INHERITANCE. After the 10 plagues, the 5 basic promises were fulfilled. The redemption was fulfilled when the lambs and goats were slaughtered and sacrificed in the Israelite homes during the Eve of Pesach. So that gives us Y and H in the infallible name of God. But we still have Vav (V) and Hey (H). We know that the “Hey” covers the promises, but the “Vav” is the key letter that points us to Calvary’s Cross! The “Vav” is the nail, that was driven into the hands of Mashiach, this would “really” fulfill the promise of redemption. The redemption was symbolized by the animal sacrifices until Yeshua came and fulfilled it in “Full”. The “Vav” has the value of “6” which is the number of “Man”. So, Elohim became a man to receive the nail in his hands to make full the promise of redemption, which was part of the promises. The first story of Israel’s redemption by blood is in chapter 12. This can be the most important chapter of Shemot because it is “Pesach Time” ” This month shall be your beginning of months for you, it shall be the first month of the year for you” This can't be any clearer in my observation, it isn't January 1st, it is the first of Nissan, and since the lunar calendar changes from year to year, our “New Year's Day” (the real one) comes on March 22th (New Year's Eve). ” On the tenth of this month, everyone shall take a lamb.... a lamb for each household” This lamb was to be a young, healthy lamb, and it would be kept for 5 days, on the 14th day, it would be slaughtered, and as we know, the blood would be placed on the two side posts of the door of the house entrance and along the top frame. As the story goes on, the death angel would come and see the blood and thus “pass-over” that house that had the blood on the doorposts. If you imagine that, the blood on the door posts...forms sort of a “cross” you can imagine Yeshua with his arms and hands extended, each one touching one of the “doorposts” and his head against the “top part” where the blood from his head would be (where the Roman soldiers pushed in the crown of thorns) and where the nails were hammered (in the wrists) between the two small bones that form the arm (remember that not one bone was broken), so it had to between the bones, through the muscle. The lamb or goat was to be eaten roasted, with bitter herbs and unleavened bread. The other elements were added later and were present when Yeshua celebrated the Pesach Supper with his talmidim. The roasted lamb or goat symbolizes “Yeshua being “roasted” in the “fires of judgment for our sins. He took upon himself ALL of our sins, past, present, and future. They were all “nailed” to the cross and judged by the Father. The “bitter herbs” symbolize the bitterness of slavery, the slavery to sin, and having a master “HaSatan” as our taskmaster. The unleavened bread symbolizes “Yeshua The Bread of Life” bread without leaven can be considered “perfect, sinless bread, therefore calling Yeshua who is without sin, “The Bread of Life”, and when we eat the “bread without leaven” (Matzah) we are symbolizing “taking into us Yeshua” and when we eat only unleavened bread for 7 days afterward, we are being conscience of “sin in our lives” (avoiding it) being reminded by the matzah. At the first Passover, wine wasn't mentioned nor does it mention “Charoseth” (sweet mixture of nuts, apples, honey, cinnamon, etc.). They may have had wine, or water, or another drink, but no one knows for sure, nor do we know what kind of “bitter herbs” were used, today we use horseradish. Back then, it had to be something common in Egypt. The death angel visited the houses where no blood was found, so probably all the houses of the Egyptians lacked the blood, but perhaps there were a few houses that had members that paid attention to Moshe, and they might have gone to the Israelites and put blood on their doors. We are talking about a “substitution sacrifice” the “lambs and goats” were substituted for the Israelites' firstborn. And any Egyptian household that also placed the blood on their doors (those who believed). We can see in scripture where a “substitute” was used. When Abraham was asked to sacrifice Isaac, God provided a “ram” as a substitute for Isaac, On Yom Kippur, two goats are used as “substitutes” for all of the people of Israel, and finally, “Yeshua Ha Mashiach” (Jesus the Messiah/Christ) was “OUR” substitute on the cross. HE exchanged his “Righteousness for our sinfulness” instead of us being punished for our sins, Yeshua accepted the punishment in our place. All that remains for us is to accept his “one time only” sacrifice and receive and accept HIM as our LORD and SAVIOR, and thus being “born again” according to John 3:3. Have you done this? If you were to die today, are you sure that Yeshua is your LORD and Savior? Will HE let you into his Kingdom? Only you can answer that question. ANCIENT EGYPTIAN WORDS/VOCABULARY (just for the fun of knowing them) “Aw Ibek” = May your heart rejoice, “Em Hotep” = shalom, peace, “Kemet” = Egypt “Qed” = architect (masculine) “Qedet” = architect (feminine) “baket” = female servant “Em heset net Ra” = be in favor with (the god) Ra, “Em heset net Yah” = be in favor with Yah (YHVH) “Retehtey” = baker “Retehtet” = baker (female) , “Neter” = god “Sen” = brother, “Sat” = sister “Dua netjer en ek” = thank you. "nesoot" (king) "eety" (father) "moot" (mother) Numbers 1 - 10 wa, s'nu, k'mt, f'du, d'yu, s'su, s'fet, k'nnu, p'sedu, m'du (vowels were not written in ancient Egyptian, the same as in Hebrew. The sounds are approximate. Moshe spoke all of these fluently. Try some of them on your neighbor, “Em Hotep” (good bumper sticker?) ya never know what will fly these days. (kinda like the pet rock?) 1/27/23 "Holocaust Remembrance Day" May never happen again that innocent people be slaughtered by the millions out of hate, spite, and prejudice in places such as these;

EZEKIEL 28:25-29:21 The prophet speaks through the Holy Spirit and affirms that even though Israel has been scattered throughout the countries of the world, they will be returned to their land in the future, it is already happening, Israel was recognized as a nation in 1948, and since then, the people have been returning. One positive thing to dwell upon, the Jewish people made known to the nations of the ONE GOD, Adonai-Elohim-YHVH” and through the migration of the Jewish peoples to different parts of the world, we now have the Ashkenazim, Sephardim, Falashim, people groups which make up most to the Jewish peoples today. These people groups have introduced many varieties of foods, customs, and ways of worship in today's Judaism, many are also Messianic believers. Bad news for Egypt, just as the Israelites were scattered among the nations, the Egyptians will also be scattered among the nations for 40 years, Egypt will be desolate and people-less, for this period of time, this will probably happen during the millennium. The Egyptian people will come back after that time, but Egypt will never be a prosperous country. Since the fall of Egypt after the time of Passover, Egypt was conquered by the Babylonians, the Greeks, and Romans. Even today, there are Egyptians living in many countries in the world, but Egypt has never been left completely without people and animals, at least not yet. Yet a good note to ponder on, Egypt opened its doors to receive young Yeshua with Mary, and Joseph when they were fleeing from Herod. There are quite a few believers in Egypt today, making up the “Coptic Church." My wife and I visited Egypt in 1999 and it is indeed an interesting (yet poor) country. The food is fantastic! MATT 24:1-51 Yeshua tells his talmidim about the “end times” and we all know and have read this chapter, of “wars and rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, etc. As we look around today, we can be certain that we are living in these “end times” for sure, yet the end is not yet...we still have a way to go. We have heard of many “false-Messiahs” leaders claiming to be “Jesus” yet we know better than believing on them. When Yeshua returns, the “Whole World” will see him returning, what will modern satellite cameras, etc. Verse 15 is interesting; It talks about the “Abomination of Desolation” set up in the Mishkan, the “Holy Place” in the third temple. This takes us back to Hanukkah, reminding us of Antiochus Epiphanes, who set up a “Statue of Zeus” in the Holy Place. The future Anti-Messiah, a second “Antiochus” will also set up a statue, perhaps of himself, and command all to bow down and worship it. Verse 31: "He will send out his angels with a great shofar, and they will gather together his chosen people from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Many allude to this passage as "Yom Teruah" or "Rosh Hashanah." The future ingathering of all believers in Messiah Yeshua, all "born again" believers, from one end of the earth to the other. Could this passage correspond with 1 Thess. 4:16, which speaks of the same event, yet using different words? "the Rapture" as it is well known. The sounding of the "Great Shofar" is known as "Yom Teruah." this is the first of the fall feasts on the Hebraic calendar. Yet scripture also states that no one knows the day nor the hour that event will occur. If it is indeed "Rosh HaShanah" or "Yom Teruah" then we know the time of the year, yet we do not know the precise year nor do we know the precise hour that event will occur. Yet we should be ready at any time, at any day. It could be tomorrow, it could be Rosh HaShanah 2023, or 2024, or any Rosh HaShanah of the future if that is the time that the LORD has in mind, yet only HE knows. Therefore, the example of a thief breaking into a house is used by Messiah. If we know when the thief is coming, we will be ready, but since we do not know, we still need to be ready and watchful. How can we be watchful? May we be walking according to the Spirit of God, occupied in good works, being faithful in our attendance in God's House, and in fellowship with other believers. Final words; "May you be ready, may we all be ready, at any time, anywhere, when the shofar blows, upward we will go, to meet the LORD in the air, and follow Him back down, to Jerusalem bound, to live with the LORD with gladness and joy, without pain, without fear, for a thousand years...and beyond." Ben Avraham

PARASHA: “Va’era” (and I appeared); Exodus 6:2-9:35 YHVH speaks to Moshe saying that when he appeared to Abraham, he revealed himself as “El Shaddai” which means “God Almighty” or “God all-powerful, yet he did not reveal himself as he did to Moshe, with Moshe he revealed himself with the more personal name; YHVH (Yod Hey Vav Hey) These letters stem from the word; “HaVaYaH” which means “To exist” (we just re-arrange the letters) one could say that the name YHVH means “the God who exists from time past, present, and future) “Haya=the past” “Hoveh=the present “Yiyah”=future” As one can see, these words are a mixture of the letters YHVH. YHVH plans to take his people out of Egypt and return them to Canaan, the promised land, and at the same time, “judge the Egyptians” using a series of judgments leading up to the slaughter of the “Passover lambs” a very important “Moed” which we know so well. This year, Passover starts on April 5th in the evening. We can look forward to this time as we do every year. The judgments are directed against the false deities of Egypt and against Pharaoh himself. Egypt is pretty well destroyed and left in ruin afterward and never did regain the power and military might it once boasted of. From verses 6 to 9, YHVH makes 8 “I will” promises to his people and I want to look at these promises in light of how they affect us as believers in Messiah Yeshua today; 1. I WILL bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 2. I WILL rescue you from their bondage. 3. I WILL redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 4. I WILL take you as my people. 5. I WILL be your God. 6. I WILL make myself known to you as your GOD who brings you out from under the burdens of Egypt. 7. I WILL bring you to the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 8. I WILL give it to you as an inheritance. How do these promises affect us as believers? I WILL bring you out from under the burden of SIN (already done) I WILL rescue you from the bondage of SIN (through Yeshua) (already done) I WILL redeem you with “Two outstretched arms, which received two nails” and “judged” HaSatan (already done) I WILL take you as part of my people, now, through Yeshua. You are part of the Commonwealth of Israel, you have been “grafted in” I WLL be your God; Adonai-Elohim-Yeshua YHVH I MADE myself known to you through my Torah! And through YESHUA I WILL bring you to my land, in the near future (and now if you feel you are called to come over here to Israel, even if it is to serve for a while, check out the IDF! ) I WILL give you as an inheritance ETERNAL LIFE, and you will be part of MY KINGDOM. If you have already come to Yeshua, you already have it! No problemo! A quick look at the plagues that Adonai brought down upon the Egyptians. All were directed against the pagan Egyptian gods. The staff of Moshe, which was thrown down and it became a serpent, the serpent (Cobra) was the emblem of power in Egypt, the emblem of Pharaoh, in this case, the staff of Moshe, (the staff representing the power and authority of Adonai, through Moshe and Aaron) turned into a serpent, and quickly devoured the serpent-staffs of the magicians of Pharaoh. Result? The power (serpent) of Adonai overpowers the authority (serpents) of Pharaoh, case closed! The Nile was worshipped as a god who gave life. The Torah teaches that the life of the flesh is in the blood, yet in this case, the “bloody Nile” symbolized death. Again, Adonai triumphs over the god or goddess of the Nile. Only in Goshen was there freshwater, Yeshua, who is the “Living Water” gives life to those who seek Him and are on “His side”. Frogs are cute yet kinda slimy, a few are OK, but too many are bad, especially when they all start to sing and croak together. The Egyptians could not kill them since they considered them gods. The goddess “Heket” was the goddess of fertility and had the head of a frog! And boy did they ever reproduce! Too many frogs! Too many “Heketim!” yet Adonai got rid of them, and the land “stank!” The plague of lice and boils made the Egyptian priests “unclean” to serve. Again, two strikes against Egypt’s religious order. The plague of the death of the cattle, a strike against the Egyptian god “Apis” (the bull). The hail from the sky, a strike against Hathor, the goddess of the heavenlies. Darkness, a strike against Ra, the sun god. The list goes on. It is a war against the gods of Egypt against the ONE true God, Adonai-Elohim. We know who’s winning, and who won. Yeshua gave HaSatan the death blow at Calvary. The death blow of the firstborn in Egypt was the blow against Osiris, the god of death and of the underworld. In Yeshua, life triumphs over death. That is why it is important to be “born again” then we go from death to life; …..Before being “born again”, accepting Yeshua/Jesus as our LORD and Savior, Messiah, we are under the burden and bondage of “HaSatan” the deceiver, father of Lies, and we do “his bidding” whether we know it or not, maybe a lot of us were not involved in crime, drugs, murder, etc., but we were hell bound and just did not give God a second thought, If Yeshua/YHVH is not our Father, LORD, redeemer, than, we are of our father, “the devil”, there is no other choice, we are either on one side of the fence or on the other side, there is no “in between” fences. We are under the bondage of sin, and under its burden until we are redeemed. Yet Yeshua DID rescue us from the bondage and burden of sin with “HIS OUTSTRETCHED ARMS” He stretched out his arms and hands to receive the nails of Calvary. He allowed the Roman soldiers to nail him to that rugged cross that Passover day, so as to pay the price of sin for us all. That day, he “judged” sin and death with his blood. From the moment we accept HIM as LORD and Savior, we are taken by him as HIS PEOPLE, we join the great Commonwealth of Israel, being grafted into the Olive Tree. We are now HIS PEOPLE and part of HIS FAMILY of redeemed. He is OUR GOD, and he made himself known to us through his WORD. His WORD has been taught to us through his faithful ministers, preachers, rabbis, teachers, etc. We are now living in different lands, in the USA and in other countries, yet someday, we will go to live in HIS glorious city “The New Jerusalem” which is now in the Heavenlies, yet will one day come to rest on earth. This is our inheritance as believers in Messiah Yeshua, Eternal life in his glorious kingdom. We can rest assured that we all have a glorious future to look forward to. Ben Avraham Please, someone who is tech smart, make this picture up-right, you have my permission

ISAIAH 27:6-28:13 ” In the days to come, shall Jacob take root, Israel shall blossom and bud....” We see a fulfilling of this prophecy in that once taken from Egypt, and united and solidified as a “People” a “Nation”, this people/nation has grown and has spread out throughout the world Though many nations have tried to “snuff out” Am Yisrael, they, in turn (those nations) have suffered punishment and defeat in trying to do just that. Can a mouse “snuff out” an elephant? Israel, upon being scattered throughout the nations, brought the belief in “ONE GOD” when the nations believed in “Multi-gods” Through the Tribe of Y’hudah, came forth YHVH in the flesh, “Yeshua” who is “Yeshuah” (Salvation) to all those who believe on him who died to set men free from sin. When we look at chapter 28, the phrase "Tzav la-tazv, kav la kav, z'eir sham" is repeated, (Precept by precept, line by line, a little here, a little there) There is mention of those drunk with wine and liquor, they are confused. "Can no one be taught anything?" the prophet asks, "can no one understand the message?" The answer is YES, but we need to have a clear mind, not clouded by liquor, drugs, the cares of this world, etc...If we are going to learn Torah (Bible) we need to have good teachers and a clear and open mind to receive. Yet not all at once. One can not learn how to fly a plane in two days. One must have "ground school" first, "learning the controls of the plane" then "virtual flights" and lastly, "actual take-off and land." (Precept by precept, line by line, a little here and a little there). We must learn the basics in Hebrew and Greek since this is how we can understand the setting of God's Word, that is if we are serious students and want to get the most out of the Bible. There is so much to learn, and there is no stop to learning. Some claim that we will continue to learn in Heaven. Planet earth is our first school, and death will promote us to "Graduate School." But all learning is "little by little" learn, stumble, fall, get up again. MATT 22:1-23:39 Yeshua tells a parable about the “Kingdom of Heaven” being likened to a “marriage/wedding feast, and the king invites many to come, but they refuse, and even kill the servants, then he sends an army to destroy those who rejected him and killed his servants, and sent others to invite others to come, and many came, and the feast was given. Both good and bad came, When we look at this in plain light, Yeshua is now preparing a “wedding feast” for those who have accepted his “invitation”. Many accept, even those who walk in evil ways, want to change their lives, so they come to the wedding feast, yet also, many reject. The offer still stands, Yeshua died on the cross to offer mankind “salvation” (Yeshuah) through his blood and full atonement of sins. Yet many still make fun of that and refuse the free gift of salvation, to prefer the ways of the world. Those who refuse, and die in their sins, will suffer eternal punishment in the Lake of fire, While the offer was made, some refused, while others accepted. What will you do with the free gift of Salvation? Accept or reject? Ben Avraham 1 post • Page 1 of 1