Zion's Voice

Torah Portion for 7th June - 13th June

Torah  portion                  Numbers 13:1 to 15:41

Haftarah portion           Joshua 2:1-24

“shelach”

Who will you follow?

The Israelites have begun their journey to the land of Promise. The ‘shekinah’ of God is with them, but in His mercy and grace, he allows them to partner with Himself in spying out the land. ( they were invited to assess the cost of following His plan for them) It has been noted that the journey would take approximately two weeks by the direct route. He had told them that the ‘pillar of cloud’ and the ‘pillar of fire’ would show them the way. Sounds easy doesn’t it?

We remind ourselves here that our God ‘does not change’. In principle His dealings with these people provides the pattern of His dealings with His people down through the ages, and we find lessons which are as up to date for us today as they were for them when these events actually took place thousands of years ago.

Try to picture the scene. They were in unfamiliar territory. They did not know the way. Their ‘salvation’, their safety, their very survival involved keeping their eyes on the ‘shekinah’ of God. That is following the ‘cloud’ and the ‘fire’. To ignore that, to be indifferent to that, and going their own way would have meant that they would get lost and not survive.

What a picture of man today. ‘Salvation’ is in keeping ones eyes on Him, being diligent, obedient, following, the ‘shekinah’ of God. Too often, ‘salvation’ is projected as just a onetime event in which you give mental assent to faith in Yeshua.  The ‘salvation’ experience, dear friends, is a lifestyle which begins with a onetime event in our lives.

So back to the story in our Torah portion.. The people decided to take the recommendation of the ten ‘spies’ who gave a bad report of conditions in the land. The result of that decision was catastrophic for them. With the exception of the two men who brought the good report about the land, all that generation of people who were deemed to be of decision making age perished in the wilderness wanderings over the next 38 years. In ‘salvation’ language, because of their ‘faithlessness’ they were lost, they did not enter the Promised land. An attempt by them to ‘go it alone’ was equally disastrous (see ch 14:40-45).

There is a salutary lesson there for TODAY for all who have a heart to learn. Being disobedient to the instructions God has provided, or ’ having a go’ on your own, is as impressive to God today as it was at the time of our story in this Torah portion.

In chapter 15 of our portion, there is a change of tone. We are returned to God’s instructions. There is the recognition that the people will make mistakes, will falter, sometime unintentionally and sometimes wilfully. Moses is instructed as to how their relationship with a holy God may be re-established, through sacrifices.

Moreover, in chapter 15, verses 13 to 16, Moses is given a clear instruction regarding the persons who are to be included in these ordinances. There is no ambiguity in the instruction. The instructions are for the ‘native born’ and ‘the stranger within your ‘gates’,  that is those joined to them by choice. One rule for everybody. However, today we have division of views and opinions regarding the application of this instruction. The argument is not with me, but with the author !!

Perhaps, just as God gave the Israelites an invitation to “spy out the land” before entering, He gives us today the same invitation “to spy out the land” in regard to His commandments and statutes before entering into relationship with Him. This is a contentious issue, and one would be well advised, rather than blindly follow the teachings of a seriously malnourished church on issues of this nature, to go before a Holy God, Bible in hand, and ask Him directly “ … to give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened …” Ephesians 1

Finally, in His infinite love, mercy and grace, God provided these people with a tangible, visible, reminder of His instruction for righteous living. Number 15: 37 – 41.

It is a personal matter for me that some years ago I was urged by God, through the reading of His word, to commit myself to observation of some of these more obvious Torah instructions. Not a legalistic, mechanical observance, but out of a sense of living righteously and obediently before Him. I do NOT put that on anyone else. It is quite personal. But that simple observance has become a continuous reminder, like tassels on the edge of a garment, of that which God has asked of me.

Shabbat shalom

RS

Torah Portion for 31th May - 6th June

Torah            Numbers 8:1 to 12:16

Haftarah     Zecharia  2:14 to 4:7

“Beha’lotcha”

Way is Perfect

The title of this week’s portion, “when you light” comes from the instruction to Aaron about the position of the lamp bowls on the Menora in the Holy place.

It is always an amazement to me that God had such detailed instructions for those who were called to serve Him. Could this be the first lesson for us today as we seek to worship and serve a holy God? There is nothing haphazard or casual about service to the living God. It is good to always remember that His dealing with the Israelites provides the pattern for all who are joined to them in faith.

This detail carries on in the instruction to Moses to make silver trumpets for the purpose of calling the people to assemble, to gather, to move, or as a warning of impending danger.

The portion this week details their first ‘movement’ from the place where they had just celebrated the Passover, remembering that they had left Egypt just one year earlier. It was their first experience of moving on, as a new Nation towards the Promised Land. It was to be a journey of only three days. Their first experience of taking the Tabernacle down, packing it for travel, and taking off in their orderly ranks of families, then setting the Tabernacle up again. Amazing spectacle it must have been too.

But the journey was not without complaint!

Read Numbers Chapter 11 for an account of the Lord’s displeasure with them.

For me, the highlight of this Torah portion comes in Numbers Chapter 12.

Miriam and Aaron, for whatever reason they had to dislike Moses wife, chose to challenge Moses authority in the congregation of the people. In truth, this presents itself as a challenge of the authority of God Himself. And that is precisely how God sees it.

In my mind, I imagine a very angry God (see verse 4) calling to them “You three, over here at once !!” Then He carpeted Miriam and Aaron and gave them a lecture about their brother’s attributes, and His relationship with His very humble servant Moses.

Read carefully verses 6 -8. A wonderful tribute from God about this faithful and trustworthy man. It is not possible to read this description of Moses without comparing him to Messiah Yeshua. One with whom God spoke  ‘face to face’. One of whom in Matthew 20:28 it is said “The Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give His life a ransom for many” and of whom the writer to the Hebrews ( ch 3:1-6) says “.. has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses”

Yeshua, King of kings and Lord of lords, Head of ‘the church’, came to SERVE, not to be served. What a contrast that is to the situation in many of our churches today. A church structure in which those called to service present themselves, too often, as the C.E.O. of a commercial enterprise. How sad God must be with us at times.

Then in verse 13, I believe we have the very first example of personal prayer for healing. I have only been able to find THREE occasions in the scriptures (but there may be more) where there was personal prayer for healing by one person for another. There are a numerous cases of the exercise of the GIFT of healing, but it is rare to find such personal intercession in the scriptures.

Today, as we know, the reverse is the case, where personal intercession far exceeds the exercise of the manifest GIFT of healing.

Shabbat shalom

RS

Torah Portion for 24th May - 30th May

Torah portion        Numbers 4:21 to 7:89

Haftarah portion   Judges 13:2-25 

“Naso”

Be blessed, and be a blessing

There are again, several lessons to be learned from the reading of these passages of Scripture. Each person who reads diligently may receive from the Lord a specific personal revelation. That is the wonder of the Scriptures.

However, the standout lesson, for me, is the declaration of the Priestly Blessing. What has become known as “The Aaronic Blessing” because to him was given the privilege of being the first to utter these words of blessing to the congregation of the people.

In the days of the Tabernacle, and the times when the Temple stood in Jerusalem, it was the specific task of the “Cohen Gadol” the High Priest to make this blessing for the people.

Most modern Bible translators have somewhat generalized the words of blessing, as in “May the Lord Bless you” or just “The Lord Bless you”. And that is mostly how those words are used in our congregations today.

However, Rev. William J Morford, in his excellent glossary to the “One New Man Bible”  agrees with the “Ancient Hebrew Research Centre” that the original blessing was to be of a much more positive pronouncement. Firstly, the person making the pronouncement was to stand before the people with hands raised, and then to speak the words with assured authority. The blessing was to be spoken in Hebrew.

The Blessing is comprised of just FIFTEEN Hebrew words, full of rich meaning, but impossible to translate into English with such economy of language.

Be blessed as you contemplate and meditate on the completeness of this blessing, as translated by Rev. Morford, and by the “Ancient Hebrew Research Centre”. BUT, also carefully consider the context of this instruction of God to Moses. This blessing was being proclaimed to a people who did not know where they were, did not know where they were going, and had left everything that was familiar to them. This was God’s ‘blessed assurance” (a declaration, not a prayer) that He cared for them and would protect them from all they might have had fear of. The “Ancient Hebrew” translation may look a bit presumptuous today, but to the children of Israel in the wilderness in the second year of their journey to the ‘promised land’ it would have been immeasurably reassuring, spoken, as it was, by the Cohen Gadol, Aaron, a man who had performed miracles, commanded by God, in their sight.

Remember what He said in Malachi 3:6 ??    Look it up!!

     The Priestly Blessing     Numbers 6 : 24-26

                Yivarechecha   Adonai   viyishmirecha

                Ya’er   Adonai   panav   elecha   veechunera

          Yeesa   Adonai   panav   elecha   viyasem   lecha   shalom

Rev. William J Morford tranlation

The Lord will bless you and He will keep you

The Lord will make His face to shine upon you

And He will be gracious to you

The Lord will lift His Countenance to you

And He will establish your shalom.

Ancient Hebrew Research Centre translation

 YHWH will kneel before you presenting gifts, and

 will guard you with a hedge of protection.

 YHWH will illuminate the wholeness of His being

 to you,  bringing order, and He will beautify you.

 YHWH will lift up the wholeness of His being

  and look upon you, and He will set in place all

  you need to be whole and complete.

Shabbat Shalom

RS

Torah Portion for 17th May - 23rd May

Torah Portion         -   Numbers 1:1 to 4:23

Haftarah Portion   -    Hosea 2:1 -22

“Bamidbar”

Special to God

This is one of those passages which is easily skipped because there seems to be little to learn .. unless you are a statistician !!

Interestingly, after the detail of the commandments and instructions for various matters given in Leviticus, we now return to the chronological history of the Israelites. (did you know that of the 39 books in the Hebrew Scriptures, you need read only ELEVEN to get the whole of the chronology of their history from Abraham to about 400 years before Yeshua arrived on this earth)**

We are “In the Widerness” in the second year of the ‘journeying’s’ following the exodus from Egypt,, the tabernacle has been built and is functioning BUT according to the count of the men who are ‘able to go to war’ and boys, from one month old to 20 years, there must have been close to 2 million people there by this time. Organising a crowd of that size is difficult and complex. That is what part of this passage is about. The detail is there for anyone who wants to read it.

During this operational task of taking the census, we are told that each of the family groups were identified and numbered. Each individual was noted, and earmarked for a task to be accomplished in the LORD’s service. The precision of the numbering and the importance of each one was identified.

This is even more notable in the numbering of the Levites. Those specially assigned to duties associated with the Tabernacle.

Picture the scene if you can. When the Tabernacle was moved from one place to another at God’s direction, they would ‘break camp’ in an orderly manner. First the tribes of Judah, Issachar and Zebulun, then the tribes of Reuben, Simeon and Gad, 337,800 men plus all their wives and children. Next the 22,000 Levites carrying the Tabernacle and its furnishings. Last, the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin, with the tribes of Dan, Asher and Napthali, 265,700 men plus all their wives and children.

Go on, TRY to imagine it !!!  It’s amazing.

And if you think the terrain was easy to walk, plan a visit to Jordan and Israel .. and marvel. Those folk were fed EVERY DAY, they had water EVERY DAY, their sandals did not wear out. (but they grumbled about it).

What a mighty God we serve.

There is so much more to be learned from this seemingly boring list of numbers. And finally, remember this. Almighty God tells us:

“I am the LORD, I do not change” Malachi 3:6

In Deuteronomy 28:18 He described them as His special people. And in Titus 2:14 He describes US as His special people. He knows us by name, ALL of us.

So praise Him.

“O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your Name in all the earth” Psalm 8

Shabbat Shalom

RS

** For those interested, the ELEVEN books of the Hebrew Scriptures are:-

Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, the 4 books of Kings, Ezra and Nehemiah (The last two being ONE combined book in the Hebrew Scriptures)

Torah Portion for 10th May - 16th May

Torah portion -  Leviticus 25:1 to 27:34

Haftarah portion -  Jeremiah 16:19 to 17:14

‘Behar’     (On Mount Sinai)

The main topic beginning this week’s portion is the Year of Jubilee.

This is a relatively simple concept, given to Moses on Mt. Sinai, for the restitution of land back to its original ‘owner’. But it has proven to be an exceptionally difficult matter to practise.

In Hebrew, a “shemittah year” occurs every seventh year. 2015 is such a year. The land is allowed to rest. It is effectively a Sabbath rest for the land. God made provision for the farmer by multiplying the harvest of the sixth year so they had food enough for the ‘resting’ year.

After seven such “shemittah” years”, come the “yovel” in Hebrew. The year of Jubilee. In effect a Sabbath of Sabbaths for the land. More than that, it is a year of release for the land. It is returned to its original ‘owner’. Slaves are permanently released (In Hebrew there are two words for ‘liberty’. They are “hafesh” and “d’ror”. In Leviticus 25:10 it is the “d’ror” that is used. It means permanence, completeness. The word “hafesh” has a temporary characteristic in its meaning) from slavery. Monetary debts are forgiven. It is a year of social justice for Israel. No-one is allowed to retain wealth obtained by land speculation in the previous 50 years etc.

In practice, however, the Rabbi’s determined that, according to the Talmud, this law of Jubilee only applied as long as the entire land of Israel was occupied by the Israelites! So when a portion of the tribes went into exile, that law elapsed. In fact it is doubtful that the law of Jubilee has ever been properly observed.

This lack of observance of both “yovel” and “shemittah” caused both Ezekiel and Jeremiah to predict terrible destruction in the land. This is evident from reading of the Haftarah portion this week.

So that provides a background.

Let us now see an interesting link to Messiah Yeshua in this Torah portion. It comes in the matter of “d’ror” liberty …  permanent liberty.

In Isaiah 61:1 we have a Messianic proclamation.

In Luke 4:14-21 we have Yeshua confirming that He is the One to whom Isaiah was referring.

The word used for liberty in Isaiah 1 is the same “d’ror” that was intended to be practised in the “yovel” (Jubilee Year). The Israelites missed substantial blessing when they neglected the observance of “yovel” and “shemittah” .

Almighty God, Father of Yeshua Ha’Mashiach, in His love, mercy and grace sent His only Son, Yeshua, to proclaim and provide the liberty which God wants His people to enjoy. Let us pray that as this Torah portion is read in Synagogues this week, there will be blessing beyond our imagination as people contemplate the message of “yovel”.

In the Gaza war of 2014, a kibbutz on the border with Gaza, had harvested the land early in trying to get an extra crop in before the commencement of the “shemittah”. In the normal course that land would have remained a metre high with a wheat crop. Hamas had planned a grotesque attack on that kibbutz on Rosh Hashanna 2014 by emerging from their tunnel in the middle of that field, which they expected to be high with wheat. Because the field was bare, they were readily spotted as they emerged from the tunnel and the kibbutzniks were spared a horrifying experience. That is a modern day blessing of “shemittah” observance.

What a blessing. Hallelujah.

Shabbat shalom.   

RS                                                                                                                               

Torah Portion for 3 May - 9 May, 2015

Leviticus 21:3 to 24:23

Each week there are lessons, reminders, encouragements and even chastisements. Almighty God, in His love, wisdom and grace, speaks to each person according to ones relationship with Him.

It would be a worry if one received NOTHING from the reading of His Word !!  If the reading were mechanical, even legalistic.

Leviticus 23 contains the well-known declaration of the “mo’edim”, the “appointed times” of the Lord. Within our churches today they are often perceived as ‘Jewish Festivals’, consigned to antiquity, even obsolete.

But Almighty God called them “MY FEASTS” in Leviticus 23:2. They are described as being ‘a statute forever throughout your generations’. They are festivals observed by Yeshua, by the disciples in the early church, by Paul. No-where in the Scriptures are they superseded by any other festival.

In effect, God was saying to the people “these are the times when I will be there, I want you to come and meet with me”. Once every week on Shabbat, then another seven times in the year for a stated number of days.

These Holy (set apart) Festivals were prophetically significant in the life, death and resurrection of Yeshua (Passover), as well as the giving of the Torah on Mt Sinai and the coming of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost). Many also see that the next set of festivals (Trumpets, Day of Atonement and Tabernacles) are prophetic of the return to this earth of Yeshua.

However, in Leviticus 23:22, we have a strange looking verse which appears to have nothing at all to do with these “appointed times”. They are a repetition of the commandment in Leviticus 19:9,10. This activity of “gleaning” reminds us of Ruth, the Moabitess, a gentile who joined herself to the people of God.

In terms of timing, sitting as it does between those festivals already completed in Yeshua, and those which speak of His future return, is it possible that this verse, referring to ‘the poor and the stranger’ is talking about the time of the gentiles? Which when completed will herald the return of Yeshua?

There is, of course, a more simple explanation. That God is here reminding us all of an obligation we have as believers in Him to extend our hand to those in need.

Did you know that a principal reason for tithing was the caring for the :-

“Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat (freely) and be satisfied, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand, which you do.” Deut 14:29

So then, it appears that this act of caring for those in need is part and parcel of what God intended, He commanded it. IF that is an ”appointed activity”, consider carefully how best to respond.                         

Shalom and Blessings

RS

Bible says that as Christians and follower of Yeshua, we are called to pray for the peace and prosperity of Jerusalem, hence we should have the Joy of Going to the House of the Lord

PSALM 122

I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go into the house of the Lord.”
2 Our feet have been standing
Within your gates, O Jerusalem!

3 Jerusalem is built
As a city that is compact together,
4 Where the tribes go up,
The tribes of the Lord,
To the Testimony of Israel,
To give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 For thrones are set there for judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.

6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.
7 Peace be within your walls,
Prosperity within your palaces.”
8 For the sake of my brethren and companions,
I will now say, “Peace be within you.”
9 Because of the house of the Lord our God
I will seek your good.

As followers of Yeshua we are called upon to be watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem

ISAIAH 62:1-7

For Zion’s sake I will not hold My peace,
And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,
Until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,
And her salvation as a lamp that burns.
2 The Gentiles shall see your righteousness,
And all kings your glory.
You shall be called by a new name,
Which the mouth of the Lord will name.
3 You shall also be a crown of glory
In the hand of the Lord,
And a royal diadem
In the hand of your God.
4 You shall no longer be termed Forsaken,
Nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate;
But you shall be called Hephzibah,[a] and your land Beulah;[b]
For the Lord delights in you,
And your land shall be married.
5 For as a young man marries a virgin,
So shall your sons marry you;
And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
So shall your God rejoice over you.

6 I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
They shall never hold their peace day or night.
You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent,
7 And give Him no rest till He establishes
And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.