April 29, 2016
-
YHWH/Yeshua/Torah: YHWH Rapha on Jeremiah 17:14
Shabbat Shalom!
Please click two articles for Torah Parashah #32 and #33:
http://www.therefinersfire.org/parashah_32.htm
http://www.therefinersfire.org/parashah_33.htm
Andrew G. Roth:
Today’s Torah Parsha #33: BeChukkotai (in My statutes)
Jeremiah 17:14 Heal me, O יהוה, so that I am healed. Save me, so that I am saved, for You are my praise.
RAPHA/YESHUA (17:14) = “heal me YHWH and I will be healed”—RAPHA, from where we get ROPHEH, physician, healer. Then we get the words for save/deliver, the root of which is YESHUA as “save me and I will be saved”!
So “salvation” in this verse is rendered as YASHA. So Y’shua who delivers is also the healer!
In another form as a noun we see the term “salvation” as YESHUAH:
But Moses said to the people, "Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of YHWH which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. (Exodus 14:13).
Andrew G. Roth:
Bonus Haftorah Thought for the Week:
Finding His “Inner Jeremiah”
Our Haftorah portion this week in Jeremiah 16-17 got very close to describing Mashiyach in some rather amazing terms. “Heal me YHWH and I will be healed (RAPHA). Save me YHWH and I will be saved (YESHUA).” Of course Y’shua is the Great Healer and referenced the proverb “Physician heal yourself”.
Y’shua and Jeremiah though share many other things in common. Both men wept over the coming destructions of Jerusalem and her Temple—recalling that Jeremiah saw the First Temple burn with his own eyes and Y’shua lamented “O Jerusalem, O Jerusalem! How I longed to gather your inhabitants together as a mother chick gathers her young but you were not willing! Behold, your house is left desolate!”
And when Y’shua was enraged at the corruption of the moneychangers making excessive profits, who did he quote? That’s right, Jeremiah again. “Behold, my Father’s House will be a House of Prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of robbers!”
Even the people who followed and opposed Y’shua during his ministry saw this connection. When he asked “Who do the people say I am” in Matthew 16, there were those who thought he was the Immerser back from the dead and, and since the Immerser was linked to Eliyahu, some went with that option. But for those who did NOT think the Immerser had risen from the dead, who is the first prophet mentioned that Y’shua is like? Is it anyone other than Jeremiah?
And yet, when we think of Tanakh parallels or templates predicting Y’shua’s advent, Jeremiah normally doesn’t come up in conversation! We tend to focus more on either Moshe or King David. That’s fine of course—there are good Scriptural connections between these men to draw—but we shouldn’t overlook Y’shua’s “inner Jeremiah” in the process.
Both men were passionate opponents of what was a corrupt religious administration. Both men warned that the price for this corruption would be the total destruction of Jerusalem and the scattering of her people.
And also both men didn’t spare the Gentiles from rebuke either. It is in this Haftorah portion that we read the famous words:
Yahweh, my strength, my stronghold, my refuge in time of distress! To you the nations will come from the remotest parts of the earth and say, 'Our fathers inherited nothing but Delusion, Futility of no use whatever. Can human beings make their own gods? These are not gods at all!' 'Now listen, I will make them acknowledge, this time I will make them acknowledge my hand and my might; and then they will know that Yahweh is my name.' (Jeremiah 16:19-21 NJB)
Similarly, whenever Y’shua wants to rebuke bad behavior of the Pharisees, it seems he loves to call them Gentiles or pagans! Don’t go babbling like the PAGANS do. If you only love those who love you, don’t the PAGANS do even this much so where is your credit? And when it comes time to really threaten Israel as a nation, guess who the boogeyman that they need to fear is…
For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away to every land. And Urishlim will be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. And there will be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars. And on earth, distress of the nations and confusion from the roaring of the sound of the sea. And upheaval that casts out life from men, because of fear of what is about to come upon the earth. (Luke 21:23-26-AENT)
Clearly Nebuchadnezzar, Rome and the evil that is to come all share the same purpose: Tools to chastise a rebellious Israel. But always, at the end of the day, Abba YHWH will always preserve a remnant and bring His people back to their land.
The differences though between Y’shua and Jeremiah are mostly artificial. It seems to be expected to always emphasize Y’shua’s merciful side and relegate Jeremiah to the status of “the weeping prophet” as if that’s all each man was about.
However, Revelation 19 reveals that Y’shua has a warrior side as well…
And I saw heaven opened: and lo, a white horse; and he that sat on it is called Faithful and True: and in righteousness he judges, and makes war. His eyes (were) like a flame of fire, and on his head (were) many diadems; and he had names inscribed; and the name which was written on him, no one knew, except himself. And he was clothed with a vesture sprinkled with blood; and his name is called, “The Word of Elohim.” And the army of heaven followed him on white horses, clad in garments of fine linen, pure (and) white. And from his mouth issued a sharp two-edged sword, that with it he could strike the nations; and he will rule the nations with a rod of iron; and he will tread the wine-press of the wrath of Elohim Almighty. And he has upon his vesture and upon his thigh the words written: “King of Kings, and Master of Masters.” (Revelation 19:11-16 AENT)
And similarly, Jeremiah isn’t always about judgment and recriminations either…
Listen, nations, to the word of Yahweh. On the farthest coasts and islands proclaim it, say, 'He who scattered Israel is gathering him, will guard him as a shepherd guarding his flock.' For Yahweh has ransomed Jacob, rescued him from a hand stronger than his own. They will come, shouting for joy on the heights of Zion, thronging towards Yahweh's lavish gifts, for wheat, new wine and oil, sheep and cattle; they will be like a well-watered garden, they will sorrow no more. The young girl will then take pleasure in the dance, and young men and old alike; I shall change their mourning into gladness, comfort them, give them joy after their troubles; I shall refresh my priests with rich food, and my people will gorge themselves on my lavish gifts, Yahweh declares. (Jeremiah 31:10-14 NJB)
So both Y’shua and Jeremiah alternated between messages of hope and dire warnings, for Israel and for the nations. It is only our traditions that tend to obscure the other side of these men that we are not comfortable looking at for theological reasons. And since both Y’shua and Jeremiah warned their generations of terrible judgment, maybe we should realize that we are not so far removed from the sins of our ancestors either-Jewish and Gentile alike. Let us therefore strive to no longer inherit lies, regardless as to where those lies come from!
8) Renewed Covenant portion: (English) Ephesians 2:11-19 (all the way through with applicable footnotes.)
Ephesians 2:11
18) This pertains to physical circumcision alone, without Torah context/teaching. See footnote on Gal_6:13 and Jer_9:1-26.
Ephesians 2:12
19) "Devarim" is the Hebrew cognate for the Aramaic "duboree" which literally means "words". Devarim is the Hebrew name for the fifth book of Torah, also called Deuteronomy. "These are the words which Moses spoke unto all Israel" (Deu_1:1). It is these words that form the basis of the Kedoshim "Set Apart" believers in the household of Elohim. Clearly, "fellow-citizens" of Israel (The Israel of Elohim) are called to have YHWH's Set Apart (Holy) "words" (Torah) written upon our hearts according to Jer_31:33. See also Rom_11:16-36.
20) Greek reads "strangers to the Commonwealth of Israel". Aramaic reads "strangers to the duboree of Israel and to the covenant of the promise." YHWH identifies Israel according to their obedience to Covenant, rather than after the flesh. The Renewed Covenant in Jer_31:31-34/Heb_8:8 is first made with Israel and Judah and then offered to others from the nations who choose to live in obedience to the Covenant. Furthermore, in a very interesting admission, translator John Wesley Etheridge translates duboree d'Aisrayl here as "polity of Israel" but adds in his footnotes regarding this phrase, "the manners, or regulations, of Israel." In other words, he is looking at the nations' divorcement from the intricate rules of Israel and not some obscure moral distillation of Torah, as a bad thing! This reading might even go beyond my own rendering of "citizenship of Israel" but the point is the same. If the Ephesians are citizens of Israel, then they are subject to her "words" and "regulations" as well!
Ephesians 2:14
21) Aramaic for wall is syaga. Ironically, this exact term was picked up by the Talmudic rabbis in Pirkei Avot (Sayings of the Fathers) 1:1 that commanded, "make a fence around the Torah." Y'shua specifically warned against this activity in Matthew 15, rebuking the Pharisees in the process. Later on, Y'shua said he was the "door/gate" using a synonym for syaga, known as taarea, which is a homonym "torah" and "teachers," meaning the Pharisees. So while the Pharisees are busy erecting their fence, Y'shua is pulling it down, allowing everyone access!
Ephesians 2:15
22) The grammatical structure here fully guarantees that namusa is referring to "customs" as in the traditions of the Pharisees, not Torah itself. Mashiyach abolishes the "enmity" (hatred or animosity) that has been brought against YHWH by religious tradition and false interpretations of Torah, which was a heavy burden that people could not bear. Christian theologians, however, twist this verse and teach that it was YHWH's Torah that brought the hatred and that Mashiyach did away with Torah, which is a very reckless and evil theology. Mashiyach sent the Ruach haKodesh to write YHWH's Torah upon the hearts of his people, not abolish it. See Eighteen New Testament Misconceptions #11: Commandments Nailed to the Torture Stake in Appendix.
23) Qnoma can mean "core substance" or "occurrence." Although Greek reads "self" Aramaic does not; "self" leads to assumptions of "personhood" which breeds idolatry.
9) Highlight common themes in Aramaic (many terms in footnotes which I will read)
10) Apply these themes/issues to modern issues in the Netzari faith. (We need to always remember that YHWH is no respecter of persons. But that doesn’t mean all the ways of man are equally righteous. Rather, it means all should have the opportunity to be righteous and do Torah.)
11) Relate to all or part of an Appendix portion of AENT or footnotes from a portion (Ger Toshav, p. 836-839).
Please come fellowship and learn deep of Torah:
http://www.onefaithonepeopleministries.com/
After sunset, Tonight is 37th of Omer on April 29, 2016. Read Psalms 100 Chapter.
http://therefinersfire.org/Omer_Schedule-2016.pdf
May YHWH bless you.
Malachi 3:16
Recent Comments