EXODUS 23.10-13
Shalom. Our teaching this morning will be from Exodus 23.10-13.
READ EXODUS 23.10-13
EXODUS 23.10-11 Here is another law that shows GOD’s love, and His love for the poor and needy. Six years the people are to sow their land, that is scatter seed in their fields for the purpose of growing their crops, and gather in the harvest from the planting. That do for six years saith The LORD.
But in the seventh year, they are to let the land rest and lie still. That is unseeded and uncultivated, not in use and inactive, so that the poor and needy of the people may eat of it. And what they leave, the wild animals shall eat. And in like manner, they are to do the same with their vineyards and olive groves.
The heart of The LORD is always with the poor and needy. MARK 14.7, LUKE 4.18, PSALM 41.1-2
The seventh year was a Sabbath of rest for The LORD. LEVITICUS 25.1-7
When people, Jewish people and non-Jewish people keep GOD’s Laws, His Law of Moses, GOD promises the obedient safety, and you will eat to your full.
LEVITICUS 25.18-19
The word safety in Hebrew is BAHTAKH meaning both the fact of security and the feeling of trust. Also safety means having confidence and hope and being safe. All for obeying GOD.
And good health The LORD promises to those who obey Him. DEUTERONOMY 7.12-15, PROVERBS 4.20-22
It is said that the sabbatical year, or the seventh year that the land lies rest and uncultivated is meant to emphasize that the holy land of Israel, the Jewish homeland belongs to The LORD GOD. He says, “For the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me”. LEVITICUS 25.1, 23
Strangers in Hebrew is GAYREEM – meaning guests and foreigners.
Sojourners in Hebrew is TOESHAHVEEM meaning temporary residents.
GOD says to the Jewish people, “You are foreigners and temporary residents in the land of Israel with Me”. What can that mean?
We know from the Scriptures that the world will vanish at the completion of the 1,000 year Messianic era, or the 1,000 year Millennium. And the land of Israel will vanish with the earth.
REVELATION 20.7-11, 12-15
Revelation 20.11 The earth and the Heaven fled away from the Presence of GOD because sin saturated the earth, and Heaven had sin because satan and his demons dwelled there. Revelation 12.2-4, 7-8
FLED AWAY in Greek is PHEUGO meaning to vanish. Let’s read VERSES 12-15 in Revelation 20 and Revelation 21.1&2
But GOD says to the Jewish people in Leviticus 25.23, “For you are strangers and temporary residents with Me in the land of Israel”. The Hebrew for “with Me” as in GOD saying, you are strangers and temporary residents “with Me” is EEMAHDEE. The Strongs Concordance describes the word “with” as “equally with”. Meaning the Jewish people and The LORD GOD are strangers and foreigners in the land of Israel, because Heaven is our permanent home.
The Bible describes GOD as a GOD of love, and we know that is truth from experience. He loves the stranger, the non-Jew. He loves the poor and needy, and the brokenhearted. He loves the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son, Who is GOD Himself, The One GOD of Creation, in the flesh, so that whosoever believes on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And The LORD GOD loves the Jewish people whom He chose to be His servant and His witnesses to reveal to the world Who GOD is, His spoken word, His Law, His Commandments, His Covenants, everything GOD would have us to know, including the way to Salvation which is eternal life with GOD in Heaven. All that information GOD gave to the Jewish people to write in The Bible from Genesis through Revelation for all the world to receive. And Yeshua says, “For Salvation is from the Jews”. John 4.22.
That is why it is so important for non-Jewish people, and Jewish people to lead our lives according to every word, law, and commandment that The LORD GOD gave to the Jewish people in The Bible, along with our faith in the Jewish Messiah Yeshua. Genesis 1.1, Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, etc. Not changing one word. Not ending one law. Because Salvation is from the Jews. Because Salvation comes from observing and doing every word GOD spoke to the Jewish people in The Bible, along with our faith in Messiah Yeshua. That is GOD’s plan for Salvation for everyone.
So yes, we DO NOT have a permanent home here on earth, but we look forward to Heaven Whose Builder and Maker is GOD.
HEBREW 11.8-10, HEBREWS 12.22 and REVELATION 21.1-5
We are citizens of Heaven, and our new bodies will be like His. We will have the same body as GOD.
Philippians 3.20-21
There is only one GOD, Yeshua The Messiah. And He is our Saviour, and our Redeemer, The Mighty One of Jacob. ISAIAH 60.16
Our Redeemer, Who is GOD our Father, Yeshua The Messiah, buys us back, giving us freedom and forgiveness from our sins through the atoning sacrifice of our Saviour and Messiah Yeshua Ha Mashiakh.
GALATIANS 4.25-26 VERSE 25 Jerusalem is in the bondage of sin, even now. Not receiving their own Jewish Messiah Yeshua Who is The Holy One of Israel, Ha Shem, and not obeying Torah, The Law of Moses.
VERSE 26 Jerusalem which is above is Heaven and the new earth. Revelation 21.1. And it is free, free of sin and death, free of tears and sorrow, free of sickness and crying, and free of pain, for the former things will have passed away. And Jerusalem is the mother of us all. Mothers love their children, and we will be loved in Jerusalem in Heaven by The LORD OUR GOD and all His angels, and with all the great and strong who are the called and the chosen. For we are strangers and temporary residents with GOD here on earth. Heaven is our permanent home.
I want to return to Leviticus 25.23 because GOD says, “The land, that is the land of Israel, shall not be sold forever, for the land is Mine”.
LEVITICUS 25.23 The land of Israel shall never be sold. Not for exchange, not bartered, and not traded for anything. The land belongs to GOD.
There has always been a Jewish presence in the land of Israel since the Exodus 3,500 years ago. However great numbers of Jews returned to Israel after the Holocaust and the Second World War in 1945. And Israel became the sovereign State of Israel in 1948. In 1967, the Jews captured all Israel, at least modern-day Israel in the six day war with the Arabs. Israel was no longer called Palestine, the name the Romans gave Israel in 135 A.D.
The title deed for Israel is The Bible. That is the evidence of Jewish ownership of the entire land of Israel forever, which reaches to the Red Sea, even to a river in Egypt. Israel’s God-given borders extend to the Euphrates River which includes Lebanon, large portions of
Jordan, Syria, and Iraq. Genesis 15.18-21, Numbers 34.1-12, Deuteronomy 11.24, Exodus 23.31.
The boundary of Israel reaches to the river of Egypt. Thus the Sinai Peninsula belongs to Israel which Israel captured in 1967. But Israel gave the Sinai to Egypt in 1982 in exchange for peace. Israel also gave the Gaza to the Palestinian Arabs in 2004 in exchange for peace. There is no peace but rockets. The West Bank which is part of Southern and Northern Israel, Israel gave to the Palestinian Arabs for peace, but instead of peace, wars and grief originate from the Palestinian Arabs in the West Bank.
End times prophecy states that Israel and all Jerusalem is Jewish. Yet the nations of the world continue to pressure Israel to give up even more land for peace, they say. But there is no peace but wars that will continue till Messiah returns.
DANIEL 9.24, 26
GOD says, “The land shall not be sold forever, for the land is Mine”. We have rejected GOD’s Word, putting our faith in others, and that is always a source of trouble.
EXODUS 23.12 The word Sabbath, which you know is the seventh day of the week on Saturday, and not Sunday. And the word Sabbath is written in The New Testament 60 times, and in The Old Testament, 111 times. 171 times Sabbath is written in The Bible, and the seventh day Sabbath is always Saturday, and never Sunday.
MATTHEW 24.15-20, 21-22, ACTS 15.21, ACTS 16.13
COLOSSIANS 2.16 The word judge in Greek is Krino meaning condemn. Paul is saying, let no one condemn you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or a new moon, or of the Sabbath days.
Paul is teaching this. When non-Jewish Believers, and Jewish Believers in Messiah Yeshua turn to GOD Almighty, Yeshua The Messiah, and are obedient to GOD’s Law of Moses, Paul instructs us, do not let anyone judge you. Do not let anyone condemn you because you obey GOD. Because you follow GOD’s food laws in Leviticus 11, and Deuteronomy 14. Do not let anyone condemn you in drink, perhaps kosher wine, or other drinks Paul has in mind. Do not let anyone condemn you because you keep GOD’s Holy Days written in Leviticus 23 such as Passover and Tabernacles, etc. or the new moon festival which has ceased since there is no Temple, and no sacrifice, Numbers 28.11. And do not let anyone judge you because you observe GOD’s Sabbath on Saturday, and not man’s sabbath on Sunday.
COLOSSIANS 2.17 Which are a shadow of things to come. At Messiah’s return, we will follow all GOD’s Laws, The Law of Moses, forever.
Why was GOD’s commanded seventh day Sabbath on Saturday changed to Sunday? Well, after reading just some of the reasons, such as one is the seventh day, or the Sabbath on Saturday is a legal obligation, I realized that all the reasons for changing GOD’s Sabbath to Sunday, or changing or ending any of GOD’s Laws, is foolishness, and prevents people from entering Heaven. Matthew 7.21-23.
EXODUS 23.13 The word circumspect in Hebrew is SHAMAHR meaning, beware, be careful.
GOD says, in all things I have said to you, that is all His Laws and Commandments, BEWARE.
DEUTERONOMY 6.12-18, DEUTERONOMY 8.11, DEUTERONOMY 15.9-11, MATTHEW 7.15-23
COLOSSIANS 2.8 Beware lest any man spoil you. Beware, Paul writes, lest any man rob you of your Salvation through philosophy, their human doctrine which is not Biblical doctrine. Beware, Paul says, lest any man rob you of your Salvation by their vain deceit and lies after the traditions of men, and the rudiments of the world which are man’s traditions that are light years from the truth, and the teachings of Messiah.
2 PETER 3.17-18, 1 TIMOTHY 4.16
Obviously, many teachers of The Bible are not circumspect of GOD’s Word. They are not careful to teach GOD’s Word but twist it. Peter writes, the unlearned, and unstable wrest or pervert many of Paul’s writings, and also the other Scriptures to their own destruction. 2 Peter 3.16.
But what I take away from this teaching is what GOD said in Leviticus 25.23. “For the land is Mine; for you are strangers and temporary residents with Me”. Our permanent home is Heaven where GOD will wipe away all tears from our eyes, and there will be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. And The LORD GOD, Yeshua The Messiah will make all things new.
Shalom, Ira Weinstein
www.BethElohenu.org
bethelohenu@gmail.com
Month: June 2013
THE NEW TESTAMENT DOES NOT CHANGE ONE JOT OR ONE TITTLE OF THE LAW.
EXODUS 23.1-9
Shalom. Our teaching this morning will be from Exodus 23.1-9.
READ EXODUS 23.1-9
I have learned from our studies of GOD’s Laws from Exodus 21 and from that Chapter forward that every law in The New Testament is first written in The Old Testament. There are no new laws in The New Testament but those that are written in The Old Testament. No law in The Old Testament is changed in The New Testament, and no law in The Old Testament is terminated in The New Testament. The laws in The New Testament are the same as the laws in The Old Testament. There is only One GOD in The Old Testament, and the same One GOD is in The New Testament. And His Name is Yeshua. His title is Messiah, The Holy One of Israel. He is that one GOD.
For example, in The Old Testament, GOD says, you shall be holy, for I The LORD your GOD AM holy. Peter writes that very same commandment in The New Testament. Leviticus 19.1-2, 1 Peter 1.14-16.
GOD says in The Old Testament, now therefore, if you will obey My Voice indeed, and keep My Covenant (that is GOD’s Word, Laws, and Commandments, Psalm 105.8-10) then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people, for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words you shall speak to the children of Israel. Peter teaches the very same law in The New Testament to the strangers, the non-Jewish Believers scattered throughout the east with the same condition of obedience. Exodus 19.5-6, 1 Peter 2.7-9.
And The Old Testament and The New Testament teach Israel and all the nations to obey GOD, that there is only one GOD, and to love The LORD our GOD with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our might, and to love our neighbor as ourself.
Yeshua says, there is no other commandment greater than these. He says the most important commandment is Hear O Israel, The LORD our GOD, The LORD is One. In Hebrew, Hear O Israel is Shema Y’Israel, which means to hear GOD, and obey Him. Continuing, Messiah teaches, there is only One GOD, and we must love Him with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our might. And to love your neighbor as yourself. Deuteronomy 6.4-5, Leviticus 19.18, Mark 12.28-33.
GOD never changes. Not in The Old Testament or in The New Testament. His Word stands forever. Malachi 3.6, Isaiah 40.8.
GOD, The Creator of Heaven and earth, and all that is in them, teaches that His Laws are for all mankind, even the angels in Heaven, Deuteronomy 32.1-2, to do them for their good.
The Rabbis correctly say, “Every religion is a nomos, a Greek word meaning law. And the founder of a religion is a nomothetes, a Greek word meaning lawgiver”. Every religion makes their own laws, many contrary to GOD’s Laws, and that is a tragedy.
EXODUS 23.1 A false report is an evil report. It’s a lie, and it’s sinful. We should not raise or accept a false report about anyone or anything. And we should not put our hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. Meaning, we should not put ourself with anyone who lies in giving a false report. Joining them makes us an unrighteous witness, one who is wrong, sinful, and unjust.
And The New Testament is in agreement.
MATTHEW 19.16-19, LUKE 3.14, EPHESIANS 4.25, 2 TIMOTHY 3.1-3
EXODUS 23.2 The word multitude in Hebrew is RAV meaning great men, the mighty, and multitude. Thus, you shall not follow a multitude or great men to do evil. That is wrong and wicked. Neither shall you give perverse testimony in a dispute so as to pervert The Law in favor of the mighty or the multitude. In other words, don’t lie.
Yeshua says in The New Testament that very, very few follow GOD’s Laws that are written in The Law of Moses to their hurt. MATTHEW 7.13-14
The very, very few who believe in Messiah and follow GOD’s Laws, His Law of Moses which prevents sin and death, will find life, even eternal life. But for the many who do not follow GOD’s Laws, they find destruction.
GALATIANS 4.16 The word truth in Greek is ALETHEUO meaning truth in doctrine. That is, Paul spoke truth in his words, and his doctrine. He taught Yeshua, and obedience to The Law of Moses, Romans 2.13, Romans 3.31, etc. And because Paul taught the truth, he became an enemy to those who chose NOT to obey GOD’s Laws.
EXODUS 23.3 The word countenance in Hebrew is HAHDAHR meaning favor.
The Law reads, neither shall you favor a poor man in his cause or in his lawsuit. It is wrong to favor the powerful in a trial when they violate the law, as it is wrong to favor the poor when they violate the law. Thus, despite the temptation to ease the predicament of the poor, it is forbidden to pervert the law no matter how noble the intention. That would be favoritism, and it is wrong.
ACTS 10.34 GOD does not show favoritism to people, whether they are rich or poor, Jewish or non-Jewish.
JAMES 3.17 The wisdom that is from GOD is pure and without partiality. That is, GOD is fair and just to everybody. That is taught in The Law of Moses.
EXODUS 23.4 If you encounter your enemy’s ox or donkey going astray you shall bring it back to him again. That may not have been the first time, and it may not be the last.
This Law falls into the category of loving your enemies, doing good to them who hate you.
MATTHEW 5.44-48, LUKE 6.27-36, 1 THESSALONIANS 5.15
What does Yeshua The Messiah say about The Law of Moses? Not one jot or one title shall pass from The Law until all is fulfilled, or ended. And since life with Messiah in Heaven will never end, neither will The Law ever end. MATTHEW 5.18, LUKE 16.17, JOSHUA 24.15
EXODUS 23.5 The Talmud holds that this Commandment is meant to benefit the animals as well as the owners, citing it as the basis of the obligation to prevent animals from suffering. But for our teaching, this Commandment also teaches to love our neighbor whether he or she is our best friend, or worst enemy.
ROMANS 12.10, 20-21 VERSE 20 If you are good to your neighbor, even your enemy, he or she will be ashamed of their behavior toward you, and The LORD will reward you. PROVERBS 25.21-22
EPHESIANS 4.32, COLOSIANS 3.12-14, 2 PETER 1.5-7
EXODUS 23.6 You shall not pervert The Law when judging your poor in their dispute. You must not rule unfairly against the poor or anyone in a trial.
JAMES 2.5-9, PROVERBS 21.13, PROVERBS 29.14, 27
PROVERBS 31.4-5, ECCLESIASTES 5.8, ISAIAH 10.1-2
The Law, as taught by GOD, is a Law of love, fairness, and righteousness, and it is perfect.
EXODUS 23.7 Distance yourself, and keep far away from a false matter. By doing so, you will NOT bring death upon those who are innocent and in the right, for GOD will not justify the wicked.
EPHESIANS 4.
21-24, ROMANS 1.18, NAHUM 1.2-7
That is why it is good to fear GOD and keep His Commandments.
EXODUS 23.8 Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe will blind the wise, and the righteous will twist the truth. MATTHEW 26.14-16, ISAIAH 1.23, PROVERBS 15.27
EXODUS 23.9 The stranger in this Law is a non-Jewish person. GOD commands the people not to oppress the stranger seeing you were strangers in Egypt.
And GOD loves the stranger, and commands the Jewish people to love the stranger also. DEUTERONOMY 10.18-19
And GOD commands the Jewish people to not only love the stranger that dwells with you, but he or she shall be to you as one born among you. LEVITICUS 19.33-34
And if a stranger lives among you, among the Jewish people, GOD says, and will offer an offering made by fire, that is a sacrifice unto The LORD, as you do, so shall he do. That is, the stranger shall live by GOD’s Laws, The Law of Moses. NUMBERS 15.14-16
Today, the stranger, like the Jewish People, has a sacrifice to The LORD. And The Name of that Sacrifice is Yeshua The Messiah.
For some 2,000 years or more, from the time of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to after Messiah’s death, burial, and resurrection, the strangers, the non-Jewish people, especially those who lived outside of Israel, were without atonement for their sins, without GOD and Messiah, strangers from The Covenants of Promise, having no hope in the world. The stranger had no deliverance or salvation even in The Jewish Messiah Yeshua Who at the time was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel, Matthew 15.24.
The non-Jews throughout the world had no atonement for their sins according to The New Covenant prophesied in Jeremiah 31.31-34 The New Covenant is Yeshua The Messiah. GOD had NOT put His Law in their hearts to do them, He was NOT their GOD, NOR WERE the non-Jews His People. And GOD had NOT forgiven them their sins since The Creation.
But because of GOD’s love for the stranger, that changed around 63 C.E., A.D. The Temple was still standing in Jerusalem, but even so, it would have been next to impossible for non-Jews living outside of Israel to obtain atonement for their sins through animal sacrifices because all sacrifices had to be made before the door of The Temple in Jerusalem. Leviticus 17.5.
But because of GOD’s love for the stranger, the non-Jews are brought close to GOD by the atoning sacrifice, the death, burial, and resurrection of The Jewish Messiah Yeshua Who is The Holy One of Israel, Ha Shem, The Creator of Heaven and earth in the flesh, Whose Soul is an offering for sin, Isaiah 53.10.
Thus non-Jews throughout the world also have the opportunity to have their sins forgiven by believing in The New Covenant prophesied by Jeremiah, Who is Yeshua The Messiah. And GOD will put His Law in your inward parts, and write it in your hearts to do them, and live by them. And He will be your GOD, and you will be His People, and GOD will forgive your iniquity, and remember your sin no more.
This extraordinary Covenant of Salvation and deliverance was given to the Gentiles when GOD used His Jewish Servant Shimone whom we know better as Peter to show the stranger, the non-Jew the Way to Salvation. That happened around 63 C.E., A.D., and we can read about it in Acts Chapter 10.
ACTS 10.1-16 What GOD has cleansed, do not call common or unclean. This event or story has nothing to do with food that is clean or unclean. But it is a parable in a vision about Salvation for the stranger. A parable is a short, simple story that tells of one thing, but teaches of something else. The story tells of Peter seeing in a vision, Heaven opened up, and a great sheet descending to him with all manner of animals, and birds, and creeping things, perhaps all unclean to eat according to GOD’s Law of Moses. And a Voice said, rise up Peter, kill and eat. And Peter said, No LORD, I’ve never eaten anything that is unclean.
But this teaching and vision have nothing to do with food. The vision is about non-Jews obtaining Salvation. GOD would never tell Peter or anyone to eat things that would violate His Law in Leviticus 11, and Deuteronomy 14. Because GOD never changes, Malachi 3.6.
But rather, Peter’s vision is clearly about GOD making His New Covenant, Yeshua The Messiah available to the nations, and all peoples in which GOD will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more. He will put His Law of Moses in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts to do His Laws, and live by them. And then GOD will be their GOD, and they will be His People. That is what the vision that Peter saw is all about. Salvation is made available to the strangers whom GOD loves.
Let’s continue with Acts 10.17-48.
VERSE 28 GOD had shown Peter that he should “not call any man common or unclean”.
VERSE 35 Here is the condition for Salvation for both Jews and Gentiles. Fear GOD which results in obedience to His Laws. Work righteousness that is abiding by GOD’s Laws, His Law of Moses. And of course, receive Yeshua The Messiah Who is Jehovah, LORD of all.
VERSES 47 & 48 And be baptized in The Name of The LORD Yeshua.
Acts Chapter 10 is the beginning of Salvation for Gentiles because GOD loves the stranger. And as mentioned earlier, The New Testament never changes or abolishes GOD’s Laws and Commandments in The Old Testament. GOD’s Laws are for Jews and Gentiles. And GOD requires baptism in The Name of Adonai Yeshua, The LORD Yeshua. Then you have Messiah and atonement, all GOD’s Covenants of Promise, you have hope in the world with GOD, and your name remains written in GOD’s Book of Life. You have now become fully part of GOD’s Chosen People, The Jewish People.
Shalom. Ira Weinstein
www.BethElohenu.org
BethElohenu@gmail.com
IF THE LAW IS DEAD, WHY DOES THE NEW TESTAMENT TEACH IT?
EXODUS 22.16-31
Shalom. This morning we are continuing our study on GOD’s Laws. GOD’s Laws are called Torah. And Torah is a Hebrew word meaning instruction, teaching, and guidance. And also means commandments, laws and ordinances. But Yeshua calls The Law, The Scripture which is the entire writing of The Tnakh, The Old Testament (John 10.34-35). And since The New Testament is prophesied in Tnakh in Jeremiah 31.31-34, The New Testament and Yeshua The Messiah are Law and part of The Torah.
The Old Testament and The New Testament are one, one and the same, and the central law of The New Testament is that Yeshua, The Promised Jewish Messiah is The LORD our GOD, our Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel. He fulfills all the prophecies of Tnakh, some 450, concerning the Promised Messiah of GOD.
Every law in The New Testament is first written in Tnakh, The Old Testament. No new laws are in The New Testament. No law in The Old Testament is changed or abolished in The New Testament because GOD never changes and His Word stands forever. Malachi 3.6 and Isaiah 40.8. And GOD’s Laws are for all mankind to do them.
READ EXODUS 22.16-31
EXODUS 22.16 A maid in Hebrew is BEHTOOLAH, a virgin.
She is not betrothed means she is not engaged to be married.
He shall surely endow her to be his wife means he must pay the bride price for her to be his wife. The bride price is what he pays her parents to marry her. DEUTERONOMY 22.28-29
Jacob was an honorable man and did things properly in the sight of GOD. And Jacob paid a bride price to marry Rachel. He worked for her father Laban seven years. And after seven years, Laban gave Jacob his older daughter Leah to be his wife. Not exactly what Jacob worked for, but he served Laban another seven years for Rachel. All told, Jacob served Laban twenty years before he returned to Canaan with his two wives, Leah and Rachel, two concubines, and his twelve sons and one daughter. And from Abraham, through the line of Isaac and Jacob, GOD brings forth the people of Israel, The Jewish People. Genesis 29.18, 23, 27-28, Genesis 31. 41
EXODUS 22.17 The example in this law is fornication. Webster’s Dictionary describes fornication as voluntary sexual intercourse between two unmarried persons, or two persons not married to each other. Fornication is sin. Acts 15.20, Leviticus 19.29. Thus in this Law, if the girl’s father utterly refuses to give her to him in marriage, he still must pay money to her parents according to the dowry of virgins.
The Laws of The New Testament are the same as The Laws of The Old Testament. The New Testament never changed The Laws of The Old Testament, nor does The New Testament abolish them. GOD’s Laws are for everybody to do them.
ACTS 15.19-21, EPHESIANS 5.3, 1 THESSALONIANS 4.7
EXODUS 22.18 The Hebrew translation reads like this. A witch you shall not allow to live.
A witch in Hebrew is KAHSHAR, meaning a witch or sorceress. One who enchants or subjects others to magical influences, and practices magic, and places others under a spell or under magical influences, and uses witchcraft which is magic and magical influences.
Magic can be defined as the power of apparently influencing the course of events by using mysterious or supernatural forces through demonic spirits, witchcraft, and consulting with demons and the dead. GOD says, the witch shall not be allowed to live.
GOD does not want the evil of a witch among His People. But killing a witch today according to American law would be murder. However, if the witch does not turn to The LORD Yeshua The Messiah for the forgiveness of her sins, and refuses to keep GOD’s Laws, The Law of Moses, and continues in her witchcraft, that witch will die a permanent and spiritual death in hell.
But if the witch TURNS to The LORD GOD Yeshua The Messiah and does that which is lawful and right, obeying all GOD’s Laws and Commandments, quitting her witchcraft, that witch will be forgiven all her sins, and will remain in GOD’s Book of Life for eternity, and her transgressions will not be mentioned to her in her repentance. Ezekiel 18.20-24.
All the pagan practices of magic are forbidden by GOD in both The Tnakh and The New Testament. GOD describes these pagan practices of magic in DEUTERONOMY 18.9-14
VERSE 10 Divination is witchcraft, the use of magic and sorcery. Such a one is thought to have supernatural powers from demonic spirits. Divination is also known as black magic and witchery.
AN OBSERVER OF TIMES Practices magic, foretelling events or predictions through demonic spirits. An observer of times is also called a fortune teller. That is an abomination to GOD.
AN ENCHANTER practices magic spells.
A WITCH practices magic and witchcraft through demonic spirits and the dead. The LORD forbids this practice and the penalty for transgressing His Law is death. Unless that person turns to GOD. GOD demands our wholehearted loyalty, faithfulness, and obedience to Him.
VERSE 11 A CHARMER is a medium or consulter with demons.
A CONSULTER WITH FAMILIAR SPIRITS consults with the dead.
A WIZARD practices magic arts and is demonic having a familiar spirit which is a demonic spirit. LEVITICUS 20.27
BACK TO
DEUTERONOMY 18.11 A NECROMANCER consults with the dead. That would be magic, an abomination to GOD, and punishable by death.
VERSES 12-14 All these are an abomination to The LORD, and because of these abominations, The LORD GOD drove the Canaanites out of the land of Canaan. And The LORD commands us to be perfect with The LORD our GOD, being obedient to Him.
ACTS 16.16-18, GALATIANS 5.19-21, REVELATION 21.8
EXODUS 22.19 Laying with an animal is punishable by death.
EXODUS 22.20 Sacrificing to any god or idol other than The LORD GOD is punishable by death. That violates the first Commandment; You shall have no other gods before Me.
EXODUS 20.3, 1 CORINTHIANS 10.28, REVELATION 2.14, 20-22
The New Testament never disagrees with any law or commandment written in The Tnakh, The Old Testament. The New Testament never changes or abolishes any Law or Commandment written in Tnakh, The Old Testament. GOD’s Laws are for everybody. They never change, and they never end.
EXODUS 22.21 Vex in Hebrew is YAHNAH meaning to be violent, maltreat, or suppress a stranger. A stranger is a non-Jew.
Oppress means to abuse the stranger, condescend or govern, or manage him unjustly, or with cruelty.
EXODUS 20.10, EXODUS 23.9, LEVITICUS 19.33-37,
DEUTERONOMY 1.16, DEUTERONOMY 10.12-22
EXODUS 22.22-24 GOD is certainly the friend to the powerless, and to all people. It has been said, GOD is The Father to orphans, and
The Judge for widows. DEUTERONOMY 24.14-15, JAMES 5.4
EXODUS 22.25 A USURER in Hebrew is NAHSHAH – one who lends money charging interest.
USURY in Hebrew is NEHSHEKH. Usury is charging interest on a loan.
Thus, the verse reads, If you lend money to My People, to the poor among you, do not act toward them as a creditor. Exact no interest from them.
It has also been said, to assist the poor with a loan by not adding interest, or usury, is not optional but obligatory. Lending to the poor is a moral obligation if one has the means. And must be done without further increasing the borrower’s poverty by requiring interest.
MATTHEW 19.21, MARK 14.7
EXODUS 22.26-27 A pledge in Hebrew is KHAHVAHL meaning to seize as collateral.
Collateral is security pledged by the borrower to protect the interest of the lender in case of default.
Creditors, or the person to whom money is due, might legally seize property from a defaulting debtor, the one who fails to pay their loan on time to induce him to repay the loan. But GOD feels differently in the case of the poorest borrowers. GOD says, the poorest borrowers might have nothing left but the clothing on their back. Thus GOD’s Law states that in such circumstances, the welfare of the borrower outweighs the right of repayment to the lender. In fact, if the pledge, or security is his clothing, The LORD says, the lender must deliver the clothing to the borrower by the time the sun goes down, because, GOD says, for that is his covering only (Verse 27). It is his clothing for his skin in which he sleeps. And it will come to pass, The LORD says, when he or she cries to Me, that I will hear, for I AM gracious and compassionate. DEUTERONOMY 8.17-18, GALATIANS 2.9-10
EXODUS 22.28 The KJV reads, you shall not revile the gods. That is incorrect. The Hebrew word for “the gods” is Elohim. In this verse, Elohim is GOD. You shall not revile or curse GOD. Nor curse the ruler of your people. Ruler in Hebrew is NAHSHEE meaning a king, or president, or
prime minister, etc.
TUTUS 3.1-2 PRINCIPALITIES are those who rule.
POWERS are those in authority, in government who make and enforce law.
MAGISTRATES are rulers in authority.
2 PETER 2.9-10, JUDE 7 & 8
(Jude 8) DOMINION are rulers and government.
DIGNITIES are perhaps dignitaries. Those who hold high rank in office or government.
GOD, Who is Yeshua The Messiah, says in Exodus 22.28, you shall not revile GOD or curse the ruler of your people.
EXODUS 22.29-30 The firstfruits are the first grain, the first oil, and the first liquors, perhaps the first wine, are given to GOD. As GOD heals the sick, and the doctor receives the payment, the firsfruits and the firstborn oxen and sheep are given to GOD, but the priests and the Levites, and their families eat them. The firstborn children are dedicated to GOD.
NUMBERS 18.28-31, DEUTERONOMY 15.19-23
When the firstborn children are given to The LORD, they are dedicated to Him. EXODUS 13.1-2
SANCTIFY in Hebrew is KAHDAHSH meaning the firstborn are
dedicated to The LORD and made holy.
EXODUS 22.31 Every Law of The New Testament is from The Old Testament. For example, LEVITICUS 19.1-2, and 1 PETER 1.14-16. EXODUS 19.5-6 and 1 PETER 2.7-9, and DEUTERONOMY 6.4-5, LEVITICUS 19.18 and MARK 12.28-31
The LORD says, you shall be holy, for I The LORD your GOD am holy. Just the fact that The LORD GOD says to us, for I The LORD your GOD am holy, and we should be holy, means we should model our life, and conduct, and behavior after GOD, Yeshua The Messiah. We certainly have the ability to be holy which means, being devoted to GOD, and dedicated to Him, and obedient to Him.
The Bible teaches us that when we believe in Yeshua The Messiah, and obey GOD’s Laws, The Law of Moses, GOD gives us The Holy Spirit. Acts 5.32. And the key to holiness is obeying GOD, keeping His Laws and Commandments, and walking in His Ways. And GOD’s gift to you and me for being holy is eternal life.
Shalom, Ira Weinstein
“I SAID, YOU ARE gods.” MEANING?
EXODUS 22.1-15
Shalom. Our teaching this morning will be from Exodus 22.1-15. This chapter is a continuation of the previous chapter which discusses the laws of thieves and their penalties, or criminal law. And since Israel was primarily an agricultural people at the time, many of GOD’s Laws apply to farming and farm animals.
READ EXODUS 22.1-15
EXODUS 22.1 If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it, or sells it, he shall pay the owner five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.
EXODUS 22.2 Breaking up is breaking in, or burglarizing. If the thief is caught in the act of breaking in, and killed, it is not murder.
EXODUS 22.3 However, if the thief is caught during daylight, it is forbidden for the householder to kill him. That would be murder.
Perhaps The LORD is saying in this Law, when it is nighttime, the homeowner has reason to fear for his or his family’s life, not knowing the thief’s intentions. Thus if he kills the thief and it’s nighttime, it is not murder. However the Law states, and GOD’S Law is the Law of Moses, if the thief is killed in broad daylight, it is murder.
What I believe The LORD is stressing here is this. One may kill an attacker to save his own life, or the life of those in his family. But he cannot kill to save his property.
Now, if the thief is caught, he must make full restitution to the householder for his losses. If the thief has nothing, he shall be sold for his theft.
I think of Yeshua’s words when He said, Do not resist evil. Yeshua is GOD Almighty, The One Who gave The Law in Exodus 22.3 saying, if the theft takes place during the daytime, killing the thief is murder. MATTHEW 5.38-42
VERSE 38 The Law, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth (Exodus 21.23-25) is punishment that fits the crime. And that verdict must come from a court of law. It is not private revenge.
VERSE 39 But I say unto you that you do not resist evil. In this case robbery. Do not kill the thief for stealing your goods. By turning the other cheek, and not killing him, prevents murder. And the consequences for murder are devastating to the one who murdered, and to his or her family. Better to let the crook steal, and hopefully the cops will catch him and the goods restored, or not restored. But no murder is involved.
GOD’s Laws consider human life above material things. But in the case of premeditated murder, that is planned and deliberate murder, the murderer must surely be put to death. Exodus 21.12, 14.
EXODUS 22.4 If the theft was animals, and they are found alive, the thief must restore double to the owner. On the other hand, if the theft is kidnapping a human, even if the kidnapped person is found alive, the kidnapper must surely be put to death. Exodus 21.16.
EXODUS 22.5 Verse 5 continues the laws of theft. When a man lets his livestock loose to graze in another man’s field, and allows the field or vineyard to be eaten by his animals, he must make full restitution. He must restore the field or vineyard to perfect condition.
EXODUS 22.6 The one who started the fire must make full restitution by restoring the field to perfect condition. According to GOD’s Law in Verse three, if he doesn’t have the means, he is sold for his crime to pay the owner for his damages.
EXODUS 22.7 This Law is about people who are entrusted to safeguard another’s property. If money or stuff is stolen out of the house of the one entrusted with the goods, and the thief is found, the thief must pay double to the owner of the goods.
EXODUS 22.8 I believe this verse should be read, If the thief is not found, then the one entrusted with the goods shall be brought before the judges to determine if he stole the goods or not.
EXODUS 22.9 Whom the judges shall find guilty of any trespass, whether it is for an ox, an ass, or sheep, or clothing, or for any loss, shall pay double to the other.
The Hebrew word for judges in this Law is Elohim, which most often means GOD or gods. But here, Elohim means judges. The LORD calls these judges Elohim because the word of GOD has been given to them so that they will judge lawfully according to GOD’s Laws, as GOD Himself would judge lawfully according to His Laws. Let’s look at PSALM 82.1-8
VERSE 1 GOD stands in the congregation of the mighty. The Hebrew word for mighty is El which means GOD. In GOD’s eyes, these judges are as GOD Himself judging. And GOD stands among the judges. The judges must judge according to GOD’s Laws and Word. And GOD judges the people by His Laws, and He judges the judges according to their verdicts.
VERSE 2
But the judges are judging unjustly. They are favoring the wicked. They favor the ungodly, those who are wrong and guilty.
VERSES 3-4 GOD commands the judges whom He calls Elohim to defend the poor with justice. Defend the poor and the fatherless lawfully according to GOD’s Laws. Do justice. Do that which is right and lawful for the afflicted and needy.
VERSES 5-8 The judges don’t know, nor do they understand. They walk in darkness. The courts are a mess because of them. And the world is without justice. It is in shambles. It has fallen and in decay, GOD says. It is out of course.
GOD has said to the judges, you are Elohim, gods, because the Word of GOD has been given to you. It is truth, without iniquity and right. It is perfect.
All of you are children of The Most High, but you shall die like men, because you are men. And fall like princes.
But GOD alone is the True Judge. He does not pervert justice, and He will judge the world in righteousness. He will inherit and own all nations at His return. Selah.
Selah is a word that might have an uncertain meaning. Perhaps selah means always and forever, true and certain. An instruction to singers to raise their voices, or reflect on a thought, or pause. Selah.
DEUTERONOMY 17.8-13, 1 CHRONICLES 23.1-4
It seems that the judges were Levites.
EXODUS 22.10-11 When a man lends to another an ass, an ox, a sheep, or any other animal, and it dies, or is injured or stolen, and no witnesses were there, both shall make an oath to The LORD that he did not lay his hand upon the property. The owner shall accept the oath, and no restitution is required.
EXODUS 22.12 But if the one who borrowed the animals stole them, he must make full restitution.
EXODUS 22.13 If the animal was torn to pieces by another animal, the one who borrowed the animal must bring the carcass to the owner as evidence, and no restitution is made.
EXODUS 22.14 If a man borrows an animal from another and it dies or is injured, and the owner of the animal was not with it when it died, or was injured, the one who borrowed the animal must make restitution.
EXODUS 22.15 But if the owner was with the animal when it died or was injured, no restitution is required. If the owner hired the animal out for a price, the loss is covered by the hiring fee.
Let’s return for a moment to the subject of GOD calling the judges Elohim, or gods. Because Yeshua brought this to the attention of those who wanted to stone Him because they
accused Messiah of being a man and not GOD. And they accused Him of blasphemy. Let’s look at JOHN 10.22-42.
VERSE 34 Yeshua says, The Law is the entire T’Nakh, the entire Old Testament. Thus The Law IS the entire Old Testament. And since The New Testament is part of The Old Testament, Jeremiah 31.31-34, The New Testament is also Law. Thus The New Testament is part of The Torah, The Law of Moses. And The New Testament never replaces The Old Testament. They are one and the same.
And continuing with Verse 34, Yeshua said to the Jewish folk who wanted to stone Him, Is it not written in your Law, I said you are gods?
VERSE 35 If GOD called the judges of the Jewish people gods, or Elohim because GOD gave them His Word to judge the people Lawfully according to GOD’s Laws, and The Scripture cannot be broken. That is, no law, no prophecy, or any Word of GOD can ever be broken. Nothing of GOD can be changed or abolished. And certainly the hundreds of prophecies concerning the promised Jewish Messiah that He is GOD, The Everlasting Father, Isaiah 9.6(5), and the time of His first coming, Daniel 9.24-27, and the works He will do, Isaiah 35, etc. The Scripture cannot be broken.
VERSE 36 “And you are telling Me Whom The Father has sanctified, set apart, and Sent into the world, You are committing blasphemy because I said, I AM The Son of GOD?”
In other words, Jewish people, GOD has ALSO given You His Word, His prophecies, and His Laws in The T’Nakh, The Holy Scriptures. And you should know them. You should know Me. I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD WHOM GOD has sent into the world. And since there is only one GOD, (Deuteronomy 6.4), I AM The Holy One of Israel. And you say, I blaspheme because I said, I AM The Son of GOD?
Let’s look at ISAIAH 48.16-17 concerning the One GOD sent into the world.
VERSE 16 Whom has The LORD GOD and His Spirit sent?
VERSE 17 The One sent is Yeshua The Messiah. He is The LORD our Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel, The LORD our GOD. And since there is only ONE GOD, Yeshua is I AM. And Yeshua is Who He claims, The Son of GOD, Who is GOD, The LORD our GOD, The Holy One of Israel. And He proves that He is GOD Almighty, Ha Shem by His works and miracles that only GOD can do. Messiah Yeshua is The LORD, our Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel, The LORD your GOD, and you, Jewish people should know that.
Back to
JOHN 10.37-38 Yeshua told those Jewish folk, The Father is in Me, and I in Him. Thus telling them, I AM The Father, I AM GOD, I AM Ha Shem.
VERSES 39-42 In Psalm 82, GOD called the judges of Israel Elohim because The Word of GOD was given to them to judge the people lawfully according to GOD’s Laws.
And to the Jewish scholars who confronted Him, who studied The Word of GOD daily, as many Jewish people do today. And The Scripture, The Word of GOD that include the hundreds of prophecies concerning the Promised Messiah cannot be broken. You should know Who I AM, Yeshua aimed to tell them, by The Word GOD gave you in T’Nakh, The Scriptures. You should know Who I AM, Yeshua told them. Even by the works that I do. I AM The LORD your GOD, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel, The Messiah.
But that is GOD’s will, an act of GOD, His plan that the promised Jewish Messiah to the Jewish people, The LORD our GOD, The Holy One of Israel must be rejected by His own people at His first coming, Isaiah 53, so Salvation would come to the Gentiles. Romans 11.11. And that is another blessing the Gentiles have received from the Jewish people, For Salvation is from the Jews. John 4.22.
shalom, Ira Weinstein