It may be the oddest, and even the most whimsical, parsha of them all. This week we begin with the plotting of Balak, King of Moab. Having assessed the might of Israel, he has concluded outright military victory against them is to o difficult, so he enlists the help of a “have prophecy will travel” consultant we call Balaam, son of Beor. The plan: Curse Israel and then conquer them. The only thing standing in the way of this multinational plot (we don’t forget the Midianites are there too) is a donkey who suddenly acquires the gift of speech, a warrior Messenger who is probably Yeshua in pre-incarnate form and, oh yeah, did I mention Father Yah is dead set against the whole enterprise? And at the end of all that, it turns out Israel still gets decimated, but not by a pagan army or an overly-ambitious prophet, but their own depravity makes them their own worst enemy.
And also this week check out the bonus calendar teaching “Jacob and the Tabernacle of the Sun”, a very deep look at the calendar secrets behind Numbers 24:17 connecting Israel to the Tabernacle and the priesthood and from there, to the cosmos of Father Yah. Not to be missed!
Of all the sacrifices given in such glorious detail in the Torah, the most powerful one of them all is also the most mysterious: the red heifer. The stakes are incredibly high and those ashes could in theory last forever and continue to provide atonement until Yeshua arrives with the final answer. This is also the parsha when the narrative skips over 38 years and the last of the generation begins to die, including Miriam and Aaron. And, even as the Korah rebellion ended in disaster for the rebels, this week they started up with problems all over again. But a new problem looms large on their horizon as a king and a prophet are about to band together to destroy the nation of Israel before it even gets a chance to start!
“Come with me if you want to live.” “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” “Certainty of death! Small chance of success! Well…what are we waiting for?” These lines come from the imagination of Hollywood or what their idea of rebellions and epics look like and they all pale in comparison with this one, the greatest rebellion of them all: Korah! Explore the surprising roots of this rebellion as what starts as a family squabble threatens the fate of millions. This blockbuster has been a best seller for nearly 3,500 years.
It’s the rebellion before the even bigger rebellion. This week though the greatest danger to the Israelites is their own fears. They may say they fear giants and they may even believe the giants they saw are famed Nephilim, but none of that should matter because Father Yah promised to fight for them. And so it is that when the Israelties are commanded to fight they cower and when they are commanded to abstain they go up to fight and die. And yet, the greatest threat of all to Moshe’s position and his very life still looms large in their immediate future. Plus on the Scroll to Scroll program find a special bonus teaching on the long lost Zadokite priests and expanded study notes. Hear the bonus teaching separately later on video 3 and skip from video 2 to 4 for a seamless Torah to Haftorah teaching or watch them all in sequence.
Please also consider checking out the special “Clarifications” section at the start of the notes for even more details than the videos and audios have. It’s an extra long parsha and video # is a bonus! Also please left click with your mouse 1-2 times in the Notes field if the Notes are not displaying after 20 seconds. Enjoy!
Chag Sameyach! Welcome to the 2017 Shavuot Special. Explore the deep and meaningful connections with this second of three great feasts as we go from the earliest roots in Genesis literally all the way to Revelation, with many intriguing and unexpected stops in between. From calendar truths to the long reach of prophecy and from debunking long standing traditions of men to lining up the most ancient witnesses, journey with me to see our glorious past link up with our apocalyptic future as we do the Torah together!
Please Note: If you are having problems printing the notes, go to the image of the notes in the upper right corner and select “pop out”. It will take you to a separate page and you can select the printer icon to print. Thank you!
Go deeper into the mysteries behind the numbers and censuses and also explore some of the most curious and controversial rituals of ancient Israel. Why would Father Yah seemingly command David to take a census and then punish him for doing so? Or, is it possible that the apparently barbaric ritual for testing a wife accused of adultery actually presents a greater risk to the accusing husband? Hear the actual ancient sounds of the Blessing of the Priests and delve into the deep spirituality of the Nazirite vow, bot in Torah times and with the Apostle Paul. And after all that, there is ANOTHER Torah portion still to come, showing the small family rebellion before the Big Rebellion and closing with a brand new revealing Torah Thought for the Week that refutes the lies against Luke’s census once and for all!
It’s time for censuses in the desert…and if those two things sound boring to you separately,trust me they are anything but when put together. The census is far from a casual matter of facts and statistics; it is literally a matter of life and death, prosperity or disaster because, as David will himself find out later, counting in a way that Father Yah forbids is an extremely dangerous proposition. It’s also about money, property and when to upend the normal rules of inheritance as we begin to inch towards the greatest threat to Moshe’s life that the Torah ever gives us, because when the books are “cooked”, rebellion follows! See the connections for yourself.Please also note, like last week, I expanded the Study Notes to better clarify some of the intricacies of this parsha, so please check them out on pages 1-3 and, as always, if it sounds like my notes in that section say one thing and I say something a bit different, go with the Study Notes version! Todah (thank you)!
One call ends—another is ready to begin. This parsha we witness the last part of Leviticus as the final rules are laid down for Israel while they have been encamped at Mount Sinai for the last two years. One last chance to understand the intricate rules of harvesting, Jubilees, special vows—all are given and more with a greater sense of urgency. Israel stands ready to get on the move, but it is only the calm before the storm as book of Badmidbar (Numbers) looms in their future, with deadly rebellions and close family betrayals still in Moshe’s future. Get ready—this ride is just about to get bumpy!
Enter the mysteries of the Land Sabbaths and Jubilees for this is the only parsha where they are discussed in detail! These rules are so beautiful and so intricate that I actually revised my notes after I gave the lecture to make sure the facts were being related to all of you properly. Please, therefore, read the “Clarifications” section on pages 1-2 in the Scroll to Scroll notes and pages 3-4 in the Torah 101 notes FIRST before watching the videos as I believe it will make what I say on the video more understandable. Find out how Father Yah used these unprecedented rules to set up an ideal society and get ready for next week when we see the dire ramifications of not following His Torah! It all climaxes with an extremely robust and extra-long Torah Thought for the Week that digs deep to recover lost Christianities and the original Nazarene Jewish faith! Not to be missed!
It’s time to set your calendar…literally. As we enter into these final chapters of Leviticus (Vayikra), we are once more immersed in details of the calendar, Torah observance and even a bit of prophecy, as some of the strongest clues about how to keep the appointed times are given this week. We will also find a very interesting tie from the prophet Ezekiel who uses details from here to show us what his majestic Third Temple would look like, complete with the return of the mysterious sons of Zadok. Also, delve deep into what blasphemy really is as opposed to what tradition tries to make it out to be with Y’shua the Messiah putting his own firm take on the matter. We’re back from our road trip and ready to start up again–join us!
The priesthood just got a lot harder to do. In the wake of Nadav and Avihu’s tragic deaths, the entire nation of Israel has been on edge, and no one more so than Aaron himself and his two surviving sons, Eleazar and Ithamar. When the death first happened, an entire new corpus of massive regulations was given to ensure it would not happen again. Now down to only three priests for a nation of more than 2 million, even more regulations have been given from Father Yah, that apply to priest and layman alike, and the stakes could not be higher. Find out though the true divine intentions behind the rules and see just how gracious Father Yah truly is, even when it seems He shows an angry face.
Please also note: This parsha will be up for a few days until the 2017 Pesach Special comes on April 10th, and that Pesach Special will post both here and in Free Teachings. So if you watch this parsha later in the week, it has not gone away but is simply the parsha BEFORE the Pesach Special! The study questions that are given in Aharei Mot, however, will not be answered until the return of the next regular parsha, Kedoshim, on April 19th. Enjoy the best of the season!
Close-Up of Traditional Jewish Food
Chag samyeach and welcome to the 2017 Pesach Special–the most robust sand detailed Feast teaching yet! In addition to going deep into the details of Pesach with all the relevant Torah, Haftorah and NT readings for the entire 8-day feast, we have extended bonus teachings that explore some incredible and fascinating topics that I believe you will not find quite this way anywhere else. The Nature of Mashiyach, Part 1 and 2, use the Tanakh to answer some of the most elusive questions about how Mashiyach died for our sins and what was his nature. We will se how the church drifted away by lessening Tanakh’s authority and how that caused them to struggle over some of the most fundamental questions about Y’shua and Godhead for many centuries. Then in our next series, The Eight Verses That Changed the World, we will resolve many alleged discrepancies in the NT as 8 lines are carefully analyzed and retranslated from both Greek and Aramaic. We will also explore how scholars lost sight of the some of the unique features of “Jewish Greek” and how that creates confusion even down to the present, while the Aramaic comes alive with fresh clarity and precision as never before. Spend the time and go deep through the next 8 days. I believe you will find it a journey most worth taking!