Preface: I think all of you know that as of December 2013 I began praying that YHVH would take the Greek out of my life. I am not talking about the language, which I still struggle through, but rather the mindset. Everything in our life today is taught to us from the Greek point of view, how we view time, many of our words, how we use science as a standard of judgment, law is rooted in Greek philosophy, etc. I have been struggling to comprehend a greater portion or position in Hebrew above and beyond my Greek training. Greek teaches us that if we can prove a matter scientifically, mathematically or empirically it must be true or real. It has occurred to me over the last few months that the proper perspective to view Hebrew is as an art form rather than a combination of algorithms that somehow converge at a single point to convey meaning.

Stop! And just imagine that you are now looking at a great work of art, say the Mona Lisa. Please look at it and describe it to me. Will you comment on the brush strokes used or the shading employed? Will you mention her smile or the odd placement of her hands? Does the dark navy blue over-garment and dress, with the gold brocade collar, mean that she was a noble woman? What about the red tint of her hair? Have you ever noticed the bridge over the river just over her left shoulder? What about the forest and rocks on her right? Do you see how many things can attract your focus at different times or points of view? Perhaps you were very young when you noticed her smile. Maybe, just maybe, you were in your 20’s or 30’s when you noticed the color and composition of her clothes. Maybe, just maybe, you never noticed the bridge over her left shoulder, perhaps indicating that she crossed over the river to have the portrait painted. All of this applies to the study and use of Hebrew. It can take on new meanings as we grow in our relationship with our Master. Suddenly, it now shows us a new avenue to follow in our studies. Hopefully, you will remember that early on, I told you that each Hebrew letter has 7 meaning and each Hebrew word has 70 meanings. It is true and not all apply with every use. Shalom.

Verse 1 – Verses 1 & 7 have some similarities but are a little different in intent. In verse 1 the word used for “false” is “shav” – H7723. We have seen this word used in another context: Exo 20:7 “You do not bring the Name of יהוה your Elohim to naught, for יהוה does not leave the one unpunished who brings His Name to naught.

The word translated as “false” in chapter 23 verse 1 and “naught” in chapter 20, verse 7 is the same word. The word used for false in chapter 23 verse 7 is “sheker” – H8267 has the meaning of untruth, deceitful, deceptive or wrongful. The distinction between the two is intent. The meaning applied to H7723 is desolating, evil, destructive, uselessness all clearly much worse than untruth or deceitful.

Psa 24:3 Who does go up into the mountain of יהוה? And who does stand in His set-apart place?

Psa 24:4 He who has innocent hands and a clean heart, Who did not bring his life to naught, And did not swear deceivingly(H4820 – mirmah).

Psa 26:4 I have not sat with men of falsehood, Nor do I enter with pretenders.

Psa 31:6 I have hated those who observe lying vanities; But I trust in יהוה.

Psalms 31:6 is very interesting in that the KJV translates “shav” as “vain or vanity” most times. The word used for “vanities” is H1892 – Hebel meaning vain or emptiness. Please note that the word for the second son of Adam is Hebel and is H1893 and means “breath” and the BDB and Strong’s both say that it is the same as H1892.

Please look at Psalms 26:4 above. I underlined falsehood, “shav” and sat. Remember, the word sat has the connotation of “learning”. The verse is telling us not to learn from men of falsehood not just sitting down and sharing a cup of coffee. Think of it this way: DO NOT LEARN FROM PEOPLE THAT NULLIFY AND BRING TO NAUGHT THE TORAH!

The word for “sat” in 26:4 is “yashab” – H3427 which is the root word for “yeshiva” which means school or education. Also, in the second part of Shemoth 23:1 we see the allusion to the hand which we know means to work, support, do or give your strength.

We see the word for malicious in the last part of Shem. 23:1 is “chamas” H2555 – evil, cruel, oppress(or), damage, violent((Kinda makes you wonder about Hamas in the Gaza Strip, huh?)). This far stronger language than just unrighteous or malicious.

Verse 2 – Don’t follow the crowd! Pro 1:10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in.

Pro 1:11 If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, Let us ambush the innocent without cause.

Pro 1:12 “Let us swallow them alive like She’ol, And entirely, like those going down to the pit.

Pro 1:13 “Let us find all precious goods, Let us fill our houses with spoil.

Pro 1:14 “Cast in your lot among us, Let us all have one purse,”

Pro 1:15 My son, do not walk in the way with them, Keep your foot from their path;

Pro 1:16 For their feet run to evil, And they hurry to shed blood.

The majority is not always right. Remember the story of Yehoshua and Kaleb. They were the only two to give a positive report and were the only two to receive a blessing from YHVH of that generation. When two wolves and a sheep vote on what to have for dinner it will always be lamb chops. I know you hear it all the time, “All the people going to church can’t be wrong.” But they are if they deny the validity and integrity of Torah.

Verses 3 & 6 – We tend to want to favor the poor but just because they are poor does not mean they get a free pass to break Yah’s Commands but, at the same time do not deny him justice just because he is poor.

Mat 10:9 “Do not acquire gold or silver or copper for your money-belts,

Mat 10:10 or a bag for the journey, or two undergarments, or sandals, or staffs, for the worker is worthy of his food.

Act_3:6 But Kěpha said, “I do not have silver and gold, but what I do possess, this I give you: In the Name of יהושע Messiah of Natsareth, rise up and walk.”

NO! If Yeshua was alive today He would not have a $20M jet.

Verses 4 & 5 – Like we have discussed about Matthew 5 Yeshua built fences around Torah and made Torah a matter of the heart not just something to read and something to keep when others are watching but for it to be ingrained in our being and every thought.

Mat 7:12 “Therefore, whatever you wish men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Torah and the Prophets.

Luk 6:31 “And as you wish men should do to you, you also do to them in the same way.

Mat_5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Luk_6:27 But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,

Verse 7 – I wanted to add a little more about verse from above and that is the word for kill in this verse does to to physically kill but I won’t to remind all of us what Yeshua taught us in Matthew 5:

Mat 5:21 “You heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder,’ and whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.

Mat 5:22 “But I say to you that whoever is wroth with his brother without a cause shall be liable to judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raka!’ shall be liable to the Sanhedrin. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be liable to fire of GěHinnom.

Mat 5:23 “If, then, you bring your gift to the slaughter-place, and there remember that your brother holds whatever against you,

Mat 5:24 leave your gift there before the slaughter-place, and go, first make peace with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Mat 5:25 “Be well-minded with your opponent, promptly, while you are on the way with him, lest your opponent deliver you to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.

Mat 5:26 “Truly, I say to you, you shall by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny.

Verse 8 – If we diligently obeyed this command as a nation it would destroy the entire business model and political system of America. America’s politics and business model is built upon fraud, graft, corruption and bribery. We see numerous reports of innocent people going to prison for a crime they did not commit. New York State chief judge Sol Wachtler famously said, “a grand jury would ‘indict a ham sandwich,’ if that’s what you wanted.” Unfortunately, many guilty go free and many innocent go to jail.

Verse 9 – Once again we see that Torah observant believers are not treated well in America or Israel by Jews or Christians. We are sojourners and the world does not like us.

Verses 10- Observe the sabbatical year. Id you kept the last sabbatical year please share your experiences that were meaniful to you.

Verse 12 – Keep the sabbath.

Verse 13 – This is a difficult thing to do for me. I try, but I fail. Here are some reasons why:

• January – named after the Roman god Janus;
• February – named after the Roman god Februus;
• March – named after the Roman god Mars;
• May – named after the Greek goddess Maia;
• June – named after Juno wife of Zeus;

and then each day of the week is named after a god so, when I revert to using days of the week and months of the year I am using the names of other gods. Like I said it is difficult to get the Greek, and Roman, out of me.

Verses 14-19 – This is the first time we see the three times a year gatherings/feasts. We saw Passover established in Chapter 12 and Unleavened Bread established in Chapter 13 but now YHVH gives them the celebration of Sukkot as a feast and He ties them together by telling Mosheh that these three times a year all males are to appear before Him. The word for “times” is: H6471 – פַּעֲמָה    פַּעַם – pa‛am  pa‛ămâh pah’-am, pah-am-aw’ -which means anvil, corner, foot(step). I know you think anvil is an unusual choice but it actually isn’t. Have you ever heard a blacksmith working metal on an anvil? Have you ever noticed that there was a rhythm to his hitting the metal(ding-ding-da-ding)? It forms a cadence, just like marching. We are to march out in formation as YHVH’s Army three times a year.

Verse 18 warns us to not defile His blood slaughtering with leavened bread. Leavening represents sin and don’t forget, last Shabbat we learned that “to oppress” also comes from the word for leaven. We are actually being told not to let sin corrupt His offering not let the leaven of the Pharisees make it too difficult.

Verse 19 appears to be inconsistent with the train of thought, “Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk”, but actually, it is reinforcing  what was said in verse 18 to not corrupt or pollute His offering with leaven. The phrase Do not cook a young goat in its mothers milk means do not nullify your offering.

Verses 20-23 – Here we see a foreshadowing of our Messiah.

Verse 24 – Once again we are warned to not follow or worship false gods. Do not commit spiritual whoredom or adultery.

Verses 25-30 – The Blessings of YHVH if we are faithful to keep His Commands. Notice verse 28. The idea is that I will something as small as an insect in their sight to drive them out. Remember, the people occupying Yisra’el were giants.

Verse 31 – YHVH tells Mosheh the boundaries of the land of Yisra’el: from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Mediterraean Sea (east to west) and from the Euphrates River to the Negeb (north to south).

Verse 32-33 – Yisra’el is warned not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land. Is this for us today or just “old news”? Yisra’el did not obey this command and it did become a snare for them later. (We’ll see that in Bemidbar/Numbers).