Category Archives: Torah study

Debarim (Deuteronomy) 32 — “Listen up!”

Lesson date: 10/14/5854AA

Verse 1 – הַאֲזִינוּ – ‘ha’azinu “Give ear” comes from H238 – אָזַן – ‘âzan – aw-zan’

A primitive root; probably to expand; but used only as a denominative from H241; to broaden out the ear (with the hand), that is, (by implication) to listen: – give (perceive by the) ear, hear (-ken).

The meaning is “cup your hand around your ear” but it goes deeper than this it is much like “shama” you hear by obeying. That is why I titled this lesson “Listen up!” because the verb form here makes this a command, not an option.

Once again we see Mosheh calling the heavens and the earth to witness what he is about to say. Continue reading Debarim (Deuteronomy) 32 — “Listen up!”

Debarim (Deuteronomy) 33 — Man of Elohim

Lesson date: 10/21/5854AA

Verse 1 – “the man of Elohim” – this is the only time that this phrase is used in Torah and it is not used by Mosheh but rather by Yehoshua (Joshua) about Mosheh. Please notice where Yehoshua uses it again:

Jos 14:6  And the children of Yehudah came to Yehoshua in Gilgal, and Kalĕḇ son of Yephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know the word which יהוה said to Mosheh the man of Elohim concerning you and me in Qaḏĕsh Barnĕa.

What is the standard by which a man ((or woman)) is called by Elohim? Interestingly we find it in the B’rit Hadasha from no less than Sha’ul:  1Ti 6:11  But you, O man of Elohim, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, reverence, belief, love, endurance, meekness.

1Ti 6:12  Fight the good fight of the belief, lay hold on everlasting life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession before many witnesses.

2Ti 3:16  All Scripture is breathed by Elohim and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for setting straight, for instruction in righteousness,

2Ti 3:17  that the man of Elohim might be fitted, equipped for every good work. Continue reading Debarim (Deuteronomy) 33 — Man of Elohim

Debarim (Deuteronomy) 34 — “Which is opposite Yeriḥo”((Deb. 34))

Lesson date: 10/28/5854AA

Num 20:24  “Aharon is to be gathered to his people, for he is not to enter the land which I have given to the children of Yisra’ĕl, because you rebelled against My mouth at the water of Meribah.

What was the sin that Mosheh committed that prevented he and Aharon from entering the Promised Land? Disobedience. Num 20:8  “Take the rod and assemble the congregation, you and your brother Aharon. And you shall speak to the rock before their eyes, and it shall give its water. And you shall bring water for them out of the rock and give drink to the congregation and their livestock.”

But what did Mosheh do in his anger? Continue reading Debarim (Deuteronomy) 34 — “Which is opposite Yeriḥo”((Deb. 34))

Bemidbar (Numbers) 1

Lesson date: 10/03/5856AA

Before we study Chapter 1 we need to take a look at the name of the book itself. We learned in our study of Shemoth that names convey a message in and of themselves and Bemidbar is a perfect example.

The bet is a simple prefix meaning – “in”. Next, is midbar = H4057 – מדבּר – midbâr – BDB Definition:

1) wilderness 1a) pasture 1b) uninhabited land, wilderness 1c) large tracts of wilderness (around cities)

1d) wilderness (figuratively) 2) mouth 2a) mouth (as organ of speech)

Continue reading Bemidbar (Numbers) 1

Bemidbar (Numbers) 2

Verses 1-2 – Verse 2 of Chapter 2 helps us understand one of the mistakes of the later translation of the B’rit Hadasha especially Hazon (Revelation): Rev 19:16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written: SOVEREIGN OF SOVEREIGNS AND MASTER OF MASTERS.

There are two problems with this Scripture from a point of view of Torah, first, Yeshua being the obedient son of the Most High Elohim would not expose His Thigh, because He would then be considered naked and, second, would not tattoo His body since Scripture prohibits tattooing.

Continue reading Bemidbar (Numbers) 2

Bemidbar (Numbers) 3

Lesson date: 10/17/5856AA

Verse 1 – This verse is very confusing. Why? Because nowhere in the chapter does it mention Mosheh’s generations. It only addresses Aharon’s. Perhaps it is a mistake. Possible, right? We have no proof that Mosheh had any children by his first wife, the Kushite woman> Num_12:1 Now Miryam and Aharon spoke against Mosheh because of the Kushite woman whom he had taken, for he had taken a Kushite woman.

In all of Torah we see Gereshom mentioned only three times but we discover an interesting note> Exo 18:1 And Yithro, the priest of Miḏyan, Mosheh’s father-in-law, heard of all that Elohim had done for Mosheh and for Yisra’ěl His people, that יהוה had brought Yisra’ěl out of Mitsrayim. Continue reading Bemidbar (Numbers) 3

Bemidbar (Numbers) 4

Lesson date: 10/24/5856AA

Verses 1-2 – Once again we see the same structure that we saw in Bemidbar 1 where we saw “Lift up, bear up, rise up – the Aleph Tav (H853)– the head, leader, ruler, prince.

Verse 3 – We see that instead of counting from age 20 like the rest of Yisra’el the count for the priest to serve is from age thirty: Luk 3:23 And when יהושע Himself began, He was about thirty years of age, being, as reckoned by law, son of Yosěph, of Ěli,

Gen 41:46 Now Yosěph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh sovereign of Mitsrayim. And Yosěph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Mitsrayim.

2Sa_5:4 Dawiḏ was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.

Continue reading Bemidbar (Numbers) 4

Bemidbar (Numbers) 5

Lesson date: 11/02/5856AA

Chapter 5 is easily divided into to parts: Part 1 is found in verses 1-10; and Part 2 is found in verses 11-31. Part 1 I call “Being put out of the Camp and Part 2 is called The Torah of Jealousy. Part 1 is based upon the Torah of Leprosy (Lev. 13) and The Torah of one who has a Discharge (Lev. 15).

In the Torah of Leprosy we learned that not only our bodies can be infected but so can our “establishments”, i.e. a house or a house of worship.  It was the Torah of Leprosy that explained to me something I had always wondered about in Scripture, Mark 11:11: Mar 11:11 And יהושע went into Yerushalayim and into the Set-apart Place. And having looked around on all, He went out to Běyth Anyah with the twelve, as the hour was already late.

Continue reading Bemidbar (Numbers) 5

Bemidbar (Numbers) 6 — The Nazirite Vow

Lesson date: 11/09/5856AA

Verses 1-2 – The Nazirite vow is very well known in Scripture. It is very well known but is it really understood? In verse 2 the first word used for “separate” is H6381 – פּלא – pâlâ’ – BDB Definition:1) to be marvellous, be wonderful, be surpassing, be extraordinary, separate by distinguishing action. It seems strange to me that a word that is most often translated as “wonderful” or “wondrous works” would also mean “separate”. The word is used 30 times in Psalms alone. The next book in which it is most used is Job. The two most common forms of this word are H6381 and H6382. It can literally mean “too difficult to understand”.

Continue reading Bemidbar (Numbers) 6 — The Nazirite Vow

Bemidbar (Numbers) 7

Lesson date: 03/07/5860AA

I have heard of Chapter 7 as being “the most boring chapter in the Bible”, but is it? Is there nothing that we can learn from Bemidbar Chapter 7, not one nugget or jewel to be found in 89 verses? Here is my challenge, “I will find a life saving fact in the first ten verses that will make the other 79 verses worth reading. Then, toward the end, I will reveal a fact that shows how time was established, from the beginning, hidden in this chapter.

Continue reading Bemidbar (Numbers) 7