Cities of refuge

In Numbers 35, we read about the cities of refuge providing protection for whoever “kills a person without intent.” In the description of the cities of refugee, we find an interesting detail: an unintentional murderer must remain in the city of refuge till the death of the High Priest. When the High Priest dies, he may return to his home, without fear of a revenge. Why? How is the death of the High Priest relevant? 

How did the High Priest save them?

Centuries later, Jewish interpreters explain in the Talmudic discussion that homicide is a sin which must be atoned. Even an unintentional murder cannot be compensated by a ransom (Num.35:31) — the blood must be redeemed by the death of the murderer. According to this interpretation, because it is an unintentional murder, only the death of the High Priest may be a proper atonement. Once the High Priest dies, the blood is redeemed and the slayer is free.

See the connection between the Torah and the New Testament

This seemingly unexpected link between the time of asylum and the death of the High Priest is a statement of the fact that, only death can atone for the blood. Thus, for the first time in the Bible, the death of the High Priest becomes an atoning event. The New Testament authors picked up on this Hebrew Bible intuition and elaborated on it.

From Jerusalem To Rome: Reaching Out To Gentiles

By Julia BlumJanuary 19, 20227 comments

My dear readers, as we continue our journey through the book of Acts I would like to remind you that my goal here is not to write another series of comments – tons of books have already been written on Acts – but just to bring to your attention the details that can be understood only within the Jewish context of the first-century Jewish Messianic congregation.  Like, for instance, this question:

CAN GENTILES BELIEVE IN JESUS?

Today, both Christians and Jews would be puzzled and surprised by this question: Christianity today is largely perceived as a completely Gentile religion and a very non-Jewish entity. However, this is exactly the question that the first community of believers in Jesus had to deal with. Jesus Himself said several times that He came “to the lost sheep of house of Israel”.  How did it happen then, that His message also went out to the Gentiles?

The book we have been reading together – the book of Acts – shows us this transformation. During his earthly life, Jesus was very specific in instructing his disciples not to even “go among the gentiles”.  However, here in Acts, we witness a drastic change: starting from chapter 10, we see not only inclusion of the Gentiles, but also the astonishment and amazement of the existing Jewish Messianic community.

How did it all begin? I’m sure you all know this story. In Acts 10, we read about the vision of Apostle Peter in which he saw a large sheet coming down from heaven filled with “all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air”. Then a voice said to him, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”[1]

For centuries, traditional Christianity has interpreted Peter’s vision as God’s permission to abandon a division between clean and unclean animals. However, if we refer to the narrative right before and right after this vision, we would understand that actually, it was God showing him that he should not call the Gentiles unclean, because God calls them clean, therefore the Good News should also be brought to them. This is the way Peter himself understood this vision, because while he was still puzzling over its meaning, men sent by Cornelius, a God-fearing gentile, came to him. Only then did Peter understand the message. Later he would explain to Cornelius that, even though “it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile….  God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean”[2]. Thus, the message of Jesus began to be preached also to the Gentiles.

We learn from these chapters that first the Jewish believers in Jesus were very surprised, even shocked by this inclusion of the Gentiles. Yet, when they heard Peter’s testimony, “they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.”[3] Or, in the words of the Complete Jewish Bible, “This means that God has enabled the Goyim as well to do t’shuvah and have life!”

PHARISEE, SON OF A PHARISEE

As we all know, Shaul (Paul), whose “straightening” on Straight street we discussed last time, would become the key figure in this reaching of the Gentiles. Unfortunately, traditional Christian reading of Paul turned him into the father and author of sanctioned Christian anti-Semitism. For two millennia, the Church has taught that when Apostle Paul “converted,” his eyes were opened and, preaching tirelessly against the Jewish law and against Israel, he “freed Christianity from Judaism”. But, is this true? Did this Jewish scholar really believe Torah to be irrelevant and his people to be rejected by God? Did Paul really teach that Jesus’ message contradicted the Torah, Christianity was the antithesis of Judaism, and the Church replaced Israel?

Of course, “Paul and Torah” or “Paul and Israel” are huge topics, and this discussion goes far beyond our comments on Acts. However, from the book of Acts, we do know that even after Paul became Jesus’ disciple, it was still his regular custom to attend synagogue every Shabbat. “Paul did not consider the synagogue his opponent. How could he? No other valid faith- community yet existed. … the synagogue and Jerusalem Temple marked the location of study and worship for all who believed  in the God of Israel. All other temples and places of worship were pagan.”[4]

Thus, in every new town where Paul arrived (even in predominately Gentile regions), he went to a synagogue. In synagogues, he met with Jews and Gentiles alike who were interested in the Word of God. Again and again we read about Paul attending synagogues – for instance, “…there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures.”[5] We will discuss this later as well as we continue our commentaries, but for now we are in chapter 13, and we see Paul and his companions entering the synagogue in Antioch: “when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down”. We read that “after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue” invited them to speak – “then Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said….” What did he say?

The traditional view of Paul suggests that there were two ways of salvation: the old way was through the deeds of the law (Torah), while the new one, the way of grace, was opened by Jesus. There is a famous verse of Paul’s from Romans which is traditionally used against Judaism: a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law[6]. Based on this statement, the vast majority of Christian theologians somehow came to the wrong conclusion that 1^st century Judaism believed in work-based salvation. It is a very unfortunate mistake and is simply not true: in Judaism, salvation doesn’t depend on works either – it’s a free gift of God, based on His eternal covenant with Israel. One of the most famous rabbinic tractates, Pirkei Avot, opens with the famous words: “All Israel has portion in the world to come”. This means that salvation – or “portion in the world to come” – is not gained through doing good works; it depends only on a person belonging to God’s family. In this sense, it is also by grace.

Thus, Paul did not have to change this part of his theology after he became a follower of Jesus: it was clear to him, as it was to every Jewish rabbi, that access into God’s family depended not on the works a person does, but on his or her belonging to the covenant. Paul saw salvation as God’s gift to His family, based on His covenant – again, as every Jewish rabbi would see. What did change radically for Paul was who belonged to this covenant.  In Judaism, God’s family consists of the people of Israel only. For Paul, anyone who comes to God through Jesus belongs to His family – and therefore, Paul invites everyone to come to God, in order to belong to His family and to receive God’s gift of salvation. This is exactly what he is saying in the synagogue of Antioch:

“Men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent”[7].

.

[1] Acts 10:15

[2] Acts 10:28

[3] Acts 11:18

[4] Tim Hegg,  The Letter Writer

[5] Acts 17:1-3

[6] Rom. 3:28

[7] Acts 13:26

From Jerusalem To Rome: To The Ends Of The Earth

By Julia BlumJanuary 26, 20224 comments

We all know the words of Jesus to his disciples at the beginning of Acts:  they should be his “witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”[1]. Accordingly, the book of Acts can be divided into two parts.  The first, chapters 1–12, describe the events that take place in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria. Peter is the central figure of these chapters: “he delivers speeches, performs healings and, as the climax of this section, baptizes the first Gentile convert, the Roman centurion Cornelius.”[2] Of course, we remember that Philip had previously baptized an Ethiopian eunuch (8.26–40), but Peter baptizing Cornelius and reporting it to his Jewish brethren officially opens the door for Gentiles to be included in the community of believers.

Therefore, beginning from chapter 13, the focus of the book shifts to Paul – the Apostle to the Gentiles. We witness his missionary activity in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey) and Greece, his arrest, questioning before Roman and Jewish authorities, his journey to Rome, and his preaching in Rome. Thus, Acts presents a picture of the church expanding in full accordance with Jesus’ words: from Jerusalem through Judea and Samaria to the “ends of the earth”. Who were those first believers in Jesus outside of the Land, then?  How did they live and believe?

Surprisingly, from the book of Acts, we understand that the “first church”, the first community of the early followers of Jesus outside of the Land of Israel, still comprised mainly of Jewish believers and was still a synagogue. The first “to the ends of the earth” community of believers that we meet in Acts, is the community in Antioch. What do we know about the church in Antioch?

In chapter 11 we read that “those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch” and that “the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.”[3] Then we read that, upon hearing these reports, the Jerusalem congregation sends out Barnabas to Antioch, and Barnabas brings Paul there. “So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people.”[4]

We are now in chapter 13, entering the second part of the Acts, which recounts the expansion of the church “to the ends of the earth”. This chapter begins with Luke reintroducing the community in Antioch:

Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 

Of all the names listed by Luke, we know for sure that both Barnabas and Saul (Paul) were Jewish believers in Jesus. Who were the others?

Who was Simeon who was called Niger?  Simeon is a Greek transliteration of a Hebrew name Shimon. “Shimon” was a very popular Jewish name in the 1^st century, both in the Land of Israel and in Diaspora. He might have been a proselyte from Africa, which would explain why he was called Niger[5], but he would not have the name “Shimon” if he was not part of the people of Israel.

We can probably say more about “Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch.” who is also listed among the prophets and teachers of the Antioch congregation. Manaen is a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name Menachem (Comforter). Who was this Menachem? Surprisingly, we discover references to this man in the several Jewish texts of the time, and the first thing we understand from all these references is that the man was Jewish.

According to Joseph Shulam, Babylonian Talmud may have been referring to the same Menachem in this comment:  “Hillel and Menachem did not differ. Menachem went forth, Shammai entered.” In order to understand this quote, one has to know the history of the Second Temple period: Hillel and Shammai, the well-known rabbis of this time, were co-heads of beit din (the court). Probably, this Talmudic text says that before Shammai joined Hillel, Menachem was co-head of the court, along with Hillel.

Some scholars have interpreted this text as depicting Menachem’s departure to join the Essenes. This interpretation is based on Josephus’ note in his Antiquities of the Jews: “There was one of these Essenes whose name was Menachem.” Josephus writes that this Menachem led “an excellent life” and that God gave him a prophetic gift: he prophesied Herod’s ascension to the throne when “he was a child”[6].

If we accept this interpretation, we will agree that all three texts speak of the same Menachem who was connected to “Herod the tetrarch”. First, together with Hillel, Menachem served as co-head of the court; his spiritual quest then probably took him to the Essenes; then finally, this boyhood companion of Herod Antipas became one of the leaders in the Antioch congregation, and became known to Christian readers by the name Manaen.

The last one whom Luke lists among the “prophets and teachers” in Antioch, is Lucius. “Lucius” was a common Latin name, definitely not a Jewish name, and one may suggest that Lucius was not Jewish. On the other hand, he may have been a Jew born in the Diaspora, like Saul, having both Jewish and Roman names. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that in Romans 16:21 Paul calls some Lucius, his kinsman (probably the same Lucius).

Thus, of the five prophets and teachers in the first church in Antioch, four were definitely Jewish believers in Jesus, and the last one may have been Jewish also. However, much more important is the fact that these first believers lived as members of God’s people, members of Israel. They lived according to an agreed-upon set of ethical norms, in a context broadly shaped by the Jewish Scriptures. “The activity of prophets, the description of what went on in the congregational meeting as ‘service,’ and fasting as a religious practice…. the reading of the law and the prophets”[7] – all these correspond with known synagogue practice. From Luke’s description, we understand that, with all the profound differences that faith in Jesus would make, outwardly the gathering and fellowship of the early church was no different from a synagogue.  And it really could not be otherwise: synagogue was the only place of study and worship for all who believed in the God of Israel – all the other temples and places of worship were pagan. There were no other valid communities of believers, so at this point, a synagogue was the only place where Jewish and Gentile believers would gather together to read Scripture and worship God. This is exactly what we see in the community in Antioch – and we will continue to see it throughout the entire book of Acts.

[1] Acts 1:8

[2] The Jewish Annotated New Testament (p. 198). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.

[3] Acts 11:19,21

[4] Acts 11:26

[5] In the original language of the text, the word “Niger” is best translated as “black.”

[6] Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 15:10:5

From Jerusalem To Rome: Transition

By Julia Blum February 2, 2022No comments

The Lessons of the Transitional Chapter

My dear friends, you probably expect me to move to Acts 15, to Jerusalem council – and of course, we will be there soon. However, I would like to say a few more words on chapter 13; after all, this is a crucial chapter, the transitional chapter,  opening the second – “to the ends of the earth” – part of the book.  Luke is an amazing master of transitions, and those following my blog for a while may well remember this title “The Lessons of the Transitional Chapter”: it was how I titled our discussion of the last chapter of the Gospel of Luke. The last chapter of Luke’s Gospel – Luke 24 – is a transitional chapter from the first to the second volume of his writing, and it indeed provides an excellent transition from the Gospel to the Acts—from Messiah visible, but hidden, to Messiah revealed, but invisible. In my articles, I tried to show that Luke wanted us to read both volumes in the light shed from this chapter[1].

In the same way, the beginning of chapter 13 serves as a very meaningful transition from the first part of the book of Acts to the second. We remember that the first part, chapters 1–12, describes the events that take place in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria. Beginning from chapter 13, the focus of Luke’s narrative shifts to Paul and his mission to the Gentiles. Once again, Luke packs these transitional verses with the very important messages – so please bear with me while we unpack these crucial messages, in order to read the second part in the light of these lessons.

Laying Hands

The first take-home message of this chapter comes from the last post, when we realized that of the five prophets and teachers in Antioch listed here by Luke, four were definitely Jewish believers in Jesus, and the last one may have been Jewish as well. Even more important is the second lesson that we also started to discuss last time. From Luke’s description, we understand that with all the profound differences that faith in Jesus made, outwardly the gathering and fellowship of the early church was no different from a synagogue. The activity of the prophets, the fasting, the reading of the Scriptures, all these details undoubtedly connect us to the Torah. However, there is another important allusion to the Torah in Luke’s description of Antioch’s community that we haven’t discussed yet – and this is the laying of hands.

The laying on of hands is called smicha in Hebrew, the same word used for laying hands on the sacrifices. In Tanach, the priests practiced smicha, laying hands on the sacrifices before offering them to God. This hand-laying was an essential part of Temple sacrifices, but at some point, it became an essential part of separation and authorization for religious duty as well. “The laying on of hands as authorization for religious duties may echo Numbers 8:11–12, where the motif of separation for the work of the Lord is also present.”[2]

By the 1^st century CE, smicha was an acknowledged ritual of transmission of authority. The laying on of hands is a very meaningful ceremony in Jewish tradition even today. Jewish fathers bless their children by placing their hands on the child’s head. When  The idea goes back to Deuteronomy where we read of Joshua being filled with the Spirit because Moses laid hands on him: “Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him.”[3] It is believed that through smicha, “God’s presence may appear”. Why? In Leviticus, Moses tells Aaron, “This is the thing that God commanded you to do, that God’s presence may appear.”[4] However, the Torah does not say what “thing” Moses had in mind, so some Jewish commentators explain, “It is the laying on of hands.” Therefore, when the believers in Antioch laid their hands upon Paul and Barnabas, they asked God to manifest His presence, to fill them with His spirit, and to transmit authority in the way that was a familiar and acknowledged ceremony.

This is another take-home message that Luke wants us to remember while reading through the second part of the book: early believers in Jesus were part of God’s people, part of Israel, – and they lived in a context defined by current Jewish piety and Jewish Scriptures!

Crooked and Straight

It will take our next example to realize how much God’s ways and Israel’s ways seemed almost synonymous to the early believers. After Paul and Barnabas are sent away from Antioch, they travel to the city of Paphos in Cyprus, where the Roman Proconsul is willing to hear them. However, somebody by the name Elymas, described as a false prophet and a sorcerer, opposes them, “doing his best to turn the governor away from the faith. Then Sha’ul, also known as Paul, filled with the Ruach HaKodesh, stared straight at him and said, “You son of Satan, full of fraud and evil! You enemy of everything good! Won’t you ever stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?”[5]

I have chosen to use this translation here (Complete Jewish Bible), since it renders the Greek text with exactly the same words that we need in order to unpack Luke’s message. Paul could have said a thousand different things to Elymas: Won’t you ever stop doing your evil deeds? Won’t you ever stop opposing God? Won’t you ever stop resisting true faith? – so,  why did he use this peculiar phrase about crooked and straight?

In order to answer this question and see the message hidden by Luke in this story, I would like to remind you that the biblical name for the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is Israel: they are children of Jacob, who was named Israel after he had wrestled with the mysterious man at Penuel. “The man”  who fought with Jacob, blessed him, and in blessing him he changed his name to Israel. He said:  “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with beings divine and human, and have prevailed.”[6]  Therefore, it is widely believed that the word “Israel” comes from the Hebrew word שרית , which in biblical Hebrew means “to struggle,” “to exercise influence,” “to prevail”.

There is an additional way to interpret this name, however, and I believe that the speech of Paul in Acts 13 is a clear allusion to this way. In Hebrew, the name Israel might be read as Yashar-El (ישר-אל). Hebrew word Yashar (יָשָׁר) means straight, honest, honorable, law-abiding; in biblical usage, it also means a “righteous, God-fearing person”. The root עָקֹב֙, on the other hand (the root of the name Ya’akov) might also mean “crooked,” as in the verse: the crooked (הֶֽעָקֹב֙) shall be made straight.[7] This is exactly what this transition from Jacob to Israel means: God made the crooked straight!

We can now understand Paul’s choice of words. “Your behavior is the opposite of the very definition of Israel”, is in fact, the essence of what Paul says to Elimas. This is our third take-home lesson for the rest of Acts: to do something against God, to oppose faith, means … to go against the meaning of the word “Israel”.

[1] You can read more about this transitional chapter – Luke 24 – in my book about Hidden Messiah, As Though Hiding His Face.

[2] G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (p. 582). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

[3] Deut.34:9

[4] Lev.9:6

[5] Acts 13:8,9

[6] Gen.32:28

[7] Is. 40:4

From Jerusalem To Rome: Reaching Out To Gentiles

By Julia Blum January 19, 2022 No comments

My dear readers, as we continue our journey through the book of Acts I would like to remind you that my goal here is not to write another series of comments – tons of books have already been written on Acts – but just to bring to your attention the details that can be understood only within the Jewish context of the first-century Jewish Messianic congregation.  Like, for instance, this question:

CAN GENTILES BELIEVE IN JESUS?

Today, both Christians and Jews would be puzzled and surprised by this question: Christianity today is largely perceived as a completely Gentile religion and a very non-Jewish entity. However, this is exactly the question that the first community of believers in Jesus had to deal with. Jesus Himself said several times that He came “to the lost sheep of house of Israel”.  How did it happen then, that His message also went out to the Gentiles?

The book we have been reading together – the book of Acts – shows us this transformation. During his earthly life, Jesus was very specific in instructing his disciples not to even “go among the gentiles”.  However, here in Acts, we witness a drastic change: starting from chapter 10, we see not only inclusion of the Gentiles, but also the astonishment and amazement of the existing Jewish Messianic community.

How did it all begin? I’m sure you all know this story. In Acts 10, we read about the vision of Apostle Peter in which he saw a large sheet coming down from heaven filled with “all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air”. Then a voice said to him, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”[1]

For centuries, traditional Christianity has interpreted Peter’s vision as God’s permission to abandon a division between clean and unclean animals. However, if we refer to the narrative right before and right after this vision, we would understand that actually, it was God showing him that he should not call the Gentiles unclean, because God calls them clean, therefore the Good News should also be brought to them. This is the way Peter himself understood this vision, because while he was still puzzling over its meaning, men sent by Cornelius, a God-fearing gentile, came to him. Only then did Peter understand the message. Later he would explain to Cornelius that, even though “it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile….  God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean”[2]. Thus, the message of Jesus began to be preached also to the Gentiles.

We learn from these chapters that first the Jewish believers in Jesus were very surprised, even shocked by this inclusion of the Gentiles. Yet, when they heard Peter’s testimony, “they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.”[3] Or, in the words of the Complete Jewish Bible, “This means that God has enabled the Goyim as well to do t’shuvah and have life!”

PHARISEE, SON OF A PHARISEE

As we all know, Shaul (Paul), whose “straightening” on Straight street we discussed last time, would become the key figure in this reaching of the Gentiles. Unfortunately, traditional Christian reading of Paul turned him into the father and author of sanctioned Christian anti-Semitism. For two millennia, the Church has taught that when Apostle Paul “converted,” his eyes were opened and, preaching tirelessly against the Jewish law and against Israel, he “freed Christianity from Judaism”. But, is this true? Did this Jewish scholar really believe Torah to be irrelevant and his people to be rejected by God? Did Paul really teach that Jesus’ message contradicted the Torah, Christianity was the antithesis of Judaism, and the Church replaced Israel?

Of course, “Paul and Torah” or “Paul and Israel” are huge topics, and this discussion goes far beyond our comments on Acts. However, from the book of Acts, we do know that even after Paul became Jesus’ disciple, it was still his regular custom to attend synagogue every Shabbat. “Paul did not consider the synagogue his opponent. How could he? No other valid faith- community yet existed. … the synagogue and Jerusalem Temple marked the location of study and worship for all who believed  in the God of Israel. All other temples and places of worship were pagan.”[4]

Thus, in every new town where Paul arrived (even in predominately Gentile regions), he went to a synagogue. In synagogues, he met with Jews and Gentiles alike who were interested in the Word of God. Again and again we read about Paul attending synagogues – for instance, “…there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures.”[5] We will discuss this later as well as we continue our commentaries, but for now we are in chapter 13, and we see Paul and his companions entering the synagogue in Antioch: “when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down”. We read that “after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue” invited them to speak – “then Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said….” What did he say?

The traditional view of Paul suggests that there were two ways of salvation: the old way was through the deeds of the law (Torah), while the new one, the way of grace, was opened by Jesus. There is a famous verse of Paul’s from Romans which is traditionally used against Judaism: a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law[6]. Based on this statement, the vast majority of Christian theologians somehow came to the wrong conclusion that 1^st century Judaism believed in work-based salvation. It is a very unfortunate mistake and is simply not true: in Judaism, salvation doesn’t depend on works either – it’s a free gift of God, based on His eternal covenant with Israel. One of the most famous rabbinic tractates, Pirkei Avot, opens with the famous words: “All Israel has portion in the world to come”. This means that salvation – or “portion in the world to come” – is not gained through doing good works; it depends only on a person belonging to God’s family. In this sense, it is also by grace.

Thus, Paul did not have to change this part of his theology after he became a follower of Jesus: it was clear to him, as it was to every Jewish rabbi, that access into God’s family depended not on the works a person does, but on his or her belonging to the covenant. Paul saw salvation as God’s gift to His family, based on His covenant – again, as every Jewish rabbi would see. What did change radically for Paul was who belonged to this covenant.  In Judaism, God’s family consists of the people of Israel only. For Paul, anyone who comes to God through Jesus belongs to His family – and therefore, Paul invites everyone to come to God, in order to belong to His family and to receive God’s gift of salvation. This is exactly what he is saying in the synagogue of Antioch:

“Men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent”[7].

.

[1] Acts 10:15

[2] Acts 10:28

[3] Acts 11:18

[4] Tim Hegg,  The Letter Writer

[5] Acts 17:1-3

[6] Rom. 3:28

[7] Acts 13:26

https://hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/Winter_Holidays/Christmas/Incarnation/incarnation.html

Entering New Year, Entering New Revelation

By Julia Blum December 30, 2021

Another year has flown by – another “strange” year, with many unexpected, and sometimes unthinkable things happening right before our eyes. This is the sixth time I am entering a New Year together with you – and for the sixth time, together with you, I am trying to unveil the future and to understand what this New Year might bring us.

My regular readers would know that I happen to believe that weekly Torah portions are divinely ordained, and that God speaks to His people – and to each one of us personally – through these Parashot Shavua. The Torah Portion for the last Shabbat of 2021 was Shemot, the first portion of the book of Exodus. Can you imagine? We have entered the book of Exodus – the book of His mighty hand and outstretched arm, the book of His signs and wonders, with all the glorious miracles and redemption – while entering a New Year of our lives. Of course, this has happened before, however, this transition between the years began to take on a greater significance for me when I realized that the last week of 2021 would be sealed by the second Torah portion of Exodus, Vaera that is read on January 1!

What can we say about Vaera?  It comes after Moses’ bitter words to God: “since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.” Of course, Moses doesn’t know what we the readers know: that only a few chapters later, victory will come! At this point, he is almost desperate – everything appears dark and hopeless and seems to be only getting worse.

Second Revelation  

And it is exactly at this point that Moses experiences the Second Revelation (after the first one, the Revelation at the Burning Bush):  And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name Lord I was not known to them.”

Let us contemplate this solemn revelation. These words refer both to the past and to the future and, as we find them at the very beginning of the new year, what do they mean to us? What do they mean at all? This statement seems to contradict the book of Genesis and everything we know about the patriarchs: according to Genesis, the patriarchs knew this name, because it occurs often there. The Hebrew linguists think that the statement, ‘the name YHWH was unknown till it was revealed to Moses,’ is disproved by names like Jochebed: if Jochebed was the mother of Moses, his grandparents had to know the name of YHWH, because they gave their daughter a name where the first component was Jah, a shortened form of YHWH. The same can be said about the parents of Joshua, they also gave their son a name with Yah as the first component[1].

However, if the linguistic proof is so obvious, why has Exodus 6:3 been interpreted as revealing the name YHWH for the first time? The explanation, as often happens, should be sought in Hebrew: most Christian students of the Bible fail to understand the meaning of the Hebrew verb “to know” (Yadah). When one thinks that Exodus 6:3 means that this name was not known before Moses, he doesn’t really understand this word. The idea of “knowing” in Biblical Hebrew is much more personal and intimate than our modern understanding of knowing[2].  In the Hebrew Scriptures, “to know,” means not just to be intellectually informed, but to experience reality. Knowledge is not the possession of information – it is an experience! To “know God” in the Bible is not “to know about him” in some abstract and impersonal manner, not to grasp philosophically his eternal existence, but to recognize and experience His reality and to obey His will. When the phrase “to know the Lord” occurs in the Old Testament, it never means just knowing the name: “Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him”[3]; “I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, And you shall know the Lord.”[4]  These are just a couple of examples, but even from these examples, it is clear that these words imply a profound inner transformation. Why would it have been different when God revealed Himself to Moses in the midst of his trials and failures, in the darkest and seemingly hopeless times?

In this sense, we see a very clear connection between the verse we just quoted, where God reveals His name to Moses (Ex. 6:3), and verse 7 of the same chapter, where God continues to speak to Moses saying: “I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.” Do you remember that even before this Second Revelation, Moses was supposed to tell the people of Israel the name of the Lord – this was a commission he received in Exodus 3, at the Burning Bush? However – pay close attention – God does not expect the Israelites to know Him and His name after Moses tells them this name, between Exodus 3 and Exodus 6. It is only after they experience the reality of the Exodus – the reality of His faithfulness, His compassion, and His power – that they will really know Him. No wonder, He “was not known” like this to the previous generations, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they had not experienced Him like this. According to Jewish tradition, the Patriarchs knew God and His name only in a limited way.

When we think of Moses, we usually think of the “Burning Bush” revelation – and understandably, we all want the “Burning Bush” in our lives. However, don’t we all need this Second Revelation as we learn to know God more deeply – especially in these confusing times? Rashi writes that at his initial revelation at the burning bush, Moses did not really comprehend the essence of God; but now, when God reveals Himself to Moses again, he acquires a new insight into the character of God. Now Moses begins to see God in a new light: as faithful, merciful, and compassionate. This is the Second Revelation – and the beginning of the Torah Portion Vaera.

Jewish tradition interprets the names Elohim and Adonai as the explanation of the two sides of the nature of God: His Justice and His mercy. This understanding of the different names of God explains also these two different accounts of creation – Genesis 1 and Genesis 2. The Midrash says that God originally created the world as Elohim (Genesis 1), but that afterward He is called Adonai Elohim (Genesis 2) because He saw that, without His mercy, His creation would not survive. I think we can all agree that humanity is at that point, where, without His mercy, it would definitely not survive. Isn’t it amazing that it is precisely with this Second Revelation that we are entering this New Year?

[1] See: H. Segal, The Pentateuch: Its Composition and Its Authorship and Other Biblical Studies (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, 1967), pp. 4-5.

[2] Please remember: we are talking about Biblical Hebrew; in Modern Hebrew, this verb more or less corresponds to a regular English “know”.

[3] 1 Sam.3:7

[4] Hos.2:20

A Story On Faith

There came a time when three men of the cloth decided they would all go fishing together and become better friends to aid in their individual ministries. A Lutheran minister, A Presbyterian minister and a Baptist minister had all concluded they needed to demonstrate Christian Bother Hood for their congregations.

They struck out to a lake they all knew about and commenced fishing and visiting. After some time had passed and not much action on their lines, the Baptist minister suddenly arose, stepped out of the boat and walked across the water, to end up sitting on the bank of the lake.

The other two sat there for a short time, and then the Presbyterian fellow decided he would join the Baptist on the bank of the lake, whereupon he stepped out of the boat and strode across the water. They sat alongside each other visiting, watching the Lutheran fellow as he continued to fish.

The Lutheran man sat there thinking to himself all the while that if they had that kind of faith, then he should exercise his own and join them. He stood up in the boat, stepped out on the water and promptly sank. The other two looked at the scene and both said almost simultaneously, “Reckon we should have told him where the rocks were?”

I guess there should be a moral to such a tale.

Think before you step out on faith.

Lost In Translation: God Thought Good

By Julia BlumDecember 22, 2021One comment

For I Know The Thoughts That I Think Toward You[1]

In our last portion, VeYigash, we witnessed the climax of Joseph’s saga – when Joseph “could not restrain” himself and revealed his identity to his brothers – a very happy ending to a very dramatic story. It seems that the story is over now, so why do we still have a few more chapters in Genesis? Why do we have another Torah Portion? Have you ever asked this question? I certainly have!

Of course, there are many things we can say about Vayechi (as about every Torah portion). However, I want to point out some details that answered that question for me – and I hope will provide an answer for you as well. I want to start with the amazing words that Joseph says to his brothers after his father’s death. We read that “when Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him.”[2]  They sent a message to Joseph, begging him again to forgive them, and “Joseph wept when they spoke to him”. Then “Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good”[3]

The words in bold are amazing, aren’t they? Toward the very end of this book – like a seal on the story of Joseph, on the book of Genesis, and also on this about-to-end year of our lives – we hear: “God meant it for good”. Even in translation, these words are deeply meaningful; however, when we read them in Hebrew, their plain and straight meaning is just stunning! Literally, Joseph is saying: you thought bad, God thought good. It is so simple – and so profound at the same time! Both in Bible and in our lives, God always carries out His plan: not only through people’s strengths and faith but also through their weaknesses and mistakes. It’s a wonderful feeling when one can look back at the year that is about to end, see all the mistakes and misdeeds that each one of us has done or experienced this year, look forward to the coming year, and trust that the Lord can work out His good even from our mistakes: God thought good.

For Your Salvation I Wait, O Lord![4]

I would like to bring to your attention yet another interesting detail in this portion, but in order to understand the significance of this detail, I need to quote the New Testament. In the Gospel of Luke, after the return of the disciples, who rejoice that the demons are subject to them, Jesus thanks the Father and says to the disciples: “Blessed are the eyes which see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it”[5].  What exactly did he mean? What did they desire to see and hear – these kings and prophets? Can we state that many Jews in the first century believed that some of their ancients desired to see the Days of the Messiah?

To answer this question, we are going to use some Targums here. Targums are the free Aramaic renderings of the Old Testament for use in the synagogue – and in spite of the late dates of the final redaction of these texts, they usually represent the interpretative tradition of the  Second Temple Judaism. It’s really interesting to see how Jesus’ contemporaries read these last chapters of Genesis.

In Gen.49:1, we read that “Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days”. Jewish tradition frequently comments on Jacob’s attempt to reveal “the End” (ketz). The Palestinian Targum says that the vision of the Days of the Messiah was desired by Jacob, but was withheld from him. In Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, 49.1, we read that Jacob called his sons and said to them, “Purify yourselves from uncleanness, and I will tell you the concealed secrets, the hidden times, the giving of the reward of the righteous, the punishment of the wicked, and what the happiness of Eden will be,” The twelve tribes of Israel were gathered together surrounding the golden bed on which he was lying, but as soon as the Glory of Shekinah of the Lord was revealed, the time in which the King Messiah was destined to come was hidden from him”. Again, Targum Neofiti paraphrases it slightly: “As soon as the end was revealed to him, the mystery was hidden from him… As soon as the mystery was revealed to him, it was hidden from him and as soon as the door was opened to him it was closed from him.”

Now we can see the words of Jesus in their proper Jewish context.  “Jesus taught in the milieu of early Judaism, and therefore … he employed religious language from this milieu which would have been familiar to the various and non-expert Jewish audiences he primarily addressed.”[6] Turning to his disciples, in his speech in Luke 10.21-24 Jesus uses the common language and refers to the common idea: all of you know what the kings and the prophets (beginning from the Patriarch Jacob, as we just saw) were waiting for – they were waiting for the days of Messiah. Now these long-awaited days are happening right before your eyes: the Messiah has come!

Christmas Torah Portion

So, in a sense, this Torah Portion is a perfect fit for the coming Christmas – the Christmas Torah Portion. I know, some of my readers would smile skeptically at this title: the statement that “Christmas is a pagan holiday” is so popular nowadays that many people prefer to have nothing to do with Christmas – and definitely would not expect Christmas to be mentioned on an Israeli Biblical studies blog. Yes, there is nothing to argue about, Christmas is a festival established by men – but so is the Torah reading cycle, isn’t it? Yet, I happen to believe that the weekly Torah portions are divinely ordained and that God speaks to His people, and to each one of us personally, through these portions of Scripture—Parashot Shavua. In the same way, through this humanly established holiday of Christmas, those who have ears can hear God’s message!  So, let us hear the message of Christmas in our Torah Portion!

Once again, we are in Genesis 49, where Jacob pronounces blessings (or rather prophetic words – because not all his words were a blessing) upon each of his sons. When he blessed Judah, he said: his “brothers shall praise” him. We have spoken a lot about Judah on these pages—about the fact that, by the end of the book, the story of “Joseph and his brothers” becomes the story of “Judah and his brothers”. We also spoke about the amazing authority that we see in Judah throughout this whole story (starting from chapter 37, where even in the midst of the terrible crime of the brothers, the voice of Judah is decisive) – and therefore, we should not be surprised to hear Jacob describe Judah’s authority as given directly by God. But then, he declared that Judah would be a lion, powerful and strong to destroy his enemies, and also a cub – which we would imagine as weak and helpless. How are we to reconcile these two images?

I would like to remind you of an amazing scene from chapter 5 of the Book of Revelation, where John, who is weeping over the sealed book, is told: “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.” Hearing this, he turns around, expecting to see the victorious Lion, and suddenly, instead of a Lion, he sees a Lamb as though it had been slain. Can you imagine? You’re expecting to see a Lion: strong, powerful, and victorious, but instead of a Lion, you see a Lamb: meek, innocent, helpless, and as though it had been slain at that. This is such an incredible substitution that only He Himself can confirm that this Lamb was indeed sent by Him—and that it is the Lion Himself. The words of Jacob here are very similar—their prophetic meaning is the same: Judah would be both the cub and the lion.

Commenting on these words, Rashi writes: “He prophesized about David, who was at first like a cub, and in the end a lion, when they made him king over them.” However, there is another hint in the prophecy of Jacob that makes it possible that these words reach beyond King David:

“The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes;
And to Him shall be the obedience of the people”.

What is Shiloh? Or who is Shiloh? In the entire Tanach (Old Testament) this word occurs only once – here, in this verse, and the meaning of the word, as well as its origin, is not clear. You probably know the Christian interpretation, but let me share with you what the Jewish commentators wrote about Shiloh.

Rashi:  “[This refers to] the King Messiah, to whom the kingdom belongs (שֶׁלוֹ), and so did Onkelos render it: [until the Messiah comes, to whom the kingdom belongs]. According to the Midrash Aggadah, [“Shiloh” is a combination of] שַׁי לוֹ, a gift to him, as it is said: “they will bring a gift to him who is to be feared” (Ps. 76:12).

Can you see now why we can call this Parashah, “Christmas Torah portion”? Jacob is prophesying of the coming of Messiah who will be both a cub and a lion – and to whom “shall be the obedience of the people.”  Isn’t this the message of Christmas?

Merry Christmas to all my precious readers!

May your hearts and your homes be filled with His Joy and His Light!

https://hebrew4christians.com/Articles/Christmas/Born_to_Die/born_to_die.html