In Matthew 19:28, Yeshua referred to "you who have followed me". Does that include Judas? Or is Paul or Mattathias retroactively counted among the Twelve?
I like the chiastic symmetry of Judas replaced by Paul. They are like the two servants Yeshua also spoke of: One proclaimed faithfulness, but disobeyed in the end. The other proclaimed enmity, but obeyed in the end. This also parallels the way that lists of the 12 tribes vary, depending on which one is in apostasy and whether Levi is included.
BIBLE STUDY LESSON 08
SERIES P --- YHVH’S PROPHETS
THE LESSON OF THE RECHABITES
From Jeremiah 35
During the reign of King Jehoiakim of Judah, the son of Josiah, Adonai spoke again to Jeremiah. [Go visit the community where the Rechabites live and have a talk with them,] Adonai said. [Bring them to the temple, and there in an inner room offer them a drink of wine.] I brought Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah and grandson of Habaziniah along with his brothers and sons, representatives of the Rechabite clan, to the temple. We went into a room used by the sons of Hanan the prophet, the son of Igdaliah. This room was next to the one used by high officials and above the room used by Maaseiah the son of Shallum, doorkeeper of the temple. While we were there, I set jugs of wine and cups before the Rechabites. [Have some wine to drink,] I offered. [But we do not drink wine,] the Rechabites answered. [Our father Jonadab the son of Rechab ordered us never to drink wine, and not only us but our descendants. He also commanded us never to build houses or plant fields or own vineyards or farms, but to live in tents always. He assured us that if we obey him, we would live long and be prosperous in this land. We have obeyed our father Jonadab the son of Rechab in all that he commanded us. None of us -- including our wives, sons, or daughters -- drink wine or build houses to live in, or plant fields or vineyards. We all live in tents, obeying all that Jonadab our father commanded us. But now Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has come against this land, and we are afraid. We have agreed to move into Jerusalem because we are afraid of the armies of the Chaldeans and the Syrians. That’s why we are now living in the city.] Then Adonai spoke to Jeremiah saying, [Adonai of hosts, the YHVH of Israel, orders you to take this message to the people of Judah and Jerusalem, ‘Why aren’t you willing to learn from Me and listen to My words? The Rechabites have listened carefully to their father and have obeyed his commands completely, refusing to drink wine as he instructed them. But I have repeatedly told you what I want, and you will not listen to Me. ‘Time after time I sent you a prophet who warned you to turn from your evil ways and stop worshiping and serving other gods so that you might live peaceably in this land. But you will not listen to Me. The Rechabites listen to their earthly father, but you will not listen to Me. Because you will not listen or obey Me, I will send on Judah and Jerusalem all the evil that I have warned that I would send.’ Then Jeremiah spoke to the Rechabites. [Adonai of hosts, the YHVH of Israel, says, ‘Because you have faithfully followed the command of your father Jonadab and listened to his teaching, your father will always have a descendant who will stand faithfully before Me.’
COMMENTARY
THE RECHABITES: IN THE WAYS OF THE ANCESTORS
For generations the Rechabites remained faithful to the command of one of their forefathers not to drink wine or settle in cities. How different from the people of Judah, who would not be faithful to the Commands of Almighty YHVH! Jeremiah held up the Rechabites as an example of faithfulness. They had turned from the wine cups, the wine jugs, and the ways which struck against their conscience. He promised them a blessing. And YHVH through Jeremiah promised unfaithful men judgment. The Rechabites did not build homes, own land or farm it, or drink wine. They lived in tents in the desert, until Nebuchadnezzar’s army forced them to move to Jerusalem for their safety. No one is certain where the Rechabites came from or what their customs meant. One view says Rechab, the group’s ancestor, was a Kenite nomad who joined the wandering Israelites. Some think both the Kenites and Rechabites were metalworkers who had to keep moving from place to place as they used up the supply of ore in each place. Some say that they did not drink wine lest they reveal trade secrets when drunk. But the Rechabites’ customs evidently showed their devotion to YHVH. It is likely that the Rechabites’ founder, Jehonadah, set down these rules for the first Rechabite family in order to prevent pagan Canaanite influences from taking hold. He would have known that many Israelites, who had learned farming from the Canaanites, had also adopted Canaanite gods. Thus, the Rechabites continued in a nomadic life to represent and maintain a time when Israel was pious and obedient. Some historians say Rechabite ways are common to all nomads. Nomads live in tents and they do not farm. Since they do not grow grapes, they don’t make wine; not to drink it, then, makes a virtue of necessity. Rechabites were greatly outnumbered in Israel. But with the whole small group before him, Jeremiah promised them that their descendants would survive. Even today, travellers in the Middle East say they have found desert people who claim to be Rechabites.
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Matthew 1:1
The biological sons of Aaron were called sons of Moses in Numbers 3, but they were only his sons ideologically. Although Caleb was likely not physically descended from Judah, he was counted as a son of Judah because of his spiritual allegiance to Judah's God and people. #yeshua (aka #jesus), on the other hand, is the son of Abraham and David, biologically, ideologically, and spiritually.
Divide this land among you according to the tribes of Israel. You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the sojourners who reside among you and have had children among you. They shall be to you as native-born of Israel. They shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. In whatever tribe the sojourner resides, there you shall assign him his inheritance, declares Adonai YHVH.
Ezekiel 47:21-23
If this is literally about the land, when Messiah #yeshua returns, the landless foreigners who have been grafted into Israel will be as the native-born with an inheritance in the land of #israel. Do gentile believers grafted into Israel get to pick their own tribe? I don't know, but it's definitely not a question to worry about today. I'll wait for Messiah to return. Ancestry isn't nothing, but it's a relatively minor factor when counting the children of Abraham. "Neither Jew nor Greek" in Yeshua. Jew and Gentile alike are made one people in Messiah #yeshua.
#bamidbar #thegreaterexodus
On this date in history, 05/18/1775: New Hampshire Provincial Congress resolves to "join in the common cause of defending our just rights and liberties." #otd #tdih #americanrevolution https://www.historycarper.com/....1982/05/01/the-conti
Leviticus 19:19,”You are to keep My statutes. You shall not crossbreed two different kinds of livestock; you shall not sow your fields with two kinds of seed; and you shall not wear clothing made of two kinds of material.” This verse has been discussed often but the list of instructions follows a very important statement in Leviticus 19:2, ““Speak to the whole congregation of Israel and tell them: Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.” These are the things believers should do if they choose to be set apart or righteous.
"One of themselves, even one of their own Prophets said, The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.
This witness is true: wherefore convince them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith."
Titus 1
"Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart, but thou shalt plainly rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him."
Le 19
Thought for Today: Thursday May 18:
When you were very young and started speaking, did you talk to your parents in long sentences and for great periods of time? I doubt it. And yet they were not disappointed in you; they were delighted by your first attempts to speak. In the same way, when we truly understand that YHVH is our Loving Heavenly Father, and we are His children, then we will not worry so much about disappointing Him by our prayers. Do not worry about your lack of eloquence; no matter how simple they are, YHVH delights in our prayers when they truly express the feeling and desires of our hearts.
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