SERIES C --- EXODUS FROM BONDAGE --- LESSON 22
A SOLEMN PROMISE
A BLAZING GLORY FROM THE MOUNT OF YHVH
From Exodus 24
[Come up to Me,] Adonai told Moses one day. [Bring Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel with you.] Then Adonai told Moses: [All of these people must worship Me from a distance. Only you shall come near Me.] When Moses returned from Adonai’s Presence, he told the people all the rules and Laws that Adonai had given. [We will do everything Adonai has told us to do,] the people said. Moses recorded all the Laws of Adonai which he had received. Early the next morning he arose and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars around the altar to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. Moses sent some young men of Israel to sacrifice on these altars, presenting the burnt offerings and peace offerings to Adonai. He collected half of the blood from the sacrifices in basins and sprinkled the other half against the altar. When the offerings had been made, Moses read to the people from the book he had written, the Book of the Covenant, which was a list of YHVH’s Rules and Laws. [We will obey them all,] the people promised. Moses took the blood in the basins and sprinkled it upon the people. [With this blood the Covenant between Adonai and you is sealed,] Moses told the people. Moses returned to the mountain again with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel and there they saw YHVH. Beneath His feet the ground looked like a pavement of bright sapphire, as clear as the heavens. Adonai said to Moses, [Come back with Me to the mountain and I will give you My Rules and Laws on tablets of stone. From these tablets you may teach your people, for that is why I have written My Rules and Laws on them.] Moses went up into the mountain again with Joshua. [Wait here for us and we will come back to you,] Moses told the elders. [Aaron and Hur shall remain with you to solve any problems you may bring to them.] When Moses returned to the mountain, a cloud came upon it and covered it. The glory of Adonai came upon Mount Sinai and the cloud covered the mountain for six days. On the seventh day Adonai called to Moses from the cloud. The glory of Adonai was like a blazing fire which the people saw from the foot of the mountain. Moses was swallowed up by the cloud as he stayed on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.
COMMENTARY
LIFE AND BLOOD
Moses shared all YHVH’s Laws with the people of Israel. Together they promised, [We will do everything Adonai has told us to do.] Moses built an altar, sacrificed young bulls and sprinkled the people with the blood of these offerings. Israel had made a solemn commitment. Now they must obey. [I am innocent of this man’s blood,] said Pontius Pilate, washing his hands. [Then let his blood be upon us and our children!] cried the crowd that thirsted for Yeshua’ crucifixion. The blood oath was the most deeply serious oath possible in biblical times. The reason lies in Hebrew Law. To the Israelites, blood was life. If the blood was removed from a living thing, it would die. Since YHVH gave man life, only YHVH may take man’s blood; or life; away. Because of this, Hebrew Law declared that any animal that killed a human and any person who killed another, would have his lifeblood taken too. To the Hebrews, human blood was terrible and powerful. It affected all things around it, making them unclean or cursed. Believing that, they considered human blood taboo; forbidden and unspeakably dangerous. Most of the Israelites’ neighbours made human sacrifices to their gods. They usually killed babies. Since children were their connection to the future, they believed there was no greater way to show their devotion. But the Hebrews were strictly forbidden by YHVH to do anything like that. Life may die only to allow other life to appear, much as wheat {dies} to become flour and be made into bread. YHVH Commanded the Israelites to use animals as sacrifice, sometimes to remove guilt or sin. By putting his hands on the animal’s head, often a lamb, the sinner identified himself with it. The priest then killed the animal instead of the person and the guilt was destroyed. Parts of the animal were burnt on the altar as an offering to YHVH and other parts were eaten. But the blood was usually poured on the ground or on special occasions sprinkled on the altar. Under no circumstances was a human being, made in YHVH’s Image, ever to consume blood. The Bible tells how Yeshua shed His blood as a sacrifice for our sins. He was the one great Sacrifice for sin Who ended the need for other sacrifices. The blood of Abel was the first human blood to be shed. Cain was the first murderer. For this sin and all sins, the blood of animals was required in sacrifice on stone altars. The final sacrifice was the crucifixion of Adonai Yeshua. His blood, given thousands of years ago, was the one great sacrifice for our sins.
Thought for Today: Monday January 02:
Good morning! This is a day Adonai has made for you and me! Let us rejoice and be glad in it! Let us begin this day with open hands of faith, ready to receive all that YHVH is pouring into this brief portion of our lives. Let us be careful not to complain about anything, even the weather, since He is the Author of our circumstances. Remember, the best way to deal with unwanted situations is to thank Elohiym for them. This act of faith will free us from resentment and frees Him to work His ways into the situations, so that good emerges from it. To find His Joy in the day, we must live within its boundaries. Father knew what He was doing when He divided time into twenty-four-hour segments. He understands the human frailty, and He know that we can bear the weight of only one day at a time. Do not live in the past or 2022 and do not worry about tomorrow or the New Year 2023. There is abundant Life in His Presence today, this moment!
"33) Ye serpents, ye offspring of vipers, how shall ye escape the judgement of Gehenna_(hell)?
34) Therefore, behold, I send to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: some of them shall ye kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye whip in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city:
35) that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Habel the righteous to the blood of Zakharyah son of Barakhyah, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar.
36) Amen, I say to you, All these things shall come upon this generation."
(Matthew 23:33-36)
I seek the will of God to do it. It seems He is making me scribe-like, a linguist and translator of the ancient Scriptures, to bring out treasures both new and old, and to call people to the commitment , the partnership, the 'fellowship' -the Way- 'the faith once delievered to the saints' (Jude 3)
Some days I look longingly for the Kingdom to come. Then I will have every opportunity for fellowship with my brothers and sisters of Israel. Do not neglect the fellowship of believers. We are not meant to walk The Way alone.
“...[Manasseh] also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother [Ephraim] shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.”
Genesis 48:19
I think "multitude" in this verse is a poor translation. The more literal meaning of "fullness" might sound strange, but I think is more accurate to the original intent. Ephraim, as the representative tribe of the northern kingdom, was scattered into the nations, seeding ideas which would prepare the way for the Good News of Israel's Messiah a thousand years later.
Genesis 48:15-16 shows three ways in which God related to Jacob:
1-The God and benefactor of his fathers, Abraham and Isaac, from whom he inherited doctrine and blessings.
2-His Protector and Guide throughout his travels and misadventures.
3-His Challenger and Redeemer who molded him into God's representative and saved him from himself.
YHWH is our God too!
#vayechi
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