INTERPRET (DEUT.27) . . . 'Open the Door!!'
THE NATURE OF YAHUSHA’S WORD IS THAT IT CONSISTS OF VARIOUS LEVELS OF DEPTH, SPANNING FROM THE MOST PLAIN AND SIMPLE (PRACTICAL DAY-TO-DAY) TO THE DEEPEST AND MOST MYSTICAL.
OF COURSE RELIGION HAS CONSTRUCTED A THEORY STATING THAT THERE ARE 4 DEFINABLE LEVELS (OR COSMIC DIMENSIONS) OF LEARNING AND SCRIPTURAL EXAMINATION: PSHAT, REMEZ, DRASH, AND SOD. PSHAT MEANS THE MOST STRAIGHT-FORWARD INTENDED MEANING, REMEZ IS WHAT YOU READ BETWEEN THE LINES, DRASH IS AN INTERPRETATIVE MEANING THAT CAN INCLUDE THE ALLEGORICAL, AND SOD IS THE MOST MYSTICAL AND ESOTERIC.
WHAT A LOAD OF HOGSWASH! HOW DISGUSTING IS IT (AND SOOOO LIKE RELIGION) TO STAND IN THE DOORWAY OF TRUTH AND LIFE, SPROUTING SUCH NONSENSE TO SIMPLE PEOPLE WHO JUST WANT DELIVERANCE. THIS IS IDOLATRY, DRAWING ATTENTION FROM THE MIRACULOUS AND `THE SPIRIT OF THE WORD' AND FORCING PEOPLE TO FOCUS ON RELIGIOUS INTERPRETATIONS OF `THE LETTER OF THE WORD'.
DO YOU THINK YAHUSHA HAD ANY OF THESE COMPLICATED MAN-MADE (WITHOUT THE SPIRIT) INTERPRETIVE PRINCIPLES IN MIND WHEN HE SPOKE TO HIS PEOPLE (WHETHER SPEAKING PERSONALLY OR THROUGH SOMEONE ELSE)? TODAY, WITHOUT THE IMMERSION AND INFILLING OF YAHUSHA’S SPIRIT, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT THE SCRIPTURES MEAN. O’ YOU CAN READ THEM AND THINK YOU UNDERSTAND BUT IT’S ALL FLESHLY AND CARNAL, NOT INSPIRED BY YAHUSHA, BECAUSE THE SAME SPIRIT THAT WROTE THE SCRIPTURES ALSO LIVES IN US, AND HE IS THE MASTER INTERPRETER OF HIS OWN LIVING WORDS.
Moses stood together with the leaders and told the people of Yisharal:
"Obey all the Divine Laws and teachings that I’m giving you today because soon you’ll enter the land that Yahuah your Alahim is giving to you. He's indeed the Alahim your ancestors worshipped, and He’s promised that this land is rich with milk and honey.
So after you cross the Jordan River, go to Mount Ebal. Set up large slabs of stone, then cover them with white plaster and write on them a copy of these Divine Laws. Then at this same place, build an altar for offering sacrifices to Yahuah your Alahim. But don’t use stones that have been cut with iron tools. Look for stones that can be used without being cut. Then offer sacrifices to please Yahuah, burning them completely on the altar. Next, offer sacrifices to ask for Yahuah’s blessing, and serve the meat at a set-apart meal where you’ll celebrate in honor of Yahuah.
But don’t forget to write out a copy of these Divine Laws on the stone slabs that you are going to set up. Make sure that the writing is easy to read for everyone to see.
HERE IS THE ONLY PLACE IN THE SCRIPTURE WHERE THE ELDERS JOIN MOSES IN INSTRUCTING THE PEOPLE, BUT IT MAKES ALL THE SENSE IN THE WORLD. MOSES IS ABOUT TO DIE AND HE'S NOT GOING TO ENTER THE PROMISED LAND. AND WHEN ONE IS ABOUT TO TURN OVER AUTHORITY TO SOMEONE ELSE IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN TYPICAL TO PUBLICLY DISPLAY THE LEGITIMACY OF THIS TRANSITION BY INCLUDING THE INCOMING AUTHORITY FIGURE AT APPROPRIATE TIMES WHEN THE CURRENT LEADER IS MAKING SPEECHES AND DECLARATIONS. MOSES IS SIMPLY SHOWING THE ELDERS THE ROPES AND DEMONSTRATING TO THE PEOPLE WHAT IT’S GOING TO LOOK LIKE WHEN HE’S NOT AROUND. HE WANTS NO SUSPICION OF FOUL PLAY, AND NO CAUSE FOR REBELLION AND DOUBT. IT’S GOING TO FALL TO JOSHUA, THE PRIESTS, AND THE ELDERS TO RULE YISHARAL IN ONLY A MATTER OF DAYS FROM THE TIME OF THIS SPEECH. MOSES WILL BE NO MORE.
HERE’S WHERE WE ENCOUNTER ANOTHER DIFFICULTY: VERSE 2 SAYS THAT AS SOON AS YISHARAL CROSSES OVER THE JORDAN RIVER INTO CANAAN THEY ARE TO ERECT LARGE STONES AS MEMORIAL MARKERS. THE PROBLEM IS THAT IT SAYS THEY’RE TO ERECT THEM AT MT. EBAL EVEN THOUGH THEY CROSSED OVER THE JORDAN NEAR JERICHO. MT. EBAL IS A SOLID 30 MILES NORTH OF JERICHO AS-THE-CROW-FLIES, BUT DUE TO THE RUGGEDNESS OF THE AREA IT IS PROBABLY AT LEAST A 5 DAY JOURNEY BETWEEN THE TWO POINTS. SO WHERE IT SAYS, “ON THE DAY YOU HAVE CROSSED THE JORDAN” THEY ARE TO SET UP THE STONES ON EBAL, IT SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE TO ACCOMPLISH. IN LIGHT OF WHAT WE READ ELSEWHERE ABOUT THIS HISTORIC EVENT HOWEVER, LIKELY WE SHOULD TAKE THIS PHRASE TO MEAN, “ONCE YOU HAVE CROSSED THE JORDAN”. IN OTHER WORDS IT IS JUST A COMMON WAY OF SPEAKING THAT MEANS DO IT QUICKLY AFTER CROSSING THE JORDAN; IT DOES NOT MEAN TO DO IT BEFORE THE SUN SETS, THEREBY ENDING THAT DAY.
THE YISHARALITES ARE TO COAT THESE LARGE FLAT STONES WITH PLASTER AND THEN INSCRIBE INTO THE WET PLASTER THE WORDS OF THE INSTRUCTIONS. FIRST LET’S RECALL THAT WHILE WE TEND TO THE USE THE HEBREW WORD `TURAH' AS A TECHNICAL TITLE FOR THE 1ST FIVE BOOKS OF THE SCRIPTURE, IN FACT IT IS ALSO A GENERIC WORD THAT JUST MEANS TEACHING OR INSTRUCTION. THE COMMAND THEN IS NOT TO WRITE THE ENTIRE CONTENTS OF THE 5 BOOKS OF MOSES ON THESE PLASTERED STONES; RATHER IT IS TO WRITE THE HIGH POINTS OF MOSES’ SPEECH HERE IN DEUTERONOMY (PRIMARILY THE GENERAL LIST OF BLESSINGS AND CURSES).
WRITING ON PLASTERED ROCKS WAS NOT SOMETHING EMPLOYED BY ALL CULTURES, AND CERTAINLY NOT BY NOMADS. BUT WRITING ON PLASTER WAS A USUAL AND CUSTOMARY WAY OF MEMORIALISING IMPORTANT EDICTS AND EVENTS IN EGYPT. THIS PROCEDURE WOULD HAVE BEEN TOTALLY FAMILIAR TO THE YISHARALITES. BESIDES, THE LARGE AMOUNT OF WRITING THAT WAS BEING CALLED FOR COULD BE ACCOMPLISHED IN A FRACTION OF THE TIME BY SCRIBING CHARACTERS ONTO WET PLASTER WITH A STYLUS AS OPPOSED TO CHISELING OUT LETTERS ON HARDENED ROCK.
IN ADDITION TO SETTING UP THESE ENORMOUS STONES EMBOSSED WITH THE WORDS OF MOSES ON THEM AT MT. EBAL, THEY WERE ALSO TO BUILD AN ALTAR FOR SACRIFICING TO YAHUSHA. THE STONES WERE TO BE CAREFULLY PILED UP TO CREATE A USABLE ALTAR BUT THEY WERE NOT TO BE FORMED AND CHISELED INTO PERFECT SHAPES USING IRON TOOLS. THE BUILDING MATERIAL FOR THE ALTAR WAS TO BE ONLY OF NATURAL STONES, AS FOUND LYING ABOUT ON THE GROUND.
MT. EBAL AND ITS TWIN MOUNTAIN GERIZIM WERE LOCATED IN THE OLD STOMPING GROUNDS OF THE PATRIARCH ABRAHAM; NO DOUBT THAT HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH WHY THEY WERE CHOSEN FOR THIS HISTORIC BLOOD-COVENANT RENEWAL CEREMONY. MT. EBAL IS ABOUT 3 MILES NORTH OF MT. GERIZIM, AND THE CITY AND PLAIN OF SHECHEM (TODAY CALLED NABLUS) IS IN BETWEEN THE TWO. MT. EBAL ROSE TO A HEIGHT OF ABOUT 1200 FEET ABOVE THE CITY OF SHECHEM SO WHATEVER WOULD TAKE PLACE UP THERE COULD BE SEEN FOR MILES IN EVERY DIRECTION.
THE TEACHINGS OF YAHUSHA (THROUGH MOSES) INSCRIBED IN THE PLASTER WERE TO BE WRITTEN BA’ER HEITEV (LITERALLY “SETTING IT OUT WELL”). IN OTHER WORDS IT WAS TO BE PROMINENT AND EASY TO READ BECAUSE THE INTENT OF THIS INSTRUCTION IS THAT THE COMMON MAN COULD READ AND UNDERSTAND THE MEANING. SINCE THESE WERE THE WORDS OF YAHUSHA, AND SINCE YISHARAL HAD A PRIESTHOOD, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN RATHER EXPECTED IN THE MINDSET OF THAT ERA THAT THE WORDS WOULD BE OF A “MYSTICAL” FORM THAT ONLY YAHUSHA’S DIRECT SERVANTS, THE PRIESTS, COULD RENDER CORRECTLY. THIS WAS THE NORM OF MOST MIDDLE EASTERN CULTURES (AND RELIGION TODAY); THAT ONLY THOSE INITIATED LIKE THE CLERGY OR THE PRIESTS WERE ENTITLED TO THE DIVINE WORDS AND THE ONLY ONES WHO COULD COMPREHEND THEM. THE GOAL, OF COURSE, WAS CONTROL OF THE PEOPLE. AFTER ALL, IF ONLY THE PRIESTS POSSESSED THE DIVINE WORD, AND EVEN WHERE IT WAS WRITTEN PUBLICLY ONLY THE PRIESTS COULD DECIPHER IT, THEN WHATEVER THE PRIESTS SAID WAS TRUTH AND THERE COULD BE NO DISSENT.
THESE PLASTERED STONES, PLAINLY WRITTEN UPON, WERE MONUMENTS TO DEMONSTRATE THAT THE WORD OF YAHUSHA WAS TO BE RECEIVED AND UNDERSTOOD BY ALL YISHARAL, NOT JUST A PRIVILEDGED CLASS.
Now relate this to the transformation of Yahusha's Promised Land today (ie human vessels) and see that He's no repector of a persons rank, social class or status and as far as religious position or power, well He bypasses those vipers altogether. By shedding His innocent blood He RENT THE VEIL that separated mankind from the ark of His presence (the inter-dimensional portal), flinging open the doorway of deliverance (just like in the Tabernacle of David) allowing anyone and everyone willing to repent, believe and immerse into His Reign, direct access to His throne in the Shamayim.
JUST AS THE HUGE STONES THAT DISPLAYED YAHUSHA'S LIVING WORDS FOR ALL OF YISHARAL TO SEE FROM A DISTANCE, HIS LIVING WORDS ARE TO BE SPOKEN PLAINLY AND SIMPLY FOR ALL GENERATIONS TO SEE AND HEAR TODAY IN THE 21st CENTURY, NOT CONFUSING AND DIFFICULT SO THAT SOMEONE ELSE NEEDS TO STEP IN AND INTERPRET, OR EXPLAIN IT!
Moses stood together with the priests and said, “Yisharal, shut up and listen to me! Today you’ve become the people of Yahuah your Alahim. So you must obey His Instructions and teachings that I’m giving you.”
And that same day, Moses gave them the following instructions: "After you cross the Jordan River, you will go to Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. The tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin will go up on Mount Gerizim, where they will BLESS the people of Yisharal. The tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali will go up on Mount Ebal where they will agree to the CURSES.
HERE IN THIS SECTION WE MOVE INTO SOME MYSTICAL ASPECTS OF YAHUSHA’S SCRIPTURE WHEREBY BLESSINGS AND CURSES ARE PRONOUNCED AND PROPHESIES OF FUTURE HAPPENINGS REGARDING YISHARAL ARE PRESENTED (THOUGH THE PEOPLE OF YISHARAL PROBABLY DIDN‘T UNDERSTAND THE PROPHETIC NATURE OF WHAT WAS BEING SAID AT THE TIME). DEEP AND INSCRUTABLE SPIRITUAL TRUTHS ARE IMPLIED, AND STRAIGHT-FORWARD INSTRUCTIONS AND WARNINGS ARE LAID OUT AS WELL.
THE THING TO UNDERSTAND IS THIS: WHAT WE ARE WITNESSING ARE BLOOD-COVENANT RENEWAL CEREMONIES. EVEN THOUGH THE BLOOD-COVENANT WAS RAISED UP AND RENEWED ON SINAI ALMOST 4 DECADES EARLIER, YAHUSHA WAS NOW (THROUGH MOSES) CALLING ON THE PEOPLE OF YISHARAL TO RENEW THEIR VOWS REGARDING THEIR COMMITMENT TO THIS BLOOD-COVENANT, AND TO REMEMBER HOW AND WHY IT WAS ESTABLISHED IN THE FIRST PLACE.
THE HEBREW PEOPLE WERE GATHERED IN MOAB, LISTENING TO MOSES’ GRAND, FINAL OPUS, AND HE IS REMINDING THEM THAT AS OF TODAY THEY HAVE BECOME YAHUSHA’S PEOPLE. WAIT A MINUTE!! I THOUGHT THEY BECAME YAHUSHA’S PEOPLE BACK ON MT. SINAI? WHAT’S THE DIFFERENT ABOUT TODAY? THE DIFFERENCE IS THAT BACK ON SINAI THE LAND WAS STILL JUST A PROMISE AND STILL UNFULFILLED. THESE PEOPLE MEETING IN MOAB (AS THE YISHARALITES ARE LOOKING ACROSS THE JORDON TO THE PROMISED LAND) IS ESSENTIALLY THE YISHARALITES’ GRADUATION CEREMONY. THE TIME IN THE WILDERNESS IS OFFICIALLY OVER AND THE TIME IN THEY’RE OWN LAND (IN FULFILMENT OF THE BLOOD-COVENANT GIVEN TO ABRAHAM) IS BEGINNING. THE CRUX IS THAT MANY OF THE REGULATIONS OF THE BLOOD-COVENANT DEPENDED ON YISHARAL RESIDING AND SETTLED IN THEIR OWN LAND, AND THEY COULDN’T DO ALOT OF THOSE THINGS UNTIL THE LAND WAS IN THEIR POSSESSION. THEY COULDN’T USE THE REQUIRED WINE IN RITUAL OBSERVANCES BECAUSE THEY HAD NO VINEYARDS. THEY COULDN’T PERFORM THE FIRST-FRUITS CEREMONIES BECAUSE THEY GREW NO CROPS AND HAD NO HARVEST. THEY COULDN’T EAT AS THE SCRIPTURE REQUIRED BECAUSE THEIR PRIMARY FOOD WAS STILL MANNA. WHEN THE PEOPLE OF YISHARAL ARE DISCONNECTED FROM THE LAND OF YISHARAL, THEY ARE INCOMPLETE. WHILE YISHARAL WAS WANDERING IN THE WILDERNESS THEY COULD ONLY DO SOME OF THE DIVINE LAWS, NOT ALL OF THEM, BECAUSE THERE WAS NO MEANS TO DO CERTAIN SPECIFIED THINGS THAT REVOLVED AROUND AGRICULTURE, AS DID AT LEAST 3 (AND ARGUABLY 5) OF THE 7 SCRIPTURAL FEASTS.
FURTHER, AT THE TIME THEY WERE RECEIVING THIS WORD FROM MOSES, THE 1ST EXODUS GENERATION HAD DIED OFF. THOSE WHO WERE OF THE AGE OF ACCOUNTABILITY UPON LEAVING EGYPT (DEFINED IN THE SCRIPTURE AS THOSE OLD ENOUGH TO SERVE IN THE MILITARY) WERE THE ONES WHO PERSONALLY WITNESSED THE ORIGINAL GIVING OF THE BLOOD-COVENANT ON MT. SINAI. THEY WERE THE ONES WHO SHOUTED IN UNITED AFFIRMATION THAT THEY WOULD OBEY ALL OF THE SCRIPTURE’S TERMS. BUT THAT GROUP WAS NOW DEAD AND GONE (A DIVINELY ORDERED CONSEQUENCE OF THEIR DISOBEDIENCE TO YAHUSHA BY REFUSING TO ENTER THE PROMISED LAND DECADES EARLIER).
THUS IT WOULD BE A NEW GENERATION OF HEBREWS ENTERING CANAAN WHO WERE EITHER YOUNG CHILDREN OR NOT YET BORN AT THE TIME OF THE GIVING OF THE BLOOD-COVENANT AT MT. SINAI. AND DURING THIS TIME IN THE WILDERNESS IT IS CLEAR THAT ONLY PARTS OF THE DIVINE LAWS WERE FOLLOWED; SOME BECAUSE THEY COULDN’T BE FOLLOWED AND OTHERS BECAUSE THEY CHOSE NOT TO FOLLOW THEM. IN FACT APPARENTLY MALE CIRCUMCISION DIDN’T OCCUR IN THE WILDERNESS (OR PERHAPS ONLY A FEW DID IT), THEREFORE A MASS CIRCUMCISION CEREMONY WOULD OCCUR RIGHT AFTER ENTERING THE LAND. YAHUSHA WANTED THE NEW GENERATION WHO WOULD ENTER INTO THE LAND THAT WAS PROMISED TO THEM SO LONG AGO, TO BOTH HEAR HIS WORDS WITH THEIR OWN EARS AND TO PERSONALLY ACCEPT THE TERMS OF THE BLOOD-COVENANT. SO THIS IS THE REASON FOR MOSES SAYING THAT TODAY THEY ARE YAHUSHA’S PEOPLE (THEY ARE ACCEPTING HIS BLOOD-COVENANT). THIS ATTITUDE SHOULD BE AFFIRMED BY EVERY HEBREW AND ANYONE GRAFTING INTO YISHARAL’S BLOOD-COVENANT, AS THOUGH IT HAD JUST BEEN GIVEN TO THEM PERSONALLY; AND THAT THE MINDSET IS TO BE AS THOUGH HE OR SHE PERSONALLY MARCHED OUT OF EGYPT AND STOOD AT THE FOOT OF MT. SINAI.
ALSO (REGARDING THE HEBREWS BEING INCOMPLETE WITHOUT THEIR LAND), IT'S IRONIC THAT TODAY THE HEBREWS FINALLY DO HAVE THAT LAND AGAIN; YET IN SOME WAYS THEY ARE STILL INCOMPLETE……AT LEAST THAT IS THE MINDSET OF RELIGION BECAUSE THEY DON’T HAVE A TEMPLE YET.
LISTEN TO THIS CRACK-POT QUOTE BY A RABBI: “IN OUR ERA THE TORAH IS INOPERATIVE; NOT THAT THE TORAH IS DEAD AND GONE, BUT THAT JUST AS WHEN THE HEBREWS WERE IN THE WILDERNESS, THERE WAS MUCH OF THE LAW THEY COULD NOT DO. YET THE EXODUS HEBREWS DID EXPERIENCE THE PRESENCE OF THE TABERNACLE AND THE ARK OF THE COVENANT. TODAY’S JEWS DO NOT HAVE GOD’S DWELLING PLACE AMONG THEM EVEN THOUGH THEY’RE BACK IN THE LAND. THE TEMPLE IS A VITAL PART OF OBEDIENCE TO THE TORAH AND THUS EZEKIEL PROPHESIES NOT ONLY A REBUILT TEMPLE BUT THAT THE SACRIFICES AND OTHER TEMPLE DEPENDENT OBSERVANCES WOULD BEGIN ONCE AGAIN”.
THERE’S NO UNDERSTANDING OF THE DIVINE PORTAL WHATSOEVER IN THIS QUOTE, BECAUSE THE SECRET OF MESSIAH WITHIN ONLY COMES THROUGH REVELATION OF HIS NAME AND ENGRAFTING INTO YISHARAL THROUGH REPENTANCE TO THE BLOOD OF YAHUSHA AND IMMERSION IN WATER (SOMETHING EVERY NATURAL BORN HEBREW `JEW’ MUST DO, AS WELL AS THE NATIONS). LINEAGE MEANS NOTHING, BELIEF AND OBEDIENCE IS EVERYTHING. WITH THE SPIRIT OF YAHUSHA WE KNOW THAT THE TEMPLE EZEKIEL PROPHESIED WAS NOT MAN-MADE, BUT A FLESH & BLOOD GLOBAL BRIDE WHO WILL ONE DAY BE TRANSFORMED INTO THE NEW YERUSHALEM ("COME, LET ME SHOW YOU THE BRIDE, THE LAMB'S WIFE" . . . AND THE NEW CITY WAS REVEALED TO JOHN IN REVELATION).
MR JACOB'S BOYS
A FASCINATING ASPECT OF THE RENEWAL CEREMONY IS ABOUT TO TAKE PLACE: YISHARAL IS DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS OF 6 TRIBES EACH AND ONE GROUP IS TO GO TO MT. EBAL AND THE OTHER TO ASCEND MT. GERIZIM. A VERY SPECIFIC LISTING OF THE COMPOSITION OF EACH GROUP OF 6 IS ORDAINED AND WHILE IT IS DIFFICULT TO FIND ANYTHING PARTICULARLY SPECIAL ABOUT EACH GROUP THIS MUCH CAN BE SAID: THE GROUP THAT IS ASSIGNED THE TASK OF PRONOUNCING THE BLESSINGS ARE MADE UP OF THE TWO SONS OF RACHEL (JACOB’S FAVORED WIFE), AND FOUR OF LEAH’S SONS (TECHNICALLY JACOB’S FIRST WIFE). THE GROUP THAT WILL PRONOUNCE THE CURSES IS MADE UP MOSTLY OF THE SONS OF JACOB’S CONCUBINES, PLUS REUBEN WHO (ALTHOUGH BEING JACOB’S TRUE FIRSTBORN SON) WAS REMOVED FROM THAT POSITION DUE TO HAVING SEX WITH BILHAH, JACOB’S CONCUBINES, AND FINALLY THE YOUNGEST SON OF LEAH. SO PERHAPS THIS HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE SELECTION.
INTERESTINGLY THOUGH, IS THAT THE OVERALL COMPOSITION OF THE TRIBES OF YISHARAL HAS CHANGED BACK TO ITS ORIGINAL, PRE-EXODUS MAKE-UP. RECALL THAT WE HAD THE ORIGINAL 12 SONS OF JACOB AND THEN JACOB SHOCKINGLY ADOPTED TWO OF THE EGYPTIAN SONS OF JOSEPH AWAY FROM HIM (EPHRAIM AND MENASSEH) AND INCLUDED THEM AS AMONG THE TRIBES OF JACOB (NOW GIVING HIM 14 SONS/14 TRIBES). THEN JOSEPH WAS REMOVED AS A TRIBAL NAME BRINGING THE TOTAL DOWN TO 13, AND THEN LEVI WAS REMOVED AS A REGULAR TRIBE OF YISHARAL (IN ORDER TO BECOME YAHUSHA’S PRIESTS) BRINGING US BACK TO 12, BUT NOT THE ORIGINAL 12. AND THIS NEW TRIBAL MAKE-UP IS WHAT WAS USED TO DIVIDE THE LAND AND ASSIGN ITS TERRITORIES.
HERE HOWEVER WE HAVE THE TWO SONS OF JOSEPH REMOVED FROM THE TRIBAL LISTING, AND JOSEPH ADDED BACK IN; PLUS LEVI IS ALSO COUNTED AS AMONG THE REGULAR 12 TRIBES. WHY? IT’S PROBABLY PROPHETIC. WE KNOW LOOKING AHEAD IN PROPHETIC BOOKS LIKE EZEKIEL THAT THE ORIGINAL TRIBAL CONFIGURATION WILL BE RESTORED AFTER MESSIAH RETURNS. WE SEE A SHIFTING OF THE TRIBES IN REVELATION TOO . . . ?
BUT NOTICE THIS AS WELL: WE READ IN EXODUS 39 THAT THE EPHOD OF THE HIGH PRIEST HAS TWO LARGE STONES MOUNTED ONTO THE SHOULDER STRAPS; ONE STONE ON EACH SHOULDER STRAP. AND UPON THESE STONES ARE WRITTEN THE NAMES OF THE TRIBES OF YISHARAL, 6 NAMES ON EACH STONE. CAN YOU PICTURE THE IMAGERY OF THE TWO HILLTOPS OF EBAL AND GERIZIM AS REPRESENTED BY THE TWO STONES ON THE HIGH PRIEST’S SHOULDERS, WITH 6 TRIBES INSCRIBED IN EACH CORRESPONDING TO THE TWO HILLS UPON WHICH 6 TRIBES ARE TO PRESENT THEMSELVES? THERE HAS BEEN A GREAT DEAL OF CONJECTURE ABOUT WHICH TRIBES WERE LISTED TOGETHER ON EACH OF THE SHOULDER-STONES. BUT THE LOGIC BEHIND WHICH TRIBES WERE CHOSEN TO APPEAR TOGETHER ON EACH HILL WAS TAKEN FROM THE WAY THE SHOULDER-STONES OF THE HIGH PRIEST WERE INSCRIBED; THAT’S JUST SPECULATION BUT IT MAKES DAMN GOOD SENSE EH !
And the Levite priests will speak each curse in a loud voice:
"Anyone who makes an idol or worships false deities (even secretly) is cursed, for that is an abomination to Yahuah!
Anyone who doesn’t show respect for their father and mother is cursed!
Anyone who moves the rocks that mark a property line to `rip-off' his neighbour is cursed!
Anyone who tells blind people to go the wrong way is cursed!
Anyone who keeps the poor from getting justice, whether these poor are foreigners, widows, or orphans is cursed!
Any man who sleeps with his father’s wife has shown no respect for his father’s marriage, and he is cursed!
Anyone who has sex with an animal is cursed!
Any man who sleeps with his sister or his half-sister or his mother-in-law is cursed!
Anyone who commits murder (even when there are no witnesses to the crime) is cursed!
Anyone who accepts money to murder an innocent victim is cursed!
Anyone who refuses to obey Yahusha’s Divine Laws is cursed!"
And after explaining all of these curses to the people, they will reply “Yep, we agree !”
A SERIES OF 12 CURSES ARE TO BE PRONOUNCED BY THE PRIESTS. THE HEBREW WORD FOR CURSE (AS USED HERE) IS `ARUR'. THE SENSE OF THE WORD ARUR IS ONE OF DIVINELY IMPOSED MISFORTUNE ie THE DISASTER THAT BEFALLS YOU BECAUSE YAHUSHA EITHER SENT THE DISASTER UPON YOU IN HIS WRATH; OR THAT HE REMOVED HIS HAND OF BLESSING AND PROTECTION FROM YOU AND LET EVIL FROM SOME SOURCE AFFECT YOU; AND THAT HE COULD’VE INTERVENED . . . BUT HAS DECIDED NOT TO.
APARANTLY THE PRIESTS OF THE EXODUS WENT TO THE MOUNTAINTOPS OF EBAL AND GERIZIM, ALONG WITH THE TRIBAL PRINCE (AND POSSIBLY THE CHIEF ELDERS) OF EACH TRIBE (DIVIDED INTO 2 GROUPS OF 6 AS WE SAW). THE REMAINING MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATED TRIBES CONGREGATED DOWN IN THE LARGE VALLEY BETWEEN MTS. EBAL AND GERIZIM, WITH ONE GROUP OF 6 TRIBES FACING TOWARDS THEIR CORRESPONDING MOUNTAIN AND THE OTHER GROUP OF 6 DOING THE SAME BUT IN AN OPPOSITE DIRECTION. THEN FROM MT. EBAL THE CURSES WOULD BE PRONOUNCED.
EACH OF THESE SPECIFIC BEHAVIOURAL CRIMES HAS BEEN DEALT WITH ALREADY IN THE DIVINE LAWS, AND MANY OF THEM HAVE THE CURSE OF THE DEATH PENALTY ASSOCIATED WITH THEM, SO WHY THE CHOICE OF THESE PARTICULAR 11 CRIMES? WHAT IS DIFFERENT OR SPECIAL ABOUT THESE FEW?
FIRST, UNDERSTAND THAT THIS LIST OF CRIMES IS REPRESENTATIVE AND NOT EXHAUSTIVE. THAT IS, THE SCRIPTURE HAS NOT NOW BEEN REDUCED TO AROUND A DOZEN CRIMES THAT BRING ON A DIVINE PUNISHMENT. RATHER THEY ARE REPRESENTATIVE OF A TYPE OR CATEGORY OF EVIL BEHAVIOUR: THE TYPE THAT CAN BE DONE IN SECRET OR ARE VERY DIFFICULT FOR THEIR VICTIMS TO PUBLICISE OR PROVE THEIR CASE. IN OTHER WORDS THEY ARE CRIMES THAT (MORE OFTEN THAN NOT) ARE KNOWN ONLY TO YAHUSHA, THE CRIMINAL, AND THE VICTIM. THEREFORE EARTHLY JUSTICE (BY MEANS OF THE DIVINE LAW CODE) IS NOT LIKELY TO HAPPEN DUE TO THE SECRECY OF THE ACT. BUT A CURSE FROM YAHUSHA CERTAINLY WILL !!
SECOND, THE FIRST TWO CURSES (BROUGHT ABOUT BY SPECIFIC CRIMES) CONCERN TWO OF THE 10 COMMANDMENTS: GIVING YAHUSHA AN IMAGE AND DISHONORING OUR PARENTS. ALTHOUGH WE COVERED THIS AT LENGTH BACK IN EXODUS IT’S GOOD TO REMEMBER THAT AT ALL TIMES THE HEBREWS HAVE BELIEVED AND PRACTICED THAT THE INSTRUCTION AGAINST DIVINE-IMAGES REFERS BOTH TO PAGAN (FALSE) DEITIES AND TO YAHUSHA TOO. NO IMAGES OF ANY KIND OF ANY DEITY ARE TO BE MANUFACTURED BY THE YISHARALITES. NEEDLESS TO SAY THIS MAY HAVE BEEN THE SINGLE MOST VIOLATED COMMANDMENT OF THEM ALL THROUGHOUT YISHARALITE HISTORY.
THIS CHAPTER ALSO SPEAKS OF MULTIPLE BLOOD-COVENANT RENEWAL CEREMONIES AND NO DOUBT THERE WERE OTHER BLOOD-COVENANT RENEWAL CEREMONIES HELD AT APPROPRIATE TIMES TOO. WHY? WHY DID YAHUSHA NEED TO HAVE YISHARAL KEEP REAFFIRMING THEIR BLOOD-COVENANT WITH HIM? . . . FOR HIS SAKE?
THE REALITY IS THAT THIS WAS NORMAL CUSTOM AND TRADITION IN THAT ERA. WE HAVE ASSYRIAN, MESOPOTAMIAN, HITTITE, CANAANITE AND OTHER LAW CODE DOCUMENTS THAT ARE VERY SIMILAR IN FORM TO WHAT WE HAVE READ HERE IN DEUTERONOMY. AND WHAT WE FIND IS THAT REPETITION, OR SAYING ESSENTIALLY THE SAME THING IN THE POSITIVE, AND THEN LATER IN THE NEGATIVE, OR USING MULTIPLE EXAMPLES WAS THE NORM IN ORDER TO CREATE EMPHASIS.
THE CURSES STATED CONCERNING ANY REGULATION WERE ALWAYS MORE NUMEROUS THAN THE ASSOCIATED BLESSINGS. REPETITION HELPS US TO REMEMBER. THE PEOPLE DIDN’T HAVE SCROLLS OR BOOKS WITH THESE INSTRUCTIONS WRITTEN DOWN SO THEY COULD EASILY REFER TO THEM, SO SAYING THEM OVER AND OVER IMPRINTED THESE LAWS IN THEIR MINDS.
NEVER FORGET THAT WHILE YISHARAL IS YAHUSHA’S SET APART PEOPLE, THEY ARE FIRST AND FOREMOST “PEOPLE”. CONSCIOUSLY OR NOT WE ALL MAKE DECISIONS AND COMMUNICATE WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF OUR OWN ERA AND CULTURE AND COLLOQUIAL LANGUAGE. WE FIND OUT JUST HOW TRUE THAT IS WHEN WE VISIT A FOREIGN COUNTRY AND THINGS THAT WE TAKE FOR GRANTED IN OUR OWN NATION ARE UNKNOWN TO THEM. SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS WHICH SIDE OF THE ROAD ONE DRIVES ON VARIES AROUND THE WORLD. IT WAS NO DIFFERENT FOR YISHARAL. IT WAS NATURAL FOR THEM TO COMMUNICATE TO YAHUSHA, AND FOR YAHUSHA TO COMMUNICATE WITH THEM, WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THEIR OWN CULTURE (OR BETTER WITHIN THE RATHER EXTENSIVE SET OF CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS THAT WERE COMMON THROUGHOUT THE KNOWN WORLD AT THAT TIME).
THEREFORE EVEN THOUGH THE SCRIPTURE IS INSPIRED, PERHAPS THE LARGER MIRACLE IS THAT YAHUSHA’S DIVINE PERFECTION AND TRUTHS CAN BE EXPRESSED AND BEHAVED THROUGH THE IMPERFECT AND SOMEWHAT ARBITRARY CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS OF MERE MEN THAT AREN’T ALWAYS THE MOST EDIFYING IN THEIR NATURE. THE STRUCTURE OF THE BLOOD-COVENANT IS NOT COSMIC OR UBER-SPIRITUAL, IT’S QUITE EARTHBOUND, INTENDED FOR MEN & WOMEN TO FOLLOW; AND THE WAY IT’S WORDED AND STRUCTURED WOULD HAVE BEEN VERY FAMILIAR TO ANY PERSON OF THE MIDDLE EAST IN THAT ERA. IT’S THE DIVINE PRINCIPLES EXPRESSED IN IT (WHICH ARE A BEHAVIOUR OF LOVING OBEDIENCE) THAT TRULY MATTER, NOT ITS SPECIFIC FORM OR WORDING. THIS DIVINE BEHAVIOUR OF TRUTH CAN BE EXPRESSED IN ANY ERA OF HUMAN HISTORY AS IT’S INSPIRATION AND ESSENCE ACTUALLY TRANSCENDS ALL TIME AND SPACE (JUST AS YAHUSHA DOES!)
Welcome back to the 21st Century . . .
HOW DOES YAHUSHA WANT US TO BEHAVE TODAY?
THE MAIN MEANING OF `INTERPRET' IN HEBREW IS TO `OPEN UP AND MAKE AVAILABLE' . . .
SO WHAT DOES OPEN REALLY MEAN?
HEBREW for "OPEN":
918 badaq - to gap open; to mend a breach:--repair.
1234 baqa` - to cleave; generally, to rend, break, rip open:--make a breach, break forth (into, out, in pieces, through, up), be ready to burst, cleave (asunder), cut out, divide, hatch, rend (asunder), rip up, tear, win.
1250 bar - (in the sense of winnowing); grain of any kind (even while standing in the field); corn, wheat (sowing seed lingo !)
1540 galah - advertise, appear, bring, (carry, lead, go) captive (into captivity), depart, disclose, discover, exile, be gone, open plainly, publish, remove, reveal, shamelessly, shew, surely, tell, uncover.
2689; to blow a trumpet, i.e. --blow, sound, trumpeter.
3027 yad yawd a primitive word; a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etc.),
3467 yasha` to be open, wide or free, i.e. (by implication) to be safe; causatively, to free or defend, deliver(-er), help, preserve, rescue, be safe, bring (having) salvation, save(-iour), get victory.
3738 karah - to dig; to bore or open:-- make (a banquet), open.
6601 pathah - to open, i.e. be (causatively, make) roomy; make simple or to open wide, to loosen, begin, plough, carve:--appear, break forth, draw (out), let go free, (en-)grave(-n), loose (self), (be, be set) open(-ing), put off, ungird, unstop, have vent.
8176 sha`ar - to split or open, i.e. to act as gate-keeper, to unveil --be open.
QUOTE FROM ABOVE: "JUST AS THE HUGE STONES THAT DISPLAYED YAHUSHA'S LIVING WORDS FOR ALL OF YISHARAL TO SEE FROM A DISTANCE, HIS LIVING WORDS ARE TO BE SPOKEN PLAINLY AND SIMPLY FOR ALL GENERATIONS TO SEE AND HEAR TODAY IN THE 21st CENTURY, NOT CONFUSING AND DIFFICULT SO THAT SOMEONE ELSE NEEDS TO STEP IN AND INTERPRET, OR EXPLAIN IT!"
The conclusion of the matter is that Yahusha wants His message delivered simply and truthfully, flinging open the doorway of deliverance to anyone who wants it. The behaviour of His love is something only His treasured Bride can be trained to possess and express in the world and any source of study or literature should be aimed at encouraging and fast-tracking this process of overcoming and bearing-fruit, making the pathway straight in these last days.
SINCE THE BEGINNING SATAN HAS USED RELIGIOUS CONFUSION THROUGH COMPLICATED INTERPRETATION TO CLOSE THE DOOR OF DELIVERANCE AND STOP MANKIND FROM FINDING LIFE. RELIGION BECAME THE GATE-KEEPER OF THE MYSTERIES (ONLY FOR THE INITIATED) BUT YAHUSHA IS CAUSING A BEHAVIOUR REVOLUTION IN THE WORLD TODAY SO THAT THE DOORWAY OF TRUTH AND LIFE (THROUGH AN OPEN-PORTAL DOOR) STAYS OPEN AND EASILY ACCESSIBLE TO ALL GENERATIONS.
Seeing Moses summarising, rewording and `making relevant' the Blood-Covenant Instructions given at Sinai only 40 years prior, to a new generation, has been a HUGE ENCOURAGEMENT FOR ME to keep plowing through these Scriptures, re-wording, changing and modernising so that YAHUSHA'S BLOOD-COVENANT OF DELIVERANCE REMAINS RELEVANT FOR TODAY (more than 2000 years later).
BUT IT ALSO SPEAKS OF BEING OPEN OURSELVES, OPEN TO YAHUSHA'S INSPIRATION AND OPEN TO OTHER PEOPLE, BEING GENEROUS WITH OUR EYES AND OUR TIME, WITH THE HOPE THAT YAHUSHA WILL AWAKEN SOMEONE THROUGH OUR BEHAVIOUR OF LOVING-KINDNESS!
