Hebrew Nation Online

Overview of the Tanakh-Session 44

An Overview of the Tanakh- Session 43

News and commentary for Wednesday, 31 January, 2024.

News, commentary, and even some news about the news, for Tuesday, 30 January, 2024.

Stuck. Mentally, emotionally, spiritually. What do you do when you're stuck? How do you find what you're looking for in life, relationships, career? Is belief alone the thing that gets our lives moving and producing the kind of fruit we & God desire? How do we actualize the idealized version of ourselves? In this series, we are seeking to answer the question Yeshua asked His disciples in John 1:38, "What do you want?". Not only are we going to find out what we truly desire, but also some proven ways to become the image-bearing people we were created to be.

Check out the video podcast:

https://youtu.be/IRCMNql0CYA

News and commentary for Monday, 29 January, 2024.

How better to Distract the Masses and Change the Subject from the REAL War than...

...yet another front in WW3?

https://hebrewnationonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/flood.mp3floodWe will bediscussing Rev 12 and the Dragon sends a flood. What is that?

Going to the book of the prophet Amos, chapter 5, we are staying with the topic of how wisdom, understanding and knowledge relate to keeping covenant with the Almighty.

In this episode Rabbi Steve Berkson continues looking at the references of “wormwood” to discover the relevance for you today.

Then from “wormwood” we get the word “bitter”. Rabbi Steve takes us into Isaiah 5:20-21 and James chapter 3 so we might understand what the word “bitter” is referring to.

This week we continue with "Living a Double Life"

To review: The challenge is that many of the commandments are given as nos, or the “you shall nots.” At least half of life is managing the nos, the boundaries, and the good fences that preserve our lives. 

If life is at least half no, then fostering a great relationship with the no commandments is the key. We can discipline ourselves to engage the nos with as much enthusiasm as the yeses, which really, is what makes a disciple. Just like Yeshua told Peter, we are transformed from a person who always wants to be in charge to one who is willing to be led of the Ruach HaKodesh in every circumstance, even down to the time and way we die.

Some disciples discipline the nos faster, and some not so fast. It is important, though, for if we cannot engage the simple commandments of yes and no, then how will we hear the more subtle still, small, voice of the Ruach HaKodesh is our daily dilemmas that don’t come with a chapter and verse attached to them?

This week, let’s look at another “commandment principle” of life: the possibility of living a double life. It starts with the first commandment given at Mount Sinai in Exodus 20:1-5:

Then God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them…’

The commandment is not to put another created entity as an “elohim” in front of Elohim, the only Creator. The idea is that there is nothing else created that could possibly be Elohim. By definition, Elohim is the Creator of all things, and a created elohim (judge, appointed ruler) is not. It is merely another created thing originating from Elohim. All other things go behind Him. He is the first, and there is no second to compare to Him.

Sometimes a glance at a more literal Hebrew helps. “You shall have no other gods before Me” is:

??? ???????????? ???????? ???????? ????????????

or

You will not be to yourself another god on My face.

When a human being fabricates an image from wood, stone, or other substance, or attributes the Ruach Elohim to an existing created substance such as a tree, water, cloud, etc., then the human has put a “face” on Elohim. The urge is so strong that this is the first commandment, a “yes” paired with a “no.” Yes, He is Elohim, and no, do not tamper with Him by fabricating an image to put a face on Him, for it will be inaccurate and a product of human imagination.

A philosopher once said that "imagination is man's most God-like characteristic." We can also say that based on the primacy of the first commandment, imagination is man's most god-like characteristic, his primary place of vulnerability to idols.

The moment we put a face on Elohim, we become susceptible to idolatry, looking to that object for intervention on our behalf: success, health, sustenance, good, peace, prosperity, comfort, joy, etc. For instance, rather than partner with Elohim for our life-path of prosperity, prerequisite to putting His Kingdom first, we forge our own ideas about how much wealth we need and when we need it without regard for our spiritual discipline and agreement to put Elohim first in all things.

In ancient times, people sought out gods of prosperity, fertility, strength, war, and so on. Rather than partner with Elohim, “who teaches my hands to war,

Join Mark Call of Shabbat Shalom Mesa fellowship for a two-part look at the parsha from the Book of Exodus, B'shalach (Ex. 13:17 through chapter 17), that includes perhaps the most famous miracle in Scripture, the 'parting of the Red Sea' (or, arguably, Sea of Reeds.)

The Erev Shabbat reading includes far more than just a major miracle:

https://hebrewnationonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/SSM-1-26-24-B-shalach-teaching-podcast-xxx.mp3

Which is exactly where the Sabbath day midrash begins.

Those who saw one of the greatest miracles in history still managed to miss most of the story.

And the repeated prophecies and parallels in Scripture suggest that we may see the rhyme. And this time, we have a major advantage: we have the Written Word, and may be able to avoid some of the pitfalls so many then failed to.

"B'shalach: Pharaoh, Big Brother, and the Real Master of War"

https://hebrewnationonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/WT-CooH-1-27-24-Bshalach-Big-Bro-vs-the-Master-of-War-and-what-to-watch-for-podcast-xxx.mp3

The combined two-part teaching is here: