Category: Hebrew Reading Lesson

Reading Hebrew exercises and practice verses

Parashat Tetzaveh…

John J Parsons

Our Torah reading for this week, parashat Tetzaveh, continues the description of the Mishkan (i.e., “Tabernacle”), though the focus shifts to those who will serve within it, namely the kohanim (i.e., the priests of Israel). First Moses was instructed to tell the Israelites to bring pure olive oil for the lamps of the Menorah which the High Priest was to light every evening in the Holy Place. God then commanded Moses to ordain Aaron and his sons as priests and described the priestly garments they would wear while serving in the Tabernacle. The portion further describes the ordination process for the priests and gives a description of the Altar of Incense (ketoret ha’mizbe’ah).

In this audio broadcast presentation I provide a verse-by-verse reading of the Torah portion (in English), providing Hebrew insights throughout, and linking the truths of Torah to the glory of Yeshua our Messiah, the Light of the World. I hope you find it helpful, chaverim.

 

Podcast:

 

Loving the Stranger…

John J Parsons

Did you know that one of the most frequently occurring commandments of Torah is to love the stranger? The commandment is repeated in various forms over 30 times in the Jewish Scriptures, for instance: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD” (Lev. 19:18); “You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God” (Lev. 19:34); “Love the stranger, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt” (Deut. 10:19); “You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt” (Exod. 22:21); “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong” (Lev. 19:33); “Do not oppress the stranger” (Zech. 7:10); “Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due the stranger” (Deut. 24:19); “The stranger shall be as the native born children of Israel among you” (Ezek. 47:22), “There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you”(Exod. 12:49; Num. 15:16), and so on. Clearly the LORD does not want people to feel ostracized, excluded, or otherwise left out of His providential and loving plans… Indeed, the message of the universal love of God is at the heart of the gospel itself, hearkening back to God’s earliest promises to redeem humanity and restore paradise lost. “Religion,” tribalism, prejudice, ethnic pride, and so on, are anathema to the Kingdom of God.

Read more “Loving the Stranger…”

Parashat Terumah…

John J Parsons

The goal of the Sinai revelation was not only the giving of the Ten Commandments to the Israelites but enshrining the Divine Presence within their hearts… In our Torah portion for this week (i.e., Parashat Terumah), we read how God asked the people to offer “gifts from the heart” to create a “place” for Him: “Let them make for me a sanctuary that I may dwell in their midst” (Exod. 25:8).

The Hebrew word for “sanctuary” is mikdash (מִקְדָּשׁ), which comes from the root word kadash (קָדַשׁ), “to be set apart as sacred.” A mikdash is therefore a “set apart space,” or a “holy place” that represents something profoundly treasured – a place of beauty and worship, a refuge, a place of rest. Other words that share this root idea include kedushah (holiness), kiddushin (betrothal), kaddish (sanctification), kiddush (marking sacred time), and so on. When God said, “Let them make for me a mikdash,” then, he was inviting the people to make a sacred place within their hearts for His Presence to be manifest…. The “materials” required to make this place – gold, silver, brass, red and purple yarns, fine linens, oils, spices, precious stones, etc. – were ultimately from the heart, expressed in free-will offerings given to God.

In this audio broadcast I step through the Torah portion and add Hebrew insights to help you better understand the Jewish roots of your faith in Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah.  I hope you will find it helpful.

 

Podcast Audio:

 

 

 

 

 

Parashat Mishpatim Podcast…

John J Parsons

In parashat Yitro (last week) we read that exactly seven weeks after the Exodus from Egypt (i.e., 49 days after the first Passover), Moses gathered the Israelites at the foot of Mount Sinai to enter into covenant with the LORD. In a dramatic display of thunder, lightning, billowing smoke and fire, the LORD descended upon the mountain and recited the Ten Commandments to the people. Upon hearing the awesome Voice of God, however, the people shrank back in fear and begged Moses to be their mediator before God. The people then stood far off, while Moses alone drew near to the thick darkness to receive further instructions from the LORD.

In this week’s Torah portion (i.e., Mishpatim) we learn about these additional instructions Moses received on the mountain. The Jewish sages traditionally count 53 distinct commandments in this portion of the Torah, easily making it one of the most “legalistic” (i.e., law-focused) sections of the entire Bible. Civil laws, liability laws, criminal laws, agricultural laws, financial laws, family purity laws, Sabbath laws, and holiday laws are all given in this portion. These various social and civil laws are called “mishpatim” (מִשְׁפָּטִים), a plural word that means “rules” or “judgments.”

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Mishpatim Podcast:

 

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Beshalach audio podcast…

John J Parsons

Last week’s Torah portion (i.e., parashat Bo) described how the Israelites were finally delivered from their cruel bondage in Egypt after God issued the decisive plague during the time of Passover. In this week’s portion (i.e., parashat Beshalach), the Israelites began their journey home, after 430 years of exile. Instead of leading them along a direct route to the Promised Land, however, the LORD directed them south, toward the desert, where the Glory of God appeared as a Pillar of Cloud by day and as a Pillar of Fire by night to lead them on their way. When Pharaoh heard that the Israelites were at the border of the desert, however, he perversely decided to pursue them and bring them back to Egypt. God then redirected the Israelites to camp near the edge of the Sea of Reeds, where the Egyptian army finally caught up with them. Dramatically, the Israelites were caught between the sea on one side, and Pharaoh’s army on the other…

 

Beshalach Audio Podcast:

 

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Dealing with the Demonic

John J Parsons

Though the Scriptures teach that the realm of the demonic exists, we encounter its presence most usually in thoughts and feelings that torment us. That is where the battle begins. In the mind. The monster that tempted Eve in the Garden got into her head before she bit into the fruit from the forbidden tree. And unless we are on guard against insinuations of godless insanity, we are liable to be under its influence as well…

You might think that demonic oppression is something flamboyant or requiring the ministrations of an exorcist, but long before such intervention may be necessary, the mind has been captivated by evil and deranged thinking.  Such thinking may have its origins with a demons named “worry,” or “shame,” or “unworthiness” or “envy.” But a common strategy of the devil is to supply plausible ideas that are designed to deceive us and lead us astray.

Everyone is a theologian of sorts. The difference, however, is whether you are a good theologian or one who is swamped with muddled thinking about the issues. As C.S. Lewis once said, “Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered. The cool intellect must work not only against cool intellect on the other side, but against the muddy heathen mysticisms which deny intellect altogether. Most of all, perhaps we need intimate knowledge of the past.”

The devil doesn’t care if it is a “holier-than-thou” theology, a murky mysticism of “absolute tolerance,” or a smarmy disavowal of faith in God altogether — he is equally pleased with the sensualist as well as the atheist, indeed, he is content with any distortion of the truth, for this enables him to “feed” his deluded ego as the “Prince of Darkness.”

In a way, dealing with evil thinking is prosaic and unremarkable. After all, the airwaves of mass media continually disseminate lies, disinformation, and godless thinking in countless formats and through diabolical stratagems. Whenever we encounter the demonic affecting us, then, we should not panic or be scandalized, but must instead reaffirm the truth of God and resolutely submit to his will (James 4:7). Sometimes this means contradicting the lie by quoting Scripture, offering praise to the Lord, and asking your Heavenly Father for deliverance. In extreme cases, it may be necessary to command the evil spirits to silence their blasphemies and to cease their intrusions. If we find ourselves going out of control emotionally, we are giving ground to the devil. The best tactic is to stay calm and re-center our focus on the Lord who is always present. There is shalom – that is, healing, wholeness, and soundness of mind – as we regain awareness of the greatness and the beauty and the glory of our God.

 

 

Healing from Spiritual Death…

John J Parsons

People tend to underestimate the radical nature of their sinful condition, which truly is a “sickness unto death.” However, even the metaphor of lethal sickness itself is not strong enough, since the spiritual condition of the natural man is the state of being spiritually dead… Apart from direct divine intervention on behalf of the individual soul, a person is literally unable to respond to God and receive the gift of eternal life. That is why Yeshua taught that we need a spiritual rebirth in order to see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3).

This is the new principle of life from God (i.e., chayim chadashim: חַיִּים חֲדָשִׁים) that operates according to the “law of the Spirit of life” (Rom. 7:23, 8:2). God loves His children with “an everlasting love” (i.e., ahavat olam: אַהֲבַת עוֹלָם) and draws us to Himself in chesed (חֶסֶד, i.e., his faithful love and kindness). As it is written: “I love you with an everlasting love; therefore in chesed I draw you to me” (Jer. 31:3). Note that the word translated “I draw you” comes from the Hebrew word mashakh (מָשַׁךְ), meaning to “seize” or “drag away” (the ancient Greek translation used the verb helko (ἕλκω) to express the same idea). As Yeshua said, “No one is able to come to me unless he is “dragged away” (ἑλκύσῃ, same word) by the Father” (John 6:44). We are chosen from above (John 15:16). God’s chesed seizes us, takes us captive, and leads us to the Savior… Spiritual rebirth is a divine act of creation, “not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). God is always preeminent, and the salvation of a particular soul is ultimately His prerogative.
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The Good Eye of Faith…

John J Parsons

Among other things, the story of Joseph reveals how God’s hidden hand moves for good in our lives. Despite the terrible betrayal of the pit, the unjust suffering of the prison house, and the sorrow of losing his family, there was light, exaltation, and joy to come forth. God knows how to take our emptiness to yield “storehouses in Egypt…”  As Joseph later told his brothers, “you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Gen. 50:20).  Resist the temptation to judge by mere appearances. Forbid your sorrow to blind the eyes of faith.  Do not unjustly judge God’s purposes or try to understand His ways; accept that He works all things together (συνεργέω) for good — making even the very wrath of man to praise Him…

Read more “The Good Eye of Faith…”

The Word Made Flesh…

John J Parsons

(Originally published Dec. 19, 2020)

At Sinai we heard the voice of God (קוֹל אֱלהִים) speaking from the midst of the Fire (Deut. 4:33), an event that foreshadowed the great advent of the King and Lawgiver Himself, when the Eternal Word (דְבַר־יְהוָה) became flesh and dwelt with us (Phil. 2:6-7; John 1:1,14). Any theology that regards God as entirely transcendent (i.e., God is beyond any analogy with the finite) will have a problem with divine immanence (i.e., God is inherent and involved within the finite), since the highness, holiness, and perfection of God will make Him seem distant, outside of us, far away, and unknown…

Incarnational theology, on the other hand, manifests the magnificent humility and nearness of God to disclose the divine empathy. Indeed, the LORD became Immanuel (עִמָּנוּ אֵל), “God with us,” to share our mortal condition, to know our pain, and to experience what it means to be wounded by sin, to be abandoned, alienated, forsaken. It is God’s own bittul hayesh (בִּטּוּל הַיֵּשׁ) – his self-nullification for the sake of love and truth. The “Eternal made flesh” bridges the gap between the realm of Ein Sof (אין סוף), the infinitely transcendent One, and the finite world of people lost within their sinful frailty. Of course we believe Adonai Echad (יְהוָה אֶחָד) – that the “LORD is One” – both in the sense of being exalted over all things but also in the sense of being compassionately involved in all things (Rom. 11:36). We therefore celebrate the giving of the Torah both at Sinai and especially at Bethlehem with the birth of Messiah. We celebrate that God is indeed the King and Ruler over all, but we further affirm that God’s authority and rule extends to all worlds – including the realm of our finitude and need…

As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, the climax of Sinai was the revelation of the Sanctuary. The two tablets of the law, summarizing the Ten Commandments, were stored inside the famous Ark of the Covenant (אֲרוֹן בְּרִית־יְהוָה), a sacred “three-in-one” box placed in the innermost chamber of the Tabernacle called the Holy of Holies (קדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים). As such, the Ark served as kisei ha-kavod (כִּסֵּא הַכָּבוֹד), the Throne of Glory itself. Upon the cover (or crown) of the Ark (i.e., the kapporet) were fashioned two cherubim (i.e., angel-like figures) that faced one another (Exod. 25:17-18). According to the Talmud (Succah 5b), each cherub had the face of a child – one boy and one girl – and their wings spread heavenward as their eyes gazed upon the cover (Exod. 25:20). It was here that God’s Voice would be heard during the Yom Kippur service, when sacrificial blood was sprinkled upon the crown to symbolize the atonement of sin secured through Messiah, the Word that became flesh for us… In the very heart of the Sanctuary, then, we see the Word of God and the sacrificial blood.

The LORD God Almighty was clothed with human skin: our flesh, our bones… The miracle of the incarnation is the Absolute Paradox, as Kierkegaard said, wherein the infinite and the finite meet in mystery of the Divine Presence. Here God “touches a leper,” eats with sinners and prostitutes, sheds human tears, and suffers heartache like all other men… The gloriously great God, the very Creator of the cosmos, has “emptied Himself” to come in the form of a lowly servant (δοῦλος) – disguised to the eyes of the proud and hardhearted, but is revealed as High Priest to those who are genuinely broken and in profound need. The LORD God is God over all possible worlds, and that includes both the celestial realms of the heavens but also the world of the fallen, the ashamed, the alienated, and the lost… God’s infinite condescension reveals and augments the majesty of His infinite transcendence. There is no world – nor ever shall there be such – where the LORD God Almighty does not reign and have preeminence.

Do not suppose for a moment that the Torah of Moses does not teach “incarnational” theology. Since God created human beings in his image and likeness, the “anthropomorphic language” of Scripture is meaningful. The LORD reveals himself in human terms – using human language, expressing human emotions, and so on, as it says: Moses spoke to God panim el panim – “face to face” (Deut. 34:10). The Torah always has to take on human form – the Word made flesh – for the sake of human beings who live in flesh and blood reality…

The greatest expression of God’s word is found in the Presence of Yeshua. This is the Word of God that “tabernacles” with us, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). Yeshua is the “Living Torah,” Immanuel (עִמָּנוּ אֵל), “God with us,” who enters our world to rescue us from death. Our Scriptures state that “in these last days God has spoken to us by his Son, whom He appointed the Heir of all things, through whom also He created the worlds” (Heb 1:2). Note that the Greek construction for the phrase translated, “by his son” is ἐλάλησεν ἡμῖν ἐν υἱῷ, which literally means “he spoke to us in Son” — that is, in the language or voice of the Son of God Himself… God speaks the language “of Son” from the midst of the fire revealed at Zion. “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe (μετὰ αἰδοῦς καὶ εὐλαβείας) – for our God is Esh Okhelah – a Consuming Fire” (Heb. 12:28-29).

 

Hebrew Lesson
Isaiah 7:14b Hebrew reading:

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Addendum:  Consider further the metaphorical and anthropomorphic language of the Scriptures: God “sees,” God “hears,” the “hand of the LORD” saves, etc. Without an implied incarnational theology, there would be no language that we could comprehend about God who is the Infinite One that transcends all things… God gets angry; God feels sorrow; God is jealous; God is a lover, etc. all these metaphors bring the language of heaven into the world of humanity… The Spirit that imparts revelation does so inside a human brain and is translated into human apprehension. Yeshua is the Substance of the shadowy talk of analogical language; he embodies God-life before us…. Yeshua is the Word of God made flesh — able to touch us, know us, share in our suffering, heal us of our sin-sickness, etc.

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