Recall that Yeshua said he would be “three days and three nights” in the earth after his crucifixion and then resurrected (see Matt. 12:40). There is no way, however to sum three days and three nights from Friday afternoon to Sunday before sundown… Therefore Yeshua was not crucified on a Friday. Instead Yeshua was crucified and buried Thursday afternoon on Nisan 14, before the Passover high Sabbath began; He was in the tomb throughout Nisan 15 (Thursday night and Friday day) as well as Nisan 16 (Friday night and Saturday day), and then He was resurrected Nisan 17 (Saturday night). The women arrived to see the stone removed before sunrise on Sunday (Matt. 28:1). Note that the Greek text of the New Testament says that women came to the tomb at the end of the “Sabbaths” (σαββάτων), indicating both the Sabbath of the Passover as well as the weekly Sabbath.
Category: Torah Study
Selected verses from the Torah for Hebrew study
Sufficient unto the day…
Who among us has not experienced loss? While we cannot escape suffering in this life, God can give us heart to face the struggle… “You shall love the LORD thy God will all thy heart – particularly while you are in the midst of bewilderment, testing, and affliction. As the prophet Job exclaimed in the midst of his losses, “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the Name of the LORD be blessed.”
Hebrew Lesson:
We had nothing when we were born into this world, and all that we now have was given to us by hashgachah pratit (השׁגחה פרטית) – the providential plan of God for our lives. As the LORD graciously gave, so He has the prerogative to take away. Pain, suffering, and even death itself surely do not come by accident but are rather part of the inscrutable will of God, who works all things together for the good of creation. Gam zu l’tova – this too is “for the good,” even if the good is not revealed in the moment. Job refused to blame God for his troubles, but instead he understood that whatever God does (or allows) must itself good, and there is no reason to doubt this, even if in the present there is tribulation – indeed, even the throes of death. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17). As it is written, lo yimna-tov laholekhim be’tamim (לא ימנע־טוב להֹלכים בתמים), “no good thing does he withhold from those who walk in completeness” (Psalm 84:11), and you are made complete (תמים) because of the finished work of Messiah on your behalf. Do not be afraid of His providence: no good thing will the LORD withhold from you.
When Paul wrote, “in everything give thanks” (1 Thess 5:18), surely he understood the prospect of real suffering. It is through “much tribulation” that we enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22). We do not ask God to insulate us from all troubles, but rather to be given the courage to carry on despite the troubles. Hence one of our standard prayers in the tradition is: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יהוה הַנּוֹתֵּן לַיָּעֵף כּחַ / barukh attah Adonai ha’noten lai’ya’ef koach: “Blessed are You, LORD, who gives power to the faint.”
We cannot escape suffering in this life, but God gives us heart to face the struggle. Each day contains the opportunity to serve God even in the midst of trouble (Matt. 6:34). We cannot control much of what happens to us in this life, so our task is to sanctify time and trust that God will see to our true needs. Taking refuge in God means personally trusting in His goodness for your soul, despite circumstances that might tempt you to lose heart.
Hebrew Blessing:
Passover’s Love Song…
During Passover week it is customary to read the ancient “love song” of King Solomon called Shir Ha-Shirim (שיר השירים), or the “Song of Songs.” In Jewish tradition, since Passover marks the time when our “romance” with God officially began, the sages chose this song to celebrate God’s love for his people. And since Passover is also called Chag Ha-Aviv, the festival of spring, the Song is also associated with creativity and hope associated with springtime (Song 2:11-12). One way to read this poem is to see the king, who had disguised himself as a lowly shepherd to win the heart of the Shulamite woman, as a picture of Yeshua who took the form of a lowly servant to demonstrate his eternal love for those who are trusting in him… Indeed, the Song of Songs is linked to the “lilies” (i.e., shoshanim: שׁשׁנים) mentioned in Psalm 45, which presents a Messianic vision of the Divine Bridegroom and offers an “ode” for a forthcoming wedding.
Hebrew Lesson:
The Fight for Love…
“Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin” (Rom. 14:23). Sin is not so much disobedience to an external code of behavior, however, as much as it is abandoning your trust, your identity, and your hope as a beloved child of God. As you believe so you will behave, and as you behave so you believe… Therefore one of the greatest of sins is to forget the truth of who you really are – a beloved and redeemed child of God! The great temptation of sin is rooted in the lie that we are unworthy people, that God does not really loves us (just the way we are), that He is disappointed in us, and so on. “Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the “Beloved.” Being the Beloved constitutes the core truth of our existence” (Nouwen). Forgetting who you are leads to forgetting who the Lord is, just as forgetting who the Lord is leads to forgetting who you are…. Therefore the Lord constantly tells us to remember and not to forget the call of his heart, the message of his love.
Sin seduces people to destroy themselves, since it first of all seeks to disown, impugn, and reject what is most important for spiritual life. The devil seeks to murder and destroy all that we need to be eternally healed… And though we might want to escape from this conflict (or to pretend that it’s not really here), the battle is intractably real and must be fully engaged until our redemption is complete (1 Pet. 5:8-9). Meanwhile, spiritual struggles can be downright ugly. Would any one deny that the cross of Messiah was a sacred space – and yet it was precisely from there, from the place of blood and suffering and pain and terror, that the grace, beauty, and strength of God for us would shine forth.
Lament and Healing…
“My eye grows dim through sorrow; every day I call upon you, O LORD; I spread out my hands to you… Help me, O LORD my God; save me according to your love” (Psalm 88:9; 109:26). Such words pierce through the clichés and chatter about religion, theology, and so on, voicing the lament of a soul in trouble, desperately crying out to God for help… The language of prayer is often quickened by affliction and trouble, for the heart senses it must find God or die. “The troubles of my heart are enlarged…” (Psalm 25:17). “Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed…” for if you will not help, O Lord, then I will perish; I will be consumed in my grief, I will waste away in the void of darkness… “Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will you be to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail?” (Jer. 15:18). O Lord, “I am poor and needy; my heart is pierced within me” (Psalm 109:22). During hours of pain or mental anguish prayer becomes spontaneous, raw, unscripted and devoid of empty words. Anguish moves us right to the point, bypassing other concerns, distilling the heart’s cry for God’s help. If you feel overwhelmed, pour out your heart in prayer… It is not the words of the prayer that matter as much as it is the fervor, the intensity of the heart, and the passion that yields itself before God. “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matt. 5:4). “The LORD is near to the broken of heart and saves the contrite of spirit” (Psalm 34:18).
Hebrew Lesson:
Seeking What is Above…
“If then you have been raised with Messiah, seek the things that are above, where the Messiah is seated at the right hand of God (לִימִין הָאֱלהִים); focus your thoughts on the things above – not on things here on earth – for you have died, and your life has been hidden with Messiah in God” (Col. 3:1-3). Note that the verb translated “you have died” (ἀπεθάνετε) indicates that your death is a spiritual reality you must accept by faith. You don’t “try to die” to the flesh, since that is the fool’s errand of man’s “religion.” No, you trust that God has killed the power of sin and death on your behalf and imparted to you a new kind of life power (John 1:12; Eph 2:5). Because you partake of an entirely greater dimension of reality, namely, the spiritual reality hidden from the vanity of this age, your life is likewise hidden from this world (Col. 3:4). Therefore we are instructed to consciously focus our thoughts (φρονέω) on the hidden reality of God rather than on the superficial and temporal world that is passing away: “For we are looking not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient (i.e., “just for a season,” καιρός), but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18).
Just as you must trust and accept that Yeshua was crucified for you, identifying with you, taking your place in judgment, exchanging his life for your own, so you must trust and accept that you have been crucified with him, and that your old life was taken away and replaced with a new, indestructible nature of his resurrection life. In other words, a union is created where his “for me” is answered by my “with him.” Χριστῷ συνεσταύρωμαι– “I already have been crucified in Messiah” (Gal. 2:20). Indeed the two go together: to trust in the finished work of Messiah for you is to trust in his finished work within you… When he died on the cross for you, which sins didn’t he bear on your behalf? which remedy did he leave unfulfilled?
Hebrew Lesson:
Countdown to Shavuot…
In the Torah we are instructed to count forty nine days – seven weeks of days – from the day following Passover until Shavuot (i.e., Weeks or “Pentecost”). This period of time is called Sefirat HaOmer (ספירות העומר), or the “counting the [barley] sheaves” (see Lev. 23:15-16; Deut. 16:9). In abstract terms, it’s as if there is a dotted line pointing directly from Passover to Shavuot – a “Jubilee” of days – representing the climax of Passover itself. The early sages identified this climax as the revelation of the Torah at Sinai (which indeed did happen exactly 49 days after the Passover in Egypt), but the New Testament identifies it as the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (רוח הקודש) that ratified the reality of the New Covenant of God at Zion. The redemption process that began at Passover was therefore completed at Shavuot, and that “completion” was the revelation of God’s love and deliverance for the entire world. And though the Jewish sages did not fathom the use of the otherwise forbidden leaven in the offering (see Lev. 2:11), prophetically the waving of two loaves during Shavuot pictured the “one new man” (composed of both Jew and Gentile) standing before the altar of the LORD (Eph. 2:14). The countdown to Shavuot therefore goes beyond the giving of Torah at Sinai and points to the greater revelation of Zion. Shavuot is the fulfillment of the promise of the Holy Spirit’s advent to those who are trusting in Messiah (Acts 2:1-4). “Counting the Omer,” then, is about receiving the Holy Spirit to experience and know the resurrected LORD of Glory. You can “count” on that, chaverim!
In this connection it is important to understand that the climax of the 49 days was not the giving of the law at Sinai (i.e., matan Torah), but rather the revelation of the altar (i.e., the“Tabernacle”) and its subsequent fulfillment in the sacrificial death of Yeshua as our Lamb of God. Moreover, it was during this time that Yeshua made His post-resurrection appearances to His disciples and indeed ascended to heaven during this period… Of particular importance is 1) the beginning of the count of the omer since it signified the waving of the firstfruits and therefore the resurrection of Yeshua (1 Cor. 15:20); 2) the 40th day of the Omer (Mem B’Omer), when Yeshua ascended back to heaven, and 3) the climactic 49th day of the Omer (Shavuot) when the Holy Spirit was given to the disciples in fulfillment of the promise of Yeshua that we would not be left comfortless (Acts 2:1-4). Shavuot, then, marks the time of “Jubilee” of the Spirit, when are clothed with power to serve the LORD without fear…
Note: For more on this subject, see: ” Sefirat HaOmer: Counting the Sheaves to Shavuot.”
Love is Stronger than Death…
The Scriptures make clear that Yeshua is the true Passover Lamb of God (שֵׂה הָאֱלהִים) whose sacrificial death and shed blood causes the wrath of God to “pass over” (pasach) those who are trusting in Him (John 1:29, 3:36; Acts 8:32-36; 1 Cor. 5:7-8; 1 Pet. 1:18-20, etc.). Amen! Worthy is the Lamb who was slain! (Rev. 5:12). But while the sacrifice of Yeshua gives us forgiveness (סְלִיחָה) and atonement (כַּפָּרָה) with God (Eph. 1:7; Rom. 5:11; Heb. 9:12, etc.), the resurrection of the Messiah (i.e., techiyat ha-Mashiach: תְּחִיַּת הַמָּשִׁיחַ) justifies His work of salvation on behalf of the sinner and forever vindicates the righteousness of God (Rom. 4:20-5:1; Rom. 10:9; Heb. 13:20-21). As Yeshua said: “I am he that lives but was dead; but behold, I am alive for evermore (הִנֵּה אֲנִי חַי לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד), Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death” (Rev. 1:8). Rejoice friends, for our LORD lives! He has killed the power of death and forever reigns in indestructible life!
Hebrew Lesson:
Overcoming Mass Hysteria…
Though we can’t control what happens in this dangerous (and foolish) world, we can trust that God is working all things together for good, even during times of severe testing, even in things that are blatantly evil, and even in the midst of mass hysteria (Rom. 8:28; Gen. 50:20, Jer. 29:11). And while we instinctively recoil at the prospect of physical death, there are decidedly things worse than death itself, namely, losing hope in life, walking in the darkness of despair, living a joyless existence because of fear, and ultimately facing God as a shameful coward who shrank back from the truth. As much as we abhor evil – and we must resist it with all our hearts – even more must we love the good – and cling to God (וּלְדָבְקָה־בוֹ) with all that is within us.
Ultimately, the most important thing to remember regarding death is the truth about God’s salvation (יְשׁוּעָה). After all, God assuredly hates death and provides each of us with its eternal remedy: By clothing himself in human flesh, Yeshua embraced mortality itself and willingly bore the penalty for your sins, exchanging his life for yours, thereby destroying the one who had the power of death, namely the devil, and by so doing, set you free from slavery to the dread of death (Heb. 2:14-15). To those who belong to belong to Messiah, death represents a passage to eternal life and the loving presence of God Himself.
Wait for the Lord…
When Yeshua victoriously proclaimed, “It is finished” just before he died on the cross, he foreknew that his followers would experience a “purging process,” a “refining fire,” and time on the “potter’s wheel” to perfect their sanctification. At the cross of Yeshua death itself was overcome – and all that it implies – and yet it is nevertheless true that we will suffer and die and that death persists an enemy (1 Cor. 15:26). While we celebrate the reality of the final redemption, the “instrumentality of our sanctification” needs to be willingly accepted and endured. I say “endured” here because I don’t think we will ever have a complete answer to the question of “why” we undergo the various tests we face in this life. Our disposition in the midst of this ambiguity, in the midst of seemingly unanswered prayers, is where our faith is disclosed: will we despair of all temporal hope or not? Will we console ourselves with the vision of a future without tears and loss – a heaven prepared for us? Will we trust God with our pain and submit to his will, or will we “curse God and die” inside – losing hope and despairing of all remedy?
God forbid you should give up now, friend. Faith “sees the unseen” and believes the day of our ultimate healing draws near. Whether you can attend a Seder this year or not, please stay strong and keep your hope alive (Psalm 27:14).
Hebrew Lesson:
