45.8K
Downloads
448
Episodes
Join Dr. Hollisa Alewine for weekly Torah studies and visit our website www.thecreationgospel.com for more info.
Episodes
Monday Jan 16, 2023
Monday Jan 09, 2023
Monday Jan 09, 2023
As I glanced at the Zoom chat box after our weekly classes, this week, I realized that not everyone was clear on why we fast on the Tenth of Tevet. While most of my weekly online students have been with me for several years, newer students missed the Four Fasts and the Torah portions in which we unpacked some reasons why they appear in Zechariah. It dawned on me…if they missed some of the Four Fast teachings, then probably they’re a little lost when I discuss the Egyptian crocodile/serpent as the “father” of the beast kingdoms. It’s not that folks don’t try to catch up, it’s that the number of teaching videos available is overwhelming when one searches for a particular topic of interest. I can’t even remember what topic is in what videos!
In this week's episode, I will re-cap a 2020 teaching on the Torah portion Vayechi, which describes how Egypt became the crocodile/serpent and how Joseph lost his position as “father to Pharaoh.”
Please SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to get new teachings.
Sunday Jan 01, 2023
Sunday Jan 01, 2023
The Song of Songs is more than a love song between Israel and the Holy One; it is prophecy. We’ve worked our way through three chapters in the Footsteps of Messiah series to see if any of these Good News footsteps on the mountains fit our generation. As it turns out, the prophecies are a huge encouragement to those who find the Light of the Torah as part of their walk with the Beloved Yeshua. Loving the commandments as Yeshua urged is part of responding to those footsteps of return.
In Chapter Two, we saw the Beloved compared to a gazelle, a fast-moving animal. He returns at the cool of the day when the shadow flee; that is, they disappear quickly.
- “Until the cool of the day, when the shadows flee, turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle…” (So 2:17)
Now we have arrived at Chapter Four of the Song of Songs, which contains some repetition from previous chapters. This allows the reader…if he or she has parsed the previous three chapters…to read more intelligently, to see more fine print of prophecy. This is a good opportunity to introduce a study tool for all Scripture study; it is handy to have in your toolbox!
The pattern is one of twins and pairs, or zugot. In the late Second Temple period, there were famous zugot, or pairs of rabbis, who complemented (and sometimes antagonized!) the work of another. Ezra and Nehemiah complemented the work of the other. Joshua and Caleb. You get the idea.
Why is this important?
It won’t change the meaning of the verses you read, but it can enhance the significance of the verses when you are able to spot a pattern in context. For instance, let’s take a passage from Chapter Four. Try to spot twins, pairs, or equivalent expressions (one term or phrase similar to another) in the repetition:
How beautiful you are, my darling, how beautiful you are!
Your eyes are like doves behind your veil; your hair is like a flock of goats that have descended from Mount Gilead.
Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep which have come up from their watering place, all of which bear twins,
and not one among them has lost her young.
Your lips are like a scarlet thread, and your mouth is beautiful.
Your temples are like a slice of a pomegranate behind your veil.
Your neck is like the tower of David, built with layers of stones on which are hung a thousand shields, all the round shields of the warriors.
Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle that graze among the lilies.
Repetition can signify importance or additional fulfillments of a particular prophecy. The Shir (Song) sometimes mentions “twins.” The idea is that pairs or twins represent how “one opens the other.” Just as the firstborn "opens the womb" for the subsequent children, so the first prepares the way for the next. This may apply to people or commandments.
Please SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to get new teachings.
Monday Dec 26, 2022
Monday Dec 19, 2022
Monday Dec 12, 2022
Monday Dec 12, 2022
This week's teaching is a free excerpt from Esther's Mysteries Behind the Mask.
The excerpt is Chapter Five, which gives a brief overview of the sister relationships that figure heavily in Torah prophecy, and even in the Song of Songs, where the Groom and His beloved have a "brother-sister" relationship. It is not creepy, but a parable to help the reader understand the "one flesh" aspect of humanity, who all descended from Adam. Adam points this out when he sees Eve (Chavah) for the first time and exclaims, "Flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone." Likewise, Messiah Yeshua's Bride is part of his human flesh, a key component of understanding the Gospel. Because his flesh is their flesh, his "sister," they too can be resurrected with him.
Please SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to get new teachings.
Sunday Dec 04, 2022
Sunday Nov 27, 2022
Sunday Nov 27, 2022
One of the most distressing...if not THE most distressing thing...about learning Torah within a community is that it too frequently leads to learning Torah outside a community. In our livestream on Shabbat, I plan to present a simple overview of leadership principles that may help you whether you are a congregational leader, home fellowship leader, family leader, or just want to learn how to be a good follower.
Those community principles are often challenged because we don't have good study tools in our toolbox, and without them, we can adopt all kinds of variations of understanding and practice from a single commandment. Those variations become divisive when it affects what the community can observe together.
In this week's newsletter, I'd like to pass on to you what I spent lots of time and money learning in college. No charge! It can be of tremendous help when navigating through divergent understandings of Scripture. If we understand the difference between meaning and significance, it could squash a lot of arguments over what a Scripture means, especially when we look as smug as our friend up there when we're convinced we found THE explanation instead of ONE explanation.
For instance, over the last couple of years, we've been studying the Song of Songs. It is a parable, poetry, song, commentary, elucidation of Torah, and prophecy, so it is rich in symbolism, and we've enjoyed deriving lots of interpretations of each verse's significance based on passages with similar context and even Hebrew wordplay. When one encounters Biblical symbolism, it is important to remember:
When parsing a passage of Scripture, the application of wordplay should not derive a new meaning even though a new significance is expected.
Let’s review these two principles of hermeneutics and the definition of hermeneutics.
Please SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to get new teachings.
Sunday Nov 20, 2022
Sunday Nov 20, 2022
“A canopy (apiron) has King Solomon made for Him, from the wood of Lebanon. Its pillars he made of silver; its covering was gold, its seat was purple wool, its inner side was decked with love by the daughters of Jerusalem.” (So 3:9-10)
This week, we continue from last week's lesson on the chariot of King Solomon. If you didn't have a chance to read it or print it, click here. We'll weave in a couple of themes from this week's Torah portion, Vayera, particularly the second time Avraham calls Sarah his sister and the binding of Isaac on Mount Moriah.
Vayera “and appeared”
Genesis 18:1-22:24
2 Kings 4:1-37
Please SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to get new teachings.
Monday Nov 14, 2022
Monday Nov 14, 2022
There is an old parable of the king’s daughter that explains some points of the developing relationship between the King and His daughter, Israel, from the time He removes her from Egypt to the time He brings her across the Jordan into her inheritance. (Midrash to Shir HaShirim 3§15)
- When she was young and immature, he lavished love upon her openly and in public, such as the dividing of the Reed Sea. He spoke to her when they met in public places.
- When she grew, these open displays of affection were below her dignity and age, and he spoke to her and showed affection in private. Publicly, it looked as though he had abandoned her and inflicted harsh discipline, but he was still found by her in the private place (or as Yeshua said, “the closet” of prayer. This discipline was also love, maturing and testing her with a measure of suffering and grief.
- When she matured into an adult, the king wanted to discuss the weighty matters of the kingdom with her, so...
- ...he had a special pavilion built where they could hold their conversations without distraction or disturbance. The Mishkan was built in a place where Israel grew to maturity. It was a place where the Holy One could communicate with His People privately and collaborate with them free from the prying eyes of the nations around them. He could instruct them and empower them to rule the nations with His authority.
The special holiness of Jerusalem and the Temple reflect this private relationship of maturity. While the nations will bring their glory into the city at the appointed times (if they are allowed to enter the gates by the appointed tribe of Israel of that gate), permanent residency and abiding in the Presence is the reward of the King’s Daughter Israel. With King Messiah, she administers the King’s decrees and justice according to the Word she’s learned from within the “Clouds of Glory” during her wilderness journey. Exodus 26:1-37 gives the foundational structure of the Mishkan that is thought to be represented in the Song of Songs:
- “From the wood of Lebanon is like that which is stated, ‘You shall make the planks of the Tabernacle of acacia wood, standing erect.’ (Ex 26:15) – Its pillars he made of silver-these are the pillars of the Tabernacle Courtyard on which the lace curtains were hung, as it states...’its covering was gold’...this too, refers to the Tabernacle, as it states, ‘You shall make a partition of turquoise, purple, and scarlet wood, and linen, twisted (ibid, v. 31).”
Please SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to get new teachings.