The Creation Gospel Podcast

We continue the series "Footsteps To The Coffin" This will be Pt 3.

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Previously, you saw how there were various explanations of the “twins,” such as the twin tablets of the Testimony or pair of Moses and Aaron. There is another idea in the oral tradition:

 

• “Then all his sons and all his daughters got up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he [Israel] said, ‘Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son.’ So his father wept for him.” (Ge 37:35)

 

Hey, wait, where did these daughters come from? The tradition says that for each male born to the Jacob/Israel, there was a corresponding twin daughter. Because we have more text to work with in the case of Dinah, Genesis 37:35 sticks out like a sore thumb. The "young," or children, are the sons and daughters of Israel. Here is another clue from a pair of lips:

 

• “Your lips are like a scarlet thread, and your mouth [midbar-wilderness] is beautiful.”

 

The play-on word suggests the beautiful Beloved Israel ascending from the wilderness to her inheritance. She is a conqueror with King Messiah Yeshua at her head. Although often concealed by the Biblical text, women are an important part of the promise of returning children. A woman in prayer and prophecy, proclaiming the Word, is a powerful force, which the armies of darkness know full well:

 

• The Lord gives the command; the women who proclaim good news are a great army: kings of armies flee, they flee, and she who remains at home will divide the spoils!” (Ps 68:11-12)

 

The Psalmist offers two examples of the great army: those who proclaim (preach) the command, and those who "remain at home." They equally share in the spoils of war. Think of the working pair of Mary and Martha. Mary was more of the proclaimer type, especially since she wasn't nearly as interested in cooking as in sitting at Yeshua's feet learning! Martha was more concerned with serving the meals. They each share in the spoils, even though Yeshua wished Martha understood Mary's hunger to learn the Word.

 

In Acts Two, Peter is not confused at all about what it is happening. Apparently, he’s repented of reacting to the women who brought him the Good News of Yeshua’s resurrection as if they were speaking foolishness. Now he understands, connecting the events of Acts 1:14 to Acts 2 in the Temple: 

 

• “All these were continually devoting themselves with one mind to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.”

 

• Acts 2:11 ...we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty deeds of God.” 12 And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others were jeering and saying, “They are full of sweet wine!” 14 But Peter, taking his stand with the other eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, know this, and pay attention to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you assume, since it is only the third hour of the day; 16 but this is what has been spoken through the prophet Joel: 17 ‘AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,’ God says, ‘THAT I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS WILL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN WILL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN WILL HAVE DREAMS; 18 AND EVEN ON MY MALE AND FEMALE SERVANTS I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT IN THOSE DAYS, and they will prophesy. 19 ‘AND I WILL DISPLAY WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BELOW, BLOOD, FIRE, AND VAPOR OF SMOKE. 20 ‘THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD COMES. 21 ‘AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’

 

This is quite a wonder for that day and time! Women...preaching and prophesying the Word alongside men...in the Temple? Converting many people? Where did all those daughters come from?

 

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This is how doves try...

 

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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.”

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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.

 

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This will be an overview of the seven days of Creation as prophecy as well as the foundation for THE CREATION GOSPEL ministry and teaching series.

 

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This week we are back with our series "Footsteps of Messiah" and we cover some family parables and the power of Dinah as well as touch on our continuing study in the Song of Songs.

 

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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.

 

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We've taken a break from the Footsteps of Messiah series while I present some principles of leadership from last week's Torah portion, Chayei Sarah. 

 

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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.

 

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