Torah 101-Pinchus Portion I.

ANSWERS TO LAST WEEKS STUDY QUESTIONS (from Balak)

1) Question for Numbers 22: Someone in this Torah portion has a name that may be connected to an event leading to the destruction of the Second Temple. Who is it and what does their name mean? ZIPPOR (22:3) = bird. This is the male form of TZIPPORA, Moshes wife. The Zohar suggests the name may be the result of his practicing bird divination (Zohar 3:184b). Ironically this association might have played a role in the First Jewish Revolt in the year 66 CE. According to Josephus, a Greek sacrificed some birds on synagogue grounds which subsequently led to riots which in turn was the start of the Romans marching on Jerusalem before the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE. 2) Question for Numbers 23: Numbers 23:19 says YHWH is not a man that He should lie, nor a Son of Man, that He should change His mind. How do we reconcile this line with the idea that Yshua, who is the Son of Man, is also YHWH, when Abba YHWH is NOT a Son of Man? The answer is simply that the Son is not the Father. When Yshua prays, he is not talking to himself but is talking to His Father from the depths of Yshuas humanity. While Yshua is the Word made flesh and that Word came out of YHWHs mouth (He was Elohim and was with Elohim), the human form also has a human, mortal nefesh or soul, and Yshua says that part of him can and must die for the sake of humanity. The human side of him (there is a divine side as well) is the Son of Man; but the Word part of him comes from his Father and by definition is not a Son of Man.

3) Question for Numbers 24:1-25:9: Is there a Hebrew Tanakh prophetic term for the Romans, and if so, what is it? KITTIM (24:24) = a son of Yavan living in the general direction of the coastal Mediterranean. Later this term would be applied to the Romans and sometimes indirectly to the Greeks as well.

1|Page

4) Haftorah Question of the Week: Micah 5:6-6:8

How might the Hebrew approach of reading this portion all the way through lead to a different interpretation than a more Christian style of just quoting the last line which may suit their purposes? Many Christians simply focus on the part where Micah says, He has shown you, O man, what is good, and what does your Elohim require of you? That you do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your Elohim. Verses like this emphasize the chesed or the mercy of Abba YHWH and to be sure, that is well and good. However, the other aspect that often gets missed is the gevurah or judgment of our Heavenly Father. That part of it is the focus from 5:6 onwards, as we read
6

Then what is left of Jacob, surrounded by many peoples, will be like a dew from Yahweh, like showers on the grass, which do not depend on human agency and are beyond human control. 7 Then what is left of Jacob, surrounded by many peoples, will be like a lion among the forest beasts, like a fierce lion among flocks of sheep trampling as he goes, mangling his prey which no one takes from him. 8 You will be victorious over your foes and all your enemies will be torn to pieces. 9 When that day comes- declares Yahweh- I shall tear your horses away from you, I shall destroy your chariots; 10 I shall tear the cities from your country, I shall overthrow all your fortresses; 11 I shall tear the spells out of your hands and you will have no more soothsayers; 12 I shall tear away your images and your sacred pillars from among you, and no longer will you worship things which your own hands have made! 13 I shall uproot your sacred poles and shall destroy your cities! 14 In furious anger I shall wreak vengeance on the nations who have disobeyed me! (Micah 5:6-14 NJB) It is only AFTER Abba YHWH has purged Himself of His enemies that the mercies extend and Israel can go into a period of quiet obedience. But first, they have to FIGHT, because freedom isnt free!

2|Page

II.

QUESTIONS FOR THIS TORAH PORTION (Pinchus) Please NOTE:

For clarity and time constraints, if I elect to not read the whole parsha (which is the case this week) I may still ask questions relating to the portions I did not read! 5) Question for Numbers 25:10-26:65: Here Phinehas is given a special dispensation known as My covenant of peace. What does this mean and who is the only other person to get such an honor? 6) Question for Numbers 27: How does a ruling in this chapter help pave the way for Yshua to legitimately claim to be King of Kings? 7) Question for Numbers 28: There is a ritual listed here that leads to one of Yshuas most important teachings. What is that ritual and what is the only time of year it could happen so that Yshua could comment on it at that time? 8) Question for Numbers 29:1-30:1: There is a procedure from Sukkot that relates directly to a historical event that happened at another Great Feast. What is the procedure and which Great Feast does it happen at? 9) Haftorah Question of the Week: 1 Kings 18:46-19:21 The great prophet Eliyahu is given a hidden message while at Mount Sinaiwhat is that message and what does it mean? 10) Renewed Covenant Commentary: Acts 2:1-21 Acts 2:1 14) The loan word pentaqostia (fiftieth day) appears here and in 1Co_16:8. Tradition has it that Luke translated for Paul, who would have used this term for the benefit of a Gentile audience. Luke's upbringing in Syrian Antioch prepared him for toggling between Semitic and Gentile terminology. On the other hand, in Israel where the Gospels originated, Aramaic paskha, the direct cognate of pesach, was being used for "Passover" and was later loaned into Greek. 3|Page

Loanwords going either from Aramaic into Greek or vice versa are the effect of this time when Semitic culture was dominated by Greco-Roman power. Without loanwords, the Peshitta could not be authentic. 15) This means, after the days counting the Omer were fulfilled. The English could be misconstrued to mean after the days of the feast itself were completed. However, Aramaic literally reads after the days of pentaqostia were fulfilled or, after the 50 day period was reached. Pentecost is used here as both a technical term to refer to the feast and a time marker. Also the actual day was Shabbat (Saturday) morning, not Sunday as many Christians assume. The last day of the omer count ended at sunset on Friday, May 24th in the year 30 CE, so the disciples were assembled as one on the following morning after Shavuot ended, when the Ruach haKodesh came. Acts 2:2 16) Or "groaning spirit." 17) "House" here refers to the Temple; see Mat_12:4; Mat_21:13; Luk_2:49; Joh_2:16-17, not the "upper room" of Act_1:13. It is the Day of Shavuot; Y'shua's disciples are gathered together in the Father's House. Luk_24:53 states the disciples were "at all times in the temple." The Ruach haKodesh is clearly poured out in full view of those in attendance at the Temple, not in some hidden place. Y'shua was known to visit the Temple daily. In the early mornings he taught those who came to learn of the Kingdom of Elohim; see Luk_21:36-38. Acts 2:4 18) The universal remedy to the confusion of language at Bavel, Gen_11:9, is to learn the language of the Spirit that unifies all souls in righteousness. Acts 2:11 19) All the tongues listed here are man-made; these are not angelic or heavenly. The gift of angelic tongues, the issue of genuineness aside, cannot be linked to this event in Acts 2 or to the Shavuot-Pentecost holiday. Please see footnotes on Act_2:17, Joh_20:22, and Founders of the all Gentile Church: Tertullian 155-230 CE in Appendix. Acts 2:17 20) The later (last or latter) days, acharit hayamim in Hebrew, is the season when the Day of YHWH will be fulfilled. The acharit hayamim and Day of YHWH references prophecies regarding Mashiyach ben David. Shimon Keefa assumed he was witnessing the acharit hayamim since Yshua had clearly fulfilled the prophecies of Mashiyach ben Yosef (the suffering servant), but he 4|Page

would have had no idea when Mashiyach would return as Mashiyach ben David to fulfill the many elements spoken of by Joel and the other Prophets of YHWH. Please see footnote on Act_28:28. KOL DNIQRA SHMEH DMARYAH NEKHA (2:21) = All who call upon the Name of Master YHWH will be saved. This is a continuation of Yshuas own teaching from Yochanan 17, where three times he said he taught the Name to his disciples, Yahweh, that was otherwise banned in the Judaism of his day (Joh 17:6) I have made Your Name known to the sons of those men whom You had given to me from the world. They were Yours and You have given them to me, and they have kept Your Word. (Joh 17:11) Henceforth, I will not be in the world, and these are in the world. And I am coming to Your presence. Kadosh201 Father, keep them by your Name,202 the same Name which you have given to me, that they may be one even as We are one. (Joh 17:12) I was with them while I was in the world. I have kept them in your Name;203 those whom you have given to me, I have kept. And not a man of them is lost except for the son of destruction, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. (Joh 17:25) My Just Father, the world has not known You, but I have known You. And these have known that You have sent me. (Joh 17:26) And I have made Your Name known to them. And I will confess it so that the love with which You have loved me might be in them, and I might be in them."

5|Page