For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.

L'ma'an Tzion lo echesheh. U'l'ma'an Yerushalayim lo eshkot. Ad yetzi ka no ga tzidkah. Lo echesheh.

למען ציון לא אחשׁה ולמען ירושׁלם לא אשׁקוט עד יצא כנגה צדקה וישׁועתה כלפיד יבער

Isaiah 62:1

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Saturday, May 12, 2012

Thoughts on the Torah portion (B'har) By..... T. Man


Shabbat Shalom! It is I the T. Man coming to you this week with the thoughts on the Torah portion. But first of all, I want to apologize for not doing a post last week. I had actually remembered on Friday while at work that it was my turn, but then on my way home from Nashville where I was working (about an hour and a half away from home), my fuel pump decided to give up the ghost! And for those of you who don't know what that means, it means that it quit working, which in turn shut down my truck and I was stranded to a certain degree!

Thankfully my dad was on his way home from work and was able to come and help me. But long story short, I had to drop the gas tank on my truck (the pump is in the tank) on the side of the road and change out the pump and then reinstall the tank! The process was a bit more difficult due to the 15 - 20 gallons of gas that were in the tank! Anyways I was delayed a couple hours, and by the time I got home, I had completely forgotten about doing the post and I didn't remember about it until we were reading it at LAMB (Lighthouse Assembly of Messianic Believers, which is our fellowship). So now I get to try to redeem myself and bring it to you this week!

However before I start, I want to mention a slight change up! Normally when doing a post, I'll have the three different sections listed, the Torah, the Haftorah and the Brit Hadasha. However at LAMB we read the "normal" Torah portion, and then something from one of the historical books and then something in the Brit Hadasha. So instead of giving the reference to the "normal" Haftorah portion, we've decided to go along with what we're doing at LAMB.

Also on a side note, I want to put in a plug for LAMB fellowship! If any of you that read this find yourself wanting a place to fellowship and can make it to middle TN, please come join us. LAMB fellowship is an absolutely wonderful fellowship with a wonderful group of people. I am so thankful to be apart of LAMB again after the many years that we had been away. To find out more info, check out www.lambfellowship.com And now to my thoughts on the Torah!

This week's Torah portion in called B'har, which means On The Mount. And it can be found in Leviticus 25:1-26:2, The Writings/History - Ruth 1:1-2:23, and the Brit Hadasha - Luke 4:14-5:26.

After reading it over, I have decided to comment on the the portion in Ruth instead of the Torah like I normally do, so I encourage you to go read it for yourself!

I think that this story in Ruth is one of my favorites, because it goes to show that no matter what your background is, you can join yourself to Israel if you are willing to live according to how YHVH wants you to live! One of the things that stood out to me was the example of Yeshua that we can see throughout this passage.

First we see Ruth leaving her old life behind and embracing her new life with such zeal. Then we see her working/serving her mother in-law and we see Boaz who, in my opinion, is a representation of Yeshua ... not only does he allow Ruth to work/serve in his fields, but he also tells her not to leave or else she might be molested and he supplies her with grain so that she can provide for Naomi and herself. Now think of Yeshua - does He not protect us, His children, from the evils of the world? And does He not supply our every need? Even in discrete ways sometimes just as Boaz did with Ruth!

And then the best part of all, THE WEDDING!!!! In the end we see Boaz marrying Ruth whom he has been watching over and providing for her. Although Scripture doesn't say it I would have to believe that the time of their wedding was in the time frame of the fall Feast, judging by the harvest! In the end of days are we, the bridegroom of Yeshua, not also going to have a WEDDING???!!!! To the best of my understanding, it is going to take place around the time of the fall Feast! It is almost mind boggling to see and understand all of the similarities between the story of Boaz and Ruth, and the story of Yeshua and us, His bride!

Anyway, that is what stood out to me in this portion. I hope that each and every one of you will read this whole portion for yourself and glean (no pun intended) the many details that I didn't mention. Also feel free to share your thoughts with me, if I am mistaken in anything I say, I want to be corrected. Just because I comment on a certain Torah portion, it doesn't mean that I'm perfect ... as I'm sure many of y'all know! It simply means that I'm gonna try to do my best to give you my thoughts on this particular Torah portion.

Once again Shabbat Shalom and I hope you have a blessed week.
Shalom, T. Man