Study Notes Week 6

Torah Study Notes for Week 6 of the Torah Reading Cycle

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• Torah (T): Bereshiyt (Genesis) 6:1-22
• Prophets (P): Daniel 7:13-22
• Apostolic (A): 1 Peter 3:13-22
• Additional (ADD): Jubilees 5:1-18

Torah Summary
Context and coherence (Nehemiah 8:8)

1. Like Enoch, Noaḥ too walked with the Elohim
   1. Genesis 6:9 …Noaḥ̣ was a righteous man, perfect in his generations. Noaḥ̣ walked with [the Elohim].^(MTT)
   2. Genesis 5:22-24 After Methuselah’s birth, Enoch walked with [the Elohim]^(mss)(MTT) for [two hundred]^(LXX) years, and became the father of more sons and daughters. 23 All the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty-five years. 24 Enoch walked with [the Elohim],^(mss)(MTT) and he was not found, for Elohim took him.
2. Who are the Sons of Elohim?
   1. Genesis 6:1-2 When the man began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them, 2 The sons of [the Elohim]^(MTT) saw that daughters of the man were beautiful, and they took any that they wanted for themselves as wives.
   2. בְנֵי־הָאֱלֹהִים benei haelohim (H1121 + H430) literally translates to “sons of the Elohim” (cf. Genesis 6:2-4; Deuteronomy 32:8; Deuteronomy 32:43; Job 1:6; Job 2:1; Job 38:7; Psalms 89:6; Luke 20:36) and is equivalent to the Greek word ἄγγελος angelos (G32), which is defined as “one who is sent as a messenger or envoy.” ἄγγελος angelos is equivalent to the Hebrew word for angel, מַלְאַךְ malakh (H4397) which is “one who bears a message or runs an errand” in the sense of “walking” for another (cf. Genesis 16:7-11; Genesis 19:1; Genesis 21:17; Genesis 22:11; Exodus 3:2; Exodus 14:19; Exodus 23:20-23; Numbers 22:22-27). The Hebrew word הַלֵּךְ halaka (H1980) means “to walk” and is derived from the same root as מַלְאַךְ malakh.
   3. Deuteronomy 32:8-12; Deuteronomy 8:43; Psalms 82:1-8; John 10:31-38
      1. Deuteronomy 32:8 When Elyon gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of man, he set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the sons of [Elohim].^(DSS) 9 For YHWH’s portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. 10 He found him in a desert land, in the waste howling wilderness. He surrounded him. He cared for him. He kept him as the apple of his eye. 11 As an eagle that stirs up her nest, that flutters over her young, he spread abroad his wings, he took them, he bore them on his feathers. 12 YHWH alone led him. There was no foreign elohim with him…
      2. Deuteronomy 32:43 According to Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) and Septuagint (LXX) Rejoice, [the heavens, together with him]^(DSS)(LXX) [and bow down to him all you elohim],^(DSS) [and let all the angels of Elohim worship him];^{(LXX)(cf. Hebrews 1:6)} rejoice ye Nations, with his people, ^{(LXX)(cf. Romans 15:10)}, for he will avenge the blood of his [sons],^(DSS)(LXX) and will render vengeance to his enemies, and [will recompense those who hate him];^(DSS)(LXX) and [will atone]^(DSS) [for the land of his people].^(DSS)(LXX)
      3. Psalms 82:1 A Psalm by Asaph. Elohim presides in the assembly of elohim. He judges among elohim. 2 “How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked?” Selah. 3 “Judge for the helpless and the fatherless. Do righteousness to the afflicted and dispossessed. 4 Rescue the helpless and needy. Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.” 5 They don’t know, neither do they understand. They walk back and forth in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are shaken. 6 I said, “You are elohim, all of you are sons of the Most High. 7 Nevertheless you will die like men, and fall like one of the rulers.” 8 Arise, Elohim, judge the earth, for you inherit all of the nations.
      4. John 10:31 Therefore the Judeans took up stones again to stone him. 32 Yeshua answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of those works do you stone me?” 33 The Judeans answered him, “We don’t stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself Elohim.” 34 Yeshua answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, ‘I said, you are elohim?’ (cf. Psalm 82:6) 35 If he called them elohim, to whom the word of Elohim came, and the Scripture can’t be broken, 36 do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of Elohim?’ 37 If I don’t do the works of my Father, don’t believe me. 38 But if I do them, though you don’t believe me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”
3. Who are the Nephilim?
   1. נְּפִלִים Nephilim (H5303) is the masculine plural of the word naphal (H5307) which means to cause to fall, throw down, knock out, or lay prostrate (cf. Genesis 2:21; Genesis 4:5-6; Exodus 21:27; Exodus 32:28). נְּפִלִים Nephilim is often translated as “Giants,” likely due to the Greek Old Testaments translation of Nephilim as γίγαντες gígantes which means “giants.”
      1. The word נְּפִלִים Nephilim is only used in Genesis 6:4 and Numbers 13:33
         1. Genesis 6:4 The Nephilim were in the land in those days, and also after that, when the sons of [the Elohim]^(MTT) came in to daughters of the man and bore to them. Those were the mighty ones who were from a distant time, men of name.
         2. Numbers 13:32-33 They brought up a slander of the land which they had spied out to the sons of Israel, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people who we saw in it are men of great measurements. 33 There we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim. We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”
4. Are all demons the spirits of deceased Nephilim?
   1. Jubilees 10:5-9 And Thou knowest how thy Watchers, the fathers of these spirits, acted in my day: and as for these spirits which are living, imprison them and hold them fast in the place of condemnation, and let them not bring destruction on the sons of thy servant, my Elohim; for these are malignant, and created in order to destroy. 6. And let them not rule over the spirits of the living; for Thou alone canst exercise dominion over them. And let them not have power over the sons of the righteous from henceforth and for evermore.” 7. And the Lord our Elohim bade us to bind all. 8. And the chief of the spirits, Mastema, came and said: “Lord, Creator, let some of them remain before me, and let them hearken to my voice, and do all that I will say unto them; for if some of them are not left to me, I will not be able to execute the power of my will on the sons of men; for these are for corruption and leading astray before my judgment, for great is the wickedness of the sons of men.” 9. And He said: “Let the tenth part of them remain before him, and let nine parts descend into the place of condemnation.”
   2. מַשְׂטֵמָה mastemah (H4895) means animosity or enmity. Mastema is used as the proper name of the chief of the evil spirits in Jubilees 10:8.
   3. Enoch 15:1-11 And He answered and said to me, and I heard His voice: ‘Fear not, Enoch, thou righteous man and scribe of righteousness: approach hither and hear my voice. 2. And go, say to ⌈⌈the Watchers of the heavens⌉⌉, who have sent thee to intercede ⌈⌈for them: “You should intercede”⌉⌉ for men, and not men for you: 3.Wherefore have ye left the high, holy, and eternal the heavens, and lain with women, and defiled yourselves with the daughters of men and taken to yourselves wives, and done like the children of land, and begotten giants (as your) sons? 4. And though ye were holy, spiritual, living the eternal life, you have defiled yourselves with the blood of women, and have begotten (children) with the blood of flesh, and, as the children of men, have coveted after flesh and blood as those ⌈also⌉ do who die and perish. 5. Therefore have I given them wives also that they might impregnate them, and beget children by them, that thus nothing might be wanting to them on land. 6. But you were ⌈formerly⌉ spiritual, living the eternal life, and immortal for all generations of the world. 7. And therefore I have not appointed wives for you; for as for the spiritual ones of the heavens, in the heavens is their dwelling. 8. And now, the giants, who are produced from the spirits and flesh, will be called evil spirits upon the land, and on the land will be their dwelling. 9. Evil spirits have proceeded from their bodies; because they are born from men, ⌈⌈and⌉⌉ from the holy Watchers is their beginning and primal origin; ⌈they will be evil spirits on land, and⌉ evil spirits will they be called. [10. As for the spirits of the heavens, in the heavens will be their dwelling, but as for the spirits of the land which were born upon the land, on the land will be their dwelling.] 11. And the spirits of the giants afflict, oppress, destroy, attack, do battle, and work destruction on the land, and cause trouble: they take no food, ⌈but nevertheless hunger⌉ and thirst, and cause offences. And these spirits will rise up against the children of men and against the women, because they have proceeded ⌈from them⌉.
      1. Matthew 12:43-45 “When an unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless places seeking rest, and doesn’t find it. 44 Then he says, ‘I will return into my house from which I came;’ and when he has come back, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then he goes and takes with himself seven other spirits more evil than he is, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first. Even so will it be also to this evil generation.”
      2. John 10:10 The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.
      3. Matthew 8:28-29 When he came to the other side, into the country of the Gergesenes, two people possessed by demons met him there, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that nobody could pass that way. 29 Behold, they cried out, saying, “What do we have to do with you, Yeshua, Son of Elohim? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
      4. Luke 8:28-31 When he saw Yeshua, he cried out and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, “What do I have to do with you, Yeshua, you Son of the Most High Elohim? I beg you, don’t torment me!” 29 For Yeshua was commanding the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For the unclean spirit had often seized the man. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and fetters. Breaking the bonds apart, he was driven by the demon into the desert. 30 Yeshua asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered into him. 31 They begged him that he would not command them to go into the abyss.
         1. λεγεών legiōn (G3003) A legion, a body of soldiers whose number differed at different times, and in the time of Augustus seems to have consisted of 6826 men (i.e. 6100 foot soldiers, and 726 horsemen)
      5. 2 Peter 2:4-5 For if Elohim didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartaros, and committed them to pits of darkness to be reserved for judgment; 5 and didn’t spare the ancient world, but preserved Noaḥ with seven others, a proclaimer of righteousness, when he brought a flood on the world of the impious
      6. Acts 10:36-38 The word which he sent to the sons of Israel, proclaiming good news of peace by Yeshua the Messiah—he is Lord of all— 37 you yourselves know what happened, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the immersion which Yochanan preached; 38 how God anointed Yeshua of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for Elohim was with him.
5. If the pre-flood Nephilim were destroyed and their spirits imprisoned, what evil spirits are in operation now?
   1. Jubilees 10:8-9 And the chief of the spirits, Mastema, came and said: “Lord, Creator, let some of them remain before me, and let them hearken to my voice, and do all that I will say unto them; for if some of them are not left to me, I will not be able to execute the power of my will on the sons of men; for these are for corruption and leading astray before my judgment, for great is the wickedness of the sons of men.” 9. And He said: “Let the tenth part of them remain before him, and let nine parts descend into the place of condemnation.”
   2. 2 Peter 2:4 For if Elohim didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartaros, and committed them to pits of darkness to be reserved for judgment
      1. In Greek mythology, Τάρταρος Tártaros (G5020) is the deep abyss that is used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked and as the prison for the Titans. Only used once in the Bible (cf. 2 Peter 2:4).
   3. Matthew 25:41 Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels;
   4. Revelation 12:9 The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
6. What scriptural evidence do you find that indicates that the Nephilim existed after the flood?
   1. Numbers 13:32-33 They brought up a slander of the land which they had spied out to the sons of Israel, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people who we saw in it are men of great measurements. 33 There we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim. We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”
7. What did the Nephilim teach?
   1. Enoch 6:1-8, Enoch 7:1-6 And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. 2. And the angels, the children of the heavens, saw and coveted after them, and said to one another: ‘Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children.’ 3. And Semjâzâ, who was their leader, said unto them: ‘I fear ye will not indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone will have to pay the penalty of a great sin.’ 4. And they all answered him and said: ‘Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations not to abandon this plan but to do this thing.’ 5. Then sware they all together and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it. 6. And they were in all two hundred; who descended ⌈in the days⌉ of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon, and they called it Mount Hermon, because they had sworn and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it. 7. And these are the names of their leaders: Sêmîazâz, their leader, Arâkîba, Râmêêl, Kôkabîêl, Tâmîêl, Râmîêl, Dânêl, Êzêqêêl, Barâqîjâl, Asâêl, Armârôs, Batârêl, Anânêl, Zaqîêl, Samsâpêêl, Satarêl, Tûrêl, Jômjâêl, Sariêl. 8. These are their chiefs of tens. 7:1. And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves with them, and they taught them charms and enchantments, and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants. 2. And they became pregnant, and they bare great giants, whose height was three thousand ells: 3. Who consumed all the acquisitions of men. And when men could no longer sustain them, 4. the giants turned against them and devoured mankind. 5. And they began to sin against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and fish, and to devour one another’s flesh, and drink the blood. 6. Then the land laid accusation against the lawless ones.
      1. Semjâzâ was their leader
      2. These are their chiefs of tens.
         1. Sêmîazâz, their leader,
         2. Arâkîba,
         3. Râmêêl,
         4. Kôkabîêl,
         5. Tâmîêl,
         6. Râmîêl,
         7. Dânêl,
         8. Êzêqêêl,
         9. Barâqîjâl,
         10. Asâêl,
         11. Armârôs,
         12. Batârêl,
         13. Anânêl,
         14. Zaqîêl,
         15. Samsâpêêl,
         16. Satarêl,
         17. Tûrêl,
         18. Jômjâêl,
         19. Sariêl.
   2. Enoch 8:1-2
      1. Azâzêl taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals 〈of the land〉 and the art of working them, and bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the beautifying of the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones, and all colouring tinctures. 2. And there arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication, and they were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways.
         1. Leviticus 16:8-10 Aaron will cast lots for the two goats: one lot for YHWH, and the other lot for Azazel. 9 Aaron will present the goat on which the lot fell for YHWH, and offer him for a sin offering. 10 But the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel will be presented alive before YHWH, to make atonement for him, to send him away to Azazel into the wilderness.
      2. Semjâzâ taught enchantments, and root-cuttings, Armârôs the resolving of enchantments,
      3. Barâqîjâl, (taught) astrology,
      4. Kôkabêl the constellations,
      5. Ezêqêêl the knowledge of the clouds, 〈
      6. Araqiêl the signs of the land,
      7. Shamsiêl the signs of the sun, and
      8. Sariêl the course of the moon.
   3. Enoch 8:2 …And as men perished, they cried, and their cry went up to the heavens.
   4. Enoch 9:1-5 And then Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel looked down from the heavens and saw much blood being shed upon the land, and all lawlessness being wrought upon the land. 2. And they said one to another: ‘The land made †without inhabitant cries the voice of their crying† up to the gates of the heavens. 3 ⌈⌈And now to you, the holy ones of the heavens⌉⌉, the souls of men make their suit, saying, “Bring our cause before the Most High.”.’ 4. And they said to the Lord of the ages: ‘Lord of lords, Elohim of Elohim, King of kings, 〈and Elohim of the ages〉, the throne of Thy glory (standeth) unto all the generations of the ages, and Thy name holy and glorious and blessed unto all the ages! 5. Thou hast made all things, and power over all things hast Thou: and all things are naked and open in Thy sight, and Thou seest all things, and nothing can hide itself from Thee.
   5. Enoch 9:6-11
      1. 6. Thou seest what Azâzêl hath done, who hath taught all unrighteousness on land and revealed the eternal secrets which were (preserved) in the heavens, which men were striving to learn:
      2. 7. And Semjâzâ, to whom Thou hast given authority to bear rule over his associates. 8. And they have gone to the daughters of men upon the land, and have slept with the women, and have defiled themselves, and revealed to them all kinds of sins. 9. And the women have borne giants, and the whole land has thereby been filled with blood and unrighteousness. 10. And now, behold, the souls of those who have died are crying and making their suit to the gates of the heavens, and their lamentations have ascended: and cannot cease because of the lawless deeds which are wrought on the land. 11. And Thou knowest all things before they come to pass, and Thou seest these things and Thou dost suffer them, and Thou dost not say to us what we are to do to them in regard to these.’
8. Raising the dead was a clear sign that Yeshua was the Messiah and the one who was coming as prophesied by Moses in Deuteronomy 18: Luke 7:20-22 When the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?’” 21 In that hour he cured many of diseases and plagues and evil spirits; and to many who were blind he gave sight. 22 Yeshua answered them, “Go and tell John the things which you have seen and heard: that the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.” When we consider there are only three recorded resurrections Yeshua performed: The widow of Nain’s son (Luke 7:11–17), Jairus’ daughter (Luke 8:40–56), and Lazarus of Bethany (John 11), this may tell us that raising the dead was for a fulfillment of his Messiahship and not to be a continual work of him or his followers.
9. In Matthew 10:8, Yeshua told the 12 disciples three things they’d do in His name; heal the sick, cleanse those infected with skin diseases, and cast out demons. “Raise the dead” is listed on some Bibles, but this was a later addition and not in the earliest manuscripts. “According to Biblical scholarship, the phrase “raise the dead” in Matthew 10:8 is not present in the earliest manuscripts, meaning it is considered by many to be a later addition to the text and not part of the original instruction given by Jesus to his disciples; this is supported by evidence from the Syriac Peshitta and other ancient manuscripts which do not include this phrase.”
   1. Mark 3:14-15 establishes this further; “And he appointed twelve, that they might be with him, and that he might send them out to preach, 15 and to have authority to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons.” Heal sicknesses would include skin diseases and leprosy so it’s the same as Matthew 10. Neither mentions raising the dead. In Luke 10, he sends out an additional 72 who were told to heal the sick (Luke 10:9), but we know they also cast out demons because “the seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name.” Many times we see it was demon possession that caused the various diseases so casting out demons in Yeshua’s name was usually all that was needed. This all happened during Yeshua’s earthly life so the Holy Spirit had not yet been given to His followers, but it wasn’t needed because they went in the power and name of Yeshua.
   2. Acts 19:11-17 is another example of Yeshua’s name being all that’s needed to cast out demons; “Elohim worked special miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and the evil spirits went out. 13 But some of the itinerant Jews, exorcists, took on themselves to invoke over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Yeshua, saying, “I adjure you by Yeshua whom Paul preaches.” 14 There were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did this. 15 The evil spirit answered, “Yeshua I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was, having leapt on them, having overpowered them all, prevailed against them so that they fled from that house naked and wounded. 17 This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived at Ephesus. Fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Yeshua was magnified.” These non-believing Jewish men who practiced first-century exorcism thought they could simply use Yeshua’s name without being saved.
   3. Exorcism. Encyclopedia Britannica supports the claim that Believers only used Yeshua’s name until the Catholic Church changed it, go figure: “In the Christian tradition, Jesus expelled demons by a word and stated that this act was a sign of the coming of God’s Kingdom. His followers, and others as well, drove out demons “in his name.” In the first two centuries of the Christian era, the power of exorcism was considered a special gift that might be bestowed on anyone, lay or cleric. About A.D. 250, however, there appeared a special class of the lower clergy, called exorcists, to whom was entrusted this special function. About the same time, exorcism became one of the ceremonies preparatory to baptism, and it has remained a part of the Roman Catholic baptismal service. The exorcism of persons possessed by demons is carefully regulated by canon law in the Roman Catholic church, and the elaborate rite is contained in the Roman ritual.”
   4. John 14:12; “Amen, amen, I tell you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also; and he will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.” The context of John 14:12 tells us the “greater” Yeshua is referring to is in number and quantity because he said he is leaving and going to the Father. Logically, this would mean his followers who continue in the works would do greater in number because they’d have more time and they’d have more people doing the work. We don’t see more “powers” given to believers than Yeshua. By only preaching the Good News of Yeshua in the power of the Holy Spirit, 3,000 were immediately saved in Acts 2 then 5,000 saved in Acts 4 as proof of this. Yeshua’s preaching and works never saved 8,000 people. According to Acts 1:15, there were about 120 brothers who followed Yeshua from His years of ministry as he discipled them. Yeshua knew the greater impact his followers would have, but they didn’t until they received the Spirit.
   5. Yeshua told us what the Spirit and its power would do and it’s debatable whether all of it applies to the Apostles only or all future followers of Yeshua:
      1. Mark 13:11 “When they lead you away and deliver you up, do not be anxious beforehand, or premeditate what you will say, but say whatever will be given you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.”;
      2. John 14:25-26 “All this I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you”;
      3. John 15:26 “When the Helper has come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me. 27 And you will also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning”;
      4. John 16:7-15 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper won’t come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he has come, he will convict the world about sin, and about righteousness, and about judgment; 9 about sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, and you won’t see me any more; 11 about judgment, because the prince of this world has been judged. 12 “I have yet many things to tell you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak on his own; but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you things that are coming. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take from what is mine, and will declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are mine; that is why I said that he takes of mine, and will declare it to you.”;
      5. Acts 1:4-8 “Being assembled together with them, he commanded them, “Do not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from me. 5 For John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you now restoring the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set within his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest part of the earth.”;
      6. Acts 2:4 “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak out.”;
      7. 1 Corinthians 14:22 “Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe, but to the unbelieving…”
      8. The Holy Spirit details the way Yeshua’s followers would be empowered to speak boldly and proclaim Yeshua wherever they go, not fearing man. We don’t see any indication that the Spirit gave people power to go beyond the works of Yeshua and his Apostles of healing sickness and casting out demons. Peter (Tabitha in Acts 9:36-43) and Paul (Eutychus in Acts 20:7–12) are the only apostles with recorded accounts of raising someone from the dead. Peter did it the exact way Yeshua did and many believed in Yeshua because of it, but it’s debatable whether Eutychus actually died from his fall. 
10. Gopher wood גֹפֶר gopher (H1613) is only used once in the entire Hebrew Bible and describes an unknown wood not found since Noaḥ’s time.
    1. This could be because the Book of Enoch says the ark was made by angels in Enoch 67:1-2; “And in those days the word of Elohim came unto me, and He said unto me: ‘Noaḥ̣, thy lot has come up before Me, a lot without blame, a lot of love and uprightness. 2. And now the angels are making a wooden building, and when they have completed that task I will place My hand upon it and preserve it, and there shall come forth from it the seed of life, and a change shall set in so that the land will not remain without inhabitant.”
    2. Reminder that Moses was commanded to make the tabernacle, but Bezalel and Oholiab and others actually built it.
       1. Exodus 25:9 According to all that I show you, the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all of its furniture, even so you shall make it.
       2. Exodus 36:1-2 “Bezalel and Oholiab shall work with every wise-hearted man, in whom YHWH has put wisdom and understanding to know how to do all the work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that YHWH has commanded.” 2 Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab, and every wise-hearted man, in whose heart YHWH had put wisdom, even everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to the work to do it.
11. The Ark was made for protection
    1. Usually translated as “ark” or “ship,” תֵּבָה tebah (H8392) is literally defined as a “vessel” used as floating container for holding items. The word is only used to describe two events in the Torah; Used for the basket that carried Moses down the Nile river (cf. Exodus 2:3-5) and the ark of Noaḥ (cf. Genesis 6:14-16). The length of a cubit has varied over time but the measurements correspond roughly to a vessel 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high and would make the ark of Noaḥ larger than any wooden vessel ever built. (In comparison, The Great Pyramid of Giza has an estimated original height, without loss due to erosion, of 430 feet. The Pyramid was the tallest structure in the world for almost 4,000 years.) In 1733, Thomas Stackhouse and his illustrators depict the ark as having a rectangular box-like design, very different to the traditional sea-going ship with curved keel, bow and rounded hull. According to Stackhouse, Noaḥ was commanded to “build a kind of vessel, not in the form of ships now in use, but rather inclining to the fashion of a large chest or ark.” As this ark was, “intended only for a kind of float, to swim above the water, the flatness of it’s bottom did render it more capacious.” It was, Stackhouse argues, designed for protection and not for navigation.

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7:13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of the heavens one like a son of enash, and he came even to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. 14 Dominion was given him, and glory, and a reign, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and his reign one that will not be destroyed. 15 “As for me, Daniel, my spirit was grieved within my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. 16 I came near to one of those who stood by, and asked him the truth concerning all this. “So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. 17 ‘These great animals, which are four, are four kings, who will arise out of the land. 18 But the holy ones of the Most High will receive the reign, and possess the reign forever, even forever and ever.’ 19 “Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth animal, which was different from all of them, exceedingly terrible, whose teeth were of iron, and its nails of bronze; which devoured, broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet; 20 and concerning the ten horns that were on its head and the other horn which came up, and before which three fell, even that horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke arrogantly, whose look was more stout than its fellows. 21 I saw, and the same horn made war with the holy ones, and prevailed against them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the holy ones of the Most High, and the time came that the holy ones possessed the reign.

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Apostolic Summary
Context and coherence (Nehemiah 8:8)

1. This week offers a rich and full portion from the Torah and the Apostolic scriptures.
   1. The words and teaching of Peter the fisherman, not Paul, the Torah scholar.
      1. Simple and profound.
      2. Reinforcing the central truths of salvation.
      3. Immersed in the fear of Elohim and the reality of coming judgment.
   2. Context of chapters 1 and 2:
      1. Discipleship in our calling as Believers:
         1. What is our identity in Messiah?
         2. What is the reality beyond our temporal circumstances and suffering? 
         3. How then shall we live?
2. Our focus and calling simply stated:
   1. “Sanctify Christ as the Lord (#2962) in your hearts” (1 Pe. 3:15).
      1. What does this imply?
         1. Messiah’s very presence exists within us.
         2. We are called to set Him in the highest place of authority. 
            1. G2962. Kurios – “Lord, master, owner”.
            2. Word Origin: Derived from the Greek word “kuros,” meaning “supremacy” or “authority.”
      2. Extends Kiddush HaShem to the inner man.
         1. “Then Moses said to Aaron, ‘It is what the LORD spoke, saying, “By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, and before all the people I will be honored.”’ So Aaron, therefore, kept silent” (Lev. 10:3).
         2. “But when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst, They will sanctify My name; Indeed, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and will stand in awe of the God of Israel” (Isa. 29:23”.  
         3. “I will magnify Myself, sanctify Myself, and make Myself known in the sight of many nations; and they will know that I am the LORD” (Eze. 38:23).
   2. Cultivating a fear of the Lord is our primary calling as disciples of Christ.
      1. “The highest emotion which there can be in the soul is the fear of God; and when that exists, the soul will be calm amidst all that might tend otherwise to disturb it” (Barnes).
      2. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, by which one may avoid the snares of death (Prov. 14:27)

 Exhortation
Counsel, comfort, and encouragement (Acts 13:14-15)

“Because Messiah also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to Elohim, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit” (1 Pet. 3:18)

1. Our questions for today’s study are the following: “What is life and what does it mean to truly live?”

PREMISE:

We cannot truly live apart from Messiah and the life of Elohim He imparts to the faithful. 

1. As humans, we usually think of death strictly in terms of the body – i.e. that which is physical.
   1. Death (deth): Def. — “a permanent cessation of all vital functions: the end of life”.
      1. In the natural, death (and therefore, life) is binary – “alive” or “dead”.
   2. Thinking biblically requires us to view life and death as more than physical (i.e. natural).   
2. Understanding the term, “eternal life”.
   1. “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes will have eternal (#166) life (#2222) in Him. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish (#622) but have eternal (#166) life (#2222)” (John 3:14-16).
   2. G2222. zoe – “Life”.
      1. Usage: Both of physical (present) and of spiritual (particularly future) existence. In the New Testament, “zóé” refers to life in its fullest sense, encompassing both physical and spiritual dimensions. It is often used to describe the eternal life that is granted through faith in Jesus Christ. This life is not merely an unending existence but a quality of life that is abundant and fulfilling, characterized by a relationship with God.
      2. Corresponding Hebrew Entries: – חַי (chay) – Strong’s Hebrew 2416, meaning “life” or “living”. נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh) – Strong’s Hebrew 5315, often translated as “soul” or “life”
   3. G166. aiṓnios – “eternal, everlasting, forever”.
      1. Cognate: an adjective, derived from 165 /aiṓn (“an age, having a particular character and quality”) – properly, “age-like” (“like-an-age”), i.e. an “age-characteristic” (the quality describing a particular age); (figuratively) the unique quality (reality) of God’s life at work in the believer, i.e. as the Lord manifests His self-existent life (as it is in His sinless abode of heaven).
      2. 166 (aiṓnios) does not focus on the future per se, but rather on the quality of the age (165 /aiṓn) it relates to. Thus, believers live in “eternal (166 /aiṓnios) life” right now, experiencing this quality of God’s life now as a present possession.”
      3. Corresponding Hebrew Entries: – עֹולָם (olam) – Strong’s H5769: Often translated as “everlasting” or “eternal,” used to describe God’s eternal nature and covenant promises.
   4. G622. apollumi – “to destroy, to perish, to lose”.

KEY POINT:

In the scriptures, life is both natural and spiritual, and both come from YHWH. Natural life refers to being physically alive with the same breath of YHWH in our lungs that Adam possessed and corresponds to this temporal age which will end in physical death for every human being. Life that is “spiritual” is different in quality because it is “age-lasting” (i.e. will extend beyond physical death) and is “of” the essence or nature of YHWH Himself.

1. The key question is: “How do we obtain/experience spiritual (e.g eternal) life?” 
   1. Brings us back to our portion, where Peter describes this life in the context of Yeshua’s resurrection:
      1. “Because Messiah also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to Elohim, being put to death in flesh, but made alive (#2227) in spirit” (1 Pet. 3:18).
         1. G2227. zóopoieó – “to make alive, to give life, to quicken”
            1. Usage: The verb ζῳοποιέω is used in the New Testament to describe the act of giving life or making alive. It is often used in a spiritual or metaphorical sense, referring to the life-giving power of God, particularly through the Holy Spirit. This term emphasizes the transformative power of God to bring spiritual life to those who are spiritually dead.
         2. Studying several of the 11 occurrences in the Apostolic Scriptures will help us answer our question.
2. Key #1 – Every human lives under a Law – either of Sin and Death or Life in Christ.
   1. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Messiah Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death” (Rom. 8:1-2).
      1. The Law of Sin and Death = “You sin, you die”.
         1. Causes a person to reject God and reject His Law.
            1. “For the mind of the flesh is death…because the mind of the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:6a, 7-8).
      2. The Law of the Spirit of Life in Messiah = “You believe, you live”.
         1. “[B]ut the mind of the Spirit is life and peace” (Rom. 8:6b).
   2. Just as a unbeliever can only life under the law of sin and death, a Believer can only live under the Law of the Spirit of Life.
      1. “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him” (Rom. 8:9).
   3. A Believer has YHWH’s zoe life in their spirit, even though death remains in their physical bodies (i.e. flesh) until the physical resurrection.
      1. “If Messiah is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness” (Rom. 8:10)
   4. “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Yeshua from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Messiah Yeshua from the dead will also give life (#2227) to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Rom. 8:11).

KEY POINT:

The Believer in Yeshua experiences spiritual life and the renewal it brings through the Spirit of Elohim dwelling in them.

1. Keys #2 and 3 – Every human being exists in a state of death before they are made alive in Christ. Moreover, it is only by placing their faith in Yeshua and joining in His death through baptism that any person can experience spiritual life.
   1. “For as in Adam all die, so also in Messiah all will be made alive (#2227)” (1 Cor. 15:22).
   2. “That which you sow does not come to life (#2227) unless it dies (1 Cor. 15:36).
2. Key #4 – After conversion, the work of the Spirit is to restore life to us through sanctification by the Spirit of Holiness through the Word of God.
   1. “Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you? You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all people, revealing yourselves, that you are a letter of Messiah, delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such is the confidence we have toward God through Messiah. Not that we are adequate in ourselves so as to consider anything as having come from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (#2227)” (2 Cor. 3:1-4).
   2. The New Covenant is a covenant of full salvation unto abundant life, not merely atonement from our sins.
      1. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares YHWH, ‘I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (Jer. 31:33).
   3. NOTE: I believe by “the letter kills”, Paul is referring to works-based righteousness and a fleshly or natural-minded attempt at sanctification.
3. Key #5 – Only the Father, and the Son to whom He has given it, has life “in Himself”.
   1. “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life (#2227), even so the Son also gives life (#2227) to whom He wishes. For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear (shamar) will live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment” (John 5:21-29).
      1. Only the Father, the Source of all Life, has life in Himself – i.e. life that originates and is empowered internally. That this is also true of the son, confirms Yeshua’s divine nature and state of being echad with YHWH (see John 10:30).
      2. Those who hear the Gospel and obey (shamar) the Word of Christ the Lord are brought to life and live “spiritually”.
      3. There are two resurrections – one is spiritual and occurs at conversion; the other is physical and occurs at Messiah’s second coming.
4. Key #6 — Because Elohim is the Source of true life, we cannot obtain it through the Law (e.g. Torah) apart from Messiah – this reflects a misunderstanding and misapplication of the commandments.
   1. “Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? Far from it! For if a law had been given that was able to impart life (#2227), then righteousness (#1343) would indeed have been based on law” (Gal. 3:21).
      1. Paul is referring to the righteousness of justification (i.e. conversion), not sanctification (i.e. discipleship).
         1. G1343. dikaiosýnē (from 1349 /díkē, “a judicial verdict”) – properly, judicial approval (the verdict of approval); in the NT, the approval of God (“divine approval”).
         2. 1343 /dikaiosýnē (“divine approval”) is the regular NT term used for righteousness (“God’s judicial approval”). 1343 /dikaiosýnē (“the approval of God”) refers to what is deemed right by the Lord (after His examination), i.e. what is approved in His eyes.
      2. The commandments are righteousness and obeying them means choosing life.
         1. “Let my tongue sing of Your word, for all Your commandments are righteousness” (Psa. 119:172).
         2. “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity; in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the LORD your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it…I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So, choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants” (Deut. 30:15-16,19).
5. Key #7 – Spiritual life flows into our being through intimate connection (i.e. union) with Yeshua.
   1.  “For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world. Then they said to Him, ‘Lord, always give us this bread’. Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, ‘How can this man give us His flesh to eat?’ So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, the one who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. This is the bread that came down out of heaven, not as the fathers ate and died; the one who eats this bread will live forever. These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. So then many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, ‘This statement is very unpleasant; who can listen to it?’ But Jesus, aware that His disciples were complaining about this, said to them, ‘Is this offensive to you? What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life (#2227); the flesh provides no benefit; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe” (John 6:33-34,41,52-63).

KEY POINT:

Spiritual life comes through union with Messiah as we sanctify Him in our hearts as Lord. This is our portion and promise as Believers.

1. Key #8 – It was Yeshua’s divine nature and inherent spiritual life that conquered His own physical death – and will conquer ours.
   1. “Because Messiah also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God, being put to death in flesh, but made alive (#2227) in the Spirit” (1 Pet. 3:18).
   2. Often interpreted as “Brought back to life by the Holy Spirit”
      1. “He was put to death in respect of his human nature but was quickened and raised by the power of the Holy Spirit” (MHC). 
   3. However, earliest manuscripts, including the Codex Sinaiticus, omit the article before “Spirit”:
      1. Codex Sinaiticus: “a manuscript of the Christian Bible written in the middle of the fourth century, contains the earliest complete copy of the Christian New Testament”.
   4. I cannot find scriptural evidence that the Holy Spirit has the power to restore life to a deceased human body.
      1. Lazarus was raised at the command of Messiah, who has spiritual life in Himself.
      2. “It seems equally clear that this does not refer to the Holy Spirit…for it may be doubted whether the work of raising the dead is anywhere ascribed to that Spirit. His special province is to enlighten, awaken, convict, convert, and sanctify the soul; to apply the work of redemption to the hearts of people, and to lead them to God. This influence is moral, not physical; an influence accompanying the truth, not the exertion of mere physical power” (Barnes).

KEY POINT:

Yeshua’s resurrection confirmed that He was the Messiah and had within Himself eternal life.

1. Key #9 – The purpose of Yeshua’s resurrection was so that Yeshua could become a life-giving spirit and thereby impart to us the life of Elohim.
   1. “[S]o also it has been written, `The first man Adam became a living soul,’ the last Adam [is] for (#1519) a life-giving (#2227) spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45 YLT).
      1. G1519. eis – “into, to, towards, for, in order to”.
         1. 1519 eis (a preposition) – properly, into (unto) – literally, “motion into which” implying penetration (“unto,” “union”) to a particular purpose or result.
   2. Adam physically came to life through the breath (ruach) of Elohim but died because of sin. Yeshua gives God’s life through Himself.

SUMMARY:

True and abundant life is both the deepest human desire and the most elusive one. It is only through the intimate union in our hearts with Messiah the Lord that we can partake of the spiritual life that He died and resurrected to give us. 

1. One final note on 1 Peter 3:19-20 – “preaching to the spirits in prison”.
   1. Two common ways to interpret this verse:
      1. #1 – Peter is teaching that between His death and resurrection, Yeshua’s human spirit was disengaged from the body, and He “went” (G 4198. poreuomai) to the place, or state, of the disembodied spirits to proclaim a message to them. 
         1. Perhaps the purpose of this statement by Peter is to give further proof of the new powers of purely spiritual action that Yeshua had as Messiah.
         2. This interpretation affirms the concept of a place of confinement or imprisonment in the invisible world of the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim as witnessed by 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 1:6 and passages about the “abyss” (ref. Luk. 8:31; Rev. 9:1,2,11;11:7;17:8; 20:1,3).
      2. #2 – Peter means that before His incarnation, Yeshua preached by or through Noaḥ, that he might be “a preacher of righteousness” to warn the wicked generation of Nephilim of the approaching judgment and exhorted them to repentance.
         1. Translated as, “in spirit, He had gone and preached unto the spirits (now) in prison”
         2. The argument is that Yeshua proclaiming to the spirits does not mean that they were spirits at the time of His preaching but rather at the time Peter wrote his epistle – i.e. “while they were (formerly) disobedient”.
   2. Either way, Peter emphasizes the key truth for us in verse 21:
      1. Like the ark saved Noaḥ and his family from the terrible judgment inflicted through the Flood, baptism now saves the Believer who undergoes it as an appeal to God for deliverance. In the same analogy, Noaḥ was delivered unto life into a cleansed world, and so we are brought into God’s life by Yeshua’s resurrection when we come up from the waters of baptism.

 

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Does anyone have specific questions or need any clarification from what was said during the Summary or Exhortation?

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Application & Discussion
Living the Word and following Yeshua (Acts 2:37; Romans 2:13)
Questions, input, and sharpening (Proverbs 27:17; Luke 2:46)

Romans 2:13 For it isn’t the hearers of the Torah who are righteous before Elohim, but the doers of the Torah will be justified.

James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves.

1. 1. What questions or comments came up during your family’s discussion of this week’s study?
   2. “What other related Scriptures did you find during your study of this week’s portion?”
   3. Have you ever experienced something from this study or something related to it?
   4. “What changes do you need to make in your life to align with what you learned during this week’s Torah Study?”

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Additional Study Notes