Parasha Tolot (Generations)

From Rabbi Jack...

Exodus {34:21} "Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest."

Exodus {35:3} "You shall kindle no fire throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath day."

There have been many interpretations given for these passages of Scriptures. Exodus 34:21 is quite straightforward and easy to explain; we are not to work on the Shabbat! We are even told what constitutes work; work is labor, labor is anything that is not rest! However, Exodus 35:3 is a bit more difficult to interpret. So, let us take a closer look at this passage and make the effort to sort out what it means.

The first thing we are going to look at is context. Every verse has to be interpreted within its context otherwise it becomes pretext. The context of Exodus chapters 35-40 are all about building and making everything necessary for the erecting of the Tabernacle. Many people would have had to be involved in the Tabernacle's construction; silversmiths, goldsmiths, carvers, tanners, dyers of wool and so forth. Most if not all of these tasks would require fire to accomplish. In their zeal to get the job done and knowing human nature, I believe God is reminding Israel by this verse that they are not to light a fire on Shabbat for the purpose of building the Tabernacle.

Second, Shabbat is a feast day and not a fast day. When the children of Israel were told not to collect Manna on the Shabbat but rather to collect double on Friday for the Shabbat, they were not told that they were not allowed to cook the Manna, only that they were not to collect it. This explains the incident of the man collecting sticks on the Shabbat (Exodus 15:32-36); collecting was work!

Exodus {16:29} "Remember that I, the Lord, have given you a day of rest, and that is why on the sixth day I will always give you enough food for two days." (Good News Translation).

Therefore, the command not to light a fire on Shabbat, in context, is in relation to work and not cooking. Seeing as Shabbat is a Feast Day of the Lord and not a fast day, preparing and cooking food for family consumption is not labor but rather a joy of thanks giving unto the Lord. However, we are not to buy on the Shabbat, therefore, everything we may need for preparing our meals should be on hand no later than Friday before sundown.

Hi Ellen here…

So much to do!!! Jack and I are preparing for our trip to Kenya and it is a joy and also a source of frustration. We know we are commissioned to go by the Lord but all sorts of things are coming against us. We do not want to give the adversary too much credit because this is one being we do not want to exalt. What we know through the word is to exalt our King of Kings and praise His Holy Name. Did you know that our praise destroys the enemy and his feeble plan against us?

We heard a wonderful teaching once where the preacher found himself in a strange city, in a bad neighborhood, on a stormy night and he was frightened. Instead of giving into the fear he began to say "Father" over and over again for quite a long while until all fear passed and he was able to freely praise the Lord! So praise the Lord with me now…Lord thank you for the confirmation of our Visas for Kenya travel; Lord thank you for the complete Medical Coverage package we are to receive; Lord thank you for the return of Jack's computer in perfect working order; Lord thank you that Jack and I are in perfect health; Lord thank you that no plan of the enemy will come against us and that no voice raised up judgment will prevail…Father, Father, Father, Father, Father, praise the Lord!

Yours in Messiah Yeshua, "…while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Messiah Yeshua." (Titus 2:13)

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

Read Parasha

Parasha commentary

Sermon of the week "We Are Not To Compromise"

If you are being blessed by the teachings and commentaries, please consider supporting the ministry to Kenya and Israel. In Kenya, we support the needy and the orphans; in Israel we support the elderly poor and new immigrants (Olim). Messenger me for more information.

To Donate click this link: https://paypal.me/kenyamission

If you do not have PayPal and would prefer using another donation method, please contact me and I will send you other donation options.

Parasha Chayei Sarah (Sarah Lived)

From Rabbi Jack...

Are you impressed by the supernatural? Well let me caution you, not all supernatural comes from God! There is another source of the supernatural and that is from Satan. God's Kingdom is a Kingdom of light and its driving force is love. Satan's kingdom is a kingdom of darkness and its driving force is hate, lies and deception. So, we can never really discern, and many times find it hard to differentiate if the supernatural being displayed, or that we are experiencing, is coming from God or Satan can manipulate and deceive us by acts of the supernatural.

There are three main branches of the supernatural; witchcraft, divination and sorcery. These three cover the whole spectrum of the Satanic supernatural. Divination's product is knowledge, sorcery's product is control, witchcraft's product is power and it operates through spells and curses. The single most powerful weapon of witchcraft is curses, we encountered curses being used in the story of Balak and Balaam.

We never know from where or from whom a curse may come through. Satan can use some of the most unsuspecting people to place curses; we may even curse ourselves. Have you ever put yourself down by saying "I'm so stupid" or "I don't remember things" or "I'm always sick," or I'm fat, etc.?" Thesput-downser put downs are curses against yourself!

How do we overcome curses? For unbelievers it is next to impossible; however, as Believers we are covered by the blood of Yeshua and there is not a curse that can penetrate past His blood. By applying the blood of Yeshua, shed for us on the cross, over ourselves in prayer on a regular basis we are secure and impervious to any curse Satan or anyone he uses against us. Concerning curses we place against ourselves; we need to stop putting ourselves down and only speak positive and blessings into our lives.

Hi Ellen here…

Grace–Grace-Grace!!! We all want it and we all need it. But guess what? You cannot get God's fullness of grace until you fully surrender. If you are like me you raise your hands to heaven every day and say "Lord I surrender all to You!" and as soon as a problem appears surrender goes down the drain, there is no grace and our flesh kicks into high gear and the result is failure. You know who the real culprit is? No, not the devil but pride sent by the devil! If you notice I said "who" and not what because pride is a demonic stronghold…no he does not have a body but he is a person. We need to continually be on guard…we need to be in battle array (The Armor of God) and stand up and fight. If you are trying your best to be committed and dedicated to the Lord in your life the adversary is not going to be happy or even back down until you use the authority given to you by God…use it or lose it…the choice is yours. May you have grace today to be victorious! We love you but God loves you so much more!

Yours in Messiah Yeshua, 

Titus {2:13} “…while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Messiah Yeshua.”

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

Read Parasha

Parasha commentary

Sermon of the week "Scattered and Gathered"

If you are being blessed by the teachings and commentaries, please consider supporting the ministry to Kenya and Israel. In Kenya, we support the needy and the orphans, in Israel we support the elderly poor, and new immigrants (Olim).

 

To Donate click this link: https://paypal.me/kenyamission

 

If you do not have PayPal and would prefer using another donation method, please contact me and I will send you other options.

Parasha Vayera (And He Appeared)

From Rabbi Jack...

Over the years I have taught that we need to be extremely careful of how we picture Yeshua. There were no cameras in those days so any effigy of how He may have looked can be very deceptive and lead us into an area controlled by Satan. For instance, many people, especially those of some denominations, hang painted or printed pictures of Yeshua on their walls. However, how would whoever made these pictures know what He looked like? Most effigies of Yeshua are based on the Shroud of Turin, supposedly the burial cloth Yeshua was wrapped in after His crucifixion, which forensic scientists have time and again concluded was artificially created. Yes, we do not know what Yeshua looked like, but Scripture is very clear about what He did not look like.

Matthew 27:35 "When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots."

This passage is talking about well-paid and smartly dressed Roman soldiers who were casting these lots for Yeshua's clothes. Therefore, if Yeshua was dressed in a drab-colored robe, as He is most often depicted in print and movies, certainly Roman soldiers would not be interested in owning or wearing it. Yeshua was called Rabbi; therefore, he would have been dressed in the fine colorful apparel which depicted a rabbi of His time.

Ezekiel 44:20 "They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but they are to keep the hair of their heads trimmed."

This scripture is speaking about how the priests were to keep their hair. Yeshua as we know was God manifested in the flesh; He was the Word made flesh, as such He wrote the commandment in Ezekiel 44. Yeshua is our High Priest, yet there is not a picture or actor portraying Yeshua that does not have long hair. Satan cannot appear to us as Yeshua looked, but he can appear to us in dreams or visions as we perceive Him in the pictures we see. Be careful!

2 Corinthians 11:14 "And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light."

Hi Ellen here…

Sometimes I wish I was not here! In fact right now I would like to crawl into bed, under the covers and sleep so as to not have to make any decisions or even to think. Have any of you ever felt that way? I am sure you have but there is no time to do that because we want Yeshua to find us ready when He returns. You see Jack and I live in anticipation of Yeshua's return every moment of every day. We live in a fallen world, but we need to keep going, we need to fight the good fight and know with confidence that He, our Lord, has already won our battle and we reign victorious! We cannot go by natural sight and hearing. We need to depend on Yeshua for everything and see what He sees and hear what He hears so we may be able to shed the ways of this world and operate in the Spirit. It is not easy! We are not battling flesh and blood but as we steep ourselves in His Word we will make it through. Please pray for Jack and me because the devil is hearing our plans for Kenya and is not happy. He is throwing as many stumbling blocks as possible in our path, but he is little compared to our Adonai Gadol…our BIG GOD! Jack and I are doing the possible and our Abba is doing the impossible!

Yours in Messiah Yeshua, "…while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Messiah Yeshua." (Titus 2:13)

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

Read Parasha

Parasha commentary

Sermon of the week "The appearance of evil"

If you are being blessed by the teachings and commentaries, please consider supporting the ministry to Kenya and Israel. In Kenya, for the poor and the orphans and in Israel for the elderly poor, and the sick. Messenger me for more information.

To Donate click this link: https://paypal.me/kenyamission

If you do not have PayPal and would prefer using another donation method, please contact me and I will send you other options.

Parasha Lech Lecha (You Go Forth)

From Rabbi Jack...

I doubt that there is a Believer alive that has not faced obstacles, even roadblocks in their lives. Some people, when they hit a wall, throw up their hands and give up. They feel that it must not be God's will because of the opposition they are receiving. However, nothing can be farther from the truth. Obstacles and roadblocks are most often a tactic of Satan. He is the great discourager and deceiver. When God has a special plan or purpose for us he knows that he cannot stop what God intends to do, but that we can. So, Satan throws up obstacles, roadblocks in our lives to either slow us down or cause us to totally give up. There is nothing Satan would like more than to short circuit God's plans for us.

Every hero of faith in the Bible encountered obstacles which they had to overcome. King David had King Saul, the apostle Paul had the religious elite, but perhaps the person that faced the greatest obstacle or roadblock was Moses. Here he was in the Sinai Desert leading millions of murmuring Israelites, confronted by the Sea of Reeds before them and Pharaoh's army behind them. Moses could have easily and understandably thrown up his hands and given up but Moses instead shared a message he had received from God:

Exodus {14:13} "And Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. standstill, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today."

When God purposes or plans to do something in our lives, there is no obstacle that can get in His way, no demon that can discourage or deceive, all that is necessary for us to do is; "Standstill and see the deliverance of the Lord."

Hi Ellen here…

There are so many things to take into consideration in the way we present ourselves as Believers to those around us. So many Believers say that their lifestyle is their witness, yet fall short in that area. Let me give you some personal examples. Modesty is one. Just the other day I put on a shirt without shoulders…you know the one I mean; the shoulders are bare but there are sleeves. My tee shirt fit well, not clingy but it was wrong! We went to visit a friend who is not a Believer. I truly felt way too underdressed. As I proceeded to witness against some of the current day heresies, here I was, the one standing exposed…oy! Another example: If most of our friends are not Believers and we have told them who we are, a Believer in Yeshua, but they do not question us concerning the Lord or show any interest in our faith…mmm? One more and then off to victory…I like nice things but one of the lessons that came out of the pandemic was we really do not need as much as we think we do. Sometimes our possessions get the better of us. What we need is more of the Lord and He will show us what we need. He showed me concerning my lack of wisdom and the lack of shoulder covering in my tee shirt.

Yours in Messiah Yeshua

Titus {2:13} "…while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Messiah Yeshua." 

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

Read Parasha

Parasha commentary

Sermon of the week "Are You Superstitious?"

If you are being blessed by the commentaries and teachings, please consider supporting the ministry to Kenya and Israel. In Kenya, we help the needy and orphans and in Israel we help the elderly and new immegrants. Messenger me for more information.

To Donate click this link: https://paypal.me/kenyamission

If you do not have PayPal and would prefer using another donation method, please contact us and we will send you other donation options.