Exodus 33:12 – 34:26; Numbers 28:16-31
Ezekiel 36:37 – 37:14
1 Corinthians 5:1-8
Whenever you have kept the festival of unleavened bread or are now keeping it, what did you think of when you ate matzah? What does it mean to digest, to internalize unleavened bread?
As the tzi-tzi reminds us to obey the commandments of YHWH to not adulterate ourselves with the world, the Holy Spirit reminds us to keep leaven free. Whatever we ingest, whatever thoughts or images come to mind, if they are of sin, we must reject them and not internalize what arises from pride, lust, or any thought from the adversary to our souls.
Yeshua taught:
“But the things which come out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and these defile the man.” Matthew 15:18
What does the Father in Heaven want His children to internalize, digest, and think upon?
For the rest, brothers, whatever is true, whatever honorable, whatever is right, whatever pure, whatever lovely, whatever of good report, if of any virtue, and if of any praise, think on these things. Philippians 4:8
Undefiled Religion
During this religious time of the year, Ya’aqov, Jacob, hit the unleavened target spot on, when he wrote:
Clean and undefiled religion before Elohim and Father is this – to visit orphans and widows in their affliction. James 1:27a
The Father in Heaven is leading Leslie and me to do just that in a society where widows are increasingly oppressed. The Spirit is leading us this year to travel to my mother in Wisconsin, to a widow in southern Oregon who had hosted our home group years ago, to a lonely widow and her daughter with cerebral palsy in eastern Washington, and to other widows in the Mid Valley. To go and visit widows takes humility and an unleavened character.
Winning the War for the Soul
…and to keep oneself unstained from the world. James 1:27b
The enemy attempts to flood our souls with worldly and wicked ways that are out there to leaven the mind, to stain character, and to war against the soul. The war is on! The primary frontline of the battlefield is the mind; to defile it when the will decides to speak or act on that thought.
Before we have the strength to stand upright against the enemy, the prophets gave us an example of where to start – to humble and bow before Him, interceding for the people.
In our Torah reading this Shabbat, we are reminded again of the example of humility and desire for the people of Israel to be saved from their sins and to be back in covenant with YHWH.
And Moshe hurried and bowed himself toward the earth, and did obeisance, and said, “If, now, I have found favor in Your eyes, O YHWH, I pray, let YHWH go on in our midst, even though we are a stiff-necked people. And forgive our crookedness and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance.” Exodus 34:8-9
For those of us who have come out of Christianity, does this prayer sound familiar? It is the closest thing in the Scriptures to “The Sinner’s Prayer.” Covenant keepers don’t stop with this verse, however, but Shema, hear and believes, what YHWH then replies:
And He said, “See, I am making a covenant…
YHWH responds to teshuvah, turning to Him in humility, repenting of sin, and pleading for Him to be in covenant with His people. YHWH told Moshe that He would then fight for the children of Israel and deliver them from the enemies of their souls with awesome signs and wonders.
May faith come by hearing and hearing by the Word for deliverance from our enemies in our day.
Before all your people I am going to do wonders such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of YHWH. For what I am doing with you is awesome. Guard what I command you today…” Exodus 34:10b-11a
What He is about to do will be no less awesome than what the prophet Ezekiel saw in a vision of the resurrection of the people of Israel, a Hebrew nation, a mighty army. The dry bones looked dead and lifeless, totally hopeless. Trampled down by the nations, Israel had become ineffective and irrelevant in the world, like a dead, lifeless body. How do the people of Yah look to the world today?
Out of the haftorah for this Shabbat, we hear about the solution to the mess we are all in:
He then said to me, “Prophesy to the spirit, prophesy, son of man, and you shall say to the spirit, ‘Thus said the Master YHWH, “Come from the four winds, O Spirit, and breathe on these slain, so that they live.” ’ ” Ezekiel 37:9
Resurrection Power!
And I prophesied as He commanded me, and the Spirit came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, a very great army. Ezekiel 37:10
What a perfect word to prepare for the day after Shabbat – First Fruits – the day Yeshua rose from the grave! It is the day that the Holy Spirit breathed life into the body of the Messiah buried in a tomb. It is the day a mighty angel rolled that massive, sealed stone away! It is the day that Light and Life burst forth from the tomb in glorious victory over death and the grave!
Sha’ul tells us of the great significance of the resurrection for those who are unleavened in the Messiah. Here is one of my favorite Scriptures on living the crucified life:
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of YHWH dwells in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of the Messiah, he is none of his.
And if the Messiah be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is Life because of righteousness.
But if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Yeshua from the dead dwell in you, He Who raised up the Messiah from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit Who dwells in you. Romans 8:10-11
Why many Hebrews ignore this day year after year, I don’t understand. Sha’ul declared how essential the resurrection is. Without it, all our believing His Word is in vain –
But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is the Messiah not risen? And if the Messiah be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
1 Corinthians 15:13-14
Yes, the Ruach makes even our mortal bodies alive with Resurrection Life! We live and move and have our being in Him. Alive in a mortal body, the flesh, yet dead to sin, is one of the great paradoxes of life in Messiah. The crucified life is bitter and sweet at the same time, kind of like horseradish and haroset on matzah, huh?
Blessed be the Elohim and Father of our Master Yeshua the Messiah, Who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of YHWH through faith unto Salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5
Resurrection Life is an awesome inheritance for the believer to walk in and to keep forever! Are we believing and expecting to be ready for a powerful salvation in these end times?
Choose Resurrection Life baShem Yeshua,
David