Exodus 23 Neighbours Solemnities and The Messenger QA

Neighbours, Solemnities, and The Messenger

With Questions and Proposed Answers

 

 

Background and printed text: Exodus 22  

 

Thou shalt not carry an empty report.

 

Thou shalt not carry thy hand with a guilty-[one] to be unto violence!

 

2Thou shalt not be after many to bad-do. And thou shalt not humble concerning a multiple [many] to incline after multiples to cause inclining.

 

3And thou shalt not honour a poverty-stricken-[one] via his fight.

 

4If thou meet an ox of thine enemy or his ass wandering, returning, thou shalt return him to him.

 

5When thou wilt see an ass of thine enemy couching under his burden and thou wilt desist from loosening to him, loosening, thou shalt loosen with him!

 

6Thou shalt not incline justice of thy poor-[one] via his fight.

 

7Thou shalt distance from a speech of a lie. And thou shalt not slay an innocent-[one] and a righteous-[one]. For I will not justify a culpable-[one]!

 

8And thou shalt not receive a bribe. For the bribe will blind perspicuous-[ones] and has subverted speeches of righteous-[ones].

 

9And thou shalt not oppress a sojourner. And ye, ye knew the being of the sojourner! For ye were sojourners in the land of Egypt!

 

10And thou shalt sow thy land six years. And thou shalt gather her bringing. 11And the seventh, thou shalt release her and thou shalt abandon her. And poor of thy people shall eat. And a living-[one] of the field shall eat their excess. Established, thou shalt do to thy vineyard, to thine olive.

 

12Thou shalt do thy doings six of days. And in day the seventh thou shalt cease in order that thine ox will rest, and thine ass. And the son of thy slavewoman has been ‘re-beinged,’ and the sojourner.

 

13And ye shall guard via all that I said unto you. And ye shall not remind-of the name of other gods. He shall not hear upon thy mouth!

 

14Thou shalt solemnize three feet to me in a year. 15Thou shalt guard the solemnity of the Matzahs seven of days—thou shalt eat Matzahs just-as she commanded thee to an appointment, month of the spring. For thou exited from Double-Adversity (Egypt) in him. And they shall not see my faces, their emptiness!— 16and the solemnity of the harvest, firstborn-[ones], thy doing—what thou wilt sow in a field; and the solemnity of the gathering via exiting of the year, via thy gathering thy doing from the field! 17Three strokes in the year, Mighty-[One], Faces of the Lord [sing.] Yehovah, will see each: thy male!

 

18Thou shalt not sacrifice blood of my sacrifice upon vinegar. And fat of my solemnity shall not lodge unto morning!

 

19Thou shalt bring beginning of firstborn-[ones] of thy soil House of Yehovah thy Gods.

 

Thou shalt not boil a goat-kid in the fat of his mother!

 

20Behold, I am sending a messenger to thy faces to guard thee in the way and to bring thee unto a place that I prepared. 21Be-thou-guarded from his faces! And hearken via his voice! Do not embitter thou via him! For he will not carry to your transgression! For my Name is via his approach! 22For if, hearkening, thou shalt hearken via his voice, and thou shalt do all that I will speak, and I ‘will enemy’ thine enemies and I will ‘tribulate’ thy tribulators! 23For, my messenger will walk to thy faces. And he will bring thee unto the Emori and the Khiti and the Preezi and the Canaani, the Khivi and the Yevoosi. And I will obscure him!

 

24Thou shalt not prostrate to their gods. And thou shalt not serve them. And thou shalt not make as their makings. For smashing, thou shalt smash them, and shattering, thou shalt shatter their pillars!

 

25And ye shall serve Yehovah your Gods. And He will bless thy bread and thy waters. And I will forefend sickness from thy approach! 26A bereaved-[woman] shall not be, and a barren-[woman], in thy land. I will fill a scrolling of thy days! 27I will send my terror to thy faces. And I will hum [buzz] every people that thou wilt come via them. And I will give all thine enemies unto thee: neck! 28And I will send the hornet to thy faces. And she will expel the Khivi, the Cnaani and the Khiti from thy faces. 29I will not expel him from thy faces in one year lest the land will be a desolation, and a living-[one] of the field will multiply upon thee. 30I will expel him a little, a little from thy faces until-that thou wilt be fruitful. And thou wilt inherit the land. 31And I will set thy border from Ending Sea and unto Palestinian Sea, and from the desert unto the river. For I will give inhabitants of the land into your hand. And ye shall expel him from thy faces! 32Thou shalt not cut a covenant to them and to their gods! 33And they shall not dwell in thy land lest they will sin-cause thee to me! For thou shalt serve thy Gods! For he will be to a snare to thee!

 

 

 

I. An Empty Report (verse 1)

 

Yehovah commanded each Israeli: “Thou shalt not carry an empty report.”

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    What is an empty report? It is a report without backing. It is a form of gossip. It is telling things about others that haven’t been substantiated (that is, haven’t been checked to be certain that they are true).

 

2.    What does “carry an empty report” mean? The means to hear it in one place, and deliver it to another place and another person or group.

 

3.    What is wrong with carrying an empty report if the first thing said is, “Now, I don’t know this for sure, but this is what I heard”? Making excuses for carrying the empty report, or claiming that it isn’t necessarily true while still carrying it are not only just as wrong as carrying the report, but this is even more wrong! This teaches others techniques for carrying lies, gossip and rumours while looking innocent!

 

4.    Who is thou? This refers to each Israeli. (I had to go back to Exodus 21:1 to see this.)

 

 

 

II. Joining in Violence (verse 1)

 

He continued, commanding each Israeli to not “carry thy hand” with one who is guilty so that the hand will be unto violence.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    What does “carry thy hand” mean? A person’s hand is a tool of that person’s works (even if the person doesn’t have hands that function). This is written for young children; their hands show them how much power they have to grasp, control, and even throw things. Carrying the hand is going somewhere, and taking his/her hand (and therefore, his/her power to do anything) with him/her.

 

2.    Explain the entire command: An Israeli must not go (carrying his/her hand of power) with a guilty person who is planning violence. If he/she does go, he/she must not carry his/her hand with this guilty person, but must leave the power to do violence behind. (It is possible to refuse to carry the ability and power to do wrong!) Thus, the Israeli must never participate with a guilty person in doing violence.

 

 

 

III. Yielding to the Majority (verse 2)

 

Yehovah command each Israeli to not be after a large group to do bad. Also, each Israeli must not humble himself or anyone in matters of many in order to bend anyone or any group to go after large groups to bend others to do something. (See questions.)

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    What does “be after many” mean? It describes accompanying a large group. Being after indicates following them.

 

2.    What does “Thou shalt not be after many to bad-do” mean? This command is for every Israeli: No Israeli is to accompany or follow a large group to do any form of harm. (Doing harm is bad-doing.)

 

3.    Suppose that the Israelis are grouping to rightly and properly execute a person who has done a death-penalty offense; if another Israeli accompanies this large group, is this group about to ‘bad do’? No. Doing justice is not considered ‘bad-doing’ even when it puts a person to death for a death-penalty offense.

 

4.    What does “thou shalt not humble…” mean? I have formerly proposed that humility means to know where one stands before God and man in terms of rank and responsibilities, and to live that way. I have also stated that the same Hebrew word that means humble also means humiliate or be humiliated, since a person in this case is being forced to realize his/her true rank before others—or at least, the rank that another is trying to force on him/her.

 

       In this text, humbling oneself is voluntarily taking on the rank assigned by the group—the rank as one who is cooperating with this group. (If a person refuses to do this, members of the group will sometimes accuse the person of being arrogant or ‘stuck up’ when in fact the person is being wise and humble before God and not the group.) Thus, humbling concerning a multiple in this case is giving in to a group in order to be accepted by the group and to go along with the group. This is a great evil, and it is very common.

 

5.    What does incline mean in this text? An incline is a surface that is tilted toward one direction. If the incline is great enough, anything on it will slide in the direction of its tilt. An example of an inclined object is a teeter-totter in which one person is down and the other person is up.

 

       To be inclined, then, is to be leaning in a direction—to feel a strong pull to go into that direction.

 

6.    This command has several parts. What is being commanded by “thou shalt not humble concerning a multiple [many] to incline after multiples to cause inclining”? First, “thou shalt not humble concerning a multiple” means that the Israeli is being commanded to refuse to give in when it comes to issues in which a multiple (a group of folks) has decided to go in one direction together. This has to do with a group that is about to do what is wrong.

 

       The next part, “to incline after multiples” means that there are other groups that are determined to join together to do something (which will be an injustice). The Israeli must not join in with the first group to lean toward these other groups. It may feel like it is the right thing to do, but it is sin, and will lead to violence.

 

       The last part, “to cause inclining,” shows that all the groups are now gathering other persons and pressuring them to bend in the direction that the groups have determined to pursue (in a case of injustice).

 

       Great movements have often started exactly the way this text describes: one person speaks to another, and soon there is a group. That group pressures another person to become part of the group. In the meantime, other groups that are similar (with some more violent in their approaches) have formed, and those groups are pressuring the first group to take the same stands. Soon, great injustices are done for the sake of the great movement, and those who desire to remain with good consciences either greatly suffer or are killed because they didn’t go along with the majority.

 

       Yehovah warns the Israelis to refuse to join in with these groups even though they might be inclined to do so.

 

 

 

IV. Honouring the Poor (verse 3)

 

Each Israeli must never honour another who is very poor by means of the fight of that poor one. (See Questions.)

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    What is a poverty-stricken person? It is a person who is very, very poor; this person seems to be unable to escape from being poor.

 

2.    Why would a poverty-stricken person have a fight? What is this fight? The poverty-stricken person is being treated in a way that he/she believes is without justice. Therefore, he/she has taken the issue to others to judge and to give help. He/She is therefore fighting for his/her cause. (This isn’t usually a physical fight, though it can be; it is usually a court-type of a fight.)

 

3.    Shouldn’t a person stand up for a poverty-stricken person who is being mistreated? Standing up for a person isn’t the same as honouring the person. Standing up for a person who is being mistreated is right (if the person needs aid). Honouring a person just because the person is poverty-stricken is a violation of the Torah (Teaching).

 

4.    What is wrong with honouring a poverty-stricken person by means of his fight? Justice in any fight isn’t about the monetary status of anyone; it is about what is right and what is wrong shown by evidence or proof. The idea isn’t equal justice; it is just justice: rendering a right decision based on all pertinent facts (all facts that have to do with the case). Thus, bending justice for the sake of a person who is poverty-stricken is corrupting justice. That must not be done.

 

 

 

V. Meeting a Wandering Ox and Ass (verse 4)

 

Yehovah commanded each Israeli to return a wondering ox of an enemy or a wandering ass of an enemy to the enemy owner.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    Why must an Israeli return to an enemy an animal that isn’t his own and that belongs to the enemy? This will be a demonstration of loving one’s enemy as himself/herself. Yehovah has commanded each Israeli to love his/her neighbour as himself/herself.

 

       Leviticus 19:18 Thou shalt not avenge or bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. I am Yehovah!

 

2.    Does this command only have to do with wandering animals of enemy neighbours? All of these commands are given in the form of individual cases. The Israelis were taught these cases so that they could determine other cases based on them. This is the briefest way to teach correct behaviour.

 

       Thus, this command has to do with many other cases that are not mentioned in the text. For example, based on this command, suppose that an Israeli finds a tool that she knows belongs to another Israeli who has been unkind to her; suppose that she knows that this unkind Israeli lost this tool, and might not be able to find it. What must she do? You are right! She must return the tool to the unkind Israeli based on this Teaching!

 

3.    Suppose that the enemy Israeli accuses the Israeli returning the item of stealing it; what must the Israeli do, and should the Israeli refuse to return another lost item or animal next time? If the mean-spirited Israeli formally charges the returning Israeli with theft, the Israeli will go before the judges at the city gates and will testify what happened. If the same loss occurs again, the obedient Israeli will again return the item or animal, but this time might take another as a witness so that the accusation won’t even begin to hold.

 

4.    Suppose that the Israeli returning the wandering ox just takes the ox directly to the stall, and then leaves without seeing the owner; would that be sufficient? It might be sufficient, or, if the owner sees the person with the ox, this might raise suspicions. The Teaching states to return the animal to the owner. That way, the owner will know that the animal got out of the property, so that the owner can secure the animal.

 

 

 

VI. An Enemy’s Couching Ass (verse 5)

 

When an Israeli will see an enemy’s ass couching (that is, setting itself down on the ground) under his burden, and when the Israeli will desist (stop participating in action) from loosening to him—that is, from helping to unload the ass’s burden, the Israeli instead must loosen the ass with the enemy.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    What does couching mean? It is when an animal settles down on the ground with its paws or hooves in a forward position as if it is at rest.

 

2.    Why would an animal couch under his burden? If the load is very heavy, and therefore uncomfortable, the animal might just couch on the ground. Once it does this, it might not be able to get up.

 

3.    What does “desist from loosening to him” mean? To desist is to cease to proceed or to act (Mirriam-Webster). Thus, it is to begin to do something (to help, in this case), and then to stop (realizing that the animal belongs to an enemy).

 

       The purpose of loosening the animal is to remove enough of the burden for the animal to rise on its hooves.

 

4.    What does this text command the Israeli to do? The Israeli must help his enemy Israeli by working with him to loosen the burden from the animal so that it can get up.

 

5.    Does this command only cover animals and burdens? It doesn’t! It is just one case; the Israelis are responsible to consider this one case, and to determine what to do in any other case that is at all similar. For example, if an Israeli sees the oxcart of an enemy broken down, a wheel being broken, and the enemy is trying to unload the oxcart in order to put another wheel on it, the Israeli must help unload the oxcart.

 

6.    Suppose that the Israeli has an appointment that he must keep, and time is very important; can he go on his way, and leave his enemy in order to keep his appointment (including keeping his word that he gave when he made the appointment)? A wise Israeli will make appointments, but will always include a statement that he might be late if he is delayed because of a Torah command! Yehovah has commanded the Israeli to loosen with him—with the enemy Israeli. His command is intentional. He knows all the various circumstances that can occur; His command still stands.

 

 

 

VII. Inclining Justice of the Poor (verse 6)

 

No Israeli is permitted to incline justice (that is, to make justice go in a particular direction) of the Israeli’s poor one by means of the poor one’s fight.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    Isn’t this command the same as the one in verse 3? No. They differ. Honouring a poverty-stricken one in his fight is helping the poverty-stricken one win by showing greater respect for him/her than for justice; it is perverting justice by viewing that person as high-ranking. In verse 6, inclining justice is tilting the balance of justice of a poor person so that he/she will win without considering his/her supposed rank for being poor. Thus, verse 3 has to do with respect of persons—viewing folks as high in rank, and making sure they win for that; verse 6 has to do with perverting justice by giving a poor person a win by any means.

 

2.    Why is Yehovah so against helping poor folks win in cases of justice? Yehovah isn’t against others helping poor folks to win in a fight; He is against perverting justice to do so. Yehovah is the One who sets the ranks of all humans; He is the One who gave the poor person that rank! He could have easily had that person be born wealthy or obtain great riches and rank. Instead, He set the rank of that person (and He can change that rank at any time that He chooses). Justice, however, must never be perverted. Justice is a reflection on Yehovah; perverting justice would be perverting Yehovah’s reputation!

 

3.    Suppose that someone wealthy and very intelligent takes advantage of the ignorance of a poor person, and by that means cheats the poor person using legal means; wouldn’t giving the poor person a justice advantage be the right thing to do? The right thing to do is to expose what the other did to the poor person, and then to take care of the poor person using the Torah (instead of perverting it). The ‘intelligent’ person will not outsmart Yehovah Who will hear the shouts of the poor person; Yehovah will avenge His Torah (Teaching)! That vengeance will be far better than whatever could be accomplished by perverting (twisting, bending and ruining) justice.

 

 

 

VIII. Distancing from Injustice (verse 7)

 

The Israeli must distance himself/herself from a speech of a lie. The Israeli must not slay one who is innocent and one who is righteous. Yehovah will not justify (declare righteous) one who is guilty!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    What is a speech of a lie? It is what someone says (usually giving details) that just isn’t true. Now, it might be partially true, but partial truth is far worse than a total lie. Partial truth employs what is true in order to make a lie sound true.

 

2.    What does “Thou shalt distance from a speech of a lie” mean? This is a command to get far away from such a speech! When the Israeli hears such a speech and knows that it is a lie, the Israeli must get away from the person and the speech. (If he/she cannot get away, at least he/she can tune the person out!)

 

3.    What is an innocent one? That is a person who is being accused and who is not guilty. If the Israeli knows that the person isn’t guilty of a crime charged against that person, he/she must refuse to slay that person.

 

4.    What is a righteous one? That is a person who has done what is right (in the eyes of Yehovah). Every Israeli is commanded to refuse to slay one who is righteous.

 

5.    Was Yeshua righteous? He was.

 

6.    Did the Israelis have to slay Yeshua? Yes! They had to slay Him. Had they not slain Him, no one (Jew or Gentile) would have obtained everlasting life. Now, Yehovah Himself was the One who slew Yeshua. Yet, the Israelis were the only humans who were responsible to offer Yeshua as a sacrifice for sin. Still, the Romans put Him on the cross, and Israeli priests participated in perverting Roman law by blackmail; yet, all Israelis and all non-Israelis of all time were responsible for Yeshua’s death. Yeshua offered Himself up, so that He was responsible for His death. Thus, all humans and the Gods of Israel were responsible for His death. That being said, Yehovah commanded the Israelis to not slay an innocent one and a righteous one (Yeshua was both).

 

7.    Why must the Israelis refrain from slaying an innocent one and a righteous one? The text explains: “I will not justify a culpable one!”

 

8.    What does justify mean? It either means to cause an unrighteous person to now be righteous, or to declare a righteous person as righteous (because the person did what was right).

 

9.    What does culpable mean? This means guilty or responsible for a wrong.

 

10. Yehovah stated, “I will not justify a culpable one.” If this is true, how can a person who is guilty before Yehovah ever become righteous? This answer has several parts.

 

       First, the text refers to a person who slays an innocent person and a righteous person knowing that the person is innocent and that the person is righteous. (If he/she doesn’t know, he/she cannot obey this command!)

 

       Secondly, Yehovah won’t view the killing of an innocent person or a righteous person ‘for the greater good of all’ as a reasonable excuse, and therefore He won’t declare a participant in such a killing as a righteous person. (Folks who have committed racist murders have thought that they had this excuse, thinking that their ‘greater good’ was for their own people’s supremacy, but they will find out that they were both dead wrong and damnably wrong.)

 

       Thirdly, Yehovah doesn’t justify anyone who is culpable. He has given that position to Yeshua who took sins upon Himself in order to justify those who believe in Him and who turn to Him for that justification.

 

 

 

IX. The Bribe (verse 8)

 

An Israeli must not receive a bribe. A bribe blinds folks who normally see very well so that they won’t see well. A bride has subverted (turned into the opposite) speeches of righteous ones (so that the speeches are those of guilty ones).

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    What is a bribe? It is a payment paid in advance so that a person will do what the person knows is wrong.

 

2.    What is wrong with receiving a bribe? The text explains, “The bribe will blind perspicuous-[ones] and has subverted speeches of righteous-[ones].” (We will discuss what these mean in future questions.)

 

3.    Is offering a bribe wrong? It is wrong for an Israeli to offer a bribe to an Israeli, because it is tempting the Israeli to sin! (These commands do not hold for Israeli spies in other lands! Spies can do what would otherwise be wrong if they are spying on an enemy land, and they are heroes and heroines—just as long as they don’t deny Yehovah!)

 

4.    What does perspicuous mean? It means having the ability to see clearly through a situation and through the actions and reactions of others. A person who has perspicuity will therefore understand what is occurring and why, when others won’t understand, and this person will also often be able to be of benefit to others even to the saving of lives.

 

5.    What occurs if a perspicuous one receives a bribe? That person becomes blinded—that is, that person loses the ability to demonstrate perspicuity (the ability to see clearly through a situation and through the actions and reactions of others). Thus, the person becomes part of the causes of problems, and isn’t helpful to solutions to problems.

 

6.    What does subvert mean? It means to undercut by making good and helpful actions and views look like the wrong answer. Sub means under, and vert means turn. It is turning under (like overturning) what is good.

 

7.    Explain “the bribe has subverted speeches of righteous-[ones]”: Righteous persons have spoken what is right and what is true. Yet, the bribe has paid others to argue against what is right and true, making them look like what is wrong and false. This has led to harm and death of innocent folks.

 

       Hate bribes!

 

 

 

X. Oppressing a Sojourner (verse 9)

 

An Israeli must not oppress a sojourner. The Israelis knew the being (body, soul and spirit) of the sojourner! They were sojourners in the land of Egypt!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    What does oppress mean? It means to unjustly hassle, torment, humiliate, and keep from doing well.

 

2.    Why would a person desire to oppress a sojourner? A sojourner doesn’t have family or friends to help, and a sojourner is usually not familiar with the justice system of the location in which the sojourner is sojourning. Thus, mean-spirited folks might seek to mistreat the sojourner figuring that they can get away with this, and figuring that they can make much money off of the sojourner.

 

       An excellent example of a sojourner is a foreign worker; another example is a foreign girl tricked into the sex-traffic trade. Both are sojourners. Yehovah watches.

 

3.    What does “ye knew the being of the sojourner” mean? Since the being includes the body, the soul and the spirit, this includes all of the person and what the person experiences. The Israelis knew what it was like to exist as a sojourner since they were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

 

4.    Why were the Israelis sojourners in the land of Egypt? Their forefathers came to Egypt during a great famine, and the Israelis stayed. Egypt wasn’t their native land, however, and they always were eventually going home to the Land of Israel. Yehovah temporarily brought them to Egypt so that they would grow very large as a group, and very strong.

 

 

 

XI. Releasing the Land and Vineyard (verses 10-11)

 

An Israeli will sow his/her land six years. He/She will gather what the land brings. The seventh year, the Israeli must release the land, and the Israeli must abandon the land. The poor of the Israeli’s people will eat, and a living one of the field will eat their excess (their leftovers). It is established also that the Israeli must do the same to his/her vineyard and to his/her olive.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    Who must sow the land six years? This isn’t a command to sow (that is, put seed into) the land for six years; it is a command of the maximum number of years in a row that the land can be sown. This command is for every Israeli who will put seed into the land of Israel.

 

2.    What does “And thou shalt gather her bringing” mean? This means that the Israeli who sows seed (puts seed) into the soil of Israel can gather whatever the soil gives from that seed (for six years in a row).

 

3.    What does “thou shalt release her and thou shalt abandon her” mean? In the seventh year (after six years of using the land to grow crops), each Israeli must let go of the land and must abandon the land. This doesn’t mean that he/she must move; it means that he/she must not even try to grow any crop in the soil in the seventh year. Just leave the soil alone, and let it go wild for one year.

 

4.    If plants that produce food grow on their own in the seventh year, what can be done with that crop? The person who holds that land (who previously grew crops on it) is not allowed to touch any of the crops in the land. The poor of the people of Israel can freely come and eat from the land; all the produce belongs to the poor and to the wild animals.

 

5.    What does “a living-[one] of the field shall eat their excess” mean? The living one of the field refers to each wild animal, bird, etc. This crop is for them and for the poor; not for the one holding title to the land.

 

6.    Suppose that a person has many grape vines or has an olive orchard; should the person gather from those? The person holding title to the land is not permitted to touch any of the fruit growing on the vines or trees! The seventh year’s crop is strictly to others who are poor (that means that a neighbour who isn’t poor also isn’t allowed to come to gather the fruit).

 

7.    What is the holder of the land supposed to eat if he/she cannot eat from anything growing on his/her own land? Yehovah elsewhere promises the Israelis that He will give a triple crop in the sixth year if all Israel will do as He said regarding the treatment of the land!

 

       Leviticus 25:20 And when ye shall say, “What will we eat in the seventh year? Behold, we won’t sow and we won’t gather our produce!” 21And I will command my blessing to you in the sixth year and to make the produce to three of the years! 22And ye shall sow the eighth year. And ye shall eat the ‘dormant’ {that is, what has been stored as is ‘sleeping’} from the produce unto the ninth year until the produce comes. Ye shall eat the ‘dormant!’

 

8.    Why did Yehovah command this seventh year release and abandonment? This gives the land the ability to totally recuperate from being used. It gives wild creatures a year to grow without being bothered, and it gives insects opportunity to grow (including creatures that eat troublesome plant insects). What the poor take from the land doesn’t hurt the land in any way.

 

       When folks sow and take produce from the land without a break, the land becomes worn out. Just one year out of seven gives the land a chance to rest.

 

       Yehovah will do such a miracle during the seventh year of the Tribulation. No one will be sowing anywhere on earth, and no vineyards or fruit trees will be tended; yet, the poor who fear Yehovah and who do what is right will obtain what they need.

 

 

 

XII. Ceasing for Others (verse 12)

 

Each Israeli must do his/her doings six of the days (of a week). Each must cease from his/her doings in order that his/her ox and ass can rest. Even the son of his/her slavewoman has been ‘re-beinged,’ and the sojourner, from this ceasing.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    The text states, “Thou shalt do thy doings six of days.” What are these doings? They are the normal work functions that folks do. Some will farm; others will have cattle; others will make pottery; others will trade with foreigners; others will build homes for a living, etc.

 

2.    Must the Israelis work six days? They are free to do their work and errands six of the days of the week. That doesn’t mean that they must work six days, but Yehovah did set up a six-day work-week. (They can take vacations.)

 

3.    What must occur on “day the seventh”? Each Israeli must cease (from errands and from work) in order that the Israeli’s ox and ass will rest, and in order that the son of the Israeli’s slavewoman will have been ‘re-beinged,’ as well as the sojourner.

 

4.    Why would an ox need to rest? Won’t it still eat grass in the field? The ox can eat the grass, but the ox won’t be used as a farm tool (pulling and carrying things) on this day.

 

5.    Why does the text mention the son of the slavewoman instead of the slavewoman herself? Doesn’t she get to cease from working on this day? Indeed, she must! Her son is mentioned, however, because Yehovah knew the way that the Israelis would think: they would give their slavewomen rest, but would demand that children of their slavewomen still serve them. Thus, Yehovah worded it this way to avoid such ideas.

 

6.    What does re-beinged mean? Since the being consists of the body, soul and spirit, if any of these three becomes tired or worn down, being re-beinged means to have the body, soul, and/or spirit re-energized, refreshed, and ready to fully function.

 

7.    Why is the sojourner also mentioned? The Israelis might have thought that the sojourner wasn’t included because the Torah wasn’t given to the sojourner. Therefore, the Israelis might have thought that the sojourner didn’t need to cease, and could even serve the Israelis while the Israelis ceased from their labours and errands. (Even today, Orthodox synagogues hire non-Jewish workers to function in the kitchens of the synagogues on the Sabbath—the day of ceasing; this is a blatant violation of the Torah.)

 

 

 

XIII. Guarding and Not Naming (verse 13)

 

The Israelis must guard (and will guard) all that Yehovah said unto them. They must not remind of the name of other gods! He shall not hear that name upon an Israeli’s mouth!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    Why did Yehovah command at this point, “And ye shall guard via all that I said unto you”? He is warning the Israelis to leave out no detail from all that He said to them. If they leave out a detail, and if they consider that detail a small point, it will end up being the most important detail for some of the Israelis: a matter of life and death. (The Israelis have certainly not guarded by means of all that Yehovah said unto them. They have therefore put themselves into Yehovah’s wrath.)

 

2.    What does “And ye shall not remind-of the name of other gods” mean? Every false god has a name. It is against the commandment of Yehovah for one Israeli to remind another Israeli (or anyone) of the name of other gods. Thus, they must not speak the name of a deity that Isn’t Yehovah, since that is reminding another of the name.

 

3.    Aren’t the names of other gods mentioned in the Bible? Isn’t the Bible designed and meant to be read out loud (besides reading it in private?)? The names of other gods are mentioned in the Bible! The Bible is designed and meant to be read out loud!

 

       Now, the Orthodox Israelis do the following: When they read Yehovah in Hebrew, they replace this with Ha Shem (meaning the name), or with Adonai (meaning my Lords). When they read Elohim, they replace this with elokeem or elokeen, which has no meaning and is an intentional mispronunciation of Elohim (where Elohim means Gods, and it is a title for the Gods of Avraham, Isaac and Jacob). These are violations of the Torah which commands the Israelis to swear (vow) using His Name. If they find replacing the Name and titles of the True Gods of Israel with other titles or false names so easy to do, when it is a violation of the text, they certainly can replace the names of false gods with other things like abbreviations, etc. For example, when I see the false god called Baal, when I read it out loud, I replace Baal with “the B-god.”

 

4.    What does “He shall not hear upon thy mouth” indicate? This indicates that the Israelis have no business pronouncing those names, since Yehovah won’t hear those names upon the mouth of any Israeli! (That is, it is a command for the Israelis to make sure that Yehovah never hears it.)

 

 

 

XIV. Three Feet: Matzahs, Harvest, Gathering (verses 14-17)

 

Each Israeli must guard the solemnity of the Matzahs seven of the days. He/She will eat Matzahs just as she commanded each Israeli for an appointment, the month of the spring. This is because each Israeli exited from Egypt in the month of the spring.

 

The Israelis will not see Yehovah’s faces along with their emptiness!

 

They must also guard the solemnity of the harvest: the firstborn ones, the doing of each: what each will sow in a field.

 

They must also guard the solemnity of the gathering by means of the exiting of the year, by means of each person’s gathering from the field what he/she is doing.

 

Mighty One, Who is the Faces of Lord Yehovah, will see each—the male of every Israeli—three strokes (times) in the year.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    What are feet in, “Thou shalt solemnize three feet to me in a year”? The foot pictures the walk (since those who can walk use their feet to do so). The three feet, then, have to do with transportation.

 

2.    What does “Thou shalt solemnize three feet to me in a year” mean? The Israelis must transport themselves to a location that will be specified three times in a year in order to keep a particular solemnity. (Yehovah will explain if there will be exceptions—cases where individual Israelis must not come.)

 

3.    What is Matzah? It is bread that has been made without leaven and without vinegar; it is made only from flour and water.

 

4.    How can one guard the solemnity of the Matzahs? The text explains: “Thou shalt eat Matzahs just-as she commanded thee to an appointment, month of the spring.” Eating the Matzahs in this way will be guarding the Matzahs. (Another question will look at what this typifies.)

 

5.    Who is she in, “just as she commanded thee…”? She, I propose, is the statute (which is feminine) mentioned in Exodus 12:14. The statute tells exactly how to do this.

 

6.    What is this appointment? An appointment, in general, is a set time for a meeting.

 

       The Torah (Teaching of Yehovah, Genesis through Joshua) teaches the numerous appointments that Yehovah has set to meet with Israel (and to those who will be true friends of Israel) in the End Times. These appointments won’t only benefit Israelis/Jews; they will benefit all Saints of all time. One of those appointments is Yeshua’s arrival with all resurrected Saints!

 

       Eating the Matzahs is doing a show-and-tell of one of those appointments. In order to figure out what this appointment is, the reader must know what matzah, in general, typifies (pictures). (That will be the next question.)

 

7.    What does matzah, in general, typify? Consider what matzah is. Think about flour: how it is the crushed seed of wheat (or of some similar grain). It is crushed to a powder. It is then mixed with water, making a dough ball. (You can do this to see how it is made.) It is then rolled out flat and quite thin. It is then baked in an oven or on a hot stone (a frying pan can be used). Now, consider each grain of flour before the water is added. Think of that as one person. When the water is added, the grains stick together to form something like a body: a dough ball. Yet, the dough ball can be easily divided. Once it is rolled flat, it is then baked using heat (or, using fire). That makes the separate grains disappear into one matzah unit that is quite firm, and the grains can hardly be seen. This body, formed by heat, can then be broken into pieces (as Yeshua said: “This is my Body that is broken for you.” Since there is no leaven and no vinegar, and since leaven is a type of sin (when it is used as a type), and vinegar is a type of violence, matzah typifies a body of Saints that is without sin. All have been put through the fire, and all refuse to sin.

 

       Now, anyone eating the matzah typifies those who will take good advantage of the Saints in this entirely righteous Body in order to live, since food gives life. They will not only eat this to live, but they will also be making the Body of the matzah a part of themselves, thus becoming one with the matzah!

 

       When the Israelis eat the matzah and do as this type pictures in the Tribulation, they, too, will become unleavened (freed from sin and sinning), and they will fulfill the appointment that Yehovah has set for all Israel to become righteous. This will occur in the month of the spring in one of the years of the Tribulation many centuries from now.

 

8.    What event will mark the time of the appointment being fulfilled? It will be an event that will remind the Israelis of a historical event! Israel will again exit from Egypt in the spring of the year during one of the latter years of the seven-year Tribulation! This time, the Israelis who exit from Egypt (with Egyptian help!) will be entirely righteous!

 

9.    Yehovah now inserts a threat. What is the threat, and why does He threaten using this? The threat is this: “They shall not see my faces, their emptiness!” It is a warning to all Israelis (and to others): They will not be permitted to see Yehovah’s faces if they arrive empty—that is, if they arrive without bringing someone else whose life they are saving! They must arrive with others! If they attempt to come (to Mount Zion in Israel) without bringing someone else, they will not be permitted to come up Mount Zion, and they will not gain refuge (a place of safety from attack) on Mount Zion; and they will not see Yehovah’s faces (meaning that they will be turned away from Him)!

 

10. Explain the solemnity of the harvest: The text explains it. When the Israelis do a harvest of what they have done—that is, what they have planted, some of the harvest will come ripe before the rest. Those are the firstborn ones. The firstborn belong to Yehovah!

 

       How to do this is explained in the following text:

 

       Leviticus 23:9 And Yehovah spoke unto Moshe to say, 10 “Speak unto the children of Israel. And thou shalt say unto them, ‘When ye shall come unto the land that I am giving to you, and ye shall reap her reaping. And ye shall bring a first binding of your reaping unto the priest. 11And he shall wave the binding to the faces of Yehovah to your desirability. The priest shall wave him from tomorrow of the ceasing.’”

 

       Now, there are more instructions after this. Each of these instructions is a show-and-tell of events to come, and this makes up another appointment of Yehovah.

 

       The priest participates in this, because Israeli priests will do exactly what this pictures, but they will do it with humans, and not with plants (which typify humans). They will do this with Israelis. The first Israelis (of all the Israelis) to come to faith and to produce fruit will often be killed by the priests of Israel at the beginning of the Tribulation and just before it begins. The priests will think that they are doing right, when they are not; and some priests will know that they are doing wrong, but will still do it. (Other priests will know of this violence against believing Israelis, and will take sides with the believing Israelis.) Yehovah therefore has given a show-and-tell of what the priests did by bringing the first of the harvest of Israeli Saints before Yehovah under arrest, and to put them to death as sacrifices (though the priests will see them as evildoers, thinking that their faith in the Salvation of Israel is actually idolatry).

 

11. Explain the solemnity of the gathering: This event takes place “via exiting of the year”—that is, as the Biblical year is ending (which means that it is in the spring of the year). It will take place “via thy gathering thy doing from the field,” picturing Israel’s gathering what Israel has done (including saving lives of Israelis and others who will help save the lives of other Israelis) “from the field”—that is, from all over the world. (Yeshua explained that the field is the world in Matthew 13:38.)

 

       Yeshua mentioned this gathering in several texts. For example,

 

       Matthew 24:31 “And He shall send His angels with a trumpet, and a great voice! And they shall gather His elect together from the four winds: from one end of the heavens to the other! 32Now learn a parable of the fig tree: When his branch is yet tender, and he puts forth leaves, ye know that summer is near. 33So likewise ye—when ye shall see all these things, know that he [the Gathering] is near: even at the doors. 34I say faith unto you: this generation shall not pass until all these things are fulfilled! 35The heavens and the land shall pass away, but my speeches shall not pass away! 36And no one knows of that day and hour—no, not the angels of the heavens, but-rather only my Father!”

 

       It is such an important event in the future!

 

12. What are strokes? They are times (as if a clock is beating out its rhythm).

 

13. Who is this Mighty One? He is described as Faces of Lord Yehovah. That describes One Who said,

 

       John 14:9 Yeshua says unto him, … “He who has seen me has seen the Father!”

 

       Thus, it is Yeshua, the Salvation of Yehovah!

 

14. How often will this Mighty One see every male of Israel? He will see them three times in the year! Each time is a picture of the times that He saw the Israelis during the heroic events of the three solemnities described above!

 

15. Why will He only see the males? Aren’t the females important to Him, and won’t they be heroic? Indeed, they will be heroic! I expect that there will be at least as many heroic women during the Tribulation as men, and perhaps more!

 

       The females are every bit as important to Yehovah as the males! They are equally made in His image, and they both reflect Him and His attributes (His good characteristics)!

 

       I propose that He only sees the males because He knows that the females will be active, heroic and willing to do what is right during the Tribulation, whereas some of the men will require being commanded to do what is needed. The men need to give the example, and so often the women will have to do what the men are too afraid to do. If I am right, this can give one reason why Yehovah commands that the males will come before Him during these three times. (I am certain that there are other reasons.)

 

       Also, the Israeli males will be the ones saved when Yeshua skips over during the Tribulation. All the males of the bad guys will be slaughtered. Therefore, in remembrance of this slaughter, the males will appear before Yehovah to show that they were not slaughtered when Yehovah skipped over.

 

 

 

XV. No Sacrificial Vinegar or Lodging Fat (verse 18)

 

No Israeli is permitted to sacrifice the blood of Yehovah’s sacrifice upon vinegar.

 

The fat of Yehovah’s solemnity shall not lodge (spend the night) unto morning!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    What does vinegar picture (when it pictures anything in the Bible)? It pictures violence. When juices ferment, they usually produce wine. If the fermentation continues, the bubbling process occurs, and soon vinegar is produced. That bubbling is like what happens inside of a person or a group that is becoming more and more angry until the pressure builds and the acidity level also builds. When vinegar finally reaches its greatest level, all fermentation stops because the organism (the microscopic creature that makes the wine and the vinegar) is dead.

 

2.    What does blood typify? Since the life of the flesh is in the blood, it is offered as a picture of one (or a group) giving his/its life for another.

 

3.    What is wrong with sacrificing blood upon vinegar? Blood has everything to do with life, while vinegar has everything to do with violence. (Violence often results in the lives of innocent ones being involuntarily taken.) Those two cannot go together, since it would portray Yehovah’s sacrifice as murderous (that is, due to violence).

 

4.    Why did Yehovah refer to the sacrifice as “my sacrifice”? Not only does He own the sacrifice (in the form of the animal) that a person is about to sacrifice to Him, but He also owns (or is) what the sacrifice typifies!

 

5.    What is the fat of Yehovah’s solemnity? It is the fat of the animal being sacrificed at Yehovah’s solemnity, or it is the rich excess of what has been produced in the field. Yet, more importantly, it is what that fat typifies.

 

       Fat is the excess of anything—what is extra beyond what is presently being used. This word either describes productivity (as in the case of a field) or abundance (either plenty or too much).

 

       It signifies the rich excess and increase to Yehovah.

 

       The Israelis are not allowed to eat fat from any kind of animal species that is sacrificed; such fat belongs to Yehovah.

 

       When animals were sacrificed, the fat was burned, and the smell was and is very pleasant. (It is what makes a cook-out smell so good!)

 

       Joseph said to his brothers,

 

       Genesis 45:18 And take your father and your households, and come unto me! And I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land.

 

6.    What is wrong with permitting the fat to lodge (to stay overnight) unto morning? Since the fat of the land is what the land produces in abundance, I propose that bringing the fat to Yehovah can typify bringing both the Israelis and those who have helped the Israelis to Mount Zion. Leaving them behind would be leaving them to lodge where they are unto the morning. Instead, they must be brought as a sacrifice to Yehovah for a savour of restfulness (a smell that reminds Yehovah of the rest that He will provide). (It is like the very good smell of a steak cooking over a fire.)

 

       Thus, once the Israelis harvest their crops, they must not delay bringing them for even one day; they must bring them right away. (This will be the difference of life and death during the Tribulation.)

 

 

 

XVI. Firstborn of Soil (verse 19)

 

The Israeli must bring the beginning of all firstborn ones of his/her soil, the House of Yehovah, His/Her Gods!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    What is the “beginning of firstborn-[ones] of the soil”? The firstborn of the soil are also called the firstfruits since they are the first-ripened fruits. The rest of the fruits will ripen later, but these have come ripe first in that year. There will be other firstfruits to that crop that come even before the main crop, but these are the very first of the first-ripened fruits! They must be brought!

 

2.    The text doesn’t say, to the House of Yehovah thy Gods.” Is this an error, or is it intentional? It is intentional. If the text had said, “Thou shalt bring beginning of firstborn-[ones] of thy soil to the House of Yehovah thy Gods,” it would have only been communicating about the location: where to bring them. With it worded as “Thou shalt bring beginning of firstborn-[ones] of thy soil House of Yehovah thy Gods,” it shows the careful reader that the beginning of the firstborn ones from Israel’s soil, whether Jewish or not, are the House of Yehovah Gods of Israel! They are not just spectators; they are a vital part of Yehovah’s House!

 

3.    Who is thou in, “Thou shalt bring…”? From verse 20 and on, I can tell that thou refers to all Israel.

 

4.    What does “Thou shalt bring beginning of firstborn-[ones] of thy soil House of Yehovah thy Gods” typify? If I am right about the types, Israel is responsible to bring the very first of the non-Jewish ones who have produced fruit to Israel and to Yehovah (by willingly risking their own lives to save Israelis), since they are also the House of Yehovah Gods of Israel.

 

       That House pictures all the Israeli Saints, all the non-Israeli Saints, and all those who aren’t (yet) Saints who will be helping Israel during the Tribulation.

 

 

 

XVII. No Kid-Boiling (verse 19)

 

An Israeli must never boil a goat kid in the fat of his mother!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    Why would anyone want to boil a goat kid (baby or young goat) in the fat of his own mother? This was one of the idolatrous practices that pagans around Israel did. From the text, I see that they would slay the mother, take its milk and its fat (since both are forms of fat), get it boiling, and then put the baby goat into that fat to cook it. This was a sacrifice to a mother-son/goddess-god set of deities. Yehovah strictly forbade Israel from doing this practice.

 

2.    Orthodox Jews believe that this command means that no meat should ever be cooked with dairy, and that no meat should ever be eaten with dairy. They even believe that this command disallows eating meat on a dairy dish with dairy utensils (that is, with silverware that has been dedicated to use only with dairy products), etc. Is this what this command is saying? No! Had Yehovah desired to command all that, He would have done so. He is commanding against idolatry; He isn’t commanding against eating meat with dairy.

 

       While the rabbis in Judaism thought they were helping the Israelis avoid sinning by adding all those commands, including commands against eating meat with dairy, they were actually distracting the Israelis from reading Biblical texts entrusted to them. Even Avraham and Yehovah ate meat and dairy together (see Genesis 18:8)!

 

 

 

XVIII. The Messenger (verses 20-23)

 

Yehovah next announces that He is sending a messenger to the faces of Israel to guard Israel in the way and to bring Israel unto a place that Yehovah prepared.

 

Israel must be guarded from his faces! Israel must hearken to his voices! Israel must refrain from embittering by means of him! The reason: this messenger will not carry to the transgression of the Israelis! Yehovah’s Name is by means of his approach!

 

Now, if Israel will truly hearken by means of his voice, and if Israel will do all that Yehovah will speak, Yehovah will ‘enemy’ Israel’s enemies, and He will ‘tribulate’ Israel’s tribulators! For, Yehovah’s messenger will walk to Israel’s faces. He is the One who will bring Israel unto the Emori and the Khiti and the Preezi and the Canaani, the Khivi and the Yevhoosi.

 

Yehovah will conceal this messenger!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    What is a messenger? It is anyone sent with a message or to do an errand on behalf of another.

 

       Every angel is a messenger; the Hebrew word for angel is also the Hebrew word for messenger.

 

2.    What will this messenger do? This messenger will guard Israel in the way; this messenger will bring Israel unto a place that Yehovah prepared.

 

3.    What does “to thy faces” mean? It means straight in front of thee.

 

4.    Will Israel be able to see this messenger? The text to this point doesn’t tell us. (If you read ahead, you will see that the messenger will be quite visible.)

 

5.    Where is this place that Yehovah has prepared? Another text refers to the same place and its preparation:

 

       John 14:1 “Your heart shall not be troubled. Ye believe in God. Also believe in me! 2There are many abodes in the House of my Father; otherwise, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again, and I will take hold of you to myself so that ye shall be where I also am. 4And ye know where I go; and ye know the way.”

 

       This place is Mount Zion in Israel.

 

6.    Is this place already prepared at this very time (in 2011)? It isn’t yet prepared, and the messenger hasn’t yet been sent. By the time the messenger has been sent, the place will be prepared.

 

7.    Who is thou in, “Be thou guarded from his faces”? This still refers to Israel as a group.

 

8.    Why must Israel be guarded from his faces? The text explains: “He will not carry to your transgression!” (The expression, carry to, means forgive, among other things.) This messenger must be exactly obeyed, and thus Israel must be very guarded in all that Israel does.

 

9.    The next statement is, “And hearken via his voice.” What does this command mean? The Israelis must hear, listen, and do all that he communicates.

 

10. What does “Do not embitter thou via him” mean? This can carry two meanings, and both will fit. The first meaning is this: Don’t cause bitterness to him by means of what he will do and command; this would occur if Israel were to disobey him. The second meaning is similar: “Don’t cause bitterness to each other by means of what he will do and command; this would occur if the Israelis were to murmur against what he is commanding.

 

11. What does “he will not carry to your transgression” mean? This messenger will not forgive any transgression of the Israelis. He will also not bring any sacrifice to the Israelis for their transgression, should they transgress (that is, should they go beyond and violate what will be commanded them). This messenger is very different!

 

12. Yehovah then stated, “For my Name is via his approach!” What does this mean? Yehovah’s Name always carries two significances. One is in the meaning of His Name: He will be, He is, He was. The other refers to the Person Who is His Name. I am referring to Yeshua. The statement, “For my Name is via his approach,” refers to Yeshua: For Yeshua, that is, Salvation, is by means of his approach! This is why Israel must be so careful. This messenger’s approach to the destination of Mount Zion carries Israel’s Salvation in it! Thus, the Israelis must exactly obey this messenger. If they do, they will all be physically saved from the terrible danger of the Tribulation, and they will also be everlastingly saved from sin and the everlasting death that is the result of sin once they have believed the Truth that the messenger will also demonstrate.

 

13. Yehovah makes this statement: “For if, hearkening, thou shalt hearken via his voice, and thou shalt do all that I will speak…” Yehovah combined hearkening via his voice with “do all that I will speak.” What does this show? This messenger will be a prophet: he will speak the speeches of Yehovah exactly as Yehovah will give those speeches. Therefore, hearkening to this messenger will be the same as hearkening to Yehovah!

 

14. What will be the results of hearkening to this messenger, according to verse 22? If Israel will hearken to this messenger, Yehovah will be an enemy to Israel’s enemies, and Yehovah will ‘tribulate’ (that is, cause continuing trouble to) Israel’s tribulators—those who continuously trouble Israel. Obviously, Israel’s enemies and tribulators will be too busy to harm Israel at that time!

 

15. Why doesn’t Yehovah just turn these enemies and tribulators of Israel into friends? Yehovah never forces humans to believe in—that is, to have faith in—Yehovah, in Truth, in His speeches, etc. He will force all humans to behave right during the Millennium, but He never forces faith. That is an area that belongs to humans. If anyone believes, that is strictly voluntary!

 

16. Why does Yehovah again state that His messenger will walk to Israel’s faces? This shows that the messenger will be in front of Israel. It also gives a little evidence that the messenger will be visible. Since the messenger will be sent to Israel while part of Israel still isn’t in faith, that messenger has to be visible (since faith has to do with what is not seen, and the messenger will give directions to the Israelis both in faith and not in faith).

 

17. Verse 23 states, “And he [the messenger] will bring thee unto the Emori and the Khiti and the Preezi and the Canaani, the Khivi and the Yevoosi.” The text didn’t say, “unto the land of,” but instead mentioned six races. Is this event the historical event in Joshua’s day, or is this referring to another event in a future day? While this sounds like the historical event, it is placed in texts that have never occurred! (Read verses 25 and on!) I propose that this is a future event, and that these races will again be trouble to Israel!

 

18. At the end of verse 23 is the statement, “And I will obscure him!” Who is him, and what will occur that is described by obscuring him? I propose that this refers to this messenger. If I am right, Yehovah will cause Israel to not see this messenger, his characteristics, and other things about him in a clear light.

 

       This obscuring has already happened. Many who read these texts and other texts related to this messenger think that this messenger is Yeshua. They are not right, but they think that they are right. If this messenger were Yeshua, Yehovah would have stated either that His (Yehovah’s) Name is in Him (in Yeshua), or that He is Yehovah. Instead, Yehovah has carefully described the messenger as different. Texts in other places describe him as being like Moshe. (Yeshua and Moshe did very different things and were not alike in their assignments.)

 

       This messenger is therefore already obscured.

 

19. Why does Yehovah desire to obscure him? If I am right that the one being obscured is the messenger, this is to protect the messenger from being recognized until the right time. It also guarantees that most Israelis educated in the Bible won’t figure out who this messenger is, and will therefore assume that he fits what they already believe (which isn’t Biblically correct). That way, the Israelis can continue in their own faiths and in their own ways until they are ready for Truth only. (Individuals from Israel will believe Truth; and all who care at all about the Truth of the Bible will desire to see Israelis come to true Biblical faith.)

 

 

 

XIX. Dealing with Other Gods (verse 24)

 

Israel must not prostrate to the gods of the races mentioned above. Israel must not serve them. Israel must not make as they make. Instead, smashing, Israel must smash those gods! And shattering, Israel must shatter their pillars!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    What does prostrate mean? It means to lie face-down before another. This can show several things:

 

  • One’s willingness to serve another
  • One’s surrender to another
  • One’s recognition of another’s much higher rank
  • Making a very urgent request to another who can grant the request

2.    Why would anyone prostrate himself/herself to false gods? If the person believes that the gods are not false, and if the person believes that the gods can do something for him/her, the person will probably prostrate before those gods.

 

3.    Why would Yehovah have to command Israel to refrain from prostrating to the gods of the Emori, Khiti, Preezi, Canaani, Khivi and the Yevoosi, and who are these folks? Yehovah knew that the Israelis would quickly prostrate to the gods of these folks! The Israelis are quick at getting into idolatry!

 

       The Emori is one person who is of the race of the Emoreem (called the Amorites in most Bibles). In the same manner, the Khiti is one person who is of the race of the Khiteem (called the Hittites in most Bibles). Thus, Yehovah spoke of one person from each of these races, making it very personal.

 

 

 

XX. Results of Serving Yehovah (verses 25-33)

 

The Israelis shall serve Yehovah their Gods. Yehovah will bless Israel’s bread and Israel’s waters. Yehovah will fend off sickness in advance from Israel’s approach.

 

There won’t be a bereaved woman in the Land of Israel, and there won’t be a barren woman in that Land.

 

Yehovah will fill a scrolling of Israel’s days.

 

He will ‘buzz’ every people that Israel will come by means of them. Yehovah will give all Israel’s enemies unto Israel: the neck!

 

Yehovah will send the hornet to Israel’s faces. She, the hornet, will expel the Khivi, the Canaani and the Khiti from Israel’s faces. Now, Yehovah won’t expel one of these races from Israel’s faces in one year; that would cause the land to become desolate, and every living creature of the field would multiply upon Israel. Instead, Yehovah will expel him a little at a time, a little at a time from Israel’s faces until Israel will be fruitful.

 

Israel will inherit the land.

 

Yehovah will set Israel’s border from Ending Sea (‘Red Sea’) unto Palestinian Sea (the Mediterranean), and from the desert unto the river. Yehovah will give inhabitants of the land into Israel’s hand. And the Israelis will expel ‘him’ from Israel’s faces.

 

Israel must not cut a covenant to them and to their gods. And they must not dwell in Israel’s land lest they will cause Israel to sin to Yehovah! Instead, Israel shall serve Israel’s Gods! For ‘he’ will become to a snare to Israel!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    When will the Israelis serve Yehovah their Gods? They will do this in the last part of the Tribulation, and throughout the Millennium. There may be occasions where many of the Israelis do this before the End Times, but those occasions, if any, will be followed by the Israelis going after other gods.

 

2.    What must the Israelis do to be serving Yehovah their Gods? They must treat the Land of Israel right according to Yehovah’s commands. They must treat fellow-Israelis, sojourners, widows and orphans right according to Yehovah’s commands. They must do what is right before Yehovah in all things, according to Yehovah’s commands. Now, Yehovah’s commands are not numerous or hard. Israeli difficulties when it comes to doing Yehovah’s commands have to do with the Israelis desiring to live another way; there aren’t difficulties if folks desire to do what is right before Yehovah. He just didn’t make it all that hard. Living according to regular rules of societies is usually far more difficult, and sometimes impossible.

 

3.    What does bless mean? To bless is to give something or someone to another so that what is given will be used to benefit others (besides the person to whom the blessing was given). This is not the same as gift-giving, since a gift is given for the person’s own usage, and not for the benefit of others. Thus, a blessing may have only a little benefit on the one to whom it was given, but it will potentially greatly benefit others.

 

       Blessings always come with responsibilities. They must be used in the right way.

 

4.    What will occur if Yehovah blesses bread and waters? Items (like bread and waters) are not usually blessed in the Bible; persons are, and Yehovah can be blessed. This is a rare text.

 

       Since bread in the Bible can also refer to food, this is a text in which food can be blessed. This isn’t referring to what is done at the time of a meal, and it doesn’t refer to a prayer over the meal. If Yehovah blesses Israel’s food, He is giving gifts to that food so that it can give to others! I propose that Yehovah will give that food the ability to benefit others outside of Israel in special ways, including providing more healing benefits than what food should be able to provide. There are other ways in which the food of Israel can do much more for others than what it would normally be able to do. For example, it might have tastes that are very good to folks in distant and very different cultures. (Humans eat so many different kinds of things throughout the world; what tastes very good to one culture might make the other culture sick!)

 

       The same will be true of Israel’s waters. Yehovah will give those waters abilities that far exceed what normal very good waters could do. Thus, Israel will be able to benefit folks from all the races with the food and waters that Yehovah will bless.

 

5.    What does forefend mean? It means to fend off in advance; to prevent and to stop something from coming.

 

6.    What does “I will forefend sickness from thy approach” mean? Yehovah will stop sicknesses (like disease outbreaks) from approaching Israel. Thus, Israel will not experience disease outbreaks that are traveling throughout the world.

 

7.    What is a bereaved woman? She is a woman who has lost a child—that is, her child died.

 

8.    Why won’t a bereaved woman be in the Land of Israel? Every woman in the Land of Israel will experience all of her children living.

 

9.    What is a barren woman? She is a woman who is unable to conceive, and therefore she cannot produce a child.

 

10. Why won’t there be a barren woman in the Land of Israel? Every woman who desires to conceive and birth a child will be able to do that! Yehovah will make sure of that.

 

11. What does “I will fill a scrolling of thy days” mean? A scroll is a record that is continuous from page to page (unlike a book that has two continuous pages, and then it discontinues until the page is turned). a person’s life, including the records of the person’s days, is recorded on a scroll. A document that is very brief doesn’t fill a scroll’s pages. Thus, a life that is very short doesn’t have much information in that person’s scroll.

 

       If Yehovah will fill a scrolling of the person’s days, that shows that the person will live a long time!

 

12. What will occur if Yehovah will send His terror to Israel’s faces? Will He terrorize Israel? He will terrorize Israel, but in a good way! He will put a great fear into Israel! This terror, however, is intended for Israel’s enemies! Yehovah will send a terror into them that will cause them to want to run! That terror will be to Israel’s faces because it will be in front of Israel, preparing the enemies of Israel to run like… like Sheol!

 

13. What occurs if Yehovah hums (buzzes) every people to which Israel will come? When He ‘hums’ a people, he makes them talk to each other in great fear, wondering what they are going to do, where they are going to go, how they are going to live, etc. Their conversations with each other together sound like a hum. Yehovah will cause them to act as if they have the buzzing of a bee in their clothing! (That is rather frightening.)

 

14. What does “And I will give all thine enemies unto thee: neck” mean? The enemies will be delivered into the hands of Israel (either in defeat or surrender). When they give the neck, it will be Israel putting Israel’s foot on the enemy’s neck! That is a total surrender position, and one in which the enemy will have no will to resist!

 

15. Yehovah next states, “I will send the hornet to thy faces.” What is this hornet? A hornet is like a bee, but much, much more frightening. Yehovah easily can send a hornet (the real insect) before Israel’s faces to destabilize and frighten an enemy. When a word like hornet is used in the singular form in texts like this in the Bible, it often indicates a huge number! Yehovah can send swarms of attacking hornets! Armies will run from hornets, and they won’t be able to fight!

 

       Yehovah can also send the sound of hornets when there are none! This sound will have the save effect, except that there will be no need to sting! Enemies will still run with terror!

 

16. What will be the effect of sending the hornet? Three of the six races (Khivi, Cnaani and Khiti races) will run and be gone!

 

17. Yehovah next states, “I will not expel him from thy faces in one year…” Why will Yehovah not do it in a year? Will He take two years to do this? Yehovah does not desire for the land to return to desolation (since the land requires tending to keep it from returning to its wild state), and He does not desire that the living one (the animal, referring to all the animals) of the field to multiply to the point of their becoming either a nuisance or dangerous for the Israelis.

 

       Since Yehovah will do the expelling, He will do it in a way that will permit the Israelis to take and move in to one section, take and move in to another section, etc.

 

18. Where will the inhabitants of the land go as their homes and their lands are taken from them? They won’t go! They will fight! Therefore, they will have war, and Israel will slaughter them when they attack Israel!

 

       It may seem as if Israel will attack them, but that isn’t the way it usually works. Whoever attacks is considered to have the advantage. Also, whoever knows the land the best is considered to have the advantage. Thus, as Yehovah drives them to leave, they won’t leave, but will come with great force against Israel. Yehovah will make sure that Israel has the victory (as long as Israel is doing right), and then the Israelis will slaughter all remaining inhabitants.

 

19. Doesn’t Yehovah love the little children of the world, including the children of the Canaanites? No text states that Yehovah loves the little children of the world; that is from a song that someone wrote.

 

       The Canaanites and these other groups became very vile, and did things like sacrifice their children on burning statues, burning their own children alive so that they could get the attention of their false gods to have good crops (for example). They horribly murdered many of their own children. They did many other things that texts describe, and Yehovah hated them for their sinfulness and violence against the innocent. Yehovah also gave them much warning and much time to turn, but they only became worse. Yehovah finally determined to stop these races: kill these races. (That is called genocide.)

 

       Yehovah commanded the Israelis to leave nothing alive. They had to slaughter children, babies, cattle, sheep, etc. (They were not to touch the fruit trees.)

 

       While the young children and the babies had done nothing wrong, Yehovah knew that they would grow up to be worse than their parents. (Yehovah knows all things that will occur.) He therefore determined to kill them, also—not to have the Israelis adopt them, since they still would grow up to be just like their dead parents!

 

       Now, young children and babies who die, not having sinned, are not under any accusation by Yehovah. Everlasting Salvation from sin is by His Grace, and His Grace is toward such children and babies. 

 

20. If Yehovah is just expelling the Hivite, won’t he live and move to another location? If any of the members of these races had just left, they would have lived! I see no indication that Yehovah would have chased them down. Instead, they stayed to fight! Now, Israel was outnumbered, and these races had more gods than the Israelis. They should have easily been able to win! Instead, Yehovah drove them into the hands of Israel with the command to leave none of them alive.

 

21. Yehovah stated that He will expel him (the inhabitant of the land) a little, a little “until that thou wilt be fruitful.” What does that last part mean, and why will He stop doing what He is doing when they are fruitful? The Israelis will take over the lands of these other peoples. Israel will get crops from the plants that these races planted. Yehovah will continue to expel these other races until the Israelis have good crops, plenty of children, and multiplication of sheep and cattle.

 

       The word until in Hebrew does not mean the same thing as it does in English. In the English language, until means that whatever is occurring will stop at that point. In Hebrew, it doesn’t indicate that anything stops. Thus, Yehovah will expel them until Israel is fruitful, and He will continue to expel them even afterward until they are all gone!

 

22. Who will inherit the land, and what land is this? Israel, the whole group, will inherit the land of Canaan—the land where the Canaanites, the Hivites, the Amorites, the Jebusites, the Hittites, etc. are living.

 

23. What sea is Ending Sea? It is what is normally called the Red Sea. Look on a map to find it.

 

24. What is the Palestinian Sea? It is the Mediterranean Sea. Look on a map to find it.

 

25. What desert is mentioned in verse 31? It is the desert called the Negev, and the word Negev means south. It ends at the Red Sea on both sides.

 

26. What is the river mentioned in verse 31? I understand it to be the Euphrates River. (Find that river on a map.)

 

27. If Yehovah gives the inhabitants of the land into the hand of the Israelis, who does the expelling? Yehovah does it; the Israelis do it. Thus, credit is given to both for doing it.

 

28. Explain the wording, cut a covenant: Normally when two or more made covenants, they did an animal sacrifice. The animal’s throat was cut to both kill the animal and to drain the blood so that the animal could be cooked on the altar, and the participants would eat. (Thus, it was like a barbeque.)

 

       A covenant is like a vow, and a vow is much stronger than a promise.

 

       A promise is a statement in which one or more persons says that he or she will or won’t do something, or it is a statement in which a person guarantees that something will or won’t happen.

 

       A vow is a promise made with a higher power, authority or rank as a witness and whose reputation is used to guarantee that the one making the vow absolutely will or won’t do something, or that something will or won’t happen.

 

       A covenant is a vow made before a deity (a god or God), usually including an animal sacrifice, in which the deity acting as the guard of the covenant will avenge any break in the covenant!

 

       Thus, a covenant is cut, referring to the animal that is sacrificed.

 

29. What is wrong with cutting a covenant to the inhabitants of the land of Canaan? Yehovah desires them expelled from the land. Any covenant cut with them will include their staying on the land!

 

30. What is wrong with cutting a covenant to the gods of Canaanites, etc.? Cutting a covenant to the false gods is idolatry!

 

31. What is wrong with permitting these other races to stay where they are, while the Israelis move in? The text explains: “They shall not dwell in thy land lest they will sin-cause thee to me!” In other words, they will end up being a cause of Israel sinning! The Israelis will do as they do, and the Israelis will practice idolatry.

 

32. Can one person really cause another person to sin? The only way one person can cause another person to sin is by both of them being willing to sin in the first place. Now, one person may be deceived, thinking that a particular act isn’t a sin, but that person is still willing to do the sinful act (while thinking it isn’t sin).

 

33. Who is he in, “For he will be to a snare to thee,” and what is a snare? A snare is a trap designed to fool what is being caught into being entangled. He is each individual person from the races that Yehovah commanded to be expelled from the land of Canaan. Every Canaanite person will be a personal trap to Israel!

 

 

 

Exodus 23 Neighbours Solemnities and The Messenger

Neighbours, Solemnities, and The Messenger

 

Background and printed text: Exodus 22

 

Thou shalt not carry an empty report.

 

Thou shalt not carry thy hand with a guilty-[one] to be unto violence!

 

2Thou shalt not be after many to bad-do. And thou shalt not humble concerning a multiple [many] to incline after multiples to cause inclining.

 

3And thou shalt not honour a poverty-stricken-[one] via his fight.

 

4If thou meet an ox of thine enemy or his ass wandering, returning, thou shalt return him to him.

 

5When thou wilt see an ass of thine enemy couching under his burden and thou wilt desist from loosening to him, loosening, thou shalt loosen with him!

 

6Thou shalt not incline justice of thy poor-[one] via his fight.

 

7Thou shalt distance from a speech of a lie. And thou shalt not slay an innocent-[one] and a righteous-[one]. For I will not justify a culpable-[one]!

 

8And thou shalt not receive a bribe. For the bribe will blind perspicuous-[ones] and has subverted speeches of righteous-[ones].

 

9And thou shalt not oppress a sojourner. And ye, ye knew the being of the sojourner! For ye were sojourners in the land of Egypt!

 

10And thou shalt sow thy land six years. And thou shalt gather her bringing. 11And the seventh, thou shalt release her and thou shalt abandon her. And poor of thy people shall eat. And a living-[one] of the field shall eat their excess. Established, thou shalt do to thy vineyard, to thine olive.

 

12Thou shalt do thy doings six of days. And in day the seventh thou shalt cease in order that thine ox will rest, and thine ass. And the son of thy slavewoman has been ‘re-beinged,’ and the sojourner.

 

13And ye shall guard via all that I said unto you. And ye shall not remind-of the name of other gods. He shall not hear upon thy mouth!

 

14Thou shalt solemnize three feet to me in a year. 15Thou shalt guard the solemnity of the Matzahs seven of days—thou shalt eat Matzahs just-as she commanded thee to an appointment, month of the spring. For thou exited from Double-Adversity (Egypt) in him. And they shall not see my faces, their emptiness!— 16and the solemnity of the harvest, firstborn-[ones], thy doing—what thou wilt sow in a field; and the solemnity of the gathering via exiting of the year, via thy gathering thy doing from the field! 17Three strokes in the year, Mighty-[One], Faces of the Lord [sing.] Yehovah, will see each: thy male!

 

18Thou shalt not sacrifice blood of my sacrifice upon vinegar. And fat of my solemnity shall not lodge unto morning!

 

19Thou shalt bring beginning of firstborn-[ones] of thy soil House of Yehovah thy Gods.

 

Thou shalt not boil a goat-kid in the fat of his mother!

 

20Behold, I am sending a messenger to thy faces to guard thee in the way and to bring thee unto a place that I prepared. 21Be-thou-guarded from his faces! And hearken via his voice! Do not embitter thou via him! For he will not carry to your transgression! For my Name is via his approach! 22For if, hearkening, thou shalt hearken via his voice, and thou shalt do all that I will speak, and I ‘will enemy’ thine enemies and I will ‘tribulate’ thy tribulators! 23For, my messenger will walk to thy faces. And he will bring thee unto the Emori and the Khiti and the Preezi and the Canaani, the Khivi and the Yevoosi. And I will obscure him!

 

24Thou shalt not prostrate to their gods. And thou shalt not serve them. And thou shalt not make as their makings. For smashing, thou shalt smash them, and shattering, thou shalt shatter their pillars!

 

25And ye shall serve Yehovah your Gods. And He will bless thy bread and thy waters. And I will forefend sickness from thy approach! 26A bereaved-[woman] shall not be, and a barren-[woman], in thy land. I will fill a scrolling of thy days! 27I will send my terror to thy faces. And I will hum [buzz] every people that thou wilt come via them. And I will give all thine enemies unto thee: neck! 28And I will send the hornet to thy faces. And she will expel the Khivi, the Cnaani and the Khiti from thy faces. 29I will not expel him from thy faces in one year lest the land will be a desolation, and a living-[one] of the field will multiply upon thee. 30I will expel him a little, a little from thy faces until-that thou wilt be fruitful. And thou wilt inherit the land. 31And I will set thy border from Ending Sea and unto Palestinian Sea, and from the desert unto the river. For I will give inhabitants of the land into your hand. And ye shall expel him from thy faces! 32Thou shalt not cut a covenant to them and to their gods! 33And they shall not dwell in thy land lest they will sin-cause thee to me! For thou shalt serve thy Gods! For he will be to a snare to thee!

 

 

 

I. An Empty Report (verse 1)

 

Yehovah commanded each Israeli: “Thou shalt not carry an empty report.”

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    What is an empty report?

 

2.    What does “carry an empty report” mean?

 

3.    What is wrong with carrying an empty report if the first thing said is, “Now, I don’t know this for sure, but this is what I heard”?

 

4.    Who is thou?

 

 

 

II. Joining in Violence (verse 1)

 

He continued, commanding each Israeli to not “carry thy hand” with one who is guilty so that the hand will be unto violence.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    What does “carry thy hand” mean?

 

2.    Explain the entire command:

 

 

 

III. Yielding to the Majority (verse 2)

 

Yehovah command each Israeli to not be after a large group to do bad. Also, each Israeli must not humble himself or anyone in matters of many in order to bend anyone or any group to go after large groups to bend others to do something. (See questions.)

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    What does “be after many” mean?

 

2.    What does “Thou shalt not be after many to bad-do” mean?

 

3.    Suppose that the Israelis are grouping to rightly and properly execute a person who has done a death-penalty offense; if another Israeli accompanies this large group, is this group about to ‘bad do’?

 

4.    What does “thou shalt not humble…” mean?

 

5.    What does incline mean in this text?

 

6.    This command has several parts. What is being commanded by “thou shalt not humble concerning a multiple [many] to incline after multiples to cause inclining”?

 

 

 

IV. Honouring the Poor (verse 3)

 

Each Israeli must never honour another who is very poor by means of the fight of that poor one. (See Questions.)

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    What is a poverty-stricken person?

 

2.    Why would a poverty-stricken person have a fight? What is this fight?

 

3.    Shouldn’t a person stand up for a poverty-stricken person who is being mistreated?

 

4.    What is wrong with honouring a poverty-stricken person by means of his fight?

 

 

 

V. Meeting a Wandering Ox and Ass (verse 4)

 

Yehovah commanded each Israeli to return a wondering ox of an enemy or a wandering ass of an enemy to the enemy owner.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    Why must an Israeli return to an enemy an animal that isn’t his own and that belongs to the enemy?

 

2.    Does this command only have to do with wandering animals of enemy neighbours?

 

3.    Suppose that the enemy Israeli accuses the Israeli returning the item of stealing it; what must the Israeli do, and should the Israeli refuse to return another lost item or animal next time?

 

4.    Suppose that the Israeli returning the wandering ox just takes the ox directly to the stall, and then leaves without seeing the owner; would that be sufficient?

 

 

 

VI. An Enemy’s Couching Ass (verse 5)

 

When an Israeli will see an enemy’s ass couching (that is, setting itself down on the ground) under his burden, and when the Israeli will desist (stop participating in action) from loosening to him—that is, from helping to unload the ass’s burden, the Israeli instead must loosen the ass with the enemy.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    What does couching mean?

 

2.    Why would an animal couch under his burden?

 

3.    What does “desist from loosening to him” mean?

 

4.    What does this text command the Israeli to do?

 

5.    Does this command only cover animals and burdens?

 

6.    Suppose that the Israeli has an appointment that he must keep, and time is very important; can he go on his way, and leave his enemy in order to keep his appointment (including keeping his word that he gave when he made the appointment)?

 

 

 

VII. Inclining Justice of the Poor (verse 6)

 

No Israeli is permitted to incline justice (that is, to make justice go in a particular direction) of the Israeli’s poor one by means of the poor one’s fight.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    Isn’t this command the same as the one in verse 3?

 

2.    Why is Yehovah so against helping poor folks win in cases of justice?

 

3.    Suppose that someone wealthy and very intelligent takes advantage of the ignorance of a poor person, and by that means cheats the poor person using legal means; wouldn’t giving the poor person a justice advantage be the right thing to do?

 

 

 

VIII. Distancing from Injustice (verse 7)

 

The Israeli must distance himself/herself from a speech of a lie. The Israeli must not slay one who is innocent and one who is righteous. Yehovah will not justify (declare righteous) one who is guilty!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    What is a speech of a lie?

 

2.    What does “Thou shalt distance from a speech of a lie” mean?

 

3.    What is an innocent one?

 

4.    What is a righteous one?

 

5.    Was Yeshua righteous?

 

6.    Did the Israelis have to slay Yeshua?

 

7.    Why must the Israelis refrain from slaying an innocent one and a righteous one?

 

8.    What does justify mean?

 

9.    What does culpable mean?

 

10. Yehovah stated, “I will not justify a culpable one.” If this is true, how can a person who is guilty before Yehovah ever become righteous?

 

 

 

IX. The Bribe (verse 8)

 

An Israeli must not receive a bribe. A bribe blinds folks who normally see very well so that they won’t see well. A bride has subverted (turned into the opposite) speeches of righteous ones (so that the speeches are those of guilty ones).

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    What is a bribe?

 

2.    What is wrong with receiving a bribe?

 

3.    Is offering a bribe wrong?

 

4.    What does perspicuous mean?

 

5.    What occurs if a perspicuous one receives a bribe?

 

6.    What does subvert mean?

 

7.    Explain “the bribe has subverted speeches of righteous-[ones]”:

 

 

 

X. Oppressing a Sojourner (verse 9)

 

An Israeli must not oppress a sojourner. The Israelis knew the being (body, soul and spirit) of the sojourner! They were sojourners in the land of Egypt!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    What does oppress mean?

 

2.    Why would a person desire to oppress a sojourner?

 

3.    What does “ye knew the being of the sojourner” mean?

 

4.    Why were the Israelis sojourners in the land of Egypt?

 

 

 

XI. Releasing the Land and Vineyard (verses 10-11)

 

An Israeli will sow his/her land six years. He/She will gather what the land brings. The seventh year, the Israeli must release the land, and the Israeli must abandon the land. The poor of the Israeli’s people will eat, and a living one of the field will eat their excess (their leftovers). It is established also that the Israeli must do the same to his/her vineyard and to his/her olive.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    Who must sow the land six years?

 

2.    What does “And thou shalt gather her bringing” mean?

 

3.    What does “thou shalt release her and thou shalt abandon her” mean?

 

4.    If plants that produce food grow on their own in the seventh year, what can be done with that crop?

 

5.    What does “a living-[one] of the field shall eat their excess” mean?

 

6.    Suppose that a person has many grape vines or has an olive orchard; should the person gather from those?

 

7.    What is the holder of the land supposed to eat if he/she cannot eat from anything growing on his/her own land?

 

8.    Why did Yehovah command this seventh year release and abandonment?

 

 

 

XII. Ceasing for Others (verse 12)

 

Each Israeli must do his/her doings six of the days (of a week). Each must cease from his/her doings in order that his/her ox and ass can rest. Even the son of his/her slavewoman has been ‘re-beinged,’ and the sojourner, from this ceasing.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    The text states, “Thou shalt do thy doings six of days.” What are these doings?

 

2.    Must the Israelis work six days?

 

3.    What must occur on “day the seventh”?

 

4.    Why would an ox need to rest? Won’t it still eat grass in the field?

 

5.    Why does the text mention the son of the slavewoman instead of the slavewoman herself? Doesn’t she get to cease from working on this day?

 

6.    What does re-beinged mean?

 

7.    Why is the sojourner also mentioned?

 

 

 

XIII. Guarding and Not Naming (verse 13)

 

The Israelis must guard (and will guard) all that Yehovah said unto them. They must not remind of the name of other gods! He shall not hear that name upon an Israeli’s mouth!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    Why did Yehovah command at this point, “And ye shall guard via all that I said unto you”?

 

2.    What does “And ye shall not remind-of the name of other gods” mean?

 

3.    Aren’t the names of other gods mentioned in the Bible? Isn’t the Bible designed and meant to be read out loud (besides reading it in private?)?

 

4.    What does “He shall not hear upon thy mouth” indicate?

 

 

 

XIV. Three Feet: Matzahs, Harvest, Gathering (verses 14-17)

 

Each Israeli must guard the solemnity of the Matzahs seven of the days. He/She will eat Matzahs just as she commanded each Israeli for an appointment, the month of the spring. This is because each Israeli exited from Egypt in the month of the spring.

 

The Israelis will not see Yehovah’s faces along with their emptiness!

 

They must also guard the solemnity of the harvest: the firstborn ones, the doing of each: what each will sow in a field.

 

They must also guard the solemnity of the gathering by means of the exiting of the year, by means of each person’s gathering from the field what he/she is doing.

 

Mighty One, Who is the Faces of Lord Yehovah, will see each—the male of every Israeli—three strokes (times) in the year.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    What are feet in, “Thou shalt solemnize three feet to me in a year”?

 

2.    What does “Thou shalt solemnize three feet to me in a year” mean?

 

3.    What is Matzah?

 

4.    How can one guard the solemnity of the Matzahs?

 

5.    Who is she in, “just as she commanded thee…”?

 

6.    What is this appointment?

 

7.    What does matzah, in general, typify?

 

8.    What event will mark the time of the appointment being fulfilled?

 

9.    Yehovah now inserts a threat. What is the threat, and why does He threaten using this?

 

10. Explain the solemnity of the harvest:

 

11. Explain the solemnity of the gathering:

 

12. What are strokes?

 

13. Who is this Mighty One?

 

14. How often will this Mighty One see every male of Israel?

 

15. Why will He only see the males? Aren’t the females important to Him, and won’t they be heroic?

 

 

 

XV. No Sacrificial Vinegar or Lodging Fat (verse 18)

 

No Israeli is permitted to sacrifice the blood of Yehovah’s sacrifice upon vinegar.

 

The fat of Yehovah’s solemnity shall not lodge (spend the night) unto morning!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    What does vinegar picture (when it pictures anything in the Bible)?

 

2.    What does blood typify?

 

3.    What is wrong with sacrificing blood upon vinegar?

 

4.    Why did Yehovah refer to the sacrifice as “my sacrifice”?

 

5.    What is the fat of Yehovah’s solemnity?

 

6.    What is wrong with permitting the fat to lodge (to stay overnight) unto morning?

 

 

 

XVI. Firstborn of Soil (verse 19)

 

The Israeli must bring the beginning of all firstborn ones of his/her soil, the House of Yehovah, His/Her Gods!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    What is the “beginning of firstborn-[ones] of the soil”?

 

2.    The text doesn’t say, to the House of Yehovah thy Gods.” Is this an error, or is it intentional?

 

3.    Who is thou in, “Thou shalt bring…”?

 

4.    What does “Thou shalt bring beginning of firstborn-[ones] of thy soil House of Yehovah thy Gods” typify?

 

 

 

XVII. No Kid-Boiling (verse 19)

 

An Israeli must never boil a goat kid in the fat of his mother!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    Why would anyone want to boil a goat kid (baby or young goat) in the fat of his own mother?

 

2.    Orthodox Jews believe that this command means that no meat should ever be cooked with dairy, and that no meat should ever be eaten with dairy. They even believe that this command disallows eating meat on a dairy dish with dairy utensils (that is, with silverware that has been dedicated to use only with dairy products), etc. Is this what this command is saying?

 

 

 

XVIII. The Messenger (verses 20-23)

 

Yehovah next announces that He is sending a messenger to the faces of Israel to guard Israel in the way and to bring Israel unto a place that Yehovah prepared.

 

Israel must be guarded from his faces! Israel must hearken to his voices! Israel must refrain from embittering by means of him! The reason: this messenger will not carry to the transgression of the Israelis! Yehovah’s Name is by means of his approach!

 

Now, if Israel will truly hearken by means of his voice, and if Israel will do all that Yehovah will speak, Yehovah will ‘enemy’ Israel’s enemies, and He will ‘tribulate’ Israel’s tribulators! For, Yehovah’s messenger will walk to Israel’s faces. He is the One who will bring Israel unto the Emori and the Khiti and the Preezi and the Canaani, the Khivi and the Yevhoosi.

 

Yehovah will conceal this messenger!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    What is a messenger?

 

2.    What will this messenger do?

 

3.    What does “to thy faces” mean?

 

4.    Will Israel be able to see this messenger?

 

5.    Where is this place that Yehovah has prepared?

 

6.    Is this place already prepared at this very time (in 2011)?

 

7.    Who is thou in, “Be thou guarded from his faces”?

 

8.    Why must Israel be guarded from his faces?

 

9.    The next statement is, “And hearken via his voice.” What does this command mean?

 

10. What does “Do not embitter thou via him” mean?

 

11. What does “he will not carry to your transgression” mean?

 

12. Yehovah then stated, “For my Name is via his approach!” What does this mean?

 

13. Yehovah makes this statement: “For if, hearkening, thou shalt hearken via his voice, and thou shalt do all that I will speak…” Yehovah combined hearkening via his voice with “do all that I will speak.” What does this show?

 

14. What will be the results of hearkening to this messenger, according to verse 22?

 

15. Why doesn’t Yehovah just turn these enemies and tribulators of Israel into friends?

 

16. Why does Yehovah again state that His messenger will walk to Israel’s faces?

 

17. Verse 23 states, “And he [the messenger] will bring thee unto the Emori and the Khiti and the Preezi and the Canaani, the Khivi and the Yevoosi.” The text didn’t say, “unto the land of,” but instead mentioned six races. Is this event the historical event in Joshua’s day, or is this referring to another event in a future day?

 

18. At the end of verse 23 is the statement, “And I will obscure him!” Who is him, and what will occur that is described by obscuring him?

 

19. Why does Yehovah desire to obscure him?

 

 

 

XIX. Dealing with Other Gods (verse 24)

 

Israel must not prostrate to the gods of the races mentioned above. Israel must not serve them. Israel must not make as they make. Instead, smashing, Israel must smash those gods! And shattering, Israel must shatter their pillars!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    What does prostrate mean?

 

2.    Why would anyone prostrate himself/herself to false gods?

 

3.    Why would Yehovah have to command Israel to refrain from prostrating to the gods of the Emori, Khiti, Preezi, Canaani, Khivi and the Yevoosi, and who are these folks?

 

 

 

XX. Results of Serving Yehovah (verses 25-33)

 

The Israelis shall serve Yehovah their Gods. Yehovah will bless Israel’s bread and Israel’s waters. Yehovah will fend off sickness in advance from Israel’s approach.

 

There won’t be a bereaved woman in the Land of Israel, and there won’t be a barren woman in that Land.

 

Yehovah will fill a scrolling of Israel’s days.

 

He will ‘buzz’ every people that Israel will come by means of them. Yehovah will give all Israel’s enemies unto Israel: the neck!

 

Yehovah will send the hornet to Israel’s faces. She, the hornet, will expel the Khivi, the Canaani and the Khiti from Israel’s faces. Now, Yehovah won’t expel one of these races from Israel’s faces in one year; that would cause the land to become desolate, and every living creature of the field would multiply upon Israel. Instead, Yehovah will expel him a little at a time, a little at a time from Israel’s faces until Israel will be fruitful.

 

Israel will inherit the land.

 

Yehovah will set Israel’s border from Ending Sea (‘Red Sea’) unto Palestinian Sea (the Mediterranean), and from the desert unto the river. Yehovah will give inhabitants of the land into Israel’s hand. And the Israelis will expel ‘him’ from Israel’s faces.

 

Israel must not cut a covenant to them and to their gods. And they must not dwell in Israel’s land lest they will cause Israel to sin to Yehovah! Instead, Israel shall serve Israel’s Gods! For ‘he’ will become to a snare to Israel!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.    When will the Israelis serve Yehovah their Gods?

 

2.    What must the Israelis do to be serving Yehovah their Gods?

 

3.    What does bless mean?

 

4.    What will occur if Yehovah blesses bread and waters?

 

5.    What does forefend mean?

 

6.    What does “I will forefend sickness from thy approach” mean?

 

7.    What is a bereaved woman?

 

8.    Why won’t a bereaved woman be in the Land of Israel?

 

9.    What is a barren woman?

 

10. Why won’t there be a barren woman in the Land of Israel?

 

11. What does “I will fill a scrolling of thy days” mean?

 

12. What will occur if Yehovah will send His terror to Israel’s faces? Will He terrorize Israel?

 

13. What occurs if Yehovah hums (buzzes) every people to which Israel will come?

 

14. What does “And I will give all thine enemies unto thee: neck” mean?

 

15. Yehovah next states, “I will send the hornet to thy faces.” What is this hornet?

 

16. What will be the effect of sending the hornet?

 

17. Yehovah next states, “I will not expel him from thy faces in one year…” Why will Yehovah not do it in a year? Will He take two years to do this?

 

18. Where will the inhabitants of the land go as their homes and their lands are taken from them?

 

19. Doesn’t Yehovah love the little children of the world, including the children of the Canaanites?

 

20. If Yehovah is just expelling the Hivite, won’t he live and move to another location?

 

21. Yehovah stated that He will expel him (the inhabitant of the land) a little, a little “until that thou wilt be fruitful.” What does that last part mean, and why will He stop doing what He is doing when they are fruitful?

 

22. Who will inherit the land, and what land is this?

 

24. What is the Palestinian Sea?

 

25. What desert is mentioned in verse 31?

 

26. What is the river mentioned in verse 31?

 

27. If Yehovah gives the inhabitants of the land into the hand of the Israelis, who does the expelling?

 

28. Explain the wording, cut a covenant:

 

29. What is wrong with cutting a covenant to the inhabitants of the land of Canaan?

 

30. What is wrong with cutting a covenant to the gods of Canaanites, etc.?

 

31. What is wrong with permitting these other races to stay where they are, while the Israelis move in?

 

32. Can one person really cause another person to sin?

 

33. Who is he in, “For he will be to a snare to thee,” and what is a snare?

 

 

 

Temple: Destroy This Temple

Destroy This Temple

John 2:18 The Jews therefore answered and said to Him, “What sign dost Thou show to us that Thou doest these things?” 19Yeshua answered and said to them, “Destroy this Temple, and I will raise it up in three days!” 20The Jews therefore said, “Forty and six years was building this Temple! And Thou wilt raise it up in three days?” 21But He spoke concerning the Temple of His Body. 22When He was raised up from among the dead, His disciples therefore remembered that He had said this to them. And they believed the Scripture and the word that Yeshua had spoken.

 

To what Temple is Yeshua referring?

In verse 21, the text testifies that He spoke of the Temple of His Body. This is not Yeshua’s physical body. Had it been, the wording in verse 21 would have been different—more like this: “But He spoke concerning His death and resurrection.” Instead, this Temple is the Body of Christ—that is, the entire entity and group over which He is head.

 

The next text demonstrates that His Body is the Church:

 

Colossians 1:24 …who now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Messiah in my flesh for His Body’s sake, which is the Church.

 

This body first consists of Israel, Messiah Yeshua’s property. Israel is and always has been the core of this Body. All Israelis in faith and out of faith together constitute this Body. As Israelis die in unbelief, they are removed from this Body. Thus, Israelis are temporary members unless they come to faith. Romans explains this:

 

Romans 11:16 For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also. And if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17And if some of the branches are broken off, and thou, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them, and partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree with them, 18don’t boast against the branches! But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee! 19Thou wilt say then, “The branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in!” 20Fine! They were broken off because of unbelief, and thou standest by faith! Don’t be highminded, but fear! 21For if God spared not the natural branches—lest He also spare not thee!

 

I have drawn a representation of this tree:

 

Olive Tree

 

If an Israeli comes to faith, he/she is grafted into the tree again, now being a living branch.

 

Persons who are born of God are also added to the Israelis making up this Body. They are connected to Avraham, as the following text explains:

 

Romans 4:13 For the promise that he will be the heir of the world is not to Avraham or to his seed through the Torah, but through the righteousness of faith. 14For if they who are of the Torah are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is made of no effect 15because the Torah works wrath. For where no law is, no transgression is. 16Therefore [the promise]is of faith so that [it] is by grace to the end the promise will be sure to all the seed—not only to that which is of the Torah, but also to that which is of the faith of Avraham (who is the father of us all, 17as it is written, “I have made thee a father of many nations”) before Him Whom he believed—God Who makes-alive the dead and calls those things that are not as though they were—18who believed in hope against hope so that he will become the father of many races according to what was spoken: “So shall thy seed be.”

 

Some non-Jewish folks who become Saints join themselves to Israel, and are thus named on another branch in the above picture.

 

There is another group to consider. They are non-Jewish, non-believing friends of the Israelis who will risk their lives for them during the Tribulation. (They will become part of that Body in faith later, after the Tribulation). They are often described in the Bible, with two texts specially describing them: Matthew 25:31 and following, and Psalm 1. They are the ‘sheep’ in the so-called Sheep/Goat Judgment of Matthew 25. Messiah states this of that event:

 

Matthew 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, He shall then sit upon the throne of His glory. 32And all races shall be gathered before Him. And He shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divides sheep from goats. 33And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, and the goats on the left. 34Then the King shall say unto them on His right hand, “Come, ye blessed of my Father! Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world! 35For I was hungry, and ye gave me food! I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink! I was a stranger, and ye took me in!—36naked, and ye clothed me! I was sick, and ye visited me! I was in prison, and ye came unto me!” 37Then the righteous shall answer Him, saying, “Lord, when did we see thee hungry, and fed, or thirsty, and gave drink? 38When did we see thee a stranger, and took in, or naked, and clothed? 39Or when did we see thee sick or in prison, and came unto thee?” 40And the King shall answer and say unto them, “Faith I say unto you! Inasmuch as ye have done unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done unto me!” 41Then He shall say also unto them on the left hand, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and His angels!! 42For I was hungry, and ye gave me no food! I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink! 43I was a stranger, and ye didn’t take me in!—naked, and ye didn’t clothe me!—sick and in prison, and ye didn’t visit me!” 44Then they also shall answer Him, saying, “Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?” 45Then He shall answer them, saying, “Faith I say unto you! Inasmuch as ye didn’t to one of the least of these, ye didn’t to me!” 46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, and the righteous into everlasting life!

 

Messiah classified the sheep-side folks with the following descriptions:

 

 

  • Blessed of my Father (verse 34)
  • Inheritors of the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world (verse 34)
  • Righteous (verse 37)
  • Entering into everlasting life (verse 46)

While they are not yet part of that Body of Messiah, they certainly will be!

 

The Temple as a Type

The Temple is a type: an item that is important in itself, and properly pictures and portrays another item that is far more important, along with events that happen to that item. Every temple in the world (I propose—if the word isn’t being used in some other way) is a living quarter for a god; that is what a temple is designed to be. The Temple of the Body of Messiah is a residence for the God of Israel. That Temple (that is, the answer to the type, and not the type itself) will experience a fragmentation (I will explain that shortly), and then it will be brought back together within a three-day period.

 

What does the word translated destroy truly mean?

Translators did great violence against the text when they applied their own theology to the translation instead of leaving the word alone with its normal meanings. The following are the acceptations given in Thayer’s lexicon for this word:

 

To loose any person (or thing) tied or fastened; bandages of the feet, the shoes; of a husband and wife joined together by the bond of matrimony; of a single man, whether he has already had a wife or has not yet married; to loose one bound, i.e. to unbind, release from bonds, set free; of one bound up (swathed in bandages); bound with chains (a prisoner), discharge from prison, let go; to loosen, undo, dissolve, anything bound, tied, or compacted together; an assembly, i.e. to dismiss, break up; laws, as having a binding force, are likened to bonds; to annul, subvert; to do away with, to deprive of authority, whether by precept or act; to declare unlawful; to loose what is compacted or built together, to break up, demolish, destroy; to dissolve something coherent into parts, to destroy; metaph., to overthrow, to do away with.

 

The basic flavor of this word isn’t to destroy; it is to separate into various parts; to break up a whole item into parts. It can include scattering a group into smaller groups, and this is what will happen during the Tribulation. What the Temple represents (typifies) will be separated into small units to save the lives of Jewish folks (and others).

 

Who does the destroying?

Yeshua said, “Fragment this Temple…” He spoke to the Israelis when He said this. Jewish leaders in Israel will be the Israelis responsible for this during the Tribulation by making a covenant with death:

 

Isaiah 28:14 Therefore, hearken-ye-to the saying of Yehovah, men of the scoff, the rulers of this People that is in Jerusalem. 15For ye said, “We cut a covenant with Death!” and, “We made a vision with Sheol!” “The scourge is gushing! For he passed! He will not come-to us! For we placed a prevarication, our shelter! And we were hidden in a lie!” 16Therefore, so said my Lords Yehovah, “Behold, I am establishing a stone in Zion—a chosen stone, a corner, preciousness of a foundation—a foundation of the Believer. He will not hasten! 17And I will place justice for a commandment and righteousness for a plummet. And hail shall sweep-away the shelter of the prevarication; and waters shall gush-away the hiding-place! 18And he shall cover your covenant with Death. And your vision with Sheol will not stand. The scourge that will pass-over gushes! And ye shall be to him for treading! 19He will take you from the time-of his passing-over! For in the morning, in the morning he will pass-over, in the day and in the night! And he shall be only frustration to understand a report!”

 

That covenant will drive all Israelis who fear Yehovah to either leave the area or to work underground. They will have to work in small groups if they will save lives of other Israelis. Yehovah will have already sent many Israelis to the farthest locations throughout the world long before this time for their preservation and protection. This will be the backdrop to the time of Jacob’s Tribulation. While this fragmentation will last for a few years, the last part of the gathering itself will be within three days (I will show my evidence for this shortly).

 

The Hosea text

Hosea 5:15 “I will walk. I will return to my place until they declare themselves guilty and seek my faces! They will seek me sunrise in their Tribulation!” Hosea 6:1 “Come! And we shall return unto Yehovah! For He tore, and He will heal us! He smote, and He will bind us up! 2He will make us alive after two days! He will raise us up in the third day! And we shall live in His sight! 3Then we shall know! We shall follow on to know Yehovah! His going forth is prepared as the morning. And He shall come unto us as the rain—as the latter, former rain unto the land!”  

 

These Israelis know the exact timings of these events! He will raise up that Temple (consisting of Israelis and all His Body) in three days.

 

The Significance of Three Days

Why do a number of texts refer to events that are three days or within three days? If anyone will have a hope during terrible times, knowing when those times will end is vital. Some have given up just before the end of the terrors in previous terrible times, not realizing how close they were to the end. They might have endured to the end, had they known.

 

At the same time, being too specific will give information to enemies; they may use that information to commence a terrible slaughter in vengeance. Thus, Messiah has given information that is specific to the week, but not to the day or the hour:

 

Matthew 24:29 “Immediately after the Tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light. And the stars shall fall from the heavens, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. 30And then the sign of the Son of man shall appear in the heavens. And then all the tribes of the earth shall mourn. And they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of the heavens with power and great glory. 31And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet; and they shall gather His elect together from the four winds—from one end of the heavens to the other. 32Now learn a parable of the fig tree: When his branch is yet tender, and he puts forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh. 33So likewise, when ye shall see all these things, ye know that it is near—at the doors. 34Faith I say unto you, this generation shall not pass until all these things are fulfilled. 35Heavens and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. 36But no one knows of that day and hour—no, not the angels of the heavens, but only my Father.”  

 

Mark 13:24 “In those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light. 25And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in the heavens shall be shaken. 26And then they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. 27And then He shall send His angels. And they shall gather together His elect from the four winds: from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of the heavens! 28Now learn a parable of the fig tree: When her branch is yet tender and puts forth leaves, ye know that summer is near. 29So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh: at the doors. 30Faith! I say unto you that this generation shall not pass until all these things are done. 31Heavens and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. 32But no man knows of that day and hour—no, not the angels that are in the heavens or the Son, but the Father. 33Take ye heed! Watch and pray! For ye don’t know when the time is, 34as a man taking a far journey who left his house. And he gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work. And he commanded the porter to watch. 35Watch ye therefore! For ye don’t know when the master of the house comes: at even or at midnight or at the cockcrowing or in the morning, 36lest coming suddenly, he finds you sleeping! 37And what I say unto you I say unto all: Watch!”

 

These two texts refer to the gathering as well as the coming of the master (the Messiah). The gathering will be within a three-day period within the last week of the Tribulation; the coming of the Messiah will be exactly 1,290 days after the False Prophet of the Assyrian (antichrist) sets up an image of the Assyrian in the Temple:

 

Daniel 12:11 From the time that the daily [sacrifice] shall be taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.

 

Thus, any reader can know the very day of Messiah’s coming (once the abomination—a ‘living’ statue of the Assyrian that has power to kill—has been set up). The gathering is a different issue. Messiah Himself doesn’t know the day or the hour. Any careful reader can know the week in which the gathering takes place (it will be within the last week of the Tribulation). If the person knows the week, the person will also know the month and the year once the abomination has been set up.

 

These three-day periods are long enough that enemies will not believe them, and they are short enough that those who truly hope and believe will be able to easily wait. Another text refers to a shortening of the length of a day during the last part of the Tribulation, so that the maximum of three days that one must wait will not be 72 hours, but instead will be 48 hours:

 

Matthew 24:21 For great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be, shall be then. 22And except those days shall be shortened, there shall no flesh be saved! But those days shall be shortened for the elect’s sake.

 

The amount of the shortening is specifically described:

 

Revelation 8:12 And the fourth angel sounded. And the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars, so as the third part of them was darkened. And the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.

 

The last phrase describes a shortening of a day and a night by a third. Thus, a 24-hour day/night cycle becomes a 16-hour day/night cycle. The most any Saint will have to wait to be gathered is 48 hours.

 

Raising it up

The Hosea text above mentioned raising up: “He will make us alive after two days! He will raise us up in the third day! And we shall live in His sight!” The word translated raised used here includes the following acceptations: to arouse (from sleep, from death), cause to rise, to awake; to recall the dead to life; to cause to rise from a seat or bed, etc. The purpose of the Temple’s fragmentation into its various parts will be to save lives. When the antitype of the Temple (that very real Body of persons of which the Temple is a picture) is caused to rise, all its various parts will ascend Mount Zion, literally rising up that very large mountain. (Mount Zion is presently quite small; it will become a great mountain during the Tribulation.) While the Temple (that is, what the Temple typifies) will be fragmented for quite a while, the gathering will bring it all together on Mount Zion within the period of three days by the act of Yeshua.

 

For those who thought that this text referred to Yeshua’s death and resurrection, Yeshua said in this text that He (not Yehovah the Father) will raise this Temple up, whereas Yehovah was the one who raised Yeshua from the dead:

 

Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death so that, just as Messiah was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also shall walk in newness of life.

 

1 Peter 1:21 …who by Him do believe in God Who raised Him up from the dead and gave Him glory so that your faith and hope will be in God.

 

The Matzah in the Passover

Yeshua stated the following:

 

1 Corinthians 11:24 And when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take! Eat! This is my Body that is broken for you! Do this in remembrance of me.”

 

Luke 22:19 And He took bread. And He gave thanks. And He broke it and gave unto them, saying, “This is my Body that is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

 

What did this show-and-tell act of taking Matzah, breaking it, telling them to take, telling them to eat, then telling them that this is His Body broken/given for them portray? Why did Yeshua break Matzah, and then tell them to take, to eat, and that it was broken for them?

 

In order to understand the answer to this question, another question must supercede: Whom did the disciples represent when Yeshua spoke to them in so many recorded discourses? The disciples themselves often found Yeshua’s words very confusing. He said things to them that didn’t make sense to them—at least, not to all of them. For example,

 

John 14:1 “Let not your heart be troubled. Ye believe in God; believe also in me.”

 

He said, “your (plural) heart (singular) as if they all had one heart, one mind. Then He said, “Ye believe in God.” That was true, except for Judas Iscariot. When He said, “Believe also in me,” He implied that they didn’t believe in Him. That was true of Judas Iscariot, but not of the rest of the disciples. The rest definitely believed in Him. I noticed these types of comments made by Yeshua throughout His ministry, and finally figured that He spoke to the disciples through the disciples to another group of disciples during the Tribulation. Those disciples will believe in Yehovah the Father, and won’t know who the Messiah is. Thus, we would call them unbelievers regarding Yeshua.

 

When Yeshua took the Matzah, broke it, and told them to take it, He was commanding them to receive something important. Matzah itself typifies a group (of persons) that is without sin, since leaven is a type of sin. If they take that piece of Matzah, they are receiving a small part of the Body of Messiah—a small group of folks (who are very likely fleeing for their lives, since the fulfillment will be during the Tribulation.

 

After they received this, He next told them to eat it. In the Bible, eating anything is becoming participant with it. That is why offerers of sacrifices ate of the sacrifices. It is also why Messiah said,

 

John 6:49 “Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50This is the bread that comes down from the heavens so that a man may eat of it and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from the heavens. If any man eats of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” 52The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us flesh to eat?” 53Then Yeshua said unto them, “Faith! Faith, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. 54Whoso eats my flesh and drinks my blood has everlasting life. And I will raise him up at the last day. 55For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood dwells in me, and I in him. 57As the living Father has sent me, and I live by the Father, so, he who eats me, even he shall live by me. 58This is that bread that came down from the heavens—not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead. He who eats of this bread shall live forever.”

 

Anyone who eats Passover bread (Matzah), or better, what it typifies, has become participant with what it typifies: pieces of that sin-free section of the Body of Messiah. That is why Messiah stated, “This is my Body that is given/broken for you.” Those folks who are part of the Matzah groups will risk their lives to save the lives of those Jews who are disciples, yet who have not come to faith in Yeshua; they make up the you.

 

Are the Temple and His Body Two Different Entities?

The expression, “Temple of His Body” gives the impression that they are two different identities. Had Yeshua spoken to the Jewish crowds in Greek, this might have been obvious. He spoke in Hebrew. If He used Aramaic, it is a variant of Hebrew. In either case, a Hebrew expression with of in it nearly never provides the equivalent Hebrew word for of; it is constructed into the phrase by the order and sometimes form of the first noun. For example, saying “the men of the city” in Hebrew would sound like this: “the men the city,” “men city,” or “men the city.” One speaking or reading Hebrew would know to supply the concept of the word of. Yet, there are cases where a reader or a hearer might not know whether the of is appropriate. Consider this phrase: the angel of the Lord. Now, suppose that “the Lord” is actually Yehovah; it would be, the angel of Yehovah. Is this angel one of the beings that Yehovah created, or is it Yehovah Himself? The Bible shows cases for both. In some cases, this is a separate being from Yehovah, and not deity; in other cases it is Yehovah Himself.

 

  • When it should be rendered the angel of Yehovah, the angel is a separate being.
  • When it should be rendered the Angel Yehovah, the angel is Yehovah Himself in messenger form, a reference to the Messiah.

If Yeshua is referring to the physical structure known as the Temple, the one that will be built during the Millennium, I have not seen a reference indicating that it will be built in three days, and I do not expect it to be built that rapidly. If Yeshua is referring to the Temple consisting of His Body, I have every expectation that He will assemble it to Mount Zion within the three-day gathering period. If this is the case, the Temple and His Body are one entity.

 

Did the Disciples understand this?

Verse 22 states, “When He was raised up from among the dead, His disciples therefore remembered that He had said this to them. And they believed the Scripture and the word that Yeshua had spoken.” The Spirit of Yehovah is giving readers an infallible editorial comment on what took place.

 

  • After Yeshua was raised up from among the dead, His disciples therefore remembered that He had said this to them. That does not tell the reader what they understood, but only that they remembered this statement.
  • His disciples believed the Scripture. What Scripture did they believe? That was something written. Which text was in mind? I propose that the Hosea 5 and 6 text given above was what they identified with what Yeshua had said. They believed that text. If this is the case, look again at that text:

Hosea 5:15 “I will walk. I will return to my place until they declare themselves guilty and seek my faces! They will seek me sunrise in their Tribulation!” Hosea 6:1 “Come! And we shall return unto Yehovah! For He tore, and He will heal us! He smote, and He will bind us up! 2He will make us alive after two days! He will raise us up in the third day! And we shall live in His sight! 3Then we shall know! We shall follow on to know Yehovah! His going forth is prepared as the morning. And He shall come unto us as the rain—as the latter, former rain unto the land!”

 

If they believed this, what did they believe about this text? What timing did they consider this text to hold? Did they properly understand it? I ask, because I remember another text where they thought they understood what Yeshua was saying, and they didn’t. They had set the wrong timing on Yeshua’s words. One example is when Messiah said the following:

 

Luke 22:36 He then said unto them, “But now, he who has a purse, he shall take it, and likewise his scrip. And he who has no sword, he shall sell his garment, and buy one. 37For I say unto you that what is written must yet be accomplished in me: ‘And he was reckoned among the transgressors.’ For the things concerning me have an end.” 38And they said, “Lord, behold, here are two swords.” And He said unto them, “It is enough.”

 

They did not understand timings.

 

 

Exodus 22 Thieves, Property Destruction and Loss, the Occult

Thieves, Property Destruction and Loss, the Occult

 

 

Background and printed text: Exodus 22

 

Exodus 22:1 If he will find the thief in shoveling, and he struck him and he died, there are not bloods to him. 2If the sun rose upon him, bloods are to him! Making peace, he shall-make-peace! If there isn’t to him, and he shall be sold via his theft. 3If, being-found, thou wilt find the theft in his hand, from ox unto ass unto lamb of lives, he will make-peace twice.

 

4When a man will burn a field or a vineyard, and he will send her burner, and he will burn in another field, he will make-peace: he will make-good his field and he will make-good his vineyard! 5When a fire will exit, and her exit is thorns, and a stack or the arising or the field will be eaten, making-peace, he will make-peace—the kindler with the kindled!

 

6When a man will give silver or utensils unto his neighbour to guard, and he will be stolen from the house of the man, if the thief will be found, he shall make peace twice! 7If he will not find the thief [or, “If the thief will not be found”], and the husband of the house will approach unto the Elohim if he did not send his hand via the errand of his neighbour!

 

8Concerning every speech of transgression, concerning ox, concerning ass, concerning lamb, concerning form-fitting-garment, concerning every perishing that he will say that “He is this,” the speech of both of them will come unto the Elohim. Whoever Elohim will ‘culpabilize,’ he shall make-peace twice to his neighbour.

 

9When a man will give unto his neighbour an ass or ox or lamb and any beast to guard, and he will die or he will be broken or he will be captured, there is no seer, 10a vow of Yehovah shall be between both of them if he did not send his hand into an errand of his neighbour. And his husbands shall take [sing.]. And he will not make-peace. 11And if, stealing, he will steal from with him, he will make-peace to his husbands. 12And if, tearing, he shall be torn, he will bring him unto the torn-[one]. He will not make-peace.

 

13And when a man will ask from with his neighbour, and he will be broken or dead, his husbands are not with him, making-peace, he shall make-peace. 14If his husbands are with him, he shall not make-peace. If a hire, he came via his hire.

 

15And when a man will ‘sucker’ a ripe-[woman] who is not betrothed, and he will lie with her, endowing, he will endow her to him to a woman! 16If, refusing, her father will refuse to give her to him, he will weigh silver as a dowry of the ripe-[women].

 

17A witch shall not live.

 

18Every bedder with a beast—dying, he shall-be-caused-to-die.

 

19A sacrificer to elohim shall-be-kherem [devoted to destruction]—except not to Yehovah, Him alone.

 

20And thou shalt not cheat a sojourner. And thou shalt not oppress him! For ye were sojourners in the land of Egypt!

 

21Ye shall not humiliate any widow and orphan. 22If, humiliating, thou wilt humiliate him, but-rather, screaming, he will scream unto me! Hearkening, I will hearken-to his scream! 23And my nose will heat! And I will kill you via sword! And your women will be widows and your children orphans!

 

24If thou wilt bring-near silver with my people, with the humble-[one] with thee, thou shalt not be to him as a creditor! Ye shall not put upon him a bite! 25If, binding, thou wilt bind a fitted-garment of thy neighbour, unto the coming [setting] of the sun thou shalt return him to him. 26For He is her blanket-covering, hers alone. He is his garment to his skin. Via what will he bed? And he shall be, when he shall scream unto me, and I will hearken! For I am favorable!

 

27Thou shalt not lightly-esteem Elohim.

 

And thou shalt not curse the carrier in thy people!

 

28Thou shalt not delay thy fullness and thy weeping. Thou shalt give to me a firstborn of thy children. 29Established, thou shalt do to thine ox, to thy flock. Seven of days he will be with his mother. In the day the eighth thou shalt give him to me!

 

30And ye shall be mortals of Holy-[One] to me.

 

And ye shall not eat flesh of a torn-[one] in a field. Ye shall sling him to a dog!

 

 

 

I. A Shoveling Thief (verses 1-3)

 

If an owner or a responsible person finds a thief in the process of shoveling to dig into a location to steal valuables, and if that person struck the thief so that the thief died, the person who struck the thief is not guilty of bloods—that is, of murder.

 

Now, if the sun rose upon the thief, and the person struck the thief so that he died, bloods are to him—that is, he is guilty of murder or manslaughter!

 

If the thief is caught, the thief must make peace! If he has nothing valuable with which to make peace, he will be sold by virtue of his theft.

 

If an animal such as an ox, ass or lamb is found in his hand (that is, in his possession), he must make peace twice—twice the amount he stole.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Who finds this thief, and what are the circumstances under which he finds him?

 

2.     Suppose that the thief isn’t shoveling, but instead is cutting wire or is breaking in by some other means; does that mean that this command cannot be applied?

 

3.     What does “there are no bloods to him” mean?

 

4.     Must the person try to kill the thief if it is very dark?

 

5.     What does “If the sun rose upon him, bloods are to him” mean, and why is this?

 

6.     The text states, “Making peace, he shall make peace!” Who must make peace, and how must he make peace?

 

7.     The next statement is, “If there isn’t to him, and he shall be sold via his theft.” What does “If there isn’t to him” mean, and what must occur if this is the case?

 

8.     What does “thou wilt find the theft in his hand” mean?

 

9.     What kinds of stolen items are mentioned in this text?

 

10.  If he makes peace twice, does this mean that the animal that he stole is one of the two animals that he must give to the owner?

 

11.  If the animal that the thief stole is very valuable, how will this small ‘fine’ stop him from trying this again?

 

 

 

II. Burning a Field (verses 4-5)

 

When a man will burn a field or a vineyard (see questions to learn why), and he is the one who sent the field’s burner—that is, he started the fire, and the fire will burn in another field not belonging to the person, the fire starter must make peace. He must make-good the field he burned and/or the vineyard he burned.

 

When a fire will exit—that is, go out of bounds, and the exit is because of thorns, and a stack of hay or the arising (that which is growing) or a field will be eaten by the fire, the one who started the fire must make peace. The kindler of the fire must make good on what was kindled!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Why would anyone desire to burn his own field or vineyard?

 

2.     What does “and he will send her burner” mean?

 

3.     The next part states, “and he will burn in another field.” Was this intentional?

 

4.     Why does he have to make peace if the land owner next door was also going to burn his own field?

 

5.     What if the fire was just accidental—that is, the man who started it took every precaution so that it wouldn’t go into another man’s field, but the winds picked up at the last moments, and took the fire into the next field?

 

6.     Suppose that a man burns ten other fields, and he cannot pay for them; what will occur?

 

7.     What does “When a fire will exit, and her exit is thorns” mean?

 

8.     What is a stack?

 

9.     What is an arising?

 

10.  If a stack, an arising or a field is eaten, what has happened?

 

11.  Suppose that the one who starts the fire burns up another man’s field, and the one who starts the fire has a crop of the same value as the crop of his neighbour that he accidentally burned. What is the justice, according to the Torah?

 

 

 

III. Safeguarding Valuables (verses 6-7)

 

When a man will give silver or utensils unto his neighbour to guard, and what he entrusted to his neighbour is stolen from the house of the man safeguarding it, if the thief will be found, the thief must make peace by giving twice the value.

 

If the one who was entrusted to keep the goods isn’t found, the husband of the house (the man entrusted to guard the goods) will approach unto the Elohim. He must affirm that he did not send his hand (participate in the theft), taking advantage of the errand of his neighbour.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Who will make peace twice?

 

2.     Some religions and cultures cut off hands for theft. Why is the Torah so lenient, and why are those cultures so harsh? Which is better?

 

3.     Who is this husband of the house?

 

4.     Suppose that the thief isn’t found. The text states that the husband of the house must approach unto the Elohim. Where will he go to do that, and who are the Elohim?

 

5.     What is the man’s purpose for approaching unto the Elohim?

 

 

 

IV. Speeches of Transgression (verse 8)

 

In every case where a transgression has occurred, folks will testify. Every speech that is part of that testimony must come unto the Elohim (the Gods) whether the testimony refers to a transgression involving an ox, ass, lamb, a form-fitting garment, or anything living of value that dies (perishes). Elohim will indicate the guilty person; that person must make peace twice to his neighbour.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What is a speech of transgression?

 

2.     What is a form-fitting garment, and why is that listed?

 

3.     What does “concerning every perishing” mean?

 

4.     What does “He is this” mean?

 

5.     How can their speeches come unto the Elohim?

 

6.     What does “Whoever Elohim will ‘culpabilize’” mean?

 

7.     How will Elohim point out who is culpable?

 

8.     Will the decisions made always be according to justice if these procedures are followed?

 

 

 

V. Responsibility When Guarding Animals (verses 9-12)

 

When a man will give to his neighbour an ass, ox, lamb, or any beast to guard, if the animal will die or will be broken or captured by someone else, if there is no seer—that is, no witness to what occurred, both the guard must vow to the owner that he didn’t send his hand into an errand of his neighbour—that he didn’t participate in the harm, destruction or loss.

 

The husbands (the owner) will take the dead or harmed animal (if it is still there), and he will take the vow. The guard will not make peace; he pays nothing.

 

If on investigation it is found that the guard had stolen from his neighbour, he will make peace with the owner.

 

If the animal is found torn, the guard will bring the animal to the owner; the guard will not make peace; he will pay nothing.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Why must they both vow to each other?

 

2.     Why wouldn’t a person who was taking care of his neighbour’s animals just be up front with what took place if one of the animals died or was harmed?

 

3.     Again, why is husbands (plural) used instead of husband when the text assumes just one by having a singular verb?

 

4.     Why does Yehovah hold no guilt for the person who was guarding his neighbour’s animals, during which time the animals were harmed or died?

 

5.     Verse 10 states, “and his husbands shall take.” What shall they take?

 

6.     Won’t this leave bad feelings between the neighbours?

 

7.     If he doesn’t make peace, does that mean that the neighbours will remain in a state of anger (like war) with each other?

 

8.     Explain the circumstance behind “And if, stealing, he will steal from with him”:

 

9.     The next statement reads, “And if, tearing, he shall be torn, he will bring him unto the torn-[one].” Explain this circumstance; what is occurring?

 

 

 

VI. Borrower’s Responsibility (verses 13-14)

 

When a man will ask to use something from his neighbour, and what he is using from his neighbour becomes broken or dead while he is using it, if the husbands (the owner or the responsible party over the item, not referring to the borrower) are not present when this occurs, the man who asked to use the item or animal must make peace.

 

If the husbands (the owner or the person who is normally responsible for the animal or item) is with the one who desires to use it, no peace will be made.

 

If instead of being borrowed the animal or object is hired (that is, rented), and is broken or dead in the process of being used, the price of the hire is all that will be paid; that was the risk in hiring the animal or object out.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What is the man asking from his neighbour?

 

2.     How did the animal become broken or dead?

 

3.     What does “his husbands are not with him” mean?

 

4.     Why doesn’t the borrower have to make peace if the husbands are with the animal?

 

5.     Suppose that the owner is walking away from the loaned animal, and goes behind a barn. Suppose that the animal drops dead at that moment; must the borrower make peace?

 

6.     Explain “If a hire, he came via his hire”:

 

 

 

VII. Suckering a Ripe Woman to Have Sex (verses 15-16)

 

When a man will ‘sucker’ (fool) a ripe woman (that is, she is old enough to get pregnant without danger), and the woman isn’t betrothed, and the man will lie with her (have sexual intercourse with her), the man must endow her to himself as his woman (his wife).

 

Now, if the woman’s father refuses to give her to him when he offers the dowry (the payment that is a bride price), the man who ‘suckered’ the woman must weigh out the amount in silver that is a normal dowry for ripe women, and must give that amount to the woman’s father; he gets nothing else from this deal.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What is a ripe woman?

 

2.     If he suckers her, what is he doing in this text?

 

3.     What is betrothed?

 

4.     What does “he will lie with her” mean?

 

5.     What does endow mean?

 

6.     What does “he will endow her to him to a woman” mean?

 

7.     What occurs if she was already betrothed or if he was betrothed when he did this to a woman to whom he isn’t betrothed?

 

8.     What did he do to ‘sucker’ her—that is, to fool her into having sex?

 

9.     Suppose that the woman ‘suckers’ the man into sexual intercourse; what would be the ruling on this?

 

10.  Why would her father refuse to give her to him?

 

11.  Must he pay in silver?

 

12.  What is a dowry?

 

13.  What is the dowry of the ripe women?

 

14.  What will occur if the man and his family cannot afford the dowry?

 

15. Suppose that the father of the woman determines that this man will have his daughter has a wife, but the daughter doesn’t desire to have this man as her husband; what does the Torah teach regarding this?

 

16.  Suppose that the woman becomes pregnant from this ‘suckering,’ and suppose that the father refused to give his daughter to him; who is responsible to rear the child?

 

17.  Suppose that the woman’s father is dead, and she is living with her mother; does her mother’s say in these matters work the same as the father’s say?

 

 

 

VIII. Dead Witch (verse 17)

 

Under no circumstance is a witch to be permitted to stay alive in Israel.

 

Questions

 

1.     What is a witch?

 

2.     What is the male version of a witch?

 

3.     If an Israeli becomes a warlock, must he also die?

 

4.     Why is Yehovah so against witches?

 

5.     Are all witches ugly hags?

 

6.     Should we kill witches today?

 

 

 

IX. Lethal Bestiality (verse 18)

 

Every person in Israel who has sex with an animal must be put to death.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What is a bedder with a beast?

 

2.     Why must such a person be put to death?

 

3.     Should we put such persons to death today?

 

 

 

X. Devoted Idolater (verse 19)

 

Anyone who sacrifices to gods (not referring to Yehovah) will be devoted to destruction as the property of the false gods. That person will be put to death and will not be permitted to live.

 

Sacrificing to Yehovah, and to Him alone, is permissible.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What does kherem—that is, devoted to destruction mean?

 

2.     The text states, “A sacrificer to elohim shall be kherem.” Why would a person who sacrifices to elohim be killed?

 

3.     Suppose that a sojourner from some other race comes to stay a while in Israel, and is normally a sacrificer to other gods besides Yehovah; must the Israelis kill that person?

 

4.     To whom are the Israelis permitted to do sacrifices?

 

 

 

XI. Cheating and Oppressing a Sojourner (verse 20)

 

Yehovah commanded Israel to not cheat a sojourner. Israel also must not oppress a sojourner. The reason is given: the Israelis were sojourners in the land of Egypt!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Why would an Israeli desire to cheat a sojourner?

 

2.     What does oppress mean?

 

3.     What is wrong with oppressing a sojourner?

 

4.     The Israelis were sojourners how long in the land of Egypt?

 

5.     What famous command fits this text?

 

 

 

XII. Humiliating a Widow and an Orphan (verses 21-23)

 

The Israelis must not humiliate any widow, and they must not humiliate any orphan. If Israel humiliates him, screaming, he will scream unto Yehovah, and Yehovah will hearken to his scream! Yehovah’s nose will then heat, and He will kill the Israelis via sword! The women of the Israelis will become widows, and the children of the Israelis will become orphans!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What is the difference between being humble and being humiliated?

 

2.     Why would Israelis humiliate a widow?

 

3.     Why would Israelis humiliate an orphan?

 

4.     Who is him in, “thou wilt humiliate him”?

 

5.     What will this widow or orphan do if she/he is humiliated?

 

6.     How will Yehovah respond to this scream?

 

7.     Why will Yehovah react so strongly, that He will kill many for the sake of a few mistreated individuals? Is this justice?

 

8.     Is making Israeli women widows when those women did nothing wrong, and making Israeli children orphans when those children did nothing wrong, truly justice?

 

 

 

XIII. Lending to the Poor (verses 24-26)

 

‘Bringing silver near’ to a humble one of Yehovah’s people (the People of Israel) is akin to lending. It is making silver available. The Israelis must not be to this humble one as a creditor—that is, as one who is lending, and who therefore pressures this person to pay the amount owed. The text continues to command that the Israelis must not put ‘a bite’ upon him; that bite will include charging interest.

 

Israel is permitted to take collateral—that is, to take something of value in the process of lending. Taking this collateral item is called binding. If the form of the binding is a fitted garment, it must be returned to the humble one ‘unto the coming of the sun’—that is, by sunset. The reason is given: this garment is the humble person’s being’s blanket covering; it belongs only to the person’s being. It is the person’s garment to the person’s skin. Yehovah asks, “Via what will he bed?”—that is, in what will he sleep? If Israel does take this humble person’s fitted garment, and doesn’t return it at sunset, this person will scream unto Yehovah, and Yehovah will hearken! Why? Yehovah favours!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What does bring silver near mean in this text?

 

2.     Why does the text specify, “If thou wilt bring-near silver with my people”?

 

3.     The text states, “with the humble one with thee.” What does being humble have to do with a text on lending?

 

4.     What does “thou shalt not be to him as a creditor” mean?

 

5.     What is a bite in, “Ye shall not put upon him a bite”?

 

6.     Verse 24 started out with thou and thee—both being singular. It then switched to ye, which is plural. Why did Yehovah change it from singular to plural?

 

7.     What is this binding mentioned in verse 25?

 

8.     Verse 25 continues, “unto the coming [setting] of the sun thou shalt return him to him.” What does this mean?

 

9.     Who is her in, “For He is her blanket-covering, hers alone”?

 

10.  What does “For He is her blanket-covering, hers alone” mean?

 

11.  Explain, “He is his garment to his skin”:

 

12.  Who is asking the question, “Via what will he bed?”

 

13.  Why would a person scream unto Yehovah if his or her fitted garment were being held by the lender?

 

14.  What will Yehovah do when He hearkens?

 

15.  Yehovah said these things to the Israelis about their treatment of other Israelis. Suppose that an Israeli lends to a sojourner who has become poor, and holds a fitted garment overnight from the sojourner; suppose the sojourner screams unto Yehovah the Gods of Israel. Will Yehovah hearken, or will He ignore the shouts of the sojourner?

 

16.  Some folks in some other cultures greatly mistreat sojourners. What does Yehovah do in other cultures and races regarding sojourners?

 

 

 

XIV. Lightly Esteeming Elohim (verse 27)

 

Israel must not lightly esteem (that is, consider of little value) Elohim.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What does lightly esteem mean?

 

2.     How does a person behave who lightly esteems Elohim?

 

3.     Since the word Elohim is the same word used in verse 19, and since the Hebrew language doesn’t have capitalization (which means that a reader in Hebrew won’t see any difference), how can the reader tell that this refers to the Gods of Israel instead of the false gods of the races?

 

 

 

XV. Cursing the Carrier (verse 27)

 

The carrier is the leader. If Israel curses the carrier in Israel’s people, Yehovah will react!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What is a carrier?

 

2.     Are there many carriers in this world (besides in Israel)?

 

3.     Who chooses the leaders in all cultures, races, lands, etc.? Since some come to power by violence, some by being elected, some by power, some by birth, and some by other means, who truly chooses the leaders?

 

4.     What is wrong with cursing the carrier in the people of Israel if the cursing is done in private where no one hears and where no harm is done?

 

 

 

XVI. Giving Firstborn (verses 28-29)

 

Israel must not delay Israel’s fullness (Israel’s harvest) and Israel’s weeping (also referring to the dripping of juices that are produced by squeezing fruit, but consider the type!).

 

Israel must give a firstborn of Israel’s children to Yehovah. Israel must do the same thing to Israel’s ox, to Israel’s flock. The firstborn will be with his mother seven days. Israel must give him to Yehovah in the eighth day.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What is this fullness?

 

2.     What does delaying the fullness involve?

 

3.     What is thy weeping?

 

4.     What do the fullness and the weeping typify?

 

5.     The next statement, “Thou shalt give to me a firstborn of thy children,” uses a firstborn instead of the firstborn. Why is it worded this way, and how can the ‘thou’ do this?

 

6.     Why must Israel also give a firstborn of an ox and of a flock?

 

7.     Why must an ox or a goat or a sheep firstborn be with its mother seven days before being given to Yehovah?

 

 

 

XVII. Owned (verse 30)

 

The Israelis shall be mortals (that is, alive in their bodies that can die—not referring to being in their bodies that cannot die) of the Holy One of Israel, belonging to Yehovah.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What does “And ye shall be mortals of Holy-[One] to me” mean?

 

 

 

XVIII. Eating Torn Animals (verse 30)

 

If the Israelis find a torn animal in a field, they must not eat that animal. They must sling that animal to a dog!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What is a torn one?

 

2.     What is wrong with eating the flesh of a torn animal in the field?

 

3.     What does eating flesh of a torn one typify?

 

4.     What does “in a field” tell the reader?

 

5.     Why must the Israelis sling this torn carcass specifically to a dog?

 

 

 

Exodus 22 Thieves, Property Destruction and Loss, the Occult QA

Thieves, Property Destruction and Loss, the Occult

With Questions and Proposed Answers

 

 

Background and printed text: Exodus 22

 

Exodus 22:1 If he will find the thief in shoveling, and he struck him and he died, there are not bloods to him. 2If the sun rose upon him, bloods are to him! Making peace, he shall-make-peace! If there isn’t to him, and he shall be sold via his theft. 3If, being-found, thou wilt find the theft in his hand, from ox unto ass unto lamb of lives, he will make-peace twice.

 

4When a man will burn a field or a vineyard, and he will send her burner, and he will burn in another field, he will make-peace: he will make-good his field and he will make-good his vineyard! 5When a fire will exit, and her exit is thorns, and a stack or the arising or the field will be eaten, making-peace, he will make-peace—the kindler with the kindled!

 

6When a man will give silver or utensils unto his neighbour to guard, and he will be stolen from the house of the man, if the thief will be found, he shall make peace twice! 7If he will not find the thief [or, “If the thief will not be found”], and the husband of the house will approach unto the Elohim if he did not send his hand via the errand of his neighbour!

 

8Concerning every speech of transgression, concerning ox, concerning ass, concerning lamb, concerning form-fitting-garment, concerning every perishing that he will say that “He is this,” the speech of both of them will come unto the Elohim. Whoever Elohim will ‘culpabilize,’ he shall make-peace twice to his neighbour.

 

9When a man will give unto his neighbour an ass or ox or lamb and any beast to guard, and he will die or he will be broken or he will be captured, there is no seer, 10a vow of Yehovah shall be between both of them if he did not send his hand into an errand of his neighbour. And his husbands shall take [sing.]. And he will not make-peace. 11And if, stealing, he will steal from with him, he will make-peace to his husbands. 12And if, tearing, he shall be torn, he will bring him unto the torn-[one]. He will not make-peace.

 

13And when a man will ask from with his neighbour, and he will be broken or dead, his husbands are not with him, making-peace, he shall make-peace. 14If his husbands are with him, he shall not make-peace. If a hire, he came via his hire.

 

15And when a man will ‘sucker’ a ripe-[woman] who is not betrothed, and he will lie with her, endowing, he will endow her to him to a woman! 16If, refusing, her father will refuse to give her to him, he will weigh silver as a dowry of the ripe-[women].

 

17A witch shall not live.

 

18Every bedder with a beast—dying, he shall-be-caused-to-die.

 

19A sacrificer to elohim shall-be-kherem [devoted to destruction]—except not to Yehovah, Him alone.

 

20And thou shalt not cheat a sojourner. And thou shalt not oppress him! For ye were sojourners in the land of Egypt!

 

21Ye shall not humiliate any widow and orphan. 22If, humiliating, thou wilt humiliate him, but-rather, screaming, he will scream unto me! Hearkening, I will hearken-to his scream! 23And my nose will heat! And I will kill you via sword! And your women will be widows and your children orphans!

 

24If thou wilt bring-near silver with my people, with the humble-[one] with thee, thou shalt not be to him as a creditor! Ye shall not put upon him a bite! 25If, binding, thou wilt bind a fitted-garment of thy neighbour, unto the coming [setting] of the sun thou shalt return him to him. 26For He is her blanket-covering, hers alone. He is his garment to his skin. Via what will he bed? And he shall be, when he shall scream unto me, and I will hearken! For I am favorable!

 

27Thou shalt not lightly-esteem Elohim.

 

And thou shalt not curse the carrier in thy people!

 

28Thou shalt not delay thy fullness and thy weeping. Thou shalt give to me a firstborn of thy children. 29Established, thou shalt do to thine ox, to thy flock. Seven of days he will be with his mother. In the day the eighth thou shalt give him to me!

 

30And ye shall be mortals of Holy-[One] to me.

 

And ye shall not eat flesh of a torn-[one] in a field. Ye shall sling him to a dog!

 

 

 

I. A Shoveling Thief (verses 1-3)

 

If an owner or a responsible person finds a thief in the process of shoveling to dig into a location to steal valuables, and if that person struck the thief so that the thief died, the person who struck the thief is not guilty of bloods—that is, of murder.

 

Now, if the sun rose upon the thief, and the person struck the thief so that he died, bloods are to him—that is, he is guilty of murder or manslaughter!

 

If the thief is caught, the thief must make peace! If he has nothing valuable with which to make peace, he will be sold by virtue of his theft.

 

If an animal such as an ox, ass or lamb is found in his hand (that is, in his possession), he must make peace twice—twice the amount he stole.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Who finds this thief, and what are the circumstances under which he finds him? Either the owner of the property or someone who is acting on behalf of an owner discovers a thief in the process of digging his/her way into the area where valuables are kept or where animals are kept. The scene must be dark! If the person clearly sees the thief because there is enough light, this rule does not fit that case!

 

2.     Suppose that the thief isn’t shoveling, but instead is cutting wire or is breaking in by some other means; does that mean that this command cannot be applied? Yehovah nearly always writes His commands in this format. He gives one or two examples; the reader then can extrapolate (a good word meaning to figure out other examples that also fit the rule even when those examples are different from the rule) to other situations. Thus, if the thief is cutting the wire fence to break in, and it is very dark, and the other person strikes the thief so that he dies, “there are no bloods to him.”

 

3.     What does “there are no bloods to him” mean? That means that he did not commit murder or even manslaughter by killing the thief! Those bloods represent future generations (of the thief, in this case); if there are bloods to anyone, that person has committed murder or manslaughter, stopping all future generations that might have yet been born.

 

4.     Must the person try to kill the thief if it is very dark? There is no command to try to kill the thief. This command protects the person who is trying to stop the thief if it is dark because the thief might have a weapon, and the other person wouldn’t be able to see this!

 

5.     What does “If the sun rose upon him, bloods are to him” mean, and why is this? This means that if the sun is up so that there is enough light (in this case, to see whether or not he has a weapon), killing him will be murder! This is because killing a person without proper reason is either murder or manslaughter, and in this case it would be manslaughter.

 

6.     The text states, “Making peace, he shall make peace!” Who must make peace, and how must he make peace? The thief must make peace! He must pay restitution for his attempt to break in and steal!

 

7.     The next statement is, “If there isn’t to him, and he shall be sold via his theft.” What does “If there isn’t to him” mean, and what must occur if this is the case? “If there isn’t to him” means that he doesn’t have anything of value with which to make restitution (that is to make peace by paying for his crime). If this is the case, he, himself, is the valuable item that must be sold! He becomes a slave!

 

8.     What does “thou wilt find the theft in his hand” mean? This means that the stolen item or items is found on his person: in his hand, in his pocket, among the items on his wagon (if he has one).

 

9.     What kinds of stolen items are mentioned in this text? The stolen items are living animals!

 

10.  If he makes peace twice, does this mean that the animal that he stole is one of the two animals that he must give to the owner? No! He must return the original animal(s), and he must give two more of the same kind of animal(s)!

 

11.  If the animal that the thief stole is very valuable, how will this small ‘fine’ stop him from trying this again? The judges in the gates of the cities of Israel can do more to such a man who tries stealing again and again. First, if he cannot pay for the theft, he becomes a slave, and will serve for six years. The judges can order him beaten if he keeps trying to steal. If he tries to steal while it is dark, he can be killed without anyone doing wrong!

 

 

 

II. Burning a Field (verses 4-5)

 

When a man will burn a field or a vineyard (see questions to learn why), and he is the one who sent the field’s burner—that is, he started the fire, and the fire will burn in another field not belonging to the person, the fire starter must make peace. He must make-good the field he burned and/or the vineyard he burned.

 

When a fire will exit—that is, go out of bounds, and the exit is because of thorns, and a stack of hay or the arising (that which is growing) or a field will be eaten by the fire, the one who started the fire must make peace. The kindler of the fire must make good on what was kindled!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Why would anyone desire to burn his own field or vineyard? This is a normal way to diminish pests (like harmful bugs). Israeli farmers still use this technique (or, they did when I was there).

 

2.     What does “and he will send her burner” mean? It means that the man himself sent the flame that will burn his own field.

 

3.     The next part states, “and he will burn in another field.” Was this intentional? No! It wasn’t intentional. He had no intention of his fire going beyond his own lands.

 

4.     Why does he have to make peace if the land owner next door was also going to burn his own field? If the land owner was going to burn his own field, and if the fire stopped at the border of that man’s field, and if nothing was harmed or destroyed, there would be no need of peace. This text doesn’t assume all of this, however. It assumes that the field next door had valuables in it, like a growing crop, or like an ox cart, or like a house, etc. The one who started the fire must make peace regarding the losses he caused.

 

5.     What if the fire was just accidental—that is, the man who started it took every precaution so that it wouldn’t go into another man’s field, but the winds picked up at the last moments, and took the fire into the next field? It doesn’t matter what caused the fire to go beyond the fire starter’s field; working with fire always can potentially do this! Thus, if the person desires to take risks by starting a fire, he will be held responsible for what the fire does!

 

6.     Suppose that a man burns ten other fields, and he cannot pay for them; what will occur? He must make good on each field. If he cannot do this, he will become a slave of each field owner, one after the other (I propose), serving each for six years, along with his family members. (All family members living on that property are owned by the land, and are therefore ‘saleable’—meaning that they can be sold as valuables to the land. Again, I am claiming that the land owns the persons on it; I Iearned thisfrom the book of Ruth. When Naomi’s land was redeemed, Ruth was redeemed with the land.)

 

7.     What does “When a fire will exit, and her exit is thorns” mean? This refers to a fire going out of control, and following a trail of thorns (usually these plants burn very well and very rapidly, and are not crop plants). Thus, this fire could have been set for any reason, and the fire went out of control by lighting thorn plants.

 

8.     What is a stack? It is plant material or wood that has been carefully placed so that it is tall and doesn’t take much room. Thus, it has been stacked. It can be hay (as in a haystack); it can be wood; it can be anything that the person who stacked it desired to keep.

 

9.     What is an arising? This can refer to a growing crop that has arisen from the soil; this could be a melon hill; it could be anything that is coming up from the ground and is desirable to the person who has that land.

 

10.  If a stack, an arising or a field is eaten, what has happened? The fire has done the eating! In Hebrew, fire eats, which is to say that fire consumes.

 

11.  Suppose that the one who starts the fire burns up another man’s field, and the one who starts the fire has a crop of the same value as the crop of his neighbour that he accidentally burned. What is the justice, according to the Torah? The justice is that the entire crop of the one who started the fire will belong to the neighbour whose crop was burned! Since that might mean that the man who started the fire and his family won’t have food for next year, he and his family might need to become a slave to the man whose crop was burned. (It pays to be very careful.)

 

 

 

III. Safeguarding Valuables (verses 6-7)

 

When a man will give silver or utensils unto his neighbour to guard, and what he entrusted to his neighbour is stolen from the house of the man safeguarding it, if the thief will be found, the thief must make peace by giving twice the value.

 

If the one who was entrusted to keep the goods isn’t found, the husband of the house (the man entrusted to guard the goods) will approach unto the Elohim. He must affirm that he did not send his hand (participate in the theft), taking advantage of the errand of his neighbour.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Who will make peace twice? The thief will make peace twice! He will return the item, and then he will give items that are worth in total twice the value of the items he stole.

 

2.     Some religions and cultures cut off hands for theft. Why is the Torah so lenient, and why are those cultures so harsh? Which is better? The Torah appears to be lenient; the reason for the theft is never mentioned or considered. Some steal in order to eat. Now, the Torah always commands that the corners of fields must be left to the poor, the sojourner, the widow, the orphan, etc. Also, all gleanings (all food items left over after harvest) must be left to them. Yet, there are times when no food crop is ripe in the fields. Some Israelis would rather steal than become slaves to their neighbours. Thus, the lenience of the sentence isn’t so lenient, but it also isn’t very harsh.

 

          Some steal because they covet what another has; the lenience of the sentence doesn’t take into consideration the loss of trust that the community has for such a thief, and it doesn’t take into consideration what the judges at the gates of the city might do if the thief tries this more than once. (They can beat the man or woman for bringing fear into the community, and they can order the man or woman to be enslaved if he/she cannot pay.)

 

          Now, other religions and cultures that do not stick to what the Torah teaches include some that cut off hands for theft. This harsh sentence is due to several factors:

 

  • Anger over thefts
  • Contempt for human life
  • Contempt for the Gods in whom image the person is made
  • A desire to bring terror to others to stop them from stealing
  • Contempt for the poor (since the wealthy either wouldn’t steal, or could easily bribe their way out of such a sentence)
  • An unwillingness to be responsible for poor neighbours, and a desire to just have them… go away
  • Contempt for the Torah of Yehovah

          Each of these reasons for such a harsh sentence finds fault with Yehovah, the Gods of Israel.

 

          The better sentence is the Torah’s sentence, since it permits a would-be thief to become a true friend of the victim (if both of their characters permit). The thief, say, becomes a slave of the person from whom he attempted to steal. During that time of slavery, the thief might truly gain a love for the slavemaster, and the thief might turn from theft to become a truly productive and gracious member of Israeli society. Now, had his hand instead been cut off, he likely would have become very bitter against the one from whom he was trying to steal, and his ability to function in society would have been greatly reduced. It is better to potentially make a true friend than to take vengeance, and even worse, to take vengeance that is far harsher than what is right in the eyes of the True and Living Gods.

 

3.     Who is this husband of the house? He is the owner of the house where the valuables were being guarded when they were stolen.

 

4.     Suppose that the thief isn’t found. The text states that the husband of the house must approach unto the Elohim. Where will he go to do that, and who are the Elohim? The Elohim are the Gods—that is, the Gods of Avraham, Isaac and Israel. Approaching unto Him, then, will involve coming to the altar of Yehovah that is in front of the Tent of Appointment (a special tent in which all items and all actions explain things to come). This tent is described this way:

 

          Hebrews 9:1 Indeed, the first Tent therefore also had ordinances of service and a worldly sanctuary. 2For a Tent was prepared: the first in which are both the Menorah and the Table and the Matzah of the faces that is called holy. 3And after the second veil is a Tent that is called holy of holies 4having a gold censer, and the ark of the Covenant having been covered round in every part with gold, in which is a gold pot having the manna, and the rod of Aharon that sprouted, and the tables of the Covenant. 5And above it are cherabim of glory overshadowing the lid…

 

          This is where the High Priest (and other priests) function. Yehovah’s faces are from inside that chamber called holy of holies where that box called the Ark is located. Thus, approaching this Tent is approaching unto the Elohim!

 

5.     What is the man’s purpose for approaching unto the Elohim? The text continues, “if he did not send his hand via the errand of his neighbour!” Thus, this man must vow before the Elohim that he didn’t send his own hand by some means to obtain what his neighbour entrusted to him!

 

          The expression, “if he did not send,” indicates the need for this vow. Now, if the man vows that he didn’t, and he actually did, he has not only stolen, but he has lied using a vow! The Elohim will go after him for that violation so that all Israel will fear!

 

 

 

IV. Speeches of Transgression (verse 8)

 

In every case where a transgression has occurred, folks will testify. Every speech that is part of that testimony must come unto the Elohim (the Gods) whether the testimony refers to a transgression involving an ox, ass, lamb, a form-fitting garment, or anything living of value that dies (perishes). Elohim will indicate the guilty person; that person must make peace twice to his neighbour.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What is a speech of transgression? It is what a person says to either accuse another of transgression or to claim one’s own innocence after having been accused of a transgression.

 

2.     What is a form-fitting garment, and why is that listed? It is a garment that is made to perfectly fit a person. Thus, it is a very valuable garment. Making such a garment took so many hours of work, that it would be worth thousands of dollars if one were made that way today. (All thread had to be extracted from wool or from plants, and spun by hand; the thread had to be woven into fabrique by hand; the fabrique had to be dyed by hand; the fabrique then had to be cut by hand; it then had to be sewn to other cut fabrique by hand; it then had to be tailored by hand. Just making the thread for the fabrique would have taken weeks.)

 

3.     What does “concerning every perishing” mean? This refers to an argument over why an animal died, and whose fault it was.

 

4.     What does “He is this” mean? It is a short way to express that one person is claiming that this is the way something occurred. It could be the person accusing the other of negligence or wrongdoing, or it could be the person stating that he is innocent, and the other person is the negligent or wrongdoing party. Both are claiming to know facts: “He is this!”

 

5.     How can their speeches come unto the Elohim? The Elohim, the Gods of Israel, will hear these speeches; He will know which speech is right (if either is right), or what the truth is. Now, those involved in this argument must come unto the Tent of Appointment in order to give their perspectives and claims before the Elohim.

 

6.     What does “Whoever Elohim will ‘culpabilize’” mean? This means whoever Elohim will find guilty. Culpability means guilt or responsibility for whatever took place.

 

7.     How will Elohim point out who is culpable? This is one of the purposes of a priest! He is an intercessor (one who stands between, since inter- means between, and –cessor means to stand) between a god and a human. The priests of Yehovah are intercessors between Yehovah and the Israelis (and others who come to Yehovah’s priests). Thus, a priest or several priests will hear all the sides of an argument, and Elohim will give them exactly the right justices. (Now, if the priests are corrupt, they might decide to ignore the speeches of the Elohim, but Elohim will later go after those wicked priests.)

 

8.     Will the decisions made always be according to justice if these procedures are followed? They will if they are made before the Tent of Appointment, if the priests are not corrupt, and if Elohim is still there with them. (He later departed from Israel because the Israelis refused to do right; He has promised to return to Israel when all the Israelis are ready to do right.)

 

 

 

V. Responsibility When Guarding Animals (verses 9-12)

 

When a man will give to his neighbour an ass, ox, lamb, or any beast to guard, if the animal will die or will be broken or captured by someone else, if there is no seer—that is, no witness to what occurred, both the guard must vow to the owner that he didn’t send his hand into an errand of his neighbour—that he didn’t participate in the harm, destruction or loss.

 

The husbands (the owner) will take the dead or harmed animal (if it is still there), and he will take the vow. The guard will not make peace; he pays nothing.

 

If on investigation it is found that the guard had stolen from his neighbour, he will make peace with the owner.

 

If the animal is found torn, the guard will bring the animal to the owner; the guard will not make peace; he will pay nothing.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Why must they both vow to each other? If either one is guilty of the harm or loss, a vow will bring Yehovah into the justice. Now, not just the death or harm of an animal is involved, but also a vow to Yehovah! This raises the seriousness of any crime to a much greater level. Even if one of the two hired someone else to cause the harm or death, the vow will bring Yehovah into the picture, and Yehovah will know and identify the wrongdoer!

 

2.     Why wouldn’t a person who was taking care of his neighbour’s animals just be up front with what took place if one of the animals died or was harmed? He probably would be up front about it if he had nothing to do with it. On the other hand, if the one taking care of his neighbour’s animals hurt one of the animals, say, in a fit of rage over some other issue, he might try to claim that it wasn’t his fault, when it truly was his fault!

 

          Suppose that the neighbour who owned the animals intentionally entrusted them to his neighbour whom he hated, and later came and killed several of them in order to produce trouble for his neighbour. His vow before Yehovah would probably be that he had nothing to do with it, and it was his neighbour’s fault for not watching. Yet, Yehovah will both know the truth and will reveal the truth of what took place.

 

3.     Again, why is husbands (plural) used instead of husband when the text assumes just one by having a singular verb? The person who is the husbands of the animal or animals takes care of them in all ways, is responsible for them in all ways, and can use them in every permissible way.

 

He/She is the husband who

 

  • takes the animals to pasture;
  • helps the animals with birthing if needed;
  • finds help for diseases and wounds;
  • shears the animals if shearing is appropriate;
  • milks the animals (or acquires others who will milk the animals);
  • keeps the animals within the confines of the pasture (so that the animals don’t go into someone else’s field).

4.     Why does Yehovah hold no guilt for the person who was guarding his neighbour’s animals, during which time the animals were harmed or died? If Yehovah had penalized neighbours for deaths or injuries over which the neighbours had no control, this would cause neighbours to refuse to guard their neighbours’ animals! Yehovah instead desires neighbours to care for each other and to be willing to serve each other!

 

5.     Verse 10 states, “and his husbands shall take.” What shall they take? They shall take the wounded or dead animal(s). Even dead, the animals belong to the owner; he/she must take the animals.

 

6.     Won’t this leave bad feelings between the neighbours? If the neighbours believe the vows made, since Yehovah will be judging the vows, there should be no bad feelings. If, on the other hand, the owner doesn’t believe the vow, and also doesn’t believe that Yehovah truly ruled the way he did (or just doesn’t believe in Yehovah), I have confidence that bad feelings will be present!

 

7.     If he doesn’t make peace, does that mean that the neighbours will remain in a state of anger (like war) with each other? If they desire to do that, they will. If they fear Yehovah, they won’t. Making peace has everything to do with restitution—that is, paying for what was damaged or lost. In this case, no payment will be made as long as neither one did evil toward the other.

 

8.     Explain the circumstance behind “And if, stealing, he will steal from with him”: The neighbour who is guarding the animals of his neighbour decides to steal some of the animals from those he is guarding; for example, he may take some of his animals, and mix them into his own animals, claiming that they are his own and claiming that his neighbour’s animals were captured (rustled). Once this is brought to light, the neighbour who did this must return the animal(s), and must make peace (I propose that two more animals of the same value, or a monetary sum equal to two animals, must be given).

 

9.     The next statement reads, “And if, tearing, he shall be torn, he will bring him unto the torn-[one].” Explain this circumstance; what is occurring? One of the animals that the neighbour is guarding has been torn open by either an animal or a human; the torn animal may be alive, or may be dead. The guarding neighbour must bring the owner to the animal.

 

 

 

VI. Borrower’s Responsibility (verses 13-14)

 

When a man will ask to use something from his neighbour, and what he is using from his neighbour becomes broken or dead while he is using it, if the husbands (the owner or the responsible party over the item, not referring to the borrower) are not present when this occurs, the man who asked to use the item or animal must make peace.

 

If the husbands (the owner or the person who is normally responsible for the animal or item) is with the one who desires to use it, no peace will be made.

 

If instead of being borrowed the animal or object is hired (that is, rented), and is broken or dead in the process of being used, the price of the hire is all that will be paid; that was the risk in hiring the animal or object out.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What is the man asking from his neighbour? He is asking to use something; it is an animal, in this case.

 

2.     How did the animal become broken or dead? The text doesn’t give this information, and this information isn’t necessary for justice to be done.

 

3.     What does “his husbands are not with him” mean? The owner who loaned the animal wasn’t present with the animal died or became broken.

 

4.     Why doesn’t the borrower have to make peace if the husbands are with the animal? The owner is responsible for his own animal as long as he is present! As soon as he has departed and is no longer in the area of the animal, the borrower is totally responsible!

 

5.     Suppose that the owner is walking away from the loaned animal, and goes behind a barn. Suppose that the animal drops dead at that moment; must the borrower make peace? Yes!

 

6.     Explain “If a hire, he came via his hire”: If the animal isn’t borrowed, but is hired (which is like being rented), and damage occurs, the hire agreement price is all that the one who hired the animal must pay. The hire includes the possibility of damage occurring without the one doing the hiring being at fault. (If this isn’t agreeable, no one must hire out an animal to another person! That is strictly voluntary, and a way to earn money.)

 

 

 

VII. Suckering a Ripe Woman to Have Sex (verses 15-16)

 

When a man will ‘sucker’ (fool) a ripe woman (that is, she is old enough to get pregnant without danger), and the woman isn’t betrothed, and the man will lie with her (have sexual intercourse with her), the man must endow her to himself as his woman (his wife).

 

Now, if the woman’s father refuses to give her to him when he offers the dowry (the payment that is a bride price), the man who ‘suckered’ the woman must weigh out the amount in silver that is a normal dowry for ripe women, and must give that amount to the woman’s father; he gets nothing else from this deal.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What is a ripe woman? This is a woman who is physically mature enough to have children without extraordinary danger. The age of ripeness varies from race to race and person to person.

 

2.     If he suckers her, what is he doing in this text? He is tricking her into having sexual intercourse.

 

3.     What is betrothed? It is exactly the same as being married, except that the two have not yet come together to participate in sexual intercourse. In order to get out of a betrothal, a divorce must occur.

 

4.     What does “he will lie with her” mean? This means that he will have sexual intercourse with her.

 

5.     What does endow mean? It means to agree to marry and to pay the bride price. This price can be very expensive. In today’s money, for example, it might be, say, $25,000, or more or less, depending on status in society and many other factors.

 

          The bride price is because when a family loses a daughter by her getting married, that family now has one less person to work to help with all the chores. Therefore, the bride price helps the family to find someone else to take the daughter’s place as a worker.

 

6.     What does “he will endow her to him to a woman” mean? This means that he will pay for her (the bride price) and will make her his woman—that is, his wife. Thus, he made a commitment once he suckered her into having sex with him.

 

7.     What occurs if she was already betrothed or if he was betrothed when he did this to a woman to whom he isn’t betrothed? If she was already betrothed, and he suckered her into sex, they have committed adultery. Thus, the teachings regarding adultery will be used.

 

          If, on the other hand, he was betrothed, and she didn’t know it, and he suckered her into having sex with him, and it is established that she didn’t know, though this also adultery, the judges at the city gates will consider; I propose that they will put the man to death, and will spare the woman.

 

8.     What did he do to ‘sucker’ her—that is, to fool her into having sex? One way would be to take advantage of her ignorance regarding sexual matters. While the Israelis were and are very open regarding sexual things, and intentionally so, so that most won’t be fooled, it is possible that an Israeli girl might not have understood how sexual intercourse works, and a man might intentionally give her the wrong impression.

 

          Another case, however, might be when she knows about sexual matters, and the man promises her that he will marry her to himself and take care of her, when truly he has no intention.

 

9.     Suppose that the woman ‘suckers’ the man into sexual intercourse; what would be the ruling on this? The ruling would be exactly the same with the man being the responsible party to betroth the woman to himself. The Torah (Teaching) of Yehovah is designed such that the Israelis are all responsible to teach each other its commands. Thus, a young man must learn the Torah in order to stay alive!

 

10.  Why would her father refuse to give her to him? She is valuable to the family, and her father already knows that the man will not treat his daughter with respect. The father has good reason in his own mind to refuse to give her to him. (If she truly loves this man who suckered her, and if he truly loves her, he can now demonstrate to her family that his character will be better from now, on.)

 

11.  Must he pay in silver? Yes! Silver is a type in the Bible, and pictures redemption. He, the man who ‘suckered’ the woman, must redeem her.

 

12.  What is a dowry? It is the bride price that a man or his family gives to the family of the woman whom the man is taking for his own.

 

13.  What is the dowry of the ripe women? It is the normal amount that an Israeli man gives to acquire a woman in Israel when she is just ripe. (This isn’t the same as a dowry for, say, a widow, since I don’t think that a widow marrying required a dowry.)

 

14.  What will occur if the man and his family cannot afford the dowry? The man becomes the slave of the father or mother of the woman he ‘suckered.’ (It is totally permissible to beat slaves.)

 

15. Suppose that the father of the woman determines that this man will have his daughter has a wife, but the daughter doesn’t desire to have this man as her husband; what does the Torah teach regarding this? If the father insists, the man obtains the woman as his wife. Yet, most fathers will consider the desires of their daughters. If this father will do as the daughter desires, and will therefore take the dowry amount, but not give the daughter, he can then later obtain another dowry sum for her from another man! Therefore, the father has good incentive to consider the wishes of his daughter.

 

16.  Suppose that the woman becomes pregnant from this ‘suckering,’ and suppose that the father refused to give his daughter to him; who is responsible to rear the child? The daughter and her father (and her mother, also) will rear the child.

 

17.  Suppose that the woman’s father is dead, and she is living with her mother; does her mother’s say in these matters work the same as the father’s say? The Torah shows types—that is, pictures of things to come. Every detail as it is written will be one of those types. That doesn’t mean that the Israelis cannot decide matters that are not directly described; they can, and they must. Thus, we propose that the mother can make the decision if the father is dead or incapacitated. (The father and the mother are one.)

 

 

 

VIII. Dead Witch (verse 17)

 

Under no circumstance is a witch to be permitted to stay alive in Israel.

 

Questions

 

1.     What is a witch? She is one who uses and makes drugs and potions, she casts spells, and she contacts demons who act as family spirits (familiar spirits) in order to either manipulate others or to help manipulate others and have power over them. She uses pain, pleasure, fear, and other senses to do this manipulation.

 

2.     What is the male version of a witch? He is called a warlock.

 

3.     If an Israeli becomes a warlock, must he also die? The Israelis must put a warlock to death just like a witch.

 

4.     Why is Yehovah so against witches? Witches teach others to manipulate for selfish and destructive purposes. Witches teach idolatry by giving the impression that demons are gods and are good. Witches employ drugs that cause victims of the drugs to do what they would not otherwise do, and witches supply drugs to others who will use the potions to harm others and to lower their resistance to sin!

 

5.     Are all witches ugly hags? Many witches are truly pretty and can be very nice. Yehovah has commanded against what they do when they are practicing their witchcraft.

 

6.     Should we kill witches today? Yehovah gave this Teaching to Israel. He did not command this teaching to any other group. Yehovah will judge those who are outside of Biblical faith, and those who believe the Bible have no business judging others regarding their religions and idolatries. Thus, a person who fears Yehovah today will be kind to witches, and will not participate in witchcraft.

 

 

 

IX. Lethal Bestiality (verse 18)

 

Every person in Israel who has sex with an animal must be put to death.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What is a bedder with a beast? It is a person who has sex with animals. It has nothing to do with sleeping with an animal in one’s bed.

 

2.     Why must such a person be put to death? Yehovah sees this as a terrible perversion and a great evil. (It also can bring some of the most violent diseases into human populations.)

 

3.     Should we put such persons to death today? Yehovah gave this command to Israel, and not to any other race. God will judge those outside of the race of Israel. If they of the other races desire to make laws regarding such practices, they can do so.

 

 

 

X. Devoted Idolater (verse 19)

 

Anyone who sacrifices to gods (not referring to Yehovah) will be devoted to destruction as the property of the false gods. That person will be put to death and will not be permitted to live.

 

Sacrificing to Yehovah, and to Him alone, is permissible.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What does kherem—that is, devoted to destruction mean? The Arabic word harem comes directly from this word. When it refers to an object, if the object isn’t an animal, it becomes the property of Yehovah and can never be the property of a human. If it is Yehovah’s property, it can be kept as such, or destroyed as such.

 

          If it refers to an animal, the animal must be slaughtered.

 

          If it refers to a human, the human must be slaughtered! (In the Arabic custom, the women who belong to a man’s harem are for the use of the man. If they try to leave the harem in order to be a regular citizen or to leave the land, or if they are unfaithful, they are put to death if caught. This is not part of the Biblical practices.)

 

          The idea of being devoted—completely put to one particular use and purpose—shows how strong this is, since a person is devoted to destruction, and cannot be redeemed.

 

2.     The text states, “A sacrificer to elohim shall be kherem.” Why would a person who sacrifices to elohim be killed? The word elohim means gods. I have always capitalized elohim (Elohim) when the text is referring to Yehovah. I don’t capitalize it when it refers to gods other than Yehovah. In this text, an Israeli is a sacrificer to other gods that are not Yehovah. That Israeli person must be killed.

 

3.     Suppose that a sojourner from some other race comes to stay a while in Israel, and is normally a sacrificer to other gods besides Yehovah; must the Israelis kill that person? These commands only have to do with Israelis, and not with sojourners from among the other races. Now, a sojourner in the land of Israel must refrain from doing sacrifices to other gods while in Israel. The person certainly can continue to believe in his/her own gods, but sacrificing to them while in Israel mustn’t be done. (If the person truly wants to sacrifice to his/her god(s), he/she can simply go outside of the borders of Israel, and do the sacrifice there; then he/she can return back into the borders of Israel.) If a sojourner insists upon doing a sacrifice to false gods within the borders of Israel, that sojourner must also be put to death. The Israelis must warn sojourners about these things in order to protect them from violating. Sojourners must be protected, and therefore they must be warned so that they won’t violate while in the Land of Israel.

 

4.     To whom are the Israelis permitted to do sacrifices? They are permitted to do sacrifices to Yehovah, and to Him alone.

 

 

 

XI. Cheating and Oppressing a Sojourner (verse 20)

 

Yehovah commanded Israel to not cheat a sojourner. Israel also must not oppress a sojourner. The reason is given: the Israelis were sojourners in the land of Egypt!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Why would an Israeli desire to cheat a sojourner? The Israelis (with few exceptions) were not fearers of Yehovah, and did not hold faith in Him. That is one reason why He gave them the Torah (Teaching). Thus, the Israelis will desire to sin at various times in various ways. Cheating a sojourner can be easily accomplished since the sojourner doesn’t know how much things are worth in this land and in this culture of Israel. A sojourner doesn’t have relatives who can come and help against a powerful Israeli. The sojourner is helpless in so many ways. Therefore, an Israeli who is evil might take advantage of the sojourner.

 

          Of course, there are other Israelis who might be willing to stand up for the sojourner, but Yehovah isn’t assuming this; His command is against cheating a sojourner, period. (A sojourner is a person from another land who is on a journey to another land, and whose journey is continuing. A sojourner can remain in a foreign land for years, and still be a sojourner.)

 

2.     What does oppress mean? It means to mistreat, to put into a difficult situation without cause, to hassle, to threaten, to berate, to treat meanly, etc.

 

3.     What is wrong with oppressing a sojourner? Yehovah has special consideration for sojourners! He takes mistreating sojourners very personally. The Israelis were sojourners in the land of Egypt! Yehovah therefore struck hard against the land of Egypt in order to open the way for the Israelis to leave, and to bring the Egyptians to a willingness to send them on their way!

 

          Yehovah also sees the future. Sojourners will often be His property during the Tribulation. He will see how others treat His property, and He will respond!

 

4.     The Israelis were sojourners how long in the land of Egypt? They were sojourners 430 years!

 

5.     What famous command fits this text?

 

          Luke 6:31 As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.

 

          This is a little different from the so-called ‘Golden Rule’: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. The Luke text is a little stronger.

 

 

 

XII. Humiliating a Widow and an Orphan (verses 21-23)

 

The Israelis must not humiliate any widow, and they must not humiliate any orphan. If Israel humiliates him, screaming, he will scream unto Yehovah, and Yehovah will hearken to his scream! Yehovah’s nose will then heat, and He will kill the Israelis via sword! The women of the Israelis will become widows, and the children of the Israelis will become orphans!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What is the difference between being humble and being humiliated? Being humble is voluntary; being humiliated is being forced. I propose that the word humble has this definition: knowing where one stands in terms of rank and responsibility, and living that way. Now, if a person doesn’t know his/her rank and responsibilities toward others, and therefore doesn’t live according to the person’s true rank and real responsibilities, the person isn’t humble. Instead, the person is either arrogant (‘stuck up’) or irresponsible, and will mistreat others. The Bible describes this as pride; pride is never good in the Bible.

 

          Humiliation, then, is being forced into a rank that isn’t true (usually a lower rank, but sometimes a higher rank to cause failure), and being given responsibilities (or being held responsible for things that the person didn’t do) that don’t belong to the person and don’t fit the person.

 

          The Hebrew language doesn’t have separate words for humility and humiliation. The difference is whether it is voluntary or forced.

 

2.     Why would Israelis humiliate a widow? If they take advantage of her because of her inability to defend herself, her property, her standing in Israeli society, her weakness, etc., they are humiliating her. Some Israelis who don’t fear Yehovah might do this openly, but others might take steps that involve a widow and that humiliate her without realizing what they are doing. Yehovah gives this command and warning, therefore, so that Israelis who fear Him will consider before they do anything that involves a widow.

 

          The land that belongs to a widow will be considered valuable; others around the widow might want to take her lands. (Some of the Israelis who fear Yehovah will instead help the widow so that she can keep her lands and stay on them.)

 

3.     Why would Israelis humiliate an orphan? Those who don’t fear Yehovah might view an orphan as truly an unimportant person who is also helpless, and might therefore push the orphan out of the way of their plans or take what belongs to the orphan, figuring that the orphan won’t find help. Others might not know that they are humiliating the orphan, but Yehovah will still see it that way. Therefore, the Israelis must be very cautious to make sure that they aren’t humiliating an orphan by the decisions that they make.

 

4.     Who is him in, “thou wilt humiliate him”? Him refers to the widow or the orphan! Though it is masculine, the widow, who is a woman, is being viewed as an offspring of Adam—that is, generically.

 

5.     What will this widow or orphan do if she/he is humiliated? She/He will scream unto Yehovah! (This is true even if this person doesn’t directly pray to Yehovah!)

 

6.     How will Yehovah respond to this scream? Yehovah will hearken! He will become furious! He will then send a sword against the Israelis (the entire group!) so that their women will be widows and their children will be orphans!

 

7.     Why will Yehovah react so strongly, that He will kill many for the sake of a few mistreated individuals? Is this justice? It is! It is Yehovah’s justice! He holds all Israelis responsible for what one or two individuals do! Therefore, the Israelis will show wisdom if they stop their fellow Israelis from such behaviours! They must consider such Israelis as bringing a threat of destruction on the whole group!

 

8.     Is making Israeli women widows when those women did nothing wrong, and making Israeli children orphans when those children did nothing wrong, truly justice? It truly is justice! The women did nothing wrong, but they also didn’t stand up for the widows and orphans who were being mistreated when they heard about them! (They will hear about them. If they can’t hear about them because of the evil leaders of society keeping the news of them from becoming public, it is time for Yehovah to take Israel apart and give Israel into the hands of enemies!)

 

 

 

XIII. Lending to the Poor (verses 24-26)

 

‘Bringing silver near’ to a humble one of Yehovah’s people (the People of Israel) is akin to lending. It is making silver available. The Israelis must not be to this humble one as a creditor—that is, as one who is lending, and who therefore pressures this person to pay the amount owed. The text continues to command that the Israelis must not put ‘a bite’ upon him; that bite will include charging interest.

 

Israel is permitted to take collateral—that is, to take something of value in the process of lending. Taking this collateral item is called binding. If the form of the binding is a fitted garment, it must be returned to the humble one ‘unto the coming of the sun’—that is, by sunset. The reason is given: this garment is the humble person’s being’s blanket covering; it belongs only to the person’s being. It is the person’s garment to the person’s skin. Yehovah asks, “Via what will he bed?”—that is, in what will he sleep? If Israel does take this humble person’s fitted garment, and doesn’t return it at sunset, this person will scream unto Yehovah, and Yehovah will hearken! Why? Yehovah favours!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What does bring silver near mean in this text? It means to make it available. We call that lending. However, it is a particular kind of lending; not a business lending. It is lending to a person who is very poor, and who greatly needs this silver. These texts have nothing to do with business lending, which is investing money into the business of another in order to earn a return on the business. Do not confuse these two.

 

2.     Why does the text specify, “If thou wilt bring-near silver with my people”? This command only has to do with the people of Israel. It is not a command regarding lending to those of other races who have become poor. Israel isn’t responsible for folks of other races in their own countries and lands. The Israelis must deal properly with Israelis.

 

3.     The text states, “with the humble one with thee.” What does being humble have to do with a text on lending? This humble person is very low in rank or has become very low in rank because of no silver. This person knows his/her rank because of this.

 

4.     What does “thou shalt not be to him as a creditor” mean? This means that this Israeli (who is thou in, “If thou will bring-near silver with my people…”) must not treat the Israeli to whom he loaned the silver as if that Israeli owes him interest on the loan.

 

          A creditor is a person who lends money or goods in order to make more money from the interest on the loan.

 

          The interest is a certain amount of money charged or gained from lending the money in the first place. For example, I might lend you, say, $50 if you agree to pay me $55 back! The interest is $5.

 

          No Israeli is permitted to behave as a creditor toward a humble Israeli in need of the silver. Therefore, no interest can be charged or taken.

 

5.     What is a bite in, “Ye shall not put upon him a bite”? A bite is a piece of the earnings from the loan. It is called a bite because it is like what a loan shark does: he lends and then charges high interest with strong threats if the loan isn’t repaid with the high interest. The term loan shark is just like this Hebrew term, bite!

 

6.     Verse 24 started out with thou and thee—both being singular. It then switched to ye, which is plural. Why did Yehovah change it from singular to plural? Verse 24 starts with an individual lending to another Israeli. When it switches to ye, it shows that all of the Israelis are now responsible for what this one Israeli does! (The text then switches back to the individual.)

 

7.     What is this binding mentioned in verse 25? In English, this is called collateral. Collateral is some form of the borrower’s property that the person borrowing promises or temporarily gives to the lender so that the lender has something of value while the borrower has the loan. In the case of this text, the valuable item is a fitted garment; that would be worth quite a bit of silver. The lender will take and hold that fitted garment until the borrower pays back the loan.

 

          Binding the fitted garment is taking and holding it until the loan is repaid.

 

8.     Verse 25 continues, “unto the coming [setting] of the sun thou shalt return him to him.” What does this mean? The “coming of the sun” is sunset. (It appears to come down to the land.) Thus, as the sun is setting, the lender must return the fitted garment to the borrower for each night! The garment is a blanket cover! Yehovah does not permit an Israeli to keep the only blanket cover of another Israeli overnight! When the morning comes, the lender can then again take and hold the fitted garment—that is, until the next sunset!

 

9.     Who is her in, “For He is her blanket-covering, hers alone”? This refers to the person’s being, which is always feminine (regardless of the gender of the person).

 

10.  What does “For He is her blanket-covering, hers alone” mean? This means that the fitted garment is the blanket covering for only that person’s being; it wasn’t made for anyone else, but was dedicated to that one person’s being.

 

11.  Explain, “He is his garment to his skin”: He, the fitted garment, is his, the man’s, garment to his, the man’s, skin—what he needs in order to not be exposed to the weather.

 

12.  Who is asking the question, “Via what will he bed?” Yehovah is asking the question. Since Yehovah is asking it, it is a question that already has an obvious answer: He won’t have what he needs in which to sleep! That garment also acts as his pajamas!

 

13.  Why would a person scream unto Yehovah if his or her fitted garment were being held by the lender? Whether the temperature is cold, and the person who borrowed the silver didn’t have enough cover, or whether the temperature is warm, and the garment helped keep insects off—there could be many reasons. While the lender was doing a favour for the borrower, still, mistreating the borrower by holding his/her fitted garment during the night is a great offense to Yehovah.

 

14.  What will Yehovah do when He hearkens? Yehovah will cause the Israelis to be without proper clothing in the very same way! This means that they will necessarily either be prisoners or will be on the run, since they cannot obtain proper clothing.

 

15.  Yehovah said these things to the Israelis about their treatment of other Israelis. Suppose that an Israeli lends to a sojourner who has become poor, and holds a fitted garment overnight from the sojourner; suppose the sojourner screams unto Yehovah the Gods of Israel. Will Yehovah hearken, or will He ignore the shouts of the sojourner?

 

          Leviticus 19:33 And if a sojourner sojourns with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. 34And the sojourner who dwells with you shall be unto you as one born among you! And thou shalt love him as thyself! For ye were sojourners in the land of Egypt! I am Yehovah your Gods!

 

          Thus, Yehovah will indeed hearken!

 

16.  Some folks in some other cultures greatly mistreat sojourners. What does Yehovah do in other cultures and races regarding sojourners? Yehovah burned every citizen to death in four cities (Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim) because of what they did to sojourners! That included little children, babies, animals, the elderly—He burned them all to death. Yehovah sees. He will take down any culture that mistreats sojourners, orphans, widows, etc.

 

 

 

XIV. Lightly Esteeming Elohim (verse 27)

 

Israel must not lightly esteem (that is, consider of little value) Elohim.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What does lightly esteem mean? It means to consider something of little worth, value, rank, importance, etc.

 

2.     How does a person behave who lightly esteems Elohim? That person lives, speaks and reacts as if Elohim isn’t important, isn’t worth fearing, doesn’t have to be obeyed, and so on. Such a person will treat others made in Elohim’s image in the same wrong ways! That person will sin without considering the consequences, and will teach others to do the same.

 

3.     Since the word Elohim is the same word used in verse 19, and since the Hebrew language doesn’t have capitalization (which means that a reader in Hebrew won’t see any difference), how can the reader tell that this refers to the Gods of Israel instead of the false gods of the races? This sentence is connected to the next sentence by and, showing that they are connected: “Thou shalt not lightly-esteem Elohim. And thou shalt not curse the carrier in thy people!” This section isn’t speaking about the false gods, but about the True Gods and the leader that the True Gods has appointed (that leader being called a carrier).

 

          A reader must figure out many things like this: by looking around the text. All the texts surrounding a text that are connected with that text together are called the context (where the prefix con- means with; thus, context means with the text).

 

 

 

XV. Cursing the Carrier (verse 27)

 

The carrier is the leader. If Israel curses the carrier in Israel’s people, Yehovah will react!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What is a carrier? That is a person who carries the responsibilities of governing and leading a people.

 

2.     Are there many carriers in this world (besides in Israel)? Yes, there are! There are carriers in all cultures! They are the leaders who govern, who lead, often who judge, who go to war, etc.

 

3.     Who chooses the leaders in all cultures, races, lands, etc.? Since some come to power by violence, some by being elected, some by power, some by birth, and some by other means, who truly chooses the leaders? All leaders are brought to power by God:

 

          Romans 13:1 Every being shall be subject to authorities above. For there is no authority except from God! And those who are authorities have been appointed by God 2so that he who sets himself against the authority resists the ordinance of God! And they who resist shall receive judgment to themselves. 3For, the rulers are not a terror to good works, but-rather to evil. Dost thou desire to not be afraid of the authority? Practice the good, and thou shalt have praise from him! 4For he is a slave of God for good to thee! And if thou art practicing evil, fear! For he wears the sword—not in vain! For he is a slave of God, an avenger for wrath to him who does evil! 5Therefore [it is] necessary to be subject—not only on account of wrath, but also on account of conscience! 6For ye pay tribute also on this account! For they are ministers of God attending continually on this same thing! 7Therefore render to all their dues—to whom tribute: tribute; to whom custom: custom; to whom fear: fear; to whom honour: honour. 8Owe ye nothing!—to no one!—unless to love one another. For he who loves the other has fulfilled Torah!

 

          Thus, even very wicked leaders are still brought to power by God; He has given them opportunity to do good and to practice what is right, bringing justice. Even if the wicked leaders came to power by committing murder, Yehovah still has given those leaders opportunity to do right (though very few leaders of this world will do right, and will do it consistently). Yehovah determines all ranks in this world!

 

4.     What is wrong with cursing the carrier in the people of Israel if the cursing is done in private where no one hears and where no harm is done? Since Yehovah appointed the carrier, cursing him is cursing what Yehovah has done! That shows a terrible disrespect toward Yehovah! Instead, one who fears Yehovah will do what is right (even if it is the opposite of what the carrier commands to do, since Yehovah is higher in rank than the carrier), and will show respect toward the carrier. That means that the person could be disobeying the carrier if the carrier’s commands are wrong in the eyes of Yehovah, while still showing respect to the carrier. This happened in the scroll of Daniel:

 

          Daniel 3:14 Nebuchadnezzar spoke. And he said unto them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Don’t ye serve my gods, and don’t ye worship the gold image that I have set up? 15Now if ye are ready: that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye shall fall down and worship the image that I have made, good! And if ye don’t worship, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?” 16Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. 17If it is so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace. And He will deliver us out of thine hand, king. 18And if not, be it known unto thee, king, that we will not serve thy gods, and we will not worship the gold image that thou hast set up.”

 

          Since Yehovah sent and assigned the carrier, even cursing the carrier in one’s mind isn’t an appropriate response to wrong actions of the carrier in the people of Israel. (Cursing the carrier in any people is likewise not so wise.)

 

 

 

XVI. Giving Firstborn (verses 28-29)

 

Israel must not delay Israel’s fullness (Israel’s harvest) and Israel’s weeping (also referring to the dripping of juices that are produced by squeezing fruit, but consider the type!).

 

Israel must give a firstborn of Israel’s children to Yehovah. Israel must do the same thing to Israel’s ox, to Israel’s flock. The firstborn will be with his mother seven days. Israel must give him to Yehovah in the eighth day.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What is this fullness? It is the abundance of any crop in any year.

 

2.     What does delaying the fullness involve? It involves putting off taking out the Biblically commanded portion and doing with it as Yehovah commanded. One of those portions is called the tithe; it is a tenth of any crop and a tenth of the increase of cattle, sheep, etc. The tithe (that is, the tenth) must be set aside right away, since delaying may involve forgetting and making excuses to not give it.

 

3.     What is thy weeping? When grapes are squeezed, they produce a drop of liquid that is like a teardrop. When grapes produce very well, much wine can be produced. Squeezing the grapes to obtain the juice causes the squeezed grapes to ‘weep;’ once the wine is produced, a portion of that belongs to Yehovah. If Israelis delay to give this, they are doing wrong.

 

4.     What do the fullness and the weeping typify? I propose that they typify two things in the Tribulation. When the Israelis see their brethren in distress, and they have an idea that they can rescue them, and the fullness of their compassion prods them to bear fruit (that is, to do good works that save lives), they must not delay to take action! Delay will mean that they won’t take action, and it will mean that those needing to be rescued can die. The weeping, I propose, typifies the reaction that the Israelis have as they see their brethren being destroyed during the Tribulation. If they delay their weeping, they might harden themselves so that they will only think of saving their own lives. If, instead, they weep, they will then be in position to take action, since grieving is often the first step to taking action in such cases. If they don’t weep, they won’t have consolation. If they do weep, they can then become very strong for their brethren.

 

5.     The next statement, “Thou shalt give to me a firstborn of thy children,” uses a firstborn instead of the firstborn. Why is it worded this way, and how can the ‘thou’ do this? First, the command is to one identified as thou. This is singular. The wording is designed to point to all Israel as one unit; it could have been worded ye, referring to the Israelis. Thus, Israel must give to Yehovah a firstborn of Israel’s children. I propose that this points to Yeshua Who is a firstborn of Israel’s children.

 

          Now, this command includes each Israeli giving a firstborn, and other commands go along with this. Yet, the picture it shows is as important as the command itself.

 

          The way Yehovah commanded the Israelis to give Him the firstborn human child was not to sacrifice the child. Instead, the child had to be redeemed by an animal (which was only a type, and not a real replacement) being sacrificed in order to picture Yeshua who really was sacrificed. Yehovah commanded the following:

 

          Numbers 3:12 “And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn who opens the matrix among the children of Israel! Therefore the Levites shall be mine 13Because all the firstborn are mine. For I sanctified unto me all the firstborn in Israel—both man and beast—on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt! They shall be mine! I am Yehovah!”

 

          Thus, the Levites serve Yehovah as His property as a replacement for all the firstborn of the Israelis being taken.

 

6.     Why must Israel also give a firstborn of an ox and of a flock? Yehovah uses these animals as types to remind (or point out to) the Israelis of the importance of giving the firstborn to Yehovah, and of giving Yeshua to Yehovah.

 

7.     Why must an ox or a goat or a sheep firstborn be with its mother seven days before being given to Yehovah? A small point is so that the animal mama won’t overly grieve, since she will have fed her young for seven days. I propose that taking the firstborn immediately on the first day can be harmful to the mother.

 

          Yet, the seven days are a type. A week is a complete unit of time in the year. Giving the young on the eighth day is like circumcision being done on the eighth day. These lengths of time will be fulfilled during the Tribulation when Israel’s heart (as a group) will be circumcised on the eighth day. Israel as a whole will give Yeshua, the Lamb of God, to Yehovah (as if they were there at the time of Yeshua’s being sacrificed on the cross).

 

 

 

XVII. Owned (verse 30)

 

The Israelis shall be mortals (that is, alive in their bodies that can die—not referring to being in their bodies that cannot die) of the Holy One of Israel, belonging to Yehovah.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What does “And ye shall be mortals of Holy-[One] to me” mean? A mortal is a person capable of dying (and therefore not referring to a person who has already died). The Holy One, known also as the Holy One of Israel, refers to Yeshua—the One whom Yehovah sent to Israel to save Israel from sin and death, and to provide Salvation for all.

 

          This text shows that the Israelis will belong to this Holy One of Israel Who will in turn belong to Yehovah! Thus, the Israelis will belong to Yehovah!

 

 

 

XVIII. Eating Torn Animals (verse 30)

 

If the Israelis find a torn animal in a field, they must not eat that animal. They must sling that animal to a dog!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What is a torn one? It is animal that has been killed by another animal.

 

2.     What is wrong with eating the flesh of a torn animal in the field? The Israelis either don’t know how the animal died, or they do know, but in either case, the animal that killed the other animal could be rabid or diseased.

 

          The blood of the animal wasn’t properly drained, but stayed inside of the animal.

 

3.     What does eating flesh of a torn one typify? Since a torn one is a victim of an animal that is or is not identified, Yeshua was not a torn one. He was a sacrifice. Eating the flesh of a sacrifice is right when the sacrifice is right; that shows participation with what the sacrifice typifies. Even Yeshua spoke well of eating His flesh. (His flesh is like the fruit on a fruit tree; it is there to be eaten, and isn’t for the benefit of the tree itself. Picking the fruit doesn’t kill the tree.)

 

4.     What does “in a field” tell the reader? It means that the tearing took place out where no one saw it occur.

 

5.     Why must the Israelis sling this torn carcass specifically to a dog? A dog is a perfect type of an unclean animal, and therefore pictures an unclean person. The torn one, I propose, will picture a false god, and the dog an unclean idolater. If I am right, the dog eats of the false god. (It won’t hurt the dog.)

 

Exodus 21 Slaves, Killing, Fighting and Goring

Slaves, Killing, Fighting and Goring

 

 

Background and printed text: Exodus 21

 

Exodus 21:1 And these are the justices that thou shalt set to their faces.

 

2When thou shalt buy a Hebrew slave, he will serve six years. And in the seventh he will exit to freedom gratis. 3If he will come with his body, he will exit with his body. If he is a husband of a woman, and his woman will exit with him.

 

4If his lords will give a woman to him, and she will child to him sons or daughters, the woman and her children will be to her lords. And he will exit with his body. 5And if the slave will say, saying, “I loved my lords, my woman and my children! I will not exit free!” 6And his lords shall approach him unto the Elohim. And he shall approach him unto the door or unto the Mezuzah. And his lords shall pierce his ear with a piercing-tool. And he shall serve him to Hider.

 

7And when a man will sell his daughter to a slavemaiden, she shall not-exit as the exiting of the slaves. 8If she-is-bad in the eyes of her lords who did not betroth her, and she shall be redeemed. He shall not rule to sell her to a foreign people in his defrauding via her. 9And if he will betroth her to his son, he will do to her as the justice of the daughters.

 

10If he will take to himself another {feminine}, he will not diminish her remainder, her blanket-covering and her cohabiting. 11And if he will not do these three to her, and he will exit her gratis─there is no silver.

 

12The smiter of a man, and he will die: dying, he shall-be-made-to-die! 13And whoever did not stalk, and the Elohim situated to his hand, and I will put a place to thee that he will flee there.

 

14And when a man will presume upon his neighbour to slay him via guile, thou shalt take him from with my altar to die.

 

15And the smiter of his father and his mother: dying he shall-be-caused-to-die!

 

16And a stealer of a man, and he sells him, and he will be found in his hand: dying, he shall-be-caused-to-die!

 

17And he lightly esteems his father and his mother: dying, he shall-be-caused-to-die!

 

18And when men shall fight, and a man shall smite his neighbour via a stone or via a fist and he will not die, and he will fall to bed, 19if he will arise and he will walk himself into the outside upon his staff, and the smiter will be innocent. Only he will give his sitting and healing—he-will-cause-healing!

 

20And when a man will smite his slave or his slavemaiden via a rod, and he will die under his hand, avenging, he shall be avenged! 21Only if he will arise a day or days, he will-not-be-avenged. For he is his silver.

 

22And when men will physically-fight, and they will smite a pregnant woman, and her children will exit, and there will not be injury, amerced, he shall be amerced just-as the husband of the woman will set upon him. And he will give via the deliberators. 23And if injury will be, and thou shalt give, being under being!— 24eye under eye, tooth under tooth, hand under hand, foot under foot, 25branding under branding, wound under wound, bruise under bruise.

 

26And when a man will smite the eye of his slave or the eye of his slavemaiden, and he will blind her, he will send him to freedom under his eye. 27And if a tooth of his slave or a tooth of his slavemaiden will fall, he will send him to freedom under his tooth.

 

28And when an ox will gore a man or a woman and he will die, stoning, the ox shall be stoned! And he shall not eat his flesh. And the husband of the ox is innocent. 29And if an ox—he gored from yesterday three days ago, and he was testified via his husbands, and he will not guard him, and the ox will cause- a man or a woman -to-die, he will be stoned, and also his husbands─he will-be-caused-to-die! 30And if a covering will be set upon him, and he shall give a redemption of his being as all that will be set upon him! 31Or he will gore a son, or he will gore a daughter, he will be done to him as this justice.

 

32If the ox will gore a slave or a slavemaiden, he will give silver of 30 shekels to his lords. And the ox will be stoned.

 

33And when a man will open a pit, or when a man will dig a pit, and he will not cover him, and an ox or an ass will fall ‘thereward,’ 34the husband of the pit will make peace. He will return silver to his husbands. And the dead will be to him.

 

35And when the ox of a man will attack the ox of his neighbour, and he will die, and they shall sell the living ox. And they shall halve his silver. And they shall also halve the dead. 36Or it was known that the ox—he gored from yesterday, three days ago, and his husbands will not guard {singular} him: making-peace, he shall make peace, an ox under the ox. And the dead will be to him.

 

37When a man shall steal an ox or a sheep and slaughter him or sell him, he will-make-peace: five of the herd under the ox and four of the flock under the sheep!

 

 

 

I. The Justices (verse 1)

 

Yehovah commanded Moshe to set these justices to the faces of the Israelis. How surprising to find that the first justices pertain to proper treatment of slaves!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Why did Yehovah call these things justices?

 

2.     Why must these be “set to their faces” (instead of being told to them or written for them)?

 

 

 

II. Buying a Hebrew Slave (verses 2-3)

 

Israelis will purchase Hebrew slaves. (A Hebrew slave is an Israeli slave.) The slave will serve six years. In the seventh year, the slave will exit from slavery to freedom gratis—that is, without having to pay anything.

 

If the slave will come with the only possession being his own physical body, he will exit with his physical body. If, on the other hand, he is a husband of a woman, his woman will exit with him.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Who is thou in, “When thou shalt buy a Hebrew slave”?

 

2.     What is a Hebrew slave?

 

3.     The text states, “He will serve six years.” Can’t the time of his serving as a slave be less than six years?

 

4.     Why did Yehovah choose six years (instead of seven or five, for examples)?

 

5.     What does gratis mean?

 

6.     Suppose that this slave had run up a debt that is equivalent to 25,000,000 dollars; how would his being a slave for six years come anywhere near paying that debt?

 

7.     The text states, “If he will come with his body, he will exit with his body.” How could he come without his body?

 

8.     If he is a husband of a woman, does his woman also become a slave when he does?

 

9.     If he went into slavery with his children, would they also come out with him?

 

10.  Suppose that an Israeli purchases a slave who isn’t a Hebrew. Will that slave also exit in the seventh year?

 

 

 

III. Slaves Making Babies (verses 4-6)

 

A slavemaster of a Hebrew slave can give a woman to the slave to make babies. If she does become pregnant for the slavemaster, the woman and her children will be the property of the slavemaster (and not the slave who impregnated her—who got her pregnant). When the time comes for the slave to exit, he will exit with his own physical body, and not with the woman or the child that he fathered.

 

Now, if the slave will insistently say, “I loved my lords, my woman and my children! I will not exit free,” his slavemaster will ‘approach’ him unto the Elohim—unto the Gods of Israel. And he will ‘approach’ him unto the door or unto the Mezuzah (the doorpost). The slavemaster will then pierce his ear with a piercing-tool. The slave will then serve the slavemaster to Hider—he will permanently become his property. (That way, he can keep his woman and his child/children.)

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Why is lords plural? Does this refer to a slavemaster and his wife?

 

2.     If the slave’s lords will give a woman to him, does she become the slave’s wife?

 

3.     Aren’t a man and a woman supposed to be married in the Bible before having sex and producing children?

 

4.     Why would a slavemaster desire a slave to produce children for the slavemaster?

 

5.     What does “he will exit with his body” mean, again?

 

6.     In what order will the slave declare his love?

 

7.     What else must the slave declare?

 

8.     Under what conditions would a slave be willing to voluntarily become a permanent slave to another human?

 

9.     Isn’t slavery evil?

 

10.  The next verse states, “And his lords shall approach him unto the Elohim.” What does this mean, and how can this happen?

 

11.  Why should he approach him unto the door, and what door is this?

 

12.  What is a Mezuzah?

 

13.  What is a piercing tool?

 

14.  Why must the ear be pierced?

 

15.  What does “he shall serve him to Hider” mean?

 

16.  Since a human cannot serve another to Hider (due to finally becoming old and dying), what does this section of the text typify?

 

 

 

IV. Selling a Daughter (verses 7-9)

 

An Israeli can sell his daughter as a slavemaiden. (See questions to learn why this might occur.) This slavemaiden shall not exit (go out) as the exiting of the slaves. She must be treated differently from the other slaves.

 

If her slavemaster doesn’t look at her in a good light, and if he also didn’t betroth her (either to himself or to his son), she must be redeemed. The slavemaster is never permitted to sell her to a foreign people in the process of defrauding (dealing crookedly with her) by means of her.

 

If, on the other hand, he will betroth her to his son, he must do to her exactly what is the justice to do with daughters.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Does the man really sell his daughter to a slavemaiden?

 

2.     Isn’t selling a daughter to become a slavemaiden really cold, an act of total lovelessness, and just cruel?

 

3.     What does “she shall not-exit as the exiting of the slaves” mean?

 

4.     What does “she is bad in the eyes of her lords” mean?

 

5.     What does betroth mean?

 

6.     What does “she shall be redeemed” mean?

 

7.     What does defraud mean?

 

8.     Explain “He shall not rule to sell her to a foreign people in his defrauding via her”:

 

9.     Can this slavemaster betroth this slavemaiden to his son without her parents’ permission?

 

10.  What does “he will do to her as the justice of the daughters” mean?

 

 

 

V. Second Wife (verses 10-11)

 

If the son of the slavemaster who has married the slavemaiden takes another woman to himself as a second wife, he will not diminish the remainder of the woman who was both the first woman and the slavemaiden. He will not diminish her blanket-covering, and he will not diminish her cohabiting—sleeping with her. If he will not do these three to her, he will exit her without any redemption price—that is, gratis; there must be no silver exchange for her leaving.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Does the Bible permit an Israeli to have more than one wife?

 

2.     Why would Yehovah permit a man to have more than one wife?

 

3.     Can a man have more than one wife in the United States and in countries with similar cultures?

 

4.     Isn’t taking on another wife a form of cruelty to the first wife?

 

5.     Who is taking to himself another woman?

 

6.     What does “he will not diminish her remainder” mean?

 

7.     What does “he will not diminish … her blanket-covering” mean?

 

8.     What does “he will not diminish … her cohabiting” mean?

 

9.     Verse 11 states, “And if he will not do these three to her, and he will exit her gratis─there is no silver.” Does he send her away after living with her as a wife for a while, and then after obtaining a second wife?

 

 

 

VI. Murderer and Manslayer (verses 12-13)

 

Anyone who smites a human such that he dies, the smiter shall be likewise made to die.

 

Now, if anyone killed another, and that person didn’t stalk the one he/she killed, and the Elohim situated the victim to the hand of the one who killed him, Yehovah will put a place to Israel so that this ‘manslayer’ will flee there.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What does “The smiter of a man, and he will die” mean?

 

2.     What does “dying, he shall-be-made-to-die” mean?

 

3.     Is Yehovah for capital punishment, or is He against capital punishment?

 

4.     What does “the Elohim situated to his hand” mean?

 

5.     What does “whoever did not stalk, and the Elohim situated to his hand, and I will put a place to thee that he will flee there” mean?

 

 

 

VII. Plotting Murderer (verse 14)

 

When a man will presume upon his neighbour (assume with arrogance in a prideful approach) to slay him via guile, Israel must take that person from being with Yehovah’s altar so that the man will die (being put to death).

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What does presume mean in the Bible?

 

2.     How can a person presume upon his neighbour (to slay him via guile)?

 

3.     Why must he slay him with guile?

 

4.     Why did Yehovah state, “thou shalt take him from with my altar to die”? Why was the man at Yehovah’s altar?

 

 

 

VIII. Parent Murderer (verse 15)

 

Smiting (striking) one’s father and one’s mother is a death-penalty offense; that person must be put to death.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What is a smiter of his father and his mother?

 

2.     Why is this a death penalty?

 

3.     Suppose that one’s father and mother are drowning; is smiting them in order to bring them to shore or to a ship also a death penalty?

 

 

 

IX. Kidnapper (verse 16)

 

Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him must be put to death.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What is a stealer of a man?

 

2.     If he sells him, how can he be found in his hand?

 

3.     Why is kidnapping a death penalty offense?

 

 

 

X. Light-Esteemer of Parents (verse 17)

 

Anyone who views parents with contempt as if they have little value must be put to death.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What does lightly esteem mean?

 

2.     Why is lightly esteeming father and mother a death penalty offense?

 

 

 

XI. Fighting and Reparations (verses 18-19)

 

Israeli men will fight. If one of them smites his neighbour via a stone or via a fist, and the neighbour doesn’t die, but he does fall to bed, if he later arises and walks on his own power into the outside upon his staff, the smiter will be innocent. In the meantime, however, the smiter must pay for whoever has to care for the man and for medical bills; the smiter must make sure the man is healed.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Will Israelis fight with each other?

 

2.     Is smiting a neighbour via a stone against the Torah?

 

3.     What does “he will fall to bed” mean?

 

4.     The text continues, “if he will arise and he will walk himself into the outside upon his staff …” What does this mean?

 

5.     Why will the smiter be innocent in this case?

 

6.     What does the text require the smiter to do?

 

7.     The text states, “he will cause healing!” What does this mean?

 

8.     Suppose that both men injure each other, and both are stuck in bed for a while. Are they even?

 

 

 

XII. Smiting a Slave (verses 20-21)

 

When a slavemaster smites a male or female slave via a rod, and the slave dies under his hand, vengeance must be taken for the slave.

 

If instead the slave arises in a day or several days, no vengeance will be taken for the slave since the slave is the silver of the slavemaster.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Is an Israeli in violation of the Torah if he/she smites a slave?

 

2.     In the case that a slave dies under a smiting, the text states, “avenging, he shall be avenged.” It doesn’t say what will be done. What will be done in such a case?

 

3.     Explain this: “Only if he will arise a day or days, he will-not-be-avenged. For he is his silver”:

 

4.     Doesn’t this paragraph permit the general mistreatment of slaves?

 

 

 

XIII. Pregnant Woman’s Injury during a Fight (verses 22-25)

 

Israelis will physically fight. If they will smite a pregnant woman in the process of fighting, and if her children will exit (from her womb), and there won’t be injury, there will still be a monetary fine for causing this birthing at this time. The husband of the woman will set the fine, and the one who smote the woman causing the birth will pay the fine. Deliberators will decide if the fine’s size is right, and the man will give according to the deliberators.

 

If, on the other hand, there will be injury, whatever the nature of the injury is, that will be done to the man who smote the pregnant woman!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Why would men smite a pregnant woman?

 

2.     Why does the text state, “and her children will exit,” instead of this: “and her child will exit”?

 

3.     What does amerced mean?

 

4.     Why does the woman’s husband (and not the woman) get to set the amount that must be paid?

 

5.     What is a deliberator?

 

6.     How many deliberators will be involved?

 

7.     What occurs if the deliberators determine that the amount declared by the husband is too high or too low?

 

8.     What must be done if the woman is injured?

 

9.     Why is the Torah so hard on the man who accidentally harmed the woman while fighting with another Israeli?

 

10.  What does under mean in “eye under eye,” etc.?

 

11.  Suppose that the injury is to the baby—what is the ruling regarding this?

 

 

 

XIV. Damaging a Slave (verses 26-27)

 

A slavemaster who will smite a slave might put out the slave’s eye. If he does, he must send the slave to freedom in the place of his/her eye. The same is true regarding a tooth.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Does it matter if putting out the eye of a slave was an accident, or was intentional?

 

2.     Why isn’t the eye of the slavemaster put out in an ‘eye-for-an-eye’ response?

 

3.     Supposing that both eyes are put out; wouldn’t sending the slave or slavemaiden to freedom be cruel, since he/she cannot do anything much for quite a while?

 

4.     Only the blinding of an eye or the falling of a tooth is mentioned. Suppose that the little toe of the slave is broken; what must be done in that case?

 

5.     Why does Yehovah pick things like the losing of a tooth when they are so minor compared to other things, and when the Torah is truly so short (in contrast to other bodies of ‘law’ in other lands)?

 

 

 

XV. A Goring Ox (verses 28-31)

 

An ox that gores a man or a woman to death must be stoned. No one is permitted to eat the flesh of the ox. The husband (ox owner and handler) is innocent.

 

On the other hand, if the ox gored yesterday or even three days ago, and someone testified this to the ox’s husbands (handlers), and the husband will not guard the ox, and the ox will cause a man or a woman to die, the ox will be stoned, and the ox’s husbands—he will also be put to death!

 

If a covering will be set upon the husband, the husband will give a redemption of his being according to all that will be set upon him!

 

If the ox will gore a son or a daughter, this same justice will be done to the husband.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Why must the ox be stoned to death instead of just being slaughtered?

 

2.     Who is he in, “And he shall not eat his flesh”?

 

3.     What does “the husband of the ox is innocent” mean?

 

4.     What does “he gored from yesterday three days ago” mean?

 

5.     Explain “he was testified via his husbands”:

 

6.     The text states, “and he will not guard him.” Does the husband of the ox refuse to guard the ox? Suppose that the husband was willing, but just couldn’t guard the ox for a short time; doesn’t that mean that he will guard him?

 

7.     Why must the husbands also be caused to die even if the ox broke down a fence (say), and then gored a man?

 

8.     How will the husband of the ox be caused to die?

 

9.     The next verse states, “And if a covering will be set upon him…” What does this mean?

 

10.  Under what circumstances might a covering keep the husband of the ox that gored from being put to death?

 

11.  Why is verse 31 necessary?

 

12.  How could this justice be the means of making a proper law regarding someone who drives after having become a little drunk, and kills someone?

 

 

 

XVI. Ox Goring a Slave (verse 32)

 

If the ox will gore a male or female slave, the husband will give 30 shekels of silver to the slavemaster, and the ox will be stoned.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Thirty shekels isn’t much at all—the equivalent of perhaps $50. Why is this all that occurs from an ox goring of a human?

 

2.     What will occur if the ox of a master kills that master’s slave?

 

 

 

XVII. An Open Pit (verses 33-34)

 

When a man opens or digs a pit, it is up to the man to provide a cover for the pit that will keep humans and large animals from falling into the pit. If the man who opens or digs the pit doesn’t provide such a cover, and an ox or an ass falls into the pit, the husband of the pit (the one who is responsible for the pit being opened or dug) will make peace. He will return silver to the husbands of the dead animal; he will now own the dead animal.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What does this text mean by cover him?

 

2.     What is the purpose of digging such a hole?

 

3.     Suppose that the animal falls into the pit, but isn’t hurt; must the one who dug the pit pay something?

 

4.     What does “thereward” mean?

 

5.     What does “the husband of the pit will make peace” mean?

 

6.     Suppose that the animal that was harmed or killed was a pet or a prize animal to the owner; how would peace be made?

 

7.     What does “He will return silver to his husbands” mean?

 

8.     Why must the price be in silver? Why didn’t the text specify that silver or gold could be used?

 

9.     Suppose that he doesn’t want the dead animal; can he leave the animal in the pit, and cover it?

 

10.  If the animal is an ox, and it just recently fell into the pit and died, can the new owner eat the animal?

 

 

 

XVIII. Ox Duel (verses 35-36)

 

If one ox of one man attacks another ox of a neighbour, and the neighbour’s ox dies, both men must sell the living ox. They must then halve the silver for the ox. They will also halve the dead ox.

 

If it was known that the ox gored yesterday or even three days ago, and his husbands will not guard the ox, that owner must make peace, replacing the ox with one of his own oxen (or acquiring an equivalent ox for the victim’s husband). The owner of the goring ox will now own the dead ox.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What must they do if an ox attacks and kills two oxen of his neighbour?

 

 

 

XIX. Animal Theft (verse 37)

 

A sheepstealer or an ox thief who slaughters or sells the animal must make peace with the owner. Making peace includes this: he must give five animals of the herd in the place of the ox, and four of the flock in the place of the sheep!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What must be done to a man who steals an ox or a sheep, and is found with the animal alive and unsold?

 

2.     What will happen to the thief if he cannot cover these costs?

 

3.     Why are the rates for oxen and sheep different—that is, five of the herd under the ox, and four of the flock under the sheep?