B’har (on a mountain)/B’chukotai (in My statutes)

Weekly Torah Studies for 2025/26 ( 5786).

On the road to Emmaus, Yeshua met with two of His disciples and, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:27). For our Torah studies this year, therefore, week by week we will seek to discover how all of Torah prepared the way for the coming Messiah.

9thMay 2026 (22 Iyyar)

B’har (on a mountain), Leviticus 25:1-26:2, B’chukotai (in My statutes) Leviticus 26:3-27:34

When the Apostle Paul told Timothy, we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out  (1 Timothy 6:7) it would have been an overflow of his understanding of Torah. Our portion this week focuses on ownership. The Children of Israel were being prepared for life in the Promised Land. The Land would be apportioned to the Tribes and through the Tribes to individual families. They would take possession of land that they had not worked for, yet it would become their inheritance from generation to generation.

Later generations might think differently about ownership than those who first received the family inheritance. They might take possession, holding it to themselves too firmly as if by right rather than privilege and responsibility. All of us, whatever we count as our own possession, whatever it is, entered the world with nothing, as a dependent new-born baby. If we were able to trace any inheritance back generation by generation, we would eventually come to the first days of Creation and might then recall that everything still belongs to God our Creator.

When we consider inheritance and ownership from a biblical perspective, therefore, we should understand things differently. We must not skip over an important verse, in which God established balance of ownership of His land:

The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me.(Leviticus 25:23)

God did not relinquish His ownership when each family eventually were given their inheritance in the Land of Canaan. This principle is at the foundation of understanding of inheritance and ownership as we live in this world. We are to be stewards of what is assigned to us by God. We are to be partners with Him in caring for the land and for one another, having been entrusted to that care. The moment we try to take full control independently of God, is the moment when problems can begin.

For Israel, the rules of stewardship were made very clear. In our portion for study this week, we find warnings (Leviticus 26) of the consequences when the principles of stewardship were not followed. If initial warnings were not heeded, ultimately it led to the following consequences:

I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not smell the fragrance of your sweet aromas. I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it. I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste. Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies’ land; then the land shall rest and enjoy its sabbaths. As long as it lies desolate it shall rest - for the time it did not rest on your sabbaths when you dwelt in it. (Leviticus 26:31-35)

God meant what He said. It is a lesson to the entire world that God sent His people into captivity in Babylon hundreds of years later. A study of the Prophets shows how warning after warning was given until exactly what God said through Moses came to pass. The Land of Israel’s inheritance became the land of their enemies until the full number of Sabbath years was fulfilled. If one makes a calculation of the years of captivity (70 years) compared with the number of years Israel inhabited the Promised Land (estimated as between 400 and 600 years), it would seem that not many sabbath years had been kept, despite God’s clear teaching!

Hear the voice of Amos, reminding Israel of God’s warnings through Moses. The gradual heightening of signs that eventually lead to judgement are typified here:

I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
And lack of bread in all your places;
Yet you have not returned to Me,
Says the Lord.

I also withheld rain from you,
When there were still three months to the harvest.
I made it rain on one city,
I withheld rain from another city.
One part was rained upon,
And where it did not rain the part withered.
So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water,
But they were not satisfied;
Yet you have not returned to Me,
Says the Lord.

I blasted you with blight and mildew.
When your gardens increased,
Your vineyards,
Your fig trees,
And your olive trees,
The locust devoured them;
Yet you have not returned to Me,
Says the Lord.

I sent among you a plague after the manner of Egypt;
Your young men I killed with a sword,
Along with your captive horses;
I made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils;
Yet you have not returned to Me,
Says the Lord.

I overthrew some of you,
As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
And you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning;
Yet you have not returned to Me,
Says the Lord.

Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel;
Because I will do this to you,
Prepare to meet your God, O Israel! (Amos 4:6-12)

Yet, here in our portion this week, is the simplest of requirements of God for blessing on His people in the land of their inheritance. Here is the pattern of life where man walks with God throughout all his days on earth, recognising the great privilege in sharing in the management of God’s creation and harvesting the rewards for a full and prosperous life. Here is a land management programme and a model of economics that does not fill the libraries of the world with endless books and take many years to study, being difficult to apply. It is contained in just a few chapters of the Books of Torah! It contains the principles of fairness, care for the poor, and respect for one’s neighbour. It involves yearly cycles of management of the earth ordained by the One who created everything. The cycles of seven years, leading up to the 50th year of Jubilee, where the ground rests in a similar manner to the weekly Sabbath rest of God’s people, contains understanding that we may not be able to completely fathom as to why it is best. Yet these are the rhythms of Creation ordained by the Creator who knows all about land and plant management and about the sharing that benefits all His people.

What a simple formula there is in calculating values of transactions depending on how many years are left to the Jubilee. Our minds, when filled by the desire to grasp after possessions, do not easily realise that assessment of value in these Scriptures is based on the amount of produce that can come from the land in the years to Jubilee, not on the value of the land itself. We are to be managers of God’s harvest fields and not own them in the absolute sense.

Sharing with God according to that which should be dedicated to Him out of all that He gave to His people, keeps one in mind of the fact that God desires us to be partners with Him. Just as great woes would follow departure from Him, so great blessings were received when man’s partnership with God was according to His ways. We are considering the most wondrous thing here, echoed across all Scripture and proved through the history of God’s people, that our Creator desires to be our friend.

Stewardship, learned through the practical matters of life with God, was also a preparation for greater fulfilment in other matters of God’s Kingdom. Remember faithful Daniel who was told:

Go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days. (Daniel 12:13)

The Lord Yeshua also taught about these things. For example, in the Parable of the Talents He likened His leaving this world for a period of time to a ruler leaving his servants in charge of his property:

For the kingdom of heaven is like a man travelling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. (Matthew 25:14-19)

Which of us would like to hear the commendation of the Lord for how we stewarded His possessions?

His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord. (Matthew 25:21)

There is a parallel between the inheritance of land referred to in this week’s portion and with other responsibilities given to God’s people Rremember our Lord also said:

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

God made preparations with Israel for how to live and steward their allotted land with Him. The principles still go on in every aspect of our life. God still teaches us that He will partner with us in our life through Yeshua. Israel was to be a light to the world to show the way other nations might learn together to live under His blessings. The offer is still there at every level that, if we will trust Him, we can live prosperous lives. Things that we cannot do for ourselves, are possible with God. The practical aspects of stewardship of what God has entrusted to us are still relevant.

Relevant also are the matters of the Kingdom of God here on earth in the present day. Each of us who have become disciples of Yeshua HaMashiach may be entrusted with some practical or spiritual ministry: work of service. Remember what Yeshua said when reinstating Peter after His denial during the trial prior to Yeshua’s crucifixion:

So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?”

He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”

He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”

He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?”

He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”

He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”

He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?”

And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”

Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.” (John 21 15-17)

With the help of the Holy Spirit, Peter then fulfilled his ministry as an Apostle.

Yeshua also gives ministries to all whom He calls.

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-12)

The ministries given to those who are chosen to help others, through their appointed service to the body of believers, are not limited just to these. The list is extended by Paul in 1 Corinthians 12 to all manner of expressions of spiritual and practical abilities to help and build up God’s Kingdom through the lives of people whom He has called.

We learn from our Torah portion this week that what God commits to our stewardship is not for our personal ownership without Him. Both in practical and spiritual matters we are stewards of His Kingdom and His Creation in partnership with Him as we are called according to His purposes in Yeshua:

 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

Dr Clifford Denton

Founder and Director

Tishrei Bible School

www.tishrei.org

Emor (Say), Leviticus 21:1-24:23

Weekly Torah Studies for 2025/26 ( 5786).

On the road to Emmaus, Yeshua met with two of His disciples and, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:27). For our Torah studies this year, therefore, week by week we will seek to discover how all of Torah prepared the way for the coming Messiah.

2nd May 2026 (15 Iyyar)

Emor (say), Leviticus 21:1-24:23

The word that is central to all our studies is Torah. It is a Hebrew word, so is not much used in the Christian Church. Whenever many Christians consider God’s requirements for Israel, the word law is mostly substituted. Yet, the framework of God’s words to Israel is teaching. It is a teaching that brings definite requirements, but within the framework of willing obedience and desire to search out the pattern of life that pleases God. From the time of Adam, later brought into focus through the life of Enoch, then Noah and, in covenant terms, most importantly through Abraham, life is considered as a journey – a walk with God.

The Children of Israel (Hebrews) over the centuries since God first told Moses to speak to them concerning their way of life, have sought to put Torah at the foundation of their walk - halachah. In the Jewish world today, the constant question is what must I do? to obey the precepts of Torah. The search is for the Hebraic lifestyle that is lived to please God. There are many things to consider, especially when the intended walk with God can turn into dry ritual or legalism. Nevertheless, the pattern of reading Torah and living the biblical cycle of life has been honoured and offered to the world through the Jews, most importantly through the King of the Jews, Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ).

When Gentiles began to be called to faith and were baptised in the Holy Spirit, the question was asked as to what was required of them. Beginning with consideration of whether circumcision was a requirement for believers among the Gentiles, the Apostles and leaders of the community of disciples in Jerusalem met together. This became known as the Council of Jerusalem and is described in Acts 15. There was a heated discussion. Yeshua’s brother James summarised the conclusion that was to be sent out in a letter to the emerging congregations of disciples around the world. The wording of it, in our translation to English, is:

The apostles, the elders, and the brethren,

To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia:

Greetings.

 Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, “You must be circumcised and keep the law”—to whom we gave no such commandment— it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.

Farewell.

A simple and mysterious letter, considering the great importance of the entire Torah to these Jewish leaders. Yet, in Acts Chapter 16, following the resolution to send out this letter, we read that many more Gentiles came to faith. We know too that millions have come to faith since then:

 And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily. (Acts 16:4-5)

Despite the great expansion of what came to be called the Christian Church, at times we must take stock and look back to those early days, beginning with Moses to the great fulfilment of the sacrificial ministry of Yeshua, and to the early days of the Apostles.

Many of those who were the first to join the community of faith were Gentiles who already sought to belong to the Jewish community. They were called Godfearers and were allowed to share to some extent in the community of the Jews with minimal requirements and basic privileges. These were known as the Noahide laws – those things that God required of Noah after the Flood (Genesis 9:1-17). These laws later were codified into the Talmud and would be well known at the time of the Apostles:

The traditional enumeration of the Noahide Laws, as recorded in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 56a-b) and other rabbinic texts:

1. Do not worship idols – Prohibiting idolatry and affirming belief in a single God.

2. Do not curse God – Respecting and honouring God in speech and thought.

3. Do not commit murder – Upholding the sanctity of human life.

4. Do not commit adultery or sexual immorality – Maintaining sexual ethics, including prohibitions against incest, adultery, and homosexual relations.

5. Do not steal – Respecting the property and rights of others.

6. Do not eat flesh torn from a living animal – Ensuring humane treatment of animals.

7. Establish courts of justice – Creating a legal system to enforce these laws and maintain social order.

There is a remarkable overlap with the four injunctions of Acts 15, which can also be reasoned back to what God required through Moses in Leviticus 17 and 18. There is a reasonable interpretation of what lies behind the letter of Acts 15: within the call to be a holy people, to warn new believers of the traps which satan might set up to take them away from the walk of faith, thus opening up a new and wonderful path of learning with the help of the Holy Spirit of God. This helped the early disciples, called Godfearers, who wanted to belong to this new reformed sect of the Jews and who already wanted to study Torah in Jewish communities. A clue to the existence of Godfearers as the first disciples of Yeshua comes from reference to the groups whom the Apostles taught (for example Acts 13:16, 26, 43):

Then Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen….” (Acts 13:16)

Along with the letter which was written by James and the other Apostles (Acts 15), we must also remember that the following was said:

Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath. (Acts 15:21)

The supposition is that though there is a new context for Torah, now to be read in the light of Yeshua the Messiah, it was assumed that the study of these foundational Scriptures of the Bible was open to both Jew and Gentile in the cities of the world. As in earlier days, so it would continue to be so.

Why should we reconsider this in our day? Torah – the teaching of God brought to us in the first five books of our Bible – is foundational to all else in the Bible and in our life of faith. The message of the Prophets is founded on Torah, calling the people of God back to Him, reminding them of their departure from Torah in anticipation of the future. The Writings similarly stand on Torah foundations. The New Covenant is the fulfilment through Yeshua of all that was prepared in the life of Israel, founded on God’s teaching. Every aspect of the life of faith and obedience emerges from a right application of Torah by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

In our portion this week are many matters to consider. Central to our studies is the weekly and yearly cycle of life defined by the Feasts of the Lord. Many Christians call these the “Jewish Feasts”  - but this is not how they are described in the Bible. When they were adapted into a Christian cycle, the Christianised version became out of step with the biblical cycle and hence seemed to be a pattern for a new religion.

If we were to return to the first century after the death and resurrection of Yeshua, we would find new disciples of the Lord being brought into the new Jewish body who celebrated Yeshua as Messiah. Their membership of this body, in accord with Romans 11, would be as full members, beyond the limits that were set for Godfearers fellowshipping with Jews in the Synagogue. It was quite natural, therefore, to celebrate Yeshua as the fulfilment of the Feasts of the Lord with Jewish disciples.

It is rightly understood that Yeshua is the fulfilment of:

The Sabbath: Yeshua is our Sabbath rest (Hebrews 4)

Pesach (Passover): was raised to its highest meaning by Yeshua’s sacrifice (Luke 22-23)

Unleavened Bread: fulfilled in the sinless life of Yeshua and also required of His disciples (1 Corinthians 5:6-8)

Firstfruits: pointed to the Resurrection of Yeshua and the opening of the way for those who believe in Him (1 Corinthians 15:20)

Shavuot (Weeks/Pentecost): precisely coinciding with the yearly celebration of the giving of Torah at Sinai, the Holy Spirit came to enable Yeshua’s disciples to live according to Torah (Acts 2, fulfilling the promise of Jeremiah 31:33)

The Feasts of the Lord were established by God and fulfilled precisely according to His calendar of dates, to bring a yearly reminder and celebration of what God has done for His people, beginning at the time of Moses, also incorporating a weekly seventh day Sabbath rest to be shared with our Creator. He also established this in preparation for the greatest fulfilment in Yeshua, taking His people yearly through the pattern of salvation defined by the Feasts.

Later the Christian Church redefined these Feasts and added new traditions to them so that they are not now either in step or in clear focus. At times it is as if Christians, sometimes unwittingly, forget the warning of Paul in Romans 11:18, boasting against the branches of the Jews who have not realised that Yeshua is Messiah, and failing to fulfil the remit of Romans 11:11 concerning our ministry to the Jews:

 I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!

If God has ordained certain days on the biblical calendar to celebrate what He has done and is doing, it should not have been changed. To be in step with Him and to be united as believers from both Jewish and Gentiles as the One New Man in Yeshua (Ephesians 2), it is time to put matters right. Sunday worship is not at stake by restoring the day of Sabbath rest to the seventh day of the week, and it is a small adjustment (with big consequences) to realign with the dates and emphases of the Feasts of the Lord.

We must get back in step as we also contemplate together the fulfilment of the three last Feasts of the biblical year, all in the seventh month of Tishrei. As well as continuing to remember what God has done in the past at the celebration of these Feasts, we anticipate a deepening walk with God as He completes the plan of Salvation and Redemption:

Trumpets will herald the return of Yeshua (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

Yom Kippur will be brought to its highest fulfilment when Yeshua, our High Priest, returns to earth from the Holiest place of Heaven, proclaiming the acceptance of His shed blood as an atonement for the sins of all who wait for Him (Hebrews 9:1-12)

Sukkot (Tabernacles):  on His return, Yeshua will complete the meaning of all the Feasts when we, who are His disciples, live with Him forever (Revelation 21:1-8)

There will be false Christs and those who seek to change the times and the seasons (Matthew 24:4-5, Daniel 7:25) as the days get close to the return of Yeshua. Already many Jews, observing the way Christians have redefined the Feasts of the Lord, consider that false messiahs have been invented. This can be put right, and we should not let the opportunity afforded by our Torah reading this week pass by, without digging more deeply into this issue.

Dr Clifford Denton

Founder and Director

Tishrei Bible School

www.tishrei.org

Acharei Mot (after the death)/K’doshim (holy ones)

Weekly Torah Studies for 2025/26 ( 5786).

On the road to Emmaus, Yeshua met with two of His disciples and, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:27). For our Torah studies this year, therefore, week by week we will seek to discover how all of Torah prepared the way for the coming Messiah.

25th April 2026 (8 Iyyar)

Acharei Mot (after the death), Leviticus 16:1-18:30, K’doshim (holy ones), Leviticus 19:1-20:27

These can be difficult chapters to read. The Bible does not draw a line on exposing the nature of the sins of mankind. After an entire year since the previous Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) what would go through the minds of many of the Children of Israel as they, yet again,  watched the Scapegoat wandering away into the wilderness?

The majestic animal was bearing the sins of those who watched. At the same time, a second goat was slaughtered for the same sins, before the High Priest entered the Holiest Place to stand before Almighty God on behalf of the people.

Though there were daily sacrifices, including those for the remission of sin, on this most awesome day of the year there was no clearer reminder that the sins which separate man from God are also a matter of life and death. Anyone desiring to be cleansed of sin would surely have trembled before God on this most holy of days.

Yom Kippur is still the most solemn day of the year in the Jewish calendar, preceded by ten days of introspection and repentance, called Yamim Noraim or Days of Awe.

To simply read the first chapter of our Torah portion this week is enough to humble us, just as it is intended to do. It is unfortunate that because of the separation of the Christian Church from its biblically Hebraic roots, the practice of reading the weekly Torah portion and hence the yearly deep searching is missed by many Christians.

So too are the regular reflections on the commands of God to the Children of Israel concerning sin. Our readings this week cover deep sins indeed, with a whole chapter allocated to what in God’s eyes are wrong relationships between men and women and even between humans and animals. The uncleanness that is defined is repeated, as an extra emphasis, in the fourth of this week’s chapters. We should have in our minds, as we consider this, the purpose of Aaron’s intercessory ministry:

So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness. (Leviticus 16:16)

In reading these chapters we cannot doubt the gravity of transgressing the laws of God, which are put in even starker terms elsewhere in Scripture. Even our supposed good works are considered as falling far short of the perfection that God requires of us:

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. (Isaiah 64:6)

Again, the central theme of our study is holiness:

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. (Leviticus 19:1-2)

In this week’s chapters, most of God’s commandments through Moses concerned purity in relationships. The emphasis is on intimate relationships to be kept within marriage that is according to God’s order for mankind, relationships within family and also those in the wider community. One of the two commandments that Yeshua taught as being foundational to all else (Mark 12:30-31), is first stated here:

You shall love your neighbour as yourself. (Leviticus 19:18)

These are commandments concerning the way God’s community must live, with complete purity of relationships, dignity and honour in the family and in relationships with all people.

So much can be conveyed by a single principle of life, as we meditate on individual Scriptures. For example:

You shall rise before the grey headed and honour the presence of an old man, and fear your God: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:32)

If we do not study the Bible and apply its teaching to everyday life as for a growing number of people in a world that is falling away in large measure, we can now only imagine the wonderful order between the generations whose hearts are stirred by the respect that begins with such a principle and becomes magnified in many ways as a result. God still defines through the Scriptures the parameters within which His people must live in order to live under His blessings.

These are challenging Scriptures to read and could lead us to mourn for a lost generation, as well as to personal conviction. Yet, throughout the entire Bible, there is also a wonderful deeper undercurrent of truth.

The laws of God are not to bring us into bondage but into freedom within the boundaries that are set. James saw this when he wrote:

But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. (James 1:25)

The perfect law that brings freedom! We must look into this.

Our study this week begins with God’s injunction through Moses to Aaron, the High Priest:

Tell Aaron your brother not to come at just any time into the Holy Place inside the veil. (Leviticus 16:2)

Yet there is access into the presence of God!

Relationships with God are to be pure, and so our impurities bring limitations on our access to Him.

Yet, the deeper undercurrent of truth throughout the Bible is about love between God and His people. Within the bounds that define holiness, there is also a developing desire for relationship.

This is echoed time and again through the Scriptures from those who desire that relationship. For example:

As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?

My tears have been my food day and night,
While they continually say to me,
“Where is your God?”

When I remember these things,
I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go with the multitude;
I went with them to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and praise,
With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.

 Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him

For the help of His countenance. (Psalm 42)

The desire for relationship between God and His people comes from our side, and also from God’s side. He likened Himself to a husband to Israel:

When I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed your time was the time of love; so I spread My wing over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine,” says the Lord God. (Ezekiel 16:8)

For your Maker is your husband,
The Lord of hosts is His name;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel;
He is called the God of the whole earth. (Isaiah 54:5)

I will betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me
In righteousness and justice,
In lovingkindness and mercy;

I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness,
And you shall know the Lord. (Hosea 2:19-20)

It is the intention of God to draw His people to Himself as a wife to her husband. No wonder He makes it clear how serious it is to fall away into following false gods, and how careful we must be in our own personal relationships. Paul expressed this clearly in his letter to the Ephesians. He described the worldwide body of believers as the one new man, a united body of all who live by faith in Yeshua, both Jews and Gentiles (Ephesians 2). He goes on to show how the relationship of human beings in marriage is an earthly representation of our relationship with God:

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Saviour of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:22-32)

We would do well to read the entire Epistle to the Ephesians alongside our Torah portions this week.

We are to seek purity in our human relationships, so that we will be worthy to develop our close relationship with God through Yeshua. In his summary of his search for meaning in life, Solomon touched on this:

Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun…(Ecclesiastes 9:9)

Solomon also made the beauty of pure relationship between man and woman more explicit in his Song of Songs.

Nevertheless, even with this wondrous purpose of God for His people, we cannot escape the fact that a remedy to mankind’s fallen condition is needed in order for us to attain the high place of God’s relationship with us. Even the Patriarchs could not achieve it of their own strength. Jacob, for example, broke the marriage laws before they were even known, as later shown by Leviticus 18:18, by marrying both Leah and her sister Rachel.

All of this points to the immensity of Yeshua’s sacrifice. We must constantly remember that this was because of the Father’s love for us and our Saviour’s loving obedience to be the fulfilment of all the sacrifices that went before, including the scapegoat who took the sins of Israel to a faraway place:

 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. (John 15:13)

In closing, just think of this. Relationship between God and His people is likened to a marriage, but one that must be within the bounds of holiness. The High Priest of the Old Covenant could only go into the closest presence with God once each year. In the Tabernacle, and later in the Temple, there was a veil separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, through which only the High Priest could pass on Yom Kippur. When Yeshua gave His life as our Sacrifice on the Cross, it was reported by eye witnesses:

Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom….. (Matthew 27:50-51)

The way was opened by God as never before. Consider this in the purity of meditative prayer.

With the New Covenant comes a new perspective on the Heavenly Bridegroom. There is both continuity and renewal as Old Covenant matures into the New. Our Creator God is known as our Father, and His Son Yeshua, is both as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29), and as the Bridegroom betrothed to His Bride of the New Covenant. The New Testament contains much of this imagery and is completed in the Revelation of John:

 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.” (Revelation 19:7-9)

This is a completion of what began in the wilderness with Moses and is very much related to our Torah portions this week.

Dr Clifford Denton

Founder and Director

Tishrei Bible School

www.tishrei.org

Tazria (bears seed) Leviticus 12:1-13:59, Metzora (infected one) Leviticus 14:1-15:33

Weekly Torah Studies for 2025/26 ( 5786).

On the road to Emmaus, Yeshua met with two of His disciples and, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:27). For our Torah studies this year, therefore, week by week we will seek to discover how all of Torah prepared the way for the coming Messiah.

18th April 2026 (1 Iyyar)

Tazria (bears seed) Leviticus 12:1-13:59, Metzora (infected one) Leviticus 14:1-15:33

As we study this week’s Torah portions, let’s remember the place from which mankind is being redeemed:

Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:

“Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.” (Genesis 3:17)

He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:24)

If it were not for the Fall and the banishing of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, there would have been no need for a way back to God. But there is such a need.

God’s beginning the means of redemption of a covenant family, promised to Abraham, was through the Nation of Israel; it is a glorious and gracious thing. Yet the reality of the Fall must still be faced. Sickness and disease were still realistically a part of the lives of the Children of Israel, and to this day in the entire earth.

The description of the uncleanness that separated those afflicted from the presence of God, follows on from the requirement of holiness in our earlier study. There is no compromise. Israel was to learn from the consequence of physical uncleanness what it was like to be excluded from God’s presence in the Tabernacle. The wonderful invitation to fellowship with God in the beauty of His holiness and the grandeur of the Tabernacle is to be contrasted with the darkness of exclusion from His presence through seemingly incurable disease.

One of our portions deals with the identification of disease and consequent exclusion for the Children of Israel. The other portion brings a hint of the possibility of redemption:

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest. And the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall examine him; and indeed, if the leprosy is healed in the leper… (Leviticus 14:1-3)

Imagine the joy for the cleansed leper! One morning, a seemingly incurable disease, causing him to forever be outside the camp of Israel, seemed to be disappearing before his eyes. A message was sent to the Priests. He was inspected and found to be healed. Following the cleansing specified through Moses, he was fully restored to his family, his community and to God!

In the midst of the darkness that can so easily descend, whether through unresolved sin, or exclusion through physical uncleanness, a glimmer of the Gospel message began to glow.

The curse of Eden has fallen on the entire earth for all people and the reality of that curse, bringing separation from God, is experienced in every generation. But God, in His mercy, showed that there is hope. Israel became the prophetic people for that hope, as they lived before God as the chosen people.

Within Israel, that hope did not wane. Rabbinic sources draw from the Scriptures in looking for the time when God, through His Messiah, would bring healing to His people.

The Messiah Apocalypse of 100-80 BCE includes:

He frees the captives, makes the blind see, and makes the bent over stand straight…for he will heal the sick, revive the dead, and give good news to the humble and the poor he will satisfy, the abandoned he will lead, and the hungry he will make rich.

These expectations come from the biblical Prophets:

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Then the lame shall leap like a deer,
And the tongue of the dumb sing.
For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness,
And streams in the desert. (Isaiah 35:5-6)

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound. (Isaiah 61:1)

Signs were also given by miraculous healings of God at the hands of His Prophets. 32 miracles are recorded, for example, in Elisha’s ministry, including the cleansing of a leper. As such, Elisha’s ministry was a shadow of the coming Messiah.

When Yeshua walked the earth, healing of the sick was a significant part of His ministry. In our portion this week, we read of the circumstances that befell a woman who was constantly unclean because of  a flow of blood that would not cease. It is no chance coincidence that through faith such a woman was healed by Yeshua:

Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped. (Luke 8:43-44)

A marvellous thing happened, even more than the miraculous healing. In the Law of Moses, if an clean thing touches something that is unclean, it becomes unclean. That is why the unclean person must be excluded from the community – uncleanness multiplies.

Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Now, ask the priests concerning the law, saying, “If one carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and with the edge he touches bread or stew, wine or oil, or any food, will it become holy?” ’

Then the priests answered and said, “No.”

……. “If one who is unclean because of a dead body touches any of these, will it be unclean?”

So the priests answered and said, “It shall be unclean.” (Haggai 2:11-13)

God, in Yeshua, reversed this curse on the woman, making what was unclean, clean, without compromising His own holiness.  Only God can do this.

Likewise, Yeshua had the power to heal lepers:

Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. (Luke 17:10-14)

This was exactly according to the teaching of Moses as to how a cleansed leper should report to the Priests when God had healed him.

Yeshua showed His great compassion for the poor in bringing such healings, whilst also fulfilling His Messianic ministry. Twice, in Scripture it is described that He wept. He wept over Jerusalem, in sorrow for their missing the moment of their visitation and invitation to redemption:

Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it,  saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. (Luke 19:41-42)

Was this not God the Father, through Yeshua, weeping with compassion for His people?

When Yeshua’s close friend Lazarus died and after He was compelled to wait for two extra days before going to see him, now dead in his tomb. He was filled with compassion:

 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.  And He said, “Where have you laid him?”

They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”

Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!” (John 11:33-35)

The Son of Man, with the compassion of the Father, wept for His friend, and with the same compassion raised him from the dead.

Yet, these healings, impossible to ordinary men, were also signs of who Yeshua was. When John the Baptist sent messengers to check on whether Yeshua was indeed Messiah, Yeshua answered by reference to the messianic signs foreseen by the Prophets and found in some rabbinic writings, as above:

 And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”

When the men had come to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, ‘Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?’ ” And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight.

Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” (Luke 7:19-23)

God, through Moses, and through the Chosen People, the Nation of Israel, prepared the way for the coming of the Great Redeemer. A glimmer of the Gospel message came at the time of Moses, with the ritual for cleansing lepers who were healed. But the full curse from Eden lived with mankind until Yeshua came, the One who now sits on the Throne of His Kingdom, through whom the door was opened to eternal life for all who will believe.

Eternity is shown us in vision through the Revelation given to John. He was shown the New Heaven and the New Earth:

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”

And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. (Revelation 21:1-6)

If a leper who was healed at the time of Moses could find new joy, how much more those who enter the Heavenly Kingdom, completely healed, forever.

Dr Clifford Denton

Founder and Director

Tishrei Bible School

www.tishrei.org

Shemini (Eighth) Leviticus 9:1-11:47

Weekly Torah Studies for 2025/26 ( 5786).

On the road to Emmaus, Yeshua met with two of His disciples and, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:27). For our Torah studies this year, therefore, week by week we will seek to discover how all of Torah prepared the way for the coming Messiah.

11th April 2026 (24 Nisan) 

Shemini (Eighth) Leviticus 9:1-11:47

By those who come near Me
I must be regarded as holy;
And before all the people
I must be glorified.

This is the prominent verse in this week’s Torah portion. It is necessary to understand what God required of Aaron, his sons and all the people of God, in those days - and for us today.

There are a number of translations of this verse. The above is from the New King James Version. The Complete Jewish Bible renders the verse as:

Through those who are near me I will be consecrated,
and before all the people I will be glorified.

The Stone Tanach translation is:

I will be sanctified through those who are nearest to Me, 

thus I will be honoured by the entire people.

The Hebrew Masoretic text is:

בִּקְרֹבַ֣י אֶקָּדֵ֔שׁ וְעַל־פְּנֵ֥י כָל־הָעָם אֶכָּבֵד 

Biq'rovay ekädësh v’al-P'nëy khäl-hääm ekävëd

The key verbs (underlined) are ekadesh and ekaved. They are both in the Hebrew niphal tense, which is a passive tense. This does not mean that God is passive. Indeed, He is very active towards His people in judgement and mercy – His treatment of Aaron’s sons shows this. It is also the case at every era of history. It is simply that the verb forms in this particular passage are passive, for the purpose we shall consider. 

The Hebrew roots of these verbs are kadosh, usually translated holy, and kavod, usually translated glory. Let’s study this verse in detail, to ensure that we know just what God requires. 

The passive tense implies that God requires His people to actively make Him known as being holy and glorious.

Being holy is being pure, clean, sanctified, consecrated, set apart – all these things.

Being glorified is to be full of splendour, honour and majesty, to be divine - the awesome presence of the most holy God. 

Our Bible translations cannot fully convey all that this is. Even those whose original language was Hebrew, also needed to live in the full reality of the meaning of what is said in that language. Words can become shallow by constant use, and fall short of their deeper meaning, in any language.

God must be known in the entire earth by His character of holiness and glory, through the witness of His people, considered as such and approached as such. It is our responsibility that this is so. This is why the verbs are in a passive tense in this verse – it is His people who are to be active in making His holiness and glory known – to themselves and to the world. If we do not honour Him in that way, His wonderful character may remain hidden from the world in our generation, even though the knowledge of His glory and honour willone day come to earth, as it is prophesied:

For the earth will be filled
With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
As the waters cover the sea. (Habakkuk 2:14)

What does that mean to us in fulfilling His command in our daily life? Certainly, when we approach God in prayer, offering, praise or worship, we need to have within us a living understanding of whom He really is. We are required to be respectful and not slovenly in approaching Him. We must make it known through word and action who our Mighty God is to us in our lives and, as a consequence, it will be made known to others.

The description of Aaron’s preparation as High Priest in separating him for service, adorning him with his garments of office and responsibility and presenting the awesome sacrifices that were made, teaches us much about this. The way his two sons lost their lives for transgressing the prescribed and ordered way of approaching God, confirm that God meant what He said.

Then we have the list of foods that are clean and unclean for the people of God. We all eat daily. What we eat can separate us from others, an aspect of holiness. God gave the exercise of choosing daily only that which is clean as part of what being holy is, in fulfilment of the command:

I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. (Leviticus 11:45)

The Feast of Pesach has just passed. Those with insight will have remembered all that God did for Israel when they came out of Egypt, and also the greater fulfilment of His Covenant with Abraham through the sacrifice of Yeshua. This week, there has been much meditation on holiness – we call it Holy week. Yet, do we remember our holy calling continually throughout the year?

If Yeshua’s sacrifice had not been completely pure, sanctified and holy, it would not have been accepted on our behalf any more than the offerings of Nadab and Abihu. Yeshua opened the way, by His sacrifice, for all who will come by faith to enter the presence of God. As Paul the Apostle wrote, about this amazing privilege:

You did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. (Romans 8:15-16)

Let us not, however, treat this great privilege of personally coming into God our Father’s presence with any less dignity, glory and honour than when Moses inaugurated the priesthood through Aaron. It is the Holy Spirit whom the Father sent to His people. 

The same command applies to us today as it did for Aaron and his sons. Let us read it again in the light of our call as New Covenant believers:

By those who come near Me
I must be regarded as holy;
And before all the people
I must be glorified.

Let us realise that in our lives, our actions and our speech as well as our worship, we must actively proclaim the holiness and glory of God. Peter made this clear in his letter:

 You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10)

Has God sent us a warning exactly parallel to the one He sent when the lives of Nadab and Abihu were taken? The Priesthood of the Old Covenant was inaugurated through Aaron. The royal priesthood, described by Peter was inaugurated in the community of Jerusalem soon after Yeshua’s sacrifice and ascension as High Priest into the Kingdom of Heaven. Offerings were brought to the Apostles of Yeshua, prominent among whom was Peter. A blemished offering was brought by Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-13). They thought that they would not be found out when they pretended to bring the whole offering from the sale of their land, but kept some of it back for themselves. But God knows our heart and, as a consequence, they both died just like Nadab and Abihu.

However, we are not to live in fear, but in the confident expectation of  a close walk with the Living God, whom we can now know as Father, because of Yeshua. Yet our hearts are to be pure towards Him and our witness of Him be worthy of the honour He, and our Saviour, is due. The One True God, dwells in the completely pure realm of Heaven. If we saw Him, we too would respond like Isaiah. The angels he saw cried out:

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!

Isaiah’s response was:

Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King,
The Lord of hosts. (Isaiah 6:1-5)

These are eternal truths. Again, it was Peter the Apostle who walked with Yeshua, saw His transfiguration on the mountain, His crucifixion on the cross and His ascension into Heaven, who reminds us that nothing has changed concerning our call to honour God in holiness, and live lives worthy of His holy calling:

Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy”. (1 Peter 1:13-16)

Aaron was taught a very important lesson that became a lesson for us all. He had seen God take the lives of his sons for trying to come near Him in an unholy manner. Our lesson, like his, is that we are witnesses to the world of God’s holiness and approach Him in the only way that pleases Him. There is no other way to be in God’s presence than that which God has ordained. Once the only way to the presence of God was through the Levitical Priesthood, in the manner prescribed. However, the Tabernacle and Temple are now replaced by a new and living way – the abiding place (John 15) is now the Lord Himself. In fulfilling all the types and shadows of the High Priest, Yeshua made the way known, clearly and wonderfully, but without compromise. He told His disciples what they have passed on to us. Yeshua said of Himself:

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6)

This, now, is the way of holiness, which we are invited to take by faith, into the very presence of the Father.

Dr Clifford Denton

Founder and Director

Tishrei Bible School 

www.tishrei.org

Shabbat Chol HaMoed Pesach (Shabbat during the intermediate days of Passover) Exodus 33:12-34:26

Weekly Torah Studies for 2025/26 ( 5786).

On the road to Emmaus, Yeshua met with two of His disciples and, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:27). For our Torah studies this year, therefore, week by week we will seek to discover how all of Torah prepared the way for the coming Messiah.

4th April 2026 (17 Nisan)

Shabbat Chol HaMoed Pesach (Shabbat during the intermediate days of Passover) Exodus 33:12-34:26

For those reading this on the first Sabbath after Pesach (Passover), the moon is beginning to wane, but is still almost full and still bright, lighting up the sky on a beautiful spring evening. We must keep in mind all that God’s people celebrated over the last few days, especially the evening of Pesach when, as a families, each gathered around the table to review the history of their people when they first came out of Egypt.

A few days ago the moon was full and we could stop and think that this was the very same moon that shone on the very same date over the Land of Egypt, bringing light to the path of all Israel in their great multitude, beginning on their pilgrim journey to the Promised Land.

God declared that Nisan was the first of the months of the year, and how appropriate that is. In the Land of Israel and in other nations of the northern hemisphere, Spring is waking up. The birds are singing and making preparations for their nests in the trees to build their new family. The buds are breaking and the warming sun brings forth beautiful new leaves, followed by a wonderous assortment of colourful blossoms, each with their special aroma. It is the season of new life from the comparative death of winter. Each year the cycle is renewed to help us with the memory of what God has done to deliver us from death to life, be it in comparison with the darkness of the Angel of Death moving across all Egypt, or every aspect of new life that is our present experience from here to eternity, through faith and obedience to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Year by year from when Israel settled in their Promised Land, as the moon approached its fulness on the days leading up to 14 Nisan, here and there throughout the Land, a stirring began as the homes prepared for Pesach. Those who should, were moved to begin their pilgrim walk to Jerusalem in accordance with God’s commandment that three times each year, the men were to appear before Him (Exodus 34:23). Often, this became a family pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem. The families from the towns and villages, growing into a moving crowd, were like streams of water, merged into one great company. Fathers would tell their children of earlier days, perhaps when they made their first journey with their own father. They might compare their own pilgrim journey with that of Israel in the wilderness, camped around the Tabernacle or journeying to the next encampment. They might sing the songs of Zion as they enjoyed the beauty of an early Spring day together when, as on any Sabbath, work had ceased so that the glory of Creation could be experienced and the expectation of being in God’s presence increased.

God’s people are a pilgrim people, but let’s consider what this word pilgrim should not mean to us, especially in our day. Theirs was not a journey to Canterbury or Rome, or to the site of some shrine or relic of the past. However much God may have been present among His people in a special way for a certain point in history, we must not idolise the past. There are many places which are considered to be places for pilgrimage today, perhaps a place where a revered saint lived or where a movement began as in the days of the Celts in Britain, as also in the wonderful revivals of bygone days. The world is full of religious relics to the past. Yet, even if we were to visit a most sacred memorial to Pesach, the place where Yeshua was laid after His crucifixion, we might find a voice speaking to us as when an angel spoke to the disciples who found only an empty tomb: Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!  (Luke 24:5-6)).

If our walk with God becomes locked into ritual and dry religion, where we try to extract something from a past that was once relevant but now obscures our vision of today’s new life, we must learn again: to remember but in the right way. Remembrance brings an encouragement, in thankfulness for the journey thus far, but for faith for today and into the future.

The pilgrim walk that includes Pesach is ordained by God, but not to try to revive something of the past, but to meet with Him today. Pesach is a time of experience with our living God. With the wonderful ordained feast of Pesach in mind we must establish a balance of looking back, living in the present and anticipating the future.

Moses and the Children of Isreal paused at Sinai on their pilgrim journey to prepare for their future and the future of their descendants. Our portion this week reminds us of the preparations for that future, with the renewal of the Covenant, the Commandments written in new stones, and with instructions for the weekly and yearly days of work punctuated by the weekly Sabbath and the Feasts. At Pesach, we are to remember the deliverance from Egypt but also remember that we are never to go back into such a worldly system, but walk on with God to a newer and more perfect future. Our meeting with God at each Pesach is a renewal of fellowship, a reminder of our great privilege and a new beginning of life for another year, like the flowers breaking forth on a new Spring morning.

In hindsight, we can review not only the pilgrim journey from Egypt but also the years of pilgrimage since. The need for a new and living way into the presence of our Heavenly Father was to be learned through experience. Hundreds of years were allowed by God before the coming of His Son, Yeshua, into the world to bring a greater sacrifice. Those locked too much in tradition missed what God was doing on that special Pesach when Yeshua, after three and a half years of public ministry, being the very presence of God on earth in human form, demonstrated this through Word and Power, walking among His people. Then He came to Jerusalem and presented Himself at the Temple among the gathered pilgrims and could be examined for purity for a few days like any sacrificial lamb at Passover (Matthew 23-27, Mark 11-15, Luke 19-23, John 12-17)

He became that sacrificial Lamb on the Cross at Calvary speaking at the Passover meal on the evening before His sacrificial death, of His fulfilment of Isaiah 53 (Luke 22:37). To suffer such a painful, undignified death is not the mark of anyone boasting. It is the testimony of our sacrificial Saviour bringing new life to the Passover Feast: what was becoming dry was to become full of new life, a life that could begin in Jerusalem and be sent to the outermost part of the world.

After 2000 years, we should have left behind anything that is simply dry ritual and also resist the invention of new substitutes for our pilgrim journey. All of God’s people, the natural branches of Israel and the ingrafted branches from those called to faith from the Gentile world (Romans 11) should by now, be celebrating Pesach in the fulness of meaning. It is a remembrance of all that God has done from Moses to Mashiach, from Egypt to the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29).

If our pilgrimage takes us to the place of idolatry or if our traditions are losing the life they once had, it is time to confess it and let this year’s Passover remembrance be a renewal of the true reason God ordained the Feast – that we might come to Him and enjoy His Living Fatherhood. If our Passover is limited to the traditions that have kept us well in the past, we must look upward and onward more fully.

Pesach is a time of remembrance for all who are in the family of God – a time to experience afresh a meeting with the Living God. It is a Feast of remembrance of light out of darkness with anticipation for the future. It is time for all true disciples of Yeshua and children of the Living God, the One New Man, described by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesians (Chapter 2) to remember together and in harmony of expectation. On the day ordained by God for Pesach (Passover), 14 Nisan, let us plan in future to meet in in thankful remembrance and also in anticipation for the return of the Living Messiah, wherever we are living in the world.

As we eat and drink in remembrance of Him, we must remember that through His death we have life. In remembering His death, we thank Him for this life:

Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire—its head with its legs and its entrails. You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.(Exodus 12:1-11)

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”

Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. (Matthew 26:26-28)

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. (1 Corinthians 3:23-26)

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּ וְהִגִּיעָנוּ לַזְּמַן הַזֶּה

Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech haolam, shehecheyanu v’kiy’manu v’higiyanu laz’man hazeh

Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this season.

Shabbat shalom!

Dr Clifford Denton

Founder and Director

Tishrei Bible School

www.tishrei.org

Tzav (Command) Leviticus 6:8:1-8:36

Weekly Torah Studies for 2025/26 ( 5786).

On the road to Emmaus, Yeshua met with two of His disciples and, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:27). For our Torah studies this year, therefore, week by week we will seek to discover how all of Torah prepared the way for the coming Messiah.

28th March 2026 (10 Nisan)

Tzav (Command) Leviticus 6:8:1-8:36

A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out. (Leviticus 6:13). This is God’s requirement of His people on earth. It was a physical reality in Aaron’s day and bears implications for all God’s people forever.

The Tabernacle and its ordinances were a representation of a heavenly reality, as was made clear by the writer to the Hebrews. The priests made their offerings on the altar,

the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”(Hebrews 8:5)

God’s chosen people were to live out on earth the ministry that is in Heaven. In God’s heart, despite the Fall, is the ongoing and continuous desire that His people will live in harmony with Him. This is the deep meaning of the ministry for which Aaron and his sons were prepared.

We read in our portion this week how the appointed Priests were prepared for this service exactly according to the pattern given to Moses, in obedience, order, dignity and honour.

It was at a cost. The lives of beautiful, healthy animals were sacrificed, and they were offered to God at the altar, so that the priestly ministry would be acceptable to God and that the priests could come into His presence on behalf of the people.

An era was to begin whereby there would be a continuous burning fire on the altar of sacrifice, just as there is a continuous ministry before God in Heaven on our behalf. It was necessary for God’s people to bring to earth the ministry of Heaven. There can be nothing more important for us than to be constantly in fellowship with our Creator God, for blessing on earth as well as preparation for the Heavenly reality when we leave this earth.

There is an image that is a forerunner of this, when Moses stood on a mountain with his arms raised as Joshua led Israel in battle with the Amalekites (Exodus 17:8-16). Aaron and Hur were with him and they experienced how when Moses’ arms were raised there was victory for Joshua, but when they dropped, Amalek prevailed. Perhaps Aaron would remember this when, in later days, he was to keep the fire of God burning continually, as well as the lamps shining in the Holy place.

We must interpret all these outward symbols as a matter of the heart: our prayers are continually and forever to be alive towards God – intercessory prayer for forgiveness as well as prayers that God will bring blessing to our lives, the lives of our family and all the community of His people.

The fact that the fire on the altar should always be burning is recalled throughout the history of the Children of Israel. It was not easy to maintain this. The Babylonian captivity, for example, brought an end to sacrifice and offering for 70 years, following the destruction of the Temple. This came about when fellowship with God had declined, coincident with the time when sacrifice and offering fell from the height of meaning made known at the time of Aaron’s inauguration. Even when Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah were to bring restoration to the Temple and its ordinances after the long captivity, prophets such as Malachi were still needed to remind the people of the importance of unblemished sacrifice and offering.

Prior to the Assyrian invasion of Israel and the later Babylonian captivity of Judah, warnings were given constantly by prominent prophets, including Isaiah and Jeremiah. Israel’s responsibility was not simply in the ordinances of the Tabernacle and Temple, but they were to be manifest in all aspects of justice and mercy of the Torah. The purity of sacrifice and offering and consequent intercessory prayer was to coincide with the righteousness of the nation. The light towards  God was to be simultaneous with the light in the community and, as a consequence, to the world. But when one aspect decayed, the rest did also, even to the worship of false gods of the nations replacing pure undivided worship of the One True God.

Amos was among those who spoke clearly about this in his earnest plea to Israel (Amos 5):

Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!
For what good is the day of the Lord to you?
It will be darkness, and not light.

It will be as though a man fled from a lion,
And a bear met him!
Or as though he went into the house,
Leaned his hand on the wall,
And a serpent bit him!
Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light?
Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?

I hate, I despise your feast days,
And I do not savour your sacred assemblies.
Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them,
Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.
Take away from Me the noise of your songs,
For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.
But let justice run down like water,
And righteousness like a mighty stream.

Did you offer Me sacrifices and offerings
In the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
You also carried Sikkuth your king
And Chiun, your idols,
The star of your gods,
Which you made for yourselves.
Therefore I will send you into captivity beyond Damascus,”
Says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts. (Amos 5:18-27)

When the fire did not burn continually on the altar according to God’s intent, it signalled the heart issue of God’s people, where the flame of God’s Spirit should always burn.

Mankind may fail, but God’s purposes prevail. His Heavenly fire and zeal has not dimmed. Thus, embedded in the prophetic Scriptures is always a word of hope and ultimate purpose of God. He covenanted with Abraham to draw from all nations a family to fulfil those purposes. History shows, sadly, that what gloriously began in the wilderness at the time of Moses and Aaron did not fully succeed, but that a greater and living sacrifice would fulfil the same purpose – the eternal fire will not go out and will find its representation on earth in God’s people in an even better way.

Strive though we may, to reinstate the Temple and its sacrifices such as at the time of Zerubbabel, we will always fail, by this means alone, to reach the perfection that God requires. God teaches this through the outworking of history, measured against His Torah, and through the message of the Prophets.

Isaiah, therefore, speaks clearly of the coming Sacrifice that would restore God’s people fully, through faith. It was at an infinitely greater cost than the old covenant sacrifice of beautiful animals on the altar:

Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground …..

Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.

But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed……

He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth…..

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
He shall see the labour of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53)

The Prophets foresaw the sacrifice of Yeshua on the Cross. He is both the sacrifice and the High Priest that was modelled first in the ministry of Aaron, but which was not sustainable, as later history shows.

Isaiah was able to burst forth through the wonderful Scriptures that end his prophecies, based on the expectation of the coming Messiah. He was able to speak of a light that cannot be dimmed and that would break forth among both a remnant of the Children of Israel and also the Gentiles who are redeemed by faith in the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua HaMashiach:

Arise, shine;
For your light has come!
And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;
But the Lord will arise over you,
And His glory will be seen upon you.
The Gentiles shall come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising.

Lift up your eyes all around, and see:
They all gather together, they come to you;
Your sons shall come from afar,
And your daughters shall be nursed at your side.
Then you shall see and become radiant,
And your heart shall swell with joy…. (Isaiah 60:1-5)

We began by considering the fire that should always be burning on the altar before God, representing a reality that is forever in Heaven. Yeshua also spoke of that light.

He spoke of the constancy of prayer that emanates from the Light of the Holy Spirit within His disciples, whilst our High Priest, Yeshua HaMashiach, ministers continually on our behalf.

He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)

He calls us into a new priesthood:

You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light. (1 Peter 2:9)

We have a responsibility which is the fulfilment of that given to the Aaronic priesthood:

Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:19-25)

This is because of the New Covenant prophesied by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31).

In so doing, we fulfil what Aaron was commanded concerning the fire always burning on the altar. Yeshua’s sacrifice is forever before God as the fire on the heavenly altar. We, in Him, are the light that must not go out on this earth:

You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)

Dr Clifford Denton

Founder and Director

Tishrei Bible School

www.tishrei.org

Vayikra (He called) Leviticus 1:1-6:7

Weekly Torah Studies for 2025/26 ( 5786).

On the road to Emmaus, Yeshua met with two of His disciples and, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:27). For our Torah studies this year, therefore, week by week we will seek to discover how all of Torah prepared the way for the coming Messiah.

21st March 2026 (3 Nisan)

Vayikra (He called) Leviticus 1:1-6:7

There is a key word in this first portion of Leviticus, which opens the door to the needs of all mankind, and on which the purpose of all that follows depends. Indeed, one might say that it is a defining word for the history of redemption of all God’s people. The word is in the second sentence. It is also the first word of the second and third chapters. The word is, when. The key word is when not if.

The purpose of the Tabernacle is that the Priests, as representatives of the community of Israel, could enter the presence of God. The privilege is awesome, and is far from light or casual. From this time forward, it is clear to all Israel that it is a privilege, both necessary and costly, to come before the most Holy God.

Our passage reveals in clear detail that a need is to be met in coming to God. The when of verse two implies that the sacrifices and offerings will be needed. There will be times when the Children of Israel sin. They will sin, and when they come to realise that they have sinned, they will need a way back to God. Sin is transgression of the law of God – failing to do all that is required. At these times of need, the required sacrifice is described in our portion, whereby the sins may be covered.

These are chapters that we may prefer not to read, let alone do what is stipulated. The best of the herd or flock is methodically killed and cut up, its flesh burned and its blood scattered – it is a life given for the life of the one who sinned. Into Israel’s consciousness was placed the heartfelt need of a life to be given, that the sinner’s life could be spared. Sins against God are to be understood by comparison with the required sacrifice.

This is not how we conduct our human affairs outside knowledge of the Lord, when we do not understand the seriousness of breaking His laws. As an illustration, picture a child who has disobeyed its parents. At best, a child goes to its father or mother and says sorry, gains pity, receives forgiveness and the matter is over - a simple transaction of love, but at no great cost or depth of understanding. Picture the confessionary of some churches. A person relates what he considers to be wrong since the last visit, and obtains absolution with a brief penance of chanting some prayers. In both these cases, and a multitude of others, the knowledge of how deep sin can be is not present and a person may well sin again in the same way. Not so with our most Holy Father in Heaven. He certainly abounds in love for us but it is not superficial love. He requires us to be holy as He is holy, so that any unholy deed must be known for what it is – sin is a matter of life and death. Ultimately, it is eternal life that is in view through the lessons of temporal life. There can be no compromise.

Our need goes right back to the beginning of Creation, to the first time that mankind sinned. There was no use in Adam blaming Eve and Eve blaming the serpent: the nature of mankind was revealed and the first man and woman were cast out of God’s presence.

Until the time of Israel in the wilderness at Sinai, no remedy was available for the people of a nation to take the first steps towards redemption from the curse of the Fall. At no time before this had God established a means by which men and women could return to the fellowship lost in the Garden of Eden.

The awesomeness of the Covenant was made known to Abraham when animals were cut in two, a burning torch passing between the carcasses and deep darkness descending (Genesis 15). Surely Abraham knew the depth into which he was being drawn at the making of the Covenant. It took place only 3-400 years since the Great Flood at the time of Noah – God’s remedy for sin before the covenant with Abraham. 400 years is also roughly the time that Israel was in slavery in Egypt, where they experienced first-hand what it was like to live among a people bowing down to false gods. God’s teaching came step by step through history.

It is good to have all this in mind as we consider the necessary sacrifices and offerings that were to be at the centre of Israel’s pattern of life from then on, and for hundreds of years following.

Gruesome though this is, it presents us with a picture of mankind’s ongoing need. We also learn from the later history of Israel, that mankind’s need was helped but not cured by even this.

The practices of substitutionary sacrifice could so easily turn into religious ritual, so that the cry of the prophet Samuel could come as is if bringing fresh revelation (1 Samuel 15:22):

Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.

The thought that God had said through Moses, when not if you bring an offering, reminds us that we do not easily fully obey the ways of God. However, obedience is the issue, and if the prime focus shifts to the atoning sacrifices, then dry religion has taken over from the intended walk with God.

That same dry religion could also become slovenly as it did at the time of Malachi, when  a blemished animal was presented to God, as if God could be fooled.  The result was God’s distancing Himself from His people and the multiplication both of sin and difficulty for them:

For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down,
My name shall be great among the Gentiles;
In every place incense shall be offered to My name,
And a pure offering;
For My name shall be great among the nations,
Says the Lord of hosts.

But you profane it,
In that you say,
‘The table of the Lord is defiled;
And its fruit, its food, is contemptible.’

You also say,
‘Oh, what a weariness!’
And you sneer at it,
Says the Lord of hosts.
And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick;
Thus you bring an offering!
Should I accept this from your hand?
Says the Lord.
But cursed be the deceiver
Who has in his flock a male,
And takes a vow,
But sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished—
For I am a great King,
Says the Lord of hosts,

And My name is to be feared among the nations. (Malachi 1:11-14)

Our portion this week is the beginning of God’s making a way for mankind to be redeemed from the Fall at Eden. God can neither compromise nor will compromise.

Psalm 51 speaks to us across the years since David sinned greatly in both adultery and murder, and yet had a heart after God’s own heart. Sin is a matter of the heart. The Psalm is the cry of a repentant heart that knows that the religious acts of the Tabernacle sacrifices are for a purpose, but that the need goes even deeper:

Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
The God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise. (Psalm 51:14-17)

David also wrote Psalm 19, where, in his desire to walk with God, looked out into the Creation to learn of Him. Then, whilst also meditating on God’s wonderful Torah, the fulness of his need of God reached down into his innermost need:

Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse me from secret faults.
Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;
Let them not have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
And I shall be innocent of great transgression.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:12-14)

Our Torah Portion this week helps us to understand the fulness of God’s intent in establishing the sacrificial system at Sinai. By reading further into our Bibles, we must admit that of itself it was not sufficient to meet the needs of fallen mankind to permanently return to fellowship with their Creator God.

The way was prepared for the greater sacrifice of which the sacrifices of the Tabernacle were a shadow.

The full balance of God’s love, holiness, righteous requirements and atoning sacrifice were embodied in the sacrifice of the Son of Man, Yeshua the Messiah.

The authors of the New Covenant writings dig deeply into their understanding of Yeshua’s sacrifice for us and the way that it was made permanent where daily sacrifices failed. The blood of animals was not sufficient for the needs of mankind. Following Yeshua’s atoning sacrifice, God sent His Holy Spirit to bring the change of character that these sacrifices could not bring. With the clear understanding that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), the Apostle Paul wrote clearly and analytically to bring understanding of the truth, especially in the masterpiece of his Letter to the Romans.

The Writer to the Hebrews, likewise, considers the greatness of the New Covenant in the shed blood of Yeshua, to which the animal sacrifices pointed, exhorting us all to come to the Father through Him by faith:

 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)

In a short while, we will come to the season of Pesach (Passover). Our portion this week, if considered in isolation, will be incomplete, awe-inspiring that it is, nevertheless. It was a simply a profound beginning of God’s providing a way back to Him for fallen mankind. Let us, therefore, also begin to search the Scriptures more meaningfully, to discover the fulfilment of His purpose, where, through His own Son, we might go beyond temporary forgiveness to a transformed character in preparation for eternal life with Him.

Dr Clifford Denton

Founder and Director

Tishrei Bible School

www.tishrei.org

Vayakhel (And assembled) Exodus 35:1-38:20/Pekudei (Accountings of) Exodus 38:21-40:38

Weekly Torah Studies for 2025/26 ( 5786).

On the road to Emmaus, Yeshua met with two of His disciples and, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:27). For our Torah studies this year, therefore, week by week we will seek to discover how all of Torah prepared the way for the coming Messiah.

14th March 2026 (25 Adar)

Vayakhel (And assembled) Exodus 35:1-38:20/Pekudei (Accountings of) Exodus 38:21-40:38

This week, our Bible study takes us to the end of Exodus. It is a wonderful passage to read. Much had happened since the crossing of the Red Sea, and now the Tabernacle is constructed, the Priestly ministry is about to begin and, most glorious of all, the presence of Almighty God came to fill the Tabernacle, which the artisans had made.

When the people of Israel look back over their history, and consider the best of times, this was it. A pilgrim people were about to walk with God across a wilderness to the Promised Land. Viewed retrospectively, life was far simpler then, than at any other time since, with complete dependence on God for daily food, protection and instruction.

Considering the rebellion that had recently occurred, what happened to bring order back to the nation and peace with God was equivalent to what we call revival in the Churches today –  repentance, a new beginning and renewed purpose.

The call went out for everyone to bring articles of gold, silver, bronze, precious stones, animal skins, wood, the best of fabrics, coloured thread, oil and precious perfumes. Each one who was willing was moved to bring their contribution for the building of the Tabernacle, and all who were skilled gathered together to offer their talents. One can imagine, from among the hundreds of thousands of people, a groundswell of movement. From here and there among the crowds of people, one or another stirring, and each converging meaningfully towards the centre of the camp, as each brought what they had committed to Moses, for the use of Bezalel and Aholiab and other gifted artisans. Surely this was a movement of the Spirit of God, bringing response to repentant hearts. Among the simplest of gifts, which illustrate this truth, were the bronze mirrors  from serving women, for the construction of the laver (Exodus 38:8). The washing vessel for the Priests was made from the mirrors which women had previously used to contemplate their outward appearance: focus on outer beauty was symbolically submitted to the means of inner cleansing and beauty - the result of the priestly ministry.

Let us pause and consider the potential of what was coming into being, for the ordering of the covenant people of God. The Tabernacle with all its beauty and purpose was constructed in the view of all the people. The Priestly garments were prepared in all their grandeur. The cloud of the Presence of God descended on the Tabernacle. From this time on, the daily experience of the Children of Israel was for God to be in their presence.

We read about the number of men over 20 years old in the community at that time– 603,550 (Exodus 30:14, 38:26). This gives an idea of the size of the camp that was set out in an ordered way with the Tabernacle at the centre. There must have been tens of thousands of tents for each of the Tribes. They were set out as ordered groups of tents, to the north, south, east and west. Around the Tabernacle, whenever the camp was set up, an immense community was established, in splendid array – in size, the equivalent of a city in our day – something that artists have sought to convey over the years: but it is hardly ever attained to convey the full magnificence of the scene that was the nation of Israel with God in their midst in those wilderness years.

Do we gain all that we can from this description of Israel at Sinai? We should meditate much on it, because it is a teaching related to who we are as the covenant people of God in our own day. The word shadow is used to describe what went before in contrast to the greater fulfilment of the New Covenant (Colossians 2, Hebrews 9, 10). Bear in mind that even though the word shadow is used, the imagery of the Old Covenant is not trivialised as if now meaningless. It was not only a shadow, but a model and teaching for what was to come in the New Covenant community. If we see magnificence in what Moses was shown on the mountain and what was made manifest through the wisdom of the artisans, we must expect an even greater and more glorious fulfilment through the ministry of Messiah in the covenant community today and into the future.

Ultimately, we can compare the camp of Israel in ordered array around the Tabernace of God’s presence in the wilderness, with the scene in Heaven which John saw:

 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”

Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying:

“Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God Almighty,
Who was and is and is to come!” (Revelation 4:1-8)

This is a vision of the heavenly reality to come that was represented on earth in the form of the Tabernacle, and also with direct relevance to today and into the eternal future.

Just as the Tribes of Israel surrounded the Tabernacle in the wilderness, so there will be an ordered community of 12,000 from each Tribe (Revelation 7:4-8) around the Throne in Heaven (a symbolic number denoting the redeemed community of Israel gathered for eternal life). These will be joined by multitudes from every other tribe of the earth, the final great fulfilment of Romans 11:

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:9-10)

After Israel settled in the Promised Land, Solomon’s glorious Temple replaced the Tabernacle, with a continued manifestation of God’s presence as in the wilderness (2 Chronicles 7:1-3). Later came the rebuilt Temple at the time of Zerubbabel, and later still the ornate Temple of Herod.

Then came Yeshua HaMashiach!

He spoke of the replacement of the physical Temple with His living body. At the time, He spoke provocatively to the religious leaders, as He ministered in the Temple courts prior to His sacrificial death:

Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body. (John 2:19-21)

The Temple did later fall, according to Yeshua’s prophecy from the Mount of Olives during the season leading up to Passover, recorded in Matthew 24:

Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” (Matthew 24:1-2)

The reality is that after Yeshua gave Himself as our sacrifice for sin at that Passover, neither the Tabernacle nor the Temple would afterwards be adequate for the ministry of the worldwide community of His people. As He had said to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well:

Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.(John 4:21-24)

The community of all God’s people worldwide is the New Covenant reality of the community of God’s people in their ordered array at Mount Sinai. When the Holy Spirit came to us at the first Shavuot after the Passover when Yeshua gave Himself as our sacrificial Lamb of God, it was in fulfilment of what happened at the dedication of the Tabernacle, when the Spirit of God came to earth. This was the time when the reality of the shadow of the Tabernacle and Temple began to be manifest as the body of Yeshua’s disciples, when they received the Spirit of God in their inner being. Later the Apostle Peter understood this more fully and wrote:

Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ

……. you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light;  who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. (1 Peter  2:4-10)

Just as by the Spirit’s moving at the time of Moses when many people brought their contributions willingly for the building of the Tabernacle, so God moves us by the same Spirit to bring ourselves to Yeshua at the centre, and to the service of the living body of His people. Paul spoke much of the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit, especially in his letters to the Ephesians and Corinthians – a wide diversity of manifestations of the presence of God:

…..for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:12-13)

We are in the intermediate stage between the Tabernacle in the wilderness and the eternal Kingdom, pictured in Revelation 7. Because God’s covenant community is now scattered all around the world and not concentrated in one place as it was at the time of Moses, we may sometimes forget that we are to be an even more glorious presence on the earth. The physical reality of what we are reading this week concerning the Tabernacle, therefore, must surely encourage us to turn more fully from the compromises of the world around and be the body that the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings of both the New and Old Covenants speak.

Dr Clifford Denton

Founder and Director

Tishrei Bible School

www.tishrei.org

Ki Tisa (When you elevate): Exodus 30:11-34:35

Weekly Torah Studies for 2025/26 ( 5786).

On the road to Emmaus, Yeshua met with two of His disciples and, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:27). For our Torah studies this year, therefore, week by week we will seek to discover how all of Torah prepared the way for the coming Messiah.

7th March 2026 (18 Adar)

Ki Tisa (When you elevate): Exodus 30:11-34:35

How well do we know our God and Father? We who have known His love may find it hard to also understand His wrath. The question is, how can the heart of pure love also seem to flip to an anger that is only quietened when the perpetrators of evil are taken from this world, as in our portion this week? After the Children of Israel made a golden calf for themselves, first the sons of Levi killed 3,000 of the leaders of the rebellion, and then God sent a plague to the camp of Israel (Exodus 32:28 and 35). How well did the Children of Israel know the God of Abraham, to have turned so quickly from Him when Moses was away for what seemed like a long time?

Just at the point in time when the laws of God were becoming known, and after the death of those who transgressed, would the Israelites then have understood the true character of God? They may have found it difficult to see beyond God’s wrath to His loving mercy. Perhaps the God of Israel has continued to be misunderstood over many centuries and, for some, even to today.

Surely, however, the justice of God was not vindictive, hateful or simply retributional. The word punishment is used in Exodus 32:34, but is this the complete picture? God said to Moses that He would blot out the entire nation of Israel and build a nation again through him (Exodus 32:10). Out of the entire earth, at that time, it seemed that God would have been satisfied if there was just one man who would live in pure obedient relationship with Him, at the expense of all other men and women who would not. This is the same God who regretted creating mankind and had wiped all of them away at the Great Flood and built again through one righteous man, Noah, and his close family. It must be taken seriously what God said He would do again, this time through Moses. Yet, we must look beyond even this if we are to know God as He truly is.

We can begin to understand the Father heart of God if we are parents ourselves. This is the closest we can understand the heart of God through our own human experience. If we desire the best for our children borne out of loving relationship, does it not tear into the depth of our heart if they stray from the right path, as all do in small or great measure at some time? Our parental response is to bring discipline and establish a right path but at cost to ourselves, as deep love responds in corrective measures.

The parable of the prodigal son, told by Yeshua (Luke 15:11-32), for example, stands testimony to the loving heart of Father God.

This indicates how deeply we must seek to understand what we are reading this week. We are at the beginning of the time when God in Heaven sought to form a covenant family here on earth. We, like they, must mature in our knowledge of our Father in Heaven.

The great warning to us is that during the long time that Moses was on the mountain with God, his own people were not patient and trusting. This was despite all that they had witnessed by the Hand of God in bringing them out of Egypt to Sinai. The Golden Calf becomes a teaching of what can happen when human beings forget the promises of God and even the evidence of His care for them, and invent gods of their own making.

Beware over-reaction in times of waiting and seeming silence from God!

Look at the world today. We have the truths of the Bible accessible to every country, and we have the testimony of Yeshua proclaimed in the Gospel message over many centuries, and witnessed by those who have been called into His worldwide community of faith. We were not at Sinai with Moses but every generation can recount how God has intervened in the affairs of men, whether it be through spiritual revivals within the community of believers, through the testimony of God’s care and guidance of individuals, in families and even in nations that have sought to be founded on biblical truths and values. Many times we have been brought through major crises including, at the national level, recent wars, diseases and financial problems.

Yet the world is still full of images of false gods and distorted ideas about the way to live. It is as if mankind looks for every excuse to ignore or undermine the God of Abraham, be it through science or humanistic endeavours which cause us to look inward to ourselves and our potential, rather than upward to God. This influences our politics as well as our religion. The Book of Revelation prophesies a coming world system, whose people bow the knee to the false god called the antichrist. This is comparable to the Golden Calf of Moses’ day.

There is a parallel with Moses going up to the mountain with God for an indeterminate time, when Yeshua ascended to the Father after His sacrificial death. Indeed, His sacrificial death brings echoes of Moses’ intercessions for Israel, when God said that He would destroy Israel and build again through him. In the One Man Yeshua, all the building of the covenant community is now taking place. He is the single focus as Moses was not to be.

Returning for a moment to our first question, if we need to learn of God’s love, we have the entire life, ministry and sacrifice of Yeshua to consider. If we consider Yeshua on the Cross, we are witnesses to the full depth, breadth and fulness of God’s love for us. The outpouring of wrath that should come to mankind, was shared between Father and Son, in the deepest response to what the pure but uncompromising love of God means.

Evidence of the completeness of what occurred through the Cross came at the first Shavuot (Pentecost) following Yeshua’s death and resurrection. Were not the 3,000 who died at the hands of the sons of Levi in mind when, at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, 3,000 from many nations were redeemed to God (Acts 2:41)? Was not the giving of the Torah through Moses the first Shavuot, and the giving of the Holy Spirit to write the Torah on our hearts, the first Shavuot of the New Covenant? These are evidences of how the ministry of Yeshua was greater than but comparable to that of Moses.

The Father came and lived with His people through His Son. Yeshua made this clear to His disciples:

Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. (John 14:8-10)

We must consider the condition for our own lives as we reflect on what happened in Israel, when Moses went up to spend time with God on the mountain. Because of what seemed like a long time for Moses to be away, the people wondered if he was ever coming back. So let us also consider our own situation – personally, in our family and in our believing community - as we now wait for the return of Yeshua.

Remember first, what was said of Him when He ascended to be with God the Father:

…. while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:9-11)

If we find ourselves wondering if Yeshua will return, we must stand firm on the promise that He will – at the right time. Always remember how this compares directly with the situation of Moses on the mountain at Sinai with God, preparing for the time when the community of Israel was to be organised as a nation under God. We do not want to lose heart, or be impatient, as the Children of Israel did.

Yeshua, using a parable about an unjust judge, caused His disciples to consider the difficulties of being in an unjust  world waiting for His return. He asked:

Shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:7-8)

It is a stark warning that it is possible to fall away from faith during the time when we wait for Yeshua’s return. Yeshua also emphasised this in His prophecy concerning troubled times before His return, as recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21:

Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:9-14)

There will be a falling away, typified by the Golden Calf at Sinai. Yeshua, time and again, warned us about difficulties in the period before His return and reiterated His warning that even among His people there can be those who fall away, illustrated by the parable of the wise and foolish virgins (Matthew 25).

Always, He told us to watch out for Him, prepare for Him and to constantly be in prayer.

Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. (Matthew 25:13)

This is a strong lesson for us from the Torah Portion this week. There is a clear parallel between Moses and Yeshua. Paul the Apostle, who studied the Torah under Gamaliel prior to his revelation of Yeshua, knew this very well:

For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. (Romans 15:4)

We return to our initial question as to how well we know God - to have a personal trusting relationship with Him - that will keep us steadfast in the faith whatever comes.

Remember the purpose of Yeshua’s sacrificial life and death, as prayed in the High Priestly prayer of John 17:

Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (John 17:1-3)

Dr Clifford Denton

Founder and Director

Tishrei Bible School

www.tishrei.org

Tetzaveh (You shall command): Exodus 27:20-30:10

Weekly Torah Studies for 2025/26 ( 5786).

On the road to Emmaus, Yeshua met with two of His disciples and, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:27). For our Torah studies this year, therefore, week by week we will seek to discover how all of Torah prepared the way for the coming Messiah.

28th February 2026 (11 Adar)

Tetzaveh (You shall command): Exodus 27:20-30:10

Imagine that you are called into the presence of the president of a big corporation for whom you work. Your future prosperity depends on how you appear, how you answer questions, how respectful you are and how good his reports of you seem. Most likely, you would tidy yourself up, and rehearse all your answers to expected questions, ready to make your case and defend yourself if necessary.

Now imagine going into the presence of an earthly king, perhaps as Esther went into the presence King Ahasuerus. This could be even more fearful. Surely, you would set out to look your very best, do all that the monarch required, following all courtly protocol. Esther, remember was prepared with precious ointments for one year in advance of her being taken to the King’s palace (Esther 2:12). Ahasuerus had earlier set up a court with curtains of white, blue and purple fine linen (Esther 1:6) for a special feast.

Now try to conceive how it would be, to be called into the presence of the Creator of the universe, to the heavenly throne-room: a place of awe, wonder, infinite beauty and purity. Isaiah was so privileged. Would our response be the same as his?

 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”

And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.

So I said:

“Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King,
The Lord of hosts.” (Isaiah 6:1-5)

It is with such thoughts as these that we should read this week’s portion.

Aaron and his sons were to be dressed, and prepared for their priestly ministry as God specified through Moses. Only then, could they approach God in the place prepared for Him. Daily, they must tend the lamps, prepare the shewbread and perform the sacrifices, with the help of the Levites. Once a year the High Priest, first Aaron, and thereafter for future generations his appointed successor, must go into the very presence of God.

In what attitude should Aaron approach the throne of God? He was not to go in to have a trivial conversation, ask for a pay rise, or defend his actions to some human employer, or even defend his life, as in the presence of some worldly kings. He dressed in holy garments made for glory and honour (Exodus 28:2). Then he made his way from the brazen altar, through the outer court to the threshold of the inner court. The inner court was bathed in the light of the burning lamps on the golden menorah, showing the ornamental design of the curtains, woven with blue, purple and scarlet thread. Perhaps he would pause and prepare himself wondering at the symbolism before him. Is not blue symbolic of the heavens and red symbolic of the earth? Purple is made from an expensive dye, often symbolising kingship. Yet it is also a blend of red and blue, mixing the colour of earth with the colour of heaven, an intermediary as it were between heaven and earth, between God and mankind. Was this his role, to intercede for his nation, rather than look to his own personal needs?

The ephod and the breastplate were also woven with these same colours, of gold, blue, purple and scarlet. The High Priest carried symbols of the twelve tribes of Israel in engraved onyx stones carried on his shoulder, and also twelve precious stones, carried over his heart (Exodus 28).

This was not a personal visit to the King of the Universe, but a dutiful visit on behalf of his people, Israel. All the symbols point to the ministry of intercession. This was not simply a ministry of the spoken word but a complete embodiment of it. It is a necessary ministry, answering the need of fallen mankind in a fallen world. God, by His grace, brought His heavenly presence to earth and allowed a bridge to be built to Himself that He might, in all royal dignity and purity, give a means for mankind to regain fellowship with Him that was lost through Adam and Eve.

The tiny nation of Israel was chosen so that all of mankind could learn their need and a way for redemption.

Inevitably there was failure. It would take more than representatives of fallen mankind with fallen nature to make the way of redemption permanent. The outer appearance and magnificence of the ordinances of the Tabernacle and Temple were not sufficient. As God said, sometime later concerning King David, the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.(1 Samuel 16:7)

A crisis came for Judah when God allowed the Babylonians to take the nation into captivity. Ezekiel prophesied at that time concerning the great falling away of the nation. The Temple would soon fall at the time of the Babylonian invasion. The very place set aside for the High Priest to meet with God would soon be removed. Ezekiel 22 lays the sins of Judah bare, ending with the following:

The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully oppress the stranger. So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God. (Ezekiel 22:29-31)

This speaks of the importance of the ministry of the Priests of the Tabernacle, and how eventually even that wonderful system failed and God’s glory departed from the Temple. It speaks, therefore, also of the need for a greater priesthood, and a High Priest with a pure heart, willing to give Himself for His people. That High Priest is Yeshua HaMashiach. The writer to the Hebrews identifies Him as being typified by Melchizedek (Hebrews 7), a personal calling not in the line of Levi.

Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.

For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer. For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. (Hebrews 8:1-6)

But Messiah came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?  And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. (Hebrews 9:11-15)

Just as Aaron and his sons carried the burden of intercession for the entire nation of Israel, so Yeshua HaMashiach carried the burden of the sins of the entire world. He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)

Sin is both individual and corporate. We each affect others around us for good or evil so that we cannot avoid the consequences of our interactions with one another, whether it be through interactions in our family, our neighbourhood or our nation. What sometimes seem like relatively small matters can scar lives of others, and they us, for many years. At its height our corporate sins lead to all the problems in our world, even wars, hunger and poverty.

All these considerations move us to consider Yeshua’s sacrifice on the Cross, fulfilling in His death both the sacrifice and the ministry of intercession. His prayers were first for His own people, the nation of Israel. They were also for the wider world, both individuals and communities. His intercessory prayer for us all echoes through all time.

Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. (Luke 23:34)

Such prayer, at the moment of deepest personal pain, came from the purest and most sacrificial of hearts, the very heart of God, for us all. This is the fulfilment of the ministry of the High Priest which begins in our Bible study this week.

Dr Clifford Denton

Founder and Director

Tishrei Bible School

www.tishrei.org

Terumah (Offering): Exodus 25:1-27:19

Weekly Torah Studies for 2025/26 ( 5786).

On the road to Emmaus, Yeshua met with two of His disciples and, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:27). For our Torah studies this year, therefore, week by week we will seek to discover how all of Torah prepared the way for the coming Messiah.

21st February 2026 (4 Adar)

Terumah (Offering): Exodus 25:1-27:19

Before reading this week’s portion, consider the world around us. Look at the trees, breaking forth in their seasonal colours. Consider the birds, each with its own specific beautiful design. What else do you see as you look out of your window at the world that God created and ordered – all designed in the mind of God and made through the power of His Word.

This same Creator God designed the Tabernacle and all that was to be in it, with precise measurements, specifications of materials for construction and appearance. He designed it as the specific place where He would dwell in the midst of His people and meet with  them in a carefully ordered way. We learn something of the heart of our Creator, Who has made all things well, as we meditate on His instructions to Moses.

How wonderful that He who spread out the heavens and all that is in them involved mankind in the construction of the place where they would meet with and worship Him.

We do not know what Moses saw on the mountain. Did he have sight of a heavenly reality which was to be brought down as an earthy representation? Did he see something like Ezekiel saw in the form of  a Temple (Ezekiel 40-48), where reference was given to setting their threshold by My threshold, and their doorpost by My doorpost (Ezekiel 43:8)? Does this describe how the three-dimensional representation of the physical reality is within the unseen heavenly reality, each part alongside the other, three earthly dimensions alongside three heavenly dimensions? What we know, is that Moses was given an exact design of a heavenly reality, knowing that this was to be built with precision for God in Heaven to be also among His people on earth.

Of itself, the design is magnificent with architectural excellence, yet simplicity, creating an understanding of how God chooses to be among His people. That Creator God could design a means whereby He will come down to earth is awe-inspiring.

We are able to consider every part of the structure in this and, in succeeding weeks of our readings, wonder at the symbolism of each part. Every detail is worthy of careful and prayerful meditation. This can become a Dayenu moment (it would have been enough). Who wouldn’t want to construct this Tabernacle, learn about the priestly ordinances, carry them out day by day and be satisfied that God is among us?

Yet, as always with God, there is more! The writer to the Hebrews saw this clearly, when he compared the temporary nature of the Old Covenant with the fulfilment of the New Covenant in Messiah. It might seem as almost heresy as we are only just beginning to read about the glorious Tabernacle in the wilderness, to imply that there is something greater to consider. Yet the Tabernacle was a representation of a heavenly truth that we now know prepared the way for what Hebrews 9 unashamedly describes as coming in another, infinitely more wonderful way:

The first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary. For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant;  and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

 Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance; the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing.  It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered …… But Messiah came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation……

This all takes a bit of digesting if we have never thought of it before - and that is why Yeshua met such opposition when He declared:

 Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. (John 2:19)

The beautiful Temple in Jerusalem, being modelled on the Tabernacle, performed the same purpose. No wonder:

the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” (John 2:20)

The reason was:

 … He was speaking of the temple of His body. (John 2:21)

At the beginning of his Gospel account, John said of Yeshua:

He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. (John 1:2-3)

From the heart and mind of our Creator God came, through His Son, the design of the Tabernacle, but this was only the beginning of the teaching of how He would eventually live among us. Just as the whole of Creation came through Yeshua HaMashiach, so the Tabernacle and Temple speak of Him.

Paul the Apostle understood this too, writing to the community of disciples in Colosse concerning Yeshua:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.(Colossians 1:15-17)

Beginning with the Tabernacle in the wilderness, opportunity was given for God’s people to learn to live with God in their midst. However, we know, by reading on through the biblical Prophets how there were many failures, making the way for the New Covenant. The Tabernacle and Temple were put aside hundreds of years after the time of Moses, but their pattern was still to be fulfilled, because God determined that He would dwell among His people.

Psalm 84 expresses our heartfelt yearning for God in our midst. It is a psalm that bridges between the Old and New Covenant. It can be read as a desire to be in the Tabernacle or Temple with Him - or the even greater fulfilment of His purposes, to find our abiding place in Yeshua:

How lovely is your dwelling place,
Lord Almighty!

My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God. (Psalm 84:1-2)

If God could come to earth and dwell in a temporary place constructed by men, glorious as it was, how much more glorious to come to earth and dwell among us in the form of a human being!

Mankind can be set in its ways and settle for the familiar, so the fall of the Temple in 70 CE, though foretold by Yeshua (Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21), can take time to sink in as the beginning of a glorious new era. Yet, with 2000 years to consider this, we have had enough time to realise that Yeshua is indeed the Son of God.

The invitation to come to God our Father in Him is personal and so much greater than the Tabernacle where access was only through the Levitical Priesthood.

Moses surely rejoiced when he was privileged to meet Yeshua HaMashiach, when shortly before the Feast of Tabernacles that year, Yeshua went up on a mountain with three of His disciples. It is described in Matthew 17:

Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.

In Exodus, we read that Moses met with God and received instructions for the building of the Tabernacle. He was also one of the two witnesses who identified Yeshua as its fulfilment.

Yeshua issued a most wonderful invitation. The Tabernacle and Temple were established as the place of meeting God in prayer. His invitation was to a personal fulfilment of the same meeting with God in prayer, but listen to the strength of the invitation:

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.  If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, youwill ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. (John 15:4-8)

If, as we study the Tabernacle and its ordinances in the next few weeks with discernment, we can discover that every element, every precious thing, every colour, every ornament and design is fulfilled in Yeshua. There is always so much more with the God of Israel whose creative mind and great love and desire to live among us, brought us both the Tabernacle and His Son, Yeshua.

Dr Clifford Denton

Founder and Director

Tishrei Bible School

www.tishrei.org

Mishpatim (Judgments): Exodus 21:1-24:18

Weekly Torah Studies for 2025/26 ( 5786).

On the road to Emmaus, Yeshua met with two of His disciples and, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:27). For our Torah studies this year, therefore, week by week we will seek to discover how all of Torah prepared the way for the coming Messiah.

14th February 2026 (27 Shevat)

Mishpatim (Judgments): Exodus 21:1-24:18

This week, we begin to consider how Moses recorded many specific judgments relating to issues that arose in the community of Israel. We must each consider carefully how they apply to us. The Ten Commandments are much easier to understand than the specific detail of the hundreds of other instructions especially when, thousands of years later, our world can be so different from that of the Israelites of Moses’ day.

This matter should be studied by Christians as well as Jews. But how must we study?

This has certainly been important to the leaders of developing Judaism over many years. The influence of the Jewish Sages goes on to today. These are the scholars and rabbis throughout Jewish history, particularly during the Mishnaic and Talmudic eras. Famous among them are Hillel, Shammai, Rabbi Akiba, Maimonides and Baal Shem Tov. Records of the disputes between prominent rabbis, particularly Hillel and Shammai, as to how to interpret various teachings, have been preserved for others to study even today.

Especially prominent is Maimonides. This is the name by which Moses ben Maimon is known. He was born in Cordoba, Spain on Passover Eve 1135 or 1138, leaving Spain when his family refused to convert to Islam, dying in Fustat in Egypt on 12th December 1204. He was also known as Rambam. His tomb is in Tiberias. He derived the most well-known list of 613 Mitzvot (Commandments), gleaned from the Torah, published as a basis of his fourteen volume work entitled Mishneh Torah (Repetition of the Torah), the foundations of modern Jewish Halakhah. These 613 Mitzvot are traditionally considered as 365 negative commands (one for each day of the year) and 248 positive commands (one for each bone of our body).

Likewise there are many well-known Christian writers who, over the years, have brought rich understanding to Scripture from their personal walk with God.

By studying such history of the interpretation of Torah, we see that it is no small matter to seek out a way of living in obedience to the Commandments of God. We pay much honour to those who have taught well in their own generation, leaving records that are still rich sources of insight. Even so, when He brought His Torah to Moses, did God intend us to glean only from the experience of others, or is there light for or own unique path?

We read this week of the treatment of servants, of animals, of property, of violent behaviour, of sorcery and of justice. We are also introduced to the annual cycle of the Feasts of the Lord. These matters are of great importance, emphasised by the fact that Moses was called back into the presence of God at that time.

Each of us must pause and linger prayerfully on what seems most relevant to us. As we do so, we surely see that there is much more than a checklist of 613 commandments to tick off day by day in our lives, or to spend our life reading only from the voluminous commentaries of others.

Take, for example, Exodus 21:22-25. Is there an interpretation for today?

If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.  But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

What is described may happen literally, from time to time when men fight, resulting in harm to a pregnant mother and her baby. We know what God specified as punishment for such a fight. However, we may never come across this exact thing: but is there still relevance? Surely we should look into the heart intent of the commandment. God cares about the safety of an unborn child and holds those accountable who violently cause premature birth and harm to the child. Surely, this is of extreme relevance in nations that have legalised the abortion of unborn babies, and has thereby become a major issue relating to God’s judgment across those nations in our day. In a few verses, we have insight into the heart of God and the urgent need to understand, teach and apply His laws. We will find infinitely many applications to what God taught through Moses when we take the judgments of God seriously and prayerfully dig deeply into them day by day.

Take another example that may seem irrelevant today.  At first sight it seems like a disconnected thought tagged on to the rest of the Commandments:

The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. (Exodus 23:19)

What has boiling a kid in its mother’s milk have to do with us? Yes, perhaps remembering kindness and respect to animals even though there is permission from God to eat the flesh of clean animals since the time of Noah. Yet, we can dig a little deeper with the help of archaeological evidence, which has suggested that it was an ancient Canaanite oblation to their gods to carry out this act. Now, it makes sense. This comes in the passage where God has specified how to come into His presence at the Moedim, the Appointed Times: do not come in the manner of the nations serving their gods, but come in the prescribed manner. Here we have a beginning of a meditation which points to the exact fulfilment that was to come through Yeshua. We can search this out for ourselves across the entire Bible.

So how do we approach the study of Torah when each Commandment of God has depths of revelation that apply to individuals, families, communities and nations in various ways and at different times?

There are some wonderful moments in the history of God’s people when light came on the path of life for some. These insights will lead us to understand how Yeshua taught us about the heart intent of Torah.

The writer of Psalm 119 exclaimed (Verses 97-104):

Oh, how I love Your Torah!
It is my meditation all the day.
You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies;
For they are ever with me.
I have more understanding than all my teachers,
For Your testimonies are my meditation.
I understand more than the ancients,
Because I keep Your precepts.
I have restrained my feet from every evil way,
That I may keep Your word.
I have not departed from Your judgments,
For You Yourself have taught me.
How sweet are Your words to my taste,
Sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Through Your precepts I get understanding;
Therefore I hate every false way.

When Ezra came back from the Babylonian captivity to establish Torah in Judah, it was said of him:

Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Torah of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.  (Ezra 7:10)

Micah understood the heart of Torah (Micah 6:8):

He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?

Isaiah was given insight as to what God required of His people (Isaiah 66:1-2):

Thus says the Lord:

Heaven is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
Where is the house that you will build Me?
And where is the place of My rest?
For all those things My hand has made,
And all those things exist,”
Says the Lord.
“But on this one will I look:
On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,
And who trembles at My word.

Jeremiah spoke of the New Covenant when, because of the sacrifice of Yeshua, the Holy Spirit would be given to cleanse hearts and put God’s wonderful Torah into them:

This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My Torah in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (Jeremiah 31:33)

The starting point is our attitude to the teaching of God, which brings a love for all He has said, a desire to search it out for ourselves and, with a humble heart, want nothing more than to imbibe its teaching and live in accordance with it.

When Yeshua was on the earth, he spent a lot of time confronting those who wrongly interpreted Torah. For all our efforts, we can simply get it wrong. We can read the precepts of Torah, skim over the surface and think them irrelevant. We can also strive to codify them into philosophical compartments so  much that we have a dry religion rather than a living walk with our Living God.

Yeshua did not bring such dry religion. He encouraged us to live by the heart truths of Torah.

As Isaiah had already proclaimed, God begins by looking into our hearts.

When he taught the parable of the Sower of good seed (Matthew 13), Yeshua spoke of the heart of people, some of whom have a soft heart to learn so that God’s teaching matures in their inner being, and others, for various reasons who, even hearing the wonderful teaching of God, fail to retain it.

In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), He spoke of those whom God could bless: the humble, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the peacemakers and those with a pure heart. These are the ones whom Isaiah also highlighted as him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,
and who trembles at My word.

Those who listened to Yeshua may not have yet achieved what they sought, but many desired to become what He was describing, compelled to follow Him, witness His sacrificial crucifixion and accept forgiveness of their transgressions. Such people echo King David’s cry in Psalm 51 - create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me (Psalm 51:10): thereby, by receiving the empowering of the Holy Spirit, a new possibility of a walk with God begins for them – the true Halakhah.

How then do we read the Commandments of God, this week and in the coming weeks? Are we studying superficially, looking for ritual or even the philosophical interpretations of others - or to deepen our personal relationship with the God of Israel?

Dr Clifford Denton

Founder and Director

Tishrei Bible School

www.tishrei.org

Yitro (Jethro): Exodus 18:1-20:23

Weekly Torah Studies for 2025/26 ( 5786).

On the road to Emmaus, Yeshua met with two of His disciples and, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:27). For our Torah studies this year, therefore, week by week we will seek to discover how all of Torah prepared the way for the coming Messiah.

7th February 2026 (20 Shevat)

Yitro (Jethro): Exodus 18:1-20:23

Before God gave His Ten Commandments to Israel, a structure was implemented to enable them to be understood and obeyed:  interpretation of God’s teaching was delegated to elders of Israel. This was because of the advice given by Jethro (Yitro) to his son-in-law, Moses, and it has had implications for the many generations that were to come.

The pattern of delegated responsibility for interpreting Torah goes on even into our day. The 70 elders with Moses (Deuteronomy 24:1) is the same numerically as the 70 leaders with the High Priest of the Sanhedrin during the Second Temple period. The number also suggests why Yeshua chose 70 disciples to go out and bring the Gospel to the towns of Israel (Luke 10). Later there were to be Bible teachers in every community of disciples of Yeshua.

Torah must not be simply an intellectual pursuit. That is what Jethro knew when he advised Moses:

Listen now to my voice; I will give you counsel, and God will be with you: Stand before God for the people, so that you may bring the difficulties to God. And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do.  Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you. (Exodus 18:19-22)

To show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do is the responsibility of every Bible teacher – it is a high calling.

Torah must result in Halakhah – how to walk out the teaching of God in every aspect of life. This has been the pursuit of the people of God from the time of Moses right up to our present day. Indeed, one might consider Torah (God’s teaching) as being Halakhah in the sense  that we are to embody Torah into our very lives in every way.

There are, however, many different points of view concerning the application of Torah. The written code of commandments, statutes and laws are the same for everyone - but their interpretation into a way of life has differed according to whichever rabbinic school or Bible teacher is followed.

Israel could not have been more clearly shown the importance of God’s requirements and right interpretation, as they witnessed the majestic and awesome scene at Mount Horeb, when they heard the voice of God midst the thundering and lightning and the sound of the trumpet from the smoking mountain. Deuteronomy 5 confirms that all the people heard the voice of God directly at that time:

The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive.  The Lord talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire. (Deuteronomy 5:2-4)

Though they each heard the voice of God for themselves, they nevertheless asked that Moses become their intermediary, so they could be taught by man and not directly by God:

Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” (Exodus 20:18-19)

From that time forward, for many generations, the advice given by Jethro was implemented. Teaching how God expected His people to live was in the hands of appointed leaders, first under Moses and then through parents, Elders, the Levitical Priesthood, Judges, Prophets and Kings, through revival at the time of Ezra and on to the Rabbinic system which continues to today – and also into the ministry of Bible teachers in Christian Churches.

As well as there being a variety of interpretations of God’s teaching, there is also a danger that Torah can become a dry intellectual exercise for some, even a means of control. Nevertheless, throughout all the years of Israel’s journey there have been many people who seek to have pure hearts towards God, emulating King David who wrote such wonderful Psalms, being a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 14).

This is why Yeshua constantly confronted some of the Rabbis of His day on their interpretation of Torah. He did this out of love for God’s people Israel, so that they could realise that a new and better way was beginning, even to that which began at Mount Sinai under Jethro’s advice and up to that time.

Yeshua was appointed by God the Father to bring in the New Covenant that was announced by Jeremiah:

Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more. (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

Yeshua is the full embodiment of Torah. He opened the way for the life of the Holy Spirit to bring more meaningful interpretation of God’s teaching to the covenant people of God. This would restore balance to what happened at Sinai when Israel preferred to be taught by man rather than directly by God. That new life began through Yeshua’s own teaching.

Sometimes Yeshua’s teaching seems so different from what many Rabbis taught that it is thought to be a beginning of a new religion. Indeed, both Jews and Christians have fallen into this trap. Not so! In what is called The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Yeshua was speaking to those of a soft heart towards God and giving a balanced and deep understanding of God’s Torah.

In our study this week, we read of the beginning of God’s Commandments, statutes and laws – ten things that are like a spectrum of light, from the highest respectful worship of the God of Creation to the simplest daily respect and duty to one’s neighbour. These Commandments are the beginning of all God’s teaching. Yeshua was clear that His own teaching conformed to this and indeed, was in accord with the two foundational teachings into which the Ten Commandments fit, to love God with all one’s heart and one’s neighbour as oneself (Deuteronomy 6:5/Mark 12:30, Leviticus 9:18/Mark 12:31).

Within the Sermon on the Mount He clearly stated:

 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. (Matthew 5:17-18)

Yeshua came in fulfilment of God’s promise of the New Covenant given through Jeremiah. This is the pivotal point of history that must not be misunderstood. What began at Mount Horeb came to fulfilment through Him.

 A mistake is made when people think that Yeshua would turn away from those who rejected Him of the nation Israel, forming a new body which later came to be known as the Christian Church. This mistake comes from a wrong understanding of something He said:

Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.(Matthew 21:43)

This is how this verse is read from a number of popular translations, but by linking the words back through the Greek to the Hebrew, a better translation of this particular verse is:

Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people bearing the fruits of it.

Yes, Yeshua confronted those people whose interpretation of Torah was not good, but he was not cancelling the ongoing promises of God for Israel. Through wrong interpretations of this verse, a breach has become too wide between the Christian Church and its foundations in the New Covenant first given to Israel and Judah  - indeed a breach between Christians and Jews, is so wide that it is wrongly taught that God began again with Gentile believers and that Yeshua turned away from His people Israel.

Yeshua cursed a fruitless fig tree (Mark 11), which did not symbolise the cursing of the nation of Israel, but was a warning to those who interpreted Torah in a lifeless way. The fruit of the fig tree is better understood as symbolic of the true life-giving interpretation of Torah. It is therefore linked to those with authority given to a Bible teacher to interpret Torah.  For example, when Nathanael was called to be a disciple of Yeshua, He had seen in his heart one who truly sought God as he studied under a fig tree, symbolic of seeking to study under the right interpretation of Scripture (John 1).

Today, Messianic Judaism is growing apace as never before since the first century CE. This is surely in fulfilment of what Luke wrote concerning Yeshua’s teaching about the end times:

Then He spoke to them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near.  Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. (Luke 21:29-33)

The budding of the fig tree has often been thought to refer to Israel returning to their Land in the Last Days, but a better interpretation is the strengthening of authority to those who rightly interpret Torah, arising again from among Jewish leaders. This is coincident with Israel returning to their land. Of course, it can be one and the same thing if Israel as a nation could embody the true meaning of Torah, as Yeshua alone has done. Nevertheless, through the grace of God and within His New Covenant purposes, Israel is wonderfully gathering again in their own land.

This moment in history signals the time for all believers in Yeshua to rightly search out and proclaim the life-giving truths of Scripture, both Jew and grafted in Gentile believer together. There are teachers across the entire world and in every believing community, appointed to interpret the Scriptures, in balance with the New Covenant promise that, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, everyone can now know God personally with God’s teaching growing to maturity in their heart – leading to the free and full Halakhah with God.

This fulfils Jethro’s advice to Moses, which is still relevant, but in the life-giving way that is in accord with Yeshua and His sending the Holy Spirit to all His disciples and also to inspire appointed teachers and interpreters of Torah.

If the giving of the Ten Commandments was profound in the history of Israel, the bringing in of the New Covenant is even more so. The writer to the Hebrews understood this, as we must today. We are exhorted to grow into maturity within the glorious new thing that the Lord has done in fulfilment of what went before. The contrast is both awesome and life-giving:

For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. (For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.” And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”) But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. (Hebrews 12:18-24)

We are in the days of renewal and for deepening our walk with God, a day for coming to unity in faith and truth: all who are disciples of our teacher Yeshua.

Dr Clifford Denton

Founder and Director

Tishrei Bible School

www.tishrei.org

B’shalach (When he let go): Exodus 13:17-17:16

Weekly Torah Studies for 2025/26 ( 5786).

On the road to Emmaus, Yeshua met with two of His disciples and, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:27). For our Torah studies this year, therefore, week by week we will seek to discover how all of Torah prepared the way for the coming Messiah.

31st January 2026 (13 Shevat)

B’shalach (When he let go): Exodus 13:17-17:16

What a deliverance! Who would not sing as Moses sang? Who would not dance as Miriam danced?

Though the God of Abraham would help His people through many other battles – even the one against the Amalekites that we read about in this week’s study – the victory over Pharaoh was entirely the Lord’s doing. In all history we rarely, if ever, can recall such a direct act of God. Moses was told to tell the people:

Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace. (Exodus 14:13-14)

A miracle was accomplished that has never been repeated. The fearful Israelites only stood still and looked on: the Red Sea parted and then they went through on dry ground, to safety from their defeated foes.

So surely it was right for the Children of Israel to gives thanks and rejoice on the eastern shore of the Red Sea. The old life was over: a new life was before them.

While it was good for them to pause and give thanks, it was also necessary for them to move on. A journey was ahead of them – a walk in which they would be moulded into a nation under God, learning new things as they went. As such, it is a pattern for the life of anyone who would become a Hebrew by nature: trusting God for every stage of the journey, pausing to reflect and give thanks at appropriate times, and then moving on again. It is the journey of life. To be over-analytical on life’s journey, trying to work it all out logically, can be an enemy of being Hebraic. We must not let the enemy of doubt enter our minds concerning the security of our steps and our future with God. This can be so if we linger too long. So it was for the Children of Israel, who only three days later were confronted with lack of water and rejoicing turned to complaint.

Already, we hear the first echo in the teaching of Yeshua:

….do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matthew 6:31-34)

These words could have been spoken by Moses, encouraging the Children of Israel in their circumstance, just as much as by Yeshua encouraging the Israelites of His day - and as much as He is encouraging all His covenant family today.

Before drawing other parallels between Moses’ ministry in the wilderness and Yeshua’s greater ministry of fulfilment, let take an overview of what we are reading.

When we consider the journey of God’s people through history, it is sequential – one thing follows another. That is the experience of life on this earth. But surely God sees things differently. Yes, He is with us on our journey, but He also has the privileged position of eternity where He sees the end from the beginning, as He outworks His purposes fully.

Through Isaiah He said:

Listen to Me, O house of Jacob,
And all the remnant of the house of Israel,
Who have been upheld by Me from birth,
Who have been carried from the womb:

 Even to your old age, I am He,
And even to grey hairs I will carry you!
I have made, and I will bear;
Even I will carry, and will deliver you.

…… I am God, and there is none like Me,
Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things that are not yet done,
Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
And I will do all My pleasure.’  (Isaiah 46:3-10)

We cannot fully understand why and how God created the world and put fallible mankind as the priority of His created order. We can understand enough to know that from the beginning of time until the fulness of His Kingdom, He has a purpose. Though Adam fell, His purpose is that a new kind of being – created and redeemed human beings – will inhabit the Kingdom of Heaven with Him, be around His throne with the angels, serving Him forever, despite the free will that is a hindrance at every earthly step.

That God could choose individuals in each generation to fulfil part of the overall covenant plan is amazing – Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses being among the most prominent up to this time in our Bible readings. Through each one of these specially chosen people we could think that history reached its peak at that time, and seal it with a song like Moses sang. Yet our timeline of history is caught up into one everlasting purpose in God. We perceive it piecemeal: He is always contemplating the whole.

It is as if the present purposes of God are part of an ever expanding universe of purpose, moving from the lesser to the greater – the mortal to the immortal. For us there is a process, each part coming to pass at the right time. For God, everything has a harmonious outworking. Thus, it should be no surprise that God had the end in view even at the time of Moses, so that the present experience would be in harmony with the completion of the plan of redemption. God would eventually take a covenant family from all mankind to be with Him forever, for them reversing the curse of the Fall in Eden.

In that there is harmony with all God’s purposes, what we learn from the wilderness journey is a preparation for later fulfilment. Later we will hear Moses promise Israel that a prophet like him would one day come to lead God’s people to the ultimate future that is planned (Deuteronomy 18:15-18). This led to Israel waiting for that prophet over many years. Elsewhere in the history of Israel, an expectation grew for a king, following the pattern of David. It was hard to imagine whom this kingly prophet might be. With growing discernment there could also have been expectation that whoever God chose would have the calling of a Priest. Looking ahead, despite a glorious expectation, no-one could foresee that the three ministries of Prophet, Priest and King would be given so wonderfully to one Man. In hindsight it is clear, but Israel was to take a journey of faith rather than sight. A greater ministry lay ahead even than that which Moses accomplished.

The victory over Pharaoh was entirely under the Hand of God. Isaiah foresaw a time when another great victory would be won for Israel also entirely under His Hand:

For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. (Isaiah 9:6-7)

The miracles that were accomplished through Moses were unique and planted into the minds of God’s people for a purpose, that they would be enabled to understand the later fulfilment. Moses took Israel to the Promised Land, but an even greater leader would lead the Israel of God to eternity with their Maker.

Thus the miracles in the wilderness, which met immediate needs and became encouragement to faith on the journey, were also planned by God for a future fulfilment, in a most harmonious way.

The greatness of God’s fulfilment is that the miracles were raised to a level that became embodied in the One who was born to be the Saviour of the world. In our portion this week we find some examples.

Water is an absolute essential for life, as the Children of Israel knew. God’s miraculous provision was also intentionally prepared as a sign of the Messiah. This was why Yeshua spoke as He did of God’s provision of life, likened to fresh water:

Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.  A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water?  Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”  Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:6-14)

Yeshua is the water of life to which the miracle of the provision of water from the rock at Meribah pointed. Yeshua spoke even more powerfully about Himself as the embodiment of that miracle, during the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem:

On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:37-39)

Food as well as drink are necessary for life. The miracle of the provision of manna was also a pointer to the greater fulfilment in Yeshua. After His miracle of the multiplication of bread to feed a great crowd, Yeshua compared it to the provision of manna, to show the He is the Bread of Life, in a greater interpretation of what is needed for eternal life:

Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”

 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. (John 6:28-35)

On our journey with Moses to Canaan, we must bear in mind that God’s plan of redemption for eternal life was always in mind. Just as Moses was appointed, so was Yeshua and the entire tapestry of God’s covenant plan is woven perfectly together so that the lighter shades of physical provision through Moses give glory to the brighter shades of fulfilment through Yeshua.

Moses led the people to rejoice at the deliverance from Egypt. There is an even greater rejoicing in store through the deliverance to eternal life, where all sickness and disease will be no more, just as God promised when Moses made bitter waters sweet at Marah. At this time, the Song of Moses will be in complete harmony with the Song of the Lamb (the now glorified Yeshua):

 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete. And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying:

“Great and marvellous are Your works,
Lord God Almighty!
Just and true are Your ways,
O King of the saints!
Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy.
For all nations shall come and worship before You,
For Your judgments have been manifested.”

After these things I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened……. (Revelation 15)

Dr Clifford Denton

Founder and Director

Tishrei Bible School

www.tishrei.org

Bo (Come): Exodus 10:1-13:16

Weekly Torah Studies for 2025/26 ( 5786).

On the road to Emmaus, Yeshua met with two of His disciples and, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:27). For our Torah studies this year, therefore, week by week we will seek to discover how all of Torah prepared the way for the coming Messiah.

24th January 2026 (6 Shevat)

Bo (Come): Exodus 10:1-13:16

Pesach is in just over two months’ time, when the events we are studying this week will have special remembrance in every Jewish home. It is amazing that what God commanded thousands of years ago retains its prominence. The remembrance is both testimony to the importance of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt and a testimony to the world, of the truth of what happened. It is, therefore, good to begin our meditations this week on what God has done, as an early preparation for this year’s Feast of Pesach.

This was the beginning of Israel as a nation. Israel still survives today, in fulfilment and continuance of the promises of God. This too is testimony to both God’s existence and His faithfulness to His promises to His people. If He has been faithful over thousands of years of history, we can depend on His faithfulness to complete His covenant purposes today and into the future.

The eighth and ninth plague continued to harden Pharaoh’s heart. Not even a deep and supernatural darkness, that sent awe and fear across the entire land of Egypt, broke his stubborn resolve. But this was the last opportunity before an even worse judgement came upon the Egyptians. Moses was commanded by Pharaoh never to be in his presence again (Exodus 10:28-29) lest he die, and so it was. The deliverance from Egypt was about to take place.

At the time appointed, twilight on 14 Nissan, Israel was to slaughter the Passover lambs, paint their blood on the doorposts, then roast and eat the lambs with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, in readiness for their Exodus from Egypt. The 14th day of Nissan was thereafter to be the beginning of a memorial week each succeeding year. Whilst the firstborn of all Egypt died on that awe-filled night, the firstborn of Israel lived and in that and future generations, were to be consecrated to God.

This was an unrepeatable moment in history. We must dig deeply into its implications.

A song is sung at Pesach called Dayenu, which means it would have been enough. It has been a tradition for many centuries, to sing this song. The earliest known full text of the song occurs in the first medieval Haggadah, taken from the ninth-century Seder Rav Amram.  It is about being grateful to God for all of the gifts given to the Jewish people. It consists of 15 statements of what God did in freeing Israel from slavery, showing His miraculous provision and establishing them as His people. After each statement everyone around the seder table says together both solemnly and joyfully – Dayenu! The statements are:

1. If He had brought us out of Egypt – Dayenu (it would have been enough)

2. If He had executed justice upon the Egyptians – Dayenu (it would have been enough)

3. If He had executed justice upon their gods – Dayenu (it would have been enough)

4. If He had slain their first-born – Dayenu (it would have been enough)

5. If He had given to us their wealth – Dayenu (it would have been enough)

1. If He had split the sea for us – Dayenu (it would have been enough)

2. If He had led us through on dry land – Dayenu (it would have been enough)

3. If He had drowned our oppressors – Dayenu (it would have been enough)

4. If He had provided for our needs in the wilderness for 40 years – Dayenu (it would have been enough)

5. If He had fed us manna – Dayenu (it would have been enough)

1. If He had given us Shabbat – Dayenu (it would have been enough)

2. If He had led us to Mount Sinai – Dayenu (it would have been enough)

3. If He had given us the Torah – Dayenu (it would have been enough)

4. If He had brought us into the Land of Israel – Dayenu (it would have been enough)

5. If He built the Temple for us – Dayenu (it would have been enough)

What other nation remembers and celebrates in such a humble way what God has done? To begin with the awesome experience of what we read this week - what it took to bring Israel out of Egypt - and to declare that if this was all God did for us, it would be enough, yet to remember step by step that God did yet more: this is highly commendable.

There are other places, in Scripture, similar to this. For example,  Psalm 136 begins:

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.

Then many wonderful things that God has done for Israel are recalled sentence by sentence, followed each time with the exclamation, for His mercy endures forever.

With these reflections and the attitude, it would have been enough,  we might consider all God’s work as being complete in our lives and rest content on our privilege and His goodness.

But we must not stop here and limit God only to the past! He is ever-present today and He still does wondrous and new things. Indeed, He Himself declared that greater things were ahead.

To Isaiah He said:

Do not remember the former things,
Nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 48:18-19)

Through Jeremiah God said:

Therefore, behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ but, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own land. (Jeremiah 23:7-8)

God also said through Jeremiah:

Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more. (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

We have a paradox – to look back and celebrate Passover, yet forget the former things and look to the new. God clearly said that Israel was always to celebrate, on 14 Nissan, the awesome things that were done for them in Egypt, and thus they have done. Yet He also points to greater things that are to come which will put even the deliverance from Egypt in a different light.

Where shall we begin? We will follow the journey of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land, step by step in the coming weeks. We will consider how many of God’s provisions and deliverances, such as recalled in the song Dayenu, one by one, find greater fulfilment in the life and ministry of Yeshua HaMashaich. They all pointed to Him. This can be said of no other man in history.

Just as each year, the remembrance of God’s deliverance of Israel proves to us the existence of God and His character and purpose for His people, so we can simultaneously declare the fulfilment of God’s New Covenant purposes in Yeshua. This resolves the paradox. Each great thing that God did in the past brings higher and greater esteem to Yeshua, the sacrificial Lamb who, by His sacrifice, took away the sins of all who will believe in Him.

We can find relevance to our studies this week at the beginning of the Gospel account. In the days of the Second Temple, there were fields near Bethlehem where lambs were born and raised for sacrifice. The shepherds in the Bethlehem fields, who cared for these lambs to be sacrificed at Pesach and other Feasts of the Lord, were among the first to see the One who would be the sacrificial Lamb of God, as a new-born baby lying in a manger in Bethlehem. He had only just been born like one of their own lambs had so often been, to be raised spotless for sacrifice (Luke 2:8-12). Lambs like this had been raised for sacrifice since the first Passover in Egypt was inaugurated. These shepherds would be the first who could understand the higher purposes of God, focussed as they were daily on raising unblemished lambs.

Then on, through each Gospel account we, who have eyes to see and ears to hear, can see how all God’s purposes were brought to their highest fulfilment in Yeshua.

The centurion who stood by the Cross on which Yeshua was crucified said of Him, Certainly this was a righteous man (Luke 23:47). But Yeshua was more than just a righteous man. God the Father, the same God who brought Israel out of Egypt, said of Him, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:17), and this understanding has come as a shaft of spiritual light to all who have since found faith in Yeshua, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

It is right to obey God’s command to celebrate the Feast of Pesach on each 14 Nissan, remembering all that God has done, but it is now possible to raise the Feast to the highest level as we realise the how much more,of God’s purposes and also celebrate within the Feast, the greatness of God’s provision in Yeshua. This is as much true for the Christian Church as it is for Israel.

The greatness of God’s gathering, again in our day, the people of Israel into their own land, prophesied by Jeremiah, points to the special time that we are now in. We must not be stuck in the past. God’s ongoing purpose for Israel in the Land is the preparation for the return of Yeshua, as King.

Christians should not have separated the great fulfilment of Pesach - the sacrifice of Yeshua - to a different date as if disconnected from Israel’s release from Egypt. 14 Nissan is the appropriate day for the Israel of God and those grafted in, to celebrate all that God has done and look forward together to what is yet to be accomplished. This should be a point of unity for all of God’s covenant people. Pesach must no longer be only a celebration of a nation wonderfully led to their physical Promised Land: it is a foundation for the greater promise of eternal life.

Stephen, one of Yeshua’s early disciples may, if he had known it, have approved of the song Dayenu - but did not stop with only those truths when he was confronted by the council of the High Priest prior to his martyrdom. Beginning with Abraham, he recounted God’s deeds including the deliverance from Egypt, but also went on to the fulfilment of God’s New Covenant in Yeshua (Acts 7). He rebuked those who had witnessed the three and a half years’ ministry of the Son of God on earth and who had rejected what God was doing through Him.

Yeshua Himself taught how He was to be found in all the Scriptures: beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:27).

We have the opportunity, starting with our Bible study this week, to begin our preparations for Pesach this year, and to raise our Feast to the highest level – both believing Jew and believing Gentile.

Dr Clifford Denton

Founder and Director

Tishrei Bible School

www.tishrei.org

Va’era (And I appeared): Exodus 6:2-9:35

Weekly Torah Studies for 2025/26 ( 5786).

On the road to Emmaus, Yeshua met with two of His disciples and, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:27). For our Torah studies this year, therefore, week by week we will seek to discover how all of Torah prepared the way for the coming Messiah.

17th January 2026 (28 Tevet)

Va’era (And I appeared): Exodus 6:2-9:35

For hundreds of years, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was silent, but silence does not imply lack of care. When the set time was completed, just as He had appeared to Abraham, so He drew near to Moses and Aaron. His promise was firm and was summarised in the four statements that are remembered each year, when drinking four cups of wine at Pesach:

 I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan…. Therefore say to the children of Israel: I am the Lord; 

I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians,

I will rescue you from their bondage,

and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.

I will take you as My people, and I will be your God….’ (Exodus 6:4-7)

The confrontation between Moses and Pharaoh began. This could be considered simply in a down-to-earth human context: Moses demanded that the Children of Israel should be allowed to leave Egypt to sacrifice to their God and Pharaoh resisted the demand. Yet there was also a consciousness of the spiritual powers. Egypt lived under their own gods and there was experience of supernatural power. Thus, this was also a confrontation between the gods of Egypt and the God of the Hebrews.

Surely the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob could deal with the false gods of Egypt with one word, but He chose instead to go through the process of the plagues. At first, the Egyptian magicians were able to reproduce the same supernatural signs as Moses and Aaron, but then they realised that their power was limited after the third plague:

Now the magicians so worked with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not. So there were lice on man and beast. Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.”  (Exodus 8:18-19)

The plagues of Egypt are unique in the history of mankind, but there have been other times when God has used physical signs to speak. At the time of Amos, for example, as recorded in Amos 4, Israel suffered a scarcity of food, which was followed by lack of drinking water, then mildew on crops, locusts, then loss of life by the sword. God, through Amos, when judging Israel, made comparisons with Sodom and Gomorrah (verse 11) and the plagues in Egypt (verse 10). The pattern is a series of judgements that increase in intensity when God continues to be resisted. This is the gracious Hand of God, always offering mercy, but requiring human response. This is what Pharaoh experienced.

Yet, he was stubborn and did not fully discern the uncompromising intent of the God of the Hebrews to fulfil what He had promised them.

In various places we read that Pharaoh hardened his heart, and also that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, which can seem to be a paradox. This is understandable in the following way. God knew the character of Pharaoh who, like other Pharaohs, also considered himself to be a god. His entire being was challenged by the God of Abraham through Moses and Aaron. Pride, stubbornness and arrogance would be stimulated by each plague, so God knew it was inevitable that He would provoke Pharaoh’s resistance. Thus God could say that He hardened Pharaoh’s heart by the provocation of the plagues, whilst Pharoah himself reacted with hard-heartedness.

What we are learning here is not only for our understanding of the history of Israel. It is  characteristic of fallen mankind to seek after gods of their own design and to set themselves above the One True God of the Hebrews. In our day spiritual forces are rising to persuade human beings that they are themselves gods. It is the same temptation that beset Adam and Eve when the serpent told them that they could be like God (Genesis 3:5)

What happened in Egypt, and even when Israel at last settled in the Promised Land, was not a completion of God’s covenant purposes. The four promises, listed above, were to have a greater fulfilment through Yeshua.

Yeshua, the Son of God, was one with God throughout history, not entering the world as a man until the right time. God’s covenant purposes, in Egypt, before and afterwards, were always a step along the way to the final and greater fulfilment when God would become manifest through the man Yeshua. The eyes of John, one of Yeshua’s Apostles, were opened clearly to this. He wrote as the first words in his Gospel account:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. (John 1:1-3)

John goes on to say that:

…the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. (verse 14)

And:

No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. (verse 18)

We can go over and over these words, indeed the whole of John 1, followed by the entire Gospel account, and still not fully rationalise in our human minds the entirety of what God has done in coming to earth as a man. Yet we can understand enough to realise that in the very being of God there has been a part of Him that one day would express itself in the form of a man. That intent has been with Him since before Creation and at every stage of the Covenant.

The intent was with Him when He made the four profound promises to the Children of Israel through Moses, and when He confronted Pharaoh and the unseen gods of Egypt.

God knows the nature of the people that He created. Some can have the character of stubbornness, who like Pharaoh become hardened to God’s purposes. This is in evidence when the truth about Yeshua is preached. An individual is able to allow his or her inherent resistance to become manifest to even reject the offer of eternal salvation (the personal fulfilment of God’s promises to Israel), or have the humility of heart to gratefully receive God’s free gift. Yeshua Himself put it this way, describing how even the most wonderful invitation to eternal life can be resisted:

 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:16-18)

Yeshua also said, not just of individuals but of wider application:

But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, and saying:

‘We played the flute for you,
And you did not dance;
We mourned to you,
And you did not lament.’ (Matthew 11:16-17)

These are metaphors to teach that neither through the wonderous and free invitation of salvation through the atoning sacrifice of Yeshua, nor through personal or earth shaking woes, some people will not turn to the God of Israel through Yeshua. It is a paradox for us, relating somehow to the way that God created mankind with what we call free will. Paul the Apostle put it this way:

But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honour and another for dishonour?

What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? (Romans 9:20-25)

Here, Paul did not make a theological statement about the nature of God and the people He had created, but causes us to leave such matters to God, recognising that there are those who, like Pharaoh, have the reaction to oppose God’s purposes and harden their hearts, and those who, with humble hearts, gladly receive God’s truth.

This paradox has immense application when we consider the nations of the world responding to God’s covenant purposes, based on His promises, first to Israel and then to those from the Gentile world who are grafted into the same olive tree, by faith. Of Israel He says:

But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob,
And He who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name;
You are Mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
Nor shall the flame scorch you.
For I am the Lord your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Saviour;
I gave Egypt for your ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
Since you were precious in My sight,
You have been honoured,
And I have loved you;
Therefore I will give men for you,
And people for your life. (Isaiah 43:1-4)

All this was in God’s mind at the time when Moses confronted Pharaoh, as well as being a truth for all time. The fulfilment of God’s promises was at the expense of the suffering of the people in Egypt. In the latter days, those whose hearts are not hardened will see, like John the Apostle, that Yeshua, the Son of God, is the final and full way that the covenant promises will be fulfilled. The shaking of nations in the Last Days will bring forth a great salvation for many even at the cost of many people, under the Hand of God.

The Book of Revelation describes a world that we are surely entering in our day, which turns, as a whole, away from the one True God and His Son Yeshua. As in Egypt at the time of Moses, we will see an increasing confrontation between the powers of darkness, that come in the form of false gods, and the One True God. The intensity will increase as in Egypt until we come to the great woes of the Last Days described in Revelation Chapter 9.

Just as Pharaoh’s heart could be hardened so it will be for many people who refuse the gift of deliverance, salvation, redemption and, through Yeshua the Messiah, membership of God’s eternal Kingdom - the four covenant promises of Exodus 6. The effect will be even more awesome than at the time of Moses, when God’s people were led out of Egypt and when Egypt was left in ruins. Hard-heartedness against the God of Israel will be provoked, as it was with Pharaoh:

But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts. (Revelation 9:20-21)

The difference with the time of Moses is that, now, anyone from the entire world can be saved by faith in Yeshua. We must remember that God still has ongoing promises relating specifically to the people of Israel, but Yeshua’s invitation is widened to encompass people from the entire world, including, of course, the country of Egypt today.

Indeed, the entire world is soon to be likened to Babylon of old. Each of us will be tested. It is a paradox, but true, that pressures will either turn us to God or turn us away from Him. Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. Ours need not be. As the pressures of the world mount on God’s people, it is good to remember Israel in Egypt. For us, however, it will not be “Let my people go”, but “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues” (Revelation 18:4).

We must stand in faith and not fear. Just as the Israelites were safe from the plagues in Goshen so God will provide protection, at the time of the last great woes, for all who know Yeshua as Messiah. All Scripture points to this great and awesome Day of the Lord.

Dr Clifford Denton

Founder and Director

Tishrei Bible School

www.tishrei.org

Sh’mot (Names): Exodus 1:1-6:1

Weekly Torah Studies for 2025/26 ( 5786).

On the road to Emmaus, Yeshua met with two of His disciples and, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:27). For our Torah studies this year, therefore, week by week we will seek to discover how all of Torah prepared the way for the coming Messiah.

10th January 2026 (21 Tevet)

Sh’mot (Names): Exodus 1:1-6:1

In our torah portion this week, we begin to study one of the most significant events that have taken place in the history of the world. We can put it in the same context as the Creation of the world, the banishing of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, the Flood at the time of Noah, and the Covenant given to Abraham. This is why the descendants of Jacob (the Children of Israel) are instructed to remember the deliverance of their people from Egypt each year at Pesach, looking back in order to have faith in the present and for the future.

To raise our study to this level is to lift it away from mere theological perspectives. How easy it is for us to read our Bibles, analyse the stories philosophically and bind our thoughts into books of theology, as if we have uncovered some of the mysteries about the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as a sufficient purpose for Bible study. In doing this we so easily separate the deeds of God into sermons for our congregational meetings rather than live in the relevance of them for all people every day, whether we be a farmer, a carer, a monarch, a president, a cleaner, a politician, lawmaker, teacher, businessman, craftsman, entertainer, artist or a person pursuing anything else, great or small, in our everyday lives together. What happened in Egypt is as relevant today as it was at the time of Moses. While the world moves on to the next great thing in God’s covenant purposes, we must live in the light of that which has gone before, or we will misinterpret what is happening all around us today.

Why did Israel go down to Egypt and live there in increasingly difficult times for over 400 years? God made a great promise to Abraham (Genesis 15) that his descendants, uncountable as the stars in the heavens, would be given the Land of Canaan as their homeland, but they must be strangers in a land that was not theirs (verse  13) until evil in the nations inhabiting Canaan was at its height (verse 16) and therefore ripe for judgement.

This seems to be sufficient information to answer the question. Experience, however, also shows that God teaches us through contrasts. Israel was being prepared to forever compare life in the world of Egypt with life in the Kingdom of God.

Egypt was a prosperous nation where one could live in comfort, but this was not the permanent place for God’s covenant people. Also, Canaan until then, was a land where God’s people could have assimilated and lived in peace, but this too was contrary to God’s purposes. Both Egypt and Canaan were ruled by false gods.

In Egypt, God was preparing His own people to live apart from all other nations and their gods, in their own land. The process of bringing them out of Egypt demonstrated this, and the preparation for living in the Promised Land was that that they would always remember the experience of living under the rule of false gods. Despite hard labour under the Egyptians, the seductive pull to the possible comforts of life in Egypt was to be forever resisted. When the Israelites came out of Egypt they were never to return. They were to be a nation under the Hand of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and a light to all other nations.

Notice how God raised up Moses as a deliverer of his people. This was not announced nor was Moses like other leaders before him, except that God always chooses human beings to take His covenant plans forward. Even Moses did not understand God’s purpose for him, except that when he slew the Egyptian (Exodus 2:11-12) his concern for the burdens of his people was growing in him. It took many years in the Land of Midian before he was ready, but then he felt unable to do what God required (Exodus 4:10). Indeed, it seemed that he and his older brother Aaron, now appointed as his spokesman, faced an impossible task. Pharaoh rejected them on their first visit to him (Exodus 5:1-2) and the children of Israel despised them (Exodus 5:20-21). This has been a pattern with all of God’s prophets.

Remember that we are studying the outworking of God’s covenant purposes. It was so for Moses when he was reminded of the Covenant with Abraham (Exodus 6:1-4). We must always live in the light of His covenant purposes or we too will be so taken up with daily affairs that we are not ready for the time of the next stage of covenant completion. At the time of God’s taking the next step, there are often times of difficulty all around, with such pressure that we could be so intent on getting through each day that our eyes are more earthwards than heavenwards.

It was like this at the time of the coming of Yeshua. Israel was dominated by the Roman Empire which was under the rule of the Caesars who followed their own gods. The contrasts that were to be learned in Egypt had encroached on the Land of Israel in the form of another worldly empire. Life was hard labour again.

The context of the birth of Yeshua has parallels with the birth of Moses. For example, Pharaoh ordered the killing of innocent babies, and Herod ordered the killing of young children in Bethlehem when he heard from the Magi about the birth of Yeshua (Matthew 2:16). Another similarity is that Yeshua was taken to Egypt for safety (Matthew 2:13-15), so that He too would come out of Egypt.

Yeshua was to fully identify with his people, just as Moses had done before Him. He was to be a deliverer in different circumstances, but in continuation and completion of what was begun through Moses and the wilderness journey. For example, we read in one of the wonderful passages in John’s Gospel that Yeshua said of Himself:

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. (John 15:1)

If we are awake to Yeshua speaking of Himself as God’s chosen deliverer, just as Moses did in his day, we would understand how Moses was a preparation for Yeshua. He was inferring that what we read in Psalm 80 must now be read as fulfilled in Him:

Restore us, O God of hosts;
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!

You have brought a vine out of Egypt;
You have cast out the nations, and planted it.

You prepared room for it,
And caused it to take deep root,
And it filled the land. (Psalm 80:7-9)

Yeshua identified with His people and asked that they identify with Him. The vine out of Egypt was to be interpreted in Him.

It was said that Moses was the humblest man on earth. Likewise, Yeshua spoke out of love and humility in order that, through our response to His invitation to be grafted into Him the true vine, we might follow Him through the next stages of God’s Covenant purposes for His people. This began in His earthly ministry and His great sacrifice on the Roman Cross. We will find many parallels in Yeshua’s life as we travel in future weeks through the wilderness journey to the Promised Land. Moses led his people to the Promised Land; Yeshua leads us to the eternal Kingdom of Heaven.

Let us, therefore, remember the “big picture” of redemption. Since the Fall of Adam and Eve, there has been need of redemption from this world of sin to an eternal homeland where we are reunited with God. Moses was the great leader to take the covenant plan forward from Egypt to the Promised Land, where Israel would live as the people of God. But the Land of Israel is not the Garden of Eden and more is needed. Whilst God will not forget all His covenant promises to Israel, He will complete what He started when He gave Abraham the Covenant for all people who are called to live by the same faith as he had.

Yeshua presented Himself to His people as the deliverer to complete God’s purposes to fully restore us to the eternal Kingdom – the greater fulfilment of the journey to the Promised Land. He made it clear that this greater purpose was to be fulfilled in Him, when He said to Pilate:

“My kingdom is not of this world … now My kingdom is not from here.” (John 18:36)

Just as pressure increased on Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of the land of Egypt and for them to believe that God appointed Moses as their deliverer, so pressures will mount again on this entire world as the time comes for the fulness of Yeshua’s Kingdom to be manifest for all who will follow Him.

This truth is not held sufficiently in books of theology. It is the truth that we are compelled to live by each day.

Israel, while in Egypt, were to live in the light of a promise given to Abraham. 400 years is a long time to wait for deliverance: though the promise was sure and true, but could sadly be forgotten over centuries of waiting. It is the same with Yeshua. We must wait in the light of God’s promises through Him, as we study them in the entire Bible. We must read the New Testament as founded on Torah and abide in the truth. Light does shine on that truth when we read and pray with an open heart. Abraham, through the Covenant, foresaw the physical Promised Land but also knew that there was a greater and higher meaning to the Covenant. The Writer to the Hebrews understood this clearly in the light of Yeshua. In the summary of the faith of those from Abel to Moses, in Chapter 11, it is said of Abraham:

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. (Verses 8-10)

Abraham was promised the Land of Canaan as the physical homeland for his descendants, but also knew that the Covenant with God would be fully complete in the eternal home, away from this world of sin. As we read our Torah portion this week, let us begin to dig deeply below the surface of what God did long ago, so that we find the fulness of understanding for our own day. Surely, we live in days as momentous as when Israel was in Egypt, with God’s promises still being fulfilled.

Dr Clifford Denton

Founder and Director

Tishrei Bible School

www.tishrei.org

Vayechi (And lived): Genesis 47:28-50:26

Weekly Torah Studies for 2025/26 ( 5786).

On the road to Emmaus, Yeshua met with two of His disciples and, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:27). For our Torah studies this year, therefore, week by week we will seek to discover how all of Torah prepared the way for the coming Messiah.

3rd January 2026 (14 Tevet)

Vayechi (And lived): Genesis 47:28-50:26

Our portion this week is filled with prophetic meaning. The ways of God are made known through the lives of men and women. There has been much focus on Joseph who became a means of salvation for his family. Likewise, on other occasions in the future, whether it be in times of famine or any other difficulty, there is continued expectation that God will raise up a saviour for His people. In this study we will consider how the prophecies were to be fulfilled in Messiah.

Joseph was not an expected saviour. He was not Jacob’s firstborn son. His dreams had been rejected by Joseph’s brothers as the boasting of a favoured son. Yet Joseph was God’s choice. When all was fulfilled, the famine now over and with the family living in Egypt, Jacob died and his body was taken back to Canaan. Joseph could now declare to his brothers concerning their mistreatment of him:

… you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. (Genesis 50:20)

This must always be borne in mind when we consider how God will bring about His purposes. We may trust Him for the outworking of our future, including deliverance from the most difficult times, but He may surprise us as to His choice of through whom and how we will be helped. As God said through the Prophet Isaiah:

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

Within the expectation of what God will do for us there must always be an element of “wait and see”.

Expectation for an anointed one to be the saviour of God’s people was typified by Joseph. It also focussed on Judah. Judah was to be the tribe from which a future Messianic ruler would come. This was prophesied in Jacob’s final blessings of his sons (Genesis 49).

We see here the prophetic power of blessing. Jacob had already distinguished between Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, foretelling that the younger brother would be greater than the older (Genesis 48:19). God had given Jacob prophetic insight so that, just as Joseph’s dreams had been fulfilled in a way determined by God, so would the prophetic blessing be fulfilled for Ephraim and Manasseh.

Likewise, each of his twelve sons was told how their descendants would fulfil the prophecy that was spoken over them. The coming history of each of their tribes began at this time and was influenced by the character of their forefather.

For our purposes in this year’s Torah studies, Judah is of special interest. The prophecy over him in full was:

The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people. Binding his donkey to the vine, and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he washed his garments in wine, and His clothes in the blood of grapes. His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk. (Genesis 49:10-12)

This prophecy is full of meaning concerning Israel’s promised Messiah. Every word is relevant to what God purposed in the future for His people. As with much prophecy, there is some clarity and also some mystery. We have an expectation that will be clarified at the right time. Judah was chosen by God to bring forth a ruler of his people of great significance, called Shiloh. A word study of what shiloh  means is that it is a person with specially appointed status, who would rule and bring prosperity and rest. There was sufficient mystery in the word shiloh as to give scope to understand what this meant through continued prayerful study over the centuries. The reference to the donkey tethered to a choice vine can build the expectation of prosperity in a land full of ripe and good fruit.

Thus began the expectation of a kingly line from Judah and, at a time appointed by God, a ruler would emerge with special anointing. King David was appointed by God despite, as we shall see in later studies, the warning through Moses (Deuteronomy 17) and the sorrow of Samuel (1 Samuel 8) that Israel should not ask for a king to be like other nations. David’s appointment as king, nevertheless, was in line with Jacob’s prophecy over Judah, but the expectancy of an even greater king was cultivated through God’s covenant promise to David (2 Samuel 7).

So it was that all Israel waited for the coming Messiah, fulfilling prophecy enshrouded with mystery. This Messiah would come from the line of Judah and of David, and would be appointed by God as King of the Jews.

Not only does all Torah speak of this Messiah, but so does the rest of Scripture. There is a word that occurs regularly which carries a hint of the nature of the coming Messiah. It often appears when there is a cry of hope. The word is yeshua, which means salvation. It appears for the first time when Jacob had prophesied over Dan (Genesis 49:18):

I have waited for your salvation (yeshua), O Lord!

We can link this to the last part of Jacob’s prophecy over Judah, by considering another element of the mystery. Interestingly, there is not much reference to be found to this part of the prophecy in biblical commentary. Yet it must be as important as the rest, and worthy of careful study as to what might be implied. What was meant by His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk? It could, of course, be that this refers to the physical beauty of the coming Messiah.

The reference to eyes and teeth becomes more relevant when we consider the justice of the laws of Moses, eye for eye and tooth for tooth (Exodus 21:24). Is there a hint to the perfect justice in the character of the coming Messiah, who is prophesied as having perfect eyes and teeth?

To take this further, we see that there are two letters of the Hebrew language, ayin and shin, that symboliseeyes and teeth. These two Hebrew letters,  ע  and ש appear in the spelling of the word yeshua (ישוע); a word which therefore contains the two letters relating to God’s balance of justice, hinted at in the prophecy given to Judah for the coming Messiah. If this Messiah is in some way a saviour (yeshua) of Israel, the symbols of eyes and teeth are in the letters of his ministry as saviour. Could this be the reason for eyes and teeth being part of Jacob’s prophecy? His ministry of salvation embodies a perfect representation of the law.  Perfect justice is foreseen.

There is more! The word yeshua, meaning salvation,  is also a name. It is the root of the name of Joshua who brought Israel into the promised land. Joshua is a type of Messiah for this reason. His name embodies his ministry.

The name Yeshua was also given to Mary for her son, who was to be born by miraculous birth. This name has been modified by Christians to Jesus, but it was originally Yeshua. The angel spoke thus to Joseph concerning Mary to whom he was betrothed (Matthew 1:21):

 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Yeshua, for He will save His people from their sins.

This prophecy contains a play on words, which we can see in an English translation of the words:

And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Salvation, for He will save His people from their sins.

In Hebrew:

והיא ילדת בן וקראת את שמו ישוע כי הוא יושיע את עמו מעונותיהם

v’hi yoledet ben v’qara’at et shmo Yeshua ki hu yoshia et amo mechatoteyhem

Matthew began his Gospel account with the genealogy of Yeshua (Jesus) to verify that He was of the line of David and therefore eligible to fulfil prophecy as the expected Messiah King. Out of the many who might have been named Yeshua in the land of Israel, this Yeshua  was the one chosen by God, whose birth Matthew went on to describe.

God’s ways are not our ways. Yeshua grew and then, as the Son of Man, fulfilled His earthly ministry. Just as it was for Jacob’s son Joseph, it was not easy for His brothers to recognise who He was. Indeed, He suffered like Joseph because of this - to the extent of crucifixion.

There are two other letters that, with ע  and ש, make up the name ישוע (Yeshua). They are the small letter yud( י ) and vav ( ו ). Like ayin and shin, these two letters also have symbolic meanings. The letter yud is a symbol of a hand and the letter vav  is a symbol of a nail. Together they can point to the nail-pierced hands of Yeshua on the cross when, through His sacrifice, He embodied eternal salvation for all who will believe, first for the Jews and then for the Gentiles.

There is, therefore, even more to see! The name Yeshua, meaning salvation, is a balance of two letters symbolising the justice of the law and two letters symbolising the mercy of God through the sacrifice of His Son. This wonderful balance of justice with mercy was the result of Yeshua’s sacrifice for us, when He took our sins upon Himself.

The mystery of Jacob’s prophecy over Judah speaks for all time of the one who would be our anointed Saviour, whom Isaiah prophesied:

….was despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:3-5)

What a Saviour!

When any one of Jacob’s sons (and all others who are called to faith in Yeshua) bows before Him, they may well remember the words of Joseph spoken afresh to them through Yeshua:

 … you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. (Genesis 50:20)

In summary, all of Scripture points to Yeshua. The prophecy of Jacob over Judah is a profound statement of expectation of the coming Messiah, in which every word – indeed every letter – has meaning.

Dr Clifford Denton

Founder and Director

Tishrei Bible School

www.tishrei.org

Vayigash (And drew near): Genesis 44:18-47:27

Weekly Torah Studies for 2025/26 ( 5786).

On the road to Emmaus, Yeshua met with two of His disciples and, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:27). For our Torah studies this year, therefore, week by week we will seek to discover how all of Torah prepared the way for the coming Messiah.

27th December 2025 (7 Tevet)

Vayigash (And drew near): Genesis 44:18-47:27

At the heart of our study this week is the journey of Israel to Egypt. A family of seventy is to settle there and grow, over many years, into a large nation. Jacob’s life was nearly over, but it was to be completed in Egypt rather than Canaan. Already his son Joseph has become the main focus of our attention, but soon it will be the generation following who were to become responsible to God. There is a pattern of God’s covenant purposes as one generation is succeeded by another.

We all have a limited time on earth. If we are sensitive to God’s purpose in our life, we seek to fulfil that purpose and complete the ministry He has given for us to accomplish, before we leave responsibility to the next generation. So it was with Jacob.

It is significant that they stopped at Beersheba to offer sacrifices to God (Genesis 46:1). There are appropriate times in our lives when we must pause, reflect, and recommit ourselves to God and His purposes. These are times when God may speak to us as He did to Jacob to both encourage him and clarify what was to happen:

Then God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!” And he said, “Here I am.” So He said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there.  I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes.” (Genesis 46:2-4)

Jacob was weary, as he expressed through the words he spoke to Pharaoh on meeting him:

And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” (Genesis 46:9)

Nevertheless, he would have been clear that the journey to Egypt was completely in God’s will.

There are times when God gathers His people together for the next stage. We will see this, for example in the Book of Numbers when the census was taken in the wilderness of Sinai and the nation was put in order with various responsibilities for the wilderness journey. Similarly, there was a preparation made under Joshua prior to crossing the Jordan, including the circumcision of the men (Joshua 5). Another example is when Solomon dedicated the Temple (2 Chronicles 7) and when God appeared to him. There are such transitional times in God’s purposes, when God gathers His people. There are also the times in the regular cycle of life, especially the yearly feasts which are God’s holy convocations (Leviticus 23:2).

In all these cases, we are reminded over and over again that God knows us by name and has a particular purpose for us to fulfil. Just as for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the twelve sons, we know that the journey may not be easy. There are periods when God seems silent, but there are also moments along the journey of life where His purposes are made clear. These are times when we need encouragement and understanding of His particular purpose in our life.

For Jacob it was essential to go down to Egypt and settle with his family. We are now given the names of the next generation. It is good to read them in full, and honour them here, reminding us that God knows each of His family by name:

 The sons of Reuben were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 

The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul.

The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

The sons of Judah were Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.

The sons of Issachar were Tola, Puvah, Job, and Shimron.

The sons of Zebulun were Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.

The sons of Gad were Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.

The sons of Asher were Jimnah, Ishuah, Isui, Beriah, and Serah, their sister. And the sons of Beriah were Heber and Malchiel.

To Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim.

The sons of Benjamin were Belah, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.

The son of Dan was Hushim.

The sons of Naphtali were Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. 

In God’s purposes, one generation follows another. Prominent though the ministry of an individual may be, the time comes to hand on to the next generation. This is a pattern for all mankind, and God’s purposes for the next generation are in continuity with what went before. It is essential that each generation learns to live closely with God to fulfil their own purpose. We know from the Patriarchs that this is never easy – yet God always has a purpose and He will be sure to complete it, even if the world shakes around us. Recall Haggai’s prophecy, yet to be fulfilled in these end days:

For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the Lord of hosts.” (Haggai 2:6-9)

In addition to the struggles and division that beset Jacob’s family, including Joseph being sold as a slave, God used a famine upon the land to bring Israel to settle in Egypt. We will soon be reading about the immense signs and wonders that accompanied Israel’s leaving Egypt 430 years later. In all of this there was a growing family of named and known individuals called together, each with a part in the fulfilment of God’s covenant promises.

It is the same for us. When we review the history of the world, we have thousands of years of human interaction to consider. Much of this is a history of striving among nations, times of warfare and upheaval. In the days of Jacob, one could so easily have focussed entirely on survival. If it were not for the gathering together of God’s people to reassure them and remind them of His own purposes, they could be completely forgotten - lost in the day by day striving.

In any phase of history, we can seek to understand God’s purpose at that time. The most recent time of struggle for survival across the entire world was the Second World War. At that time, almost everyone focussed on personal and national survival as priority. Yet those with insight , especially when called to prayer, realised that a covenant purpose of God would emerge: the restoration of the nation of Israel. When Jacob went to Egypt, he could not claim that his family was in perfect order. Neither is the gathering of Jacob’s family today, but God has a purpose.

Over 2000 years the message of salvation through Yeshua has been proclaimed across the world, bringing multitudes into God’s covenant purposes from among the Gentiles, as well as the Jews.

Now, as tensions rise again across the entire world we must gather before God together and consider what He is bringing about through His covenant family. Yeshua made it very clear, as recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21, that we will live in a world where we will encounter evil arising, a time of famine, sickness, earthquakes and wars. Yet, despite all this, and because of it, God will fulfil all of His purposes - it is what will result out of this seeming chaos that matters in the light of eternity. Indeed, the time is coming when, out of this time of tribulation, all nations will gather before Yeshua. A final census will be taken on a scale much larger than when Jacob and His family met with God at Beersheba. Now is the time of preparation, not for taking our family in carts to Egypt, but for when Yeshua will gather His people for the eternal Kingdom.

Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:29-31)

Dr Clifford Denton

Founder and Director

Tishrei Bible School

www.tishrei.org