Sheni Shel Shavuot - 2023

Deception of Perception and the Transmutation of Physical Existence to Spiritual Gold.

What is Shavuot? It is the day that commemorates the giving of the Torah at Sinai. It is the entering of the covenant with God. You may liken it to a Ketubah, a marriage contract. The terms were read and both parties said, “I do!”. And every year that Shavuot comes around, we “renew our vows”, so to say. In NT times, it is remembered as the day of the giving of the Holy Spirit, although this Holy Spirit concept isn’t anything new. The distinction in the NT scenario is that just as in the OT, when God called upon the mixed multitude and offered them a covenant of love, God through Peter, calls upon the mixed multitude and offers them the same covenant of love. In OT it is remembered as the giving of the Torah and in the NT it is remembered as the giving of the Holy Spirit. However, both are, in essence, the same. One cannot exist without the other because both are one.

Typically, Shavuot is opened up with the reading of the Ten Commandments. What does the Ten Commandments have to do with the giving of the Holy Spirit?

Faith without works is dead. Works without faith are vain.

James 2:26 LEB

26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

People like to talk about how they aren’t this temporary vessel called a physical body but are the spirit within, therefore, the body doesn’t matter. If that’s the case, what is this emphasis in scriptures about making sure our bodies are clean vessels? Both in OT and NT? Just as we just read in James 2, the body is faith and the spirit is the works. And for those that like to think the other way around, let me as you this, what ultimately controls what? Does the body control the spirit? Or, does the spirit control the body? The spirit controls the body. And if we backtrack in James 2 to verse 18 we see this gem, James 2:18 “18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” Show me your body separated from your spirit. It’s dead! My body is a reflection of my spirit.

Ultimately, our flesh will be peeled back and our Spiritual self will be revealed and we will be given new bodies. However, it is how we conducted ourselves in the physical that will determine whether our spirit within is made of gold and ready to be presented to the king, or coal ready to fuel the flames. The wheat or the chaff. Our Torah reading starts off with the tithe. At first I didn’t understand why but now it makes sense. The firstlings, the best of the best is to be given to God. And that’s what we must be. The best of the grain. The best of the wine. The best of the meat. Can an unwatered field produce good grain? Can a neglected vineyard produce good wine? Can a malnourished cow produce amazing steaks? Absolutely not. There must be a harmony between the external and internal.

Separation of a single concept into its components causes confusion. This confusion caused the division. The division caused more confusion, which led to further separation. And the pointless loop was put on repeat. This makes the confused susceptible to suggestion, easy to control and lead astray. This is how we have so many religions and denominations within the many religions. One values this aspect above all else. Another values that aspect. Each exalting their own symbol. For some the cross is god. For some the letter of the law is god. For some, their imagination is god. This is idolatry. The deeper, yet subtle and often-overlooked aspect of idolatry. God never taught us religion. Yeshua never taught us religion. That was invented by people that missed the point, and in many cases had nefarious intentions. Torah thumping hypocrisy never did anything good for humanity. And neither did chanting a magical phrase over and over again like some warlock, while ignoring the words of the one they say is their Lord and Savior. In fact, both caused far more harm than good. How many billions of people have been massacred in the last 2 millennia “iN tHe NaMe Of GoD”? Regardless of religion and denomination. And they expect us to believe that that’s what God meant in His promise to Abraham about his seed being a blessing to all nations. Absolutely not!

What God established was a covenant of love. That is what our NT portion in Acts 2 from verse 21 is about. The great commission that Yeshua commanded in:

Matthew 28

The Lexham English Bible Chapter 28

19 Therefore, go* and* make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the age.”

It’s a Co-Mission. A cooperative/collective mission. The harvest is plentiful. The workers are few.

That is the purpose of Torah. How many years did the Israelites wander in the wilderness? 40. 40 is the number of trial and discipline.

Take as an example of this principle Moses. For 40 years, as Acts 7:22 tells us,

Acts 7:22 LEB

22 And Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was powerful in his words and deeds.

Then we read that, after killing the Egyptian, for the next 40 years He had to learn a fundamentally different lifestyle and encounter God. Then the last 40 years of his life He lead and taught the Israelites, so that they may be ready to do their part in the Promised Land, after him, on a grander scale.

How many hours are there in a full-time work week? 40. Everyone that has been working a full-time job is disciplined. Those that work the morning shift, wake up in the morning, do their morning routine. Get ready for work. Go to work. Work their shift. Go home and perform their household duties and relax. Over and over and over again. This works in us like a clock. And it’s applicable in every work and ministry we do. I’ve been doing 40 hour weeks in my line of work for a decade. A little less, but with overtime it’s about a decade. I can call myself a master of my craft. This allows me to multitask, because I don’t have to think about my job much anymore. My body is on autopilot, freeing up my mind to do something else. In recent years, I lost all interest in listening to noise pollution while working (people call it music) and instead have been taking in 40 hours of content and audio books and all kinds of research, relevant to biblical concepts. And then mediating on everything and trying to make sense of it all in a harmonious way so that I may teach it to my children. So that they wouldn’t have to go through the countless hours of chewing and spitting out bones before they finally find meat. And in turn they’ll do that with their children. And so on and so forth. With each generation, the efficiency increases drastically. Within just a few generations, imagine the wealth of knowledge and wisdom and influence that example will have. Especially if a lot of people are doing this. Maybe that’s partly what the “Greater Exodus” means. But with each generation, discipline is absolutely crucial. How else will one be able to discern? If you can’t discern, how can you ensure that you are indeed bearing the good fruit. With influence comes great power. And with great power comes great responsibility. Without discipline, it’s easy to fall prey to the lusts of adversaries, those that sing a fancy tune to your ego. Those that wish to exalt themselves, at the expense of everyone else. Those that seek nothing but immediate and total power. All while convincing you that they are the benefactor. Charlatans that masquerade as angels. Wolves in sheep's clothing. Offspring of vipers, as Yeshua explains in Matthew 12:33-35

Matthew 12:33–35 LEB

33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit is good, or make the tree bad and its fruit is bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 Offspring of vipers! How are you able to say good things when you are evil? For from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person from his good treasury brings out good things, and the evil person from his evil treasury brings out evil things.

The interesting thing about vipers is that they are always in the group. But when they sense danger, they separate and scatter. Farmers would burn their fields to get them ready for the planting season and when the vipers sense it, they leave their nests and scatter. However, they always get caught and burned up in the flames.

Brother Grisha mentioned an idea yesterday that’s very applicable here. If he were to write a book it would be titled, “How to get the Antichrist to ignore you.” Now, on the surface, being ignored by the Antichrist sounds good. Why would you wanted tobe targeted by evil? But essentially, if you are being ignored, you are irrelevant, and that means that he has victory over you. But the basis of this book would be Revelation 12:17.

Interestingly enough, our Prophets portion this week has an uncanny resemblance to the book of Revelation.

Revelation 12:17 LEB

17 And the dragon was angry at the woman, and went away to fight against the rest of her children, those who keep the commandments of God and who hold to the testimony about Jesus.

So, to get the Antichrist to ignore you, all you’d have to do is simply leave out just 1 of the 2 terms. Either don’t keep the commandments of God or don’t hold to the testimony of Yeshua. Not just the prophetic and atoning functions of Yeshua, but His teachings of the true essence of God’s commandments. The covenant of love. And to ensure that we aren’t ignored by the Antichrist, we must be disciplined.

Joshua 1:8 LEB

8 The scroll of this law will not depart from your mouth; you will meditate on it day and night so that you may observe diligently all that is written in it. For then you will succeed in your ways and prosper.

Meditate on it day and night. If it was about a dogmatic physical adherence to a set of rules, what is there to meditate about? Especially day and night. I don’t meditate day and night about speed limits or whatever. It’s cut and dry. Nothing to think about. Likewise, if the law is done away with, what is there to meditate about at all? The point is to lead a lifestyle that represents God’s covenant of love. Be worshippers of spirit and truth. Spirit being the universal law and truth, its outward expression.

In closing, I want to encourage everyone to focus on spreading the Gospel. And, if necessary, to use words. Because it is our actions, more specifically, our lifestyle, that matters and is the greatest example.