Sermon on the Mount Mt 5.2 Lesson 3

And He Opened His mouth taught them saying:

He began to speak /Opening his mouth

A common idiom that emphasizes the seriousness of His teaching .

The intent is to arouse the readers attention and prepare them for what is coming. It is a common phrase in the Bible and in Jewish writings.

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Alludes to A person lives by “every word that comes for the mouth of God”

Where in scripture does Jesus quote to ? . .

and to teach

This Hebrew word LMD for teach is used with the idea of training in the fear of the Lord

CJB

the day you stood before Adonai your God at Horev, when Adonai said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, and I will make them hear my very words, so that they will learn to hold me in awe as long as they live on earth, and so that they will teach their children.’

Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.

God is the lawgiver who holds the power of life and death. To learn means to come to terms with the will and the law of God, to act on His word as He spoke it. He does not change.

I will make them Hear my words hear=Shema means hear and obey

Debar =Logos, Memra (bridge between Heaven and Earth, God and man

to drive, lead, bring forward, hence to bring forward, or utter one’s sentiments;

a root to arrange, to speak, to subdue, answer, command, rehearse, say, teach tell, think

1. Torah H8451 Law, instruction H3384 H3385 yarah to flow like water, teach to throw straight as to point one in the direction to go, and includes motion forward Root YR

2. H3374 fear yirah to flow of the insides, recognizing the power and position of the one feared, the fear that throws one at the feet of the one feared. Root YR

3. H1697 debar H1696 arrange subdue

Davar implies content and reality in one's words.

The word of God is what God has brought forth to man from his own mind and

counsel; it is a perfect similitude of His own righteousness, holiness, goodness, and truth.

The Book we call Deuteronomy is named Devarim (dev a ream) in the Hebrew. Devarim is the plural of devar. So, the name of the Book is Words—taken from the first line of the Book, "These are the words which Moses spake…."

Moses did not get to enter the Promised Land because God told him to speak to the rock to bring forth water; instead Moses struck it.

Some rabbis say that God wanted to demonstrate the power of the spoken word and that Israel could use it to take Canaan.

That they may learn to fear me Lamad ox goad

Learn The picture is that of an oxgoad-a long stick with a pointed end. It is used to encourage an animal to move.

Awe of God

Jerusalem, named by God, in the original Hebrew means “the perfect awe of God”

On the 16th of Adar, the Jews began rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and a holiday was set to commemorate the event. In Psalms, Jerusalem is called the city that joins together. It is said that those within the walls are one as the wall that encircles the city encircles all in equality. Jerusalem's unique holiness is beyond any other walled city. Within the walls, the sacrifices, the consumption of the sacrifices were done. It applied to every Jew equally and the reason, as the name of Jerusalem suggests, is that Jerusalem reveals the awe of God within every Jew. When we are enveloped with an all encompassing fear of God, all the differences that divide us, fade away and our being becomes an expression of reverence. The lesson: the wall intact is the Jews awe of God.and everyone within its perimeter, is endowed with a desire to achieve, a perfect awe of God.

What does mean to you? . . .

Tanakh

The beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord,

And knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

The word Torah is related to fear, both words are from a 2 letter root YR. Out of the same concept of flowing comes the ru’ahh of Yahweh is the Spirit or wind which also means the character of an individual

Out of the very inner being of Yahweh flow His teachings and His character. God and His word are one. The fear (flowings Yirah - the teachings torah) and character (ru'ahh).) of Yahweh are the beginning of wisdom and an intimate relationship with the special one is understanding.

The flowings (fear) (Yirah - the teachings (torah) and character (ru'ahh).) of

Yahweh is the beginning

wisdom (Hhakhmah - the ability to distinguish between good and bad. it is found in the heart and the will, and not the head). It is the response to the teaching of a personal God who is holy and just and expects those with whom He has relationship to exhibit His character in the everyday life. Wisdom is based on revealed principles of right and wrong.

Knowledge daat the bridge between knowledge/concepts and reality. to focus, hold concentration

Understanding binah to separate, discern. take on new insights, analyze the implications, distill the meaning

Praise the Lord. How blessed is the man who fears the lord, who greatly delights in His commandments.

That they may teach their children Lamad ox goad

He is both teacher and Lord, gave his own authoritative interpretation of Moses’ law, Baali Torah (Master of Torah) Seat of Moses, issued commandments and expected obedience.

He even invites his disciples to assume his ‘yoke’ or submit to his teaching, as they had previously borne the yoke of Torah. , ( weight of the law/ weight of sin)

ASV 1901

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

The Yoke in Judaism and in Scripture:It is the symbol of service and servitude, and in accordance with the principle that the Jew should be free from servitude to man in order to devote himself to the service of God, the "yoke of the kingdom of man" is contrasted with "the yoke of the kingdom of heaven."

In Jewish writings we find:

The "yoke of the Torah" is the study of Torah but more so the proclamation of the unity of God by reading the Shema and is called "accepting upon oneself the yoke of the kingdom of heaven,"

In Avot 6:6 the phrase "bearing the yoke with one's fellow" means "sharing his burdens."

What is the Shema? Where is it found? . . . .

is the basis of Judaism and their foundation and belief in God

, ,

It is recited twice a day in Jewish Prayer

Jesus has called His chosen 12, and He begins to teach/to instruct in the laws and teaches of His Father. He begins with defining how to obtain wisdom through the fear of the Lord and how

Moses gave the law in the Tanach, Jesus gives the law in His discourses and in His actions

The Sermon on the Mount in context portrays the repentance and the righteousness that belong to the Kingdom of God.

It is what Kingdom people, Kingdom life, Kingdom community are when under the gracious rule of God.

And what do they look like? Different! Jesus emphasized that his true followers, the citizens of God’s kingdom, were to be entirely different from others. They were not to take their cue from the people around them, but from him, and so prove to be genuine children of their heavenly Father.

Their character was to be completely distinct from that admired by the world. They were to shine like lights in the prevailing darkness. Their righteousness was to exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, both in ethical behaviour and in religious devotion, while their love was to be greater and their ambition nobler than those of their pagan neighbours.

How could all those people hear what Jesus was saying?

Location of the Sermon on the Mount is that it was on a mountain near the Lake of Gennesaret and Capernaum, the fishing town on the northern shore of the Lake of Gennesaret.

The location of the Sermon on the Mount is likely to have been northwest of the Lake of Gennesaret.

The Lake of Gennesaret is shaped like a bowl and has strong winds that serve as a natural amplifier.

A firm voice spoken downwind carries a fair distance. So when Jesus preached on a mountain near the Sea of Galilee at a crowd seated below Him, the wind is likely to have been blowing toward the Sea of Galilee.

Jesus has announced the Kingdom of Heaven and in He declares the principles of the Kingdom.

It gives the divine constitution for the righteous government of the earth. (12) When the kingdom of heaven is established on earth it will be according to Gods constitution. It explains “righteousness” as used by the prophets in describing the kingdom

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In this sense the Sermon on the Mount is pure law, and transfers the offence from the overt act to the motive

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How about you: Is God asking you to walk on water? Will you follow Jesus and step out of the boat?

To follow Jesus you must be willing to eat of the dust of His feet and to Obey His words. To be transformed you must be teachable, you must be willing to be a blank slate that He may write His words upon your heart and they becoming the guidance for every step you take.

From the twelve year old questioning the scholars, to His baptism, to His testing of obedience, to the Wedding at Cana, to the cleansing of the temple, as is the right of the King, to the beginning of the showing of the true meaning of salvation in His acts, the one greater than Moses is taking another step toward the cross.

ESV

and many peoples shall come, and say:

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

to the house of the God of Jacob,

that he may teach us his ways

and that we may walk in his paths.”

For out of Zion shall go forth the law,

and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

ESV

For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver;

the Lord is our king; he will save us.

In the Beatitudes, Jesus begins to expound upon the Kingdom of God and who Kingdom people are and how to recognize them. Jesus is the Law Giver, the one with the right to judge, He wants you to pay attention to His words, to hear and obey and be transformed.