Today is a day to get a lot accomplished before Shabbat. It has been cloudy and a little bit rainy and we are working on a newsletter and some written resources we are producing.
NEWSLETTER. If you have not subscribed to our newsletter, you can do so by scrolling to the bottom of our home page at LoveIsrael.org. Type in your email address and then when you receive an email and confirm your subscription, you will be on the list. You must send back the confirmation email in order to be added. This is one way for you to know what is going on at LoveIsrael.org. Our new one will go out this coming week.
STUDY GUIDES. If you haven’t already, print out our new study guide for the book of Ruth. We’ve had the guide for the book of Galatians available for quite awhile, but if you haven’t gone through it, print it out as well! We will be posting a study guide for the book of Jonah very soon.
LIVE STREAM. We hope you will join us for our Live Stream tomorrow. It begins at Midnight Jerusalem time. If you live in an area which has already gone on Daylight Savings, check the time in Israel compared to your time, as it will change for you. The time of the Live Stream is always at Midnight Israel’s time. This week we will be studying the second half of Exodus 20. This is a very important passage and we hope you will join us!
Below is a commentary by Baruch on this week’s Torah reading:
In this week’s Torah portion, Moses ascends once more upon Mount Sinai to receive the second set of Tablets. He was upon the Mountain for forty days and forty nights and we are told that he did not eat bread nor did he drink water (See Exodus 34:28). This is most similar to what one reads concerning Yeshua, for He was tempted in the wilderness also forty days and forty nights, during which He did not eat or drink anything (See Matthew 4:2 and Luke 4:2). What is the connection between these two verses?
The number forty appears numerous times in the Scriptures and it relates to a transition or a change. Certainly when Moses received the Torah and descended to the people and gave to them this revelation from G-d it represented a new dispensation for the Children of Israel. In other words, by means of the Torah, the Children of Israel would now know what the will of G-d is. Yeshua, during those forty days of temptation, demonstrated that He had overcome the temptation of Satan which was foundational in Him achieving the victory / salvation for humanity. What did Yeshua use in combating this satanic temptation? The answer is of course the Torah. Hence, the commandments, while they do not provide the victory, they are related to the victorious lifestyle of one who has overcome.
In addition to the forty days and forty nights there is another similarity— the fact that neither Yeshua nor Moses ate anything for these forty days. What is the significance of fasting during this period? Fasting relates to the denying of self while relying upon G-d. This reliance is based upon a trusting in HaShem to supply a supernatural provision, rather than depending upon the natural. The message from this week’s Parashah is that one cannot truly receive the Torah, i.e. the will of G-d, by means of the flesh. Rather it is only when one comes before G-d in faith, and in a spirit of dependence upon Him, that this one will be provided the ability to receive and fulfill the Word of G-d.
This section concludes with the people noticing that Moses’ face had become radiant, i.e. reflecting the glory of G-d. Would it not be fitting that others could see the glory of G-d radiating from believers, because of our obedience to Scriptural truth?
Shabbat Shalom!