“You have heard it said, but I say…” was a common rabbinic phrase used when a rabbi wanted to encourage yeshiva students to dissect and discuss a particular Torah principle. A “problematic” Torah edicts is “eye for eye, tooth for tooth,” etc. Many Christians and Jews are very uncomfortable with this “barbaric” “tit-for-tat” law.
Not coincidentally, Yeshua’s warning about taking oaths in Matthew 5 follows His reminder that God’s allowance for divorce is very narrow. Marriage vows are serious business, and oaths to or referencing God are even more grave.
Ecclesiastes is customarily read during Sukkot, the festival of Booths or Tabernacles, to pour a bucket of reality on the rejoicing of the promised time when God will dwell with mankind.
We look for an explanation for the misery and battle between good, bad and evil explored in the book of Ecclesiastes both from the beginning of history and the end. Revelation 21–22 assures us that God will wipe away all tears and there will be no death, mourning, pain or frustration. All those things will pass away. That is what we are all looking forward to when Yeshua will tabernacle with men forever.
Adultery and divorce are rampant problems in modern society, even among the body of believers in Yeshua (Jesus) as the Messiah. Rather than changing the words of Torah, Prophets and Writings on these two topics, Yeshua closes loopholes in interpretations of adultery laws and expands the meaning of adultery, in keeping with other teachings in the Scriptures.
The focus of Isaiah 61 is the status of the poor. Notice there are several similarities between that passage and Yeshua’s “happy are”/“woe to” discourse, commonly known as the Beatitudes.
It’s difficult to feel “blessed” when life is difficult, when bad and evil things of our existence seem to dominate. However, one of the promises God makes throughout the Bible is that He will bring “woe,” or judgment, to the evil of the world. “Blessed are,” or “happy are,” those who trust that God will make good on those promises.
Yeshua outlined duties for His 12 closest disciples, and these instructions help guide us today.