Followers of Messiah have long meditated on seven “oracles” in Luke 1–2 that were recited by the Angel Gabriel, Miriam, Elisheba, Zakharyah, and Shimon. We are going to meditate on them today and next time.
Category: Discussions
The wording in this series of chapters differs from prior chapters. At this point, HaShem (the LORD) is addressing all the people, not just the priesthood. There is an intriguing link between the elaborations on not eating blood in Leviticus 17 and then those on not having sexual relations with blood relatives in Leviticus 18.
This is the second time Nathan had to come to David with a word from the Lord, at least the second time recorded in Scripture. But this time David spoke the prophetic word upon himself.
Leviticus 16 provides us an “insider’s view” of the Day of Atonement. We can know what the High Priest is doing on that day, even though the common person was not allowed to witness most of of the tasks required of the High Priest on that day. Most of the priests activities are “covered” away from the general public. The people of Israel had to believe by faith that the High Priest was doing his job on their behalf properly and that God would accept the High Priest’s offerings on their behalf.
The births of Yokhanan ben Zakharyah (John the Baptist) and Messiah Yeshua are amazing in that they illustrate how God planned throughout time to “pitch His tent” among mankind in a physical way and hadn’t abandoned the work He started in Israel. God foretold of the coming of a herald for the Messiah via the prophet Malachi announced the arrive of that messenger to Yokhanan’s father, a righteous priest in a priesthood led by wicked men. The coming of the herald and the Messiah followed a specific plan. The seven “oracles” in Luke 1-2 show that the same plan God put in place at the beginning of time still was active even at a dark point in Israel’s history.
In Matthew 5-7, Messiah Yeshua gave us a reality check on whether our lives are trending toward the righteousness that God seeks. In Matthew 7, Yeshua tells us how to “judge” with mercy and discernment. Matthew 12, shows us Yeshua’s practical application of this principle.By the strict definition of the Torah, the apostles were guilty of threshing grain on the Shabbat. Yet, Yeshua, rather than confirming the harsh edict of the Pharisees, comes to their defense and turns the tables in favor of mercy.
Many believers in Yeshua — and those who don’t believe in Yeshua who purposefully misappropriate His words to justify their own ends — use Matthew 7:1-5 as a blanket prohibition on using any discernment between good and evil. However the later texts of the same chapter show that Yeshua doesn’t want us to walk around without any sense of judgment or discernment. He wants us to discern and judge with mercy and compassion.
David committed a series of sins that started out minor and culminated in the most egregious of sins of adultery and murder. This tragedy sets up a series of later tragedies that nearly take David off the throne permanently but they also harken back to the story of Adam and Eve and their fall from grace.