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Discussions Torah Trumpets

Numbers 10-11: Two silver trumpets; curse of craving quail; distributing the Spirit from Moshe

In chapter 10, use of two silver trumpets is explained, such as calling together the people to celebrate the New Moon and other appointed times. In chapter 11, the people of Israel call out for more than meat and manna, and God curses the cravers with copious quail followed by a plague.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions

Luke 5:17-39: Yeshua heals a paralyzed man lowered through Peter’s roof, calls Levi-Matthew, tells parables of cloths and wineskins

Yeshua had authority to heal paralytics, forgive sins and call tax collectors to His select 12 disciples. The punchline and the context of these stories and the parables Yeshua told are crucial clues to the meaning of Yeshua’s parables and miracles. A common interpretation of the parables of the cloths and wineskins is that Yeshua is teaching that one needs to unlearn the Torah to learn the gospel, but parables of the same time period employing the same symbols have a different point.

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Appointments With God Discussions Passover Torah

Numbers 8-9: ‘Second Passover’; purification of Levites as Israel’s new ‘firstborn’

The events of this chapter occurred during the first month of the second year after the children of Israel left Egypt. There’s the provision for a “makeup Passover” for those unavoidably out of the country or “unclean” at the time of Passover and purification of the Levites as the primary “firstborn” of Israel in God’s eyes.

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Discussions Prophets and Writings

2nd Samuel 15 — Absolom as a haSatan figure to the Messiah

Daniel elaborates on the chiastic structure of 2nd Samuel 15–20 by showing a couple of simpler chiastic structures in Numbers 7, which was discussed during the Torah study.

The one in 2nd Samuel is the largest chiastic structure that Daniel has presented so far. However, the focus of this chiastic structure, as in most chiastic structures, is the Messiah. God places these chiastic structures in the Bible to reveal clues about the role of the Messiah or events that will occur in the Messiah’s life on earth.

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Discussions Torah

Numbers 7 — heart of God in the 12 offerings of the 12 tribes

This chapter gives us an example of unity and diversity. Each tribe had its function in regards to the dedication of the temple but each tribe was required to bring the exact same number of items in a set pattern over the course of 12 days. Within the tribe of Levi, each family had their functions and received different gifts to fulfill that function. Their individual functions did not dilute their unity as the people of Israel. All the tribes had to participate to accomplish the dedication of the altar.

This chapter is one of those chapters we read and question the modern day relevance. There’s lots of accounting in this chapter, giving an account of individual tribal offerings and adding them up overall. It also gives the names of individual tribal leaders we don’t know.

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Appointments With God Discussions Purim Torah Unleavened Bread

Seventh day of Unleavened Bread: Significance then and today of Israel’s crossing of the Red Sea

Seven days after Israel left Egypt after the first Passover, the new nation went through the Red Sea. The salvation of the LORD was on display. God said that “from generation to generation” we are to remember the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It is easy not to remember this time because the world’s system purposefully distracts from this time and ignores it as much as possible. God proved His sincere desire to redeemed mankind when He commanded His Son to die for us.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions

Luke 5:12-16 — Yeshua cleanses lepers

Part of Yeshua’s calling was to heal the sick and there was no disease that caused more Jews to tremble than the prospect of leprosy. Once a priest diagnosed a person with leprosy, that person was an outcast, shunned in the community and compelled to live a life of loneliness. Healthy people who came into contact with a leper were considered unclean, too. Yeshua’s healing of these lepers is very significant because he not only healed them with his words but with his touch. Some claim that Yeshua’s cleansing of lepers in this fashion was a rebuke and a refutation of the Levitical system but Yeshua’s healings actually uphold the Levitical system because he commands the lepers to go back to the priests to have their healing confirmed so they can rejoin the community of believers.