Category: Torah

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Anger Apostolic Writings Discussions Life With God Torah

Real meaning of ‘eye for an eye’: God’s lessons in peace-making

A biblical man and a woman weighing each other on the scales of justice with northern lights. The Real Meaning of "eye for an eye" God's lessons in peacemaking.

Last time, we discussed lashon ha-ra (evil tongue, i.e., gossip, slander and divisiveness) and how it is one of the latter-day plagues among God’s people.

In this excursus, we will explore a related principle taught in Torah by Yeshua and His apostles: proportionality. A number of Christians often consider “eye for an eye and tooth for tooth” an example of the “old covenant” not to live by anymore and quote Yeshua to that effect.

Rather, we’ll see that “eye for an eye” is a Bible parabolic idiom teaching proportionality. The point of justice is to restore the offender to the community, not extract a pound of flesh.

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Discussions Torah

Exodus 39-40: Designs for the Tabernacle implements shows God has a place for each of us

Drawing from the book The Bible and Its Story (1908) written by Charles F. Horne & Julius August Brewer.

There is a lot of exactness described in Exodus 39-40 for the design of the furniture and implements of the Tabernacle of Israel. One lesson we can draw from this is every piece of furniture had its own exclusive place. Every item had its irreplaceable function in God’s house. We were all brought to God’s High Priest first. Yeshua the High Priest presented us to the Father. When God calls us to Himself, He calls us to our irreplaceable task too.

Another lesson from the directed precision is God trained the people to stay where He stayed and move when He moved.

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Discussions Torah

Exodus 37-38: Design of the Ark of the Testimony and furniture of Tabernacle holy places

What does all this architectural and interior design detail of the Tabernacle and its furniture mean? What is God showing us? How does this involve us personally? There is a physical building and objects, but every detail is a picture of spiritual reality and the transformation God wants to do in each of us. and it holds lots of meaning. Each item had a function, as does each person in God’s dwelling place — His people.

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Discussions Torah

Exodus 35-36: A rested development of God’s House

Exodus 35-36 is a repetition of the previous chapter about the design of the Tabernacle. It doesn’t emphasize the size or measurements of the Tabernacle, but the finer details. These chapters are all about the work or nonwork in the context of building God’s Tabernacle.

When the people of Israel passed the second test, by being patient while Moses was on the mountain for the second 40 day period, they were ready to start building the Tabernacle. Do we wait for God to work on our hearts before the rest of God’s work for us to be “built” as God’s temples?

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Discussions Torah

Exodus 34: Moshe Encounters God While Receiving the Replacement Tablets

Illustration of Moses (Moshe) seated on a mountaintop, wearing white robes with a red shawl, holding a stone tablet while a second tablet rests nearby. A glowing halo surrounds his head, and the background features a dramatic landscape with mountains, trees, and a radiant sky. Overlaid text reads: "Moshe Encounters God While Receiving the Replacement Tablets – Exodus 34." The logo "hallel.info" appears in the bottom right corner.

Some commentators believe God was angry at Moses for breaking those tablets with the 10 Commandments, but I don’t believe so. When Moses broke the tablets, Moses was simply acknowledging the fact that the people had already broken the covenant that just 40 days earlier they had promised to uphold when they said, “What you say, we will do.” So it was appropriate for Moses to break those tablets. But it was also appropriate that the tablets had to be remade.

Moses had a friendship with God that His contemporaries did not have. Paul says that thanks to Yeshua, we can approach God without a veil.

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Discussions Torah

Exodus 33: How do we find favor in God’s sight?

A watercolor of a wide, desolate camp with one tent set apart in the distance, bathed in divine light. At the top, the title reads, "How do we find favor in God's sight?" and in the lower right corner, it reads "Exodus 33" and the logo "hallel.info" with the hebrew letter het.

The events in Exodus 33 were a direct consequence of the golden calf in Exodus 32. After that incident, God commanded Moshe (Moses) to move his personal tent outside the camp where the people of Israel were camping. God is a gentleman. When He is not wanted, he leaves.

Moshe was a “shadow,” a teaching representation, of God; and Aharon (Aaron), of God’s Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus).

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Discussions Torah

Exodus 31-32: Golden calf and its aftermath

Richard Agee

The golden calf is synonymous with syncretism and rebellion against God. This incident profoundly shaped how Israel developed as a nation and how it devolved into two nations later. It also shows us how a small, powerful minority can change the character of a nation and indelibly mark it for good or bad.