.MESSIANIC E-NEWSLETTER

-Home

-D'VAR TORAH

-ONLINE messianic NewsLetters

-Services & Special Activities

-Location Map

-Who we Are

-Mission Statement

-What is Messianic Judaism?

-CMY Academy Day School

-Books of Life Catalogue

-RebbEtzin Corner

-Links

.

Y Our E mail
Y Our ICQ Is # 79381635

זה מלך המשיח

1- האם אנחנו רוצים משיח עכשיו?
2- רוצה אתה משיח עכשיו?
3- משיח שקר - משיח אמת
4- עד שישוב המשיח

LIVING WITH MASHIACH

* DO WE WANT MASHIACH NOW?
* FALSE MESSIAHS - TRUE MESSIAH
* DO YOU WANT MASHIACH NOW?
* UNTIL MASHIACH RETURNS

מתשובה למשיח לגאולה במהרה בימינו. זכריה י"ב:י'
ברוך הבא מלך המשיח!

אני מאמין באמונה שלמה בביאת המשיח ואף על פי שיתמהמה עם כל זה אחכה לו בכל יום שיבוא.

ישועה וגאולה אמיתית לכל ישראל.

Vol. 11 No. 10 - June 2006 / Sivan - Tammuz 5766

CMY NEWSLETTER

A Message From The Rabbi

"SHAVUOT 5766"

Shavuot is the Feast which celebrates the giving of the Torah, both the one written on tablets of stone (by Moshe [Moses]) and the one written upon our hearts (by Yeshua). However, history tells us that many of the principles and laws found in Torah existed and were in use prior to Har (Mount) Sinai, when bnei Yisrael was given the Torah approximately 1446 BC. For those of who are not acquainted with this fact I have included the following excerpt from Charles F Horne: The Code of Hammurabi: Introduction:

“Hammurabi was the ruler who chiefly established the greatness of Babylon, the world's first metropolis. Many relics of Hammurabi's reign (1795-1750 BC) have been preserved, and today we can study this remarkable King....as a wise law-giver in his celebrated code. . .

By far the most remarkable of the Hammurabi records is his code of laws, the earliest-known example of a ruler proclaiming publicly to his people an entire body of laws, arranged in orderly groups, so that all men might read and know what was required of them. The code was carved upon a black stone monument, eight feet high, and clearly intended to be reared in public view. This noted stone was found in the year 1901, not in Babylon, but in a city of the Persian mountains, to which some later conqueror must have carried it in triumph. It begins and ends with addresses to the gods. Even a law code was in those days regarded as a subject for prayer, though the prayers here are chiefly cursings of whoever shall neglect or destroy the law.

The code then regulates in clear and definite strokes the organization of society. The judge who blunders in a law case is to be expelled from his judgeship forever, and heavily fined. The witness who testifies falsely is to be slain. Indeed, all the heavier crimes are made punishable with death. Even if a man builds a house badly, and it falls and kills the owner, the builder is to be slain. If the owner's son was killed, then the builder's son is slain. We can see where the Hebrews learned their law of "an eye for an eye." These grim retaliatory punishments take no note of excuses or explanations, but only of the fact--with one striking exception. An accused person was allowed to cast himself into "the river," the Euphrates. Apparently the art of swimming was unknown; for if the current bore him to the shore alive he was declared innocent, if he drowned he was guilty. So we learn that faith in the justice of the ruling gods was already firmly, though somewhat childishly, established in the minds of men.

Yet even with this earliest set of laws, as with most things Babylonian, we find ourselves dealing with the end of things rather than the beginnings. Hammurabi's code was not really the earliest. The preceding sets of laws have disappeared, but we have found several traces of them, and Hammurabi's own code clearly implies their existence. He is but reorganizing a legal system long established.” (Charles F Horne: The Code of Hammurabi: Introduction.)

This raises a very important question. How could the precepts of Torah supersede the giving of the Torah to bnei Yisrael?

In Bereshit (Genesis) we are told that both Cain and Avel (Able) brought offerings unto the L-rd, however, nowhere are we told that HaShem instructed them to bring such offerings especially seeing as Avel brought an acceptable offering whereas Cain brought an unacceptable one. The only plausible explanation that I believe can be offered for an explanation, is that Torah (the Word) pre-existed creation and that the Word (the Memra) was the agent of creation. Therefore although the Torah was not yet given to bnei Yisrael the knowledge of Torah was already in the world, being itself part of the world.

Without getting too theological, when man fell and sin entered the world, with it there came a separation between the physical realm and the spiritual realm. Spiritual reality was separated from material substance; the “Tree of Life” representing spiritual reality and the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil” representing material substance. Once Adam and Chava (Eve) ate from the latter and sinned, they could no longer eat from the former, the connection between the two was broken. Prior to the fall they were connected which would explain how Adam was able to operate and communicate in both realms almost at will.

As we are aware, all of Torah point to Yeshua, it is through Him that spiritual reality and material substance once again connect. The written Torah was a special gift given to mankind to point them to Yeshua HaMashiach and draw them back to an Adamic relationship with HaShem.

Torah was given to us by HaShem at Har Sinai, but that is only having half the equation. In order for Torah to be effective in anyone’s life it must be received. Not everyone received what it had to say and those that did receive it failed over the long run to keep it. The revelation of Yeshua HaMashiach changed that and it marked a turning point in the spiritual history of the world. Through the receiving of Yeshua HaMashiach, the Torah which became flesh is written indelibly upon our hearts. The letter became spirit and the connection between material substance and the spiritual reality was re-established.

On the first Shavuot many thousands of years ago, HaShem descended and gave mankind the letter of the law which pointed to Yeshua HaMashiach. The Torah written on parchment however was given to a flawed humanity. Although the letter raised mankind to a new level of spirituality, man could not maintain that level over a prolonged period of time. In the end it resulted in man serving the letter of Torah and neglecting the Spirit of Torah. Thousands of years latter again on Shavuot, HaShem once again descended to impart on mankind the Ruach (Breath/Spirit) of the Torah. Through the power of the Ruach HaKodesh, now living within man, and by receiving Yeshua HaMashiach, mankind is now able to not only raise to a new level of spirituality but also maintain that level and achieve even greater heights. On the Shavuot described in the Book of Acts, the union between spiritual reality and material substance reconnected man to G-d.

Printer Friendly Version

YYYYYYYYYYYY
Baruch HaShem
Rabbi Ya'acov Farber

CONGREGATION MELECH YISRAEL OF TORONTO
Back to Archives
A Messianic Jewish Newsletter for the sake of רבינו ישוע מלך המשיח אדונינו Rabbeinu Yeshua Melech HaMashiach Adoneinu!
.