This week the annual Torah cycle means we begin the study of the final Book in the Torah: Devarim, or, literally, “the WORDS” that Moshhe spoke to the ‘sons of Israel” during the final days of his life. … why it is that this nation and world are utterly collapsing as men and institutions built on trust are no longer even worthy of contempt.
Join Mark Call of Shabbat Shalom Mesa fellowship for a two-part study of the introduction to what is sometimes thought of as “THE” essence of the Torah, the ‘second’ telling, the basis for the English Common Law, and the most-quoted reference during the entire American Founding Era by those who crafted what was once, at least, the Supreme Law of this land.
First, the Erev Shabbat reading and outline:
The Sabbath teaching focuses on the ‘essence’ of what Moses seems to be laying out here; not just a bit of history as an introduction to what follows, but the structure of on of the most ancient, and arguably the most important Covenants in human history.
And there’s a contrast here that must not be missed.
“Debarim: Pick a Covenant That Will Be KEPT” …and choose wisely!
The combined two-part podcast is here, via Hebrew Nation Radio.
This week the double-parsha of Matot-Masei (from Numbers 30:2 on) completes the Book of Numbers.
But it is the very first chapter of the set that Mark has long suggested is among the most vital in all of Scripture when it comes to understanding Yah-ordained authority in marriage and the family, and, especially today, why it is that this nation and world are utterly collapsing as men and institutions built on trust are no longer even worthy of contempt.
Join Mark Call of Shabbat Shalom Mesa fellowship for a two-part study of the Torah portion that teaches what most ‘sun-god day’ churches have long ignored, and far to many politicians, “doctors,” and “journalists” despise.
First, the Erev Shabbat reading and outline of the entire parsha. But, especially, the value of understanding the ‘power of the tongue’:
The Sabbath teaching is again ‘no holds barred.’ Because life and death are in the power of the tongue. (Proverbs 18:21)
And – for so many reasons, and on SO many levels – it’s why a society without trust doesn’t have a prayer.
More often than some might suspect, the weekly Torah portion reflects uncannily well the issues and events in the world today. And especially this week, parsha Pinchas (Numbers 25:10-30:1) inspires us to ask the question, “just what does it MEAN to be ‘zealous’ for Yahuah,” and what, then, do we do when the, uh…’stuff hits the fan?’
Join Mark Call of Shabbat Shalom Mesa fellowship for a two-part study of the Torah portion that some have called one of the most “problematic,” even confusing, in the Book.
And, again no small ‘coincidence’, the parallels with the ‘prince of peace,’ Who also said He came not to bring “peace, but a sword,” seem to contradict a lot of what we have been told to believe. Scripture notwithstanding.
First, the Erev Shabbat reading and outline of the entire parsha:
The Sabbath teaching is where Mark hits the “hard lesson” head-on. And in the process again suggests that what of what we’ve been told, whether in the sanitized midrash, or the sell-out sun-god-day skool versions, may just miss the point.
It’s again about “choose life.” Even if, all too often, both now, and ‘in the eyes of’ even Moses, some would try to force a choice of death.
And it’s also why the commandment from Leviticus 19:16 (which directly precedes the more famous admonition to “love your neighbor as yourself”) should come to mind as we consider Pinchas’ actions.
“Pinchas: Do NOT Stand Idly By the Blood of Your Neighbor!”
The combined two-part podcast is here, via Hebrew Nation Radio.
Perhaps ironically, the parsha named ‘Balak’ in the Torah (Numbers 22:2-25:9) — because that name of the king of Moab appears right up front in the text — is really more about Bilaam (aka ‘Balaam’ in some English translations) — who would be the ancient equivalent of the most well-known ‘televangelist’ of his times. (And, perhaps the similarities don’t stop there…)
Join Mark Call of Shabbat Shalom Mesa fellowship for a two-part look at at the parsha which stands out because of how dramatically it departs from most of the rest of the narrative we’ve come to expect: neither Moshe, or Aaron, or any of the sons of Israel appear directly in the story at all. But that’s just the beginning.
The Erev Shabbat reading and outline of the parsha:
During the Sabbath teaching, Mark suggests that this is a parsha which might appear to be ‘out-of-place,’ but certainly could offer insight into a LOT of different questions. Perhaps the one that most of the midrash tends to emphasize is Why? Why this people?
But there are other questions raised here, too? Does Bilaam – like Pharoah, perhaps – really have “free choice” in this situation?
This story not only resonates on SO many levels with things that are happening right now, but also with our whole understanding of free will, coercion, deception, and who is truly able to make choices that impact our lives.
Choose LIFE! But when?
And just when does that choice, or action based on it, become irreversible – fatal – and he “knew or SHOULD have known?”
“Balak: Why this story? – or – Difficult Choices”
The combined two-part podcast is here, via Hebrew Nation Radio.
The parsha this week may be one of the most ‘appropriately named’ in the Torah, because ‘chukat’ may be translated as “statute,” but it REALLY means, “do this because I say so!”
Join Mark Call of Shabbat Shalom Mesa fellowship for a two-part look at parsha ‘Chukat’ (Numbers chapters 19 through 22:1).
The Erev Shabbat reading and outline of the parsha includes some of the most significant “life and death” issues in the Torah. Which is more than ironic.
Nor only ia best way to understand the concept of a ‘chuq’ to “do this because I say so,” but as Mark outlines in the Sabbath Day teaching, that is precisely the underlying theme to the entire parsha. And that is precisely why life and death are, too.
The parsha this week from the annual Torah cycle is all about one of the first (outside the Garden, perhaps) and most famous acts of “rebellion” in the Book. And it just – OH, so coincidentally! – happens to fall right on the 248th anniversary, on the Roman calendar, of the most important revolution in “the OTHER direction” in our own history!
No less importantly, it also falls on the ‘cusp’ of the greatest contest since between “Tyranny and Liberty,” or, a bit more bluntly, those who serve Yah and those who truly despise Him. If there was ever a time to understand what “rebellion” is, and is NOT, it is now.
Join Mark Call of Shabbat Shalom Mesa fellowship for a two-part look at parsha ‘Korach’ (Numbers chapters 16 through 18).
The Erev Shabbat reading and outline of the parsha begins with the names, and genealogy, of the “men of name, or renown,” who fomented that rebellion, and died — uniquely — for it. And it sets up all that follows.
The Sabbath Day teaching really is “a study in contrasts.” It must, of course, start with the question of rebellion, and to Whom.
But this is a time of cusp: so many cycles, plans, prophecies, and, yes, conspiracies, coming together to produce a “climax of truly Biblical proportions.” Our own history is screaming a lesson.
And all of this points to another question as well. If “Korach’s Rebellion” merited a “new thing” to serve as a sign and a lesson ever since, why isn’t the ground swallowing truly Evil people – en masse – today?
“Korach: Rebellion – a Study in Contrasts”
The combined two-part podcast is here, via Hebrew Nation Radio.
This week’s parsha from the annual Torah cycle schedule is almost certainly one of the most tragic, and critical, stories in all of Scripture. The ‘ten spies,’ the ‘first recorded vote in history,’ and the turning point that cost an entire generation their entry into the Promised Land, and everyone else another 40 years in the wilderness.
Join Mark Call of Shabbat Shalom Mesa fellowship for a two-part look at parsha ‘Shalach Lecha’ (Numbers chapters 13 through 15).
The Erev Shabbat reading and outline of the parsha begins with those words, “send out men,” shalach lecha, to, well, actually, TOUR the land. Infamously, they bring back an “evil report,” and convince literally ‘kol ha edah’ — all the congregation of Israel, to turn back into slavery, rather than trust in Yahuah. As you ought to suspect, there’s more to the story:
The Sabbath Day teaching is about the MESSAGE in the story of the ‘spies.’ But, actually, they weren’t really “spies” at all. Or weren’t supposed to be. Mark suggests they either didn’t know, or didn’t care, what they were actually sent out to do.
And that’s where the tragic lesson only begins. And – one more time – has never, EVER been more important or relevant than “such a time as this” – perhaps the most important turning point in human history, or “Biblical proportions” even!
We’ve all heard “ignorance of the law is no excuse.” What this story, and the multiple commandments and “statutes” that surround it, makes clear is that it is, however, CONSISTENT — or supposed to be. One “law”, one instruction, even one set of STATUTES, for “you, and the soujourner who dwells among you.” Certainly not – one set of rules for you peons, and another entirely for those who make the rules, and %$W$@$! with what that God of the Bible might have to say.
But that’s what we have. But that’s not the only lie revealed in this parsha, and in the “times and seasons” we see today.
It turns out that “ignorance of the law” may, in fact, be an excuse. But – ONLY once!
Don’t miss the lesson here. Because it all connects, all fits, and has never been more important to understand. We MUST know “what is really going on?”
“Spying” wasn’t the mission. But EVERY single adult who listened, and participated in their literal rebellion to Yah, ended up dying ‘bemidbar’ – there in the wilderness.
“Shalach Lecha: Rebellion, Witchcraft, and Why a Simple Blue Thread Matters”
The combined two-part podcast is here, via Hebrew Nation Radio.
Join Mark Call of Shabbat Shalom Mesa fellowship for a two-part look at parsha Beha-alotkha (Numbers 8:1 through all of chapter 12).
The Erev Shabbat reading and outline of the parsha from Erev Shabbat begins with ‘when you light the lamps’ of the menora, and then the silver trumpets, and how the camp of multiple millions — when He moves them on — is to head up, by their tribes, and move out. But it’s the latter part of the portion that contains SO much drama, and again, so much that really should resonate with us today.
In the Sabbath Day teaching, Mark basically begins there, but essentially with a break at the end of chapter ten — set off by one of the most famous sets of “jots and tiddles” in the Hebrew Torah, the “inverted nuns,” that has even been called the “Book Never Written.” But the words, and the implications, resonate literally millenia later!
Human nature certainly hasn’t changed. And neither, arguably, has our frustration with those who seem to choose death, rather than life. We can understand the frustration that drove Moses to almost the breaking point with a people who simply seem to be unteachable.
But, as we stand on the brink of what is probably the most deadly, most treacherous, most exciting, and perhaps even most important in all of human history, there is a tremendous message of HOPE here as well!
“Beha-alotkha: You Want MEAT? I’ll GIVE you meat! – or – Human Nature and Hope”
The combined two-part podcast is here, via Hebrew Nation Radio.
Join Mark Call of Shabbat Shalom Mesa fellowship for a two-part look at parsha Naso (Numbers 4:21 through all of chapter 7 – the longest in the Torah).
The Erev Shabbat reading and outline of the parsha begins where the ‘numbers’ in the previous portion left off, with the clan of Gershon, among the Levites, and follows with the others that complete that set. But that is just the beginning. This parsha includes THE single commanded procedure in the whole Book which REQUIRES a ‘miracle’ for its completion, and then concludes with what is almost without question THE most ‘repetitive’ (literally, word for word in major sequences) description in the entire Bible. Which leads to the really important question: Why?
The Sabbath Day teaching literally begins where the reading leaves off. The level of redundancy in the longest chapter in the Torah certainly tells us that there is SOMETHING important in that message, and probably more than one element of it. Mark suggests that it’s clear there is literal, detailed CONFORMITY in that each of the twelve gifts on those successive days is apparently identical, yet offered by unique individuals who are not only each a leader of his tribe, but acting in unison for a reason. That Scripture records both that, each and every time, and their names, tells us just home important that is.
Working back through the parsha, there is another message here that connects not only the most significant events in the Bible, and thus all of history, but prophecy as well.
Not surprisingly, some of these are elements ‘overlooked by most of xtianity,’ for the reason that they are anything but “done away with.”
“Naso: From Levites and Nazerites to ‘Voluntary Conformity'”
This week the annual Torah portion cycle begins the fourth Book in the set, Numbers in the English, or Bemidbar (‘In the wilderness’) in Hebrew.
Join Mark Call of Shabbat Shalom Mesa fellowship for a two-part look at the parsha (Numbers 1:1 – 4:20) which gives the Book an appropriate name in BOTH languages.
The Erev Shabbat reading and outline of the parsha not only explains why, but ‘who’, and ‘how many’. But the key to understanding is to know those are just elements of the real lesson.
During the Sabbath day teaching this week, Mark goes into more depth on why “lift up the head” of EACH individual, each with a name, is such a better translation of the original Hebrew than any of the words He could have used instead that merely mean “count”. But it’s the connection with the haftorah reading, from Hosea chapter 2, and why that is such an excellent choice to be paired with “In the wilderness,” that should be of such great comfort to us today.
And it’s also a wonderful prophecy of what we should look forward to – as we return to being His people.
“Bemidbar: Numbers matter, but there’s much more to His love”
The combined two-part podcast is here, via Hebrew Nation Radio.
