Site icon TORAH AND TEMPLE INVESTIGATIONS

“LISTEN, FOR I WILL SPEAK NOBLE THINGS!”

DShalom

“The Book of the Torah shall not depart from your mouth; rather you should contemplate it day and night in order that you observe to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way successful, and then you will act wisely.” Joshua 1:8

HaShem, the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Elohim of Israel, Master of the Legions of Heaven, Master over all of Creation, has granted a great gift to humanity if we would just stop our own selfish pursuits and grab hold of it! What am I talking about? Once again, I am pointing to HaShem and His Torah!

In our continuing theme which we have discussed in the last two Ops discussing Justice and Righteousness followed by Psalms 119 and the Torah of HaShem, now I want to delve into Proverbs Chapter 8, which is an astounding chapter in and of itself. It is in this chapter of Proverbs where once more HaShem pleads with humanity to stop going our own ways and embrace His Torah as the way to live and walk as His people!

Let me say it again, striving to learn, study and live out His Torah in our lives is NOT for obtaining or maintaining salvation/redemption……Torah is the FRUIT of salvation, meaning if a person is redeemed by HaShem, they will want/desire to walk in the Torah, not perfectly, as again that is not possible. First Abraham believed/trusted/faith THEN he walked in the Torah of HaShem. First, Israel was redeemed from Egypt, THEN HaShem gave His Torah to walk as His people…nothing has changed! Again please keep this in mind as we proceed.

I should also add that I will be referencing excerpts from the Oral Torah in this Op once again i.e. the Mishnah and the Talmud Bavli. Let me again reiterate the Mishnah contains the recorded rulings of the Sanhedrin who rule on how we are to walk in the Torah of HaShem, which is commanded by HaShem in Devarim (Deuteronomy) 17:8-13. HaShem commands we are to obey the rulings of the Sanhedrin! Additionally, the Talmud is the commentary of the Mishnah in which the Mishnah is discussed and expounded upon. This said, since the Mishnah contains the rulings of the Sanhedrin, means by default the Mishnah and the Talmud ARE indeed from and endorsed by HaShem. I just wanted to clarify this before we proceed.

As always, never forget the following characteristics of HaShem! I have added a few new ones at the bottom:

HaShem used His Torah as the means to bring about His creation – Sunrise over Mt Hood in Oregon

As we now dive into the deep end of the pool, per se, keep in mind that Proverbs chapter eight is unique in that it is written from the perspective of HaShem’s Torah actually speaking. The commentary from the Book ‘Mishlei’ (Proverbs) says “After warning against the influences of heretics in Proverbs chapter seven, Solomon now turns to the benefits that will be enjoyed by those who recognize the importance of the Torah. Verses 1-3 introduce ‘Chochmah/Wisdom’ as the speaker. Throughout Proverbs, ‘Wisdom’ is synonymous with Torah. Verses 4-36 speaks in the first person, as Torah describes some of its many virtues and benefits and its pivotal role in Creation.” Keep this in mind as we proceed in this chapter!

Proverbs 8:1-3 says “Surely wisdom (Torah) will call out, and understanding will raise her voice. Atop the heights along the way, at the place where pathways diverge, she stands. Near the gateways of the city, at the approach to the entrances, she cries out.” Very interesting! So the Torah calls out publicly to everyone, wherever people are at in their walks with HaShem. Further, there are FOUR levels of interpretation of the Torah, as is described by the following descriptions:

To add to this and show you where these four levels of interpretation derive from, it has been taught for thousands of years the following four levels of understanding of the Torah:

If we take the first letter of each word we just looked at above and put them together we get the Hebrew word ‘Pardes’ which means ‘Paradise!’

Proverbs 8:4 says “To you, O men, do I call, and my voice is to the sons of man.” This verse right here, among countless others in HaShem’s Word, destroys Replacement Theology and its “Torah is only for the Jews” doctrine! Read this verse carefully, who is the Torah calling out too? Does the verse say “To you, O Israel, do I call and my voice is to the sons of Judah?” Nope….Torah is calling to ALL of humanity!! Further, the commentary on this verse says “The term ‘Men’ is a reference to rich people, and the ‘Sons of men’ means the poor. Both are OBLIGATED to hear the words of Torah!”

Proverbs 8:5 says “Simpletons, understand shrewdness; and fools, understand in your heart.” The commentary says “Simpletons lack the shrewdness (Practice good judgment) to avoid being seduced by their Evil Inclination, therefore they are exhorted to understand cleverness, so that they will be able to see through its (Evil Inclination) wiles.” Remember, the Evil Inclination, is our sin nature which we battle down every single day of our lives…sadly, myself included, we give into that inclination far too many times…Baruch HaShem, however, for His abundant mercy, compassion and forgiveness when we fail Him! But more than this, Baruch HaShem, He promises in Jeremiah 31 when He completely renews the covenant, He will forever remove the Evil Inclination from us and write His Torah onto our hearts, which means we will NEVER again have to contend with the Evil Inclination again, we will walk in His Torah perfectly as Messiah walks in Torah perfectly! May it be so VERY soon in our days! I digress!

Proverbs 8:6-9 says “Listen, for I will speak noble thoughts; the opinion of my lips will be fair words. For my palate will utter truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are said with righteousness; they contain no twisting or perversity. They are all correct to one who understands, and upright to those who find knowledge.” Is there anything here in the verses which suggests Torah is something terrible, bondage, death, destruction, misery and something humanity has been begging HaShem to be delivered from as many in Christendom teach? Nope, nothing here and in fact its just the opposite!

Sunrise at Mt St Helens in Washington State

Proverbs 8:10-11 says “Accept my discipline and not silver, for knowledge is choicer than fine gold, for wisdom (Torah) is better than pearls, and all desires cannot compare to it.” Who are we to submit too? To ourselves or to HaShem? Clearly we are to submit ourselves to HaShem and His Ways and not the other way around. In striving to do so, I can attest that truly His Torah is beyond compare to anything in this life! As the commentary on these verses so well says it “Pearls are valuable because they are rare and hard to find, but the hidden meanings of the Torah surpass even pearls in their rarity.”

In my dealings with those in Christendom via the blogs I have been accused several times over the years of ‘Worshiping the Torah’. I do NOT in any way worship the Torah, I worship HaShem, the Giver of the Torah. Even Yeshua Himself points to HaShem as the focus of worship per Revelation 22:9 when Yochanan (John) bows at the feet of Yeshua and He corrects Him and tells Him to NOT do that! Worship HaShem and HaShem alone! Is there a time and place where Yeshua will be respected and people will bow to Him as King of the Earth? Yes, there is, but still Yeshua submits to HaShem the Ultimate Authority and Great King over ALL of His Creation. There is a hierarchy just like a military structure…HaShem on top and Yeshua as His Agent, Who sits at His right hand. I just wanted to clarify this before proceeding.

Proverbs 8:12-13 says “I am wisdom; I dwell in shrewdness; I provide knowledge of designs. Fear of HaShem is hatred of evil. I hate pride and haughtiness, the way of evil, and a duplicitous mouth.” The commentary on this says “Once a person has studied Torah, he attains shrewdness in all other areas as well.”

The commentary on these verses says “Without the Torah’s wisdom, a person cannot have the shrewdness to outwit his Evil Inclination.” “Fear of HaShem is hatred of evil. I hate pride and haughtiness, the way of evil and a duplicitous mouth. These are the words of discipline that wisdom makes known to mankind. Hatred of these evil qualities is the essence of fear of HaShem; therefore I hate them.” With this said, let me make this clarification which I hope will put the function of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) into proper perspective. The Ruach of HaShem is NOT a person, but is the essence of HaShem and is what helps us to walk in His Torah. I pray every morning that HaShem strengthen me with His Ruach that I might walk in His Torah. The Ruach of HaShem is NOTHING new as unfortunately Replacement Theology teaches. His Ruach has been interacting with humanity from the very beginning! It is by HaShem sending His Ruach upon on us that we can even learn and study His Torah in the first place! It is a long and arduous process to learn the Torah of HaShem as there are enormous amounts of resistance to doing so, but with HaShem it IS possible and it is SO very much worth it!! As He says to Joshua “Be strong and DO IT!” Nothing worthwhile comes easy!!

Proverbs 8:14-16 says “Mine are counsel and wisdom; I am understanding, mine is strength. Through me, kings will reign, and rulers will decree righteousness; through me officials will rule, and nobles, all who judge righteously.” Very interesting commentary on these verses which says “I, the Torah, will teach them laws and justice. If a king follows the Torah’s dictates, his reign will endure and his laws will be just and correct. All judgments and advice needed by a ruler can be found in Torah.” So, for the Kingdom of HaShem to exist eternally and for Yeshua to reign as King of the world would mean Torah will be the means to do so. I point this out because its another nail in the coffin of Replacement Theology which teaches Torah is now tossed aside and rendered obsolete, which would mean, there can be no kingdom and certainly no King to rule!

Mt Hood in Oregon

Proverbs 8:17 says “I love those who love me, and those who search for me shall find me.” Again another verse where Torah is for EVERYONE!! The commentary says “Those who search for the meaning of the Torah’s words will find many explanations and reasons by delving into its wisdom.” I can personally attest studying Torah is very much akin to a treasure hunt and believe me, when you find the treasure, it is ALWAYS more than what you could have imagined and will make His entire Word explode into life!

Proverbs 8:18-20 says “Riches and honor are with me, a powerful fortune and righteousness. My fruits are better than refined gold, even fine gold, and my produce better than choice silver. I will lead in the path of righteousness, amid the pathways of justice.” The commentary says “Our verse indicates that in the merit of his Torah study, a person will be treated with justice, he will be supplied with all his needs, regardless of whether he merits them or not.” The point is, we know we cannot take anything with us after we die, not wealth, possessions, etc. But, however, what we do take with us into the World to Come is what we learned from His Torah and I believe, and this is just opinion, that we will all sit in the Yeshiva and learn the Torah of HaShem in the World to Come! May it be so very soon in our days!

Proverbs 8:21 says “I have what to bequeath to those who love me, and I shall fill their storehouses.” HaShem is reiterating the great inheritance awaiting those in the World to Come. The commentary says “True benefit does not accrue from gold and riches; it is the fruit of wisdom (Torah).” Further, the commentary says “When a mortal invites others to share in his bounty, the size of each guest’s share is diminished as the numbers of participants increase. However, this is not true of Heavenly good. The reward the righteous in Gan (Garden) of Eden does not lessen as the numbers of righteous increase. No matter how many people are deserving of eternal reward, HaShem declares, ‘I shall fill their storehouses, and everyone will still receive his full measure.’ In this sense, Gan Eden, is comparable to the courtyard of the Holy Temple, where there was always room for the hundreds of thousands of Jews who came to Jerusalem on each festival. Just as HaShem is unbounded by space, His dwelling place is not limited by physical constraints.”

THE TORAH PRECEDED EVERYTHING, IT IS THE BLUEPRINT OF CREATION

An excerpt from the Book of Proverbs says “The following group of verses i.e. 22-29, emphasizes the primacy of Torah. The speaker in these verses is Wisdom/Torah, describing how it preceded all stages of Creation. Torah is thus the essence of all that is created, the manifold facets of the universe are but manifestations of the Torah’s wisdom. To assume that the commandments are nothing more than Heavenly guidelines necessary to direct and maintain civilization is a great error. The commandments of the Torah were not promulgated to conform to the needs of society; rather, it is society that was created to conform to the dictates of Torah. It follows, then, that the continuity of Creation is contingent upon man’s adherence to the Torah.”

Proverbs 8:22 says “HaShem made me at the beginning of His way, before His deeds of yore.” The commentary on this verse says “HaShem created the Torah before He created the world. Torah served as a blueprint for the entire creation. The Sages teach ‘The Holy One, Blessed is He, looked into the Torah and created the world’ quoting Bereshit Rabbah 1:2 (Midrash). The Torah begins with the words ‘In the beginning’ which may be interpreted to mean, ‘With the Torah, which is called ‘Beginning’, HaShem created heaven and earth. Every detail of Creation followed a master plan designed and executed for one purpose, the Torah.”

Proverbs 8:23 says “I have reigned since the distant past; from the beginning, from before there was the earth.” Since Torah was one of the seven creations that preceded the creation of the world, and is the blueprints for all of creation, then I must ask the question, how then can creation exist if the Torah was now tossed aside and rendered obsolete as Replacement Theology teaches?

Proverbs 8:24-26 says “When there were no depths, I was formed; when there were no springs rich with water, before mountains were settled, before hills, I was formed; when He had not yet made the earth and its environs on the first dust of the inhabited world.” The Torah is reiterating it was created before the mountains were sunk into the water. Rashi says “‘When He had not yet made the earth and its environs’ explains that this refers to the Land of Israel and the all the other lands.”

Proverbs 8:27-31 says “When He prepared the heavens, I was there; when He etched out the glove upon the face of the depths; when He strengthened the heavens above; when fortifying the wellsprings of the depths; when He set for the sea its limit, so that the waters would not transgress His word; when He forged the foundations of the earth; I was a nursling beside Him, I was then His delight every day, playing before Him at all times, playing in the inhabited areas of His world, my delights are with mankind.” There are many comments on these verses so we will go through them one by one:

Proverbs 8:32-36 says “And now, children, listen to me; praiseworthy are those who heed my ways. Hearken to discipline and grow wise, and do not reject wisdom. Praiseworthy is a person who listens to me, to be constantly at my doors everyday, to guard the doorposts of my entrances. For one who finds me has found life and he has elicited favor from HaShem. But one who sins against me despoils his soul; all who hate me love death.”

Very interesting, so one who grows wiser, increases discipline, is one who does NOT reject His Torah! Further, He says one who finds His Torah has found life and has elicited favor from HaShem! So, Torah isn’t the source of darkness, bondage, destruction and death, many in Replacement Theology teach? This means either Paul and his letters are false and should be removed, OR we are not correctly understanding what he is writing!! I side that we are not fully understanding what he is writings as the man himself on a few occasions in his letters tells everyone he is Hebrew speaking and a Pharisee (Hillel), not ‘WAS’ a Pharisee but currently as of his writings a Pharisee.

With all this said, I hope and pray this Op has been a blessing and makes the importance of His Torah to come alive! Remember, ‘Know Torah = Know Messiah’ vs ‘No Torah = No Messiah!’

Much to consider!

Shalom

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