The Three-Hundred-Fourth (Connection and Confirmation)
- Rob
- 1 day ago
- 7 min read
Isn’t it amazing how many different connections you can find every time you read scripture? I’m on my second chronological read through and I still find words and phrases in the front half that are clearly connected in the back half. And every time, I’m like, how did I miss this before?!
I read through Job, for example, and find phrasing and concepts that are referenced by Yeshua during His ministry, and it’s not usually just a straight quote, it’s a deeper reference that people who spent their whole lives hearing scripture read in synagogue would have immediately made the connection to. A reference to eagles being where the slain are (Job 39:27-30) is used in reference to the destruction of Jerusalem (Matthew 24:28, Luke 17:37). The imagery of gates of death and hell (Job 38:17) is repeated when prophesying of the power His disciples will have (Matthew 16:18).
Just today, in fact, another connection was made clear to me from the requirements of the sacrificial process that is laid out in Leviticus. Remember when Yeshua talked about eating His flesh and drinking His blood (John 6:53-58)? If you recall from our studies of the sacrificial process, the priests performing these sacrifices were to eat some of the things that were sacrificed in certain cases.
Guilt offerings, or asham, sin offerings, or chatta’ah, grain offerings, or minchah, even peace offerings, or shelem, were eaten by the priests, the sons of Aaron (Leviticus 7:6, 9-10, 14-16). You may also recall that the people of Israel were originally called to be a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:6), but because of their sin, YHWH had to narrow that priesthood to be just Aaron and his sons. There’s that eagle again, by the way, bringing the Israelites through death, represented by the sea of reeds, and into life (Exodus 19:4).
Yeshua’s statements about eating His flesh and drinking His blood are direct references to this aspect of the sacrificial process. He would be the sacrifice, and His people, His disciples, would be the kingdom of priests eating that sacrifice. This priesthood, the one all believers are in today, was referenced by Peter when he wrote to believers during his time (1 Peter 2:9).
However, those connections, while interesting, are not what our focus is this week. This week, we’re talking about more confirmation of a certain aspect of the meaning of Yeshua’s death. I have to give credit to the late Dr. Michael Heiser, as a video clip from one of his talks is what led me to this connection. While he didn’t make it directly in what he was saying, largely, in my opinion, because of his misunderstanding of who Yeshua really is, the connections he made aligned perfectly in giving more credence to something we’ve talked about in a previous study.
I’ll reiterate, before we really get into this, just like I did when we first talked about it, that this topic has some potential to cause some strong feelings. Those feelings, I believe, come from arguments Christianity has developed and spread that are solely meant to cause fear and subsequent submission of those who disagree. I call them arguments to be nice, but when it really comes down to it they are false accusations.
The specific accusations vary, but in general they have to do with the disagreeing individual being a heretic, not a true believer, a gnostic, etc. No believer wants to be called those things. The accusations also have to do with the person not acknowledging the true power and authority of Yeshua. Again, no believer wants to be accused of lowering Yeshua and the meaning of what He did for us.
The thing is, the belief we’re talking about this week is more in alignment with scripture than the belief of those making these accusations. No matter where you look, and no matter how deep you look into the meaning of scripture, this view is in alignment with it. From the most surface level, plain reading of scripture, down to the meaning of the words in the original language and the spiritual meaning of all of it combined, this belief holds true to all of it.
What we’re talking about is the deity of Yeshua, who He actually is. The connections Dr. Heiser made in the talk I listened to completely align with, and give more weight to, the fact that Yeshua is a Man, not a 100% God and 100% Man being, and His death on the cross represented the death of the apostate nation of Israel. His subsequent resurrection, and thus His subsequent life, is the renewing or rebirth of that nation, cleansed of its iniquities through His blood, with Him as the King, the head, and us as the body, or congregation.
This view does not lower the importance of Yeshua and what He did. Rather, it elevates it. Being fully a Man, albeit one supernaturally created by YHWH through His Holy Spirit just as Adam was supernaturally created by YHWH, makes it of even more importance that He was able to completely and fully follow YHWH’s commandments of righteousness. Following YHWH’s commandments no longer becomes an impossible burden to bear but something actually achievable by us, who are also fully men or fully women.
It's not because of Yeshua’s 100% God…half(?)... that He was able to carry out those commandments. The verses of scripture that talk about YHWH’s commandments not being a burden (1 John 5:3), those that talk about delighting in those commandments (Psalm 119:47), and those saying we are to follow those commandments still, even after Yeshua’s death, (1 John 5:2, 2 John 1:6), all make sense with Yeshua being a Man. There’s no need to have a 200% Yeshua, with 100% of Him being God.
So, what connections did Dr. Heiser make that support this view? Well, it starts with a verse that always confused me. One that I could never figure out. When Yeshua meets Nathanael, one of His disciples, for the first time, He talks about seeing heaven open and the angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man, which is Yeshua Himself (John 1:50-51).
I never could figure this reference out before because there’s no later verses that talk about this sort of thing occurring. I tried to connect it with the account of Yeshua’s transfiguration, but that didn’t make sense because Nathanael wasn’t even there for that. I tried to say it was just something that happened which wasn’t recorded or preserved in scripture, but that never felt right because it seems like something that would be important enough to be preserved.
The truth is, there’s only one other place in scripture where this kind of thing is mentioned. It’s when Jacob had laid down to sleep during one of his trips and had a dream of this exact thing happening (Genesis 28:11-12). In that dream, YHWH repeated the promise He made to Abraham about all his families being blessed through him and his offspring, and He made that same promise to Jacob (Genesis 28:13-15).
Remember that we’re told by Paul this blessing was fulfilled by Yeshua (Galatians 3:16). Also, remember that Jacob was Israel. YHWH Himself renamed Jacob to Israel (Genesis 35:10), and thus he as the father of the twelve tribes represents all Israel.
In other words, by this statement, we see Yeshua showing that He is connected to Jacob and therefore He is a representation of all Israel, but Dr. Heiser didn’t stop there. He went on to point out that later, YHWH calls Israel His firstborn son (Exodus 4:22), which is yet another connection to Yeshua. At His baptism, YHWH spoke from heaven saying Yeshua is His Son (Matthew 3:17, Mark 1:11, Luke 3:22), but even more, there is prophecy in the psalms talking about Yeshua already being YHWH’s Son, and then YHWH becoming His Father (Psalm 2:7).
How is this possible? How can He be a Son already, and then subsequently YHWH begetting Him? We learn in Hebrews that once Yeshua died, as purification for sins, and sat down at YHWH’s right hand, that’s when He became superior to the messengers of heaven and inherited YHWH’s name (Hebrews 1:3-5), and therefore, that’s the begetting referenced in Psalm 2.
See how this aligns with Yeshua being a Man, and then through His sinlessness and sacrifice, His obedience, being raised up to be second-in-command of all creation? All these connections give even more weight to the fact that His sacrifice was as the representative of all Israel rather than as YHWH. His death was the death of Israel which released the people from their marriage covenant with YHWH made at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:4-6, 24:8, Romans 7:2-3, 1 Corinthians 7:39). It was this release that allowed them to join with Yeshua in the renewed covenant that was made with His blood, if they repented and believed in Him as their Messiah (Hebrews 9:15-24).
The people hailed Him as their King (Matthew 21:9, Mark 11:9, Luke 19:38, John 12:13), establishing Him as the direct representative of them as a people. This action being a clear fulfillment of prophecy stating He would ride in on a donkey as their King (Zechariah 9:9-10). This same prophecy being one talking about blood establishing a covenant, and more specifically the King’s own blood establishing that covenant (Zechariah 9:11-12), which connects Yeshua’s Kingship and His death, not connecting any deification of Him to His death.
This covenant, made by His death with His blood because a covenant cannot be made without death and blood, is the one believers enter into. It’s the one that repentant Israelites from the first covenant can be grafted into (Romans 11:20-24), the same as believers who were originally outside of Israel are grafted into it (Romans 11:17-19). It’s the one that Yeshua mediates as the King Priest (Hebrews 9:15), after the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 5:6), an order which was in existence prior to YHWH having to choose only Aaron and his sons as priests due to the sinfulness of the Israelites.
As you can see, through connections like Yeshua and Jacob, and Israel as YHWH’s firstborn son, the view that Yeshua being a Man that was completely obedient to YHWH still holds true. We don’t have to do mental gymnastics or even just give up and press the “I believe” button. No matter where you look in scripture, this view gets stronger and stronger support, without cherry picking verses, spiritualizing the literal, or stretching the limits of interpreting the plain language. We don’t have to believe in a pagan theological view like a part-man, part-God Yeshua where the God part died for our sins but God can’t die so the man part died instead but He was somehow still God through it all even though He died! We are truly a set apart people, in action and in belief, by YHWH!
Have a great week! Shabbat shalom and YHWH bless you!
-Rob and Sara Gene
The Gospel
We are born sinful as a result of Adam and Eve's sin (Genesis 2:17, 3:6, 1 John 1:8)
The consequence of sin, which is unavoidable through our own works, is death (Romans 6:23)
Yeshua, the Son of YHWH, lived sinless and was put to death (Hebrews 4:15)
His death, therefore, cleanses us of sin that would have required our death
He rose on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:4)
Because of His resurrection, we are confident in our future resurrection and eternal life
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