Tuesday, August 14, 2012

AZAMRA Bible: Ezekiel 29-30

Can we do תפילות prayers for:

AZAMRA?

So that through them The האור Light, רפואה The Healing and The ואהבה Love of ישועת יהוה Yeshuath YHWH may come back to הארץ The Land of Israel?BS"D KNOW YOUR BIBLE: Ezekiel 29-30
Study Notes by Avraham ben Yaakov

EZEKIEL CHAPTER 29

All the prophecies in the four chapters from the beginning of our present chapter until the end of chapter 32 relate to the downfall of Egypt at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar some years after the destruction of the First Temple, and to the final downfall of Egypt together with the other nations at the end of days. Egypt was the archetypal oppressor of Israel, and her downfall marks the redemption of Israel. Thus the last two verses of the previous chapter speaking of the ingathering of Israel from the nations (Ez. 28:25-26) together with verses 1-21 of our present chapter prophesying the downfall of Egypt are appropriate reading as the Haftara of Parshas Va-era (Ex. 6:2-9:35) recounting the destruction of Egypt through the plagues at the time of the Exodus.

Ezekiel's opening prophecy in this series is specifically dated to "the tenth year in the tenth month on the twelfth of the month" (verse 1). This was the tenth year of the reign of King Tzedekiah and just over one year since the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. This prophecy was received BEFORE the prophecies against Tyre in the previous three chapters, which are dated to "the eleventh year", the year of the destruction of the Temple (Ez. 26:1). Thus we see that all these prophecies are not written in our text in the strict chronological order in which they were received. Rather, the series of prophecies against Tyre were arranged together because of their thematic unity, and likewise the prophecies against Egypt. From the quotation from the ARI Shaar HaPsukim cited in our commentary on Ezekiel chapter 28 about the kabbalistic conceptual connection between Hiram of Tzor and Pharaoh of Mitzrayim, it is clear why the series about Tyre and that about Egypt come one after the other.

"Son of man: set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt… the great crocodile that crouches in the midst of his streams…" (v 2-3). "Because the entire greatness of Egypt and all her abundance were on account of the channels of the Nile, the prophet accordingly metaphorically refers to her king as the crocodile and to her people as the fish of the river" (Rashi ad loc.).

"…who has said, My river is my own and I have made it for myself…" (v 3) – "I have no need for the ELYONIM (the supreme powers of God), because I have my river which provides all my needs" (Rashi). "…and I have made it for myself" (ibid.) – "through my own might and wisdom I have magnified my greatness and rule" (Rashi). Rashi here concisely brings out the essence of Pharaoh's idolatry of himself, his prosperity and power, believing that as long as his control over his natural resources was intact, nothing could bring him down. The wealthy elite that own and control much of the world today apparently think the same way.

"But I will put hooks in your jaws…" (v 4). "On account of his having represented him as a crocodile – which is considered to be a fish – he uses an expression relating to the way a fish is caught by putting hooks in its jaws to haul it out of the water" (Metzudas David ad loc.).

"…and I will cause the fish of your streams to stick to your scales" (v 4) – "When they haul you up out of the river, your people will also be taken up out of the river – the fish metaphorically represent the people of Egypt, the ministers, horsemen, warriors as well as the poorer sections of the population, all of whom would be swept away" (RaDaK ad loc.).

The essential reason for the coming downfall of Egypt was "because you have been a STAFF OF REED to the House of Israel…" (verse 6). "Several times they relied on them in the days of Sennacherib and in the days of Nebuchadnezzar but it did not avail them, like a soft reed that does not support one who leans on it" (Rashi ad loc.). RaDaK explains further: "The Egyptians promised Israel that they would save them from the Babylonians but they were unable to do so… as it says in Jeremiah 37:5 recounting how Pharaoh did march out from Egypt causing the Babylonians, when they heard, to go up from Jerusalem, but Pharaoh returned to Egypt and the Babylonians went back to capture and destroy Jerusalem. Thus not only did the Egyptians not support Israel but they actually harmed them because their trust in Egypt led them to rebel against the king of Babylon… and thus Ravshakeh (Sennacherib's lieutenant addressing those under Hezekiah who put their trust in Egypt) said, 'You have trusted in this broken STAFF OF REED'" (II Kings 18:21; RaDaK on our verse).

This first in the series of prophecies about the coming destruction of Egypt does not specify who would bring the sword that would wreak the havoc there, which we only learn in the next prophecy (verses 17ff of our present chapter). The focus in this first prophecy is on the devastation itself, which would spread from one end of the country to the other (v 10ff). This would last for a period of forty years (v 11ff). Our commentators explain the deep thread of divine justice that underlies this forty-year timeframe. "Forty-two years of famine were decreed in Pharaoh's dream (Genesis 41) corresponding to the three times that seven bad cows and seven bad ears of corn are written in the text – once when Pharaoh saw his dream, once when he narrated it to Joseph, and a third time when Joseph explained to him what the seven empty bad cows and seven empty ears of corn were – a total of forty-two years of famine. But in the time of Jacob they suffered only two years of famine, because when Jacob came down to Egypt the famine ceased. The remaining forty years were exacted from them now" (Rashi on v 11).

"And it was in the twenty-seventh year…" (verse 17). This cannot mean the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Tzedekiah since he reigned for only eleven years. All our commentators explain on the basis of the ancient historical Midrash "Seder Olam" that the "twenty-seventh year" was the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, i.e. eight years after the destruction of the Temple and the death of Tzedekiah, which was when Egypt was delivered into the hands of Babylon (Rashi, Metzudas David, RaDaK). Thus the series of prophecies beginning with that at the end of the next chapter (Ezekiel 30:20-26), which is dated to "the eleventh year" – i.e. of the reign of Tzedekiah, the year of the destruction of the Temple – were received BEFORE this prophecy from Nebuchadnezzar's twenty-seventh year.

Thus again we see that these prophecies are not written in the book in the strict chronological order in which they were received but rather are arranged thematically to bring out the prophet's message with maximum effect. Having prophesied in general about the destruction of Egypt and its reason in the earlier sections of our present chapter (vv 1-16), Ezekiel now "zooms in" and tells how Nebuchadnezzar would do the work, receiving the pillage of Egypt as his "reward" for his "great work" in destroying TZUR (vv17-21), after which, in the prophecy in the first part of the next chapter (Ez. 30:1-19), Ezekiel details the devastation in Egypt city by city. Then in the prophecies that follow from Ezekiel 30:20 until the end of the series about Egypt at the end of Chapter 32, he returns to give more of a "wide angle" perspective on the significance of the downfall of Egypt in comparison with the downfall of other great nations.

"Son of man: Nebuchadnezzar made his army labor hard against Tzor… yet he had no wages, nor his army" (v 18). "The way of those who besiege a city for a long time is that they exert themselves and exhaust themselves carrying great loads of wood and stones. Nebuchadnezzar captured Tzor in the twenty-third year of his reign, as we find in Seder Olam… but after he took all its plunder the sea rose and swept it away from them, because it had been decreed against Tzor and her booty that they should be lost at sea" (Rashi ad loc.).

Having read Ezekiel's prophecies about the downfall of Tzor in the previous chapters (Ezekiel chs 26-28), learning now how Nebuchadnezzar was sent to destroy it but could only receive his "reward" by plundering Egypt provides us with a fascinating insight into how the Almighty plays off one nation against another in order to bring about His inscrutable purpose in His providential government of human history. Nebuchadnezzar's destruction of Egypt would be her retribution for having been a broken reed for Israel, and the decree against Egypt would spell redemption for Israel.

"ON THAT DAY I shall cause the horn of the House of Israel to put out roots" (v 21). Rashi comments on this verse that he has neither heard nor found any satisfactory explanation of how the fall of Egypt would bring forth roots for Israel, and refers the phrase "on that day" back to verse 13 which says that God would gather in the Egyptians from their exile "at the end of forty years". Rashi explains that the end of forty years coincided with the short-lived reign of Belshazzar, the last king of Babylon. This was when the star of Persia began to rise, and with Persia's destruction of Babylon not only was Egypt freed from subjection to Babylon but the roots were planted for the rebuilding of the Temple, because Cyrus of Persia authorized the first wave of Judean exiles to return to Jerusalem under Zerubavel.

CHAPTER 30

Verses 1-9 of this chapter wail over the coming destruction of Egypt and her various neighbors and allies at the hands of God's MAL'ACHIM – "agents" and "messengers" (v 9), the executors of His inscrutable plans. Verses 10-19 detail Nebuchadnezzar's systematic destruction of Egypt, its population and their idols city by city.

A new prophecy begins in verse 20, "in the eleventh year" – i.e. of the reign of Tzedekiah, the year in which the Temple was destroyed. This prophecy, running to the end of the chapter, "zooms out" from the detailed description of the devastation of Egypt into a more general summary of the unhealable breach of Pharaoh's power at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, showing how God raises up and God brings down, "and they shall know that I am HaShem".

ABY

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Please Say Yes to Abba Yahweh and His Laws.

It is written in the Koran:
‘1. Surah Al-Fatihah:

1. In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.
2. All the praises and thanks are to Allah, the Lord of the 'Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists).
3. The Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.
4. The Only Owner (and the Only Ruling Judge) of the Day of Recompense (i.e. the Day of Resurrection)
5. You (Alone) we worship, and You (Alone) we ask for help (for each and everything).
6. Guide us to the Straight Way
7. The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger (such as the Jews), nor of those who went astray (such as the Christians).

This is the 'start' in the Koran......

For more, what the Koran is teaching about: ‘Muslims Hate Jews, Christians all other faiths’ ‘Their Guide Book says to kill, behead and burn all non-believers’ click:
Index of The Quran (Satanic Verses of violence to us)

For more information about the development of these ‘Chaldean’ in our days go to our News-Blog: http://thewatchmenfromisraelnews.blogspot.co.il/

Please read the Mitzvoth go to: Positive Commandments and the Negative Commandments), easy to read. It is very important to know them. I don’t ask you this to become a good Jew! But to learn who you really are. That you can find your real identity. In a good understanding of the rest of The Scriptures. And that you understand that Rabbi Shaul is talking to a real Israel,

1Co 10:1 I do not want you to be without da'as (knowledge), Achim (brothers) b(in) 'Moshiach, that Avoteinu (our fore Fathers, you Yehudah and Ephraim! Nobody else.) all were under the anan (cloud),

(‘Achim (brothers) b(in)Moshiach are Yehudah and Ephraim who were all under the anan (cloud). The seed (literal) of Abraham, Yitzhak and Ya’acon) read it for yourself :)

Exo 13:21 And Yahweh went before them (Yehudah and Ephraim -Israel) by day in an ammud anan (‘Pillar of a cloud), to guide them haderech (the Way); and by lailah (night) in an ammud eish (‘Pillar of fire), to give them ohr (light); so they could travel yomam valailah (day or night);

Exo 13:22 He took not away the amud heanan (‘Pillar of a cloud) by day, nor the ammud haeish (‘Pillar of fire) by night, from before HaAm (the people, Yehudah and Ephraim) and passed through the sea.
Exo 14:22 And the Bnei Yisroel (Yehudah and Ephraim) then went into the middle of the yam (sea) upon the yabashah (dry land); and the mayim (waters) were a chomah (wall) unto them on their right, and on their left.

Exo 14:23 And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the middle of the yam (sea), even kol sus (all horses) Pharaoh, his chariots, and his parash (rider).

Exo 14:24 So it came to pass, that when came the watch of the boker (morning), Yahweh looked down on the machaneh Mitzrayim (camp of Egypt) through the ammud eish (pillar of fire) and of the anan (cloud), and caused confusion over the machaneh Mitzrayim (camp of Egypt),

Exo 14:25 And turned awry their chariot wheels, that they drove them with difficulty; so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the presence of Yisroel (really when Yehudah and Ephraim where together, not like today); because Yahweh fighting for them against the Egyptians,
So let we further listen what Rabbi Shaul has really to say:)

1Co 10:2 And all into Moshe Rabbenu were given tevilah (a ‘mikwah’ immersed) in the anan (cloud) and in the sea,

1Co 10:3 And all of the same spiritual okhel (food) ate [SHEMOT 16:4,35; DEVARIM 8:3; TEHILLIM 78:24-29],

1Co 10:4 And all of the same spiritual drink drank, for they were drinking from a spiritual TZUR (Rock) following them [SHEMOT 17:6; BAMIDBAR 20:11; TEHILLIM 78:15; 105:41], and that TZUR was Moshiach (Yeshuah – Yeshuah Yahweh).

And now one of our neviim:

Hab 2:3 For the chazon (vision) is yet for a mo’ed (an appointed time); it speaks of HaKetz (the End), and does not lie; though it tarry, wait for him

Moshiach— see: Sanhedrin 97b, ‘It has been taught; R. Nathan said: This verse pierces and descends to the very abyss:11 For the Vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though he tarry, wait for him (Moshiach); because it will surely come, it will not tarry.12]; because he (Moshiach) will surely come, and will not tarry.

(11) Just as the bottom of an abyss cannot be reached, so is it impossible to grasp the full purport of this verse (Rashi).
(12) Hab. II, 3.

Believe…..

Hab 2:4 Hinei (behold), his nashamah (soul) which is puffed up is not upright in him; but the tzaddik (righteous) shall live by his emunah (believe).

Through Moshiach, Yeshuah from Yahweh who give you emunah (believe)…..

Gen 15:6 And he believed in Yahweh; and He credited emunah (faith)] to him as tzedakah (righteousness).

Please read the whole book of HaNavi Habakuk?

The Koran teaches us that you have to die…….

But, please Yudah (Jews) and Ephraim (most Christians) Listen to His Voice:

Hab 1:12 Art thou not mikedem

(‘everlasting’ also said of Moshiach, indicating Moshiach’s eternal divine nature: Dan 7:14 And there was given Him (Moshiach) dominion, and honor, and sovereignty, that all people, Goyim, tongues, should pey-lammed-chet. [1] (worship as deity) (see Dan 3:12, serve, reverence as deity Him (Moshiach). His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His (Messianic) Kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.] see Michah 5:1[2];)

Yahweh Elohai (my Elohim) Kedoshi (my Holy One)? We shall not die. Yahweh, Thou hast appointed them (these Chaldean) for mishpat (ordinance); O Tzur (Rock), Thou hast ordained them (these Chaldean) for reproof.

Maran Rabbeinu Yeshuah and Rabbeinu Shaul are teaching that you, Yehudah and Ephraim all Israel, come together to the same point as where you were when you said:

Deu 5:27 Go thou near, and hear all that Yahweh Eloheinu (our Elohim) shall say; and speak thou unto us all that Yahweh Eloheinu shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.

But don’t ‘make’ from one of them Rabbeinu Yeshuah, Rabbeinu Shaul or Rabbeinu Mosheh another ‘mighty one’ but accept them in your live for what they really are….

Please take it serious what Abba Yahweh is telling us in:

Deu 18:15 Yahweh Eloheicha (your Elohim) will raise up unto thee a Navi (prophet) from among thee, of thy achim (bretheren), kamoni (like me.....

Exo 32:30 The next day Moshe said to the people, "You have committed a terrible sin. Now I will go up to Yahweh; maybe I will be able to atone for your sin."); unto him ye must listen;

Deu 18:16 According to all that thou desired of Yahweh Eloheicha (your Elohimin) Chorev (to be burnt dried up, ruined, wasted) in the Yom HaKahal (day of the congregation), saying, Let me not hear again the voice of Yahweh Elohav (your Elohim), neither let me see this eish hagedolah (‘great fire’) any more, that I die not.

Deu 18:17 And Yahweh said unto me, They have well-spoken that which they have spoken.

Deu 18:18 I will raise them up a Navi (prophet) from among their achim (brethren), like unto thee, and will put My words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.

Joh 10:18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have samchut (authority) to lay it down, and I have samchut to receive it again. This mitzvah I received from HaAv (the Father).

Deu 18:19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not listen unto My words which he shall speak Bishmi (in My Name), I will require it of him.

Joh 8:28 Therefore, Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach said to them, When you perform the hagbah (lifting up) of the Ben HaAdam, you will have da'as (knowledge) that Ani Hu [YESHAYAH 41:4; SHEMOT 3:14-16], and from myself I do nothing, but as HaAv (the Father) of me taught me, these things I speak.

Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiah Yeshuah – is Yeshuah Yahweh. Like it is said in:

Gen_49:18 I have waited for Thy Yeshuah (Salvation), Yahweh.

Exo_15:2 Yahweh is my oz and zimrah (song of praise), and He is become to me Yeshuah (salvation); He is Eli (my Elohim), and I will praise Him; Elohei Avi (the Elohim of my Father), and I will exalt Him.

And not a half-god, or another mighty-one who came between HaShem and us! (Not, ‘It Suph’!) I believe many of us (Jews and Ephraimites!) have to learn that!

[1] Dictionary of the Talmud. M. Jastrow p. 1178 פלח