Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Yeshua once said that if people won't listen to Moses, they won't be convinced even if someone rises from the dead. That's a strange thing to say, unless Moses plays a bigger role than we usually admit. What if believing in Yeshua actually requires believing Moses? First, let's explore this idea together in this week's five Minute Torah.
[00:00:26] Shalom and Blessings from Shalom Macon, the place where disciples of Yeshua learn, connect and grow. I'm Darren and before I get into the five minutes of my five Minute Torah commentary, let's cover a few quick facts about this week's Torah portion. This week we are starting the 17th Torah portion and the fifth portion of the Book of Exodus. We are in the portion of Yitro Exodus 18:1 through 2023 and here are the three things that you need to know about it. Number one the wisdom of Jethro and the Proto Sanhedrin during the events surrounding the Exodus, Jethro brought Moses wife and children back to him in the wilderness. When when Jethro observed the people standing in line all day as Moses judged every civil and religious dispute, he immediately identified the problem. Moses was exhausting himself and the people along with him. Jethro advised Moses to establish a structured chain of leadership, appointing judges over thousands and hundreds and fifties and tens, with only the most difficult cases being brought directly to Moses. He emphasized that these leaders were to be capable men who feared God, were trustworthy, and rejected bribes. This is Exodus 18:21. Moses accepted this council, creating an organized system of justice that freed him to focus on his divine calling and laid the foundation for what would later become the Sanhedrin, Israel's highest court. Number two Har Sinai up on the mountain Approaching the presence of the God of the universe is no small matter. When God summoned Moses to Mount Sinai, the Israelites were given strict instructions to prepare themselves and to treat the mountain with absolute reverence. They were commanded to consecrate themselves, wash their garments, and keep their distance. Anyone human or animal who touched the mountain would die. Exodus 19:10 13 this moment makes it clear. Encountering the Lord is like handling fire. Carelessness brings destruction. It's not hard to wonder how our faith might change if we recovered even a measure of that awe and reverence today. Number three Aseret Hadibrot the Big Ten God brought Israel to Mount Sinai to enter into a covenant with them, a relationship often described as a marriage. God was the husband, Israel the bride, and the Torah the covenantal agreement. But the Torah was never meant to enslave God had just freed Israel from bondage. He was not replacing one form of slavery with another, and instead the Torah was given with a purpose to shape Israel into God's treasured possession, his treasured people, His Am Segulah, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. Exodus 19:5, the Aseret hadibrot. Literally, the ten words commonly called the Ten Commandments, serve as the most recognizable expression of this calling. Yet they're only the beginning. Beyond them lie another 603 commandments, all part of Israel's mission to reflect God's holiness to the world. Are you a disciple of Yeshua? Many people say they are, but few truly understand what discipleship really means. Why? Because discipleship is a distinctly Jewish concept, an intimate relationship between a rabbi and a student. Yeshua called 12 men into that kind of discipleship, and those 12 men change the world. So what do they understand about discipleship that we often miss? And how can we make better disciples if we've never truly been one ourselves? Those questions led me to write my book, the Four Responsibilities of a Disciple. While many books focus on how to make disciples, I wanted to understand what it means to be a disciple, because too many disciples today aren't transforming the world the way they should. What I discovered was that every disciple carries four essential responsibilities, and when these are lived out, they can truly change the world. If you want to know what it means to be a real disciple of our Master Yeshua, check out the four responsibilities of a disciple using the link below. This week's Torah commentary is called Heed the Messenger and comes from our book, Five Minute Torah, Volume One.
[00:04:37] This week's Torah portion is one of the most pivotal in terms of human history.
[00:04:41] In this Torah portion, the Creator of the universe reveals himself in a manner previously unknown to the mankind. It's the pinnacle of the Exodus and the very reason he delivered his people from Egypt. The Lord delivered the children of Israel from the bondage of Pharaoh in order to bring them to this very moment. It was on Mount Sinai that the Lord called Moses and commissioned him to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. And now it was from Sinai that God would reveal himself and his divine will to his people. His voice would be heard for the first time by. By an entire people. And for the first time, he would call an entire people to himself as a nation that would be set apart from all other nations on the face of the earth. But in order for all of this to happen, the Lord had to set the stage to allow his people to hear his voice and accept the offer he would present to them. The specific thing he had to do for this to happen was to get the Israelites to trust in his messenger and His Shaliach. Therefore, the Lord did great and mighty works through the hand of Moses so that they would fully realize he was indeed sent by the Lord. Israel saw the great hand of power that the Lord used against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses. This is Exodus 14:31. As the Israelites encamped at the base of Mount Sinai, the mountain was surrounded by various displays of the Divine presence.
[00:06:12] Why? Because the Lord needed to remind the people to trust in His Shaliach, his representative, his sent one named Moses. He explained this to Moses by saying, behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe in you forever.
[00:06:34] Believe in Moses forever. But isn't it Yeshua that we are supposed to believe in forever?
[00:06:41] In his parable of Lazarus and the Rich man In Luke 16, Yeshua demonstrates that belief in Moses is not optional, but foundational. In the parable, both Lazarus and a rich man die and enter the realm of the dead. Abraham attends to the needs of Lazarus while the rich man suffers torment as the rich man is suffering. He begs Abraham to send Lazarus back from the dead to call his brothers to repentance. And Abraham responds by telling him, they have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them immediately. The rich man objects by saying, no Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent. Abraham's response is striking. If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. Why was faith in Moses so critical for the children of Israel fleeing Egypt? Because he was the one sent to guide them to their destination and facilitate God's covenant with them. Why has faith in Moses been critical for the children of Israel since the Exodus? Because he points them back to that covenant God made with them, reminding them of their responsibility to remain faithful to their Redeemer. Sometimes, however, we forget that our faith in Yeshua should also serve the same purpose. Yeshua's job was to point us back to his Father and his Father's covenant. It each self disclosure of the Lord required that humanity might believe in His Shaliach, but not for the sake of believing in him alone. They were to trust in His Shaliach so that ultimately they might see beyond the messenger to the one whom the messenger represents and then hear his voice. Fresh and anew. Yeshua desired that the world would believe in him so that they could ultimately hear the voice of His Father and be unified for his purposes, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in Me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. This is John 17:20 21 once we believe in the messenger, we can hear his message. The message of Moses was I am giving you a covenant with the Creator of the universe. Cling to its details, loving God and others through the details of this covenant and you will live. Yeshua's message was repent. Turn back to the covenant of your forefathers, because if you do, the Messianic kingdom will come upon you. We must do more than believe in the Messenger. We must hear his voice and be obedient to his message as well. If you like this video, please take a second to like it and subscribe to our channel so that you won't miss what's next. And at the end of this video you'll see a recommended teaching. Don't go ahead and watch it and keep building your faith. And please help us spread the message. Share these videos on your social media network. The more people who watch, the better they'll understand Yeshua from a Messianic Jewish perspective and together we can begin transforming our world. And hey, join us live at Shlom Macon every Shabbat every Saturday at 9am and 11am Eastern. We would love to grow with you.
