Prophet Pearls #20 – Tetzaveh (Ezekiel 43:10-27)

Prophet Pearls Tetzaveh (Ezekiel 43:10-27) with Nehemia Gordon and Keith JohnsonIn this episode of Prophet Pearls, Tetzaveh (Ezekiel 43:10-27), Nehemia Gordon and Keith Johnson discuss Ezekiel describing the sin offering and the building plan for the Temple. Nehemia and Keith consider whether a spiritual or literal interpretation fits best with the minute details of the plan. We learn the iniquity for which Ezekiel’s listeners were (and we are) to be ashamed of, as well as the literal meanings of “temple” and “synagogue” and that word choice indicates world view.

Word studies include: “Son of man / ben adam,”  “temple / ha-bayeet,” and “back / gav,”—the last of which provides linguistic proof for the pronunciation of God’s name. Gordon expounds on “ariel” (aleph-reish-yod-aleph-lamed) – a concept central to Ezekiel’s prophecy that has been lost in English translations. We also learn the family history of Zadok—from the days of Samuel to the Apostle Paul. In closing, Gordon and Johnson savor the last words of the Portion and the best news of all—“I will accept you, declares the Lord Yehovah.”

"So the altar shall be four cubits; and from the altar and upward shall be four horns." (Ezekiel 43:15)

I look forward to reading your comments!

Download Prophet Pearls Tetzaveh Transcript
Prophet Pearls #20 - Tetzaveh (Ezekiel 43:10-27)

You are listening to Prophet Pearls with Nehemia Gordon and Keith Johnson. Thank you for supporting Nehemia Gordon's Makor Hebrew Foundation. Learn more at NehemiasWall.com.

Nehemia: Previously on Prophet Pearls, an American Israeli Jew in Texas met an African-American Methodist in China on the common ground of the ancient Hebrew prophets. Their internet did not work. The end.

Keith: Okay. You promise me now this is the last introduction you’re going to do until we’re face to face.

Nehemia: You don’t know what I wanted to do, I controlled myself. This might be the last episode we do before we meet each other on the physical common ground of the prophets in Jerusalem, Israel. Is that right?

Keith: Yes. We’re going to be in the land of Israel and I’ll tell you something, I’m so inspired about it. For those who don’t know, we have been in what we call hand-to-hand combat with technology, international struggles, internet issues, phone issues. We’re going to try and get through this one today, and I have to just say ahead of time, I’d like for everyone that’s listening, it’s the end of February. It’s about to be March. The plan is that we’re going to be flying from different parts of the world and meeting in the land of Israel to be face to face again. As we started the way we started, we were face to face for I think almost 10 episodes.

Nehemia: 11.

Keith: Are you there?

Nehemia: Yes, it was 11 episodes.

Keith: Oh, I thought you said hello. I’m so sensitive.

Nehemia: You’re traumatized by the internet.

Keith: So no, we’re really struggling with this. I want to say ahead of time to the folks that have partnered with us, we’re so appreciative of everything that you’ve done. Our original plan was week-by- week and of course, we’ve had to increase our recordings and we’ll be sending something out. Obviously, by the time you get this, you’ll already hear about the fact that we’re asking you for any comments that you have.

But here’s something I want to say to those that are listening, both our partners and others, that both of us at BFAinternational.com and Nehemiaswall.com - you’ll have the ability to leave comments and those comments are not just so we can say we had comments, but they’re really for interaction. We want people to be able to read it with us, to respond, to give us their insights, their thoughts, their questions. Don’t be overwhelmed, hundreds and hundreds of people are reading it. It’s the chance to be able to interact with the community. So we really want people to do that.

Nehemia? You’re listening to the recording.

Nehemia: Wait, because I’m not sure it’s been recording. No, no, now I think it is recording. I just had to be sure, I’m so nervous. We got cut off so many times.

Keith: Okay. So as I mentioned, comments are very, very precious to us. They’re pearls, they’re community comments. So we want you to make those comments. And look, work with us on this last little recording from different parts of the world. But we’re going to try to get through this.

Ezekiel, Nehemia.

Nehemia: So what you’re really saying is that people are actually diving down into the ocean of Torah with us and the ocean of Scripture by leaving comments on the pages, and those are pearls as well.

Keith: Absolutely. We don’t have all the pearls.

Nehemia: You mean we don’t have the exclusive monopoly on the pearls?

Keith: No, absolutely not. In fact, we really need people, especially in these next few weeks, we’re going to have you...

Nehemia: Hallelujah. Amen. Nehemiaswall.com - leave your comments.

Keith: Yep. Absolutely. Leave your comments. So Nehemia, real quick before we get into this, before we get into this Scripture, tell me where you are right now.

Nehemia: Where I am?

Keith: I mean, I want you to project, no, no. I want you to project yourself into the end of February.

Nehemia: Oh, where I am at the end of February? So I think… let’s see. Well, this is, let’s just look at what we’re doing today. What we’re doing is the section on… it’s the Torah portion of Tetzaveh which is Exodus 27:20 through 30 verse 10, and the parallel portion that we’re doing now is Ezekiel 43 verses 10 to 27. It’s going to be read in the synagogues on February 28, 2015.

At this point, I’m already going to be in Israel waiting for you. You may actually be on an airplane at this point. I’m not sure. You’ll be boarding the airplane maybe in the evening of this day. So I’ll already be in Israel getting things ready, preparing your room where you’re going to be staying. Making sure the cats are comfortable, but...

Keith: That’s not a joke folks. So you’re going to be in Israel, and so what is it like for you when you’re not in Israel? How was that for you? Like, I’m just asking you this – I know we’re about to get into the Scripture, but for you to go back to Israel. So I mean, you know, you’ve been away from Israel for how long?

Nehemia: Oh, every time I land at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, I feel like I’m fulfilling the prophecy of the ingathering of the exiles. I really do. It really is an amazing feeling. As I’m out here in Texas and in other places, I really do feel… In a way, I feel a connection with my ancestors who wandered the globe for 2,000 years. I’m the wandering Jew. The other day somebody asked me, “Where do you live?” I don't know how to answer that question, because I don’t live anywhere right now.

It’s a spiritual experience as well, to be wandering in that sense. All of us in a sense are wandering in life through this desert of this spiritual exile as we are waiting for the Messiah to come - or some of us are waiting for the Messiah to return - and make the world right and end war and bring peace to the world. So in a sense it’s a microcosm, my experience now of the history of Israel, of 2,000 years, that’s how I look at it.

Keith: I will tell you, I’ve been to Israel enough times now, especially since you and I hooked up in 2002. From 2002 until now I can’t count how many times I’ve been there, and in some situations I’ve been there twice or three times, as many as three times in one calendar year. I have to say it’s becoming something that… It never gets old. It never gets stale.

Nehemia: Amen.

Keith: It’s never, “Oh boy, I’ve got to go to Israel.” I just feel like I’m one of the most favored people to be able to get on an airplane. I was planning to be there for the tour, which we’re now on our third tour with BFA International, we’ll be on our third tour to Israel. But to have the opportunity to be there two weeks early - I really am looking forward to it. I believe based on this date that within about 24 hours, I’ll be boarding a plane in Shanghai, traveling through Hong Kong and getting over to Israel, and then we’ll be getting right into the Scripture. But today’s Scripture is Ezekiel 43, one of my favorite passages.

Nehemia: I got to stop you because made a really profound statement, and you don’t even realize it, or maybe you do. You said about Israel, “It never gets old.” Isn’t that an amazing picture? Israel is an old land. It’s an ancient land. There are people living in Jerusalem whose house was built in the 1200s and that’s not even considered an ancient building. I mean, think about that. I’ll meet Americans who have a house that’s 50 years old and they’re like, “Oh, this house is so old.” I’m like, “What are you talking about?”

That’s kind of like a picture of Israel. When Herzl wanted to inspire the Jews to return to their land, he wrote a book called Altneuland, which was in German, and it translates as Old New Land. When they translated the book into Hebrew, they said, “How do we translate this concept of an old new land?” Meaning the land is old, but it’s also new. That’s the power of the land - that it’s both old and new. Israel has some of the most cutting-edge innovation in the world. There are more high-tech startups in Israel, a country of 7 million people, than there are in the United States, a country of over 300 million people. There’s a guy who wrote a book, Startup Nation, about it. It’s an amazing country, both for its antiquity, its ancientness, its oldness, and for its newness, and that really is a picture of Israel, this old-new land.

When they translated this book of Herzl's into Hebrew, Altneuland, they translated it as Tel Aviv, because Tel is the mound of an ancient city and Aviv is the new ripening barley, it’s the new grain. It’s that contrast - that’s actually a place named in the Bible, in the book of Ezekiel, called Tel Aviv. So they translated Altneuland as Tel Aviv, and I think that’s appropriate, because as this is coming out in February, the reason I’m coming to Israel - in addition to doing this program with you - the main reason I’m going to Israel is actually for what we call the Aviv Search. That’s where we scour the land of Israel, searching for the new barley, for the new ripening grain, which marks the beginning of the year.

My ancestors, for 2,000 years - less than 2,000 years - for 1,600 years, they talked about how when they returned to the land, when they would be brought back to the land of Israel, gathered back in the ingathering by the King Messiah, that they would restore the biblical calendar. In 359 A.D. Hillel II established the calendar that’s used by most Jews today. It’s the Rabbinical calendar. Some people just call it the Jewish calendar. But really, the rabbis themselves say it didn’t exist until 359 A.D. when the Romans abolished the Sanhedrin, and back then they said, “Well, as soon as the Messiah comes and defeats the Romans, gathers back in the exiles and brings world peace, we'll go back to following the biblical calendar.”

Now we’re back in the land and we don’t have world peace yet and there are definitely challenges, and we see some of those challenges actually in the Aviv Search. One of the main areas we go and look for the barley is in the northwestern Negev, which is on the border of Gaza, and there’s some risk involved. I’ve been there when we had rockets fired on us during the Aviv Search and we had to run into air raid shelters during the Aviv Search.

But now we’ve been doing this for over 20 years, going around the land of Israel, looking for the new part. We've got the old - that you see everywhere, and the new, you’ve got to look for it. When you find it that marks the beginning of the new Hebrew year, the first new moon after that. And so, this is what’s going on right now, it’s about to happen.

So I do want to invite people to go over to the Nehemiaswall.com, and you could actually be part of this Aviv Search by supporting the efforts of what we’re doing. Make sure to sign up for my free newsletter so you can get live updates right from the field, as we’re driving through these places and looking at the barley, we’re going to update you on what’s going on. So go over to Nehemiaswall.com.

Keith: So Nehemia, I’m going to do something. This is the last time before we’re together physically. I want people to be sure that they understand what you just said, because you spoke about the significance of Israel. You spoke about the significance of history, and you talked about what you’ve been doing now for how many years? How many years have you been looking for the Aviv?

Nehemia: So people have been doing it since 1988. I got involved in 1992, so I don’t know how many years. That’s 23 years? 24?

Keith: Yeah. That’s amazing. So 23 years you’ve been doing this, and you have people from different parts of the world who actually physically join you, and I’ve got the chance to do it. Yes, I’ve been able to do that with you, and it really is amazing. In fact, I’m going to make an offer of something here, related to what you’re talking about with that.

But let me just say this. For people that really maybe they don’t have the ability like the people that are coming on the tour, BFA tour, people that are going to be there with the Aviv Search. But what you’re really offering people is a chance for them to be a part of it, and one of the ways that they can be a part of it is to help support it, because what people have to realize is that it actually does cost - I mean, gas costs and renting cars and going from place to place. People around the world are waiting, “What time of the year is it? What time is it in the land of Israel?” This is one of the ways that they can be a part of it. So again, they go to Nehemiaswall.com, and there’s information there for how they can, they can support it.

Nehemia: Yes, absolutely. I don’t know if people are aware of this, but we have this image in Judaism of Issachar and Zebulun, those two brothers. Issachar, his name means “there is reward”, and the traditional understanding is that Zevulun, or Zebulun, that he would actually go out and work and raise the resources for Issachar to then study Torah and live the Torah and make the Torah live so that other people could live it as well.

In other words, Issachar was in ministry and Zebulun worked. He didn’t have the aptitude or the time or the capacity to do what Issachar did. Frankly, Issachar didn’t have the aptitude, time or capacity to do what Zebulun did, but together they had this symbiosis where one of them devoted himself to Torah and the other one devoted himself to earning a living so he could support the other one. So I want to invite people to enter into me with the relationship of Issachar and Zebulun, and you will be involved in the Aviv Search even if you’re thousands of miles away.

Keith: Awesome. That’s awesome. Well, we’re going to get into the Scripture, but I just want to say today is the 28th. We’ll be together in March, it’s some time that we’re going to be together. One of the things I want to do to celebrate that time and to help people enjoy the experience is just to make available the Aviv Search, that you did invite me on, where I actually had the camera. Just going to make it available for free, no registration, it will just be on the page. We’ll talk about it in March.

But it really is an awesome opportunity for people to physically see the process that you go through. And for me, even though I had been on it before, it was just phenomenal, each time it’s phenomenal, and the things that people learn and the things that you get a chance to see and the places that you get a chance to be. So, once we’re physically together, remind me, I’m going to try to remember to do this, because I’d love for people to see exactly what it is that you did, and that was really an honor to do that.

Nehemia: So this is a program, like a video they can see, just to be clear, on BFAinternational.com, right?

Keith: Yep. They’re going to make a video available on the ninth month, searching for the Aviv it’s called Biblical Time. Again, I won’t bore you guys with it right now, but I am going to just make that offer right while the internet is still working, so when I physically get there we’ll push some buttons and have some people make it available so people can see exactly what you’re doing. I think that’s going to be a way for people to want to enter in. I really want to strongly encourage people to support this process, because as people are looking for what time it is, this is a very practical way for us to actually know what time it is according to Scripture.

So anyway, let’s get right into Ezekiel. Hopefully, we will be able to get in this without stopping six or seven times. I hate to complain folks, but it’s been a challenge. This is, like I said, our last one before physically being together.

We’re starting in verse 10. I want to make sure that that’s the verse that you have in the Hebrew Bible. I’ve got my Hebrew Bible open, my NIV open. I’ve got a number of other things here, but I realize the last time, one of the reasons that we had a challenge is that I clicked one of my computer issues and when that program came up, it cut off, so I won’t be able to do that. So you’re going to have to really have that computer of yours working today.

Nehemia: Because you’re talking on the computer.

Keith: Yes, exactly. Exactly. So, we’re at Ezekiel 40… let me just get here. Ezekiel chapter 43 verses 10 through 27. Are those verses that you’re looking at in your Bible?

Nehemia: Same verses.

Keith: Awesome. In the English Bible…

Nehemia: Well actually, come to think of it, I don’t know that they’re the same verses, I’m just looking at the Hebrew. I’ve got to compare it to the English. Oh yes. It looks like it’s the same verses in English.

Keith: Yes, it is. I’ve already compared…

Nehemia: The verses are the verses I’m looking at.

Keith: Exactly. This is what we are on. Before we get started, I just want to say thanks to Duane, Ginny, and Kelly, who are helping us - Prophet Pearls Partners.

Nehemia: Thanks guys.

Keith: I sent a note to them, but I’d like to ask them to have their comments ready and to make them available on Nehemiaswall.com, BFAinternational.com, to join in with the other people that are helping us dive for these precious pearls in the Prophets.

So, Nehemia, can we get started with… I have to start right away. I just have to ask a question right off the top. When you see verse 10, the first word I’m looking here in my Hebrew Bible, it says here “Ata ben adam”, and when you see in English, it says, “son of man.” What’s the first image that you get when you hear that?

Nehemia: Son of man? The first image I get is that he’s a human being, because in Hebrew it’s “Ben Adam”, “the son of Adam”. Yehovah is this immortal divine being, and He’s speaking to this mortal being who He then refers to as “son of Adam”. I don’t know - what else would you get from it?

Keith: No, no, no. I’m just asking you. So when you see that…

Nehemia: That’s what it sounds like to me - that it’s God speaking to a mortal human being. For example, if you look in the JPS they’ll translate it as, “now you, o mortal, describe the Temple to the house of Israel.” So they translate it… I mean, that is really… the Jewish understanding is ben adam is simply mortal flesh and blood human being.

Keith: Okay. Yes.

Nehemia: Should we make that the Word of the Week? Ben adam? Well, that can’t be the Word of the Week. We’ll get to the Word of the Week.

Keith: Well, no, it can’t be the Word of the Week. We have some more things here. But then it says to him… good you got the Word of the Week, you got the introduction, it’s your last introduction for a while.

Let’s ask this question. So again, when you see Isaiah, or when you see Exodus chapter 27:20 to 30:10, and then Ezekiel 43:10 through 27, there’s an obvious connection. What is it for you?

Nehemia: So it’s the Tabernacle in Exodus, and here it’s the building of what we refer to in Judaism as the Third Temple. We had the First Temple under Solomon, the Second Temple under Zerubavel, who then was… it was then renovated by Herod. But the Third Temple, the final temple, will be built by the King Messiah, and that’s the one described in the Book of Ezekiel, the one that we’re looking forward to in the future. That’s how I understand it.

Keith: We did something, for those who don’t know, we’ve been talking about this, and we’ve been talking about it a little bit more this week, especially. In fact this week, as you’re listening to this particular recording, we’ve got a little something that we’re going to put a little spice out there to show the picture of what Nehemia and I actually did in the past. But what we’re doing now, coming together, we’ve taken a combination between trains, planes, automobiles, and even motorcycles we’ve been on to be able to get together. And so getting together, because it reminds us of the Original Torah Pearls that we did where we actually discuss this section in depth. So, you can, again, go to nehemiaswall.com…

Nehemia: You mean the Exodus section we talked about? Yes. The Original Torah Pearls.

Keith: Yes, the Exodus section. And BFAinternational.com, where we did the Original Torah Pearls, for those that don’t know, we haven’t said this for a long time. We originally did a show together in... I can never remember the year. Was it 2011 or 2012?

Nehemia: I think it was 11 and 12…

Keith: So we did that for 52 sessions…

Nehemia: Well it had to be, because we did the last ones… Yes, it was definitely 2011-2012.

Keith: Okay, so awesome. It was a full year of doing the Torah portions, and then we call that the Original Torah Pearls, and like I said, that’s available right now on both sites. What’s nice about that is you can listen to what we’re talking about now, you can stop this recording if you want to, go and listen to what we were talking about in Exodus, and then what’s great about this, what I love about this and why we tried to do this before and we were stopped in our tracks - it’s a beautiful picture. It’s like you have the Torah portion, you listen to it, you read it, you go through that section, and then you hop on over to Prophet Pearls, where you’re able to hear it and then you kind of got the whole role. It kind of reminds me of Ezekiel, you know….

Nehemia: Can I just say something really controversial, or should we just move on?

Keith: Oh boy. Okay. I don’t know if we should edit it. Go ahead and say it, Nehemia.

Nehemia: So we did the Original Torah Pearls, and it was in the spirit of common ground. Then as we were beginning to do Prophet Pearls, I had some issues in my life, and that was one issue. But then there were some other things as well where that common ground began to be shaky and that’s why we’ve kind of done something, continued a little bit differently than the Original Torah Pearls.

Keith: You’re telling me that’s controversial?

Nehemia: We say in Hebrew “Vehamaskil yavin,” the wise shall understand.

Keith: Well it’s not controversial.

Nehemia: Okay.

Keith: What I’m going to say is that it really was a joy to do Torah Pearls, and I stand on what we did.

Nehemia: Absolutely.

Keith: My point is that the Torah Pearls program, which is now at this point, like I say, that stands in history as an opportunity where we came together in a spirit of really seeking to find out where we had common ground. And again, to do this program right now is in that same spirit. So I just have to say again, as I said, we’re at the end of February as the people are listening to this. The next couple of weeks are going to be really special, and it’s going to be a challenge.

Nehemia: Just to be clear, we’re talking about the Original Torah Pearls, I was involved and you were involved. What other people are doing has nothing to do with us.

Keith: So there are other people doing something, or…?

Nehemia: There are other things that people are calling “Torah Pearls” that really aren’t in the spirit of what we did. It’s just really a different spirit. It’s just definitely not Torah Pearls in the authentic sense of what we did. Frankly, I don’t know why they’re calling it that.

Keith: It’s a brand name mix-up.

Nehemia: I think there’s maybe some… well I shouldn’t say anymore, but yes. Let’s focus on the common ground and leave those who want to burn bridges to a different deal.

Keith: Very good. Okay. Now that was controversial.

Nehemia: Let’s move on before it gets too late.

Keith: Otherwise, I’ll give you another paragraph and it’s over.

Nehemia: All right.

Keith: So let’s jump into this because he’s speaking here… again, there’s the Mishkan, we’ve got the Temple, Ezekiel is going to come forward. We’ve talked about this before, even in last week’s discussion we talked about the size of the Temple and measurements and all those sorts of things. But what I think is interesting is it says here, “Let them consider the plan.”

Let me back up. “Describe the Temple to the people of Israel that they may be ashamed of their sins.” Now I want to ask a question. In English, when we say “describe the Temple,” it just seems to me that… He says, “describe the temple”. It just kind of seems when you say “the Temple,” temple could kind of mean anything.

Nehemia: How could it mean anything?

Keith: At least, I don’t know how to say this. I’ll use the word temple, meaning The Temple.

Nehemia: So in English, we say Temple with a capital T, it’s the Jerusalem Temple. In Hebrew, we’d say “Beit Hamikdash”, although this verse just says “Habayit,” the house. But everyone knows in this context what house we’re talking about. This is the…

Keith: That’s what I wanted to get to. I wanted to get to that part. I love the way that it describes the Temple. Habayit, the house. What’s the house for? “He built the house,” is what it said last time, when you went to Chronicles, “He built the house for the name,” and it goes on… I mean, I just, I don’t know. House is so descriptive to me. What do you have at a house? The house is there for something. A temple of this and a temple of that, and the Masons have temples and all this, but the Temple or the House. There’s only one of those things.

Nehemia: You might not be aware of in the Jewish world, there’s a huge controversy. One of the biggest controversies probably of the 20th century or the 19th century, but still raging today, is that Orthodox and conservative Jews refer to their synagogues in Hebrew as Beit Knesset. In English, they call it a synagogue, which is a Greek word that means “to gather together.” The Hebrew Beit Knesset is the “house of gathering.”

But the reform Jews who started out in the 1800s called their synagogues “temple”. So you’ll have Temple this, Temple Emanuel or whatever. Why did they call it temple? Because in their theology, in their ideology, the temple of Ezekiel will never be built. They say that this is just some kind of a fantasy that the prophet had, and it’s not actually something that’s going to be built in the future, because that would indicate that what we’re doing today is deficient, is not ideal. It’s that it’s exilic. There’s this idea of negation of the diaspora, negation of the exile - meaning that we say the exile is not… not the perfect situation, and they can’t accept that, the reform Jews. They say, “No, that’s just some ancient fantasy. The way we’re living today, this is how it’s supposed to be, and the temple is wherever we build a temple.”

So that’s actually a really big controversy, and it actually helps me understand what it says here. “Now you, o son of man, describe the Temple to House of Israel, and let them measure its design, but let them be ashamed of their iniquities.” So what’s the shame? The shame is that this Temple hasn't been built yet and it’s because of our iniquities that it hasn’t been built yet.

Keith: Boy, you just really… I have to tell the folks - we’ve been in a number of places, we’ve actually spoken together in synagogues, we’ve spoken together in churches, we’ve spoken together in fellowships, we’ve spoken together on the field, under tents, on trains, planes… But one of the places that we went, that I never quite was able to deal with, is we went to a reform synagogue…

Nehemia: They’ll say it’s a synagogue but the name of it will be called Temple whatever, and I don’t even remember the name of that temple.

Keith: Whatever it was, it was Temple something and we’re going to have a Torah study. The problem was I couldn’t be in the inner circle. I had to sit on the outside of the circle, and you got a chance because you’re Jewish.

Nehemia: Oh you’re talking about that one?

Keith: No, I’m going to tell you what happened.

Nehemia: That’s not the one we spoke at.

Keith: So you sat in there, and we’re going to have a Torah study. So I’m sitting on the outside with someone and you’re sitting on the inside with the rabbi, who happened to be a lady, if you remember.

Nehemia: Yeah, yeah. That’s a different story, okay.

Keith: Then she opened up the Torah and started talking, and I think within the first five minutes, something came up about Moses. Do you remember this?

Nehemia: So just to be clear, we spoke at a reform temple in the Atlanta area – that’s not what we’re talking about. We love those people. We’re still in touch with the cantor there. He’s a great guy. Hey, Mark.

But you’re talking about a different situation in a different state where we… And so, yes, the reform rabbi at the other temple asked me… She was trying to explain to her congregants what the difference between reform and Karaites are. Because you might look at them and say, “Well, wait a minute. They both reject the authority of the rabbis, they’re not that different.” So she asked me… for the purpose of explaining to her congregants, she said, “How do you understand the Torah? What do you understand it to be?” I said, “I believe it’s the perfect word of God revealed through Moses.” The reform rabbi’s response was, “See, that’s where we differ. I’m not sure of… For me, the jury is still out about whether Moses existed or not.”

Keith: That’s what I wanted to bring up.

Nehemia: That was her… She brought this up. I wasn’t trying to be controversial. I was a guest in her house, I don’t want to argue, but you ask me a question, I’m going to tell you the answer. So yes, to me there’s no question that Moses existed, no question that he wrote the Torah, and it’s the basis of the entire history of Israel. We’re not in a good place now as a people, as a world… We’re in a fallen world. We live in a world of exile. Jews have their physical exile, but the whole world is in exile because we’re waiting for the Messiah to come and reign as a flesh and blood king over Israel, to bring peace to the world, to gather in the exiles, to end war, to end starvation. As long as this temple… it’s like this temple here that’s being described in Ezekiel 43 and the following chapters in a way is almost taunting us, saying, “This is what you could have if you would just repent.” That’s why I think it says, “But let them be ashamed of their iniquities.”

Keith: Well that’s definitely the case. I mean, if you look at what’s happening right now, and then the people that are calling for that change of heart and change of action and change of venue and all of that. I think there are a lot of issues that we could talk about regarding this, and we have discussed them. Maybe we’ll be able to discuss them a little more.

Nehemia: Just to be clear what I’m saying. If you look in the Torah, especially Deuteronomy 4 and in other places, Deuteronomy emphasizes this, but it’s really a central message in the Hebrew Scriptures, which is that… There are a lot of people out there who are calculating the times. They know the day and the hour of the exact year based on certain things that are going to happen. They’ll tell you it’s May 21st, 2012, and there’s a big billboard here in Texas that says it’s like some time in 2017 or something like that, or 2027.

The Jewish perspective is completely different. Our understanding based on the Torah, based on the Hebrew Scriptures, is that God is just waiting for us to repent, and… this Temple will not be built. We can’t force it. What we have to do is repent and when we repent, then He’ll come and let it happen. But until then we should just be ashamed that it’s not built.

Keith: Wow. Okay. Well, it says… and it gives the design, talks about the regulations, “Write these down before them so that they may be faithful to this design and follow all of its regulations.” And then verse 12…

Nehemia: Can I just say, isn’t it interesting that when Zerubavel built his temple, he didn’t even attempt to follow these regulations? He knew his temple was not the temple promised in Ezekiel. He knew that. How did he know that? Because they didn’t have the high priest with the Urim and the Tumim, they didn’t have the fire come down from heaven and consume the sacrifice. He knew. He knew that wouldn’t be the final one.

Keith: Well then it gets in verse 12, it says, “This is the law of the Temple,” or if I can say, “This is the Torat of the bayit, of the house.” Then it says here, “Upon,” and now I’m looking at two things, so bear with me here Nehemia. I’m looking at two things. It says, “All the surrounding area on top of the mountain,” and I just have to say this because I like this kind of thing. In the Hebrew Bible when it has like words together, it says, “Saviv saviv kadosh kodeshim.” It’s like you get this… I don’t know what it is about the Hebrew Bible, but you have these phrases, and when they come up, I don’t know what it is – it kind of jumps off the page, maybe because the words are the same or because you know… whatever it is, it’s happening. But the thing that hits me is it says that all of the surrounding area, “Saviv saviv,” on top of the mountain…

Nehemia: So on top of the mountain is very misleading. In Hebrew, it says, “Al rosh hahar”, which means the top top, the peak of the mountain. We actually talked last week about... There’s the theory now that the Temple, the original Temple wasn’t at what today is called the Temple Mount.

Keith: C’mon, c’mon, c’mon.

Nehemia: That it was down the hill, above the Gichon Spring. That doesn’t fit here at all. It says “Al rosh hahar”, on the top of the mountain, on the peak of the mountain. That is what we call today the Temple Mount. It’s not something downhill. You know what?

Keith: There it is.

Nehemia: David had his palace downhill, but above his palace, that was the Temple. He would look up at that tent, he would look up from his palace at the tent and he could see there was the tent, and inside the tent was the Ark of the Covenant where later Solomon built the Temple on the place of the threshing floor of Aravna the Jebusite. Why would the Jebusite Aravna have a threshing floor in the middle of the city next to the royal palace? That makes no sense. You have the threshing floor outside the city, next to the fields where you can bring your grain and get all the chaff to blow away, and it just doesn’t fit. You also have it on top of the hill. That makes a lot of sense because then the wind comes and blows away the chaff and keeps the seed. Isn’t that a prophetic picture? Can I get an amen?

Keith: Isn’t that a prophetic picture? And so you read this… This is just another example again, of the whole of Scripture, because if you just take one section and you look at one section and you say, “Okay, this is going to be my study, this one little section, and I’m not going to look at anything else and I’m going to understand all the depth and all the issues regarding this one little section,” but you don’t put it in context, then something like this doesn’t get a chance to come in and bring an aspect that, you know, you just answered something that we didn’t talk about last week. Last week you didn’t talk about this description…

Nehemia: What do you mean? I was talking about it when you were cut off. No, I’m just kidding.

Keith: Yeah, you probably were, because I didn’t listen and I’m not going to listen, I’m protesting last week’s Prophet Pearls. Anyway. But then it gets to this, “and these are the measurements.” Now, what I like about this is that… I mentioned last week - before I got cut off - that there is this - I think it was last week - there’s a discussion about what the measurements of the Mishkan were or what the measurements were Solomon’s Temple. But then we get to Ezekiel, and now we’re talking about the specific measurements. Now, it might be an obvious thing to you. [imitating Nehemia] “It’s obvious why this is the case.” But when you get these measurements, what is the reason for the measurements? I think it’s because this is what they have to build.

Nehemia: As opposed to what?

Keith: No, this is my point.

Nehemia: Like, I don’t understand. Of course that’s the reason for the measurements.

Keith: You say it’s an obvious issue. No. Because what people will do is they’ll say, “Okay, we’re going to get into the issue of what the measurements were, not for the purpose of the measurements, because there’s some hidden meaning. There’s some deep, hidden meaning to what the measurements are, versus what the purpose of the measurements are.”

Nehemia: You know what this reminds me of? In archeology they excavated and they found remains of King David’s palace, and it’s in the city of David, and it’s called the Step Stone Structure. I studied it at Hebrew University of Jerusalem during my Bachelor’s degree, and the area where they found it, all the tour guides point out that this is called Area G. That’s what the archeologists dubbed this area, Area G. They’ll start to give you reasons why it’s called G. “This is where God was detected.” They'll come up with all kinds of explanations of G, and we used to laugh about this in archeology class, because why is it called Area G? What archeologists do is they break up the site, the archeological site, into A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I - into squares of 5 meters by 5 meters, and it happens to be in the 5x5 meter square where they found the Step Stone Structure, part of David's palace, that was in G. They found other things at F, and they found other things at H. So there’s no spiritual significance of it being called G, and maybe that’s the case here. We’ve got these measurements, and it’s 4 cubits, and it’s this number of cubits, and I guess you could come along and say, “Why is it 4 cubits? Because the Hebrew letter Dalet is the fourth letter of the alphabet representing the number 4, and that’s the Dalet, that door to understanding.” Maybe it’s 4 cubits because God didn’t want it to be 5 cubits or 3 cubits. Like, come on!

Keith: But sometimes… let me just say this… Look, there’s enough depth for when there is depth. It’s just amazing. Just absolutely amazing. I mean, you could say in Noah’s Ark… what was the spiritual meaning of Noah’s Ark? He says, “Look, this is going to be the boat. These are going to be the measurements of the boat because I’m telling you how to build the boat,” right? Or there are other times you see something like, “Wow, that really is amazing. That’s right there.” When it’s not there, you ask yourself, “So what’s the purpose?” What I’m trying to do is kind of take a step back after talking about what the...

Nehemia: Look, if the number was 7 or 70 or 77, then we’d have something to talk about, but it’s 4 cubits, 2 cubits, 40 cubits, like… I don’t know.

Keith: Okay, so we have this section about, He’s talking about the half cubit, the cubit. You know, we all have this, and I have to just say again, and I hate to say this, but I’m very nervous because if this gets cut off two or three times, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to continue talking. We’re talking about the cubits.

Nehemia: Why are you speaking this negativity? Speak the positive. Name it and proclaim it, Johnson!

Keith: Let me say verse 18.

Nehemia: 18? What are you talking about? What happened to verse 13? We’ve got to talk about verse 13, we’ll do it real quick. So, the last three words are “Ze gav hamisbe’ach.” This is... how is yours translated “Ze gav hamisbe’ach” in verse 13?

Keith: It says here, “the height of the altar.”

Nehemia: “The height.” What’s the Hebrew word, Keith? Tell me. Gav, what is gav?

Keith: I have to go to the end of 13. Hold on here. Just a second. Act like you’re typing.

Nehemia: Okay. So what do you have there? So gav, what’s the Hebrew word? The Hebrew word gav means “back”.

Keith: So it was like gav, like elevation.

Nehemia: Right. But that’s not what gav means. Gav literally means back, like the back of your body. And so what’s the back of the altar? The altar is kind of like this… almost looks like a lion lying down, crouching. It’s got this ramp going up to it. So the back is the top flat part, absolutely. But gav literally means back. Why is that significant? Well, how is gav spelled?

Keith: Gimel-Bet.

Nehemia: Right. How come it’s not gab, how come it’s gav? The answer is that the most basic thing you’ve learned in Hebrew - literally in kindergarten I learned this - when people learn Hebrew, they learn that the letter bet, if it has a dot in it it’s a “B”, if it doesn’t have a dot, it’s a “V”. Now that will be surprising to some people, because they’ve been told that there was no V in ancient Hebrew. Obviously, that’s not true because ancient Hebrew clearly has the V sound. Where they’re getting confused is they’re being told that the Vav was originally a Wa. In fact, I just watched a video the other day on YouTube that someone sent me, and he was very upset. He said, “I need to understand, why are you saying Yehovah? Clearly it’s Yehowah?” He shows me this video where the guy says, “For certain historical reasons, we know that the Vav was originally a Wa.” I say, “What are those historical reasons?” I challenge anyone to show me those historical reasons. I’ve looked at all the history of it, that is utterly… there’s no evidence for that. On the contrary, do you have access to 1 Kings chapter 14 verse 9? Are you able to open that up or will that crash the computer and the program?

Keith: I don’t want to crash the computer. You can go ahead and turn…

Nehemia: Okay, in 1 Kings 14:9, the last word in the verse is the word gav, meaning back. It even says in English, “has cast me behind thy back,” and the word for back there is spelled with a Vav. So in some places the word for back is spelled with a Vav, and other places that word for back is spelled with what we call the soft Bet. Now everybody agrees, in Jewish sources, all Jews agree that the soft Bet is pronounced to “V”. Why would it sometimes be spelled with the soft Bet, V, and other times with the Vav if the Vav was pronounced as a Wa?

Keith: Because you don’t understand Nehemia, that when it spells it with the Vav, they’re actually talking about the back of that which you can’t see. This is a hidden meaning.

Nehemia: We could look at instances of where gav is spelled with a Vav and where it’s spelled with a bet, and you’ll see actually in Ezekiel itself, he spells it both ways and it doesn’t change the meaning, in both cases it’s back, whether it’s the back of an altar or the back of a person, it’s a back.

David uses it speaking about his back, spelling it with a Bet in the Psalms. The point is, what I’m trying to say here, for those who don’t know Hebrew, and this might sound a little complicated if you don’t know Hebrew, is that the people who told you that the ancient Hebrew didn’t have a V sound simply don’t know what they’re talking about, because Hebrew had a soft Bet, and that’s not disputed by Hebrew scholars, that ancient Hebrew had this V sound for the soft Bet. There are certain words that can be spelled either with a Vav or a soft Bet without changing the meaning, and that tells me, at least, some Israelites pronounced the Hebrew letter Vav as a V the same way they pronounce soft Bet.

Keith: Well that’s golden.

Nehemia: Yes, that might be too complicated if you don’t know Hebrew, but… They talk about certain historical reasons… this is a text in Scripture that shows me clearly that somebody is interchanging soft Bet and Vav and they’re both pronounced as V. I mean I don’t know how you can ignore that proof. So anyway…

Can we jump ahead to verse 15 and talk about the Ariel?

Keith: Okay, let’s do it.

Nehemia: Okay. Can you read me verse 15? It’s verses 15 and 16 in your Methodist translation.

Keith: Yes. It says, “The altar hearth is 4 cubits high and 4 horns project upward from the hearth. The altar hearth is square, 12 cubits long and 12 cubits wide. The upper ledge also is a square, 14 cubits long and 14 cubits wide with a rim of half a cubit.”

Nehemia: Yes. So the word they’re translating here as “altar hearth”, and other translations just say altar, is the word in Hebrew Ariel. In one place it’s pronounced Harel, or written Harel, and in other places it’s Er’el. But the word for example here, it says, “And the Ariel above, there four horns and the Ariel,” et cetera in verse 16. So Ariel, and you completely lose that word in the English. That’s amazing to me that this word that is so significant, that’s the center of a prophecy, it’s the central concept in a prophecy in Isaiah 29.

Just to remind you, Isaiah 29 starts out, “Hoy Ariel, Ariel kiryat chana David”, “Woe to Ariel, Ariel the city where David dwelt.” So that’s how the prophecy starts out in Isaiah 29, and this Ariel repeats itself. It appears again in the prophecy in verse 7. It’s somewhere there. Let’s see… in Isaiah, oh, it’s in 29:2, “Yet I will distress Ariel and there shall be heaviness and sorrow.” Then verse 7, “And the multitude of all the nations shall fight against Ariel.” So three, four times actually, we have a reference to Ariel, and what is Ariel in that context? It clearly is the city of David, it says that.

But how does Ariel come to mean the city of David? Ariel literally means “the lion of God”. Specifically, we can see from Ezekiel 43, Ariel refers to the altar. That is the name of the altar. Or really, if we want to be technical, it’s the title of the altar, and the altar is called Lion of God, and that’s why it has a back, as I mentioned, which they translate as “height”, but the Hebrew literally means a back. So you know the Lion of God.

Here it’s really interesting. Once you see that, then you start to see other connections with this Ariel. For example, 2 Samuel chapter 23 verse 20 says, “And Vinaya, the son of…” this is talking about the heroes of David, the warriors. “And Vinaya the son of Yehoyada, the son of a valiant man of Kavtzael, who had done many acts, he slew the two lion like men of Moav. He went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in the time of snow.” That’s the King James version. What it actually says in Hebrew is “He slew the two Ariels of Moav.” What on earth are the Ariels of Moav? It’s not entirely clear. Moab, obviously, is the neighbor of Israel. There was some kind of war between Moav… we know about the war between Moav and Israel, Israel won. He slew the two Ariels of Moav.

Many scholars say, “Well, Ariel means lion of God,” so in some contexts lion of God refers to the altar. In some contexts it refers to a hero, meaning the champion. They bring the example of Goliath, who was the champion of the Philistines, that the Israelites and the Moabites all had these champions, and that was referred to as an Ariel. And that’s possible.

Isaiah 33:7 mentions Ariel as well. It says there, Ariel. “Behold their valiant ones shall cry without the ambassadors of Pesha, weep bitterly,” and it says in Hebrew, “behold their Ariel shall cry outside.” So that may refer to this warrior, who was called the Lion of God. That same word then is applied to the city of Jerusalem and to the altar itself, which is at the heart of the city of Jerusalem. So you lose all of that when you just translate it as “the hearth of the altar” or “altar”.

One more passage which is not in the Tanakh. It’s actually in the Meshah Stele. There was a king of Moab, of the Moabites, called Mesha, Mem-Yud-Shin-Ayin, and Mesha set up a large monument in which he wrote in Moabite, which is almost identical to biblical Hebrew, he described his victorious war against Israel. It’s actually the opening verses of 2 Kings, describing the same war, pretty cool.

He says, “The men of Gad,” G-A-D, not G-O-D, the tribe of Gad, “The men of Gad dwelt in the land of Atarot forever, and the King of Israel built up for himself Atarot.” That’s a city in Transjordan. “I fought against the city.” This is Mesha speaking, the King of Moav. “I fought against the city and captured it. I killed all the people and offered the city as a sacrifice to Kamosh.” That’s the god of the Moabites. Imagine that; he’s wiping out the city of the Israelites and he’s killing the people, offering them as a sacrifice to Kamosh. That sounds like some things that are going on today in northern Iraq and in Syria, and what the Boko Haram are doing in northern Nigeria - they’re offering up people as sacrifices to their gods. They’re modern day Moabites.

He says, “I took captive from there the Ariel of David and dragged it before Kamosh in Kriyot.” Kriyot is one of the cities of the Moabites. What on earth is the Ariel of David, the Ariel of David, that is being dragged before the idol of Kamosh in this Moabite city? Is that the warrior, meaning the champion, who went out and maybe taunted the Moabites and was captured? Or is it actually the altar that was dragged? Some kind of movable altar that shouldn’t have been there in the first place, of a high place? Why is it called the Ariel of David? I mean, this is kind of mysterious. We don’t know. We don’t know the answer to this, but it’s interesting that the two places where we have Ariel in the Tanakh, two of the places are both in Moabite contexts. One is in this Moabite inscription and the other is defeating them, the Ariels of the Moabites. Some people have even suggested that Ariel in the sense of a warrior actually may be a Moabite word, whereas in Hebrew, Ariel referred to the altar, both of them literally meaning “lion of God”. Interesting stuff. Yes.

Keith: That is very interesting. Wow. Okay. Anything on the cubit, is that the Word of the Week?

Nehemia: No, so the Word of the Week is Ariel. Could that be the Word of the Week?

Keith: And that’s what I was going to…

Nehemia: Beseder, okay, Ariel is the Word of the Week, and my sister, by the way, her name is Ariela, which is the feminine of Ariel. Ariel is understood to refer to both Jerusalem and the altar, yours translates it as “hearth”, that’s actually based on Arabic. There is no evidence of that. Ariel refers to the altar itself, and the city in which the altar stood. Ariel is Aleph-Resh-Yud-Aleph-Lamed. That’s simply two words: Ari, Aleph-Resh-Yud, which is lion, and El which is God or mighty one, Aleph-Lamed. So the mighty one of the Lion of God, the lion of the mighty one is Ariel.

Keith: Impressive - five letters, two words, and we’ve got Ariel. I like it.

Nehemia: There, we got it. Of course, isn’t that the character in that mermaid movie? Isn't her name Ariel?

Keith: Nehemia, you watch those kinds of things. You know I don’t watch those kinds of things.

Nehemia: No, it’s Disney! You can’t watch Disney? I know you watch Disney. I always thought that was funny when I heard that, this character named Ariel, and she’s… The Little Mermaid, it’s called. It’s a she because Ariel is a masculine word in Hebrew. Ariela is the feminine. Of course, we have Ariel Sharon, the former prime minister.

Are you with us? What’s going on?

Keith: Yes, I’m here. I’m here.

Nehemia: Okay. So let’s skip ahead to verse 19. Can you read this verse 19? Wait, actually, let’s stop there. I have to talk about verse 18. Can you please read verse 18?

Keith: Yes. So when I say I’m here and I’m doing something, that means that you have to keep reading because I’m trying to keep us recorded. I’m back to 18, “Then he said to me, ‘Son of man, this is what the sovereign Lord says. There will be the regulations for sacrificing burnt offerings and sprinkling blood upon the altar when it is built.’”

Nehemia: Okay. So we have to stop for a moment and just raise some questions here, and I hope you’re with us because you’re going to need to field this. One of the things I’ve heard from Christians is that Jesus came, and he was the final sacrifice, and after that the sacrificial system has been abolished. All you have to do is read in the book of Acts and you’ll find out that Paul was actually involved in a sacrifice in Jerusalem and the Temple after the crucifixion. So that doesn’t even really fit with the New Testament.

But how, in your Methodist church, did they explain this passage? That there are going to be sacrifices, burnt offerings, and there’s going to be blood, and remember blood is for the atonement. So they’re sprinkling blood on the altar in the time of Ezekiel’s temple. So how did you guys deal with this in the Methodist Church, or did you just ignore it?

Keith: No, we didn’t deal with this sort of thing, Nehemia.

Nehemia: So it’s really interesting. I’ve read about this in classical Christian commentaries, meaning Augustine and people like that, what Christians call Saint Augustine. Their explanation is that, well, this is not to be taken literally. There will never be an altar. In fact, when Ezekiel saw this vision, he saw an altar, but what the altar represents is… and then it comes up with some explanation, the Catholic Church or the cathedral, and then the sprinkling of the blood, that represents the Eucharist, and the church, the drinking of the wine and eating of the wafer. So they say, “This whole section in Ezekiel, really chapters 40 through 48 of Ezekiel, according to Catholic and Greek Orthodox traditional Christian commentators in the Christian world, these are all symbols, symbols of things that will take place, as they say, in the life of the church. It actually isn’t meant to be taken literally.

In this respect, Jews take the Bible literally. We absolutely do. There are obviously metaphors and symbols, but in this case, when Ezekiel describes a temple being built and he says it’s so many cubits this way and so many cubits that way, we literally understand that there will be a temple like this that will be built under the reign of the King Messiah, or in that period some… somehow, and that will be the final temple during the reign of the King Messiah on Earth. So in that respect, you could say Jews are literalists. Even though obviously the symbols and metaphors that, when he’s talking about cubits and things like this, yes, this is actually a temple that will be built.

Keith: In order words, sort of to back up, there’s no need to over-spiritualize the matter that what Ezekiel is seeing is the temple that will be built, that will physically be there. And that temple won’t be a temple that doesn’t have, but rather that does have the very things that were in the original temple, meaning the idea that having an altar, having a place to sacrifice, and those sort of…

Nehemia: Well verse 19 speaks of Chatat, the sin offering. You know what I mean? There will be sin offerings even in this future temple. And look, you said it. We don’t need to spiritualize it or over-spiritualize it. I’m not telling Catholics they shouldn’t spiritualize it. I think Catholics do need to spiritualize it because they say sacrifices have been done away with. So they’d come to a verse like verse 19, where it speaks about sin offerings, and they have no choice but to spiritualize it because it contradicts their theology. As a literalist in the respect of, I take the Bible at face value, I say a sin offering really is a sin offering. I don’t need to spiritualize it, they do. That’s my point.

Keith: I will weigh in here. The reason that there really doesn’t need to be too much of an argument regarding this is that maybe what you don’t realize Nehemia, as you say, the Jews take the Bible literally and the temple that’s going to be built, and Ezekiel... I think you’re confused. I really have to challenge you on something. I think you’re confused. You think that the Catholic Church, and even the Methodist Church, and many of the churches that are presently promoting what they’re promoting are actually looking at Ezekiel and saying that the verse in Ezekiel…

Nehemia: So I’ve looked at the Catholic …. commentaries ...

Keith: Let me finish. Let me finish. What I’m saying is that it’s almost easy, it’s almost an easy target, because what you find in the Catholic Church, what you find continuously more and more and more in the Protestant denominations, is they’re not opening the Bible. They’re more like the rabbi at that reform synagogue, if anything, who says, “Moses, what are you talking about? Altar? What do you mean? This is just a picture. These are nice things that you use every once in a while.”

What we’re doing right now that I think is so powerful is we're opening up the Scripture, we’re saying we find common ground in the Scriptures, the Holy Bible, the word of God, and we think it’s good for yesterday, today, tomorrow. I wish that that was the conversation in the Methodist church. I wish it was. Now how do we deal with verse 19? Verse 19 - we're not even reading verse 19! It’s not even in the conversation. So my point is that what we're trying to do is so different, and especially for you, it’s so different because… I know this is where hopefully this thing will cut off, what I’m continuously frustrated about is that we’re not using the Scripture as Scripture. We’re not opening it and asking what does it mean yesterday, today and tomorrow? It’s not even in the conversation. There are books of discipline, there are the rules and regulations of the Pope, there are the saint statements, there’s all this other stuff that’s going on. What I’m trying to do, to be honest with you, is let’s have the conversation about Scripture. When a rabbi says, “We don’t know if Moses exists,” or when a preacher says, or a bishop says, or a pope says, or a president says, “But you really want to open the Bible? You want to apply the Bible? The Bible’s an old dusty book! It’s not good for us.” I disagree. It is good. And for those that believe it we have to answer the question that you brought up - do we look at Ezekiel and say this is practical? It’s legitimate? It’s real? Or do we over-spiritualize and say, “Well, that’s not something we’re going to deal with. What you did do, and again you’re the one that’s done this throughout Prophet Pearls, I don’t know why you do it, you continually bring up something from the New Testament and it will be a question and you’re doing that, and I appreciate why you’re doing it, because you’re asking the question, “Was this something that was meant?” In other words, sacrifices continuing, Paul going to the temple. He didn’t go to the Temple and say, “Well, it’s good there are no sacrifices.” He did vows. He went to the Temple during Shavuot, and he went to the Temple and it said he had to be in Jerusalem for that time because it was continuing. So I get excited about it.

Nehemia: And it will continue in the time of Ezekiel. The reason I do that is you’re not being a good Methodist, and I want to respectfully consider this from the different perspectives. That’s why I say, I’m not saying the Catholic is wrong from his perspective; the Catholic needs to say this and he has an internally consistent system of theology. It’s just not my system. My system is...

Keith: And what I’m saying is the Catholic is wrong. Here’s the problem that I’m having - and we’re going to get into this when we’re face-to-face, we’ll be able to fight about it more. But here’s where I do say the Catholic has a problem. Because either this is the word of God… just yesterday…

Nehemia: Well, he’s got a problem. The question is, how does he solve it? He solves it by spiritualizing it. I solve it by saying it hasn’t happened yet.

Keith: Exactly. Yeah. And I solve it by saying, “Let’s look and find out what it meant. Let’s ask what it meant, what it means and what it will mean.” I think we just did that. We just did Prophet Pearls, the very tagline, what was it, what is it and what will it be? Guess what? There’s going to be a Temple. And that’s why we and my friends, I don’t mind saying the name of my friend, Yehuda Glick, and many other people desperately - they don’t only believe it’s going to happen, they think they can be a part of that temple coming forward. Now, how that happens politically and those issues, I’m not going to get into that. But the people that believe that when we talk about Meshiach, when the Messiah’s coming, and reigning in the earth and people drawing unto the Holy Hill of God and coming to Jerusalem and offering themselves... I mean, that to me is a powerful, powerful picture. And you know what? May it be in our time, maybe in our generation...

Nehemia: Amen. But you just brought up the elephant in the room, and the elephant in the room is that your friend Yehuda Glick was shot for saying that Jews should have the right to pray on the Temple Mount. He knows what every Jew knows - that one day that temple will be rebuilt and until it’s rebuilt, we don’t want to forget about it. We want to continue to visit there and pray there. The very reason why the Catholic Church and the Presbyterian Church, which is involved in the BDS, the anti-Semitic program they have of demonizing Israel - how can an entire denomination do that? Because in their view, Ezekiel 43 verse 19 is just a picture for the life of the church. It has nothing to do with Israel, nothing to do with the Jews, nothing to do with Jerusalem. These are just pictures in the life of the church, and when you read about Ariel, we’re just going to translate it as… I mean think about that. Why do they translate Ariel as an altar? Because they don’t want people to know that here Ezekiel in the future is speaking about how this is going to be in Jerusalem. Because you go back to Isaiah 29 and Ariel is Jerusalem. So this isn’t just some altar at the front of the church that’s going to be a certain size. This is the altar that’s going to be in Jerusalem. And that’s why this is so significant.

This is why I think we need to understand what the Catholics and the Presbyterians and all those other denominations are thinking. Because I hear about this, and my Jewish brothers and sisters are saying, “Well don’t you guys say you believe in the Bible?” It’s really easy to say, “Oh well they don’t take the Bible seriously.” But it’s worse than not taking the Bible seriously. What they’ve done is they’ve spiritualized it to the point where it no longer means what it literally and originally meant.

Keith: Let me say this, there are many, many, many, many people, not only that are listening, but that aren’t listening who come from the same kind of tradition that I’ve come from that really earnestly desire to understand. Now, let me give you an example, and again, we might be regressing a little bit. I hope not. I’m really glad that you brought this up with the Ariel, because there are so many people, Nehemia, that just want to know, “Teach it to me, show it to me, let me see it for myself.” They’re really prohibited from being able to have that interaction because they’re not getting a chance to interact with the original language. I mean, look - you can go to 15 different commentaries and they can tell you this is what the hearth was and the altar. But to look at the Hebrew, to see the word, to know the history of the word, the context of the word, the meaning of the word, that’s absolutely invaluable to people, and there are many people from my background that desire that. They just haven’t had access to it.

So that’s why for me, sometimes I get a little quiet, sometimes I go, “Oh, well the Christians think that…” You know what I really want to know? What I want to really know, and I think a lot of people want to know - what did it mean, what does it mean and what will it mean? I can throw the Methodist under the bus and I can back that bus up three or four different times, but if we’re not even having a dialogue about whether this is the word of God, there’s nothing to have, there's no debate. If the debate was, “This is the word of God. We believe it to be the word of God. Now, what does it mean?” Oh my gosh, this is the day I wait for, this is the day I wait for. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. It’s very, very hard for me to even get into that.

So I appreciate you bringing it up. It’s just a really difficult conversation for me, and I guess that’s what’s going to be nice about when we’re together. Because then you can kind of feel it, these kinds of conversations where the word Ariel, and like, why do we even care about that? Who cares about that verse? Who cares about that chapter? Who cares about that book? Who cares about that prophet? Just give us the end of the story. So anyway, I'm sorry. Let’s move on.

Nehemia: Let’s do a quick excursus of verse 19, and then set the people free, I think, or give them homework. I’ll tell you right now - you’ve got a lot of homework, verses 20 through 27. I want you to look at the sin offerings and the altar and the bowls and… okay. But let’s… I’ve got one more thing to talk about in verse 19, and then if you have anything else, obviously, sure.

We’ve got this statement that says, “‘And you shall give to the Kohanim haLevi’im, the Levitical priests, who are from the seed of Zadok, of Tzadok, who are close to Me,’ says, Lord Yehovah, ‘to serve Me.’” So who are these seed of Zadok? Who are these guys? To understand that we’ve got to go back to 2 Samuel chapter 8 verse 17, where it talks about in the time of David, there were two high priests. There was Zadok, the son of Achituph, and there was Evyatar the son of Achimelech. It even goes back further where Evyatar, we first hear about, one of the survivors of the massacre of Nov, which was the city of the priests, they were wiped out by Saul's general Doeg, the Edomite. He was a descendant of Eli who was the priest in Shiloh, and his family ended up in Nov.

So we have here in 1 Kings chapter 1 verse 7, that when Adoniyahu, and I think we read that section, so Adoniyahu tries to rebel against Solomon, or against David, really, and make himself king. He invites Evyatar to be his high priest. If you want to be legitimate, you’ve got to have the general, you’ve got to have the high priest to be a legitimate king. You have to have them on your side. So he invites Evyatar. He does not invite Tzadok, he doesn’t invite Zadok. Of course, we know the rebellion of Adoniyahu is defeated.

So 1 Kings 2:26 to 27, and this is homework for people to look up, 1 Kings 2:26 to 27, Evyatar is banished from the priesthood to Anatot, which is a suburb of Jerusalem. It says it’s in fulfillment of the prophecy concerning Eli that his line would not continue. Then interestingly enough, we have Jeremiah, hundreds of years later, the Prophet Jeremiah, who is a Kohen, a priest from Anatot, and possibly very likely a descendant of this same Evyatar who was banished from the priesthood.

In the meantime, while Jeremiah and Evyatar and their families on the outside, the line of Zadok, they are the high priests who continue the line of high priests directly from Aaron, father to son, father to son, all the way through Aaron, all the way from Aaron through Tzadok and all the way down to the last high priest who we know about by name, who was the high priest at the time of Alexander the Great in the 330s B.C.E., his name is Yaduah, that’s mentioned in the book of Nehemiah.

But we’ve got this line of Zadok and they somehow are special, this line of high priests. There are two places that mention them in the book of Ezekiel - Ezekiel 44:15 and 48:11. I’ll read you though those from the King James. It says, “But the priests the Levites, the son of Zadok,Tzadok in Hebrew, “‘that kept the charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near to Me, to minister unto Me, and they shall stand before Me to offer unto Me the fat and the blood’ saith the Lord Yehovah.”

Then Ezekiel 48:11, “It shall be for the priests that are sanctified to the sons of Tzadok”, the sons of Zadok, “which have kept My charge, which went not astray when the children of Israel went astray as the Levites went astray.” So there’s something that Ezekiel is referring to that we don’t exactly know about, where the Israelites and even the Levites went astray and did something wrong. But the line of Zadok, the high priest, they were loyal, and it’s possible that simply the high priest of the Temple continued to follow the truth while everybody else was worshiping idols and sinning, although it doesn’t say exactly what happens.

What’s interesting is that we see there’s this chosen family of priests, meaning you’ve got the Levites, and among the Levites, you’ve got the Kohanim, and among the Kohanim you have the sons of Tzadok, the bnei Tzadok, the sons of Zadok, who were the chosen family of priests. Of course, in Second Temple times we have a group who are called the Sadducees. The joke is to say, “They were sad, you see.” Except Sadducees is simply the Greek pronunciation of Tzadokim in Hebrew, that’s what they’re called in Jewish sources, Tzdokim, and Tzdokim are the sons of Zadok.

So there was a group of priests in Second Temple times who at least claimed and identified themselves to be the direct descendants of Zadok. We do know in the time of Herod, the Sadducees were usurped by this group that are called the Herodians by their enemies, they themselves refer to themselves as the Bathusian Sadducees, because they trace themselves to a high priest from Alexandria whose name was Bothus, or Baitus, that’s the Baitusim in Hebrew. But the original Sadducees before the time of Herod, and even some after the time of Herod, they were simply a direct continuation of these high priests in the time of Ezekiel and in the high priests who are mentioned in the book of Nehemiah.

Keith: Wow. Amazing. Well, I will say this, and you said that they have a lot of homework. I didn’t get a chance to give a little minute here. I want to do something at the end, if it’s okay. In the beginning, I really appreciated the fact you were talking about the Aviv Search, Nehemia, and one of the things that I guess I wanted to kind of end with, it’s like an overshadow of these last few verses, and he talks about, “For seven days you should provide a meal, go daily for a sin offering, you are to provide a young bull and a ram from the flock, both without defect for seven days. They are to make atonement for the altar and cleanse it. Thus they will dedicate it at the end of these days from the eighth day,” giving a specific number,” the priests are to present your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar.”

Then it has this wonderful little phrase, and I just want to say this in terms of my Ministry Minute, the whole entire mission of Biblical Foundations Academy International - BFAinternational.com, is to inspire people around the world to build a biblical foundation for their faith. There are so many - and again this is why I get a little touchy - there are so many different organizations and movements that are building their faith not on Scripture, but building their faith on doctrine, building their faith on tradition, building their faith on authority of man, building their faith on a number of things that are mixtures of any number of things in the past. What I really have continuously wanted to inspire people to do is to build their faith based on Scripture. I’m talking about the word of God, that which has been given to us, that whether you’re a person who started with the back of the book - in the New Testament you always want to ask the question, where does this come from and what’s the basis of it? The person in the beginning, where does this come from and what’s the basis of it? What has been really exciting to me is to open up the Scripture and to have this be the foundation for my faith.

At the end of this entire passage, it says, He says, “You shall do these things,” and then it says, “and I will,” and I think in English it says, “and then I will accept you.” Now I want to give you one little chance to kind of do one last little thing before we do this. But what I’ve loved about BFA International is for people to interact with language, history, and context. Getting a chance to see information, interact with information, and to be able to let it be applied in their life. What I love about this last little word, I’m going to give you a chance on this last word, Nehemia, is the last phrase. The last phrase before this last word, which is veratziti, I will ratza. So when you hear that, give me what the first thing that comes into your mind. I will what?

Nehemia: Wow. So it definitely means “I will accept you”. Specifically, it’s a word that appears, especially in Leviticus, in the context of God accepting our sacrifices.

Keith: Amen. Amen.

Nehemia: In modern Hebrew, I should point out, the word ratza, lirtzot, ratziti, means “to want”, “ratziti” is “I wanted”.

Keith: Ani rotzeh.

Nehemia: Exaclty – ani rotzeh. So rotzeh, ratziti, lirtzot, means “to want” in modern Hebrew, in biblical Hebrew the word for want, incidentally, is chafetz. In biblical Hebrew, “ratziti etchem” means “I accepted you.” Lirtzot is to accept a sacrifice.

Keith: So the reason I wanted to say this is that I really do believe that the opportunity that we have – and this is not easy, this is not going to be easy, these next couple of weeks, Nehemia, that we’re about to go into, where we’re going to be interacting with the word of God in its language, history, and context. The depth and the meaning of Scripture. There are going to be times where it’s going to take us 30-40 minutes just to deal with one phrase, just because it’s that powerful and that amazing.

But what I love about it is how it ends, because this ultimately is what I want to be about with our ministry. For those who don’t know, visit BFAinternational.com, deal with God’s time, deal with God’s Torah, deal with God’s Tetragrammaton, enter the doors, see what’s there. You can go. You don’t have to make any commitment to anything, but there’s always going to be an opportunity to take a step further and a step further. Ultimately, let me just say this, what I think that what we’re about at BFA is to get to a place where you can make a sacrifice, a sacrifice of your effort to want to understand God in His will and His way in every way that you can.

But that the end, after all the days and the cubits, and the Aviv and the sacrifices and everything else, it ends, and it says, I love the way it says “Ne’um Adonai Yehovah”, “Sayeth Lord Yehovah.” In other words, whatever has been proclaimed, whether it’s six or seven days, whether it’s cubits, sacrifices, whatever it is, the end of the phrase, the end of the section, is “Ne’um Adonai Yehovah”. If He said it, He meant it and therefore I want to live it. I want to live a life that if it’s because of something He said, I think it is a gift and a benefit to us to be able, as I say, “It’s not that I have to, I get to. I get to live a life that is pleasing to Him, which makes me want to.” I mean, because He said it, it’s something that I want to do.

So I know there’s so much that we haven’t gotten a chance to go into. We’ve already gone long enough here. I’m looking forward, Nehemia, to be able to say chaver sheli, my friend Nehemia, and we’re doing this working together, the chevruta to be able to build and to challenge and to sharpen. Hopefully, as a result of us being together this next… may we peacefully get there, no problems, no issues, to safely be in the same place, under the same roof, opening up the word of God to find common ground. I’m really, really looking forward to that, and I hope people will continue to not only pray for us, but they will support us in every way that they can so that we can continue to do the work.

I love the image that you brought earlier of the two tribes, to be able to bring the fruit of our labor to the people that they might be able to build their faith in a way that is applicable and that is practical and that’s helpful to them in their life.

So that’s what I wanted to say. I’d like to pray, if I can. I’ve had an extremely difficult last few weeks doing this, and I really appreciate the patience. I think our editor will be a lot happier this time. You didn’t have as many things, but I would like to say a prayer, if that’s okay, unless there’s anything else you want to say, do you? You okay? I want to say a prayer. Father, I just want to thank you. When we hear the words, when we see the words “Ne’um Adonai Yehovah”, it’s something that You said, and what a blessing it is that we get a chance to apply and look forward to applying it in our lives. We ask Your blessing and protection over us as we travel from different parts of the world to be able to be at a place of common ground, to open the Scriptures again, and to be able to share that which You give us through revelation and through study, and just through practicality, being able to see the words in their language, history, and context. Bless the people as we continue to do this. In the end, we'll give You all the praise, glory and honor for Your goodness and Your grace in Your name. Amen.

Nehemia: Amen.

You have been listening to Prophet Pearls with Nehemia Gordon and Keith Johnson. Thank you for supporting Nehemia Gordon’s Makor Hebrew Foundation. Learn more at NehemiasWall.com.

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  • shell says:

    *i would like to comment on what you guys said at the beginning:

    Nehemia: So what you’re really saying is that people are actually diving down into the ocean of Torah with us and the ocean of Scripture by leaving comments on the pages, and those are pearls as well.

    Keith: Absolutely. We don’t have all the pearls.

    Nehemia: You mean we don’t have the exclusive monopoly on the pearls?

    *its really comforting to hear how welcome all the comments are. I know i put a lot of thought into the comments i leave, and even when theyre negative, theyre not written without love or the backing of the bible. This site is my church, this is my synagogue, so im glad that, as keith said, they are so precious to you

  • Shirley says:

    The wonderful thing about the Pearls is that even after I’ve listened to them for years, I hear something new to focus on each and every time. Such a blessing !

  • Fred says:

    I believe that the stone that falls from the mountain of God is the shema. If the whole world should say this twice a day the blessing of the Aliyah and the Temple would take place. The Coronavirsus is suspending the Aliyah from happening.

    • Nick Strickland says:

      Yes the Covid happening at this time makes me extremely suspicious, like it will be the hand of Yehovah to bring in the fullness of the exiles, the Northern tribes especially.

  • Jesse says:

    Thank you! I stumbled across Nehemiah via another YouTube broadcast years ago. I am excited to add the knowledge of Hebrew interpretation to my study of the scriptures. These discourse bring enlightenment as I ponder the meaning in the original context of the language from which it came. Thank you thank you thank you!

  • Janice says:

    Until “we repent”/ Who are the We, and how many of us are there? What are the chances that all of the “we” will all repent within the We’s generation?

    Also, what causes you to be so sure Moses lived?

  • Darlene says:

    I was wondering if you guys could tell me what the word “grace” means in the Old Testament, in Hebrew.

  • Pamela says:

    Love U two! Through Ur teachings, my foundation is growing, growing, growing!

  • Renee Edwards says:

    Believers are the spiritual temple when they come to believe in Yeshua. 2 Peter

    Could repentance of disbelief of Yeshua be the stumbling stone to rebuilding of the temple?

  • Hiltona says:

    Brothers, I have to ask and I humbly ask because I want the common ground we are seeking. Regarding the 3rd Temple. I have been taught the 3rd Temple will be brought about by the Antichrist. It is this Antichrist who will deceive Judah causing them to finally repent. Even without my current understanding, how can Ezekiel 43 be talking about a 3rd Temple where Messiah rules and sacrifices reoccur when you go to Revelation 21? When Messiah returns with His bride, the New Jerusalem, to rule and reign. 21:22 clearly states there is no Temple in the New Jerusalem for Yehovah and the Lamb are its Temple. Is this because I believe Messiah is returning to rule and Judah is waiting for Him? It’s hard for me to understand a 3rd Temple as Judah sees it yet I understand how Judah has the same problems with Messiah that I can’t understand how they don’t understand. Is there discussion on Revelation that you could have so both sides are explained? Blessings as your ministries continue to enrich and inform us!

    • Anon says:

      Your confusion lies with who the Messiah will be in the 7th Millennium. It is not Yehshua, but King David. Resurrected King David returns to rule from Jerusalem in the 7th Millennium (Eze 34:22-25, 37:24-28; Jer 30:9; Hos 3:4-5; Isa 55:3; Psa 17:14-15; Amo 9:11-12). Yehovah does not reign until the 8th Millennium, after Satan is done away with.

    • donald murphy says:

      the confusion is because the NT is false.

  • David says:

    Paul is the lying apostle of Rev 2

  • krissy_int@hotmail.com says:

    Nehemia, thanks for explaing the zera of Tzadok.

  • Laura Olson says:

    Zadok Sadducees – are there any today? If there is to be another temple there needs to be b’nai Tzadok, right?

  • Karen Powell says:

    Paul is comparing the Physical (Just going through the physical paces (repetition) verses the Spiritual. Those who want to believe with their mind and obey. In the Example of Hagar. You have the desire to have the child. But, second guessing YHVH ways (a level of disbelief/lack of patience/it doesn’t fit with our time frame/no matter how or who we maybe physically or emotionally effect someone else) of we will get a child without the real need or belief in YHVH. He can take a non viable reproductive system and cells and bring them back to life. He doesn’t need man or woman’s telling him they can do it on their own or without him. He will do and keep his promises in his time. You can’t rush YHVH. And when he was ready the Spiritual child was born. Resurrected from dead (cells and reproductive structures). People think that Paul did do away with circumcision. He did not. Paul gives an example of assisting in having a son of Judahite woman and a Greek father circumsized. It does not say how old the person was. We are left to our own imagination to view the person as a possible adult. What if he was still an infant? We are only just giving his name. Where did YHVH give the Law of Physical circumsion to anyone other than those decended from Abram/Abraham? With Abraham, he was specific of the eight day? Physical Circumcision is a act of Faith and obedience by parents. Spiritual Circumcision is by the heart of a believer. It still needs to be done before the eight -Last Great Day. If someone is Physically circumcision and does not do then what good is the circumcision. Outside of the Exodus (The children of Israel and the Mixed Multitude) Where do we see adult circumcision being required? The Law given through Moses was that the sons were suppose to be circumcised on the eighth day.We see only one example of the children passing over the Jordan entering the land having not been circumcised. and being on the verge of adulthood. What do we learn? This example shows us that even with YHVH being there in the desert and in contact with Moses. People stilled stayed with their prior ways and disobeyed his commandments. It was not a light matter. He had many reasons to not allow their parents disobedience, disbelief to enter into the land. them.

    It’s one of those: When YHVH told Adam on the day you eat you will die. But, then Adam lived physically hundreds of years.

    No! Paul did not turn away from YHVH.

  • Sandra Young says:

    Nehemia–I love the depth you and Keith have given us. I wish we could have someone transcribe your talks. I especially appreciated your explanation of the four vowels, but will have to go back and listen again to write it down.

  • Margie Loubser says:

    PRAISE YAHSHUA ALL,

    Firstly Shaul did not Sacrifice the Priests did and this is what Shaul means when he says that we are no longer under law, we no longer have to go and give our Safrifice to someone, the Levite to Sacrifice on our behalf we approach ELOHIM DIRECTLY THROUGH THE BLOOD OF YAHSHUA OUR HIGH PRIEST. Shaul was told to pay for the Sacrifice of those ending the
    Vow and his to prove to the House of Yehudah, (Yehudah, Benyamin and Levi) that he had not rejected the a LAW OF MOSHE. He would have no problem with that as he said he becomes all to everyone to win some. As he merely paid for the offering and the Temple had not yet been destroyed ACCORDING TO THE THE WORDS OF YAHSHUA BY THE WAY, you tell me who he was offering to? Or was this as the Scripture suggests a testamony for and to the house of Yehudah of which he was a part of, the one stick being part of two sticks not both.

    The bond servant once again written i upper case above,(not shouting just easier to read). No longer necessary to go through man, Levitical Order but YAHSHUA MELKEZIDEK.

    The circumcision was an issue of the Law saving believers, (WHEN I SEE THE BLOOD I WILL PESACH/PASS OVER) not observance, or why later have the Brit performed on Timothy. 2 Kepha 3:16 is to whoever the shoe fits both Emphraim and Yehudah.

    Once again let me ask you as i did above as 70 AD has come and gone just as YAHSHUA SAID IT WOULD. Where is your a sacrifice now as you have no Temple and where are your YOM KIPPUR GOATS, Year after Year, and that begs the question, who and where is your HIGH PRIEST NOW. BULLS OF YOUR LIPS? SORRY IT WOULD APPEAR THAT, THE BULLS OF YOUR LIPS DOES NOT CUT IT RIGHT NOW, IF YOU ARE OF THE MINDSET THAT YAHSHUA IS NOT WHO HE SAYS HE IS. FOR THOSE WHO DO BELIEVE HIM AND HAVE THEIR TRUST IN HIM, IT IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT AND WOULD BRING LIVELY STONES INTO SOME SORT OF PERSPECTIVE, OH AND MAYBE A TEMPLE, BUILT WITH YAHSHUA’S HANDS.

    Let me say this, we will find it very difficult to keep TORAH WITHOUT THE TORAH/YAHSHUA, IN SO MANY DIFFERENT ASPECTS. i have seen this before the end end result is normally a rejecton of YAHSHUA.

    i WILL STAND ON THIS STATEMENT IF YOU DON’T HAVE YAHSHUA OR LOOSE YAHSHUA THROUGH WHICHEVER WAY, TORAH STUDY, MIXING TOO MUCH OF JUDAISM WITH TORAH STUDY, OR THE HEBREW LANGUAGE, OR ANY MINDSET, YOU DON’T HAVE ANYTHING. YOCHANAN 14: “YAHSHUA SAID I AM THE WAY (NOT A WAY THE WAY), THE TRUTH (NOT A TRUTH THE TRUTH) AND THE LIFE (NOT A LIFE THE LIFE), NO ONE (JUST WHAT IT SAYS) COMES TO THE FATHER BUT THROUGH ME. YEHUDAH WILL COME, IT IS WRITTEN IN THE ACCIENT HEBREW TEXT OVER AND OVER, CAREFUL THAT YOU ARE NOT A WILD BRANCH THAT IS CUT OFF, WHICH SHAUL WARNS ABOUT.

    IN SHORT IF WE READ ACTS AND THE BRIT CHADESHA WITH THE HELP OF YAHSHUA/THE TORAH, AND THIS CAN ONLY BE DONE PRAYERFULLY, AND NOT READ INTO IT/THE BRIT CHADESHA. WE WILL SEE THAT SHAUL KEPT TORAH AND TAUGHT TORAH, NOT THE LAW.HENCE THE REASON HE SAYS FOLLOW ME AS I FOLLOW THE TORAH/YAHSHUA. BE BLESSED AS WE TRUST YAHSHUA TO TAKE US HOME/OUR ETERNAL SHABBAT.

    SHALOM LOVE IN YAHSHUA.

    • Reyes Nava says:

      When did Moses and the prophets say that the coming Messiah was to be worshiped?
      (By the way, screaming your point does not make it true).

      • Reyes Nava says:

        Margie,

        When did Moses and the prophets proclaim that we are to pray in the name of the coming Messiah?

        • Reyes Nava says:

          Margie,

          When did Moses and the prophets change the greeting from “YHVH bless you” to “Messiah which is yet to come bless you”?

    • donald murphy says:

      FALSE.

  • ksl4israel says:

    . I wanted to say, concerning last weeks portion, the internet seemed to completely muddle up anytime a scripture number and name was mentioned. I thought (conspiracy thinking) that possibly someone did not want us to hear or know what was being shared. I am so happy to be able to have these teachings, to continue too learn something new each week. As with the Torah Pearls, the Prophet Pearls are opening my mind and heart to the Truth of Yahovah and the honesty of what is written in Hebrew. Thank you both for taking the time and effort of sharing these Truths and common ground with me. Shalom

  • Daniel Herman says:

    I have to strongly agree with Nehemia’s comments about the “original Torah Pearls”. It was so hard for us to witness the spirit of division and bridge burning creep in towords the end. It was heart breaking and frustrating to say the least. To have a forum of common ground between brothers who have different backgrounds and understanding was a blessing from YHVH, and it helped us to cleave to the Father rather than some institution. When it ended, we needed no explination as to why. It was aparent. But we prayed that one day, you two brothers would come back together and again be a light to all nations. Prayers answered! My question is for nehemia: will we be able to fellowship with you when we are in THE LAND with Keith on the upcoming tour? We missed you on the first tour and we were so bummed about that. I would love a chance to express my deep apreciation for you and how i have learned so much from you and your steadfast commitment to “common ground”. Please, if possible, fellowship with us!! You are my brother! Both of you BE ENCOURAGED! You are doing the will of YHVH!

  • Laurie Jo says:

    Ariel is the name of one of the 12 main signs in the heavenly circuit. That Ariel represents “Judah and Yahuhsua H’Moshiach.” One of the stars (messengers) in this constellation means king I think.
    Ariel can also refer to the “Tribe of Judah” and “the power of Judah.”
    Unto Judah, the Covenant promise to Judah is the Scepter. Excuse my spelling. The scepter represents ultimate power, which reminds me of Queen Hadassa the Jewess when she went before her husband, the king of Persia to beg for the lives of the Yahud’im, after the evil Haman sent an edict throughout all the nations, sealed with King Askotheroth’s signet ring, to put out the lamp of Judah forever.. As you know, Haman’s plan backfired, and the Yahud’im were spared and also lifted up.
    Is that a pearl?

    • I would love to see the ancient Jewish source for Ariel referring to a constellation.

      • Laurie Jo says:

        Well it all started before man was created. The word became… the stars and planets were created for signs… The 12 constellations are the 12 tribes. There is Noah’s ark up there too, and the sea monster that swallowed Jonah. Ephrayim is represented by a Rheem, a very large ox, now extinct. In that constellation is what some call “the 7 sisters,” but it actually represents a menorah, and the Aleph which is the first letter in the Aleph-Bet.
        Rather than “cancer” a crab in some languages, that constellation is a flock of sheep being protected by two guard donkeys. I love donkeys, by the way. My donkey is one of the smartest animals I have ever seen. His name is Gubby, meaning boss.
        The proof of Ariel, Ephrayim, and all the other constellations still exists today. We can read these each clear night. Their story is recorded in Scripture all over the place. Or maybe, they are a record of Scripture. Abba named the “messengers/stars.” He put them in their circuit. He asked our father Abraham if he knew the account of the stars/messengers? Had Abraham already heard the good news? Did he know the answer to Yah’s question?
        It was then, Abba told Abraham the story of our salvation, and explained the covenant and that Ephrayim would become the completeness of the nations. All of that is written “in the heavenlies, according to the names of the stars/messengers, that Abba made, before a man ever put foot on the earth.
        The only way Babylon could have known about a mother/maiden, and her child, and to pretend to be that mother Sumramis, and that child Tammuz, was to have learned the names of the stars, and of course, changed the name to fit their own agenda.
        Shabbat Shalom Nehemia
        PS. You can always look at archeology, but a lot of that is like reading a Hebrew Bible that has been translated into English.

      • Ezracha Bat Ephrayim says:

        Dear Nehemia,
        First, I just want you to know I think of Judah as my kin. My tribe Ephrayim is represented by Aleph or Ox, the Rheem constelation. That constellation includes The Seven Candlesticks, the menorah, 7 churches, lost tribes, return of Ephrayim, also called The Northern Tribes, also represented by the northern fish in the Pieces constellation, Yehudah being the southern fish. Either way, there will come one son of David to sit on a real thrown, on the real earth one day. This one will reign forever. This one was ordained from before the earth was created, written in the stars as a witness forever, Ariel.

        Both fish in the constellation Pieces, show the shadow picture of one tribe, Israel, now divided (as in the days of Jeroboam, unto this day) Knowing the tribe Yehudah, is also represented by the constellation known as Ariel, Judah is a brother to the tribe Ephrayim from the same father Jacob; I therefore think of Yahushua as kin, my big brother, He is whom I know already as The Moshiach. So as the Levites kept the menorah in the temple glowing, Jews hope for the return of the rest of Israel. I believe this is the hope that we will all be returned to the home sweet home land, there in what is in part known as Israel on the map, just a smidge of the entire kingdom.

        YHWH says it will be done at some point. Before that ever happens in full, Christian will have to leave their idolatry behind, and Judah will have to relinquish their unauthorized authority to the rightful heirs, whom we all shall obey. The high priest in the order Malek Tzedek, the one who open the door to the Father for us. This was prophesied as Israel blessed his 12 sons. Shilo has come.

        Before the true temple can be rebuilt, the whole world must hear the good news.

        This is the same message of good news that Yahushua taught. This good news is like a blue ribband woven throughout Sctipture from Bereshit to Revelations. The good news Yahushua taught is this, “Fear Elohim and give glory to Him who created the heavens, the earth, the sea, the fountains of water and all that there is in them, for His judgment is eminent. This one is YHWH. SHEMA Isra’el YHWH is one.

        As a follower of Yahushua, that one who came ONLY for the lost sheep of the house of Isra’el, which definitely includes me personally; I understand from “my Scripture,” and a true blue righteous Jew name Yochanan Ben Zachariah, not only a Levite, but so much more, as he was the final Malek Tzedek until Yahushua Messiah. As we learned in Tenach about the high priest being murdered on the steps to the temple, and as Yochanan’s father Zacheriah (also former Malek Tzedek) also served in the Temple of YHWH in Yahuhsua’s time here; that Zachariah fulfilled Scriptue relating to his death. As we know Yochanan a bit of a rebel of the system, in fear for his life, and rightly so, had been whisked away, even as a young child into the wildreness, even as Yahushua was whisked away to Egypt, else SURELY both would have died in the Jerusalem massacre by Herod when he sent forth an edict to have all baby boys under age two to be slain.

        Many babies died, and surely Rachel wept for her children who were slain because their parents had not received the spirit of truth. This spirit was stopped up by the false prophets who were moved to self examination by Yahuhsua when he stooped and wrote in the sand, “:Raheb Hem Shabbet,” meaning as “to stop the flow of water in a crimped hose.’ These false prophets stopped the spirit of the most high from anyone who heard them. Those who were prophesied of old, to write it on a scroll for a later time, Pharisees who claim to be teachers, but teach falsely, not according to Torah, and may I include with that all the so called Christian pastors and priest who do exactly the same thing. This is why they truly wanted Yahushua dead. He was about to destroy the entire false system. Their nakedness being exposed on the steps to the temple, in the murder of Zachariah, and so many other righteous men who have died and will die in order that the truth be heard.

        Yochanan Ben Zachariah never got a chance as Melek Tzedek, like his father Zachariah had, to have the honor to serve in Yah’s temple. No, Yochanan was also murdered, in prison, having his head loped off and placed on a silver platter.

        To me, this signifies the end of the Levitical Priest hood as it was, and the fulfillment of the Malek Tzedek Priesthood, finally being placed upon the Messiah Yahushua, who I also call “KIng of Yah’s kingdom, which will come,” and THIS KINGDOM is where the temple will be rebuilt, and the king will sit on his thrown, and THIS IS THAT KINGDOM WHICH OUR FATHER ABRAHAM SAW AFORTIME, as did King David.

        I am afraid to say that any temple built before his return, might be the perfect place for the anti-Messiah to sit. (in my opinion)

        So Yochanan Ben Zachariah’s mission was completed when he lay his hand on Yahushua at his mikvah and transformation of The Malek Tzedek Priesthood crossed from Yochanan to Yahuhsua at that time. The Malek Tzedek Priesthood surpassed genealogies and only rested on one man at a time all the way from the first Adam.

        SO now after all that, hopefully you can see how Yochan Ben Zachariah IS a reliable witness, and that the Book of the Revelation IS relevant here in this discussion.

        The Scriptural reference I use is mostly from the book of the Revelation, written by a Holy man, a Melek Tzedek himself, if only for a short while, who wrote about the sign in the heaven, a maiden with a crown of 12 stars on her head, which in physical reality is the constellation of ARIEL, which represents both Judah the tribe, and Yahushua the Messiah.

        You can find that Scripture reference in Revelations 12:1 at which time of year The Feast of Tabernacles takes place, for the sign of Bethula, or Virgo is the 7th month symbol.

        Sorry for the rant, but I though it important to prove the witness Yochanan Ben Zachariah as worthy.

        Shalom

      • Laurie Jo says:

        Hi Nehemia. Just reading my former comments today. I didn’t say Ariel refers to a constellation. I said that there is a constellation which in Greek is Leo, in English Lion, and in Hebrew Ariel. Scripture refers to the tribe of Judah as a lion. Scripture also refers to Ephrayim as an ox that plows. There is also a constellation called Taurus, or Bull. Remember Yah named every star in the sky. Also look back into time to Babylon when we know they worshipped the sun, moon, and stars. When YHWH changed the languages to stop the completion of a One World Order, the names of those stars changed, but their meaning did not. Sorry I do not quote Scripture verses here, but you can do searches in Bible programs like e-sword. I am not a scholar. I am just a girl who loves Abba and keeps His commands. I read Scripture and remember the things I read, but as for memorizing the exact verses, I do not do that. I use e-sword if necessary, and so can everyone else who wants to learn more on this very cool topic. One thing you might look into are the old tile floors in Israel. I think there was a temple which had these built into the old floor. I am sure there are very old archeological finds which show the same thing. I firmly believe that before the Torah was written on stone or on skins, that the Word was written in the heavenlies, through the names of the stars, which is why stars are also called messengers. Their names truly tell a story, HIS-story. Nimrod knew it and like the Greeks who stole the Torah and inserted the named of their mighty ones in the place of Abba’s set-apart name, Nimrod did the same thing, and so did his evil wife/widow.

  • Simone says:

    In response to Nehemia’s question about the sacrificial system set in place for the third Temple (Ezekiel 43: 19 and onwards): It is my understanding that the sacrifice of Yeshua put an end to the need for an Atonement Sacrifice (Yom Kippur). This was a sacrifice for the “cleansing of man”. The sacrifices mentioned in this passage relate to the cleansing of the physical, earthly temple because of the desecration and its contact with corpses as a result. This is in conjunction with the ashes of the Red Heifer which will be used to cleanse the physical land before the temple is built.

    • piper says:

      Yom Kippur is a permanent statute (Lev 16).

      • Margie Loubser says:

        PRAISE YAHSHUA ALL,

        The observance, not blood sacrifice or how are you sacrificing now, in short you are thousands of Sacrifices in arrears, and without a blood sacrifice. Exile will be a picture of what continual disobedience without repentance brings.No Sacrifice, no place of or for Sacrifice. A warning for YISRAEL. There has to be a return to no death and suffering and it has to include creation, as it was in the garden. YAHSHUA IS THE END TO THIS AND THE RESTORER OF ALL THINGS FIRST ADAM LOST DOMINIAN FORVCREATION AS SUCH THE SECOND ADAM/YAHSHUA RESTORES THAT.

        This has been written before listening to the prophet pearls, so i agree with some of the comments made above or are we suggesting that there is blood sacrifice in HEAVEN AND A PLACE OF BLOOD SACRIFICE. OR IS THE PATTERN THAT MOSHE SAW YAHSHUA HIMSELF. The dreaded BRIT CHADESHA MENTIONS THAT THE BELIEVERS ARE LIVELY STONES AND THAT ELOHIM WILL NO LONGER ABIDE IN A TEMPLE MADE WITH MANS HANDS. DOES THE NEW TEMPLE OR THIRD HAVE THE ORIGINAL ARK OF THE COVERNANT AND DOES THAT HAVE ANY SIGNIFICANCE, AS THAT NEEDS TO BE IN THE MOST SET APART PLACE. WHO HAS THE ARK OF THE COVERNANT. THE DREADED BRIT CHADESHA SAYS THAT THE ARK OF THE COVERNANT IS IN HEAVEN. SHAMAYIM.

        IN SHORT YOU HAVE NO TEMPLE NOW SO HOW DO YOU KEEP THIS MITZVAH NOW?

        SHALOM MAY YAHSHUA BLESS YOU, LOVE IN YAHSHUA.

      • donald murphy says:

        That be true.

    • donald murphy says:

      Nonsense.

    • donald murphy says:

      Sin offerings will continue once again.

    • donald murphy says:

      Wrong, sacrifices will continue forever.

  • Nicholas Mansfield says:

    People misunderstand that the Third Temple has already been built, and it is naught but rubble. The original Temple is the Word Messiah, and his copy was made by King Solomon as a building with esoteric human features. That original Temple was built outside of time and space. The best information I have seen online is by Tony Badillo, his Secrets Of Solomon’s Temple.

    Will there be a Fourth Temple? Will sacrifices continue again in the form of fruit and vegetable products?

    I empathise with Keith here. You can’t discuss the Tanakh with most christians. They’re not interested.

  • Karen Powell says:

    Ezekiel’s Temple is amazing compared to what human’s who want to build. Human’s have a way of falling short of what God has planned for humans. Humans cast God’s plans behind them for what they want to do. But,He will have the last say in the matter. Maybe,he destroyed the false alters. They cannot remove their sins or gain acceptance/blessing from their gods. David’s way, repentance, Remorse, prayers, and retribution was cleansing, He is putting it in their face. Some people will have to go though the sacrificial system. The Lord said he prefers remorse, true repentance,mercy to sacrifices. The killing of an animal should be a gut wrenching abhorrent but a valued event. Not just routine.This is one reason the lamb is taken in to the house and cared for. Farmers who raise their animals may know that they have to provide food for their families. But, those animals set aside have valve. They are real creatures. they are not faceless feel less creatures on plastic trays covered in plastic. The message is stop your behaviors because something will die.Think before you do something. Some people just don’t get what sacrifice is! They don’t valve a pardon. Not everyone will accept the messiah’s authority. We see this in Zechariah and therefore will have to go through the old school harsh method to learn to curb behaviors, putting the lord first by giving up what they valve, accept his authority, cleaning up of their sins. Then there is celebration-good will type offerings of praise. Like a tribute.
    Just like some have doubts about Moses exsistence. Some people doubt what is written in the Torah/Bible. Then some just won’t read and prefer to doubt God relying on themselves and what is comfortable for themselves.