u/yaldeihachen777

Galatians 6:17 [17] "...for I bear on my body the marks of Yeshua".

The Greek word for marks is: stigma.

These are the definitions of this word: To stick or prick; a mark incised or punched for recognition of ownership, figuratively; SCAR OF SERVIVE, a mark branded upon the body.

In the ancient Near East, soldiers bore a brand/stigma of the legion they belonged to. Paul is talking about scars, marks in his own body that mark him out as a bond-servant to The Messiah.

2 Corinthians 11:24 [24] "Five times I have received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one."

But this post is not about Paul, it's about Jesud, and His Scars. He also had permanent scars. His scars also came about from having his flesh pierced, as a result of Love, and a willingness to serve.

Matthew 20:28 [28] "even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

He is the ultimate Servant, whose scars all other scars can only be a shadow of. With this in mind, I want to talk about some verses that, for the longest, have completely stumped me.

John 20:14: "When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus."

John 21:4,12 [4] "Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. [12] ...Now none of the disciples dared ask him, 'Who are you?' They knew it was the Lord."

Now the question is: why couldn't they recognize Him? I belief that the main reason they couldn't recognize him at first is because, Yeshua still had all his scars from his Crucifixion!

John 20:20 [20] When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

Now, if he still had his scars on his hands and side after his crucifixion, wouldn't it be possible that maybe he still had the others as well? If you look closely at the prophecies of His crucifixion ,they reveal to what extent he was willing to go to bring atonement and reconciliation to us.

Isaiah 52:14 [14] "As many were astonished at him, his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the sons of men."

And maybe, just maybe, the biggest factor to him being unrecognizable was because of, not just of his disfigurement, but also because, while each member of the Sanhedrin took turns spitting on him, they ripped some his beard off?

Isaiah 50:6 [6] "I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I hid not my face from shame and spitting."

Now, this may be conjecture on my part and maybe I am overthinking these passages. But one thing I cannot overlook is the incredible depth of what our Messiah endured for our sake.

Paul carried the marks of a servant because he belonged to Messiah. But Jesus carried the marks of the One who gave Himself for His servants.

The scars of our Messiah are the ultimate picture of what true love looks like.

Revelation 5:6 [6] "And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain..."

What is your take on people not recognizing Him?

The word Chukkat is a derivative of the Hebrew word hakikah, meaning "engraving". The goal that the torah wants us to reach is a state of harmony. Harmony between us and the almighty. That harmony is based on obedience. obedience to his Laws. Through faith in Yeshua.

​Another definition for the word Chukkat is ; a Supra-rational commandment: a command beyond rationality. In others words; Chukkat is a commandment we follow, regardless if we understand it or not. We obey because we love Yeshua and the Father This love should totally imbue our minds and hearts, like letters engraved in stone.

Leviticus 18:4-5, "You shall observe my judgments and keep my ordinances, to walk in them (making them part of your life): I am YHVH your God. You shall therefore keep my statutes (Hok) and my judgments, which if a man does, He shall live by them: I am YHVH."

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Our belief in Yeshua Messiah has enabled us to be parttakers not just of the promises, (eternal life) but also of a more abundant life through the Holy Spirit! By fulfilling a critical prophesy in the Tanakh, our Father through Yeshua, in the Spirit, promised:

Jeremiah 31:33 "But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of israel; After those days, says YHVH, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they will be my people."

And so this brings up an important question, what's the differences between the Sinai covenant and the New covenant?

The answer is this: where the laws are placed; in the Sinai covenant the laws were placed on stone. And the New covenant the laws are placed in our hearts! How will this be accomplished?

Ezekiel 36:25-27 [25] I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. [26] A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. [27] And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.

Notice that, it's through YAH's spirit within us that ​will cause us to walk in his statutes and judgments. In other words, The law will be engraved in our hearts to do them. What's the outcome in being able to obey Him? we will change inwardly, and we will live more abundantly.

​Again, Chukkat (statutes or suprarational commands) plays a significant role for the Believers, and it's derivative Hakikah (engraving) is a concept not foreign to the faith.

Leviticus 18:4-5 "...which if a man does, He shall live by them..."

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The phrase "He shall live by them", in Hebrew, it literally means: "He will have life through them"!

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The law written in our hearts or engraved by the Spirit through faith in Yeshua will give us that nessecery push towards obedience. so that we may have life, and that we might have it more abundantly. In this life and the one to come.

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​The start of this Portion deals with the ritual called, "The law of the red Heifer." This passage in the Torah is fascinating, for two reasons, not only does it throw the standard of ritual sacrificing out the window, but also no one seems to know what it actually means. The law of the Red Heifer is a perfect example of a Chukkat (supra rational commandment), for the fact that this commandment is not logical and no explanation is given. This law highlights an important element of worshipping God, observing His commands simply because He commanded us to do so. Because of Obedience, because of faith

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​This Portion starts with a statement rarely used in Scripture

"Numbers 19:2 [2] “This is the statute of the LAW which the YHVH has commanded...

Some Rabbis belief this commandment is representative of the entire Torah. That's quite a statement! We start to understand that this commandment, and any other Chukkat commandments are the essense of the Torah. And in order for us to begin our understanding the Torah we need the key, and that's Yeshua Messiah! having Him and knowing Him, we understand ​that all the sacrifices described in the Torah speak of and looked forward to the death of Yeshua and his redemptive work to cleanse us and reconcile us to the Father. each sacrifice describes the redemptive work of God in a different way, Here, this sacrifice looks forward to the believers, as we go through the world, sometimes falling into sin and needing forgiveness or cleansing, How? By sincerely repenting and confessing, looking to the sacrifice made on Calvary.

​tOne more thing before moving on: Just to stress the importance of this sacrifice; Their is actually two Chukkat (suprarational) sacrifices found in the Torah:

One is the Red Heifer. Can you Guess the other? Passover, yes Passover!

​Both the Passover sacrifice and the Red Heifer are referred to as Chukkat. The Passover symbolizes Yeshua's atoning sacrifice, a pivotal moment in man's History, and the Red Heifer pointing to how He cleanses us.

In the Jewish commentary called Exodus Rabbah, The question is asked; "If both sacrifices are Chukkat, which one's greater?"

The answer is: The Red Heifer!!

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Because those who eat the Passover sacrifice require the purifying ashes of the Red Heifer first.

Not going to agree or disagree. my point is; that the Red Heifer is held to such high degree.

Numbers 19:3 "And you shall give her to Eleazar the priest, and she shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered before him;"

Two things I want to point out; First, legalistically speaking, a Heifer is not a standard sacrificial animal. According to the Torah, you would only use a cow for two things; 1. The Red Heifer sacrifice And 2. An unsolved murder (Deu. 21) (i post on this Samuel connection 1 Sam. 16:2).

Second thing to point out; a sacrifice of this caliber should have been done at the alter, but instead it was led outside the camp and sacrificed and burnt. This is reminiscent of John 19:16,20

John 19:16,20

[16] Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. ....Many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city...

Yeshua was sacrificed outside the city.

Continuing in Numbers 19:4 [4] "and Eleazar the priest shall take some of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of her blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times."

The number 7 in Scripture represents divine perfection and completeness, it's assossiated with God, This is his personal stamp of authentication. The number 7 and it's usage with the blood signifies: Complete cleansing or the perfecting blood of the sacrifice.

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Numbers 19:5 [5] "And the heifer shall be burned in his sight; her skin, her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall be burned;"

In a typical burnt offering, the Hide and dung was seperated from the meat and fat, The Heifer on the other hand was to remain intact while it was burned

Numbers 19:6 [6] "and the priest shall take cedarwood and hyssop and scarlet stuff, and cast them into the midst of the burning of the heifer."

The cedar wood, scarlet thread, and Hyssop are another element connected to cleansing and purification. They are used in Lev. 14:4 for the cleansing of a healed leprous person.

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So now from verses 7-10 we see that the main focus of this ritual was the ashes. Because they would be used for the ritual of the water of cleansing. One reason why this ritual is enigmatic to most Torah scholars is that, this Burnt offering doesn't follow the normal pattern outlined in Lev. 1:3-9, to top it off, the whole animal was burned in it's entirety, This is a first. The Red Heifer sacrifice throws all reason out the window!

​Chukkat (Suprarational command) Remember?

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The priest who officiated at the burning of the heifer was considered unclean for the rest of the day, The guy who helped the priest was also unclean till the evening.

​In a crazy turn of events, the Priest and the worker, since they were considered unclean, were not to handle the ashes after the fire had died down (vs 9). A third person, one who was considered clean, was designated to gather the ashes and then to put them outside the camp in a place that was ceremoniously clean (during Temple times they would stash the ashes in the Mount of olives). Only a clean person could touch them but in touching them, the clean person became unclean as well

The focus for this ritual was the ashes. And they were used for purifying from sin, by adding the ashes to water, then using hyssop, sprinkling on the individual on the 3rd day. What was the main use for this water of purification?

​Numbers 19:11-13 states that the water with the ashes from the Red Heifer were used for the cleansing of an individual who came in contact with a dead body!

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It is my personal belief that The 3rd day reference that apears in verse 12 alludes to the ressurrection of our Savior. Because, on the third day He resurrected, making possible our purification through his blood. But our Complete cleansing became absolute on the 7th day, picturing our ressurrection, from the dead to the living. Now check out verse 21:

Numbers 19:21 [21] "And it shall be a perpetual statute for them. He (the Priest) who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes; and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening.

You getting the scene being played out here???

The ritually clean individual, the Priest, became unclean for the sake of the unclean, so that the unclean can become clean! Not only that but, this substitutionary method of cleansing the unclean is an everlasting statute (vs. 21).

​What am I hinting at by pointing out that this substitutionary method of cleansing is an everlasting statute? What I'm saying is that the very idea of Yeshua being our sacrifice and taking on himself our sins, is a direct fulfillment of this commandment! He became unclean (sin) so that we could be cleansed and be brought near (reconciled) to the Father. This is the means by which he cleansed us (and is cleansing us), by lowering himself to the point of death, He became impure, by taking on himself our offences for our sakes. so that we could be pure, so that we could be justified in the sight of the Father!

2 Corinthians 5:21 [21] "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

All in accordance with the substitutionary method found in the Torah. An Important aspect of God that we can glean from this is: That everything he does is within the realm of Law.

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Numbers 19:22 [22] "And whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and any one who touches it shall be unclean until evening.”

Coming in contact with a corpse makes you unclean, and while your unclean, anybody that comes in contact with you becomes unclean.

It safe to say that the biblical protocols for plague prevention found in the Scriptures are way ahead of it's time. And I think that's one way we can look at this. But, on a spiritual level, what is the Torah trying to tell us?

​To figure this out, we need to understand what it means to be spiritually dead or spiritually unclean. for that let's go to the book of Haggai.

In Hag: 2:10-14, here in this telling portion of scripture YAH is telling the People through the prophet Haggai that their current spiritual condition, is that of an unclean person that just came in contact with a corpse.

​An overview of the book of Haggai shows that, after the destruction of the 1st temple 70 years earlier, the Jewish people are slowing making their way back to the land of Israel. In coming back to the Holy land, the task was given to them to start the construction of the Second Temple, But instead of putting the Temple and YAH first, they go and take care of their own personal matters first, this is found in Haggai 1:7-11. This is why they were considered unclean and essentially spiritually dead. They didn't follow YAH's commandment, They didn't put His matters first in their lifes. The result: Every thing they did came to nothing, everything they touched became unclean. even their worship of Him was abominable in His sight. Because it says: verse 14 "so that what they offer is unclean".

Titus 1:15-16 [15] "To the pure all things are pure, but to the corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure; their very minds and consciences are corrupted. [16] They profess to know God, but they deny him by their deeds; they are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good deed."

If we belief in Yeshua and are obedient to His commandments that were passed down from the Father, then we have life. But if we're unbelieving and disobedient, we will be unclean, unfruitful, dead (spiritually). And If we're spiritually dead, our worship is not accepted, because it is unclean. The unbelievers and disobedient have always been spiritually dead. And at times being around them too long, can cause us to do or say the wrong thing that can lead to defiled our body and spirit. Stay around a corpse too long, and the stink will rub off on you.

​2 Cor 6:14-7:1 read this please!

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In the Torah we have the method by which The Israelite would be outwardly cleansed, from their uncleanness.

​Using water with ashes from a red heifer The priest would sprinkle this Holy water on them on the third and the seventh day. Then immediately following the seventh day Holy water sprinkling, the individual would perform a ritual water immersion both to his body then his clothes. Then, fter all this, at evening he would be considered ritualistically clean, outwardly.

​But thanks be to YAH, He has made a better way. we read in 1 Peter 1:2

"To the elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Yeshua Messiah and for SPRINKLING with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you."

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A Better way He has made. A better cleansing God has created. we now are cleansed and are being cleansed not by the sprinkling of water with ashes in it, that only deals with the outward man, the body. NO, now we are being sprinkle with the cleansing blood of the Lamb of God! purifying the inner man, Both the body and the spirit.

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Hebrews 9:13-14 [13] "For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, [14] how much more shall the blood of Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God."

This is the way. Through the sprinkling of the blood of our messiah, our inner-self and spirit is being purified from actions that lead to a state of death. Because our God is not a God of dead, but a God of the living!

​It is through Messiah that we have life, and that we may have it more abundantly.

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Hebrews 10:22 [22] "let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

So I've been going over some notes on the Torah portion that pertains to the Red Heifer, and so far what stood out to me is the fact that using a cow as a sacrifice was rare during the Tabernacle and Temple times. This kind of sacrifice was really only used for two things: for the Red Heifer ashes, and for an unsolved murder. Which to me, I'm like, "ok cool".

​But the other day I was watching The House of David, the part where Samuel goes to anoint David, and i noticed that he had a cow! I originally thought the show must have gotten this wrong. So I open my Bible, and sure enough, Samuel has a cow with him!

​Now what I got here is not concrete, and I don't really know how this would help with someone's daily walk. But I think this just emphasizes the importance of reading between the lines to get a better picture of the situation. Could it be that Samuel went to anoint David under the guise of an unsolved murder? Again, nothing concrete, just thought it was pretty neat.

​Let's look at how the verses actually connect these dots.

​In 1 Samuel 16:2, God tells the prophet Samuel to go to Bethlehem to find and anoint the next king because King Saul had been rejected. Samuel is completely terrified. He says:

"How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me."

To protect him, God gives him a cover story in the very next breath:

"Take a heifer with you and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.'"

​On the surface, it looks like a standard peace offering just to give Samuel a safe reason to travel. But when you look closer at The Torah, it gets way more interesting.

A dead giveaway is: why were the Elders terrified?

​When Samuel actually arrives in Bethlehem with this young cow, the town leaders don't react like he's there for a normal celebration.

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1 Samuel 16:4 “Samuel did what the Lord said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, ‘Do you come in peace?'"

​If a famous prophet shows up for a routine blessing, you don't tremble. You only tremble if something is wrong.

​This is where that connection to an unsolved murder comes in. In Deuteronomy 21:1–9, the Torah outlines a specific law called the Egla Arufa (the Beheaded Heifer).

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Under this law, if a dead body was found out in a field and nobody knew who the killer was, the elders of the closest town had to take a young heifer that had never been worked, break its neck in a valley, and wash their hands over ( this washing of hands reminds me of Pontius Pilate) it to declare the town innocent of the murder. It was a serious, somber judicial cleanup for a cold case.

​Classical Jewish commentator, and scholar Ralbag (Gersonides), suggest that this is exactly the legal cover Samuel was using.

​By showing up to Bethlehem with a heifer, the local elders immediately assumed a dead body had been found nearby and that they were under investigation. For Samuel, it was the ultimate alibi.

King Saul’s spies would see a prophet traveling to handle a mandatory religious judicial ritual for a murder case. They wouldn't suspect a political coup for a second.

The mandatory meeting required the town elders and local families (like Jesse and his sons) to gather together, giving Samuel the perfect, unsuspected window to line up the brothers and secretly anoint young David.

​I do admit, while it's not a direct doctrine you'd base a sermon on, digging into these details completely changes how you view the scene. Samuel wasn't just walking into Bethlehem with a cow; he was executing a high-stakes, covert operation under the guise of an unsolved murder mystery just to keep a future king safe.

Ever notice how we tend to treat the woman with the issue of blood like she was a total exception to the rule? We read about her reaching out to touch the hem of Jesus' garment, and we talk about her individual, desperate faith. And don't get wrong, it was faith.

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But if you think she was a special case, you might be missing a massive prophetic picture because of a lack of Hebraic context.

​Look at what happens just a few chapters later in Matthew 14:34-36. Jesus and the disciples land at Gennesaret. The people recognize Him, run through the whole region, and start bringing all who were sick to Him.

​Look at what Matthew specifically records:

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Matthew 14:34-36 [34] "And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. [35] And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent around to all that region and brought to him all who were sick [36] and implored him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well."

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An entire region did the exact same thing she did. Why? Were they just copying her? No. They all shared the same Hebraic mindset, and they knew the Prophets.

​If you look up that word "hem" in the Greek, it’s Kraspedon, which refers to the outer fringes of an object, and in this case; tassels, specifically, the Tzitzit on the corners of His tallit (prayer shawl) that God commanded Israel to wear in Numbers 15.

​In first-century Judea, there was a well-known understanding tied to a specific prophecy in Malachi 4:2. It says the Messiah, the "Sun of Righteousness," would arise with "healing in His wings."

​The word for "corner" in Numbers 15:38 is the Hebrew word Kanaph. Do you know how Kanaph is translated 76 times in the Old Testament? It’s translated as "wings." The corners of the tallit (prayer shawl) are literally called wings.

​So when the woman in Matthew 9, and the entire crowd in Matthew 14, rushed to touch the tassels on the corners of His garment, they were looking at Jesus and saying, "This is the Messiah spoken of by Malachi. He has arrived with healing in His wings (kanaph/corners)." Every single touch was a public declaration of faith in the Father's prophetic word.

​This is exactly why studying the Gospels from a Hebraic perspective is so critical. If we pull these accounts out of their Jewish context, we reduce a profound, corporate fulfillment of biblical prophecy down to a story about a crowd grabbing at a coat.

​When we interrogate the Scriptures and look at the language it was built on, the Bible opens up in a whole new way. Coincidence? Not at all.

Matthew isn't merely recording a series of healings. He's showing us a people who recognized something about Jesus. The woman with the issue of blood wasn't an isolated example. In Matthew's Gospel, crowds repeatedly reach for the tzitzit on the corners of His garment because they believed the promised Son of Righteousness had come with healing in His wings. What appears at first glance to be a random detail becomes a powerful testimony to the Messiah hidden in plain sight.

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Going to be bringing this teaching for my next Bible study, would appreciate any further insight regarding this topic.

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One of the biggest mistakes we make when reading Scripture is forgetting that the Bible was written by ancient people, in an ancient world, to an ancient audience.

To understand the messages, we have to look at the cultural and historical landscape the writers lived in.

​When John penned Revelation, his mind was thoroughly saturated with the Torah, Temple imagery, and the cyclic rhythm of the Biblical Feasts.

​The Ten Days of Awe<---------------

​To a first-century disciple, the number ten, specifically a ten-day window of testing and scrutiny, instantly triggered the cultural and liturgical blueprint of the Ten Days of Awe (Yamin Noraim). This is the annual period between Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), a season associated with repentance, examination, judgment, and the sealing of the verdict.

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​In ancient Jewish thought, this 10-day window is a strict legal micro-epoch:

The Atmosphere: The books of judgment are opened; humanity is intensely tested and scrutinized.

The Accuser: The prosecuting adversary (Satan) brings charges.

The Resolution: On the tenth day, the books are sealed, and the final verdict is rendered.

​Look at how perfectly Yeshua’s warning mirrors this exact cultural legal framework:

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Revelation 2:10: “Behold, the devil [the Accuser] is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life [the final verdict].”

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Without the cultural context of the biblical calendar, ten days is just a random detail. With the context, it becomes a powerful, reassuring message: Your trial has a strict legal boundary. The Enemy cannot push it into an 11th day. It is an allotted period designed not to destroy you, but to refine you before the final judgment.

​If we want to fact-check our own interpretations and uncover the deepest layers of scripture, we have to stop treating the Bible like a modern book and start treating it like the ancient, deeply connected Hebrew masterpiece it actually is, that reveals the plan of the same God from Genesis to Revelation.

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