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Pay Attention!

Ivrim [Hebrews] 2:1 
Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that were heard, lest we drift away.

This passage reminds the reader to pay close attention to what he has heard regarding eternal life; and this should remind him of what Moshe should have done when hearing YHWH’s instructions to speak to the rock.  Instead, Moshe allowed his emotions to rule his actions and he struck the rock rather than obeying YHWH’s commandment to speak to the rock, thus losing the blessing to enter His land.

Again and again, one is admonished in Torah, the prophets, the writings, yea even throughout the Brit, to take heed.  Yet even with all these admonishments, it is still a very small percentage who actually takes heed of these things.  But what things is one to heed?  Please consider this next passage.

Devarim [Deuteronomy] 4:9 
“Only take heed to yourself, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children's children;”

Over and over again, Moshe admonishes Israel to pay attention to those things they have seen and heard, in order to pass them down to their children; and not only this, but also to pass them down to their grandchildren by doing these things themselves.  However, as it happened, after the passing of this generation, Israel went after other gods to worship them and to serve them.

However, today one has heard and seen something even greater than this:  he has come to know that Yeshua is the Son of the Most High, and He came down from heaven in order to bring those who will, into the light of eternal life.

The writer of this letter quotes many passages from the Tanak in the first chapter, in an effort to show that what has come in these last days is of the greatest importance.  One should pay special attention to it lest he lose it and be lost to eternity.

By the very act of not paying close attention to that which was delivered (namely Yeshua as Mashiach), and with the human condition being such, that if one begins to drift away from the steadfast moorings of the solid Rock, and if this drifting is left unchecked, the end result will be catastrophic for the individual, not only in this life, but especially in the life to come, the olam haba. 

The Spoken Word

Ivrim [Hebrews] 2:2 
For if the word spoken through messengers proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense;

The Hebrew word for messenger or angel is malak – מלך .  The Greek word is ἄγγελος – aggelos, from which we get our English word angel.  Both the Hebrew word and the Greek word can refer to a man or to a heavenly messenger, an angel.  Throughout the Tanak, the word malak refers more often to a man than it does to a heavenly messenger.  In the Brit this trend is reversed, where aggelos refers more often to a heavenly messenger.  In a few cases it may actually refer to both earthly and heavenly messengers.  Such seems to be the case here in this passage.

Please take careful note of what this passage is teaching.  The basic message is this:  Sin is going to cost the one engaged in it!  Regardless of how big or how small, sin is going to bring something into a person’s life, in which something will be removed (paid out) as a price for that sin.  Somebody somewhere is going to pay for it.  That is an irrevocable truth!

There is a popular teaching in Christianity that Messiah has paid for all debts (past, present, and future) and one can do just whatever he wants to do.  This lie is so appealing to the flesh that one tends to dress it up in all sorts of nice clothes so that it is not recognized for what it truly is.  Please consider this passage.

Ivrim [Hebrews] 10:28-29 
28 A man that set aside the Law of Moshe died without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses;
29 of how much greater punishment, do you think shall he be judged worthy, who has trodden underfoot the Son of Elohim, and has counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unclean thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?

To get the full impact of this passage, one needs to understand the reference made to the Law of Moshe.  If a person who lived under the Torah Moshe (Law of Moshe) willfully went out and broke the commandment, then he was put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

The writer’s argument here is, since this was true then, how much more it is true concerning the Blood of the covenant enacted by Yeshua?  If a man goes out after having been brought near through the Blood of Mashiach, and then goes and willfully breaks His commandment, how much more is he worthy of death?  Why?  This type of sin insults the Spirit of grace.

No Escape

Ivrim [Hebrews] 2:3 
how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation?  Which having at the first been spoken through Adonenu, was confirmed to us by them that heard;

It is a given, that if a person neglects, that is, allows, his salvation experience to fall into ruin by neglecting it, then he shall not escape the judgment.

This word (which was spoken through the prophets and then through Yeshua Himself) which has been confirmed through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, is true, and is not a lie.  One cannot afford to neglect this salvation, which is so great, which all the prophets of long ago saw, and desired to see, with their own eyes; he who has seen it, yea, he who has come to know it personally through the ministry of His Spirit residing in him, knows this to be true.

This brings to mind the following passage.

Kepha Aleph [1st Peter] 4:17 
17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of Elohim; and if it begins first with us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the Besorah of Elohim?
18 And if the righteous are scarcely saved, what shall happen to the ungodly and sinner?

Surely, these are uncertain times, which grow more uncertain by the hour.  One has no need to live in fear during these times, but rather, he should walk uprightly, diligently obeying the sound of His Voice in all matters, both great and small, that he might be counted worthy to suffer for His great name, if He should call upon one to do so.

Witnesses

Ivrim [Hebrews] 2:4 
Elohim also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will.

Elohim always gives witnesses who attest to His work and word He is confirming.  The question is: Is one paying attention so that he will see these signs and wonders for what they actually are?

Recently, I was reading an article about signs and wonders written by writers employed by ABC News.  It was a secularly produced article.  In this article, they quote many theologians and scholars from well known seminaries and colleges in the USA.  Those whom this article was quoting, were universally in the camp, that all this bizarre weather and other natural phenomena the world is currently experiencing can all be explained by science.  Therefore, the conclusion is that YHWH cannot be doing it and is not responsible for any of it.  They then quoted one pastor who is unknown, and made him out to be some kind of fringe lunatic element within Christianity, because he believed these bizarre weather patterns may, in fact, be from the Almighty.

What these supposed learned men of Scripture do not realize, is what YHWH Himself has to say on the subject.

Amos 3:6 
“Shall the trumpet be blown in a city, and the people not be afraid?  Shall evil befall a city, and YHWH has not done it?”

YHWH, speaking through the prophet Amos, teaches that when a calamity befalls a city, He is the responsible party.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I am going to argue with Him on this point.  If He says He did it, then He must have done it.

The simple truth is that YHWH is working in the lives of His people.  As He does, He lets them know what He is doing.  YHWH always gives Himself witnesses.  All one has to do is to listen so that he can then understand. 

The Olam Haba

Ivrim [Hebrews] 2:5 
For not to messengers did He subject the world to come, concerning which we are speaking.

The subject matter of what the writer is speaking about is the olam haba.  In the Peshitta text in this verse we have these words:  אֶת הָעוֹלָם הַבָּא – et ha’olam haba (the world to come).  The אֶת points out that what follows this word is the direct object of the sentence.  Therefore, one can know with certainty, the olam haba is the main theme of his discussion at this point.  So what is he getting at here?

The olam haba, or the world to come, is set aside for those who are obedient to His commandments.  The malakim (messengers) who are His ministering spirits towards His people, in one sense already live in a realm that is ruled by YHWH.  The world to come will not be that different than the world they live in now, except that it will be free of war. 

However, for those in this realm, the olam haba will be vastly different.  One will not see the effects of sin now so prevalent in this present world everywhere he looks.  He will not see the effects of sin in his own body as well, for in the olam haba, one will be given a new body, a body spiritual in nature.  But the question the writer now presents is: What about now?  What is man?

What is Man?

Ivrim [Hebrews] 2:6 
6 But one has testified somewhere, saying,
What is man, that You remember him?
Or the son of man, that You are concerned about him?
7              You made him a little lower than the messengers;
You crowned him with glory and honor,
And did set him over the works of Your hands;
8              You have put all things in subjection under his feet.
For in that he subjected all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him.  But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.

The writer now turns to Psalm 8 and quotes three verses.

Tehillim [Psalm] 8:4-5 
4              What is man, that You are mindful of him?
And the son of man, that You visit him?
5              For You have made him but little lower than Elohim,
And crown him with glory and honor.
6              You make him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
Thou have put all things under his feet;

The main difference between what one finds in Tehillim 8:5 and Ivrim 2:7, is between the Hebrew word אֱלֹהִים – “elohim,” and the Greek word ἄγγελος – aggelos.  Why the difference, if there is one?  Please remember that the Hebrew word אֱלֹהִים – “elohim,” does not always refer to the Creator.  Many times it refers to human judges, or it can also refer to malakim (see Psalm 82:1, 6 for usages that mean other than our Creator).

Apparently, the writer here understood the Hebrew word אֱלֹהִים – “elohim” to be referring to beings today called angels.

At any rate, the point of the writer is that mankind in his original sinless state, was one of His highest creations, being made in the image of Elohim.  Then, at creation, the Creator placed the earth and all it contained under the dominion of mankind.  However, one does not yet see the complete fulfillment of this as yet.  It has taken so long because man sinned and fell from his original state and needed to be restored before he would be able to bring all things in this world into subjection. 

Tasting Death

Ivrim [Hebrews] 2:9 
But we do see Him who has been made a little lower than the angels, even Yeshua, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of the Elohim He should taste death for every man.

The writer now takes the readers’ focus from mankind in general and places it squarely upon the man Yeshua.  While one does not yet see all things in subjection to mankind, he can see Yeshua, that is, He who suffered death for each and every person of Adam’s race, is now crowned with glory and honor because He overcame death by the grace of Elohim.

Perfect Through Sufferings

Ivrim [Hebrews] 2:10 
For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the leader of their salvation complete through sufferings.

Yeshua is the Creator.  Whatever was made, was made by Him, and through Him. 

Colossians 1:16-17 
16 For by Him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether they are kings, lords, rulers, or powers.  All things have been created through Him and for Him.
17 He Himself existed before all things, and by Him all things hold together.

Since He is the Creator, He is also the Giver of the Torah.  He is the One with whom Moshe spoke face to face on Mount Sinai.  Considering this matter, what was, or what could have even been, lacking in Him, that He needed to be completed?  It was nothing lacking on His part, but rather, on the part of the people of Elohim.  He came to purchase their salvation through suffering, because in this broken and sin filled world, man often suffers.  One could not see how perfect His salvation was unless He suffered in like manner as mankind now suffers daily.

Echad

Ivrim [Hebrews] 2:11 
For both He that sanctifies and they that are sanctified are all of one; for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren,

In the Peshitta text, the word translated here as “one,” is the Hebrew word “echad” – אֶחָד .  This verse is perhaps one of the best illustrations of what this word “echad” means.  Notice that He who sanctifies, Yeshua the Mashiach, and those He sanctifies, those who come to Him through saving faith, are all echad – אֶחָד , that is, they are all one. 

Does this mean YHWH our Elohim does some kind of miracle in which all these separate beings are molded into one super being?  No, of course not!  What it means is that they all have the same goal, the same purpose of mind and heart.  They all live to give glory and honor to YHWH our Elohim and to serve and worship Him, forever and ever.   Amein.

So, when one reads the following verse:

Devarim [Deuteronomy] 6:4 
Hear, Israel; YHWH our Elohim, YHWH is one,

one can remember this verse from Ivrim to help him have a better understanding of what is actually being said.

Furthermore, this passage should be considered as well.

Yochanan [John] 17:21 
“that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that You sent Me.”

Yeshua makes this assertion many times in many places throughout His ministry.  It is a common theme He taught, that He and the Father are echad - one.  Along with this, He taught and prayed that His followers would be echad with both Him and the heavenly Father.

Declaring the Name of YHWH

Ivrim [Hebrews] 2:12 
saying,
I will declare Your name to My brethren,
In the midst of the congregation will I sing Your praise.

Here the writer is quoting Tehillim 22:22.  There is virtually no difference between the two. 

Please consider the concept of declaring the name of YHWH.  This passage is used in such a way that the writer is declaring it to be prophetic of Yeshua as Mashiach.  Furthermore, he is declaring that Yeshua fulfilled this prophecy by declaring the name of YHWH to His followers.

One cannot declare YHWH’s name without pronouncing His name.  There are those today who teach that His name should not be spoken at all, that it is too holy to speak.  Some even go so far as to teach that they can declare His name by using substitutions, or even by declaring the meaning of His name, rather than actually declaring His name. 

However, the question would remain:  how could this prophecy be fulfilled from Tehillim 22:22 if Yeshua had not actually declared the name of YHWH to His followers?  He simply could not have fulfilled it, if He had not openly declared His name.  Furthermore, to say or teach something contrary to this, goes against the basic pashat (plain and simple) meaning of this passage.  Doing so, one quite literally reasons away His written word in favor of the traditions of man, which Yeshua soundly condemned.

Put Your Trust in YHWH!

Ivrim [Hebrews] 2:13
And again,
I will put My trust in Him.
And again,
Behold, I and the children whom the Elohim has given Me.

This seems to be a quote from Yeshayah 8:17-18.  The underlined portions are what the writer seems to be quoting.

Yeshayah [Isaiah] 8:17-18 
17 And I will wait for YHWH, that hides His face from the house of Ya’aqov, and I will look for Him.
18 Behold, I and the children whom YHWH has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from YHWH Tzava’ot, who dwells in Mount Tzion.

While these portions are not an exact quote, the gist of what they are saying in Yeshayah is still intact.  For example, to wait upon YHWH would certainly take an element of trust from the one who is waiting upon YHWH.  Otherwise, if the one waiting did not have trust in YHWH, he would not be able to wait upon Him to do as He was going to do in His time.  Waiting and trusting are very much within the same strand of understanding.

Back in verse four above, it spoke of signs and wonders.  Once again he brings the reader back to that concept with this quote from Yeshayah in verse 18.

Yeshua put His trust in YHWH.  We should do the same thing.  In putting one’s trust in YHWH, he will not be disappointed in any way!  But the question with which one often struggles, sometimes on a daily basis, is:  is one willing to wait upon YHWH and allow Him to bring things to pass in His time?  Or, does one run ahead of what YHWH is doing and have a tendency to mess things up?

The Same Flesh and Blood

Ivrim [Hebrews] 2:14 
Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself in like manner partook of the same; that through death He might render powerless him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

This is a very important verse.  There is currently a teaching making its way around that teaches contrary to this passage.  This false teaching says that Yeshua was 0% man and 100% YHWH, that He had NO human DNA in Him.  It takes several points from Scripture and ignores others.  Yes, Yeshua was without sin or a sin nature.  For that, one can be quite thankful.  But this does not mean that He was not human.  Please examine one aspect of this concept a little closer.

Qorintyah Aleph [1st Corinthians] 15:45 
So also it is written, The first man Adam became a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

This passage teaches that there was something shared between the first Adam and the last Adam.  Both were created sinless.  Both had a direct line of communication with their Creator.  The only difference is that the first Adam threw away his created state of perfection and lost fellowship with Elohim.

However, that was not the case with Yeshua the Mashiach.  Like the first Adam, He was created in a sinless state.  Now, before proceeding any further, and before a reader misunderstands what is being said at this point, if the reader will please direct his attention momentarily back to Ivrim 1:5, in which the writer is quoting Tehillim 2:7, which states:  “Today I have begotten you.”  This is in accordance with what the writer teaches in Ivrim 10:5

Ivrim [Hebrews] 10:5 
Wherefore when He comes into the world, He says,
Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
But a body You did prepare for Me;

While Mashiach is the eternally begotten Son of the Father, a body was prepared for Him to enter into this world so that He could redeem His children.  As the first Adam was created out of the ground of the earth before it was cursed, so too was Yeshua’s body prepared for Him before the ground received a curse as it is written:

Revelation 13:8 
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Notice that in the spiritual realm Yeshua was slain from the creation of the earth.  However, for that truth to be manifested into our world, it took another four thousand years before the fullness of this truth was made known to mankind.

The flesh and blood Yeshua had, was of the very same substance all mankind has, only without the stain of sin.  He faced the full temptations of Satan, yet overcame them fully so that fallen mankind might be able to live a life victorious in Him.

Deliverance

Ivrim [Hebrews] 2:15 
and might deliver all them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

By overcoming death and proclaiming life to all who would obey His commandments, Yeshua overcame the adversary, that serpent of old, that He might deliver His people out of darkness and from the fear of death, and who were in subjection to the lusts of their own flesh.  This deliverance was gained through the victorious resurrection of Yeshua, because the grave and death could not hold the Master of life and light in its grip, and having overcome them, He stepped out into the light of this world so that all who have eyes to see can look upon Him and live.

As one sees in this passage in B’midbar 21:6, when YHWH sent the אֵת הַנְּחָשִׁים הַשְּׂרָפִים – “et hannechashim haseraphim,” or the seraphim dragons, to strike the people because of their sin, YHWH commanded Moshe to make a seraph and put it on a banner, and if the people would look at it they would live.  Likewise, as those who looked to the image of the seraph lived, so too, will those who look to Yeshua live!  What a wonderful blessing and opportunity YHWH has given to be able to look to Mashiach Yeshua and live.  May each person pay close attention to it at all times!

Help

Ivrim [Hebrews] 2:16 
For assuredly He does not give help to messengers, but He gives help to the seed of Avraham.

Yeshua is quite able to give each and every person the help at the very moment he needs it.  He does not do this for those heavenly messengers.  He does this for the sons of Adam who have also become the sons of Avraham.

Galatians 3:29 
And if you are Mashiach’s, then you are Avraham's seed, heirs according to promise.

As this verse teaches, if those who have been adopted into the family of Elohim and are His through Mashiach Yeshua, were not beforehand direct descendants of Avraham, they are now, through Yeshua, because of the redeeming work He has done in his life through His shed Blood.

Yeshua Made Like Us

Ivrim [Hebrews] 2:17 
Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to the Elohim, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

Once again, to emphasize his point, one is taken back to the truth that Yeshua had a body just like the rest of mankind.  He was every bit a man as all men are, yet without sin.  He was not some half-breed, some half-man/half-god, as many of the myths of ancient lore so speak.  No, He was fully YHWH and fully human as the last Adam, as was pointed out above.

Notice that this verse states He had to be made like man in all things in order that He might be able to redeem the people of YHWH and make atonement for their sins through His Blood.

His point here seems to be, that if He was not like mankind, then He could not redeem man in the fullest sense of the word. 

Yeshua was Tempted

Ivrim [Hebrews] 2:18 
For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of them that are tempted.

Many reading this have suffered in some manner.  Whether that was physically, emotionally, mentally, or in some other fashion, suffering is just plain not fun!  In fact, when one is in the midst of suffering, he would do just about anything to stop the suffering.  I wonder if sometimes a person short-circuits the purpose of suffering in his life and brings it to a screeching halt when this is not YHWH’s best for him at all? 

Whenever a person suffers for any reason at all, one can be assured that Satan is lurking in the shadows somewhere waiting for an opportunity to offer him a way out of the suffering, when if the truth be known, this may not be YHWH’s best for him.  One might well say, “Now wait one minute here, are you telling me it is sometimes YHWH’s will for me to suffer?”  In a word, yes, that is what this writer is saying.  Please consider this carefully and prayerfully.

The verse above states Yeshua suffered so that He would be able to come to the aid of those who are suffering.  Okay, we can go along with that.  Now consider this verse.

Philippians 2:5-8
5 Have this mind in you, which was also in Mashiach Yeshua;
6 who, existing in the form of Elohim, counted not the being on an equality with Elohim a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men;
8 and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even to death, yea, the death of the cross.

Notice here, that one is to have the same mind or attitude Yeshua had, insomuch as He was obedient even to die upon the cross.

Ivrim [Hebrews] 12:4 
You have not yet resisted to the shedding of blood, in your striving against sin.

Brethren, few know the extent to which Yeshua suffered.  It seems that there is coming a day, which seems fast approaching, when many of His people will be called upon to give their lives in service to Him.  Brethren, if one is armed with the same mindset as Mashiach Yeshua had in this life, then with His strength and power, he shall overcome, even at the point of death.  May each person walk in humble obedience to Him in all things in this life.

Yeshua was tempted, even as all mankind is tempted, to take a shortcut around suffering.  Let each person be determined that whatever it is YHWH places before him, he will walk through it and not around it.

Tehillim [Psalm] 23:4 
Yea, thou I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil; for thou art with me;
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.

Let each person know and understand, that regardless of what he has been through, what he is going through, or what he will go through in the days ahead, He is with him in it all.  Let each person keep his eyes upon Yeshua, the Author and Perfecter of faith, who is well able to deliver each person through all things.

ABBA YHWH, strengthen us Your people in these days that we might be good witnesses for You, bringing glory and honor to Your set-apart name; in the name of Yeshua our Mashiach.  Amein.

Shabbat Shalom
Zerubbabel ben Emunah
www.onetorahforall.com
zerubbabel@onetorahforall.com

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