Featured Posts

Faith & Disbelief Devarim (Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22) In our Torah portion this week, Moses begins by giving a brief overview of the last forty years of the Children of Israel’s journeys in the wilderness. One of the first events he brings to their attention is the evil report about the Land, and how that report put fear into their hearts, keeping them from entering the Land as the LORD intended. He makes a point to remind them that, because of this one event, all of God’s plans for them were put on hold and they had been suffering the consequences of this for the last forty years: read more »	The Laws of Inheritance Parashat Massei (Numbers 33:1-36:13) Parashat Massei is the final portion in the book of Bamidbar (Numbers). This portion begins in chapter 33 by recounting the various encampments made by the Children of Israel during their years subsequent to their exodus from Egypt. Chapter 34 defines the borders given to the Children of Israel as their inheritance, and chapter 35 outlines the cities given to the Levites. In the final chapter, Numbers 36, we learn some foundational principles regarding biblical inheritance. But before we get into this account, we need to understand a couple of inheritance issues. read more »
A Lesson of Priorities Parashat Mattot: Numbers 30:2[1]-32:42 Now the people of Reuben and the people of Gad had a very great number of livestock. And they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for livestock. (Numbers 32:1) When we read the first verse of Numbers 32 in English it seems pretty normal. It tells us how the lush pasturelands of Jazer and Gilead were suitable for the large number of cattle owned by the tribes of Reuben and Gad. If we look at the Hebrew behind the first verse, however, we will find a much more dynamic description of what is taking place. Once we discover this we will learn a valuable lesson in priorities. read more »	The Bulls of Our Lips Parashat Pinchas (Numbers 25:10-30:1) This week's portion covers a variety of topics: the reward of Pinchas, a new census of the Israelites, a case of inheritance in regard to the daughters of Zelophehad, the succession of Joshua, and then the next two chapters is a series of laws regulating the types of offerings that were to be brought to the Holy Temple for various occasions. This last section is what I would like to draw our attention to. read more »
Looking for Loopholes Parashat Balak - Numbers 22:2-25:9 The portion of Balak is filled with supernatural interactions between God and a Gentile prophet by the name of Balaam. From our portion, Balaam appears to have been renowned for his spiritual acumen, and seems to have a close relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Yet in the end we find that he is dead set on destroying the Children of Israel. How did this come about? Let's take a brief look at Balaam's mistake. When Balak's men came to Balaam and asked him to curse Israel, he realized that his services would fetch a large sum of money. He only had one problem. He couldn't speak anything more than what God would allow him: "Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the LORD my God to do less or more" (Num. 22:18). read more »	Divine Reversals Parashat Chukat (Numbers 19:1-22:1) This week's Torah portion contains one of the least understood passages in all of the Scriptures. In the beginning of our portion we have the instructions for the parah adumah—the red heifer—whose ashes are mixed with water to create the singular source of ritual purity for specific conditions described within the Torah. For example, it is only by the water mixed with the ashes of the red heifer that corpse contamination could be negated. read more »

Welcome

Welcome to Emet HaTorah, where we connect disciples of Yeshua to the eternal Torah of God. We're blessed to have you here! We hope to be an online source for discipleship resources from a Messianic Jewish perspective. If you're new to Emet HaTorah have a look around and enjoy some of our online teaching resources and sign up for email updates. You'll be blessed!