In Pursuit of Holiness: Developing Bible Appreciation

By Dirk J. van Dalen Ph.D.

Dr. van Dalen, teaching from a Messianic perspective, attempts to convince the Sunday-Observing part of the Body of Messiah (The Church with Capital “C”), that “Christianity” (Messianism) is the continuation of Judaism along the Messianic line and not an alleged religion supposedly founded by Yeshua of Nazareth (Jesus). The further objective of the book is promoting the full understanding of Romans 1:16, Romans 2:29, Ephesians 2:11-20, and the Olive Tree Covenant of Romans 11:17-21. And by correcting a few biblical anomalies in the English versions of TANAKH that are overlooked by “Christian” commentaries.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664196117

Book preview

Copyright © 2021 by Dirk J. van Dalen, Ph.D.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 10/25/2021

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Contents

Welcome to My Community

Image of a Menorah

PART I

Preamble

Greetings and Getting acquainted with the author

PART II

Introduction

The Admonition to be Holy, Declaration of Independence

PART III

Book 1 of TORAH.

Bereishis Barah Elohim ET HaShomayim V’ET HaAretz.

Image of a Mezuzah

PART IV

Book 1 of TORAH, con’t

In The Beginning. To Son Seth

PART V

Book 1 of TORAH, con’t

Preamble to ³rd Major Explicit Event:

PART VI

Book 1 of TORAH, con’t

The Fourth Major Explicit Event: The Abrahamic Covenant

PART VII

Book 1 of TORAH, con’t

The Fifth Major Explicit Event: Mosaic Covenant

Image of the Shield of Israel (Coat of Arms)

PART VIII

Book 1 of TORAH, con’t

From Jacob to Joseph. Still going toward Mosaic Covenant

PART IX

Book 2 of TORAH (Exodus)

Migration To Egypt- Joseph to Moshe –116 Years of slavery

Image of Moshe

PART X

Book 2 of TORAH - con’t

Developing a Nation Preamble to Redemption of Israel

PART XI

Book 2 of TORAH - con’t

Exodus – Dealing with the Amelekite Menace

PART XII

Book 2 of TORAH - con’t

Receiving of God’s Instructions – The Ten Commandments

PART XIII

Book 3 of TORAH (Leviticus)

The Seven Feasts of The LORD Leviticus = Vayikra

Image of Menorah with super-imposed Genesis 1:

PART XIV

Book 4 of TORAH (Numbers)

They are moving again – NUMBERS = Bamidbar.

Image One of Encampment

Image Two of encampment

Image of seal of Yisrael

PART XV

Book 5 of Torah

70767.png The Fifth Book Of Moshe/The Fifth Book Of Torah DEUTERONOMY = Devarim a.k.a. The Second Law

PART XVI

Book of Joshua- A post—Torah Book

70767.png The Battle of Jericho And a meeting with Adonai Shabaoth

PART XVII

Book of Joshua- A post—con’t

70767.png The Davidic Covenant (# 7) A non—Torah Covenant

PART XVIII

70767.png A.k.a.. The New Covenant -- A.K.A. New Testament A.k.a.. The Torah of Messiah

PART XIX

The Britt Chadasha

70767.png The New Covenant – The life Of Messiah.

PART XX

The Britt Chadasha, con’t. Acts of the Apostles

PART XXI

Church History

Early Church and its Wealthy Prodigal Progeny

PART XXII

Church History, con’t

Early Church from Pope Urbanus II (108-1099) to Martin Luther (1483-1546)

PART XXIII

Some Changes maybe?

A Needed Transformation?

PART XXIV

Britt Chadasha

MODIFYING the Church and That Name.

Aaronic Benediction

PART XXV

Seven Doctrines of the Messianic Faith

Postscript to the seven Doctrines

Cults of Christianity

The Ten Commandments confirmed

The Books of TANAKH (O.T.) in Sequence

Post Script to TANAKH

Post Script to Brit Chadasha

Something that Concerns me

Closing Prayer

The Take-Away

Notes

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That is Shalom.

This is Yeshua speaking and in this context it usualy meant

Peace to you!

And

Welcome To My Community.

(Where the Pursuit for Holiness Begins)

Yeshua did not use the word church when He referred to what He would build upon that rock, as we read in modern Bibles.

But,

"…and on this rock I will build my Kehillah,…"

-- Matthew 16: 18b –

Yeshua used (of course) the word Kehillah because it is Aramaic for community. The word church, which has its roots in Gaelic would not appear for at least another ten to fourteen centuries.

"Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,

As is the matter of some, but exhorting one another,

And so much the more as you see the Day approaching."

-- Hebrews 10: 24 & 25 –

Combine that with…

"To know wisdom and instruction,

to perceive the words of understanding..."

-- Proverbs 1: 2 –

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…And, you will appreciate that, on the following pages you will read narration that, From time to time, may seem repetitive. This is because the message of the Bible, no matter if from the O.T or the N.T. will always lead to the same destination.

You will also run into revelations that are new to you because, up to now you learned about events, customs or locations we have known about for decades. The new information you see here has been arrived upon new information that has become available through improved language interpretation, GPS technology driven archaeology, and biblical logic.

Be assured that the major source is strictly biblical but, at times, paraphrased for the benefit of those without any Bible knowledge so that anyone is able to read it without having to ask if it really means what it says.

The arrangement of the text in this work may not always agree with the sequence of the biblical text but the answer will always arrive at the biblical truth even when disagreeing with the originally printed sequence. Reading through the Bible in a year, (as some may boost of doing) will keep you busy but, when this reader does not stop to pray over—meditate on – and analyze what is being read, it is just about as profitable as removing dollar bills – one at the time – from one mason jar and put them in another container. This exercise does not multiply your monetary wealth just as reading for the sake of reading does not increase your biblical wisdom. The new way of reading the Bible, however, will teach you to find the correct connections and dots to be connected.

"Happy is the man who finds wisdom,

And the man who gains understanding."

-- Proverbs 3: 13 --

image2.jpeg

This Is A Menorah

It has six (6) branches, NOT seven.

The center light is not a branch. It is known as the Shemas

and means servant as it is used to light all the other lights.

PART I — Preamble

Greetings, To All Honest People, Within or Without The Faith Getting Acquainted…

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…With the Author.

Just to let you know that I am a real person with, maybe not so common beginnings, and not a robot, I will share some of my background with you. An alternate reason for doing this is to let my few remaining relatives know that it is really me, and that it is well with my soul, that it is to their utmost benefit that they read the entire book so that they too can whip their soul into shape. They may question what has happened to me as some may remember me from the time before my spiritual rebirth. Hopefully when they come to the end of this book, they too will recognize the facts about Yeshua – who most of them – and you -- know as Jesus – and that what He did, and that, what He allowed to happen to Himself in about 27 CE, was only for our benefit. And that without recognizing that, their chances of going to heaven are the same as a snowball has surviving in hell.

It was a bright sunny morning, that tenth of May in 1940 when I was awakened in my attic room, one floor above the veranda on which my mother would beat the rugs. What woke me up was the sound of what I thought was the 2 x 4, over which the rugs would hang to receive their treatment, falling on the concrete floor of the veranda. I thought that my mother, doing her thing with a rug, had somehow dislodged the beam. When I heard it a second, and then a third time I, for a very short moment, questioned my mother’s dexterity with the rug beater until another klang-bang revealed that it was something entirely foreign. I then realized that the sound didn’t come from the floor below, but from outside and from above. It was the sound of anti-aircraft artillery. I was 12 years old.

I went downstairs and woke my parents with a something strange is going on. The moment my father opened his eyes and we heard another salvo he said, damn it, they did it!

My father was a taxi chauffeur, not to confuse with cab driver. Taxi chauffeurs of that era wore uniforms with polished buttons and dad would never leave the house without having his boots polished and shining.(He could have been driving Miss Daisy) He would ride his bicycle to the garage down town where he would pick up his black and brightly shining vehicle. Most taxis did not have radios, that utility was not yet common in 1940. Upon my question as to who did what he explained that the previous day he had heard from a free-lance taxi chauffeur who -- did have a radio in his vehicle -- that there had been some strange radio traffic and the freelancer had said something about the Germans planning an invasion. Of course, my father had not believed him. After all, The Netherlands was a neutral country; it would be left alone as it had been in the war of 1914 - ’18. However, now my father knew that the guy had been right.

Dad got up, had a quick breakfast and went to work. The next four days we only saw him sporadic as he went to work every day. The fifth day he came home with his own taxi and parked it as close to the building in which we lived as possible. By that time downtown Rotterdam was an inferno. The taxi company’s garage was totally destroyed and so was my dad’s bicycle, burned beyond recognition. After a few days when he had been able to locate his surviving supervisor he was reprimanded for having taken his vehicle home (and saving it from destruction). What Dad had gone through during these five days is part of his story. (and some of it indeed is part of history)¹

The invasion of my home land, the battle for the bridges of Rotterdam, and the five days it took the German army to make The Netherlands surrender, had taken place during spring break, as I attended a Roman Catholic school, we knew it as Pentecost vacation. Upon arrival at school the first day after the vacation we were welcomed by one of the black-robed teachers– referred to as Brothers – who stood at the door and, with a Cheshire Cat-type grin, said: And boys, did you have a nice vacation? I still believe the guy was a Nazi sympathizer.

We were now occupied and that German occupation would last five days short of five years. I graduated high school in absentia as I spent much time away from home. I began searching for food when things were really getting scarce and after my father was sent to work in Germany I became involved as a courier for an underground publication. I seemed to have always been a few steps ahead of the Gestapo. I was liberated a month before the end of the war, on the Tuesday after Resurrection Day 1945 (a few days before FDR died). The day after that Resurrection Day in 1945, Monday, I had my Churchill ² and Rehab ³ experiences. I had crossed the line between German occupied, and British liberated territory. Hearing that the city had been liberated by the British, I went to the city on my bike to check on my friend’s house. The way there, was uneventful; the way back was a bit uneasy. (No-man’s land was eerily quiet, not a blade of grass seemed to be moving). Upon return ‘home’ I had immediately descended into the root cellar of the house as artillery started to batter the neighborhood. I spent the night in that cellar, and actually slept, until awakened by an eerie silence which then was broken by the sound of tank tracks, and English voices of Canadian soldiers heaving breakfast on the road in front of the house. I am now 17 years old. Seven months later I was inducted into the Royal Netherlands Army and remained active for the next ten years. I served in the Netherlands and In Netherlands Indie until it became independent Indonesia. In 1956 I migrated (legally) to the United States of America. It would take another twenty years before I realized how blessed I had been during those war years and my service time and wondered why I had survived the various perilous episodes all before I had learned the correct answer to;

"What is the chief and highest end of man?"

"Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God,

and fully to enjoy Him forever."

-- The Larger Catechism, Q and A 1 –

In 1975, still a Gentile (That is, not a Born-Again Believer) although having attended church since childhood; Roman Catholic Church and Elementary and High School; at eighteen I became involved in a Christian Reformed Congregation. After arriving in the U. S. in 1956 I joined the Methodist Church, they were responsible for my resettlement in the U. S. The M.C. morphed into United Methodist Church when in ca. late sixties (?) they united with the United Brethren. At about that time, I became a Certified Lay Speaker in the Wisconsin Conference of the United Methodist Church. In the spring of 1975 I participated in a Mission Trip to Mexico. Up to that time – I was then 48 years old – no one had ever questioned my spiritual status, so much for the soul-winning zeal of these churches. While in the remote village of Huitzilan, I had my heart-warming experience. It was then that I came to realize that there is more to church than singing hymns, and listening to sermons that – whether preached by seasoned Ministers or Seminary Interns – do not always seem to reflect what the Bible teaches.

Before leaving Mexico I had my spiritual status solidified, verified, and recorded as Mayday (first of May) 1975 by the resident Missionary on location. That was the official date that I ceased being a Gentile and became a spiritual Jew according to Shaul’s Romans 2: 29.

"But he is a Jew who is one inwardly,

And circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit,

And not in the letter;

whose praise is not from men but from God."

After returning from Mexico I signed up for some classes at Carol College in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Unfortunately, because of a change in employment I could complete only one semester as my new employment would take me to Europe three times that year.

I do consider that Carol College Semester the start of my Bible oriented studies which so far have earned me a Doctor of Religious Education, a Doctor in Theology, and A PhD in Biblical Studies.

So, now you have an idea about where I am coming from. I have been commissioned, by the Son of God, to teach you the What; Where; When, and How of Holiness.

"Go therefore and make disciples of all men and women of all nations, see to it that they get baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you through My spoken and written word."

-- Paraphrased Matthew 20: 19, 20 --

These two verses in the book of Matthew are commonly known as the Great Commission, and they apply to every Believer. A Believer (with upper-case ‘B’) is a person commonly but erroneously referred to as a Christian.’ The average Christian" is not a Believer. A Believer is a person who has been Born-Again. A Born-Again person is he (or she) who personally makes this Yeshua his (or her) personal Messiah, and confesses that He is the Son of Adonai Eloheinu, who was executed, buried, and after 72 hours in the grave rose again, as He himself had said that He would.

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

-- Matthew 12: 40 --

We see here two facts that are commonly overlooked. First: Yeshua Himself distinctly mentioned that He would be in the grave for six twelve-hour periods – making His execution on a Friday impossible. The Friday execution was an invention of the Church of Rome. Secondly, Yeshua confirmed the validity of TANAKH, the Old Testament. Also, we see here the obvious fact that Adonai-Eloheinu was in full control of the Execution date of Messiah.

Besides having to consider that the Execution had to take place on Nisan 14, there were three whole days needed to have Yeshua’s Resurrection confirmed on Yom HaBikerim (Feast of Firstfruits} which always falls on the first day of the week after the Sabbath that follows Nisan 14. Yeshua had been right on schedule on both accounts.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten

Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

-- John 3: 16 –

My objective is to share information about how you, through the application of biblical knowledge, may attain a more abundant life (John 10: 10). Obtaining biblical knowledge and observing what it teaches will bring you more of the available Torah Blessings, and aid you in your pursuit of Holiness. This is your God-ordained objective and my mandated commission. And once you are Born-Again, it becomes your commission also.

A more abundant life does not mean that you can trade-in your Smart-Car for a Lamborghini. Or when you are on a Ramen Noodle diet you can start eating steak and lobster. In fact, if you seriously begin living according to the Biblical World View (BWV), – not to confuse with the Christian world view --, lobster is the first item you remove from your menu. Its Creator never meant the lobster to be for human consumption but for sanitizing the water in which our edible fish live. Lobsters are scavengers of the sea just as vultures are on land. (They may taste like chicken but I don’t think you would want to eat one)

The key to abundant living is not on your key ring, in your wallet, or in your bank’s safety deposit box. It is found in the Word of God. We must learn to connect the dots in the correct sequence and understand and obey God’s will for our life – which is the same for every individual (Lev. 11: 44, 45; 19: 2; 20: 7 & 26; 1st Pet. 1:15 & 16). As you seriously strive to live accordingly, in due time He will reveal His plan for your individual life to you. In the meanwhile, you are suggested to start at the beginning of God’s Word a.k.a. Torah.

From there you may want to work your way through the Five Books of Moshe a.k.a. Torah. I am going to be your guide in this – for many – a new adventure. Torah is the road often avoided on Sunday in spite of it being the main road. I am sure we will make side trips into the Torah of Yeshua a.k.a. Brit Chadasha.

I have no intentions of producing another Christian commentary but, it is one of my objectives to rectify where some of these existing commentators have gone astray, by abandoning or guessing at what could have been reality. You will see my commentaries or comments in areas where renown commentators missed the boat, danced around, or simply ignored the issue. I will spend extra time at points where you have been misled (unintentionally) and where you have been fed fake information because of lack of logical treatment of the Word.

Neither do I have any intention to re-write the Bible; this has been done too many times already. The Bible does not need to be re-written. The Bible needs to be re-read, but this time while applying biblical logic and Holy Spirit assisted critical thinking. While doing this, we must pray over what it says, meditate on what we read and internalize what we learn.

I will, however, attempt to disturb the general dormancy that prevails among the practicing masses that attend worship services because their parents did, not because they believe in the kingship of Yeshua, and the necessity to make Him their personal Lord and Savior.

I also will attempt to arouse the teachers and preachers of the Sunday-observing section of the Community of Messiah, His Body, His Bride, and awaken them from the sleepy notion of being satisfied with just wanting to lead a New Testament church.

If it had not been for TANAKH a.k.a. Old Testament, there would not be a New Testament church. In fact, there would not have been a New Testament. And had it not been for the Jewish nation named Israel, there would not be any Messiah and consequently, no Christianity, a.k.a. Messianism.

And all of us, as Shaul puts it: (paraphrased)

…We of all men would be the most miserable.

-- 1st Corinthians 15: 19 --

The problem is, the majority of the Sunday-observing part of the Kehillah (Community) of Messiah is not aware of their Jewish roots. Here is what Shaul says about it.

"Do not boast against the branches, but if you boast,

remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you."

-- Romans 11: 18 –

What does this have to do with pursuing Holiness? We are admonished to be holy and, an admonishment from God is like any one of the Ten Commandments, it is not a suggestion.

Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel,

and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I, the LORD your God Am holy."

-- Leviticus 19: 2 --

And who are those children of Israel, today? They are those …

"…Who are called by My name, will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins and heal their land.

-- 2nd Chronicles 7: 14 --

And in John 1: 12 we read who those children are.

"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the

right to become children of God, to those who

believe in His name.

-- John 1: 12 --

And His Name is Yeshua of Nazareth,

a.k.a. Yeshua the Messiah,

a.k.a. Messiah Yeshua.

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PART II — Introduction

The Admonition to be Holy----The Declaration of Independence

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"Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy,

for I am the LORD your God."

-- Leviticus 20: 7 --

The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America recognizes three unalienable rights given us by our Creator; they are Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Those three rights will be protected by that same government that often seems to overlook the fact that this Creator -- who gave us those rights -- is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Torah and, especially where it concerns Christianity, the Brit Chadasha (N.T.) with the teachings of Yeshua and the Apostles.

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin and heal their land.

-- 2nd Chronicles 7: 14--

I know, two pages back I already quoted this verse because I wanted you to see it in the context of that page. Now I want you to see it in the context of this page because of the above-mentioned attributes that make the United States of America a Judeo-Christian Nation. The framers of the Declaration of Independence, however, made two mistakes in that Declaration. They overlooked that our pursuit should be for Holiness instead of Happiness and our dependence on the LORD. Happiness is a result of how we live considering those two dictates as stated in the Old Testament Book of Chronicles. And augmented in the Brit Chadasha (N.T.)

"Therefore, having these promises,

let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in awe of God."

2nd Corinthians 7: 1

It is the "if" and then and Therefore that set the tone of the verse. It is a condition set by God that we endeavor to pursue Holiness instead of happiness. Perfecting holiness means that we must strive to complete it. We do this by pursuing it while developing the Torah Response. Both will fill us with joy, especially when we start sharing it with others. Sharing it with others?

Yes, since you brought it up, it is in your New Testament – should be New Covenant -- but, I will not hold it against you if you call it N.T. you have always heard it that way, unfortunately, it does not make it right.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

-- Matthew 28: 19 --

"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD,

when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel

and with the house of Judah."

-- Jeremiah 31: 31 –

There are some biblical facts that the English Language Bible do not give us. Unfortunately, our Pastors, Priests, and teachers do not know what is missing and consequently they cannot give it to us either. They just do not know any better as they never learned what you are about to learn. The educational problems with Bible study are that we often fail to make Connections when reading it while we are supposed to study it. The Book of Genesis is the first book of Torah, a.k.a. the Five Books of Moshe. Torah was written in ancient Hebrew, the language of God. The Hebrew name of the first book is Bereishis, In the Beginning. We know it as Genesis. Genesis 1: 1 consists of seven words in Hebrew. Seven words, isn’t that interesting, there are seven days of creation, and seven lights on the menorah. The center light on the Menorah is known as the Shamash which means servant. This center light, lights all the other lights. In the New Covenant relation, this center light also represents Yeshua.

"Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served,

but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

-- Matthew 20: 28 --

The first verse in Genesis reads:

In the beginning created God -- the heavens and the earth.

(10 words in English)

In Hebrew it is seven words – reading from right to left

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Transliterated this reads:

"Bereishis Barah Elohim ET HaShomayim V’ET HaAretz."

We see that the fourth word in the Hebrew text which is dead center, is transliterated (ET) but not translated, there is no English word for whatever ET 70755.png means, however, it always precedes the direct object of the sentence, in this case HaShomayim (the Heavens). This two-letter word consists of an Aleph ( 70757.png ) & tav ( 48911.png ). Respectively the first and last letters of the Hebrew aleph-beit. Customarily Yeshua spoke Aramaic and Hebrew.

Note: The first three words of John 1: 1 are the same as the first three words in Genesis 1: 1. Yeshua and the Apostles did not speak Greek. Remember, the first time we are introduced to Greek was when the so-called New Testament writings are edited for distribution in its published form. This did not occur until about four centuries after the Resurrection. We must not forget that, even though the New Covenant Scriptures appear as having been written in the Greek, those who may have done so did it with a Hebrew mind set. Yet, Yeshua’s revelation (1: 8) to John on Patmos, took place in the First Century, were we are made to believe that Yeshua said: I am the alpha and Omega. Which is Greek.

What Yeshua really said in that verse is "I am the Alef and the Tav. Consider this; because we are bombarded with the Greek version does not mean that those two friends would not have been talking in their customary language. Yeshua of Nazareth and John bar Zebedee were bosom Buddies.

Now there was leaning on Yeshua’s bosom one of His disciples, whom Yeshua loved (John).

-- John 13: 23 –

Yeshua referring to Himself as the א and the ת is very significant because these two letters are in the very center of the first line in Genesis. And it is logical that John, when he consulted Torah, saw his Friend’s initials in the center of creation. That is why John was able to write:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

-- John 1: 1, 2 –

Of course, John wrote this by inspiration but not without knowledge of who Yeshua was, his knowledge of Torah, and the wisdom to bring it all together. If it had not been for John’s Epistle, and the knowledge of the language spoken by Yeshua and John on Patmos we still be wondering what those two un-translated letters in the center of Bereishis stand for.

Hebrew is a very descriptive language, every letter has an ancient pictorial representation with its own meaning. The first letter, א (Aleph) known as the letter of God, has as its pictorial representation _ a bull’s head (rosh) [in the Mazzaroth (Zodiac) it represents Taurus (the bull)], it is a symbol of strength or power.

The last letter of the Hebrew aleph-beit is the ת (Tav). It is an ancient pictorial representation and its symbol is a U (cross) which refers to Covenant. (now isn’t that interesting)

Thus this two-letter word את (ET) –not present in the English-- spans the entire Bible from the beginning to and including the New Covenant which was promised us in Jeremiah 31: 31. John makes it abundantly clear who is represented by these two letters; the fact that they are in the middle of Creation, and that they span the entire Word of God from beginning to end, i.e. from Genesis to revelation. And then we read in John 1: 14,

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and

we beheld His glory. The glory as of the only

begotten of the Father."

By now we know beyond the shadow of a doubt that the Word is Yeshua and that He is in fact the incarnate Creator. Further, this verse reveals several facts about Messiah:

First, the Word became flesh. Meaning, He took on Human form as He was born the natural way. At the eighth day He was circumcised, a ritual that befalls every Jewish boy, and His name was called Yeshua (Luke 2: 21).

Second, and dwelt among us. For about 33 years (6BCE – 27CE) He grew up, lived in a regular Jewish family, worked, and at the approximate age of 30 He submitted to the ritual of Tevillah. After this, He spent 40 days in solitude before beginning His ministry, during which He was almost constantly in the company of at least twelve disciples.

Now after six days Yeshua took Peter, James, and John and took them up on a high mountain by themselves, where He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.

-- Matthew 17: 1, 2 –

Third, we beheld His glory. Not only are we here informed what the three Apostles witnessed but it gives us a clue as to the nature of what glory really is. The Apostle Shaul puts it in perspective in 1st Corinthians 15: 41 where he explains that the essence of glory is LIGHT. But what had happened six day before?

Six day before they were going up that mountain, Yeshua had made the announcement that He would build His Kehillah on Peter’s pronouncement of Yeshua being the Messiah, the Son of Adonai Eloheinu. For some reason, Yeshua did not want the fact that He was Messiah to become public yet (Matthew 16: 20).

"There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars;

for one star differs from another star in glory."

1st Corinthians 15: 41

John wrote both, Revelation and his Epistle, toward the end of the First Century, after he had heard from his Friend Yeshua and receiving the Revelation on Patmos.

Twice did Yeshua refer to Himself as the א and the ת in Revelation 1: 11 & 22: 13. When John went back to consult Torah (the only Scriptures available to him) he found Yeshua in the midst of Creation which gave him the inspiration to start his Epistle.

It was John’s effort that made us aware of Yeshua’s involvement in Creation, something that is not revealed in the modern translations of Genesis 1: 1. The ignoring of two letters is responsible for having God’s Son excluded from Creation. Had the transcribers of Revelation used the א and ת instead of the A and W in Revelation 1: 11 & 22: 13 the transcribers of Genesis would have been better informed. So, you and I now, know better than the scribes of the 15th Century et al. We know who Yeshua is, what He was, where He was and has been. We have looked at the Declaration of Independence and are made aware of the requirement to pursue Holiness instead of happiness. Holiness is part of the Torah Response and includes committing our life to Him and, according to the Great Commission, share it with others.

I now would like to, at least for a while, go back to the beginning of the Bible. It is where we started, and from that point on we have followed the prompts of Scripture itself. This is what Bible Study is all about, allowing Scripture, Ruach HaKodesh or both, to take the lead. Before we go though; have you come to a point in your life, after reading a few pages of this book, that you know for sure that you will be allowed to enter heaven? In other words, does the following verse apply to you?

If My people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and forgive their sin and heal their land.

-- 2nd Chronicles 7: 14 –

Being called by His name means that you are a born-again Believers in Messiah Yeshua, you have been made a part of the Body of Messiah. You are now thus a member of the un-organized Community of Messiah which is NOT an organization but a living organism.

"For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body -- whether Jewish or non-Jewish…-- for the body is not one member but many… now God has