Watch: Parasha Tazria/Metzora (Yom Kippur) Here!
Tazria/Metzora: Leviticus 12:1-15:33; Proverbs 6:16-19, Proverbs 31; Colossians 3
Yom Kippur: Leviticus 16 (all), Leviticus 23:26-32, Numbers 29:7-11; Jonah (all); Acts 27:9-10, Hebrews 9:7
In this study we are going to read the book of Yonah (or Jonah) which is traditionally read for Yom Kippur. The messages were so similar we thought we had put them both together.
But then you might ask: How does Parasha Tazria/Metzora relate to Yom Kippur, and the story of Jonah? How does this relate to Yeshua’s desire to find a bride who truly loves Him enough that she wants to learn what His character is so she can model His character? Stay with us to find out.
As we catch up with our forefathers, they have left Egypt, but Egypt has not left them.
Bemidbar (Numbers) 11:5
5 We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic;
Most of them are not even trying to imitate Elohim’s character yet; it is still all about them. They wanted to increase so of course Elohim has to decrease. But our forefathers from whom we are descended had things a little backward.
Shemote (Exodus) 32:1
1 Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
Yahweh promised our forefathers that IF, if they would diligently hear and obey His voice (shema His voice) then we would be His treasured possession above all the peoples of the earth. And He also promised us He would not put none of the diseases of the Egyptians on us.
Shemote (Exodus) 19:5
5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.
Shemote (Exodus) 15:26
26 and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of Yahweh your Elohim and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am Yahweh [Rapha] who heals you.”
But the thing is, He only blesses us with transcendent blessings like that if we are truly doing things 100 percent His way, with His Spirit operating in us from the inside out.
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 28:2
2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of Yahweh your Elohim:
Now, last week we saw how even our diet can have unintended health consequences. We can set out to be a pure bride, we can set out to obey Yahweh’s clean food laws, but if we make the mistake of approaching things with rabbinic checklist mindset, we can end up breaking the Torah anyway. And that is because Yahweh has an ultimate spiritual purpose behind everything He commands.
And if we will operate in keeping with Yahweh’s Spirit, then we are going to automatically end up operating with knowledge. We must read and study His Word, but we are going to end up operating according to His ultimate spiritual purpose. And we know He is going to bless us for operating in accordance with His ultimate spiritual purpose.
Romim (Romans) 8:28
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love Elohim, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
And if we do not operate in keeping with His Spirit and His ultimate spiritual purpose, what happens? Okay, so if we seek to be His bride, what is a bride in Scripture? A bride is defined as a helper who is meet or fitting for her man.
B’reisheet (Genesis) 2:18
18 And Yahweh Elohim said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
But to be fitting for Yeshua to where we are one flesh, okay, now that is going to take some refinement on our parts. Do you understand what I am saying? I think this is what most of Ephraim just misses completely, okay?
Kepha Aleph (1 Peter) 4:12
12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;
What we need to remember is, we must think about things from His perspective, okay; What does He want?
He is sending His Son to build a spiritual kingdom throughout all the earth that He will then submit it to His Father. And if we help Him get what He wants, if we help Him get what His Father sent Him to get, then is He not going to be pleased with us?
Mattityahu (Matthew) 25:21
21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’
But if we do not truly help His Son get His kingdom set up the way He wants it, is it going to go well for us?
Mattityahu (Matthew) 25:30
30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
But this is not rocket science to figure out. It is basic; it does not get any more basic than this.
We have a King, if we are going to show loyalty to our King and do what He tells us to do, things are going to go well. It is like, figure it out! All through Scripture it speaks about the wise servants who look out for their masters.
Mattityahu (Matthew) 25:23
23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’
So, recounting the history, Yahweh took us as a bride for His Son at the Pesach.
Shemote (Exodus) 12:21
21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb.
Then the public betrothal took place at Shavuot (or Pentecost).
Shemote (Exodus) 19:10
10 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes.
And now we have had all summer long to get ready for the wedding.
Yochanan (John) 14:2-3
2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
Hopefully we were one of the five wise brides; we got our dress ready, we are learning about what He likes, we are talking with His Best-friend (which in Yeshua’s case is the Spirit), we are gathering wicks and oil for our lamps. We want to make sure as we are going to be married to the King. It has got to be just exactly right. We are going to be His queen, what kind of example are we going to set?
Well, we need to know what He likes so we can do what He likes. And we need to know what His character is so we can model His character, so that when we get together, we are a match-set, not a mismatched set.
Tehillim (Psalms) 40:8
8 I delight to do Your will, O my El, and Your Torah is within my heart.”
So, we must start learning to let our light shine, we must start putting on good works, we must start wearing our spiritual ornaments (so to speak).
Hitgalut (Revelation) 22:14
14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.
Now, we can put on our spiritual ornaments to get ready or we can dress in scarlet and purple, but scarlet and purple now are dressing like the harlot (Mystery Babylon). She is decked out in scarlet, purple, gold, silver, and precious stones, but she is filthy inside. That is the difference. The outside is gorgeous, but the inside is filthy.
Hitgalut (Revelation) 17:4
4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.
Oh! And she focuses on learning things about Yeshua, but she does not spend too much time focusing on becoming like Yeshua (notice things about the churches or perhaps even the Messianic synagogues).
The thing is, the bride needs to be cleaned up inside, that takes a certain kind of desire; she needs to love Yeshua enough to want to reflect His character from the inside out.
Qorintim Aleph (1 Corinthians) 11:1
1 Imitate me, just as I also imitate Messiah.
So, she not only needs to learn things about Yeshua, she needs to learn to shine her Husband’s light.
Now, in Vayiqra (or Leviticus) we saw the ritual laws for outward cleanliness, the outward ritual purity laws.
Vayiqra (Leviticus) 8:6
6 Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water.
But basically, the question in the case of leprosy and other diseases, the question very quickly becomes: Well, is cleanliness or uncleanliness only skin deep or does it go deeper?
And this may be a difficult concept for some westerners to grasp and we will try to take it slow (it is not the main thing it is just an explanation), but those of you who are listening in the east, most easterners should recognize the ancient principle (which also used to prevail in the Middle East) that the physical world (or what is called the real world) in some way reflects what is going on in the spiritual world. That is where you get signs and wonders, that is where those things come from.
You could say (and it is a Scriptural concept) that the outside (or the material) world can reflect what is going on in the inward, spiritual world.
Luqa (Luke) 6:45
45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
So, either the spirit can manifest signs and wonders or things can happen with our health. So, we might have a disease in our insides, we might have an emotional kind of a sickness, or we have a spiritual sickness, and that is going to affect our health.
That might sound like an eastern concept, but the Israelite faith is an eastern faith. It is just like the land of Israel lies in the Middle East and not in the Midwest.
But the basic idea is that if we have some spiritual disease, if there is something that is coming in between us and Yahweh, it is going to manifest as an outward problem.
Yahweh forbid if we have something, some desire, or our flesh, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, our pride, if we have anything that we do not want to give up because it is more important to us than our close relationship with our Elohim, then that is going to be a spiritual- it is a spiritual sickness.
Yochanan Aleph (1 John) 2:16
16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
And so, then we become at risk of developing outward physical manifestations of our inward spiritual sicknesses, and diseases, and uncleanness.
Again, Yahweh forbid, but notice that for lepers, Yeshua never cured a leper, He cleansed the lepers.
So, if we want to become Yeshua’s clean, spotless bride without stain, without wrinkle, without blemish, then do we not need to focus primarily on first and foremost becoming clean and spotless inside?
Does not our love for Him, our true genuine love for Him need to be what motivates our behaviors?
In Mattityahu (or Matthew) chapter 23 in verse 26, Yeshua says to make the inside of the cup and the dish clean and then the outside would be clean.
Mattityahu (Matthew) 23:26
26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.
So, we need to begin by cleaning up our insides.
So, in our studies on the Ancient Hebrew Marriage wedding model, we saw how Yeshua is going to be working all summer long from the time the wedding is announced until the time He is ready to come for His bride. And so, at the end of the summer He has prepared a place for us all to live. So, now He is sending forth His messenger to give the traditional shofar call that comes on Yom Teruah (or the Day of Trumpets).
Vayiqra (Leviticus) 23:24
24 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a set-apart convocation.
And what He is signaling is that Yeshua is coming for us that night. Now, on our calendar that works out to Yom Kippur around midnight, so let us not be sleeping.
Mattityahu (Matthew) 25:6
6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’
Now, as we show in Revelation and The End Times or Revelation Simplified on YouTube, this also corresponds to the final battle at Armageddon, because that is also the wedding feast. Now, if you have questions on that please check out our studies on Revelation and The End Times or Revelation Simplified on YouTube.
But if I could say so, I think that (perhaps) one thing that many Ephraimites might forget is just how great of a King Yeshua is and the fact that His Father is an even greater King than Yeshua.
Yochanan (John) 18:36
36 Yeshua answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”
So, considering the requirements ahead of us, He cannot really take a bride that is not doing the job, that does not even want to do the job. And that the hardest thing is testing the spirits. That is why we are going through this whole thing as a testing and learning opportunity.
But the thing is, with a marriage, if you do not obey the wedding contract you are liable to death.
Mattityahu (Matthew) 25:30
30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
So, if we do not truly do the job the way He wants, if we do not please Him by our full performance of everything He has said to do, and by listening intently for His voice, and showing the fruits of walking in true repentance, He is under no obligation to take us.
Mattityahu (Matthew) 7:23
23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness [Torah-lessness]!’
The King of the universe cannot have a disobedient, disloyal queen. Especially not after He has just gone through all that with Ephraim.
If she is not coming back with a broken, repentant heart and she is not going to set the example for His subjects, would it not be better to put her away quietly like Yoseph was planning to put Myriam away quietly before he understood that her pregnancy was from Elohim?
Mattityahu (Matthew) 1:19
19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.
So, by now you might be wondering: Okay, fine. All well and good. But what does all that have to do with Tazria/Metzora?
Well, Shemote (or Exodus) 15 and verse 26 tells us that Yahweh Rapha is our healer. Now, rapha is the Hebrew word from which we get words like therapy, therapist. So, in context, He is Yahweh Rapha our Therapist.
Shemote (Exodus) 15:26
26 and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of Yahweh your Elohim and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am Yahweh [Rapha] who heals you.”
And He tells us again, and again, and again, if, IF, IF we will hear and obey, if we will shema His voice, hear His words with an intention to take them to heart and do them, and will obey His commandments and His statutes, then He is going to heal us.
It makes sense if we truly develop a close indwelling relationship with Yeshua, then His light is going to dispel the darkness. We are going to be saved by the indwelling presence of His light. Us in Him and Him in us; Him in the Father the Father in Him.
Yochanan (John) 17:21
21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
We must choose that light; we must choose that life because the dark path is much, much easier. The dark path you just do automatically because our nature is sinful; our nature is evil. The light path is much more work. So, we must purposefully choose the narrow and afflicted pathway that leads to life and few there are who find it.
Mattityahu (Matthew) 7:14
14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
But in Vayiqra (or Leviticus) chapter 14 in verse 34, the question quickly becomes: Where is the root of the spiritual uncleanness? Does the physical uncleanness mean spiritual uncleanness? Let us check it out.
Yahweh is telling us, when we come into the land of Canaan, and Yahweh is going to give us houses, what do we do, what are we to think if Yahweh then puts a leprous plague on our house?
Vayiqra (Leviticus) 14:34
34 “When you have come into the land of Canaan, which I give you as a possession, and I put the leprous plague in a house in the land of your possession,
Why did Yahweh put a leprous plague on our house? Did we do something to displease Him? Maybe the way we are living is gross? He is trying to wake us up to something that we need to clean up our act (so to speak)?
Maybe we were not careful. Maybe we built our house on the side of a hill where there is a seasonal spring, the contractor did not put in proper drainage, now we have floods in the basement all winter and black mold on the walls?
Does Yahweh want us to exercise more wisdom in our business dealings?
Or, we must ask ourselves the question: Okay, we know Yahweh is 100 percent righteous, so why is Yahweh allowing this?
We never want to get into tantrums with Yahweh, it does not help, it does not work, it is not good. We must ask ourselves: What is Yahweh trying to teach us?
Ivrim (Hebrews) 12:6
6 For whom Yahweh loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.”
Because He does not give us plagues for no reason. He is not mean, He is strict; He is very, very strict, but He is not mean. And the strictness is meant to help us grow wisdom. Strictness in love is a very, very good thing, it helps to grow wise children.
Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 29:11
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says Yahweh, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
But if we think about ourselves as a house (because we have some analogies about ourselves as a house), why is Yahweh allowing our house, or why is Yahweh allowing us to have leprosy if He is pleased with us? Because these diseases, they are not really recorded in the ancient history books, so the only record of these particular types of leprosy, we will talk about it, and what we call leprosy today is different than biblical leprosy. What biblical leprosy was is more like what might look like a very angry boil kind of a thing.
But Yahweh is saying these are punishment tools He is going to use for His people to help train us.
Mishle (Proverbs) 3:11-12
11 My son, do not despise the chastening of Yahweh, nor detest His correction;
12 For whom Yahweh loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights.
So, why do we have a plague on our house? He is the one putting the plague on our house, what are we doing wrong; what does He want? Both in a physical and in the spiritual sense, what can we do better for Him?
Well, if Yom Kippur is the wedding and we need Yeshua to be pleased with us when he comes to the wedding, we need to be keeping everything Yeshua says to do because that is how we refine ourselves. We are going to go back to His Father’s house, we must follow the rules of His Father’s house. He cannot bring a disobedient bride back home.
So, should we not be using our summer to learn, what does Yeshua like in a bride and what does Yeshua not like in a bride?
Romim (Romans) 12:1
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of Elohim, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, set-apart, acceptable to Elohim, which is your reasonable service.
How can we cleanse our houses (so to speak) so that we are not going to be struck with plagues (if you know what I am saying)?
Qorintim Aleph (1 Corinthians) 11:28
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
Well, what does Yeshua want in a bride? Well, okay, let us turn to Mishle (or Proverbs) chapter 31 in verse 10 it shows us that Elohim wants a virtuous bride, a cheyil, a woman of virtue, or a woman of valor. It means a woman soldier; a cheyil.
Mishle (Proverbs) 31:10
10 Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies.
But Elohim wants a virtuous bride and He wants His bride to wear virtue as one of her spiritual ornaments. There are many spiritual ornaments spoken about in Scripture.
Verse 11, He wants a wife that He can trust because she has integrity, she is faithful, she is honest. He does not have to worry about her, He knows she is going to do what is best for Him and the whole family without even having to ask her about it.
Mishle (Proverbs) 31:11
11 The heart of her husband safely trusts her; so he will have no lack of gain.
So, are we living that way for Yeshua? That is the question we need to ask ourselves.
Verse 12, she does him good and not evil all the days of our life.
Mishle (Proverbs) 31:12
12 She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.
Wow! Is that us? What good did we do for Yeshua this last week? How did we help Him build His global spiritual kingdom? What did we do?
Verses 13 through 15, she is a faithful worker for him; she serves. Do we?
Mishle (Proverbs) 31:13-15
13 She seeks wool and flax, and willingly works with her hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships, she brings her food from afar.
15 She also rises while it is yet night, and provides food for her household, and a portion for her maidservants.
Verse 16, she is wise, she is resourceful, she uses her mina wisely to help build her husband’s house and to help gain him more minas.
Mishle (Proverbs) 31:16
16 She considers a field and buys it; from her profits she plants a vineyard.
Verse 20, she cares for the poor, so she is probably giving her third tithe for the poor. She is also helping the poor; she is not stingy. She does not have an evil eye or an evil spirit, no, she is a generous eye, she has a generous spirit.
Mishle (Proverbs) 31:20
20 She extends her hand to the poor, yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.
Verse 25, she has strength and honor as her clothing. And to talk about clothing and spiritual garments, it means she puts on strength with Yahweh’s help and she behaves in an honorable fashion with Yahweh’s help at all times. That is what Scripture is talking about when it talks about wearing garments.
Mishle (Proverbs) 31:25
25 Strength and honor are her clothing; she shall rejoice in time to come.
Verse 26, she speaks wisely and kindly. She is not lazy for Yeshua. She takes care of Yeshua’s house and family; she takes care of Yeshua’s body. She loves her brothers and sisters. That is to say she is her brothers or sisters’ keeper (that is at least as much as the brother or sister lets her).
Mishle (Proverbs) 31:26-27
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the Torah of kindness.
27 She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Verse 28, she is a praise to Yeshua’s family. Friends, does Elohim count us as a praise?
Mishle (Proverbs) 31:28
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:
Verse 30, she fears Yahweh, she is afraid to do what He might not like. And likewise, she is afraid not to do what she knows He does like.
Mishle (Proverbs) 31:30
30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears Yahweh, she shall be praised.
And we want to be respectful, we want to maintain a positive focus, but is not this really a big problem in the body of belief in Yeshua?
Yes, I mean, if Christians do not feel the need to obey Yahweh’s voice and obey Yahweh’s written commandments and His statutes, then how can they say that they fear Him when Yahweh emphasizes over, and over, and over again that He wants us to diligently ‘shema’ His voice, and be diligent and be careful to do everything that He says? It just does not make any sense.
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 13:4
4 You shall walk after Yahweh your Elohim and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him.
Well, verse 31 tells us she is worthy of her reward. That is a big word there ‘worthy.’
Mishle (Proverbs) 31:31
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates.
And Hitgalut (or Revelation) 22 and verse 12 tells us that when Yeshua comes, He is bringing His reward with Him and He will give to all of us according to our works for Him.
Hitgalut (Revelation) 22:12
12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.
It is the parable the minas all over again. It is the story of the little red hen. As we sow, so shall we reap. Treasure in, treasure multiplied out. Garbage in garbage multiplied out.
Yahweh will not be mocked. If we insult Yahweh in the sacrifice He made by sending His Son to die and He does not become our number one priority in life, Oy vavoy! I do not want to be there when that happens.
So, on this Yom Kippur and as we read this Parashah, let us ask ourselves: If we are in training to become His brides, what are we really giving to Yahweh? What are we truly doing for Him, that we are not just taking Him for granted? What are we truly giving Yeshua that He says He wants?
Mishle (Proverbs) 23:26
26 My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.
Are we perhaps still in Messianic mode or Ephraimite mode where we are only just learning about what we are supposed to already be doing?
Brothers, sisters, there is a huge job to do and each one of us must decide: Are we going to be lukewarm or are we going to take the plunge, we are going to dive head first into His waters of immersion and die to ourselves in our old way of life in the world and be born again unto newness of life and newness of relationship with Him to where we have a future with Him to where He can say, “Yes, okay, now see… Now I have got a bride in that one.”
Ma’asei (Acts) 2:38
38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Yeshua Messiah for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Set-apart Spirit.
“That one cares about Me. That one is helping Me to get what I want. That one is trying; that one is trying to change after the waters of immersion (or re-immersion, whichever the case may be).”
So, brothers, sisters, are we going to immerse ourselves into Yeshua’s way of life, in His way of governing both ourselves and the rest of the world?
Yaakov (James) 4:7
7 Therefore submit to Elohim. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Are we going to prove ourselves to be worthy of the rod of iron that He wants to give us as He received from His Father?
Or, waters of immersion, maybe they are not warm, maybe it is cold. Maybe we will stick a few toes in; maybe we will watch some teaching videos and we will learn all about what we are supposed to be doing right now?
Well, we can tell ourselves that we are super brides all we want, but when we get to the day of judgment, that is when books will be opened and we all will answer for everything that we did and everything that we failed to do. And to him to whom more is given, more is required.
Hitgalut (Revelation) 20:12
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before Elohim, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
So, while we are busy cleaning up our insides, first learning to model Yeshua’s character, how do we feel about forgiveness, and how do we feel about operating as Yeshua’s body?
Ephesim (Ephesians) 4:32
32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as Elohim in Messiah forgave you.
Romim (Romans) 12:4
4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function,
Do we truly want to operate as one body of Messiah like Yeshua’s word says, according to the five-fold ministry?
Ephesim (Ephesians) 4:11
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
Well, in Mattityahu (or Matthew) chapter 5 starting in verse 23, Yeshua tells us that, if we come to worship Yahweh, maybe we bring our gift to the altar, but wait a minute now. We remember there is some kind of problem, just some fleeting thought. You can bat it away, you can listen to it, you can listen to Yahweh’s voice, or you can ignore it. It is our choice. But Yeshua says if we hear that little sleeting thought, pay attention to it first, make things right with our brothers, then we can come and offer our gifts.
Mattityahu (Matthew) 5:23-24
23 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,
24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Do not give our tithes, do not give our gifts? And please do not give offerings or fast to cover over some sin.
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 58:3
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’ “In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exploit all your laborers.
We are not loving our brother, we are going to cover that over. Yahweh calls that, “striking with the fist of wrongness.” He says, “You fast so that you can strike with the fist of wrongness.”
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 58:4
4 Indeed you fast for strife and debate, and to strike with the fist of wickedness. You will not fast as you do this day, to make your voice heard on high.
He is saying, you cannot just do checklist behavior, you cannot just not care about your neighbor in Israel, in all the countries of the world. No, that is not it. Checklist behavior is bad; Yeshua hates checklist behavior. Yeshua had nothing good to say about wrote prayers.
So, it is a sure bet if Yeshua hates checklist behavior, how does His Father feel about it? Hmm… I wonder.
Now, can we imagine that Yeshua is coming for us tonight? Okay, we heard the shofar call on Yom Teruah, Yeshua is coming for us, His bride, tonight.
Now, hopefully we have already prepared, hopefully our dress is already ready; we got our ornaments, everything is ready. Now, it is time. We are going to take that last final mikvah in our father’s old house. We are going to wash away our father’s old house in the world, so we can go to our Husband’s Father’s, new house and be with Him; go to the mansion with Him.
Yochanan (John) 14:3
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
So, now we have washed ourselves, we have made ourselves clean (hopefully inside and out), now we are putting on our pure spotless wedding dress; no blemishes, no wrinkles. Now, we are putting on all of our spiritual ornaments: Virtue, honor, chastity, all those good things; all the spiritual fruits. We are doing all these things to get completely clean inside and out.
Galatim (Galatians) 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no Torah.
Just decking up on the outside, putting on a second century tallit, that does nothing. There are teachings in the Messianic movement, “Oh! make sure you have your second century tallit!” Yeshua would not know what it is.
We are getting ready for a new life with our Husband. He is the Son of the King of the universe, and He wants things however He wants them. It is between Him and His Father. He wants what He wants, we are Their helpers. Are we signing up for that? We took the vow, okay? Now, it is time.
Well, okay, so we are supposed to immerse ourselves and forget everything about our old life in our father Satan’s house in the world, okay? Not that our earthly fathers are Satan, that is not what I am saying, but we get the idea.
All right? We are going to wash ourselves and then we are going to go to the chuppah. We are going to go say our vows, but we cannot let go of something; we cannot let go of a big grudge. There is something our mother or our father did to us as children and we just cannot get past that thing in our childhood; just cannot do it.
There is something we are still sad over. There is something we are still mad over. Something that happened 20 years ago, maybe generations ago, we still cannot let go of it even though Yeshua is coming tonight, and we must be right.
Okay, well, we are talking about marriage to the Son of the King of the universe. What do we have in our old life, what do we have pre-immersion that is bugging us? What do we have in our childhood? Throw out the trash, okay?
Mattityahu (Matthew) 6:15
15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Is there anything at all that we need to do? Is there anything at all we need to make right with our neighbor? Is there anything at all about our relationships that we need to make right?
Maybe we had a harsh word with our children; it is a little too harsh. Not bad, but a little too much. Will we humble ourselves? Will we put Him and His kingdom first? Will we seek first the kingdom of Elohim and then trust He will give us everything He wants us to have?
Mattityahu (Matthew) 6:33-34
33 But seek first the kingdom of Elohim and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Brothers, sisters, how can we go up to the chuppah and become one flesh with Yeshua Elohim when secretly we are still in love with the world? Now, how is that going to work? We cannot be unequally yoked, it is not going to work; it cannot work.
Ya’akov (James) 4:4
4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with Elohim? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of Elohim.
So, what must happen is, each and every one of us must make a decision; we all must choose, that is the nature of it. Either we are going to leave our past lives, and our old fleshly ways, and our carnal attitudes completely behind in the immersion and let these things be washed away from us, or we do not. It is either we are converted, or we are not. It is up to us. Either we become spiritual, or we are still fleshly.
Yochanan Aleph (1 John) 2:16
16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
So, that is what it is. We see a lot of people in the world, they are in Egypt, that is what they want; they are backslidden.
And the other thing we see in Ephraim is, a lot of double-minded people, basically trying to be fleshly and spiritual at the same time. So, what we see is a lot of people sort of halting back and forth between two opinions (so to speak). They are halting back and forth between two doctrines or they are blown about by every wind of doctrine.
Ephesim (Ephesians) 4:13-14
13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of Elohim, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Messiah;
14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
Now, they are always learning, but they are never able to come to the knowledge of the truth that what Yahweh wants is a relationship with us, He wants the restored relationship that was lost in the Garden of Eden.
He wants us to come to the knowledge of that truth and He wants us to listen to His voice and do everything He says; take it to heart and obey all His written commandments. He is very clear about this. He says it several times.
Well, we end up with a lot of people, also in Ephraim, they will acknowledge that, yes, the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil and that some men, Nazarenes, yes, end up straying from the faith because of their greediness and then they end up piercing themselves through with many sorrows. And we see it all the time in Ephraim.
Timotheus Aleph (1 Timothy) 6:10
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Now, a lot of Ephraimites say that Yahweh is the very first thing in their lives, He is their first love; they love Him with all of their heart, all of their soul, all of their strength, they love Him; but not with the way that they live. When we take a look at the way that they live, it is a different story.
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 6:5
5 You shall love Yahweh your Elohim with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
We are supposed to be fishing for men; we are supposed to be serving Him.
Marqaus (Mark) 1:17
17 Then Yeshua said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”
So, if we are to be fishing for men for Him, then now on Yom Kippur let us tell the story of Yonah (or Jonah) and the big fish. And some people think it is a whale of a story. But we hope that you will find the story of Yonah encouraging because even though Yonah does get taken down in the mouth, it works out all right in the end.
And some people think the story of Yonah, they think it is kind of a fishy tale, but let us take a step back and let us look at the meta-level from a sort of a prophetic standpoint.
One of the things we could notice is that the symbol of the Christian, or the Christian world, the Christian community, is the fish. And we will see that Yonah (or Dove) was an Ephraimite prophet. And as such we see that Yonah does seem to have a lot of very Ephraimite traits, a lot of Ephraimite characteristics.
Now, it helps to have the back story on Yonah. So, Yonah ben Amittai was from Gath-Hefer, which is maybe five kilometers (or a little more than a couple of miles) north of Natserat (or Nazareth). So, it is a very much Ephraimite country in the north. So, Yonah was an Ephraimite.
Now, the name Yonah means ‘Dove’ and for some perspective, Yonah was also a contemporary of Hoshea (or Hosea). Now, if you read the Nazarene Israel study (I recommend it highly), we explain what is called the mystery of the Two-Houses.
And in context, what is really happening is that, after the reign of King Solomon, King Solomon sinned and so the nation of Israel was broken up into two parts. So, then you had the northern kingdom of Ephraim consisting of ten tribes and they broke away from the southern kingdom of Judah.
So, in the northern kingdom, our ancestors, the Ephraimites, we set up golden calves in Dan and Bethel, we set up our own priesthood that was not of Levi, and we made up all our own commandments, we pushed the festival days back (these kinds of things).
So, because we changed Yahweh’s Torah (we explained this all in the Nazarene Israel study), Yahweh sent several prophets to the northern kingdom so that the northern kingdom would know, either we need to turn back to His Torah, or we are going to suffer the consequences. So, all this is happening in the background.
And Yahweh is prophesying through His prophets that the northern kingdom is getting ready to be scattered for their disobedience, again, what is called the Assyrian Diaspora (or the Dispersion), it is also called the Great Seeding. And what the Great Seeding (or the Assyrian Dispersion) is part of Yahweh’s grand plan to fulfill the promises and the prophecies that He gave to Abraham and to Israel; that every family, every nation, and every clan, every tribe, every tongue, would eventually have Avraham’s and/or Israel’s genetics. And thus, they could become heir to the promises of salvation that come with receiving Messiah Yeshua.
B’reisheet (Genesis) 12:3
3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”Hitgalut (Revelation) 7:9
9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
So, we explain all that in the Nazarene Israel study. Read the Nazarene Israel study, pray about it. If you go through that study, you will know more than literally 99 percent of all Christians, pastors, rabbis; it gives perspective. So, pray about it, because the mystery of the Two Houses is part of who we are as His people. If we do not understand the Two Houses, we do not know who we are, and that does not work.
But during this whole time frame when Yahweh is trying to wake the northern kingdom up and get them to turn back, get them to repent, get them to obey His Torah, His Instructions. So, Yahweh sent many prophets to our ancestors in the northern kingdom to wake us up to get us to repent.
He sent Eliyahu, He sent Elisha, He sent Hoshea, and Yonah, and many others.
Divre HaYamim Bet (2 Chronicles) 24:19
19 Yet He sent prophets to them, to bring them back to Yahweh; and they testified against them, but they would not listen.
And some believe that Yonah was perhaps just a little bit older than his contemporary, Hoshea.
And in those days, the Assyrian empire (or what is nowadays Syria, but), back in those days the Assyrian empire was rising to the north of Israel. And Yahweh was prophesying that, unless the northern kingdom of Ephraim turned back to Him and begin obeying His complete Torah; everything – hearing His voice, taking to heart what you hear and doing all of His written commandments and statutes – but unless we, unless our forefathers would do that – which we did not do that, He was going to use the Assyrian empire to punish our ancestors in the northern kingdom of Ephraim (or Israel) for their sins; for our Torah breaking.
Melachim Bet (2 Kings) 17:6-7
6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
7 For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against Yahweh their Elohim, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and they had feared other elohim,Hitgalut (Revelation) 7:9
9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
We are His consecrated bridal nation. We decided, “No, we are not going to do that. We are going to do our own thing. We are going to set up our own form of worship; we are going to serve Him our way. That is because we are Ephraim.”
Well, Yonah was one of those prophets who was close to Yahweh; walked with Yahweh, talked with Yahweh, listened to Yahweh. He knew what Yahweh was saying to His people; he was in the prophecies. Now, and I say this as an Ephraimite, I say this in what I hope is love and respect.
In many ways Yonah reminds me of Ephraim as a whole. To me he seems very symbolic of our nation, of our people.
Yonah, it is very similar to how the prophet Hoshea describes our people in Hoshea chapter 7 in verse 11. He says we are like a silly dove lacking sense (or lacking heart depending on the translation). It says we go off into the world, we go off into Egypt so we can please our flesh. That is what it is, to be backslidden, seeking after our flesh; seeking what we want to do.
Hoshea (Hosea) 7:11
11 “Ephraim also is like a silly dove, without sense— they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.
Well, that does not build a true kingdom for Yeshua. Or alternately, we go off to dwell in the dispersion in Assyria. Because we can’t run away from Yahweh, we cannot fly away from Yahweh’s laws, we cannot continue to worship Yahweh our way.
So, Assyria represents the places where we are still feeding our idols, we want to chase our own demons, we want to chase our own lusts, we want to serve Yahweh our way, we want to claim the promises without strict obedience to His house rules.
Oh! And let us not get started on prosperity gospel! Some people in Ephraim think watching Saturday Night Live tv shows makes us set apart like that is what Yeshua died for.
So, we can watch a tv show, that is our contribution to building Yeshua’s unified global kingdom? That is a good use of our mina?
Now, again I say this in love, we are going to downgrade Yonah just a little bit because he is also an Ephraimite. And that is the rule, right? You can critique your own people because you are one of them, right?
So, what we are going to see here is that Yonah must have been a very special, very favored prophet; Yahweh must have loved him. We say that because we take a look at the way Yahweh talks with Yonah, He talks with all kinds of patience and love when He talks with Yonah.
But we are going to see some very important parallels between Yonah’s time and our time. And these are the things we need to take to heart. We need to understand the parallels because we are the fruit, we are the seed of our forefathers; we are subject to the same mistakes that they made. And from what we can tell, most of Ephraim is making them.
So, we wanted to do this instead of the standard Parasha recommendation because it is nice seeing Scripture insights, but we need something we can use because we are coming up on the day we are going to be called to account for the way we worshiped and served Him.
And again, I hope I say this with respect and love because Scripture is unique among the religious traditions of the world in that we do not just record the good parts of our leaders and our profits, we also record the downsides because we must be realistic.
So, again I hope we will say this the right way, correctly and with respect, but we are going to look at what both Yonah and our forefathers in Ephraim did wrong. Because as good as Yonah was and as much as Yahweh must have loved Him, the truth is he was also a pretty good example of how Yeshua’s bride should not behave. So, in a sense we are kind of studying one of the major failures of an otherwise major player.
Titus 1:16
16 They profess to know Elohim, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.
So, let us analyze critically, but let us also be respectful realizing that this is ultimately about us because Yonah is symbolic of us, of our people, Ephraim.
So, Yonah (or Jonah) chapter 1 verse 1, it say:
Yonah (Jonah) 1:1-2
1 Now the word of Yahweh came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.”
Okay, now Jonah knew that if he went to Nineveh and they repented, then the Assyrians would be found righteous enough in Yahweh’s sight to be used to punish Ephraim, meaning Yahweh’s prophecies would be fulfilled, meaning the Assyrians would come to the land of Israel and they would kill and rape and enslave all the Ephraimites and carry them off into captivity.
Oh! But if the Assyrians were not found righteous in Yahweh’s sight, if the Assyrians were found wicked in Yahweh’s sight, then Yahweh would not use them to punish the northern kingdom of Ephraim. Because you must be a certain standard to be used by Yahweh in any capacity, right?
So, that means the Assyrians would not kill, they would not rape, and they would not enslave his brothers and sisters in Ephraim.
Well, okay, considering that, now Yonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh. Okay, well, how is that going to work?
So, Yonah goes down to Yapho, he finds a ship going to Tarshish, he pays the fare and he goes on board, he goes down into the ship and he goes with them to Tarshish so he can run from the presence of Yahweh; so he can fly away and flee from the presence of Yahweh.
Yonah (Jonah) 1:3
3 But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh.
So, Jonah is an Ephraimite, he knew what Yahweh wanted him to do, but he ran away from Yahweh anyway, he did not want to obey. He knows he is supposed to do certain things, yet does not want to do them. Any Ephraimites there?
Verse nine, Yonah said to them, “I am a Hebrew, I fear Yahweh the Elohim of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.” Well, apparently not, or else why are you doing what you are doing?
Yonah (Jonah) 1:9
9 So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear Yahweh, the Elohim of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
When you say you love and fear Yahweh, you should be doing, we should be obeying Him in everything. That is how Yahweh can know, is we show fruit of repentance. But if you say you love Yahweh, but you do not show true fruit of repentance, that is how you know you might just be an Ephraimite.
So, verse 12, Yonah says he would rather die than obey Yahweh. Really? Really? “I do not want Israel’s enemies to repent so they worship Yahweh.” It is like he has got the leaven of Herod or something. He is placing his physical family, his country and his people, first. It is like he is saying, “My physical family after the flesh and my country after the flesh are more important to me than working Yahweh’s plan of bringing salvation to the whole world. I know better than Yahweh.”
Yonah (Jonah) 1:12
12 And he said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me.”
Well, what would it be if we can relate? Like, this would be like if in the United States today, Yahweh were to raise up a prophet and who has the leaven of Herod in him, so he is all concerned about the political drama, he is all concerned about the political intrigues, he is not just leaving that for the dogs, okay?
So, if Yahweh raised up a prophet like Yonah in the United States today, maybe he would send him to Russia or to China to get Russia and China to repent and to turn back to Yahweh to become more righteous so they could be used to nuke the United States. That is a pretty fair parallel.
Or perhaps it would be like if Yahweh were to raise up someone in Zionist Israel and then send him to Tehran so that the Iranians would repent; they would turn back to Yahweh so now they can be righteous enough to be used to nuke Israel and punishment to get him to turn away from their Zionism.
Yes, we have an Israelite heritage, but no, it does not come first before Elohim. We were bought with a price. We need to obey our Master, we need to seek first the kingdom of Elohim and His righteousness (meaning keeping His Torah), then all the rest of these things can be added to it, to us.
Mattityahu (Matthew) 6:33
33 But seek first the kingdom of Elohim and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
But Jonah is an Ephraimite, he is not up for any of that. And take a look for him in the Messianic and the Ephraimite worlds today.
Jonah saying, “I am not interested in working a plan of salvation that helps all of humankind. I am only interested in saving my brothers and sisters in the northern kingdom of Israel. I am only interested in Israel’s household.”
Well, okay, so is Yonah not a classic Ephraimite? He wants to run from Yahweh in order to protect His brothers and sisters in Israel. How does that work? He wants to avert punishment on the nation by disobeying Yahweh?
Okay, it is a nice sentiment Jonah, but how is that working for you; you and the fish (you and Dagon)? You having a good time there?
Yonah (Jonah) 1:17
17 Now Yahweh had prepared a great fish to swallow Yonah. And Yonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
I mean, does Jonah not kind of remind us of all those Ephraimites and Messianics who place the United States and Israel over the fulfillment of Yeshua’s words?
It is like we have got our own ideas about politics, we have got our own ideas about what the End Times and the Tribulation and In-gathering should look like; we are not going to read Yahweh’s words and figure out what Yahweh is going to do, we have got our own plans; teaming up Two Houses against the world.
Well, we can approach this thing with the attitude that we are going to dictate to Yahweh and He is going to “snap two and jolly, well do what we want for the mouth of Ephraim has spoken,” but how is that working for Yonah? How is that working for our forefathers coming out of the wilderness?
We can say that we understand Yahweh’s motivations, but that does not change the fact that when we say we fear Yahweh, we need to prove it.
If Yahweh says: “I want you to go to Nineveh to get them to repent so they can turn back and punish those of Israel who are not obeying Me”, we have justification for that. We serve a great King.
People have lived under democracy for so long, perhaps we have forgotten what kingship is all about. But either you are loyal to your king or you are dead.
Hitgalut (Revelation) 19:16
16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND MASTER OF MASTERS.
So, what Elohim wants us to do is He wants us to repent so we can show fruits of repentance. One of which is abiding in His Son; and His Son in us, Him in the Father and the Father in Him. And then the proof of that connection, the proof of abiding in the vine is that we walk in subjection to His Spirit.
Luqa (Luke) 3:8
8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that Elohim is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
But just like an Ephraimite, Yonah does not obey until after he is punished.
Chapter 3 in verse 3, so Yonah finally realized he is not going to win. He had to drown, go to the depths of the sea, finally he is vomited up, he arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of Yahweh.
Yonah (Jonah) 3:3
3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent.
Now, Nineveh was an exceedingly great city. It was a three-day journey in extent. And you thought urban sprawl in the LA basin was bad?
In verse four, Yonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk and then he cried out and said, “‘Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown.’ says Yahweh.”
Yonah (Jonah) 3:4-5
4 And Yonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”
5 So the people of Nineveh believed Elohim, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.
That is great! Praise Yah! Is that something we would not want to see today?
Send a prophet to Iran and the people repent, send a prophet to Russia, China, and the people repent. It would be great if we could send a prophet to the United States and get Ephraim to repent.
But now Yonah is angry. The Russians, and the Chinese, and the Iranians, they have repented, they put on sackcloth they are fasting. That is great! Well, Yonah does not think that is so great.
Chapter four verse one, the fact that human beings repented and obeyed Yahweh’s commandment displeased Yonah exceedingly and he became angry. So, Yonah prayed to Yahweh and said, “Yahweh was this not what I meant when I said when I was still in my country that is why I fled to Tarshish? I said that I know you are a gracious and merciful Elohim. You are slow to anger, and You are abundant in loving-kindness, and You are one who relents from doing harm. You do not like to harm people; You need them to obey You.”
Yonah (Jonah) 4:2
2 So he prayed to Yahweh, and said, “Ah, Yahweh, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful El, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.
“I knew You would take mercy on Nineveh, and now that they have repented, now You are going to find them worthy to punish my country and my countrymen for their disobedience. So, now there is going to be death, and rape, and enslavement among my brothers and sisters in my country, in my extended family.”
“I thought You took us for a bride! Why are You doing this Yahweh? You are asking me to put You and Your spiritual concerns for the salvation of all mankind above me and my own personal family? You are asking me to put your concerns that salvation be available to all the nations of the world?”
“And to do that, that means me and my countrymen must get punished? You are asking us to submit to your discipline, Yahweh? You are asking me to put preaching Your word above the concerns of me and my family? Why are You doing this Yahweh? Why are you putting the things of the Spirit ahead of the things of the flesh?”
Yes, he is an Ephraimite.
Chapter 4 verse 3, “Therefore, now Yahweh please take my life from me, for it is better me for me to die than to live.” Really? Really?
Yonah (Jonah) 4:3
3 Therefore now, O Yahweh, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!”
Verse 4, then Yahweh said, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Yonah cannot answer because he knows. It is just so he cannot answer, because he knows that we all have what we want for our spiritual families and our brothers and sisters in Israel.
Yonah (Jonah) 4:4
4 Then Yahweh said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
But still we have got a King and He is pure Spirit, so we have got to put our own personal feelings aside and get with His Word. We have got to put our own wants and needs aside and put the king’s business first. That is part of having a king.
Mattityahu (Matthew) 6:33
33 But seek first the kingdom of Elohim and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Verse 5, Yonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city hoping it is going to get destroyed. Therefore, he made himself a sukkah and he sat under the shade of the sukkah to see what might become of the city. “Do You ever destroy it or not destroy it?”
Yonah (Jonah) 4:5
5 So Yonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city.
And again, one Ephraimite to another, does not Yonah seem maybe a little bit mopey? Does he not seem maybe just a little bit self-righteous? I mean, does he not seem maybe a little bit perhaps possibly unrepentant like he does not understand that human nature is sinful and so we need regeneration; we must obey Yahweh?
Yonah, homie, homeboy, you are being a little selfish there, okay? You are caring all about you and your own kind (that is racism), but not about all humankind. Well, it was racist right there.
Verse six, Yahweh Elohim prepared a plant and made it to come up and over Yonah that it might be shade for his head, to deliver him from his misery for a day; to give him a day to adjust. But so, Yonah was very grateful for the plant, but still Yonah was not caring about the rest of mankind.
Yonah (Jonah) 4:6
6 And Yahweh Elohim prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant.
It is a hard thing for us to realize sometimes, this is not just a spiritual journey for Israel, this is not just a spiritual journey for the lead tribe of the House of Israel, which is the United States of America. It is not just about being an American, it is not just about being Jewish. We need to leave the leaven of Herod outside. This is a spiritual journey by which Yahweh is using both, Houses of Israel (Ephraim), and Judah, to work a grand plan of salvation that is eventually going to benefit all of mankind. And for the first time, mankind is going to have global peace through establishing Yeshua’s world order.
Kepha Bet (2 Peter) 3:9
9 Yahweh is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
And that is Yahweh’s heart, that is what Yahweh wants. Is it our heart? Is it what we want?
Verse seven, as morning dawned the next day, Elohim prepared a worm. So, He damaged the plant and it withered. It happened when the sun arose that Elohim prepared a vehement east wind (party is over). And the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so he grew faint then Yonah wished for death for himself and said, “It is better for me to die than to live! Oh! Oh!”
Yonah (Jonah) 4:7-8
7 But as morning dawned the next day Elohim prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered.
8 And it happened, when the sun arose, that Elohim prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Yonah’s head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
You will hear this in Ephraim sometimes. “Oh! I am in a relationship with the King of the universe and His Son. Oh! But my family and my country, that is much more important to me than serving Elohim. Oh! Then the Levites are relenting, there is hope for them, but my own people, they are continuing in sin. And I am suicidal that my own people are disobedient, and they need to be corrected as part of Yahweh’s loving parenting. Oh! I do not want my brothers and sisters to get parental corrections so we can learn to become pleasing to Elohim one day.”
Can we see how racist that is; basically caring only about our other brothers and sisters in the flesh? Do we see how carnal that attitude is?
Verse 9, then Elohim said to Yonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” Yonah said, “Yes, it is right for me to be angry, even unto death because you sent me to tell our enemies to repent so you can use them to spank my people so that we can please you long term.”
Yonah (Jonah) 4:9
9 Then Elohim said to Yonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!”
Clearly, he is having a brain short, right? He is thinking short term not long term. Something is not computing. He has got myopia; he has got short term vision; cannot see the long term. That is not a good thing in a prophet, okay?
What Yonah is supposed to be doing is he is supposed to be taking every thought into captivity to the obedience of Yahweh Elohim. But here he is basically letting his emotions run him.
Qorintim Bet (2 Corinthians) 10:5
5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of Elohim, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Messiah,
And of course, that never happens to anyone in Ephraim nowadays. No, no, no. Could not be. None of us ever do that. None of us ever read Yahweh’s Word and decide that we do not want to do that. No, because we are all super brides! That is right! We are all tithing and helping to contribute and build His kingdom.
Chapter 4 verse 10, Yahweh says, “Look Yonah, you have had pity on a plant, this is just a plant, okay? Get over it. It is a plant, okay? Moreover, you have not labored, you did not work for it, you did not make it grow. The whole thing is a miracle to start with. It came up in a night and it perished in the night, okay? You are concerned about a plant. Should I not have pity and compassion on that great city Nineveh which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons and they cannot discern between their right hand; and their left hand and there is much livestock? You are concerned about a plant, you are not concerned about the animals.”
Yonah (Jonah) 4:10-11
10 But Yahweh said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night.
11 And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”
Okay, well, let us unpack this a little bit. In Middle Eastern thought, it is thought that the right hand draws near while the left hand pushes away. So, for example, you bring food to come, bring it closer to your mouth with your right hand and with your left hand you would take away any garbage or things you do not want to eat.
So, when the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing, basically what that means is you are teachable. For example, if Yahweh draws someone near with His right hand like our ancestors and then later our ancestors take Him and His blessings completely for granted, then the correct response is for the left hand to send them away, okay?
But if the right hand knows what the left hand is doing, then the right hand says, “Well, I brought it near so you, no, you cannot- you cannot send them away.” But Elohim is being just in correcting, here. He brought our forefathers near, they proved not worthy of His Presence, He sent them away and He gave them some things to do; He gave them a Tabernacle, they want to do that.
Okay, well, if you are not worthy of being brought near, you need to be sent away. So, if they are bad like our forefathers, send them away, it is simple. And the rules are the same for today. That is what I think many an Ephraim are forgetting.
So, here in this passage, what we see is that Yahweh is taking mercy on the people of Nineveh because they were repenting. Because they were repenting, they were becoming more worthy. Therefore, the right hand draws them near. It would not stay that way forever, but at least at that moment in time.
Tehillim (Psalms) 51:17
17 The sacrifices of Elohim are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart— these, O Elohim, You will not despise.
Well, one thing that is the same always is that Elohim is always working with everyone on planet earth. He has chosen us for a certain job of service. We must put that job of service first and then we receive the benefits.
But if we are just receiving the benefits of believing on Him in this life and we are not paying back to His system, then we have got our reward in this lifetime. Something to think about. If you are running a Saturday Night Live tv show or if you get into book sales (and this kind of thing).
Anyway, our Ephraimite prophet forefather Yonah does not want to submit to Yahweh, he does not want to do things Yahweh’s way, and this parallels with today. Can we see any parallels in the Messianic or the Ephraimite worlds today?
If we have ears to hear it, can we see how our Ephraimite prophet forefather Yonah did not want to obey, so he ended up getting sent away too (so to speak), and end up being swallowed up by a big fish. And that big fish is Dagon (or rather Dagan).
And so, who was Dagon? Dagon was an ancient Assyrian fish deity. Well, sometimes he is all fish, sometimes he is part man and part fish, kind of like the original merman (we are not talking about Ethel Merman here).
But here is Yonah, he is the disobedient, Ephraimite, prophet, and he is all caught up with the leaven Herod (that means his nationality matters to him, a lot politics, he is a nationalist). His family of origin matters to him a lot so he is effectively a racist. That means he is effectively still fleshly. That means he is still effectively, basically carnal.
So, we notice Yonah is swallowed up by the Caesarean-merman-god-man-fish and he is vomited up on the shores of Assyria. And we know that the Assyrian empire later got swallowed up by the Babylonian empire.
So, now today, here we have Christians, most of whom are Ephraimites, but do not know it, they will not know it until Armageddon or just after Armageddon. And the Christians are found basically on every shore anywhere a fish can swim.
And in the Nazarene Israel study we explained the real meaning behind B’reisheet (or Genesis) chapter 48 in verse 16.
Now, in Hebrew genesis 48 and verse 16, tells us that Ephraim would become like a multitude of fishes in the midst of the earth.
B’reisheet (Genesis) 48:16
16 The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; let my name be named upon them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”
Basically, in the prophetic sense, it means Ephraim will be like a bunch of Christians and Messianics who still have the leaven of Herod, they still have some kind of leaven, they still care more about their own country and their own flesh than they do about the rest of mankind.
So, there is an elevation of their flesh, kind of like brother Judah; they are always proud about being Jewish, they are always proud about their genetics, which is ironic. We could talk about that some other time. But is it not just like the Christians?
The Christians, a lot of them, they are waiting on Yeshua to come to set up His global spiritual empire and just be carried back to the land of Israel on the rapture bus or in the cloud. Christians, they do not even realize we are supposed to be the ones who are building Yeshua’s kingdom.
Marqaus (Mark) 6:15-16
15 Others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It is the Prophet, or like one of the prophets.”
16 But when Herod heard, he said, “This is John, whom I beheaded; he has been raised from the dead!”
But we do not realize the truth because we do not read His Word. If we do we do not read it critically. And we are too worried about what we want, especially as it affects us and our family, and that is not what it should be to be an Ephraimite. But is that not kind of what it is to be an Ephraimite or in the Messianic movement today?
We are supposed to overcome the flesh and the lusts and desires of the flesh with the help of Messiah Yeshua, but are we? Are we living that overcoming kind of life?
Yochanan (John) 3:30
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
Luqa (or Luke) 11 and verse 32, Yeshua tells us that:
Luqa (Luke) 11:32
32 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Yonah is here.
Yeshua is saying Nineveh turned back to Yahweh – right hand draws near. My brethren in Judah, they are not turning back to Yahweh – left hand pushes away.
What about us brothers? Are we in Ephraim turning back to Elohim and doing all that He says He wants, so the right hand might draw us near?
Are we surrendering our bodies a living sacrifice; listening for the direction of His Spirit? Is the Spirit the most important thing to us in our lives or are there perhaps some things that we might want; some kinds of idols, some things we want more than becoming like Him?
Yochanan (John) 14:15-16
15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.
16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—
And like idols, do we have questions of country, or nationality, or race coming into play?
We must remember, Elohim knows everything. We want to be the best brides we can be. If you would like a Scriptural reference then I recommend you read Colossians 3. But the best thing I can recommend is that we all take some time to pray and ask Yahweh to read it with us and read it prayerfully and carefully and ask ourselves if we are really using the summer to prepare for our Husband’s return.
Are we really, truly cultivating our own soil? Are we truly loving our Husband Yeshua with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our strength? Do we have some things we still like in the world? What do our preparations show? Do our preparations show that we were a wise bride who used the summer wisely to learn about our Husband and to learn about His characters so that we could model it, so that he will be pleased with us when He comes? Or did we fritter away our summer and enjoyed our time in the world, and so now he is going to be disgusted with us because we took Him and His sacrifice for granted?
If we consider what Yeshua went through for us and we consider that he does not ask us to die for Him, but that He asks us to live for Him, then this is something we believe to think and pray about. Both on this Shabbat and also on Yom Kippur, as our Husband Yeshua approaches to take us hopefully as one of the five wise virgins.
Qorintim Aleph (1 Corinthians) 6:20
20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify Elohim in your body and in your spirit, which are Elohim’s.
Because he is going to take the five wise virgins and leave the rest, that is His plan. He has already announced it.
We should not be surprised. He is coming tonight. This night on Yom Kippur, around midnight, unless He is delayed. Are we ready? Are we waiting for Him? Will He be pleased with us when He sees what we have done with our time all summer long?
Kippur shalom.