Parsha Chukat is almost entirely about death. There is the red heifer whose ashes are used to purify those who come into contact with death, Miriam dies, Aaron dies, Moses is told he will die in the wilderness, and deadly snakes invade the camp. Oddly enough, all of this points to the fact that death is not permanent, and although it defiles, it is…

Going back to the blessing of the Sons of Jacob and then the tribes by Moses, it becomes clear that both Joseph and Judah have leadership roles within the nation. Joseph gets the blessing of Abraham and most of the attention in Gen 39 and Dt 33. After this introduction, Psalm 2 describes a three way conversation between the Father, His Son and a na…

In the Parable of the Weeds the common assumption is that weeds represent persecution of the faithful within the church. While that is surely part of it, perhaps more insidious are weeds that bring with them ideas that interfere with character development of the faithful. The resulting lack of virtue undermines the liberty that God wants us to have…

After the people of Gibeah murdered the Levite's concubine, he sent evidence to all of the tribes asking that that evil be removed. The rest of the tribes asked Benjamin to deliver up the men of Gibeah. When they refused, the resulting civil war nearly eradicated Benjamin from Israel.By Jon Behrens

Naomi instructs Ruth on how to claim the right of redemption from Boaz, her close relative. The resulting marriage brings together the descendants of Terah. It also illustrates how Christ is able to redeem all of humanity.By Jon Behrens

In the Roman Empire during the life of Christ and the ministry of the apostles, the gospel would have been understood as the announcement of a new king. That understanding was the source of conflict with the Pharisees and with the secular authorities. The modern church, having lost that understanding of the word has allowed itself to be taken out o…

After the death of Samson, the tribe of Dan was unable to hold the territory allotted to them by Joshua and so migrated to the north. They picked up an idolatrous Levite in the process. In the next vignette, a reprise of the Sodom story, a Levite and his concubine are abused while staying the night in Gibeah. This sets up the Benjaminite Civil War.…

Naomi, her husband and two sons, move to Moab during a famine in their home town of Bethlehem. Naomi's two sons marry Moabite women. Over time her husband and two sons all perish leaving her and her daughters-in-law as widows. Naomi decides to return home and tells the other two to return to their families. Ruth refuses and stays with Naomi as she …

Numbers 10 represents the high point of the wilderness generation. The tabernacle is finished and they have set out for the Promised Land. It all starts to fall apart in Numbers 11 with the result that that generation dies in the wilderness. Similarly, in Matthew 13 Y'shua switches from plain speech to cryptic parables indicating that he is done tr…

Samson continues to ravage the Philistines and so enable the tribe of Dan to hold the territory allotted to them by Joshua. The Philistines finally discover the source of his great strength and manage to bind Samson - to their ultimate destruction.By Jon Behrens

After giving advice on how to create and maintain a healthy, caring community, Paul concludes the letter with instructions for remaining personally effective in the great spiritual battle. In this, he draws on Isaiah and the Psalms to explain what each piece of the believer's equipment is to accomplish.…

On Shavuot God has twice appeared in dramatic fashion to give His people tools by which to live and to expand His Kingdom. The first occasion at Sinai, He gave us the Torah. The second time in the Upper Room, He gave His Spirit to comfort and guide us. These are two tremendous gifts to people whom He loves.…

From the tribe of Dan, Samson was born to a previously barren woman. His conception was announced by a divine messenger and his manner of life was unique. He was sent by God to deliver Israel from the Philistines.By Jon Behrens

In contemporary American usage, 'love' is heavily bound up with emotion and romance. Not so in the Torah or in Paul. The command to, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' might be usefully rendered, 'Care as much about your neighbor's welfare as you do about your own.' Read in that light, Ephesians 5 becomes commentary on the Torah's instruction to lov…

It is important that the census in the wilderness emphasizes that people are to be counted by name. This reinforces that God deals with people as individuals and not as interchangeable units. In addition to the theological implications, this has practical political implications. All of the various 'ism' theories of human governance treat people in …

The Ammonites revive a 300 year old land dispute with Israel and invade to enforce their claims. Israel persuades Jephthah to take command and drive them out. In that process, Jephthah makes an unwise vow, the result of which is that he had no descendants.By Jon Behrens

Paul emphasizes unity in the community. Christ gave gifts to men that those having the gifts might use them to build a strong community around the knowledge of Christ and His Kingdom. To be healthy, the members of that community must care for one another.By Jon Behrens

As God has been driven from the public square, people have lost an awareness of both His goodness and His justice. That void is filled with covetousness, bitterness, anger and resentment. We can see this played out in all of our institutions, but especially in the courts. To quote Jeremiah, "No one enters suit justly; no one goes to law honestly; t…

After the death of Gideon, Abimelech, one of his sons by a concubine, conspired to murder the rest of his brothers in order to become king. His sole surviving brother gave an eloquent parable about a bramble bush becoming ruler over the trees. It is timeless and very much applicable to today.By Jon Behrens

In several of his letters Paul refers to mysteries. In all cases they allude to the same thing; that gentiles are full members of the Kingdom of God and are fellow heirs. It is the case that if the spiritual rulers and authorities had realized that would happen, they never would have allowed the Crucifixion.…

In The Torah, God tells Israel that both the land and the Israelite people belong to Him. He specifies that there are to be several economic resets over a 50 year period. Slaves must be freed and debts cancelled every seven years and land must revert to its original owner at 50 years. In this way God assures the maximum possible economic freedom wh…

After driving the Midianites from the Jezreel valley, Gideon pursued them across the Jordan to finish the defeat. In that process he had to deal with two Israelite cities who refused to give him aid and with the tribe of Ephraim whose noses were out of joint.By Jon Behrens

In Christ the separation and hostility between Jews and believing gentiles has been abolished. Now gentiles can be citizens of the Commonwealth of Israel and children of God. What does it mean to be a citizen of the Commonwealth?By Jon Behrens

In Matthew 11, John's disciples ask if Y'shua is actually the Messiah. This is a hinge point in the book. He explains that John could have been Elijah, but both he and Y'shua are being rejected by the ruling elites. This sets up the rest of the story telling how they are willing to corrupt every organ of society to get rid of a populist trouble mak…

With Israel once again in apostasy, the Midianites spread across the Jezreel valley during the harvest. They plundered Israel's crops and oppressed her people. God called Gideon to drive the Midianites from the land.By Jon Behrens

In this introduction, Paul writes of the glory and power that God exhibited in raising Christ from the dead. He also writes of the spiritual blessings and the inheritance that await believers. The Spirit being the guarantee of the inheritance promised in the fullness of time.By Jon Behrens

Fashionable intellectual belief is that reality is plastic, that is it can be formed into whatever people desire it to be. That is the basis for all of the 'isms' from the 19th and 20th centuries. In contrast, God tells us that reality is elastic. That means that it can be pushed out of shape for a while, but it eventually snaps back. The farther i…

The Canaanites held the fortress city of Hazor and controlled the Jezreel valley which was ideal chariot country. Israel was mostly dismounted infantry. So the problem was how to overcome the tactical advantage of the Canaanite army. In this, God lent a hand by bringing rain.By Jon Behrens

At the end of the Olivet Discourse where Messiah tells His disciples that even He does not know the timing of His return, He recounts three parables all having to do with our behavior while He is away. The Parable of the Ten Virgins speaks of preparation. The Parable of the Talents of how we should be advancing His interest using the assets we have…

God designed humans to exercise dominion over the earth and all its creatures. That design feature also drives people to try and dominate each other, often in inappropriate or harmful ways. What does God have to say about the proper exercise and limits to power relationships between people? It turns out, quite a lot.…

Christ rose from the grave on First Fruits and so became the first fruits from the dead. There are a number of other resurrections in Scripture. What makes that one special?By Jon Behrens

Having failed to follow God's commandments and destroy the inhabitants of the land, Israel would never fully enjoy peace. They intermarried, followed other gods and reaped the consequences. Since they would not know peace, God set them up to study war.By Jon Behrens

In a private conversation on the Mount of Olives, the disciples ask Y'shua about the signs and timing of His return. Most of His answer is in the negative; listing events that will be disturbing but are not signs of the end. He is careful to emphasize that His coming will not be subtle and that He expects to find His servants doing what He tells th…

When God brought Israel out of Egypt, He did not take them directly to the Promised Land. Instead He began a process of teaching the former slaves how to be free. The first stage of the process took 50 days (seven sabbaths plus one day). That pattern is repeated in the Land, but in years instead of days. Every fifty years, Israel was to do a reset,…

Judges begins with Israel failing to obey God. They were instructed to wipe out the inhabitants of the land yet they took Adoni-bezek captive and humiliated him. This sets the tone for the entire book. Israel was not willing to carry through with the destruction of the Canaanites et al, so they were never to have peace nor were they able to have al…

The Parable of the wedding feast in Matthew 21 and the great feast in Luke 14, while similar, were given to different audiences for different purposes. The emphasis in the Matthew parable is on the Second Coming and the final judgment. In the Luke parable the emphasis is on the gentiles coming into the Kingdom.…

As we prepare to celebrate Passover, it is well to reflect on God's appointed times as, among other things, a mechanism to keep our history fresh in our minds. In the west today, our history is under systematic attack. The success of that attack has left our young people adrift, not sure who they are or what 'tribe' they belong to. That gap has bee…

One of the beliefs of those against whom Peter is warning is a lack of historical perspective. Their attitude seems to be that, since God has not moved within living memory, He is unlikely to care much about what people do with their lives - hence the appeal to sensuality. Peter says that God's perspective is historical, not immediate and that He d…

Introduction, parable of the laborers in the vineyard and the parable of the tenants. In each of these the question concerns eternal rewards and placement within the Kingdom. The disciples were curious as to what their reward would be. The laborers in the vineyard answers that question. There were also those who were trying to hijack the Kingdom. T…

Biblical leprosy is regarded as a spiritually caused disease infecting those who's behavior and speech damages the community. Over and over in Scripture one is urged to listen. Listen to God; listen to one's neighbors. On social media today, the art of listening seems largely to have been lost. This is to our harm, both as individuals and as a soci…

In describing those who creep into the congregation and lead others astray, Peter says that one of their lures is the promise of freedom. This has always been the case with sin. In promising freedom from the restrictions of God's law, it holds out the promise of being a law unto oneself. While this is tempting, it eventually leads to ruin and death…

After the execution of Haman, the problem of his decree that all Jews be killed remained. Since that edict could not be changed, Esther and Mordecai got the King's permission to send a second decree to the effect that the Jews were allowed to defend themselves. That decree along with Mordecai's prominence effectively took the government bureaucracy…

During the consecration of Aaron and his sons as priests before God, Nadab and Abihu offered profane fire before the altar and were themselves consumed by fire from heaven. Most commentaries focus on speculation about the two men's motivation in doing what was not commanded. Such speculation is completely irrelevant. What matters is what they did, …

The first paragraphs in the chapter parallel Jude speaking of false teachers who infiltrate the body and entice the gullible into some sort of sexual sin. Their motivation is greed either for money or for influence.By Jon Behrens

There are ritual elements in the ordination of the High Priest that are repeated only by the procedure to cleanse a leper. That leads to some profound insights into God's plan for the redemption of His creation. (Inspired by Rabbi David Block at AlpehBeta.org)By Jon Behrens

Starting from a position of faith in Messiah, Peter urges believers to work on the content of their character. It is a strong character that will keep the believer from falling into worldliness and so becoming unfruitful. It is character that makes one's election sure.By Jon Behrens

Since Esther is not an expert in affairs of state, She would have no chance confronting Haman in the Throne Room. Instead she arranged to get the King into a situation where she had the advantage. Haman, full of hubris doesn't even see it coming.By Jon Behrens

Demons are a Biblical fact of life. How do they operate? How do people encounter them? What do we do about them?By Jon Behrens

As an elder, Peter exhorts the elders who receive his letter to be faithful in tending God's flock. In this he is echoing Y'shua who gave explicit instructions and dire warnings to those He would leave in charge of His servants. Specifically, He warns them not to use their positions for personal enrichment at the expense of the flock.…

On the surface God's laws might appear simply to be organizing principles for a decent society. They certainly are that, but they are also His means for changing His children into the image of Christ. The principle here is, 'As you behave, so you become.' If one simply reads Scripture out of fear of punishment, he misses a great wealth of character…