Messiah in Shavuot Chapter 13
- Shavuot and commandment, word, law, witness, and decree
- Engraved letters and written letters
- Pictographs ,and ideograms
Shavuot and commandment, word, law, witness, and decree:
The purpose of the gift of Shavuot, the Gift of (Living) Torah is to return us to the Unity of the Spirit in the bond of Shalom (fulfill the petition of the Shema, the Prayer of Unity). It was never the Creator’s intent that humanity be possessed by any spirit other than “His” Spirit. Adonai Avinu (ה’ אבינו) possesses the attribute of being omnipresent. His Spirit can be at one place and everyplace at the same time.
Before the fall of Adam the spirit of man was the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of the Father resided in the heart of Adam ben Ha-Elohim. However, after Adam sinned his heart (spirit) ceased to be the home of the Spirit of the Father.
The Spirit of Adonai (the LORD) our Father was supposed to permanently reside within the hearts of every member of the race of Adam. However, man’s errant exercise of his free-will led to humankind replacing, within the spirit of man, the spirit of Self in the place of the Spirit of Adonai our Father. Tragically, this decision has led to the race of Adam experiencing both physical and spiritual death. Consequently, the human race no longer lives in a state of harmony (אַחְדוּת) with the Creator. Rather the whole of mankind up to the present day continues to live in a general state of independence, opposition, and open hostility toward the Creator.
The 613 Divine commandments are a “means” (a kind of Divine starter kit) to achieving the ends of the echad (unity) of the Spirit in the bond of Shalom. The 613 Divine commandments use a variety of synonyms to assist the process of our deliverance from a (temporary) state of sin to a state of perfect (unending) righteousness. The 613 Divine commandment terms (synonyms) being reviewed here are five in number (there are others):
Term #1. Mitzvah (commandment),
Term #2. Dibbur (word),
Term #3. Mishpat (law),
Term #4. Ed (witness), and
Term #5. Chok (decree).
Engraved letters and written letters:
The Hebrew word used for ‘decree’ (Term #5 above) indicates a law observed in submission to an unquestionable authority. Chok is the name of a specific class of mitzvot (the chukim) which the human mind cannot rationalize. Its literal meaning is “engraving:”
רוֹאִים בְּבֵרוּר שֶׁאַתֶּם אִגֶּרֶת הַמָּשִׁיחַ הַנֶּעֱזֶרֶת עַל־יָדֵינוּ – כְּתוּבָה לֹא בִּדְיוֹ, אֶלָּא בְּרוּחַ אֱלֹהִים חַיִּים, לֹא עַל לוּחוֹת אֶבֶן, אֶלָּא עַל לוּחוֹת שֶׁל לֵב בָּשָׂר.פ
It being manifestly (רוֹאִים) clear (בֵרוּר) that you are a letter (אִגֶּרֶת) of the Messiah, cared for by us, not written with ink (כְּתוּבָה לֹא בִּדְיוֹ) but with the Spirit of the living God (בְּרוּחַ אֱלֹהִים חַיִּים), not on tablets of stone (לֹא עַל לוּחוֹת אֶבֶן) but on tablets of hearts of flesh (עַל לוּחוֹת שֶׁל לֵב בָּשָׂר).
וְנָתַתִּי לָהֶם לֵב אֶחָד וְרוּחַ חֲדָשָׁה אֶתֵּן בְּקִרְבְּכֶם וַהֲסִרֹתִי לֵב הָאֶבֶן מִבְּשָׂרָם וְנָתַתִּי לָהֶם לֵב בָּשָֽׂר׃
And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within you (Israel). And I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh (לֵב בָּשָֽׂר).
וְנָתַתִּי לָכֶם לֵב חָדָשׁ וְרוּחַ חֲדָשָׁה אֶתֵּן בְּקִרְבְּכֶם וַהֲסִרֹתִי אֶת־לֵב הָאֶבֶן מִבְּשַׂרְכֶם וְנָתַתִּי לָכֶם לֵב בָּשָֽׂר׃
Moreover, I will give you (Israel) a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh (לֵב בָּשָֽׂר).
הִנֵּה יָמִים בָּאִים נְאֻם־ה’ וְכָרַתִּי אֶת־בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאֶת־בֵּית יְהוּדָה בְּרִית חֲדָשָֽׁה׃ לֹא כַבְּרִית אֲשֶׁר כָּרַתִּי אֶת־אֲבֹותָם בְּיֹום הֶחֱזִיקִי בְיָדָם לְהֹוצִיאָם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם אֲשֶׁר־הֵמָּה הֵפֵרוּ אֶת־בְּרִיתִי וְאָנֹכִי בָּעַלְתִּי בָם נְאֻם־ה’׃ כִּי זֹאת הַבְּרִית אֲשֶׁר אֶכְרֹת אֶת־בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל אַחֲרֵי הַיָּמִים הָהֵם נְאֻם־ה’ נָתַתִּי אֶת־תֹּֽורָתִי בְּקִרְבָּם וְעַל־לִבָּם אֶכְתֲּבֶנָּה וְהָיִיתִי לָהֶם לֵֽאלֹהִים וְהֵמָּה יִֽהְיוּ־לִי לְעָֽם׃ וְלֹא יְלַמְּדוּ עֹוד אִישׁ אֶת־רֵעֵהוּ וְאִישׁ אֶת־אָחִיו לֵאמֹר דְּעוּ אֶת־ה’ כִּֽי־כוּלָּם יֵדְעוּ אֹותִי לְמִקְטַנָּם וְעַד־גְּדֹולָם נְאֻם־ה’ כִּי אֶסְלַח לַֽעֲוֹנָם וּלְחַטָּאתָם לֹא אֶזְכָּר־עֹֽוד׃
“Behold, days are coming,” declares Adonai, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares Adonai. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares Adonai (the LORD), “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know Adonai,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares Adonai, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
In the Torah there is a difference between engraved (not with ink) Hebrew letters and written Hebrew letters (with ink). Written letters are only partially penetrating to the objects they are impressed upon. In contrast, engravings are completely penetrating. This is the difference between the written Torah and the Living Torah (the one true Oral Torah of the Spirit).
First, the written Torah (the law of Moses) is written upon us, it does not dwell within us, and it is not living through us.
Second, in contrast, the Living Torah (the Oral Torah of the Spirit) dwells upon us, in us, and through us.
On the first Shavuot, Moses came down from Mount Sinai and gave us the Ten Commandments that were engraved by the Hand of Adonai. This was a promise that one day our hearts would not just be written upon but they also would be engraved like the two tablets prophetically were.
In the second and final Shavuot, after our redemption was secured, the ‘Moses to come’ (the Messiah) sent down from heaven to us the Living Torah that is the Indwelling Presence of the Hand of God. The Hand of God is the omnipresent Spirit of the Holy One Who indwells us forever.
The Holy Spirit Himself is the One Who is our Living Torah.
He is our never-ending Oral Torah for He is eternally present “upon,” “in,” and “through” us and He will never cease from communicating His unending love for us. Therefore it is a true saying that:
The Engraved Torah is superior to the written Torah.
Prophecy will “cease” because all of the written Torah of Adonai will one day be fulfilled. Greater than the temporal fulfillment of the written Torah is the never-ending relational Presence of the Spirit of Adonai.
כִּי חֶלְקִית הִיא יְדִיעָתֵנוּ וּבְאֺרַח חֶלְקִי מִתְנַבְּאִים אָנוּ, אַךְ בְּבוֹא הַמֻּשְׁלָם יְבֻטַּל הַחֶלְקִי.פ
“For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes (הַמֻּשְׁלָם), the partial will be done away.”
Therefore, the engraved gift of the Father—the Holy Spirit, the Oral Torah of the Messiah given to us on the second and final Shavuot—is the complete fulfillment of all of the written Torah of Moses given to us on the first Shavuot. Therefore, it is the Holy Spirit Himself Who will perfect us on the day of resurrection and it is the Spirit Himself Who will maintain our perfection for all eternity!
Pictographs and ideograms:
In the D’var HaShem there is the Great Torah that is made up of both the Indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit (engraved) and there is the written Torah that is made up of thousands of tiny ancient written images (pictographs and ideograms) whose magnificent meanings are meant to be impressed “upon” and “in” and “through” our conscious being. This is the Great Torah: The (Engraved and written) Law that abides “in” the depths of our bodies, minds, souls and spirits: like indelible ink abides on parchment and like an engraving that pierces through all of our entire being.
This Torah is to be “heard” and “understood” and “obeyed” in the entirety of our being.
Therefore, the Oral Torah of the living Presence of the Holy Spirit is not a perfect mirror image of God, as is the case with written Torah. The Oral Torah of the living Presence of the Holy Spirit is Adonai Avinu Himself Indwelling all of our being, all of our spirit, all of our soul, all of our mind, and all of our body!