Messiah in Yom HaBikkurim Chapter 94 Part 9
- Part 9: The people are organized in groups of 100 and groups of 50
- The day of Jubilee
- Living Torah (the Oral Law of the Spirit)
- The Golden Age of Israel and the Commonwealth of Israel
The people are organized in groups of 100 and groups of 50:
Now when Yeshua heard [about the beheading of Yochanan ben Zechariah ben Aaron], He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place, to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias) by Himself and when the people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. Some of the people even ran together on foot to the place that He was headed and arrived there ahead of Him:
The people followed Him because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick.
When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd and felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. He healed their sick and He began to teach them many things. Then Yeshua went up on the mountain, and there He sat down with His disciples. Now Pesach (Passover), the feast of the Yehudim (Jews), was near. When the day was ending (at twilight), His Twelve disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and the hour is already late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and buy food for themselves.” Therefore Yeshua, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to them:
“They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!”
Then the Messiah turned to Philip and asked him, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?” This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do. Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.” Then another of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?” Yeshua said, “Bring them here to Me.” Then He said to His disciples, “Have them (the men) sit down to eat in groups of about fifty each.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand (not counting the women and children).
They all sat down, the men together in groups of fifties and [the women and children together in groups of] one hundred.
Yeshua then took the five loaves and the two fish and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, giving thanks, and breaking the loaves He kept giving them to the disciples to set before the people and the disciples gave them to the crowds, He distributed (the bread) to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted. When they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost.” So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
This is a ‘consolidated’ narrative of all four Jewish Besorah (בסורה-good news) accounts (#1, #2, #3, #4). One of the four accounts clearly indicates that the men were organized into groups of fifty, however, another account indicates all of the people were made to sit down in groups of fifty and one hundred. Therefore, it seems quite logical to assume that the groups of one hundred most likely refers to the attending women and children.
As the HaRo’eh HaTov (Good Shepherd), the Messiah made the people sit down in green pastures (cf. 40–41 & 49).
As the Head of the Assembly (Rosh Ha’edah) the meets all the needs of the people (men, women, and children). As the Way (HaDerech), and the Truth (HaEmet), and the Life (HaChayim) our Messiah leads us to a place of eternal comfort, consolation and rest. As our HaGo’el (Kinsman Redeemer) He restores our souls (cf. Psalm 23:1-3):
Adonai (the LORD) is my Shepherd (Adonai Ro’i),
I shall not want (lo echsar).
He makes me lie down in green pastures (binot deshe yarbitzeini);
He leads me beside quiet waters (al-mei minachot yenahaleini).
He restores my soul (nafshi yeshoveiv);
He guides me in the paths of righteousness (yancheini ve-ma’gelei-tzedek),
For His name’s sake (le-ma’an shemo).
The people were seated in groups of 50 and 100. This made the crowd easy to count and the food easy to distribute.
Five thousand men were there, plus women and children. Groups of 50 men is easy math. There were one hundred groups of fifty men. The groups of 100 women and children, however, is not possible to calculate. So we must be content to say only that this unknown (incalculable) number of all the women and children was organized into many groups of “one hundred.”
The day of Jubilee:
HaShem (the NAME) masterfully uses the image of the redemption of the soul temple tax in His providentially using Philip (those who love His glorious appearance) to reference an amount of silver coinage (twenty drachma) that is exactly equal to the amount required to redeem 100 souls (one hundred half shekels; i.e. fifty shekels).
The conversion of the Roman coinage to shekels, 200 denarii to 50 shekels, and the organization of the men into groups of 50 men is a prophetic reference to Jubilee. HaShem in a very subtle and supernatural way is associating the Day of Jubilee (yovel) with the redemption of the flock of Israel and the Land of Israel (cf. chapter 15).
The number one hundred (100) is used twice to emphasize that the redemption of the people and the land of Israel is in view.
Both the number of 50 and 100 x 50 (total 5,000) are connected with Israel’s observance of Jubilee; the redemption of the land and the people of Israel. The number of the Grace of Adonai (the LORD) 5 x 10 is associated with the legal-judicial completeness (fullness) that comes to us only by the gracious redemption of Adonai (our Father and our God). Regarding the Jubilee it is written in the Torah (Leviticus 25:10-13):
“You shall sanctify the 50th year (הַחֲמִשִּׁים֙ שָׁנָ֔ה) and proclaim freedom throughout the land for all its inhabitants.
It [the 50th year] shall be the Jubilee year for you, you shall return each person to his ancestral heritage and you shall return each to his family. It shall be a Jubilee Year for you – the 50th year – you shall not sow, you shall not harvest its after-growth and you shall not pick what was set aside of it for yourself. For it is a Jubilee Year, it shall be holy to you; from the field you eat its crop.”
In the Jubilee the people of Israel and the land of Israel are released from slavery (debt) to sin. The nation was notified of the Jubilee year’s arrival by the blast of the shofar at the end of Yom Kippur (Leviticus 25:8 and Numbers 36:4).
Jubilee requires all debts between the Yehudim (Jews) to be annulled. Any person that sold his or herself into slavery is released, whether they worked the amount of time they promised, or not. When the Shofar blows at the end of Yom Kippur, it is as if to announce: “All those of you who are enslaved to debt (the debt of sin) are now free!”
The forgiveness of all debts is connected with the Coming of Messiah.
In the Year of Jubilee in Israel, all debts were to be forgiven, and any land that a family had been forced to sell in a time of famine could be reclaimed by them. It is interesting that the prophets and rabbis connected this thought of the year of Jubilee with the coming of the Messiah. One of Rabbi Yeshua’s earliest statements that He used to define His ministry included a quote from Isaiah 61, which says that He (Ha-Mashiach) was anointed to proclaim “the year of the Lord’s favor.” This phrase, ‘the year of the Lord’s favor’ is a direct reference to the Jubilee year.
In the imagery of Jubilee we can see something of God’s immeasurable graciousness to forgive all our debts to Him.
The irony is in the general result of His forgiveness: Those who have been forgiven much, love much and those who have been forgiven little, love little (for the rest of the story cf. Messiah in Yom HaBikkurim, Chapter 24). But how could this matter of being ‘forgiven much’ apply to us all? Surely anyone who truly is perceptive of truth knows we “all” (other than Messiah alone) carry a debt of sin so large that it is beyond our ability to repay.
When we have let the loving kindness (chesed) of the Compassionate One (HaRachamim) permeate our entire being then the Light of the Eternal One will shine “through” us. Only when the Engraved Life of the Holy Spirit is infused in us (permanently Indwells us) can we love the LORD with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all of our body (strength) and love our neighbor as our ‘true’ self (cf. Messiah in Shavuot, chapters 13, 14, 15 & 16).
Our true self was chosen for us by Adonai Avinu (our Father) before the foundation of the world.
Messiah is the “personification” of the fulfillment of the Great Torah (both written and engraved). In Messiah alone there is the Personification of the Divine Decree. In Messiah alone dwells all of the D’VAR HASHEM. Messiah alone loves Adonai Eloheinu (our God) perfectly (He hears all; understands all; and obeys-fulfills all). In Messiah alone there exists the ability to perfectly love one’s neighbor; as we should.
A new commandment is given that is the fulfillment of all the written and engraved commandments: we are to love one another as HaShem has loved us through the Messiah. Fulfilling this mitzvah of perfect love is impossible without the help of the Holy Spirit. HaShem has always been “with” and “upon” Israel. He must now, as was promised to the fathers and the prophets so long ago, dwell in and manifest Himself through Israel to all of the Gentile nations and peoples of the world; both at the individual and the collective levels of our being.
The Holy One put His Love upon Israel forever in the first Shavuot.
The Holy One put His Love within Israel forever in the last Shavuot. [Shavuot has already been fulfilled in the Messiah this is why this holiday will not be observed in the messianic kingdom; because all Israel will be Indwelt with the Presence of the Spirit of God our Father.] Only after the nation and people of Israel experience this second Shavuot (the Indwelling Presence of the Spirit of Grace-רוּחַ הַחֶסֶד) will the Golden Age of Israel begin. Then will the first Jubilee be sounded and the (one thousand year) celebration of the Great Sukkot will begin.
Living Torah (the Law of the Spirit):
The ahavah of the Spirit alone is the fulfillment of all the Torah (and the Prophets, and the Writings).
Only the Living Hand of HaShem can penetrate our entire being so that His Love is not only expressed upon us and in us but also through us. The Living Torah is the Law of the Spirit that abides “upon,” “in” and “through” the depths of our conscious, unconscious, and behavioral being like an engraving that cuts its images all the way through an object. This is the Torah discipline that pierces through; the kind of discipline our fathers were instructed to teach to their children.
Our being indwelt by the Torah of the Spirit is “The Way” (Halakha and HaDerech) we can rightly reciprocate the love that is directed by our Father in Heaven toward us. The Ruach Ha-Kodesh is the Personified Halakha and HaDerech. Halakha literally means to walk. HaDarech means literally to stay on the path. Together both terms mean to “walk on the path.” We are to receive the Spirit as our one path so that we might “walk in the Spirit” and no longer walk in the traditions of men. In this manner of life the prophecy is fulfilled (Micah 4:4, 5b):
“Each of them will sit under his vine
And under his fig tree,
With no one to make them afraid,
For the mouth of the Adonai Tsebaoth (Adonai of Hosts) has spoken.
…As for us, we will walk In the name of Adonai Eloheinu forever and ever.”
נֵלֵךְ בְּשֵׁם־ה’ אֱלֹהֵינוּ לְעֹולָם וָעֶֽד׃
“We will walk (from Halak-הָלַךְ) in the Name of HaShem our God [in His Spirit] forever and ever” Our love language to Abba Avinu is obedience. Without the Indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit it is impossible for us to obey the D’var Elohim of our Father who dwells in heaven!
The Golden Age of Israel and the Commonwealth of Israel:
It bears repeating that the number five thousand is very special. The number of the Grace of God 5 x 10 is associated with the legal-judicial completeness (fullness) that comes to us only by the graciousness of God. As you recall one hundred groups of 50 men includes both the number of Jubilee (fifty) and the complete number of the flock of Israel (one hundred). So what does this number of Jubilee mean? Pay attention to these numbers one more time: (50) x all Israel (100)=*5,000.
The number five thousand represents the restitution of everything—the salvation of all Israel!
*Fifty is the number of Jubilee. One hundred (100) is the number that represents the entire flock (family) of Israel. Five thousand, therefore, represents the “salvation of all Israel”—-the restitution of all things:
ועתה, אחי, אני יודע שבבלי דעת פעלתם, כמו שפעלו מנהיגיכם. אך אלהים קים בדרך זאת את אשר הודיע מקדם בפי כל הנביאים – שמשיחו יסבל. לכן התחרטו ושובו בתשובה כדי שימחו חטאיכם, למען יבואו ימי רוחה מלפני אדני והוא ישלח את אשר יעד לכם מקדם, את המשיח ישוע, אשר צריך שיקבלו אותו השמים עד עת השבת הכל לתקונו, דבר שאלהים דבר מעולם בפי נביאיו הקדושים. פ
And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as your leaders did. But in this way God announced by the mouth of all the prophets – that M’shicho (His Messiah) would suffer. Therefore, repent and return in order that your sins may be wiped away, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and he shall send Yeshua, the Messiah appointed for you, whom heaven shall receive until the time of the restitution of all things, which God spoke before by the mouth of His holy prophets.
In the gracious thousand year time of the messianic age, a ‘new generation’ of the restored people of Israel will celebrate their first Jubilee and first Sukkot during the messianic age. Faith in the golden age of the Messiah will be universal. Miraculously, those Jews attending the first Jubilee and Sukkot of the messianic age will be greeted by the then resurrected and glorified patriarchs: Father Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Aaron, Moses, David; the prophets; and all the other resurrected tzaddakim (righteous ones).
These glorified kedoshim (holy ones) will have resurrected and will be dwelling as immortals in the Holy Land. The resurrected Prophet Daniel, whose prophecies reveal to us so much about the last day events will be living in Eretz Israel. Every day he will greet his beloved (mortal) descendants who will have all assembled in the only home on earth for Messianic Jews, Eretz Israel.
Don’t underestimate what God can do. Nothing is impossible for God!
The glorified-righteous and holy Servants of the Eternal One will be assembled by the Creator in Israel to meet and greet their mortal descendants. This is possible because the holy ones will have been resurrected in Eretz Israel on the day of Messiah’s return (the Day of Atonement, the first Jubilee). After the enemies of Elohei Kedem (the God of the Beginning, the Eternal One) are completely defeated in a single day, preparations will immediately begin for the people of Israel to celebrate their first messianic Great Sukkot. The Great Sukkot will be observed five days ‘after’ Messiah’s glorious triumphant return to His Homeland on Earth (Israel). This return of Messiah was promised to our fathers (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Aaron, Moses, David, etc.), the prophets, the shlichim (sent ones), and the zaddikim (righteous ones). At this wondrous time the people and land of Israel will be fully restored up to the fulfillment of “all” of the promises of HaShem.
Let the Joyfulness begin!
The national (new beginning) marriage celebration of the atseret-extension of Yom Kippur will go on for a thousand years! Yom Kippur will be put on pause on the day the Messiah returns to earth. Then one thousand years later Yom Kippur will be restarted, continued, right up to the completion of the “closing of the Gate ceremony.” Then the final judgment of humankind will be sealed for all of human history. Human history as we now know it will end and eternity will begin. These two days of Yom Kippur that serve as bookends to the entire one thousand year period of the rule of Messiah on earth are called the Yom Kippurim. The time of the messianic age will lead to the greatest number of people to ever be adopted into the heavenly Father’s family and to the time when the highest population of humans to ever live on planet earth will occur.
We believe during the messianic era that over ninety percent of the entire world’s population will embrace faith in HaShem and M’shicho (His Messiah). Over a thousand year period of peace, wellness, and tranquility (shalom & shiloh) unimaginable advancements in science and medicine will occur. This will result in well over one hundred billion people being added to the family of Abba Avinu (our Father).
At present the population estimates of “all of the humans who have ever lived” is at 40 Billion on the low side and 100 Billion on the high side. Therefore, we believe at the end of the one thousand year messianic era and of mortal human history from Adam on that over two-thirds of all of all of the humans who will have ever lived will belong to the family of Abba Avinu. This means that one-third of all the human populace that has ever lived will not belong to our heavenly Father’s family. This percentage of one-third is the same as the percentage of the “stars that fell (like lightning) from heaven;” one-third is the exact percentage of the angels who rebelled against the Holy One. So then, in this near-future time of great spiritual pro-creativity, this time where over ninety per cent of the global populace is Indwelt by the Spirit of the Holy One, the ancient prophecy to father Abraham and of Isaiah will finally be fulfilled (1, 2, 3):
“Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
And I will bless those who bless you…
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
“indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed (descendants) as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed (descendants) shall possess the gate (governance) of their enemies.” “Shout for JOY, O barren one, you who have borne no child; break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed. For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous than the sons of the married woman,” says HaShem. “Enlarge the place of your tent. Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings. Spare not. Lengthen your cords and strengthen your pegs. “For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left and your descendants will possess nations. And you will resettle the desolate cities.”
Then will the end to human misery finally come to a swift end.
Then the beginning of the true spiritual rainfall of heaven (the generous works of the Spirit) be poured out upon us all (Jew and Gentile) as multiplied blessings of unlimited, eternal joy. The atseret-extended Yom Kippur will end with the final service of Sealing that will occur on the last day of the Millennium. Then all the unrighteous dead who lived and died throughout human history, including the minority of persons who will have rebelled against the Rule of Adonai Elohim (the LORD God) during the Eden-like thousand year world-reign of Messiah, will be raised and judged at the Great White Throne Judgment. The unrighteous will then tragically go to their place. Then the zaddikim (righteous ones) of Avinu Shebashamayim (the heavenly Father) will joyously go to their place, the new heaven and the new earth.