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SOME STUDY GEMS:
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Sprinkling blood
1 Peter 1:2 “elect according to the foreknowledge of YHWH the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Yeshua Christ”
The greek word used here is G4473 – rhantismos, which actually also means purification, cleansing or atonement. This would be in reference to the Laws of Purification for the Priests, as we read in Numbers 19, verse 4 for example, “and Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of its blood seven times directly in front of the tabernacle of meeting.” The Hebrew word for sprinkle is Naza H5137 – nāzâ. Peter is referencing to Yeshua as the High Priest, that purifies and atones for those who are in obedience to become priests as well, where Yeshua Himself cleanses us.
Back in Leviticus 17:11 we read, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.” Yeshua gave His pure, unstained blood as atonement, as Life is in the Blood.
Tabernacle, Priests and Sacrifices
1 Peter 2:5 “you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to YHWH through Yeshua Christ.”
Peter and the apostles and disciples were living close to the fall of Jerusalem in 70AD, when the Temple will be destroyed and all sacrifices come to a dead-stop. But before that even happened, Peter says here that the followers of Yeshua is like a spiritual house, and we are now the Priests, and we have to live and act like one too. Our sacrifices are spiritual. In verse 7 he says this message is only for those who believe. But for those who do not believe and are not obedient, this message of Yeshua will be like a stumbling block, and it will trip them over. “They stumble, being disobedient to the word. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people..”
We read later in 2 Peter 1:14 before Peter dies, that he talk about his body as “the tent” or “tabernacle”, “knowing that shortly I must put off my tent/tabernacle (his body), just as our Adonia Yeshua Christ showed me.” The greek word used here for tent is G4638 – skēnōma / G4637 – skēnoō, and it is mentioned again in Revelation 21:3, “And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of YHWH is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. YHWH Himself will be with them and be their Elohim.” Click here to see previous posts on the Tabernacle.
Government Authority
1 Peter 2:13-14 “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for our Adonai’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by Him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.”
Way back in 1 Samuel 8, we learned how YHWH was King over Israel, but Israel preferred to have a man as King over them. YHWH warned them about what would happen when having men rule over men, but they insisted – they wanted to look like the rest of the world with their fancy kings (click here to read more on that post).
Then we learned something surprising in Jeremiah 38, where Israel is taken captive under Babylon, and the Israel rulers didn’t heed the warnings of their sins and wanted to resist the captivity. YHWH then tells them, they have to go into captivity, they must surrender if they want to live! For the result of sin, one have to surrender and accept the consequences of our sins. (click here to read more on that post).
And then we learned something even more surprising! YHWH is still in control of all kings and governments all over the world! Even if the people don’t want YHWH as their King, He still is in control. YHWH knows the future, and He used Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and Cyrus the Great of Persia to carry out His will. Nebuchadnezzar is depicted as God’s “servant” in Jeremiah 25:9 for his role in judging Judah, and Cyrus is mentioned in Isaiah for allowing the Jewish people to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple. We read in Daniel 5 how Nebuchadnezzar loses his mind at one point when he became too arrogant, but his mind was restored after “he knew that the Most High Elohim rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He chooses” (Daniel 5:21)
When Yeshua is confronted about the Roman government and the taxes, he replies in Mark 12:17, “And Yeshua answered and said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to Elohim the things that are Elohim’s.” And they marveled at Him.”
Even though we are in the world, and in spiritual “Babylon”, it doesn’t mean we become like the world. Actually, we were in the world, as per John 15 and 16, Yeshua says if we stayed in the world, the world will love us. We cannot escape the world or Babylon, and we are still under the worldly rulers – but spiritually we can become more like our Father in Heaven and less like the world. Ultimately, we choose YHWH as our King and we are confronted with choices how firm we want to stand on His Laws first in our lives, or the world’s laws. For example, even Daniel was in Babylon – but he refused to bow down to their gods. He stuck to not eating unclean foods, and keeping the Sabbath. Even for the disciples and apostles, they had to choose whose Laws rule their lives, and are they willing to die for them. They didn’t fight the worldly governments, they lived under them, but serving YHWH their King first. Coming out of the world means you start to live differently. You dress differently, you eat differently, you rest and work differently, you love and forgive (which is different to the world), you start to think differently about the things of the world – you start to let go of everything in this world – because you will realize the things of this world are meaningless, and realize what are the things that are more important, which money can’t buy.
Slander / Gossip
1 Peter 2:1 “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking“. The “evil speaking” in greek is G2636 – katalalia, meaning to slander, defamation or gossiping.
Did you know in the Laws of YHWH (Torah) there is even a Law or Instruction against gossiping? Leviticus 19:16 says “You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people“, where talebearer in Hebrew is Rakil H7400 – rāḵîl, meaning to slander, slanderer, be an informer, gossiping. And one example we have of this gossiping taking place is with Miriam talking about Moses behind his back, and then she get leprosy (read more about it from this post in Numbers 12).
Click here to read more from this post from Leviticus 13 about Leprosy, and how some diseases are a result of spiritual sins. And also in Proverbs 10 we made a big post about words, and gossiping, being reminded in Proverbs 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” (click here to read more on that post).
Yeshua said in Matthew 15:11, “it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person“. People are more concerned about keeping their bodies clean, as the pharisees pointed out to Yeshua in this chapter of Matthew 15, but Yeshua is more concerned about our spiritual cleanliness! James also mentioned the tongue and how we struggle to tame it a lot. James 1:26 he talks about how “religious” people can act, but they cannot control their tongue. James 3 he really goes on about it, even saying we use the same tongue for good and bad, “But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the image of God.”
Husbands and Wives
1 Peter 3:1-7 “Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands.. Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife..”
We have made several posts on Marriage, Husbands and Wives from teachings we got from the old testament. Click here for more on Marriage.
Back in Proverbs 31 we did a big post on the “Virtuous Wife“, click here to read more.
In Numbers 30 we did a post on the role of the Husband, click here to read more.
Blessing and Inheritance
1 Peter 3:9 “..knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing“
Here we have two amazing words put together, that we have studied from way back in Genesis! In Joshua 13 the word inheritance is mentioned over and over, right at the point where Israel went into the promised land. Click here to read more about this amazing word. This same word in Hebrew, NAHAL H5157 – nāḥal, is mentioned in Psalm 119:111, “Your witnesses/testimony are my inheritance H5715 forever, For they are the joy of my heart.” This witness or testimony refers to the ark of the covenant, or as it is called in Hebrew, “ark of the testimony“. This testimony or covenant is the Torah/Laws that Israel agreed to keep at Mount Sinai as a marriage contract/covenant between them and YHWH.
From Geneses 48 we have a beautiful story where Jacob blesses his grandsons that were born outside of Israel, from Jacobs’ egyptian wife : Ephraim and Manasseh. Jacob places these two sons by his “knees” when he “blesses” them and make them part of Israel’s inheritance. The word bless in Hebrew is H1288 – bāraḵ. This word have multiple meanings : Bless, Knee and Grafting In. To bless someone in Hebrew, is to make them a part of your family – it is a family binding/union. It is almost the same as making a covenant, and it is including someone in an “inheritance”! The word Barak means to Bless and Kneel. This same word (just with different hebrew vowels) is BEREK H1290 – bereḵ, meaning knee. This same word is used when grafting a plant into a tree, which you do at the “knee” of the plant. We even see how Yeshua explains this in John 15 with Him being the Vine, verse 2, “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” See how these two words Barak and Berek is used in Genesis 48 (click here to read more):
Genesis 48:9 And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom Elohim hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them. H1288
Genenis 48:12 And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, H1290 and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
Blessing and Inheritance goes hand in hand. When we accept the Covenant of YHWH, we are grafted into the Inheritance, and like Peter says, “that you may inherit a blessing“.
Babylon
1 Peter 5:13 “These/We who are in Babylon, together with the elect/chosen, greets you”
Here one of two places could this “Babylon”. Even though there are no Manuscripts or Scripture that says Peter travelled to Rome, there are other Roman letters that talks about Peter being crucified in Nero’s circus on Vatican Hill, sometime between 64 and 68 A.D. Generally Rome is still compared to Babylon today. And because Rome’s influence is worldwide, the “world” is considered spiritual Babylon.
The other option is that Peter is calling Jerusalem Babylon (Rome was ruling over Jerusalem at the time). Babylon’s origin traces back to the Tower of Babel (H894 – bāḇel) in Genesis 10, which means mixing or confusion. The greek name Babylon G897 – babylōn, is mentioned a few times in Revelation. For example we read in Revelation 18:24 “And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.”, which is Jerusalem. Yeshua also cried out in Matthew 23:37, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!” Even Isaiah says Jerusalem became the harlot in Isaiah 1:21, “How the faithful city has become a harlot!” After a lot of the Apostles and disciples were martyrred, Jerusalem fell in 70AD, as we read in Revelation 14:8 says, “And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”
We have made several posts on Babylon, click here to read more.
