Comments May and June 2003
I just read your article on Shavout. I found it very powerful. Every
time I get burdened about not knowing how to celebrate the Feasts of
the Lord, you have an article that just tears away the heaviness and
simplifies the word so that it is understandable. I fill the freedom
to celebrate God's Feast without a lot of religious
baggage.
Father, I thank You for Avram and what you have done though him. For
his obedience to You and his heart of Yeshua. He is truly doing a
mighty work. Continue to bless
Avram and Ruti as they Press on. May the joy of the Lord over take them this
Shavout. In the name of Your Son Yeshua.
With Love,
Bonnie
Dear Bro. Avram,
My name is Elaine. I live in Georgia. I'm a mother of seven and a grandmother of 2. I'm 46 y.o. and have been a christian for 19 years although I was raised in a Southern Baptist Church all my life. In 1993 I recieved the Baptism of Holy Spirit and it has truly been an adventure. Abba Father turned my world upside down a few years ago when he started taking me back to the Jewish Roots. Everything that I thought I knew was counted naught. He has given me such a hunger for Torah and everything else that is so foreign to me. Your teachings have so blessed my life and have opened up so many questions, one being the Nazerite vow.
Could you please explain to me exactly who and why would take the vow. I've read Numbers 6 and understand that men or women could take the vow. I quess what I would like to know is , if Yeshua would have taken the vow. As far as I can tell he ministered the Lord's supper (passover) , but did not partake of it. I would so appreciate your help in this. Our little group that meets here looks forward to your teachings. I pray that Abba through Holy Spirit will continue to pour out through you for all of us here. Blessings to you and yours....
Elaine
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Dear Elaine,
Shalom: His Peace surround you today.
Thank you for sharing about yourself. I was blessed to hear of your infilling with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is really our Teacher, via Messiah Yeshua. When the Lord opens up the Word to us, it really means something.
I'm going to 'read between the lines' and try to 'cut to the quick' on your question about the Nazarite Vow. If I'm not 'on point' please tell me. You're asking the question because you want to know about the drinking of alcohol. Is it a sin? And or, you want to know if Yeshua ever drank alcohol.
I have a short teaching on that on the web site: Nazarite or Nazarene?
In Hebrew, the two words are not the same. Sort of like in English, if someone tried to link guard and garden together, any English speaking person would know that it was silly. So too with Nazarite and Nazarene. They come from two different Hebrew words and have two different meanings.
For Yeshua not to have tasted of His own cup at the Passover would have been very, very unusual, especially as it pictured His own Death. But, even so, if He didn't, which I don't believe, can you imagine it being 'wrong' for Him, yet He giving it to all His students (talmidim; followers)?
Drinking alcohol has never been a sin. Living a life-style of drunkeness has always been a sin. Some in Christianity have confused alcohol with alcoholism. There is a big difference. Perhaps it would be similar to confusing eating food with gluttonly. No one advocates that we stop eating cause of gluttonly. And yes, I'm familar with the counter-argument that we need food but we don't need alcohol to survive but survival is not the question. The question is, 'Is alcohol sin in God's eyes?' And the biblical answer in both the Tanach and New Covenant is 'No'.
When Matthew writes of Yeshua being a Nazarene, we have to understand several things. One, Nazareth is where Yeshua grew up. It comes from the Hebrew Netzer which means 'branch'. Two, 'Branch' is a favorite messianic title for the prophets to use of Messiah (Jer. 23:5; Zech. 6:12-13, etc.). Three, the term came into being when Aaron's role as High Priest was initially accused by Korach (Num. 16-17), as having been installed into the office by his brother, Moses. Yahveh puts an end to that perverse opinion by having all the tribal leaders place the symbols of their tribal leadership, their branches (staffs), before the Ark of the Covenant. God says that the branch that 'comes alive', buds, flowers, etc., would be the one whom He had chosen for High Priesthood. Aaron's bud, flowers and grows ripe almonds. Aaron's DEAD BRANCH came back to life. And so it is seen with Yeshua as the dead branch in His Resurrection. Not only did He grow up on the city of the branch (Nazareth), but He WAS the Branch of Yahveh, as the prophets spoke of. And this is why Hebrews is adament that no one takes the High Prieshood 'upon himself' but is given it by God:
Heb. 5:4: 'And no one takes the honor to himself but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was. So also Messiah did not glorify Himself so as to become a High Priest, but He who said to Him, 'You are My Son. Today I have begotten You.' Just as He says also in another passage, 'You are a Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.' (Heb. 5:4-6; with the last reference of Priest forever from Psalm 110:4)
And some passages with reference to Messiah as the Branch of Yahveh:
Jer. 23:5: 'Behold, the days are coming,' declares Yahveh, 'When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch. And He will reign as King and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the Land.'
Zech. 6:12: 'Then say to him, 'Thus says Yahveh of Hosts, 'Behold, a man whose Name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is and He will build the Temple of Yahveh.'
Zech. 6:13: 'Yes, it is He who will build the Temple of Yahveh and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His Throne. Thus, He will be a (High) Priest on His Throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.'
In Torah, the Priesthood and Kingship came from two different tribes:
Levi and Judah. In Messiah, they will be one, as it was with Melchizedek.
You might want to read more about the Branch in one of my Jewish Newsletters: Spiritual Reality
So in answer to your question, Yeshua never took the Vow of the Nazarite.
My Love to all in the group. And thank you for your kind assessment of the teachings that the Lord Yeshua has given me for His Bride.
May you all grow into His Image and Likeness in greater and greater ways,
Avram