Torah 101-Pekudei Parsha I.

ANSWERS TO STUDY QUESTIONS (Study Questions will be asked this week and answered next week since we did not do the previous Torah portion as Torah 101)

II.

QUESTIONS FOR THIS TORAH PORTION (Pekudei) Please NOTE: For clarity and time constraints, if I elect to not read the whole parsha (which is the case this week) I may still ask questions relating to the portions I did not read!

1) Question for Exodus 38 (21-31): How does one detail here relate to tracking the possible whereabouts of Yshua during his so-called Lost Years between age 12 and 30? 2) Question for Exodus 39: How are the colors blue, purple, scarlet and fine (white) linen related directly to the life of Yshua the Mashiyach? 3) Question for Exodus 40: How do the details in this chapter help to pinpoint the exact timing of the Exodus from the previous year? 4) Haftorah Question of the Week: The Temple is located on Mount Ziontrue or false. III. Renewed Covenant Commentary: Acts 1:1-14 Acts 1:2 Shlichim "sent ones" or "emissaries" sent to proclaim the Kingdom of Elohim and represent the Name of YHWH and His Mashiyach. Acts 1:3 Yshua began appearing the 3rd day after his death and then forty days thereafter. Therefore, a total of only seven days remains from Mashiyach's ascension, until 1|Page

the Feast of Shavuot. Acts 1:7 Here the Aramaic naphshah is rendered as "Person." Naphshah is usually rendered as "soul/self" when relating to humans. The Hebrew cognate, nefesh, also specifically refers to the life-force in humans and animals (Gen_2:7). When referring to YHWH, however, the majority use in Aramaic is the word parsopa, which is more accurately linked to the divine presence or Shekhinah. The possibility here of referring to "YHWH's soul" as this verse implies, is nonetheless very intriguing. Acts 1:12 Greek reads "Sabbaton echo hodos," or "a Sabbath day's journey" rather than "seven furlongs." Yoseph ben Matthias, a.k.a., Josephus (The Jewish War, 5.2.3) also notes the distance between Mt. Olives and Yerushalayim, indicating the disciples lived very close to the Temple in this manner: "These (Roman) legions had orders to encamp at the distance of six furlongs from Jerusalem, at the mount called the Mount of Olives which lies over against the city on the east side, and is parted from it by a deep valley, interposed between them, which is named Cedron." Greek readers would not likely equate seven furlongs to the maximum distance of travel permitted on Shabbat, see Exo_16:29. The Shabbat day's journey, t'chum, points to how time is to be invested on Shabbat, in local participation rather than travel. Six days we go, but on Shabbat we stay and rest in YHWH, along with those He has gathered. We welcome the Ruach haKodesh as a Chavurah (close knit people), a Mishpocah (family), a Kedoshim (set-apart people) who take joy together with the Spirit of YHWH and His Mashiyach. The Shabbat is a forever remembrance. The "Shabbat day's journey" was beautifully recorded here in Greek for non-Jewish followers of Mashiyach. Throughout the Book of Acts, we read of multitudes of non-Jewish followers of Y'shua worshipping on Shabbat with Jewish followers, and this continued for nearly 400 years, although on a much smaller scale. In the latter part of the First Century, the Hellenized Christian church began to take root and replace with Sunday worship the Shabbat that Y'shua and the Shlichim clearly observed. Early in the Second Century, all-Gentile churches with Gentile motif were being established, thus making the "Sabbath day's journey" irrelevant among a majority of Christians.

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