Torah Class Tidbits II

It's been a while since I did the first installment of my TorahClass notes, so I had to go back a few weeks and find my first one, check the format for it, and provide a link to it for you (and me).  And now that all that's done, I can press ahead with Torah Class Tidbits II.  Woot.

WEEK SIX

Dimensions:  Einstein discovered that there are 10 or 11 different dimensions.  Our universe only consists of four.  This is - in Physics - called the String Theory.  Being blonde and female, I never made it to physics, and didn't know this until reading TorahClass.  And you're probably wondering what this has to do with Torah, anyhow.  Well, the ancient Hebrew sages wrote (well before Christ) that there were ten dimensions, plus one more, and the 11th one is God.  I find this to *really* help me understand why I have such a hard time understanding God.  If He's within dimensions I cannot even fathom and cannot relate to, it's no wonder He's so unfathomable... now isn't it?  And worse, the four dimensions we operate within are height, width, length, and time.  So if God is outside of THAT... well, that makes sense to me... even though nothing really ever makes sense to me about this kind of thing.  It's the comfort of knowing I'm not supposed to know what I don't know... y'know?  ((I told you TorahClass was deep.  Try thinking thru it like a blonde.))

We Got Spirit, Yes We Do:  TorahClass says to think of the thing God breathed into us in Eden (at the creation of mankind) as Spirit... the fifth dimension.  This is a tricky little bugger, because it exists in our universe, but is not part of our universe.  And because it's outside of the four dimensions we know, we have a hard time with the whole concept of it.  Unless you really like The Twilight Zone or something.

Apples and Torahs:  I read that Torah is to Israel what the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was to Adam and Eve.  It revealed good and evil thru law.  God's only rule in the garden was not to eat of this tree.  By eating, they came to know good vs. evil.  Likewise, by receiving the Law, Israel came to know good from evil.  Wha.  And we thought it was just a stone tablet...!

Satan the Small:  Believe it or not, TorahClass teaches from a LOT more than just the first five books of the Bible.  In week six we jump to Revelation 12:6 and see that Michael and his angels warred against Satan, but Satan wasn't strong enough.  If Satan isn't even strong enough to overcome Michael and the angels under him, it is apparent that the 'c'hurch today gives him far more credit than he deserves.  ((Whoa, have I ever.  I had him pegged as second in command next to God!))

The Ark & The Rapture:  This comparison is something I've looked at before, but I never saw the ark as a 'type'... a haven for the righteous... perhaps a 'heaven' - a place of rest and shelter.  I mean, I knew that Noah went into the ark seven days BEFORE the flood started... which is a foreshadowing of the Rapture, where we'll be taken out seven years BEFORE the destruction of Earth at the Second Coming of Christ, but I never really thought about the ark... Hm.

WEEK SEVEN

Grace:  The first use of the word 'grace' isn't in the NT, but in Genesis 6, when Noah found GRACE in the eyes of the Lord.  Righteousness has ALWAYS been a gift from God, not of works, even before there was a written law.  Although we act like when Moses came down with the stone tablets, suddenly salvation was only in sacrifices and rules.  It was never that way - and BTW, there were sacrifices and unwritten rules BEFORE Moses... look at the 'clean' and 'unclean' Noah had to take into the ark, for example?  How would he know what was clean and unclean if it wasn't written as law until Moses several centuries later?  The law was always there, and so was grace.

WEEK EIGHT

Vegetarian No More:  Before the flood, mankind only killed animals for sacrifice... NEVER for food.  After the flood (verse three of Genesis 9) God allows animals as a food source (just never the blood).  Apparently after the flood, God also allows man to kill man as a punishment.  Before the flood, (remember Cain?) there was no death penalty.  Now there is.  Same earth, new set o' rules, it seems...

7 Noahide Laws:  There were seven laws that were instituted about this time (post-flood).  Interestingly, they were for the seed of Noah, but after Christ, they were applied to those converting to Judaism.  I had no idea.  And no, they don't exactly match the ten commandments...

WEEK NINE

Patterns, Patterns:  TorahClass gives seven patterns seen in Adam and Noah... but two of them TOTALLY wowwed me. 
1)  Adam fell by means of eating of the fruit that grew in the garden he tended.  Noah fell by means of eating (drinking) of the fruit (wine) in the garden he tended.
2)  Adam had three sons who were major players in scripture, among whom one, Seth, was to be the line of the righteous, through which the Messiah would come.  Noah had 3 sons who were major players in scripture, among whom one, Shem, was to be the line of righteousness through which the Messiah would come.

Cursed thru the Generations:  TorahClass says that in Genesis 9:25-27 we find the three lines of descent from which every human is attached. 
1)  Shem (meaning 'Glory') - "Blessed by Adonai, the God of Shem, and Canaan (ham) will be his slave".  Noah gives the authority and the blessing of God to Shem... the line that Israel will come out of.
2) Ham (meaning 'hot') - Ham's line came to occupy Africa, who have 'for centuries suffered subjucation'.  The verses here say this line will be "cursed, a servant of servants to his brethren."   ((wha!!))
3) Japheth (meaning 'enlargement') - "May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem and let Canaan (Ham) be his servant."  This line became the Greeks, Romans, and European people... leading up to the early American Colonists.  The promise is that if these people are in good relation with Shem (Israel), they will be blessed.
In other words, the impact of what Noah did in these three verses set the destinies of the peoples and nations until the end of the world.  Can you imagine?  I had NO idea!!

WEEK TEN

My Three Sons:  The Bible says that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord... but it wasn't just Noah who was on the boat and survived the flood.  Three of his sons were with him (Genesis 5:30 indicates that he had other offspring than just these three boys).  So for 'reasons unknown' (((says TorahClass))) three of his children were on the boat.  *I* believe it's because they still resided at home or were under the mysterious 'age of accountability'.  Things that make ya go 'hm'.  Again.  And again.

Babel and Nimrod:  Without getting into too much, we now hit Nimrod, who is a wicked ruler who builds the Tower of Babel, rules from Babylon, marries his mother (who declares him a god and herself Mother of Heaven)... it gets worse.  This is the start of Mystery Babylon... which thousands of years later Julius Caesar will come and dismantle and move to Rome, setting himself up as high priest - or Pontifus Maximus... ironically the title of the pope today.  ((harumph.))  Bad stuff here.  Still a big problem for us, only we're too blind to see it, and it all ties in to the practicing of Easter (named for Nimrod's mother, Ishtar) and Christmas (the tree is all about her), Lent (all about her and her 'imaculately concieved' son, Tammuz), and Sun day.  ((Again, don't get me started.))  Wait, I already started.  Well, okay, I'll stop.

That's Philistine to You:  I didn't know this, but in Genesis 10:13, Ham's son Mitzrayim started a people called Kasluchim.  From them came the Philistines.  Which, translated to Greek is Palestine.  The Palestinians of today claim to be descendants of the Philistines descended from Ham-the-cursed.  But really, most of them are Arab immigrants, and Arabs aren't from Ham's line, they're from the line of Shem, the blessed.  They have CHOSEN to identify with the Philistines because they hate Israel... and in doing so, they have GIVEN UP their heritage of 'Glory' (shem) to join the cursed.  Kinda... not... smart.

CGM vs. Christianity:  I drew a neat li'l thang explaining what Lesson 10 says about God... He's NEVER been into unity.  God's not a unifier... His mode of operation has always been 'elect, divide, separate'.  Look at Cain/Abel/Seth.  Elected, divided, separated.  Look at Abraham and his father... elected, divided, separated.  Look Isaac/Ishmael, Jacob/Esau... the list goes on.  Unity in Christ isn't about holding hands and bonding  It's about Christ as the hub and all of us connected in our unity with Him... NOT with each other.  Christ didn't come to unite - He said so Himself, He came to bring the sword, dividing mother from child, brother from brother, etc.  Boy, we don't look at it that way, do we?  And here I thought I was weird because I'm separated from my sister, from my friends, from my family... elected, divided, separated.  That's God's will.

Babel vs. Pentecost:  God broke up man's kind of unity (joining together) by dividing languages.  He unified them in His kind of unity (joined to Him thru His Spirit) by giving them tongues.  Kinda kewl parallel, I thought...

Okay.  I'm tired.  We're out to the lake (tomorrow to me, today to you), so this is it.  Have a blessed one, hope this makes ya think a little!!