Sermon on the Mount (Part 1 of 5)

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From: James Trimm
To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: Sermon on the Mount (Part 1 of 5)

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT FROM A NETZARIM PERSPECTIVE
By James Trimm

In this multi-part study we will look at the Sermon on the Mount in detail in light of the actual Hebrew and Aramaic words used, Semitic Poetic forms, the Tanak, Rabbinic literature and the Dead Sea Scrolls.

STARTING WITH THE "BEATITUDES"

The so-called "beatitudes" (Mt. 5:3-12) are written is a Hebraic poetry form called Synonymous Parallelism. In this form of poetry the same basic statement is made in parallel lines, using the same sentence structure, but with differing words.

In the "beatitudes" each parallel line begins with:

"Blessed are the..." (Mt. 5:3f)

The Hebrew word for "blessed" here is ASHERI (such as in Ps. 65:5 & Deut 33:29).

ASHERI is an exclamitory term for "blessed" or "Happy". There are two Hebrew words for "blessed". These are BARAK and ASHERI. ASHERI differs from BARAK. BARAK for example is ALWAYS the term used to bless YHWH, one would NEVER say that YHWH is ASHERI. Whenever a man is blessed with the word BARAK it is always a blessing that is initiated by YHWH. A man cannot BARAK himself or another man, nor can he receive BARAK from another man. And ASHERI is not something a man would ever bestow upon YHWH. What we learn from the usage then is that BARAK blessing is given to man by the grace of YHWH undeserved and unearnable, but ASHERI is a happiness, a blessing that results from positive action.

For example:

Happy/blessed (ASHRI) are the undefiled in the way who walk in the Torah of YHWH. (Ps. 119:1)

...he that keeps the Torah, happy/blessed (ASHRI) is he. (Prov. 29:18b)

(see also Ps. 1:1 (2); 112:1; 119:2; 128:1; Prov. 8:32; 16:20)

Thus ASHERI is NOT the undeserved blessing which comes by the grace of YHWH. The ASHERI blessing RESULTS FROM OBSERVING YHWH'S TORAH.

The Aramaic translator renders ASHERI with TUVIHON.

TUVIHON comes from the Semitic root TOV meaning "good" or "benificial". The Aramaic translator understood that because these things caused ASHRI (the blessing earned by Torah Observance and good deeds) they were good or beneficial.

If we reduce the gematria (numaric value) of ASHERI and TUVIHON each to a single digit they both reduce to a seven. Seven being the number of completeness and perfection.

Thus from the Hebrew we understand that the list of items in the beatitudes bring one the blessing or happiness one receives as a reward for good deeds and Torah observance. And from the Aramaic we understand that this is a list of things that will be good for us and will benifit us.

If we incorporate the items listed in the "beatitudes" into our lives we will recieve prosperity and abundant goodness in ourselves.

-James Trimm

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From: James Trimm
To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: Sermon on the Mount (Part 2 of 5)

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT FROM A NETZARIM PERSPECTIVE
By James Trimm

HAPPY ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT

Who are the "Poor in Spirit"? Are they spiritually poor? Are they poor for the sake of the spirit? What does this mean?

The Hebrew has AWNI HARUACH "poor of spirit" which is clearly a contraction of AWNI UN'VEH RUACH "poor and contrite spirit" from Is. 66:2.

The Aramaic translator of Matthew rendered the phase: MISHKANEH B'RUKHA "poor in spirit"

AWNI can mean "poor" as in the sense of a pauper or can mean "humble". In this case it clearly means "humble."

The word RUACH here is used idiomatically to refer to "pride". This usage appears in Job 15:2 and 16:3 where we read:

Should a wise man utter knowledge of pride/vanity (RUACH) ... (Job 15:2)

Shall words of pride/vanity (RUACH) have an end?... (Job 16:3)

So the "poor in spirit" are "the humble of pride" they are humble in regard to pride. Note that the Scriptures NEVER say anything good about "pride". Every statement the Scriptures make about "pride" is negative.

Now lets look again at Is. 66:2:

But to this one I will look, to him who is poor and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My Word.

Thus the "poor of spirit" or "humble of spirit" are those who "tremble at" YHWH's "Word."

What is his "Word"? Isaiah defines this earlier:

...for out of Zion shall go forth the Torah, and the Word of YHWH from Jerusalem. (Is. 2:3b) (note that verses 5-22 go on to speak of the proud being humbled)

Why do they "tremble" at his Torah? The fear of YHWH, according to the Tanak, includes Torah observance:

...that he may learn the fear of YHWH his God, to keep all the words of this Torah and these statutes, to do them: (Deut. 17:19)

...that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear YHWH your God, and observe to do all the words of this Torah. (Deut. 31:12)

All of this is again confirmed bt Psalm 25:9-10 which says in part:

... He teaches the humble His way...

And what is his "way"?

And the LORD said unto me, Arise, get thee down quickly from hence; for thy people which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they are quickly turned aside out of THE WAY which I commanded them;..... (Deut. 9:12)

22 For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, TO WALK IN ALL HIS WAYS, and to cleave unto him...
26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;
27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day:
28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of THE WAY which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known. (Deut. 11:22, 26-28)

15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
16 In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, TO WALK IN HIS WAYS, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. (Deut. 30:15-16)

But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the Torah, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, AND TO WALK IN ALL HIS WAYS,
and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. (Joshua 22:5)

And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. (Isaiah 30:21)

Blessed are the undefiled in THE WAY, who walk in the TORAH of the LORD.... I have rejoiced in THE WAY of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.... I will run THE WAY of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart. (Psalm 119:1, 14, 32)

So the "poor of spirit" humble their pride and submit in humility to Torah.

Now how does this work?

Humility is stressed in the Mishna tractate Avot (1:3; 1:13; 2:8; 3:1; 4:4, 5; 5:19)

According to the Mishna:

Antigonos of Sokho received [Torah] from Simeon the Righteous. He would say, Do not be like servants who serve the master on condition of receiving a reward, But like the servants who serve the master not on condition of receiving a reward. And let the fear of Heaven be upon you. (m.Avot 1:3)

The humble man submits himself to Torah seeking only to do the will of YHWH and not seeking any reward for himself. The humble man would never seek to bribe YHWH because only a prideful man would think that YHWH needed anything from a mere man.

One major stumbling block to Torah Observance is pride. A prideful man does not wish to submit. The prideful man resents rules. The prideful man is rebelious and will not be told what to do. He may believe the rules are for others but he is above the rules.

This issue of pride has been a stumbling block to anomian Christains. They see the "Jewish Law" as an inferior system. They believe that they have outgrown the Torah and that they no longer need it. When it is realized that the Hebrew word TORAH actually means "instruction" or "guidance" the arogance of this theology is clear to see.

The prideful man cannot be taught, because he will not hear, but the humble man , the "poor in spirit", he may be taught. He may recieve the Torah (instruction) of YHWH and submit to it.

James Scott Trimm

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From: James Trimm
To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: Sermon on the Mount (Part 3 of 5)

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT FROM A NETZARIM PERSPECTIVE
By James Trimm

... for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. (Mt. 5:3)

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

To understand the Kingdom we must first understand the terms "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Kingdom of G-d". These terms are used interchageably (see Mt. 4:12-19 = Mk. 1:14-17; Mt. 5:3 = Lk. 6:20; Mt. 10:7 = Lk. 9:2; Mt. 13:31 = Mk. 4:30; Mt. 13:11 = Mk. 4:11; Mt. 19:14 = Mk. 10:14-15; Mt. 19:21-24 = Lk. 18:22-25.) Both terms refer to the Kingdom of G-d. This is because in Hebrew and Aramaic it is common to substitute the word for "Heaven" for the word for "G-d" so as not to make to common a use of the word for "G-d". An example of this may be found in 1Enoch 6:1-2 [4QEnoch(b)] = Gen. 6:1-2 where "sons' of God" (Gen. 6:2) has been replaced with "sons' of heaven" (1En. 6:1-2). While the term "Kingdom of G-d" does not appear in the Tenach (O.T.) the term "Kingdom of the YHWH" appears twice (1Chron. 28:5; 2Chron. 13:8) and there certainly can be no differance between these two Kingdoms. It is important to note that in both of the usages of the term "Kingdom of YHWH" the Kingdom refered to is clearly the literal Kingdom of Israel.

Now bearing in mind that the Kingdom is Israel, we must now determine if the claim made by Replacement theologians is correct, has the Church replaced Israel as the Kingdom?

One of the passages which makes it clear that the Church cannot be the Kingdom spoken of in the New Testament may be found in 1Cor. 15:50-55 which states that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God" (1Cor. 15:50) and that as a result when Messiah returns (1Cor. 15:52; 1Thes. 4:16-17; Mt. 24:30-31) mortals will be made immortal (1Cor. 15:50-55). If this refers to the Church, then no mortal man of flesh and blood can be a part of the Church. This would make no sense at all.

Another passage which makes it clear that the Kingdom cannot be the Church takes place in Acts chapter one immediately after Yeshua's (Jesus') resurection. In this text we read that the emmisaries spent forty days studying "the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God" with Yeshua (Acts 1:3.) After this incedible forty day study the emmisaries ask Yeshua "Lord, will you at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6.) After forty days of study with Yeshua on the topic the emmisaries still believed that the Kingdom would be a restored Kingdom of Israel, this can only be because this is what they were taught for forty days. If Yeshua had been teaching them for forty days that the Church is the Kingdom, then they would have never asked the question they asked, nor would Yeshua have answered it as he did "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority." (Acts 1:7) rather than "Havn't you been listening for the past forty days?!?"

James Trimm

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From: James Trimm
To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: Sermon on the Mount (Part 4 of 5)

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT FROM A NETZARIM PERSPECTIVE
By James Trimm

Happy are the mourners for they shall be comforted. (Mt. 5:4)

Who are these mourners? Why are they mourning? We must remember that this statement in the poetic parallelism is parallel to the "poor in spirit". The "poor in spirit" therefore are the same people as the "mourners" only they are being described in another way. Just as "the poor in spirit" (Mt. 5:3) was a reference to Isaiah 66:2 (and 57:15); "mourners... shall be comforted" is a clear reference to Is. 66:10, 13 and Is. 61:2. (in fact as we continue in this study we will begin to see that the "beatitudes" are largely a commentary on Is. 66). Lets look at these:

Rejoice you with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all you that mourn for her....

As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you; and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. (Is. 66:10, 13)

To proclaim the acceptable year of YHWH, the day of vengence of our Elohim; to comfort all who mourn; (Is. 61:2 (see 61:1-3))

The Hebrew word for mourn (both in Is. 66:10, 61:2-3 and Mt. 5:4) is AVELIM which the Aramaic translator of Mt. 5:4 renders AWELEH.

These words invoke images of those who wail and cry and sigh at a funeral. The Jewish custom of mourning includes the act of renting ones clothing, the wearing of sackcloth and the with ashes on their head. When the world killed the Messiah YHWH rent his garment (the Temple veil) in mourning. The AVELIM or AWELEH mourn with Him. They mourn the death of Messiah, the wail and cry because of the injustices of this world. And they mourn because of the abominations committed against YHWH on the earth. Among these mourners will be the two witnesses who witness wearing sackcloth (Rev. 11:3).

These AVELIM also appear in Ezekiel 9:4 where we read of men who "sigh and cry" because of the "abominations" (these "abominations" are pagan customs mentioned throughout Ezekiel 8 each being labled an "abomination"). These men receive a mark (TAV) upon their foreheads. They are also mentioned in Rev 7 & 14 as the 144,000 with the seal of God (Rev. 7:2-3). This seal or mark parallels another passage Exodus 13:9, 16 which tells us that the Torah in general and the Passover in specific is to be "a memorial between your eyes". That is to say that the Torah is to serve as our guiding principle and should be ever present in our minds.

The AVELIM (mourners) sigh and cry because of the abominationagainst YHWH and man. Among their ranks are the 144,000. The Torah is everpresent on their mind as their guiding principle. They are the same as the humble of pride in the previous verse.

But how will they be comforted? who will comfort them?

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To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
From: James Trimm
Subject: Sermon on the Mount (Part 5 of 5)

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT FROM A NETZARIM PERSPECTIVE
By James Trimm

Happy are the mourners for they shall be comforted. (Mt. 5:4)

Now as we pointed out previously this is a clear reference to certain passages in Isaiah:

Rejoice you with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all you that mourn for her....

As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you; and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. (Is. 66:10, 13)

To proclaim the acceptable year of YHWH, the day of vengence of our Elohim; to comfort all who mourn; (Is. 61:2 (see 61:1-3))

First let us look at who the comforter is and then we will see how the mourners are to be comforted.

The Hebrew of Mt. 5:4 has YINAKHAMU for "they shall be comforted". The root word for "comfort" here is NAKHAM. This is the same word which appears in Is. 61:2 & 66:13. The Aramaic translator of Matthew rendered this word with NITBAYUN from the Aramaic root BAYA.

The emissary Yochanan used an even more interesting Aramaic word to refer to YHWH as "comforter". He uses the Aramaic word

This Aramaic word PARAKLITA appears in Jn. 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7 and 1Jn. 2:1. This word appears in the Hebrew of the Mishna in m.Avot 4:11a

...He who does even a single religious duty gets himself a good advocate (or comforter) (PARAKLIT); he who does even a single transgression gets himself a prosecutor."

The Jewish Dictionary states:

The sin offering is like the paraclete before God it interceded for man and is followed by another a thank offering for the pardon obtained. The two daily burnt offerings are called "the two parcletes". (pp. 514-515).

It is generally accepted that this is a loan word from Greek although some have proposed that it originates in Semitic from "parik" (to break) and "leta" (there is not) or "parik" (apart from) "leta" ("the curse" in Persian) or that it is a participle of the Aramaic verb P'RAK (to save).

At any rate YHWH as "comforter" is also mentioned in Jn. 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7.

From these passages it is clear that the "Comforter" is the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) also known as the "Spirit of Truth."

Yochanan (John) says:

...the Spirit of Truth... will guide you in all truth... (Jn. 16:13)

And the Psalmist tells us "The Torah is truth" and all the commandments are truth. (Ps. 119:142, 151) Ezekiel 18:29-32 speaks of having a new heart and a new spirit.

Ezekiel 36:26-27 speaks similarly:

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them.

So the comforter leads the mourners in all truth. The comforter causes them to walk in the statutes, to keep tha commandments and to observe the Torah of YHWH.

The mourners have a spirit which leads them to observe Torah.

Now this is what you may not have known. The mark, or seal that the mourners recieve in Exek. 9 and Rev. 7 is the comforter. They are sealed by the Ruach! (2Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13; 4:30)

[Messiah] who has sealed us and placed the token of his Spirit in our hearts. (2Cor. 1:22)

...In him you trusted and were sealed by the Ruach HaKodesh which was promised. (Eph. 1:13)

And do not grieve the Ruach HaKodesh of Eloah, by whom you are sealed until the day of redemption. (Eph. 4:30)

The mourners are sealed by their comforter, the Ruach HaKodesh who leads them to observe Torah and comforts them until the day of redemption.

What is this day of redemption?

This takes us back to Is. 61:1-3:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me: because the Lord hath anointed me to proclaim unto the poor: he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound:

To proclaim the acceptable year of YHWH, and the day of vengeance of our God: to comfort all that mourn:

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness: that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of YHWH, that he might be glorified.

This spirit comforts them and will ultimately comfort them on the favorable day of YHWH.

Note that the seal of the comforter protects them from harm (Ezek. 9:6; and Rev. 9:4) thus comforting them unto the day of redemption. The day of redemption is clearly the beginning
of the "Kingdom of Heaven" mentioned in the previous loine and which parallels the "they shall be comforted" in this line of the poem. Thus "they shall be comforted in Jerusalem" (Is. 66:13).

James Trimm

SANJ http://www.nazarene.net/

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