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From: Ephraim Frank (shevet@netvision.net.il)
To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: The Cycle of Recovery

NOTE FROM EDDIE

In I Corinthians 10:1-4, we are told to NOT BE IGNORANT that ALL our fathers were "under the cloud, and all passed through the sea". The comes from the Hebraic concept in Deuteronomy 29:12-15 that BOTH the present and FUTURE generations were STANDING at MT SINAI.

In other words, WE (as believers in Messiah) are COMMANDED to NOT BE IGNORANT that WE were at Mount Sinai. Since this is so, WE AND our ANCESTORS BROKE the covenant made at Mount Sinai. One of the harshest punishments for breaking the covenant was EXILE.

However, upon repenting, the EXILE would turn into REDEMPTION. The Redemption is a return BACK to the LAND OF ISRAEL.

The fulfillment of this promise at the dawn of the Messianic Era is found in Ezekiel 37:15-28.

Because we are living in the FINAL generation (before Messiah setting His feet upon the Mount of Olives), we are told by the prophets that this FINAL generation will RETURN to the land of Israel (REDEMPTION) from the punishment for departing from Torah (which is EXILE).

In CONCEPT:

EXILE = DIVORCE
EXILE = NAKEDNESS

REDEMPTION comes from REPENTENCE for the SIN which caused the EXILE (we embrace Torah and our Hebraic Heritage).

REPENTENCE from our sins brings the ATONEMENT for our sins.

Because we ARE living in the FINAL generation, we are living in the GENERATION which WILL see the "restoration and regathering of BOTH houses of Israel". For this reason, it is IMPORTANT to understand the CONCEPTS in this article because it pertains to YOU.

END OF NOTE

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FROM EXILE TO REDEMPTION

This article, that has been written a number of years ago, touches upon the meaning and significance of "Gilgal".

THE CYCLE OF RECOVERY - from Gola (Diaspora/Exile) to Ge'ula (Redemption)

"Surely the Lord God does nothing until He reveals His secret counsel to His servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7).

Many times the key to unlock the "secret counsel" of God is but a single word. One such word is to be found in the above verse, from the book of Amos. The root for to "reveal," in Hebrew, is "galo." Various verbs stem from this three-letter root (g.l.h.), among them are: to remove, display, reveal, disclose, send away, and uncover.

Let us attempt to disclose the secret which may help to "uncover our eyes," (see Num. 24;4). Very early on in the Biblical narrative, in B'resheet (Genesis) 9:21, we read, "Noah uncovered himself inside his tent". Two of his sons, Shem and Yefet (Japheth), were quick to cover their father and were careful not to look upon his nakedness. For this their father rewarded them and their progeny with a blessing. However, the less reverent attitude of the third son, Cham (Ham), cost him and his offspring (Can'an, Canaan) their liberty. Noach pronounced that they would become "slaves of slaves!" (Gen. 9:25).

Noach, evidently, recognized the significance of being "uncovered" and, conversely, the implication of being "covered." Some time before this incident, when he was building the ark, we read that Elohim told him "to cover [the ark] with pitch inside and out," (Gen. 6:14). The Hebrew word used here for "cover" originates from the root k.p.r., or k.f.r., which is also the root for "atonement," i.e. "kippur," or "kappara." Hence the Day of Atonement is called Yom Kippur.

The Torah is very strict concerning uncovering nakedness (see Leviticus chapters 18, 20). The connection with atonement makes it clear that sin requires a covering. In light of this, Noach's reaction to his son's action (or lack thereof), is quite understandable. Cham's heart attitude was thus revealed, or uncovered. His misdemeanor found him out, as it always does.

Throughout the history of the people of Israel, numerous occasions are recorded where Israel's fornication and her nakedness were uncovered, as Y'chezkel (Ezekiel) 23:18 points out. As a result, God delivered Israel into the hands of her enemies, and Himself uncovered her nakedness before them. He declares: "... and the nations shall know that the House of Israel was exiled for their iniquity," (Eze. 29:23).

Exiling them from the land constituted "uncovering." How? The word "exile" -"gola" is also a derivative of the root g.l.h. This illustrates the severity of the crime and of the penalty that followed
it. However, YHVH was not without mercy. He promised the exiles of Yehuda (Judah) - who were taken to Babylon for 70 years - that He would prosper them while there (Jer. 29:4-7).

Yet, the greater promise that He gave was to eventually bring them back to the land. In verse 10 of the same chapter (Jer. 29), it is written: "I will visit you and confirm the good work to you, to bring you back to this place" (that is, to the land of Israel).

"Galut", or "gola" (exile, diaspora) is, therefore, a condition which denotes punishment and speaks of the nakedness and shame which are revealed when being removed from under God's "kippur" (covering), which covers and multitude of sins.

A returnee to the land of Israel is always called an "oleh" - "one who ascends" (see Jeremiah 27:22, Ezra 2:1 and Nehemiah 7:6). But after leaving the Diaspora, or "galut", there is still no guarantee that the "galut" has left the "ascending ones." God therefore promises to "sprinkle pure water" on them, and to "purify" them "from all [their] iniquities and... idols," (Eze. 36:25). The word there for "idols" is "gilulim," from the root g.l.l. Another word, which comes from the same root is found in Ye'ho'shua 5:9, a passage which deals with the returnees from Egypt and the wilderness. Here we read that the Lord "rolls away the reproach of Egypt from them." The verb "roll away" - "galoti," has the same root letters (g.l.l). as that of the idols - "gilulim" - mentioned in the above-quoted verse from Y'chezkel (Ezekiel). Thus, the merciful Father rolls off the gilulim - idols - which literally mean (the "round balls of) dung," and the "reproach of Egypt," that is, the reproach of the "galut" (the place of nakedness). In fact, He re-covers His people with His hand, so that they need not be ashamed any more (see Is. 54;4).

Now the "oleh" (ascending returnee) may indeed, in the words of our Messiah, "look up for the 'geula' (redemption) draws nigh." It appears that the land of Israel is the road winding up from "gola" (exile and nakedness) to "geula" (redemption). . It was in Gilgal, where the reproach of Egypt was rolled off. Gilgal means a "wheel" or a "circle," the name having been formed by a word- play, connecting it to g.l.l. (i.e. to the root of the verb to "role away"). However, Gilgal, true to its name, is more than just a word play; it indicates completion of a cycle. It is the cycle which starts with sin and idol worship that result in the uncovering of the shame in the Diaspora. When redemption ("geula") finally comes, it constitutes a return, in the course of which the "rolling away" of the idols, i.e. the reproach and the shame, takes place. Finally, the hour of re-covering and redemption "draws nigh," as the Almighty's "salvation is about to come" and His "righteousness [is] about to be revealed, or uncovered," (Isaiah 56:1). Thus, the promise, "when Messiah, who is our life, is revealed we too will be revealed with Him in glory" (Col. 3:4) can be fulfilled.

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