Archive for the ‘Biblical Studies’ Category

In today’s teaching, Ross covers the great deliverance of the children of Israel out of Egypt. He begins in Psalm 106 and shares some insights into the story covered by this Torah portion. Ross speaks on the fleeting faith of the children of Israel and of the struggle that is required to achieve freedom. This particular Torah reading begins and ends with the subject of war. It speaks of an eternal struggle between YHVH and an age long enemy known as Amalek. Ross shares some insights into the redemption. There are things that we must do. You will not want to miss this teaching.

Click here to listen, or follow this link:

http://rootsoffaith.org/2012/02/04/when-pharaoh-let-go.htm

In this week’s teaching, Ross continues his study of the redemption of Israel from Egypt. He begins by reading from a biblical account of a Passover recorded in II Chronicles and shows that those from some of the tribes were not following the Passover as it was written in the Torah of Moses. He then challenges his listeners with a question; Have we missed the point of Passover by not following what is written? In this week’s class Ross speaks on the prevalent view of the Passover held by most who were introduced to the Festival of Passover through Christian teachings. For Christians, the Passover points to the death of God’s son. Is this the message of Passover? You will be challenged by this teaching but are encouraged to listen and make up your own mind.

Click here to listen to this class or follow the link below:

http://rootsoffaith.org/2012/01/28/the-real-meaning-of-passover.htm

In this week’s class Ross shows the connection between the promises to the patriarchs and to the descendants. He begins by covering the “RE” revealing of God to Moses and carefully works through the texts showing that the promises made to and through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are also for their seed. He focuses on a particular phrase found in this week’s reading where God claims to lift His hand in an oath to the fathers. Building on this, Ross covers the other occurrences of this act and speaks of the promised inheritance. For what purpose does YHVH deliver Israel from Egypt? Several times in this week’s reading YHVH says, “Shalach et ami”. What does this mean and how does it relate to modern day claimants of the distinguished name Israel? You will not want to miss this class.

Click here to listen to this class or follow this link:

http://rootsoffaith.org/2012/01/21/i-lift-my-hand-the-heritage.htm

In this week’s teaching, Ross covers the first reading from the book of Exodus called Shemoth. The meaning of the Hebrew title is “names”. In this week’s class Ross covers the importance of some key names for those through and by whom the great redemption of the book will take place. The reading begins with the names of the sons of Israel, then shares the names of two midwives, the name of God, and finally the name of God. Practically everyone of importance in this reading is named with the exception of the Pharaoh. You will not want to miss this first teaching from the book of Exodus. Join us as we continue our study through the Torah.

Click here to listen to this teaching or follow this link:

http://rootsoffaith.org/2012/01/14/shemoth-the-names-of-the-redemption.htm

In this week’s Torah teaching, Ross shares on the subject of the Patriarchal Plan. He begins by recounting the promises passed from generation to generation. In the Torah and the prophet reading, we read of the passing of Jacob, Joseph and David respectively. But Ross shows that though all of these men went “the way of all the earth”, the plan did not die. It continued to be passed through the ages. The promises still stand. The purpose remains yet unfulfilled. What was the meaning of the plan that was first entrusted to Abraham and what does it mean for us today? You will not want to miss this teaching. A special thanks to Glenn Chatterton for assisting in the study and preparation of this class. His insights were very helpful.

Click here to listen to this teaching or follow this link:

http://rootsoffaith.org/2012/01/07/the-patriarchal-plan.htm

In this week’s Torah portion, Ross covers perhaps the most cherished story in the Torah – Joseph reveals himself to his brothers. Ross shows that this story hints at a reunion of Judah and Joseph, the single most prominent theme in all of the prophets. The connection between the Torah and Prophet reading this week sheds light on this all important teaching. How will this reunion take place? You will not want to miss this teaching. Listen and share.

To Listen, click here or follow this link:

http://rootsoffaith.org/2011/12/31/judah-draws-near-to-joseph.htm

Sixty-seven years ago this very weekend at the “turning” of the Gregorian year 1943-44 the founding meeting of United Israel World Union took place in Waterville, NY. This tiny meeting of less than a dozen people was hosted in the home of Clayton and Ermine Burlingame at 405 Tower Street, Dec. 30, 31/January 1st (Thurs, Friday, Sabbath). On New Year’s Day, in a Sabbath gathering held in their living room, David Horowitz spoke at length about his vision of UIWU and his typewritten notes have survived as shown here. The little group determined to move ahead with incorporation and as a result UIWU was legally “born” on April 17, 1944–our founding date. However, beyond matters of legal incorporation the spiritual founding of UIWU was surely that cold Dec/Jan weekend, and particularly on that Sabbath.

In 1995  looking over all this history and talking with David Horowitz about what he remembered and we made a startling discovery using Arthur Spier’s Comprehensive Hebrew Calendar–a most useful book that has all the holydays and Torah readings between 1900-2100, correlated with the Gregorian calendar. The Torah reading that weekend, for Sabbath, January 1, 1944, was Vayiggash–Genesis 44:18-47:17, which begins the tearful but joyful tale of Joseph revealing himself to his brothers. The Torah portion begins with the phrase “Then Judah came near (vayiggash) to him,” and leads up to the scene of Joseph’s revelation of himself to his brothers.

When we told David this he was utterly astounded, as he had not remembered or realized it. That reading, Vayiggash, has indeed been a central one for UIWU and its purposes through all these years. The ancient Rabbis must have realized its implications as well since the Haftarah reading paired with it is Ezekiel 37:15-28 about the “two sticks,” Judah and Joseph, being joined as one, just following the famous vision of the valley of Dry Bones, and thus serving as its interpretation.

When we got our UIWU Torah scroll from the late Edna Dillon, of blessed memory, in August, 2003 and we first unrolled it here in Charlotte we were curious to see where it had last been read. It had been stored in a closet for at least 30 years and was touched by no one. You guessed it–the Torah was rolled to Genesis 44:18–Vayiggash! Edna said it was only used when David was able to visit the West Union, West Virginia group, so he must have read from that passage on his last visit with them–probably sometime in the early 1970s.

Today is Christmas morning and for untold millions thoughts go to family, friends, and yes, the birth of Jesus. Last night the churches were filled with Christmas Eve services.  For an alternative take on Jesus’ birth, December 25th, and a different kind of “Silent Night” see my essay, at Bible&Interpretation, a web site well worth a bit of browsing:

http://www.bibleinterp.com/opeds/xmas357921.shtml

I love this wonderful Armenian portrayal of the meeting of Miriam with her kinswoman Elisheva in the region of Ein Kerem in the “hill country of Judea,” west of Jerusalem. Note that the unborn babies are shown in situ as if by ancient ultrasound. According to Luke’s gospel the women were separated in their pregnancies by six months and Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months, implying that she was attending at the birth of John/Yehochanan.

In this week’s class Ross teaches from the 2nd reading of the Joseph cycle of readings. The dream theme shows up again this week. In fact, the word dream occurs 20 times in this week’s reading. Ross takes this week to work through the significance of dreams from a biblical perspective. After recounting Pharaoh’s dreams, Ross turns to a similar dream in the book of Daniel. He discusses the point that the “Hebrews” have been used to both dream and to interpret dreams. Dreams are essential to the historical and prophetic revelation of Yehovah’s way – are they essential in the present? You will not want to miss this teaching.

Click here to listen or go to this link:

http://rootsoffaith.org/2011/12/24/the-biblical-dream.htm

In this week’s teaching Ross begins to cover the story of Joseph. These stories are among the most cherished in the history of writing. The story of Joseph has a way of connecting people to the Bible as no other story does. In fact, Ross begins this week to show that we may be connected to these stories in a deeper way than many might think. Ross takes a slightly different approach in this week’s class, carefully working through the texts and pointing out interesting connections. We can learn a great deal by following these patriarchal narratives. You will not want to miss this teaching as it sets the stage for the next several weeks.

To Listen to this class, click here or follow this link:

http://rootsoffaith.org/2011/12/17/the-joseph-saga-part-one.htm