Parashat Vezot Habrachah, Yom Kippur and Yeshua the Messiah

677

This week’s reading portion of Scripture, Parashat Vezot Habrachah meaning “This is the blessing” (Devarim / Deuteronomy 33:1-34:12) occurs at the same time as Yom Kippur (יום כיפור) “Day of Atonement” that is observed on the 10th day of the month of Tishri concluding 10 days of repentance before God that began with Rosh Hashanah.  Sefer Vayikra / Leviticus 16 describe the temple service and sacrificial ceremony the Cohen Hagadol (High Priest) is to perform on this day.  The day is marked by fasting and prayer of the individual that is committed to forgiving the sins of others and to repent of sins that have been committed against God.  In Parashat Vezot Habrachah we read about the death of Moshe (וַיָּמָת שָׁם מֹשֶׁה עֶבֶד-יְהוָֹה בְּאֶרֶץ מוֹאָב עַל-פִּי יְהוָֹה).  The scriptures say “Moshe, the servant of the Lord died in the land of Moab according to the word of the Lord.”  The Phrase עַל-פִּי יְהוָֹה literally means on / upon / by the mouth of God,” here the words על (on, upon) and פי (mouth) are joined together with a maqqef.  The phrase עַל-פִּי meaning by, based on, according to” says that Moshe died according to the Lord.  The Aramaic translation in the Targum Onkelos (וּמִית תַּמָּן מֹשֶה עַבְדָא דַייָ בְּאַרְעָא דְמוֹאָב עַל מֵימְרָא דַייָ) says according to the Memra (Word) of the Lord.”  The Lord God had spoken to Moshe that he was not going to be allowed to enter into the Promised Land because of having sinned at the waters of Meribah.  The death of Moshe is a low point for the Children of Yisrael in the wilderness.  In the midst of the narrative from Parashat Vezot Habrachah (וְזֹאת הַבְּרָכָה), the Children of Yisrael are about to enter into the Promised Land and Moshe dying according to the Word of the Lord, we are reminded, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, of our need for repentance and forgiveness of our sins before a Holy God.  As Yom Kippur approaches, in this time of fasting, repenting, and drawing near to the Lord, let’s consider what a great salvation the Lord God Almighty has provided in His Son, Yeshua the Messiah.  Read More here.

Previous articleParashat Ha’azinu, Yeshua, Paul, and the Torah
Next articleChol HaMo’ed Sukkot, God’s blessing, the Torah, and Salvation
Duane D. Miller received his Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. Degree in Chemical Engineering from The University of Akron Ohio. He is currently a Chemical Engineering Researcher. Duane’s research expertise has focused upon functional materials development for the control, conversion, and release of process gases in Energy production technologies. His R&D interests include computational chemistry, developing novel technologies for converting biomass to fuels and studying their fundamental interactions during the chemical conversion process. His past experience includes sorbent development for pre- and post-combustion CO2 and SO2 capture, selective absorption of H2S from methane streams, O2 capture for oxy-fuel combustion, photocatalytic reduction of alcohols, NOx reduction catalysis, the development of oxygen carriers to combust fossil fuels (CH4 and coal) for the chemical looping combustion processes, and the extraction of rare earth elements using patent pending sorbents. His research expertise has focused on operando-characterization using Infrared, Raman, and UV-Vis spectroscopy to observe the nature of the catalytic active sites and reaction intermediates under realistic reaction conditions, allowing direct correlation of molecular/electronic structures with catalyst performance during Gas-Solid / Liquid-Solid Adsorption and Photocatalytic Processes with real time online analysis of reaction products using ICP-MS and mass spectrometry. His current work involves a multi-disciplinary approach to developing, understanding, and improving the catalytic gasification of coal and methane, high temperature chemical looping combustion, and the catalytic decomposition and gasification of biomass and coal using novel microwave reactor.​ He has been studying the Hebrew Scriptures and the Torah for 20+ years and sharing what he has learned. The studies developed for MATSATI.COM are freely to be used by everyone, to God be the Glory!