who the hell is Azazel?

Posted by Eli Dahan on June 30, 2009 under Bible, Biblical Hebrew, Jewish Folklore | 2 Comments to Read

Who was Azazel?

According to the scriptures, Azazel was the evil spirit in the wilderness to whom a scapegoat was sent on the Day of Atonement. The ceremony commenced when the high priest cast lots over two goats: one was designated to the Lord and offered as a sin offering, while the other was for Azazel and outcast in the desert as part of Yom Kippur

The high priest symbolically placed the iniquities and transgressions on the head of this goat which was banished into the wilderness, thereby removing the sins to a distant desolate place. Leviticus 16:8-10

“וְנָתַן אַהֲרֹן עַל-שְׁנֵי הַשְּׂעִירִם, גֹּרָלוֹת–גּוֹרָל אֶחָד לַיהוָה, וְגוֹרָל אֶחָד לַעֲזָאזֵל. וְהִקְרִיב אַהֲרֹן אֶת-הַשָּׂעִיר, אֲשֶׁר עָלָה עָלָיו הַגּוֹרָל לַיהוָה; וְעָשָׂהוּ, חַטָּאת. וְהַשָּׂעִיר, אֲשֶׁר עָלָה עָלָיו הַגּוֹרָל לַעֲזָאזֵל, יָעֳמַד-חַי לִפְנֵי יְהוָה, לְכַפֵּר עָלָיו–לְשַׁלַּח אֹתוֹ לַעֲזָאזֵל, הַמִּדְבָּרָה.”

“And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats: one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for Azazel . And Aaron shall present the goat upon which the lot fell for the LORD, and offer him for a sin-offering. But the goat, on which the lot fell for Azazel, shall be set alive before the LORD, to make atonement over him, to send him away for Azazel into the wilderness.”

Also in Leviticus 16:26:

“וְהַמְשַׁלֵּחַ אֶת-הַשָּׂעִיר, לַעֲזָאזֵל–יְכַבֵּס בְּגָדָיו, וְרָחַץ אֶת-בְּשָׂרוֹ בַּמָּיִם; וְאַחֲרֵי-כֵן, יָבוֹא אֶל-הַמַּחֲנֶה.”

“And he that letteth go the goat for Azazel shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he may come into the camp.”

What does “Azazel” meanas?

Azazel is an enigmatic name from the Hebrew Scriptures and Apocrypha The name Azazel is a combination of the words Azaz (“rugged”) and El (“God”).

Jewish rabbis, interpreting “Azazel” as Azaz and el, refer it to the rugged and rough mountain cliff from which the scapegoat was cast down on Yom Kippur when the Jewish Temples in Jerusalem stood. A few modern commentators have suggested that Azazel was the name of a desert demon.

In the kabbalistic and midrashic literature, Azazel is considered to be a composite name for two fallen angels, Uza and Azael, who had come down to earth at the time of Tubal Cain and had become corrupted in their ways.

In Modern Hebrew slang “go to Azazel” means “go to hell.I wish you all to go to heaven!!!

main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com

Amos 5:15 – to hate the evil and to love the good- is it possible?

Posted by Eli Dahan on June 26, 2009 under Bible, Biblical Hebrew | Be the First to Comment

introduction

In the scriptures we cam find 2 main ways to serve the lord: firstly, by giving The Lord the sacrifices in every time when you see him in the temple, let us call this the instrument way; secondly, by feeling him in the heart, which was the place of thinking according to the time the scriptures have been written. Certainly, that we can find believers then and today that served The Lord in both of the ways.

Amos way

In the book of Amos we can find the second way as the star the shining, and the first as the fallen star. Amos, who lived in the 8^th century B.C.E , and predicted by his prophecies the fall of the northern kingdom, saying in all of his book consistently : do justice, look after the poor people, do not abuse the widow, and when he has to speak about the correct way to serve The Lord he sais to us in chapter 5:15

    שִׂנְאוּ-רָע וְאֶהֱבוּ טוֹב, וְהַצִּיגוּ בַשַּׁעַר מִשְׁפָּט

“Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate” (King James Version)

Is it possible?

From my point of you, the first two words of Amos are possible but optional, because we can choose that we will focus on the second two words, we can focus in loving, in doing good, and in loving the good and the goodness that The Lord gave us. We will help the widows, we will donate for the poor people, we will not make the trials unjustice- this is the way, my friends, this is the way…

main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com

Psalms 1- who is the just person?

Posted by Eli Dahan on June 24, 2009 under Bible, Biblical Hebrew | 2 Comments to Read

Introduction

When the bible wants to speak about the just person, the person who do good things to the environment, he gives us a metaphor, that’s related to one of the most important subjects today, ecology. The metaphor is a plant that has roots and fruits, a plant that has a lot of water around him, a plant that does not have any gender nor nation.

The plant

The best way to describe this plant is to look at the words of psalms 1 and to see how the plant give us the hope, that we just need the water in order to maintain and achieve the justice in the world.

Let us see some words of the psalms (1:1-4)

“אַשְׁרֵי הָאִישׁ  אֲשֶׁר לֹא הָלַךְ, בַּעֲצַת רְשָׁעִים;וּבְדֶרֶךְ חַטָּאִים, לֹא עָמָד, וּבְמוֹשַׁב לֵצִים, לֹא יָשָׁב.

 כִּי אִם בְּתוֹרַת יְהוָה, חֶפְצוֹ;    וּבְתוֹרָתוֹ יֶהְגֶּה, יוֹמָם וָלָיְלָה.  וְהָיָה  כְּעֵץ, שָׁתוּל עַל-פַּלְגֵי-מָיִם:

אֲשֶׁר פִּרְיוֹ, יִתֵּן בְּעִתּוֹ–וְעָלֵהוּ לֹא-יִבּוֹל;    וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר-יַעֲשֶׂה יַצְלִיחַ.

  לֹא-כֵן הָרְשָׁעִים:    כִּי אִם-כַּמֹּץ, אֲשֶׁר-תִּדְּפֶנּוּ רוּחַ““

“Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away”

The function of the wind

We can see that the psalmist wanted to show us what is right to do and how to behave and serve the lord, but he didn’t just write about the just. He also wrote about the unjust, the man who’s making the sins, and the function of the wind is to get rid of the unjust people, in order to make our plants with the best fruit they can get.

When god gave us the people of the world the instructions how to live he gave us the water to make the plants bloom – we should try harder to follow this, and then we can go back to the garden of eden, the best place to be with the best plants ……

main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com

Gog and Magog war

Posted by Eli Dahan on June 23, 2009 under Bible, Biblical Hebrew | Be the First to Comment

The battle of Gog and Magog is an event, which plays a prominent role in Jewish, Islamic and Christian eschatology. Although the scenarios have different results, all three faiths see Gog and Magog as a major event.

. According to Jewish tradition, the Gog and Magog war is set between a massive coalition of nations descended from Noah’s sons Japheth and Ham against Israel. Those nations will rise against Israel and the leaders of those nations will be Gog and Magog.

 This war will be very hard and dangerous, but at the end of it, God will defeat Gog .By His supernatural victory in the Gog and Magog battle, God reintroduces himself to the world and declares in no uncertain terms that he is personally defending Israel. In the Old Testament, we can find a reference to Gog and Magog war in The Book of Ezekiel (38:18-23)

“ וְהָיָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא, בְּיוֹם בּוֹא גוֹג עַל-אַדְמַת יִשְׂרָאֵל–נְאֻם, אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה:  תַּעֲלֶה חֲמָתִי, בְּאַפִּי.  וּבְקִנְאָתִי בְאֵשׁ-עֶבְרָתִי, דִּבַּרְתִּי:  אִם-לֹא בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא, יִהְיֶה רַעַשׁ גָּדוֹל, עַל, אַדְמַת יִשְׂרָאֵל.  וְרָעֲשׁוּ מִפָּנַי דְּגֵי הַיָּם וְעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וְחַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה, וְכָל-הָרֶמֶשׂ הָרֹמֵשׂ עַל-הָאֲדָמָה, וְכֹל הָאָדָם, אֲשֶׁר עַל-פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה; וְנֶהֶרְסוּ הֶהָרִים, וְנָפְלוּ הַמַּדְרֵגוֹת, וְכָל-חוֹמָה, לָאָרֶץ תִּפּוֹל.   וְקָרָאתִי עָלָיו לְכָל-הָרַי חֶרֶב, נְאֻם אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה:  חֶרֶב אִישׁ, בְּאָחִיו תִּהְיֶה. וְנִשְׁפַּטְתִּי אִתּוֹ, בְּדֶבֶר וּבְדָם; וְגֶשֶׁם שׁוֹטֵף וְאַבְנֵי אֶלְגָּבִישׁ אֵשׁ וְגָפְרִית, אַמְטִיר עָלָיו וְעַל-אֲגַפָּיו, וְעַל-עַמִּים רַבִּים, אֲשֶׁר אִתּוֹ.  וְהִתְגַּדִּלְתִּי, וְהִתְקַדִּשְׁתִּי, וְנוֹדַעְתִּי, לְעֵינֵי גּוֹיִם רַבִּים; וְיָדְעוּ, כִּי-אֲנִי יְהוָה.” 

” This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign LORD. In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground. I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign LORD. Every man’s sword will be against his brother. I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’

The Nations

The names of the territories that comprise the invading nations in the Gog and Magog Battle are:Rosh, Magog, Meshech, Tubal, Persia, Cush, Gomer and Beth-torarmah.

Absent from this list of Middle Eastern nations are those surrounding modern day Israel, such as Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Gaza, the Arab nations and Iraq. Ezekiel (38:13) describes these nations as just observing

When this war will happen?

The timing of this war, and what follows is an issue of debate by those who study Bible prophecy.  The battle of Gog and Magog is a seminal event in the bible but there is no fact of the actual time this war will take place.However, from the prophecy of Ezekiel we can see that it will be seven-years, which follows the defeat of the armies of Gog and Magog, when Israel burns the weapons, and continually buries the dead.

In conclusion, we can see that each relation talks about a future war and the end of days. However, we have to remember what will come after those wars: peace and unity between all nations…

main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com