LIFE, DEATH, LIFEISRAEL’S CYCLE OF RENEWAL

Chadbourne Zitek

Have you ever noticed a sort of pattern in your spiritual walk with Yahweh? On a personal level, hopefully we all strive to meet with Yah during the week. We pray to Him for intimacy, and we try to keep His commandments. But as a result of living a normal human life, we get distracted - in fact, we can get to the point where we haven’t prayed or picked up a Bible to read for weeks, months, let alone study it the way we are commanded to. (2 Tim 2:15)

During this time of distraction, we begin to fall prey to the desires of the flesh. We start to loosen up, and we soon aren’t acting or being as holy as we ought to. Sometimes, in this mode, we fall prey to sin, and then shame and guilt.

How does this cycle in our personal lives relate to exile and regathering? How have we seen this manifested before? Can this cycle be broken? Who is the one presiding over this seeming chaos?

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Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the Torah of YHWH; and in his Torah does he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper. The wicked are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away...Psalm 1:1-4

This reminds me of another verse...

“And he gave some to be Sh’lachim (Apostles), and some, Navi’im (Prophets), and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the Kedoshim (Holy Ones), for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Messiah: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of Elohim, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Messiah: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, Messiah...”Ephesians 4: 11-15

Here, Shaul goes so far to suggest that the “children, tossed to and fro by winds of doctrine” are synonymous with the wicked, who are like chaff that the wind drives away. Shouldn’t this be an injunction against us, not to just go along in our life, content to accept whatever doctrines we hear, agreeing with whatever someone might say, to our own detriment? Is this not an injunction against us in the Hebrew Roots movement as well, who, though seeking truth, often times simply have an ear that itches for new doctrines, failing to judge righteously? Thus we see descriptions of the righteous and of the wicked. A righteous people are a united people. They do not drift to and fro, from place to place, with no accountability. They are planted by streams of water (teaching), and they have their gifts that they bring to the table. They are part of the Assembly of Yahweh. They do not divide over every wind of doctrine, yet, they do all work together as a body, with the same checks and balances a body has.

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I believe that these two states correspond symbolically with life and death. Let’s go through the Scriptures and discover what the Word of Yahweh says. If you think you’re doing okay just because you go to

church, fellowship, or synagogue every week and for the Holy Days, you’re wrong. Being in the category of the righteous means a completely invested life. Anything less is wicked. Let’s go into the Torah and learn about the wickedness of our Fathers, first.

In the Torah, Yahweh commanded our people to keep the Sabbath of the Land, called Shmitta. This is found in the Torah Portion Bechukkotai (Leviticus 25):

When you come to the land that I am giving you, the land shall rest a Sabbath to YHWH. You may sow your field for six years, and for six years you may prune your vineyard, and gather in its produce, but in the seventh year, the land shall have a complete rest a Sabbath to YHWH; you shall not sow your field, nor shall you prune your vineyard. You shall not reap the aftergrowth of your harvest, and you shall not pick the grapes you had set aside, it shall be a year of rest for the land. -Lev 25:1-5

Also, see Leviticus 25:19-23.

And in Leviticus 26: 14-35, Adonai said:

But if you do not listen to Me and do not perform all these commandments, and if you despise My statutes and reject My ordinances, not performing any of My commandments, thereby breaking My covenant then I too, will do the same to you; I will order upon you shock, consumption, fever, and diseases that cause hopeless longing and depression. You will sow your seed in vain, and your enemies will eat it. I will set My attention against you, and you will be smitten before your enemies. Your enemies will rule over you; you will flee, but no one will be pursuing you. And if, during these, you will not listen to Me, I will add another seven punishments for your sins: I will break the pride of your strength and make your skies like iron and your land like copper. Your strength will be expended in vain; your land will not yield its produce, neither will the tree of the earth give forth its fruit. And if you treat Me as happenstance, and you do not wish to listen to

Me, I will add seven punishments corresponding to your sins: I will incite the wild beasts of the field against you, and they will bereave you, utterly destroy your livestock and diminish you, and your roads will become desolate.

And if, through these, you will still not be chastised to return to Me, and if you treat Me happenstance, then I too, will treat you as happenstance. I will again add seven punishments for your sins: I will bring upon you an army that avenges the avenging of a covenant, and you will gather into your cities. I will incite the plague in your midst, and you will be delivered into the enemy's hands, when I break for you the staff of bread, and ten women will bake your bread in one oven, and they will bring back your bread by weight, and you will eat, yet not be satisfied. And if, despite this, you still do not listen to Me, still treating Me as happenstance, I will treat you with a fury of happenstance, adding again seven chastisements for your sins: You will eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters you will eat. I will demolish your edifices and cut down your sun idols; I will make your corpses [fall] upon the corpses of your idols, and My Spirit will reject you. I will lay your cities waste and make your holy places desolate, and I will not partake of your pleasant fragrances. I will make the Land desolate, so that it will become desolate [also] of your enemies who live in it. And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword after you. Your land will be desolate, and your cities will be laid waste.

Then, the land will be appeased regarding its sabbaticals. During all the days that it remains desolate while you are in the land of your enemies, the Land will rest and thus appease its sabbaticals. It will rest during all the days that it remains desolate, whatever it had not rested on your sabbaticals, when you lived upon it. -Leviticus 26: 14-35

The commandment of YHWH was for a Sabbath rest for the land. In this very portion, is the description of one of the great sins of our Fathers, and its punishment given. In 930 CE, under the reign of Rehoboam the son of Solomon, the Nation of Israel split into two Kingdoms: The northern Kingdom of 10 Tribes (under Jeroboam) and

the southern Kingdom of 2 tribes (under Rehoboam). “And [the Northern Kingdom of] Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.” (2 Chronicles 10:19) After this split took place, the northern Kingdom sought to establish themselves independently of the southern Kingdom, however, this couldn’t be done completely unless the religious people were given a different temple to worship at. The Temple of YHWH’s Name was in the Southern Kingdom. So Jeroboam commissioned the making of golden calves placed at Bethel and Dan, and plunged the Kingdom of Israel, the 10 tribes, into idolatry.

What happened later is no surprise. The Israelites, having abandoned Torah, and embracing idolatry, stopped keeping the shmita year. Thus, they were exiled from the Land, with Judah to be exiled shortly after for the same reason. This fulfilled the cause and effect prophecy/commandment we just read from Leviticus 26. Based on these Scriptures, in Pirkei Avot, the Rabbis said it like this: “Exile comes into the world…on account of not keeping the Shmita of the Land.”

So Israel became deadened to YHWH, and was punished as a result, until, the Scriptures say, we repent of our actions. To recap, Israel was on a high point, with the building of the Temple, and the best economy they had seen yet, with peace and a wise King to rule them...and from there, they went downhill, losing sight of what brought them blessing in the first place. It’s a pretty good example of falling away from YHWH, becoming dead in sins/flesh, and soon the physical reality mirrors the spiritual one.

Yet, in the end, the exile of the Northern Tribes of Israel served a purpose - to fulfill the promises of Yahweh to Abraham, and to bring Israel to life once more.

And here we are - the tribes of Israel scattered among the nations. We don’t know whats good for ourselves, most of us don’t know who we are, or even what the commandments of YHWH are. But are we beyond hope? Not so!

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That’s an example of a nation falling, but do we fall? You bet!

Though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes. -Proverbs 24:16

I want to be clear here: I am not saying that if you don’t have time to study Torah all day long, you have lapsed into sin. I’m not saying that if you don’t happen to think consciously about YHWH 24/7 then you are an evil person. In fact, Ecclesiastes 7:16 says:

Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself ? (Ecclesiastes 7:16)

And Proverbs says:

When you find honey, eat only what is sufficient for you, lest you become stuffed with it and vomit it up. (Proverbs 25:16)

What I AM saying is that the pattern of losing sight of what is important in life, and becoming distracted to the point where you DON’T read your Scriptures, or you just plain don’t pray, is wrong. It will lead you to veer away from YHWH and toward the world. But as Provers 24:16 says, even the righteous sin, but the difference is, they pick themselves up and keep trying. When the righteous experience “death”, they resurrect...

Now, I’d like to look at a promise from Elohim about what type of people we are. This verse recently struck me differently than it normally does, and I’d like to share my thoughts with you.

“[I have sworn] that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies...” Genesis 22:17

Here, YHWH blesses Abraham’s seed, saying that they will multiply and possess the gates of their enemies. Essentially, Yahweh’s promise to Abraham is in the process of being fulfilled even in this day! The 10 Tribes have been scattered among the nations, and soon we will possess the gates of our enemies. But as I looked at this text, I wondered to myself if there was another layer of meaning that I was missing. What if the “Sand upon the sea shore” is more than just an idiom, but rather a picture of what we are?

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First off, here’s the text in Hebrew and in English:

כי־בר אברכ והרבה ארבה את־זרע ככוכבי השמים וכחול אשר על־שפת הים וירש זרע את שער איביו

That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which [is] upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies

First word of interest is “sand”, חול, which is from a root spelled the same way. The root word carries a meaning of rolling and sliding about. It is translated as “twirl, dance, to be in anguish, to writhe, to be in distress, etc. As you can see, all of these words connote a twisting of some sort, denoting either twisting in anxiety or twisting from joy, in dance or praise. A blessed meaning, and a cursed meaning...

The Hebrew word for sea is ים, “Yam”. It refers to a sea as being a large body and collection of water, to which rivers and streams flow. In Ancient Paleo Hebrew, it shows a hand of action, and the waters. In the newer Hebrew it shows a hand and a closed (virgin) womb. We will talk about these momentarily.

Of course the plain text meaning is there. YHWH is saying to Abraham - your descendents will be NUMEROUS! So numerous, you won’t even

be able to consider the vast amount that there are! In fact, it would be impossible to count them all. But what does the text say, perhaps on another layer?

As I read this verse, I began to ask myself...how do beaches work, anyways?

It is here that I would like to get a good look at what Yahweh is saying to Abraham in light of the way beaches and dunes work.

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My first question was, where does sand come from? If Yahweh said we would be like the sand of the sea shore, I would like to know where that sand comes from and how that applies to me. Much of my content here is taken from seafriends.org.

“Every kind of rock weathers slowly by breaking apart into different substances. Whereas mechanical forces such as wind, rain, hail and ice may break the rock into smaller parts with identical chemical properties as the parent material, spontaneous and chemical weathering change its nature.”

So we see firstly that the sand comes from rocks and earth, yet it has been weathered by wind and other elements, as well as chemically weathered. Do you know that you come from earth also? Genesis records how Yah created man from the dust. So too, sand comes from earth and rock that is eroded and weathered. The wind blowing on this earth is what effects much of this erosion, just as the ruach - YHWH’s wind - should erode the parts of us that ought not to be there. Or perhaps, to look at it from the cursed point of view...the pressures of the World are eroding you, and changing your nature. Hmm...

When soil erodes, all of its components wash down into the sea. Here the water movement sieves the loam into its components, each

sedimenting in different areas of the continental shelf and slope. Sand being the largest, is transported by waves towards the coast where it may end up on a beach.

Closer to the beach the sand movement is an every day affair and in the breaker zone huge quantities are moved almost every hour. As waves move sand towards the beach, gravity and back-wash move it back again at the same rate.

You know how sometimes you feel like the world is pulling you, but so is the Ruach (Spirit)? Perhaps you’re not far up enough on shore. You will find yourself in a chaotic life if you do not choose a side. “Because you are lukewarm, I am about to spit you out of my mouth...” (Revelation 3:16)

The big difference comes once the sand remains on the beach, dries out during the low tide and is removed by the sea wind. This sand can no longer be reached by normal waves. As the wind brushes over the dried beach, it pushes sand up-hill in a jumping motion (saltation). The sand grains of which dunes are made, are too large to blow like dust clouds in the wind but they can saltate rapidly like a moving sheet over the ground. Once particles fall into the lee (wind shade) of the foredune, they stay there, making it appear as if the dune rolls backward to the next dune and so on. In this manner sand is pumped out of the sea. It is the mechanism by which a beach can repair (rebuild) storm damage. The wind transportation is much slower than that of water and it may take weeks to repair the damage a storm can do in one hour.

So during low tide, the sand grains dry out how? The wind! They are then blown by the wind up towards the dune, and after they have come into the shade out of the wind, there they are congregated into dunes eventually. Isn’t this just like us? From being inside the sea (death), we then are born again, and the Ruach ha’Kodesh will gently blow us back towards the dune, safe from the tumultuous sea, and towards the congregation of the brothers. This is the mechanism that beaches repair themselves, and it is the mechanism that YHWH will use to repair His beach!

This diagram shows the cycle of sand from the land into the sea, and back onto the land again. As we explained, erosion and weathering wear down the earth, rocks, and minerals, and cause the sand to become dislodged. It is then taken to the ocean, and is sucked into the deep sand areas of the coast, where gravity drift or storm waves will dislodge and send those grains of sand up the sand bars and towards the beach. Once it hits the beach, it is moved along by wind, which will move it away from the raging of the sea and settle it with other grains of sand, out of the reach of the ocean waves. These accumulate and become dunes. However, if the sand does not begin to stick together, bond, or firm up somehow, it will be blown right back to the sea eventually and have to start the whole process over.

Through this scientific introduction into the way that beaches work, it is no surprise that the word for sand, חול, also means to roll, slide about, and twist. That is definitely what sand does. It is also enlightening to see the pictures that Yah wishes for us to learn from this.

As the last sentence says - if the sand doesn’t start to bond and stick together, it will go right back into the sea and must start the process over. If we are constantly divided, we will be disciplined. And it is not enough to simply be united. We must be united together in Messiah, the Living Torah. Those who choose not to unite in Messiah, but to spread division, will be chastened. They will find themselves in the sea, like Jonah.

Those winds will blow us into the sea, where we will rest until the storms come to remove us again. This parallels the fact that if we sin against Yahweh or disregard Him, he will send us trials to test us or punishments to chasten us. These are like the sea, which is representative of death.

You can either be in the sea dying to yourself and learning how to live in troubled times or persecution, or you can be in the sea as a result of a sin committed. This is also pictured by the mikveh, or baptism, where the old nature dies and the new nature lives.

While in troubles, Yah will send storms to get you out. Respond to these storms in your life positively, because with them Yah is attempting to grow you.

As you do, you will be deposited onto the shore. It is here that the Holy Spirit, the רוח or “Ruach” (meaning wind and spirit), will fill you and lead you along this path.

If this is to be a permanent solution, you must unite with the Body of Messiah and continue to grow there. There is oversight, and many who are able to help you and guide you through this process. If the grain doesn’t fuse with other sand grains, or rock, it will likely be swashed away again.

YHWH is the El of the Sea, the God of the West (and the whole earth)...do not fear, He is in control of this purging process! Just respond the way he wishes and we ourselves will “tremble from the west”!

This process may seem incredibly volatile, but it is completely under control. Things are changing in life, everything from our temporal point of view is never concrete - but with Elohim, nothing comes as a surprise. Let’s look at this name - Elohim - and see how it relates to what we’re talking about.

Elohim is spelled אלהים - usually interpreted as a singular word with a plural ending, denoting multiple facets to the singular word. However, I noticed that this word can actually be a composite of two words:

God of the sea - אל הים

“God of the sea”? Well we see so many examples of this in the Scripture! Through water and by water, the earth was created according to 2 Peter 3:5. The Ruach hovered over the waters, indicating authority, in Genesis 1:2. Through the Great Flood, he showed His authority over the sea. During the Exodus, he parted the Yam Suf for the children of Israel to pass through. He used the seas to punish Jonah for going astray. The prophets commonly passed through great rivers or seas in the same way as the exodus. The Messiah calmed the sea. And in the end days, we know that Yah will again use the sea for judgement upon the earth - it will cause dismay because of its roaring and tossing (Luke 21).

Also, we see another confirmation that Heaven is the source of the sea’s authority in the very word for “Heavens” - שמים! This word can be broken down in many ways, but one of them would be שם ים, meaning “Name [of the] Sea” or “Sea’s authority”. The Shamayim are the authority of the sea. The sea will only go where it goes depending on the heavenly bodies, such as the moon, or the axis of the earth. Again, the

Hebrew words written thousands of years ago confirm the science we are just now in modern days discovering.

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Now, if we look at the picture language of the word Elohim, it will give us even more insight. א is an ox, meaning “strong”, or “mighty” in the agrarian society of the day. ל is a shepherd’s staff, denoting “leading” or “leader”. ה in ancient paleo is a man waving his arms in worship, as if drawing attention to something. In more modern times, it has taken the shape of a window. Both meanings denote “revealing” or “revelation”. is a picture of a working hand, as opposed to the kaph which is an open יhand. And finally, ם is in the ancient Hebrew a picture of the waters, and in modern Hebrew a picture of the womb. So the name Elohim would spell out:

The strong leader is revealed by His hand working the waters (or the womb). - אלהים

Yahweh is glorified, and His working hand, His right hand (Yeshua) is revealed in the working of the waters/womb! So though it seems like when we go into the grave, when we are in the watery sepulcher of the sea, that things are out of control, and we have no hope - Yahweh is the El of the Sea! He is glorified when he works the sea! When He works the womb! In fact, the “Strong Leader is revealed by His Right Hand (Yeshua) in the womb” - this is the final mem also (a final mem ם is closed where an open mem מ is opened), meaning that it is inferring a closed womb...a virgin womb. Could the name Elohim also be a prophecy of the virgin birth of the Messiah? Yahweh being revealed by His Right Hand in the virgin womb?

See, the sea is the womb. When we go into the mikveh, when we are in a hard spot in life, going through testings, a seemingly dead spot - we have

the opportunity to be born again, to come out of the sea just as the sand of the shore.

So that is what is special about the people of Israel, and YHWH’s covenant with Abraham. We are not just a great multitude. YHWH promised Ishmael that he would become a great nation. But Ishmael’s seed wouldn’t be like the sand of the sea shore. No, Israel is not just another great multitude - we are a multitude that is in a relationship with the Most High. The type of relationship that brings testing and refining, to bring us to the ultimate goal - “unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of Elohim, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Messiah”

Finally, read John 3:1-10 and see if you read it in a different light now. May Yahweh, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth and the Sea, be blessed and may you follow the leading of His Ruach (Wind)!

There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Yeshua by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from Elohim: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except Elohim be with him.

Yeshua answered and said unto him, “Amen, Amen, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of Elohim (El ha’yam).”

Nicodemus saith unto him, “How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?”

Yeshua answered, “Amen, amen, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and the Ruach (wind), he cannot enter into the kingdom of Elohim. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Ruach is ruach. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind blows where it will, and thou hearest the sound thereof,

but cannot tell from whence it cometh, and where it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Ruach.”

Nicodemus answered and said unto him, “How can these things be?”

Yeshua answered and said unto him, “Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?”

Let us heed the call to be “born again”, and to be bonded firmly one to another, not being shaken by the winds of doctrine but being rooted firmly in Messiah.