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יתרו Yitro (Jethro – ‘He will exceed’)
Exodus 18:1 – 20:23(26)
This is a momentous Parsha where Israel is given the ten commandments in Exodus chapter 20.
Our Parsha begins in chapter 18 where we get the name for the Parsha, Yitro, from Jethro. Jethro comes out to join with Moses and gives him good advice for sharing the burden of Leadership.
Then in Chapter 19 Moses makes his first accent up to Mount Sinai to receive the Torah.
We will do a word study concentrating on the name ‘Sinai’ and it’s relationship to other related names in order to shed light on what Sinai is all about.
| סִינָי סֶנֶּה שֵׁן סנסן סִיוָן נִיסָן | Sinai Seneh sharp bough/twig Sivan Nisan |
סִינָי Sinai
Let’s have a look at our first word, Sinai and try and figure out what Mt Sinai is all about. We read that the receiving of the Torah at mount Sinai Occurs on the third month.
1 In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai. 2 For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount.
Exodus 19:1-2
בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁלִישִׁי לְצֵאת בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם בַּיֹּום הַזֶּה בָּאוּ מִדְבַּר סִינָי׃ וַיִּסְעוּ מֵרְפִידִים וַיָּבֹאוּ מִדְבַּר סִינַי וַֽיַּחֲנוּ בַּמִּדְבָּר וַיִּֽחַנ־שָׁם יִשְׂרָאֵל נֶגֶד הָהָר׃
As to the meaning of Sinai, Strongs concordance is not much help…
H5514 סיני sı̂ynay see-nah'ee
Of uncertain derivation; Sinai, a mountain of Arabia: - Sinai.
So we will have to do some comparisons with similar words.
סנה seneh – bush, sharp
The first thing to note is that Sinai seems to be related to things that are sharp if we compare this noun to similarly spelt verbs. Let’s have a look at the word for ‘bush‘ in Hebrew, seneh, סְנֶה.
And for the precious things of the earth and fulness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren.
Deuteronomy 33:16
וּמִמֶּגֶד אֶרֶץ וּמְלֹאָהּ וּרְצֹון שֹׁכְנִי סְנֶה תָּבֹואתָה לְרֹאשׁ יֹוסֵף וּלְקָדְקֹד נְזִיר אֶחָיו׃
H5572 סנה seneh
From an unused root meaning to prick; a bramble: - bush.
Total KJV Occurrences: 6
- bush, 6
Ex 3:2-4 (5), Deut 33:16
So ‘seneh‘ is a prickly bush. Are there any other indications that ‘seneh‘ means prickly? Well the word for teeth is ‘shen‘ which comes from the idea of being sharp. The word for teeth and sharp in Hebrew is shen, שֵׁן.
And between the passages, by which Jonathan sought to go over unto the Philistines’ garrison, there was a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side: and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.
1 Samuel 14:4
וּבֵין הַמַּעְבְּרֹות אֲשֶׁר בִּקֵּשׁ יֹונָתָן לַעֲבֹר עַל־מַצַּב פְּלִשְׁתִּים שֵׁן־הַסֶּלַע מֵהָעֵבֶר מִזֶּה וְשֵׁן־הַסֶּלַע מֵהָעֵבֶר מִזֶּה וְשֵׁם הָאֶחָד בֹּוצֵץ וְשֵׁם הָאֶחָד סֶנֶּה׃
The idea of bush is also used in Song of Songs where it is translated as boughs in the KJV. The Hebrew word translated ‘boughs‘ is ‘sansin‘ סַנְסִן.
I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like apples;
Song of Solomon 7:8
אָמַרְתִּי אֶעֱלֶה בְתָמָר אֹחֲזָה בְּסַנְסִנָּיו וְיִֽהְיוּ־נָא שָׁדַיִךְ כְּאֶשְׁכְּלֹות הַגֶּפֶן וְרֵיחַ אַפֵּךְ כַּתַּפּוּחִים׃
H5577 סנסן sansin san-seen'
From an unused root meaning to be pointed; a twig (as tapering): - bough.
So we have the idea of Sinai being related to something sharp which is also related to the boughs of a prickly bush which is related to the bride. It is interesting that Sinai is related to the bride. Israel was encamped around Mount Sinai like a bride waiting for her King (until she fell).
סִיוָן Sivan
Let’s investigate the possible meaning of the ‘third Month’ when the Torah is initially received during Shavuot (Pentecost). Perhaps that can tell us a bit more about what Sinai is about. We read about the third month in the book of Esther where it is given a Persian name, Sivan, סִיוָן.
Then were the king’s scribes called at that time in the third month, that is, the month Sivan, …
Esther 8:9
וַיִּקָּרְאוּ סֹפְרֵי־הַמֶּלֶךְ בָּעֵת־הַהִיא בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁלִישִׁי
הוּא־חֹדֶשׁ סִיוָן
H5510 סיון sı̂yvân see-vawn'
Probably of Persian origin; Sivan, the third Hebrew month: - Sivan.
Of all the possible places where the name for the third Hebrew month could occur, it had to appear in the book of Esther. Esther represents the hidden Jewish bride, indeed her name when transliterated into Hebrew letters spells the word ‘I will hide’. Yahweh Hides and Esther is Hidden until the time of the Revelation (Hitgalut, התגלות). The giving of the Torah on Mt Sinai was the offer of the Covenant, it was a marriage contract between Yahweh and Israel and the congregation of Israel. This contract is given in the 3rd month, the month of ‘Sivan‘ from Mt Sinai.
Unfortunately that first covenant contained a curse so it had to wait until a better New Covenant was given. And this was paid for by Yeshua through the sacrifice of his body and sealed by his blood. However the Torah that was contained in the first covenant was not annulled. God just put that Torah in a New envelope with better promises, that is, the New Covenant.
And so the Congregation of Israel, the ‘Church’ (congregation) of the firstborn has received that promise. And now we are reaching the time when we can begin to walk according to Torah as Israelites and members of the church of the firstborn. And this ‘Church’ or congregation was begun 50 days after the Passover in which our Lord Yeshua Died. The Pentecost in Acts 2 was the inauguration of the feminine body of Messiah, the ‘Church’, of which Messiah Yeshua is the Head.
And if Esther represents the church which is the related to the seed of the Woman, then Haman represents the Seed of the Serpent. In revelation chapter 12 we see the dragon cast down to the earth while the seed of the woman ascends to God. When Satan’s people go down, the Lord’s people go up. Now the Church of the firstborn was born in Acts chapter 2 during Pentecost which is in the month of Sivan.
Thus in Esther 8:7-9 we read that Haman the Aggagite, the evil descendant of Amalek, is hung during the month of Sivan. Remember Sivan is the third month when Israel received the Torah. So prophetically when the congregation of Israel truly receives the Torah then Amalek and Agag will die.
So Sinai is related to Sivan, the third month, which is related to Esther which is related to the Church of the firstborn.
ניסן Nisan
Very interestingly the word for third month, Sivan, סיון
has the same main letters as the name for the first month, Nisan, נִיסָן. And so there is a relationship between what Sinai and Shavuot/Pentecost represents during Sivan and what Passover represents.
H5212 ניסן nı̂ysân nee-sawn'
Probably of foreign origin; Nisan, the first month of the Jewish sacred year: - Nisan.
BDB Definition:
Nisan = “their flight”
1) the 1st month of the Jewish calendar corresponding to March or April
H5211 ניס nı̂ys neece
From H5127; fugitive: – that fleeth.
Jer 48:44 He that fleeth (ניס) from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare:
The word for Nisan is related to the Hebrew word for miracle, ‘nes’ in the sense that it shares two of the letters.
H5251 נס nês nace
From H5264; a flag; also a sail; by implication a flagstaff; generally a signal; figuratively a token: - banner, pole, sail, (en-) sign, standard.
There is a link between the book of Esther and Nisan, the first month. And again that verse relates directly to Haman. Here we see that the entire yearly cycle of 12 months from Nisan to Adar is mentioned in relation to the lots cast by Haman.
In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar.
Esther 3:7
בַּחֹדֶשׁ הָרִאשֹׁון הוּא־חֹדֶשׁ נִיסָן בִּשְׁנַת שְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה לַמֶּלֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵרֹושׁ הִפִּיל פּוּר הוּא הַגֹּורָל לִפְנֵי הָמָן מִיֹּום לְיֹום וּמֵחֹדֶשׁ לְחֹדֶשׁ שְׁנֵים־עָשָׂר הוּא־חֹדֶשׁ אֲדָר׃
There is a link between the twelve months of the Hebrew year and the 12 tribes of Israel. And Esther is a picture of the bride and the congregation of Israel. In Revelation chapter 12, the old Serpent Satan with 7 heads and 10 horns seeks to destroy this Israelite bride. It just so happens that with one third of the angels he is still unable to destroy or even touch her. She is untouchable because she is keeping covenant. She is in the wilderness just like Israel at mount Sinai, but unlike then, the bride here in Revelation has made herself ready, she is standing on the moon and dressed in white -“clothed with the Sun”. The dragon cannot touch her. The 7 heads may represent the 7 Canaanite nations while the 10 horns represent the 10 Kingdoms which may each be ruled by one of the descendants of Amalek. It is not for nothing that Haman’s 10 sons are mentioned in the book of Esther. They may indeed represent and prefigure these 10 evil Kings in the last days.
הָמָן Haman , מָן Manna & מִן a New Species
Now the name, Haman, הָמָן
is similar in spelling to the word for Manna, מָן which in turn has the same spelling as the Hebrew word for species or kind, ‘min‘ מִן.
H4327 מין mı̂yn meen
From an unused root meaning to portion out; a sort, that is, species: - kind. Compare H4480.
Total KJV Occurrences: 31
- kind, 30
Gen 1:11-12 (3), 1:21 (2), 1:24-25 (5), 6:20 (3), 11:14-16 (7), 11:19, 22 (4), 11:29, Deut 14:13-15 (3), 14:18 - kinds, 1
Ezek 47:10
Thus Haman represents a species that is opposed to Israel and God’s Word. While Israel represents the New Species, מִן (if they feed on the Manna of God’s word).
And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.
Exodus 16:15
וַיִּרְאוּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמְרוּ אִישׁ אֶל־אָחִיו מָן הוּא כִּי לֹא יָדְעוּ מַה־הוּא וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה אֲלֵהֶם הוּא הַלֶּחֶם אֲשֶׁר נָתַן יְהוָה לָכֶם לְאָכְלָה׃
The Manna represents the bread of life, the word of God that came down from heaven, the bread from heaven.
32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
John 6:32-33
Yeshua is the word of God, the Aleph-Tav (Rev 1 & 22), He is God’s Son, the Son of God. The firstborn of all creation. And by partaking of His life and obedience to His word we become New Creations also.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17
So this is the purpose of the Lord God Yahweh יהוה, to bring about a New creation. And this is what the word of God incarnate, the bread that came down from heaven began to accomplish, John 6:51. This work will be completed when the New Covenant comes in it’s fullness (when sin no longer dwells in our flesh). This will happen when the Wife makes herself ready, Rev 19:7. This is at the time when Yeshua is about to take the earth by force and the Kingdom finally comes with the destruction of the antichrist beast and his evil Babylonian system.
Meanwhile we are looking forward to the time when the Lord pours out his Spirit on all flesh, Joel 2:30. This will begin the process of the restoration of the Kingdom to a united Israel and Judah and will allow the Israelite bride to begin the process of getting ready. The return to the land is only for the remnant of Israel that survives the turmoil of the coming judgment upon our sodomitish lands of America and Australia. The outpouring of God’s spirit occurs during a time of seismic upheaval and nuclear war described in scripture as ‘pillars‘ (lit. palmtrees) of smoke – Joel 2:30.
נִיסָן Nisan, יַיִן Wine & דם Blood
The price for that New Creation was paid for at Passover with the Sacrifice of the Passover Lamb, which was foreshadowed by the physical Passover in Egypt during the Exodus.
Remember that the covenant was agreed to at mount Sinai which is in the month of Sivan, the third month. But the blood price for this covenant was paid for at Passover, Pesach, in the first month Nisan.
In Nehemiah chapter 2 verse 1 we have the month of Nisan mentioned in relationship to the wine.
And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.
Nehemiah 2:1
וַיְהִי בְּחֹדֶשׁ נִיסָן שְׁנַת עֶשְׂרִים לְאַרְתַּחְשַׁסְתְּא הַמֶּלֶךְ יַיִן לְפָנָיו וָאֶשָּׂא אֶת־הַיַּיִן וָאֶתְּנָה לַמֶּלֶךְ וְלֹא־הָיִיתִי רַע לְפָנָיו׃
Wine is a picture of blood as in the blood of the grape. The letters for the word for ‘wine‘, are contained within the word Nisan, נִיסָן.
H3196 יין yayin yah'-yin
From an unused root meaning to effervesce; wine (as fermented); by implication intoxication: - banqueting, wine, wine [-bibber].
Now the wine of Yeshua’s blood, the passover lamb, paid the price of our redemption. This occurred during Nisan, the month of miracle, nes. And the miracle was that Yeshua was raised from the dead, even as Israel arose out of the living death of Egyptian tyranny many years earlier. (This should give us hope during the current exile from the land while we await the coming of the Kingdom of God).
Now the word for ‘blood‘, dam, דָם, is spelt the same as the word for ‘image‘, dom, דׂם. And it was his blood that not only saved us from our sins but also will restore us back to the ‘image‘, dom, דׂם of God, which is the ‘New Species’, min, מִן which the New Manna, מָן represents.
So Yeshua paid for this on the cross during Passover in the month of Nissan, the first month. Yeshua paid with the wine of His blood. This sad but necessary event will one day be replaced with joy. One day Yeshua will drink the good Wine in the Kingdom.
Now let’s begin to tie this all up….
Crown of Thorns
While heading to the cross during the first month Yeshua was forced to wear a crown of thorns by the cruel Edomitish Roman soldiers.
And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
Matthew 27:29
And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head,
Mark 15:17
And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,
John 19:2
Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!
John 19:5
G4735 στέφανος stephanos
Total KJV Occurrences: 18
- crown, 15
Mat 27:29, Mark 15:17, John 19:2, 19:5, 1Co 9:25, Phil 4:1, 1Thess 2:19, 2Tim 4:8, James 1:12, 1Pe 5:4, Rev 3:10-11 (2), Rev 6:2, Rev 12:1, Rev 14:14 - crowns, 3
Rev 4:4, Rev 4:10, Re 9:7
G173 ἄκανθα akantha
Total KJV Occurrences: 14
- thorns, 14
Mat 7:16, 13:7 (2), 13:22, 27:29, Mark 4:7 (2), 4:18, Luke 6:44, 8:7 (2), 8:14, John 19:2, Heb 6:8
Conclusion
The Torah was given to Israel from Mount Sinai. This occurred during the third month, the month of Sivan.
Sinai was a sharp place, a rocky place, a barren place and a dry place. It was a lonely place. It’s lonely at the top. It’s a very costly thing to be a true leader. Because a true leader is the servant of all. And to serve all faithfully we must come to an end of ourselves and realize our utter dependence upon the Lord for everything.
There is a link between the third month of ‘Sivan‘ where the bride received the marriage contract at mt Sinai and the first month of Nisan where the bridal price was paid for in blood. The months are linked in that they are anagrams of each other, they are spelt with the same letters rearranged (except for the vav). Nisan is the month of Miracle. Sivan is related to the bride and to Esther and the church.
What Yeshua is creating through his death, resurrection and tongues of fire at Pentecost is the beginning of a New Creation. A true New Order (2 Cor 5:17). And Haman represents the seed of the Serpent which is the other species, מן, min, that opposes this New Order. Haman being the Serpent’s Head of Satan’s New World Order which opposes God’s New Order.
Yeshua came to pay the price for bringing us into a new covenant and a new creation. After the price was paid on the cross during Passover the church of the firstborn was born with tongues of fire in Acts 2:1 during Pentecost/ Shavuot during the third month, Sivan, סיון. The Torah, the New Species was being made flesh amongst those gathered there.
Yeshua paid the bridal price and received the full sting of the serpent’s bite o the cross during Nisan. And that enabled the church to be born through tongues of fire.
In order to wear a ‘crown of light’ at Pentecost Yeshua wore a ‘crown of thorns’ at Passover (I am speaking metaphorically). In a way the church is his crowning achievement in the sense that the woman is the glory of the man. And to initiate this work he had to pay the most awful price.
Sinai is the place of exaltation. But to reach this place requires the absolute nullification of our selves in complete surrender to the higher will, the will of Yahweh God, יהוה אלהים.
If we would go higher we must go lower. We must be made meek and emptied of our ego and pride.
Moses was the most humble man on the earth, Num 12:1. And so he was able to go all the way up the mountain whereas the Israelites had to camp at it’s base, Ex 19:12-14.
This current world/age (עולם) is an evil age. To wear a ‘crown of light’ in this world to come is to wear a ‘crown of thorns’ down here (for a season). Of course Yeshua is the only true King worthy of that crown. Yet we are crucified with Him and so experience a little of what He experienced.
The place of exaltation is the place of abasement.
Yeshua climbed that hill one last time during His Passion and accepted the will of His Father. The Torah came down to man, clothed in the flesh of the son of man, and was lifted up before all men. There the thorns of Sinai and the curse were born in agony so that the glory of the invisible one would be made manifest, the pure goodness and moral glory of our Lord.
Exodus 34:5-7 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
וַיֵּרֶד יְהוָה בֶּֽעָנָן וַיִּתְיַץֵּב עִמֹּו שָׁם וַיִּקְרָא בְשֵׁם יְהוָה׃
וַיַּעֲבֹר יְהוָה עַל־פָּנָיו וַיִּקְרָא יְהוָה יְהוָה אֵל רַחוּם וְחַנּוּן אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וְרַב־חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת׃
נֹצֵר חֶסֶד לָאֲלָפִים נֹשֵׂא עָוֹן וָפֶשַׁע וְחַטָּאָה וְנַקֵּה לֹא יְנַקֶּה פֹּקֵד עֲוֹן אָבֹות עַל־בָּנִים וְעַל־בְּנֵי בָנִים עַל־שִׁלֵּשִׁים וְעַל־רִבֵּעִים׃
