by Rod Thomas | Mar 11, 2014 | Blog, Podcasts
For what great nation is there that has God as close to them as ADONAI our God is, whenever we call on him? 8 What great nation is there that has laws and rulings as just as this entire Torah which I am setting before you today? (Deu 4:7-8 CJB)
Having taken on the daily study of Torah in my life, I have come to terms with many interesting and important aspects and elements affecting my daily walk with Messiah. Some of these aspects and elements are good to know things while others are downright disturbing and are likely impediments in my relationship with the Eternal. I dare say that I probably get on God’s (or as I will use for the remainder of this post, Yehovah’s) nerves more times than I care to guess. I realize in the back of my mind that if I do not correct those deficiencies in my life, I stand the chance of damaging my long-term relationship with Yehovah.
The Wilderness Example
CJB Numbers 11:4 Next, the mixed crowd that was with them grew greedy for an easier life; while the people of Isra’el, for their part, also renewed their weeping and said, “If only we had meat to eat! (Num 11:4 CJB)
Numbers chapter 4 is one of those chapters of Torah (better known to western Christians as the Old Testament) that paints a vivid picture of a people in seemingly perpetual wandering. Initially, the escape from years of bondage under the cruelty of the Egyptians was obviously jubilant and auspicious. The stuff that epics such as the Charlton Heston’s and Cecil B. Demil’s classic the “10-Commandments” captured in all its perceived pomp and circumstance. Beautiful and handsome actors from the United States and Canada, made to look the part, brought a sense of awe and mystery to the story. Despite the brilliance of the film, it failed to capture the inner workings of the human experience: that is the struggles of the flesh as it attempted to fall in line with the requirements of a Holy God; the challenges associated with basic human relationships, especially when a mixed multitude accompanied the Exodus party; Yehovah’s overarching purposes in bringing His Chosen out of the land of Egypt and subjecting them to the many problems and challenges they were to experience. Even today, Orthodox Churchianity and her appendages fail to grasp the immense purpose behind Yehovah’s subjection of those whom He claimed to love to such stark and abject poverty and inconvenience. Beyond that the leaders of orthodox churchianity, these supposed learned men of God, consistently fail to seek the Spirit for understanding how their story (i.e., the children of Israel), their experiences, and their lives impact us today.
The Grace Doctrine Muddies the Water
This problem of minimizing the lessons that would be learned from the Sinai experience by western orthodox and popular churchianity teachers, I believe, may be attributed to the all-encompassing doctrine of grace. This doctrine, more than any, has resulted in millions throughout the centuries, missing entirely what their purpose in Jesus Christ (from this point forward, Yeshua HaMashiach) was. You see, sola gratia (Latin for grace only) requires very little of the child of the Most High to ensure his or her eternal security. In fact, sola gratia provides the would-be child of Yehovah with the opportunity to live as the uncontrollable brat he or she is predisposed to be. Overall, the focus is eschatological (that is, where will I spend eternity and how will I escape the tribulation). Is our only purpose as the redeemed of the Most High to aspire to an eternity that is NOT hell? How many a soul has prayed the sinner’s prayer, not for reasons of being a light to a lost world (Matthew 5: 14) or a friend to Yehovah (James 2: 23), but rather to avoid spending an eternity in hell? (Hell is an entirely separate topic of its own we may discuss at some future time, Yah willing.) Why have we missed the mark and abandoned this life we currently have for some ill-conceived and unbiblical life in heaven sometime in the perceived future? So much benefit is to be had here today in this world for the analogous benefits that salt brought to the ancient Middle East (Matthew 5:13). The preservative and flavor benefits translate into a picture of a people who would bring life to the world and the example by which the human race would be saved. Being the salt to the world as Messiah crowned every follower of His to become and remain, is indicative of the emphasis that Yeshua put on the here and now. He, Messiah, built His entire ministry on relationships–love for His Father and love for His people–the two great categorical basic elements of Torah. It is high-time my friends that we stop focusing on the future and eternity, but instead focus upon our relationships with both Yehovah and our brothers and sisters today. If we are faithful to do what the Master commanded us to do as His disciples, the future will indeed take care of itself. Needless to say, we have very little to no control of the future. What we do have influence over is our relationships with Father and those whom the Father has placed into our spheres of influence.
Weeping for the Wrong Thing
The children of Israel began to weep over lack of meat at the expressed lusting of the mixed multitude. Just prior to this episode, the Children of Israel murmured amongst themselves and against Yehovah for their present situation:
CJB Numbers 11:1 But the people began complaining about their hardships to ADONAI. When ADONAI heard it, his anger flared up, so that fire from ADONAI broke out against them and consumed the outskirts of the camp. 2 Then the people cried to Moshe, Moshe prayed to ADONAI, and the fire abated. 3 That place was called Tav’erah [burning] because ADONAI‘s fire broke out against them. (Num 11:1 CJB)
Thus, we have before us a very unhappy and depressed group all around.
The weeping of the Children of Israel was certainly misplaced here. Indeed the human flesh wants what it thinks it needs and what it selfishly wants. I ask you: knowing what we know about this situation, was the situation that the Chosen ones found themselves valid enough reason to weep before Yehovah and Moses and the hangers on?
I am a firm believer in cause and effect. My job as a Coroner’s Investigator is focused upon learning what the circumstances leading to the death in question were. Many a family member and associate of the deceased would query my staff and me as to the reasons for our inquiry, particularly when the cause of death appeared to be quite apparent. It all comes down to what were the driving elements that led to the death: why did the decedent crash his/her car? Were they sleep at the wheel? Did they have a cardiac event that caused them to become unconscious and lose control of their vehicle? Was someone else in the vehicle who distracted them and caused them to lose control of their car and then crash? Are there criminal elements associated with the death? Criminal negligence? Drugs? Psychological influences leading the individual to commit suicide maybe? The list can go on of course.
Many times, we weep for purposes of soliciting attention and sympathy from those around us, more so of course when we see ourselves incapable of containing or remedying a certain situation. Weeping in these cases seems to bring the comfort that help will come and relieve us of our heavy burden.
However, what about those situations where weeping is a response to something that we’ve done to someone or in response to some situation or some thing; when the only response to an embarrassing or tragic situation is to let the emotions and the depression that collects within us spill over the edges of our souls? What about the weeping that comes from having the knowledge that we’ve disappointed or hurt someone close to us and the only response is a wailing of abject sorrow and rejection of ourselves as subhuman and unworthy of the love of the individual we’ve wronged? When we are in such a deep and uncompromising relationship, either with Yehovah or with our brothers or sisters, we are just a stone’s throw away from finding ourselves in a state of remorseful weeping simply by doing something stupid; and that stupid something can be anything that causes the other party hurt or pain.
As an adult and prior to reaching my 50’s, I had little need of weeping apart from when my Grandmother (of whom I was equally raised by along with my mother and father in our Baltimore Maryland home) died from cancer. The sorrow I felt was of course a reaction to the intense sense of loss I was experiencing at the time; knowing that I would never see my grandmother in this life again. The weeping that emerged from within required no effort; no mental contemplation of how and why; no physical pushing or pulling on my part; just being and allowing myself to feel the pain. Knowing my grandmother was a born again Christian saved by grace (at the time I was a traditionalist/pop Christian), I felt confident she had gone to heaven and that I would see her again in the resurrection and rapture. Yet that assurance did not assuage the sorrow that seemed to engulf my being over the course of a number of days.
Indeed, the Holy Writ is festooned with numerous “weeping” passages; the weepers weeping for various and sundry reasons:
- Sorrow over the death of a loved one (Gen. 23:2; 37:35; Ecc. 3:4; Jer. 9:1; Luk. 7:13; 8:52)
- The lost love/longing for a loved one (Gen. 43:30; 1 Sam. 30:3,4)
- Concern over the anticipated death of a loved one and you can’t do anything about it (2 Sam. 12:21; Job 30:25; Isa. 22:4; Joe. 2:17; Luk 23:28; Jam. 5:1)
- Shame before the Creator and men over one’s transgressions against the Father (2 Chr. 34:27 Neh. 8:9; Isa. 15:2)
- Sorrow over the pain and devastation one we care for is undergoing (Jer. 13:17; Lam. 1:16; Eze. 24:16; Gen. 27:38; Num. 11:4)
- Sorrow over lack of resources, one’s plight, etc (Luk. 6:21)
- Joy (Gen. 29:13; 33:4; 45:2)
In many cases throughout Scripture, the weeping was misplaced and was indicative of a lack of trust and even understanding of those who wept of Yehovah. The weeping was indicative of the hopeless perception the weeper held regarding his or her situation.
Weeping that is Appreciated by Yehovah
Our heavenly Father deeply cares for His creation and there are a few rare examples in Scripture where the weeping of one of His children swayed His heart to change His intended course to bring destruction upon His chosen or the weeping bent His will or the course of natural human events in favor of the weeper:
- The case of Hagar’s remorse over the impending plight of her son Ishmael (Genesis 21)
- The case of the Children of Israel weeping over lack of food (Numbers 11)
- The case of Hannah seeking of Yehovah a child as she was childless and ashamed (1 Samuel 1)
- Josiah’s weeping on behalf of His people for their grave sin and upon re-discovering the Torah in the temple (2 Kings 22)
Weeping does strike at the heart of the creator and has proven from time to time to move the Father to action. But no weeping moves the Eternal more than the weeping of one who sorrows over having offended the Most High and having transgressed His Torah.
We’ll pick this up next time.
We trust that you have been blessed as I have been blessed in this study of Numbers 11:4. I would then ask you to subscribe/register to this podcast and website simply by filling in the three boxes to the right of this post that is titled “subscribe to this website and podcast.” In doing so, you show your support for this ministry as well as provide for yourself updates on the happenings of this ministry. We’d love to have you and rest assured that we will never share your information with any person or organization. We thank you in advance dear friend.
Until next time dear friend, may you be most blessed.
by Rod Thomas | Mar 7, 2014 | Blog, Podcasts
Continuing on from our previous study, we find ourselves still looking at Numbers 11: 4 and the situation involving a mixed multitude of peoples who accompanied the Chosen People in the Exodus out of Egypt. The passage reads beautifully as:
CJB Numbers 11:4 Next, the mixed crowd that was with them grew greedy for an easier life; while the people of Isra’el, for their part, also renewed their weeping and said, “If only we had meat to eat! (Num 11:4 CJB)
This issue of a mixed multitude appears to be a most intriguing element to the Exodus story. Most accounts of the story of the Exodus focus main upon the Children of Israel and all their associated problems and challenges. However, this mixed multitude or in the Hebrew, this rabble, paints for a us a most fascinating story and life lesson. So many parallels here. So many analogies here. So many truths to be taken in and incorporated into our lives quite frankly. There is of course the low hanging fruit of matter that suggests the lesson to be learned here is to watch very closely those who are in our lives that are unequally yoked, so-to-speak. Clearly the rabble never anticipated the testing phase of the Exodus journey and thus they wanted off the bus quite early. Their influence upon the Chosen of Yehovah was evident in the latter half of this verse. Fast forwarding roughly 4-millennium, we can see the dangers of rabble in our walk with Messiah. Oh these folks may not be part and parcel of our walk with Messiah, but they are always present in various segments of our daily lives: unbelieving and unsupporting family members; grumpy and negative neighbors; co-workers and bosses who see the badge of our Faith as nothing more than a ploy to get time off for so-called “Jewish Holidays” or taunting us for being in supposed “cults.” It is these that often drive us to the very edge of compromise and drag us in to their unclean conversations and or personal and professional life problems that cause us great discomfort and frustration.
I know, for example, that I face each day I go in to the office a litany of staffers who come to me with their seemingly petty issues and expect me to make those problems magically go away. Or I am dragged into meaningless conversation that ultimately leads me astray and I find myself thinking, feeling, and saying things that are not of Kingdom essence. As we clearly see in the latter half of this verse, the Children of Israel “renewed their weeping” for food. I tell you, this Messianic life is a vicious circles much of the time and it can certainly weigh upon psychologically and physically if we are not girded about on our spiritual bodies with the whole armor of Yah.
CJB Ephesians 6:11 Use all the armor and weaponry that God provides, so that you will be able to stand against the deceptive tactics of the Adversary. (Eph 6:11 CJB)
But then, there is the higher level thought behind all this and that involves the overall leaven that infuses our lives on a daily basis. I’m not a huge fan or one who defers to commentary on the Bible, but I do from time to time enjoy reading what other well knowing experts or even lay folk think about a particular passage or Torah concept. According to Matthew Henry for instance (and I absolutely love this term he used to describe the rabble), this mixed multitude became “hangers on.” He goes on to describe these “hangers on” as individuals who saw and opportunity to latch on to the anticipated blessings of Yehovah that would be extolled upon the Children of Israel (my wording of his). I have to tell you, this gave me great cause for pause and reflection as he goes further to say that “scabbed sheep can easily infect a flock and he concludes his description likening the hangers on to leaven that leaven the whole lump.
Leaven and Scabs
One of the major challenges to those of us who embrace the Messianic lifestyle has to do with all of the elements that make up our life that can virtually infect us and hinder our walk with Messiah. As I mentioned above, the low hanging fruit is easily identified as those people who provide us opportunities to falter and stumble along the way. This situation my friends can be managed if we are careful to understand what it is that these hangers on bring to the table of our lives. In some cases we can simply dismiss them and have nothing to do with them unless we absolutely are forced to deal with them in a situation or problem. On the other hand, there are those we are either married to, related to and live with, or have to work with in order to make a living. In these cases, it may take a little more finesses than a simple dismissal. It may require that we set barriers and rule around how we will deal with them and what we will and will not tolerate from them. It may come down to having those “crucial conversations” (the name of a leadership book that describes having critical conversations to get your point across) with these individuals in order to establish an understanding as to what it is they are doing to create havoc in your life.
But then there is the compendium of things in and around us that have a leavening and scabbing influence upon our walk with Messiah and with that, we’ll pick this up next time.
We trust that you have been blessed as I have been blessed in this study of Numbers 11:4. I would then ask you to subscribe/register to this podcast and website simply by filling in the three boxes to the right of this post that is titled “subscribe to this website and podcast.” In doing so, you show your support for this ministry as well as provide for yourself updates on the happenings of this ministry. We’d love to have you and rest assured that we will never share your information with any person or organization. We thank you in advance dear friend.
by Rod Thomas | Mar 2, 2014 | Blog, Podcasts
Greetings Saints. This Torah Living content is being posted on the 28th Day of the 12th Biblical Month of 6014 (according to Rood’s Astronomically & Agriculturally Corrected Biblical Hebrew Calendar). I trust that you are well and blessed in all areas of your life.
I want us to continue our journey in Numbers 11:4, picking up where we left off in discussing the Matthew Henry generated description of the rabble accompanying Israel as the Hangers On. The latter half of verse 4 reads:
while the people of Isra’el, for their part, also renewed their weeping and said, “If only we had meat to eat! (Num 11:4 CJB)
Over the last several postings I’ve beaten up on the rabble or hangers on and I explored with you the likely reasons why the rabble acted the way they did as recorded in the first half of verse 4. Now the second half of verse 4 it seems pretty evident that the Children of Israel (i.e., those who were not hangers on) began to react to the grumblings of the rabble. The Chosen’s reaction to their situation was slightly different than the reactions of the hangers on group’s reaction to their situation. The Chosen’s reaction was to renew their weeping over the lack of “meat” (or in the KJV and other similar translations–flesh) to consume. If you recall, Numbers 11:1-3 records an event where the people began to complain about something. The Complete Jewish Bible–CJB (which I have grown to love and consult more than any other translation of the Bible) provides us with the object of the people’s complaining and that object is “…about their hardships.” Every other translation that I’ve consulted fails to provide a specific object or reason for the complaining or “murmuring.” I tend to give a goodly amount of credence to the CJB translation such that it seems to take into account the context of what was happening to the wandering nation and instead of attributing the people’s miserableness and murmurings to food, heat, water, inconvenience, CJB elected to group it all into the simple package of “hardship.” At the end of the day, it is all about hardship, whether it is about having a lack of meat or having to endure the challenges of the wilderness.
Yehovah did not appreciate the murmuring of the people and reacted with extreme force, incinerating many individuals in the camp until Moses intervened on the offenders’ behalf.
Before I move beyond this, I see here a shadow picture (reference Hebrews 10:1) that is quite awesome. Moses, in intervening and advocating on behalf of the people in their sin, took on one of the roles of Yeshua, our High Priest. Recall that Yeshua is our advocate to the Father when we sin. Consider:
CJB 1 John 2:1 My children, I am writing you these things so that you won’t sin. But if anyone does sin, we have Yeshua the Messiah, the Tzaddik, who pleads our cause with the Father. (1Jo 2:1 CJB)
Even in the midst of the nation’s sin and waywardness, she had an advocate and his name was Moses. Over and over again I revel in the beauty of Torah and see the wonderful shadow pictures that are painted upon its pages. Here, laying before me, is the image of the nation of Israel who today is a former image of us–Truth Seeking Messianics. I stumble and falter on a daily basis and I am so honored and happy to know that I have an advocate before the Father who intervenes on my behalf and by doing so staves off certain destruction. Paul aptly addresses this reality in his letters to the Roman Believers and to his young mentee Timothy respectively:
Rom 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
Yehovah chose His leader well. Moses is certainly a type of savior, not only for physical Israel, but also for spiritual Israel, which is us. If Yehovah’s ire went unabated, the nation could have been utterly destroyed and our futures uncertain. We owe Moses a debt of thanks for stepping in the roll of advocate for the nation, in spite of that less than palatable inherent nature of the Israelites.
Getting back to the situation at hand in verse 4, the hangers on through their lusting after or for an “easier life” according to the CJB, likely prompted the Chosen Ones to renew their murmuring and the start of weeping for their lack or absence of “meat.” I wondered when looking back at the previous 3-verses if the Children of Israel had been cured of their complaining tendency. Well, it appears that it didn’t take much to sucker them back in to their old ways.
Are we any different friends? When I consider that I am in so many ways, like the Children of Israel, constantly looking at the glass being half-empty and having the “woe is me” mentality, it doesn’t take much for me to find myself falling back to this mentality with its associated behavior. Using my job as an example: lately, I have been cognizant of my tendency towards being a complainer and a murmurer. Thus, I have taken firm action to stem this tendency. I have made significant leeway in combating this tendency. However, it takes very little to push me back over to the tendencies that I am fighting to overcome. It could be something that someone says to me; it could be something that someone does to me; it could be something that I read; or even something that I observe. I think Paul stated this dilemma quite well:
CJB Romans 7:15 I don’t understand my own behavior- I don’t do what I want to do; instead, I do the very thing I hate!
(Rom 7:15 CJB)
Rom 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
Indeed, we are always in some form of internal and spiritual struggle that more times than not, the flesh wins over. And it is those that we find living and working alongside us that usually prompts this internal and spiritual conflict to wage. I do not believe it is something that we could ever expect to see go completely away from us. Indeed, these types of situations add to the testing regimen that prepares us for the Kingdom. The positive thing to gain from this, however, appears to be the knowledge that we must always be cognizant of our weaknesses and equally alert to those things, people, and situations that cause us to stumble. It is a process and speaking from experience, it is a constant challenge. Yet, I believe this is something that must be put into perspective as we walk this walk with Messiah. We are being called to walk according to the Spirit. The Spirit always flies contrary to the ways of the flesh as Paul so aptly put it:
CJB Romans 8:7 For the mind controlled by the old nature is hostile to God, because it does not submit itself to God’s Torah- indeed, it cannot.(Rom 8:7 CJB)
We are in a much better place than the wandering nation of Israel. We have been blessed with the Holy Spirit that provides a means to overcome our fleshly tendencies. The Children of Israel lacked this ever-present help. Instead for them, it all came down to them obeying Yehovah’s commandments and laws and we know that mankind can certainly do that if he so desires. Contrary to popular Christian teaching, man can indeed keep Yah’s laws. It seems pretty foolish to think that the Father would provide man a system of ordinances that would make them wholly acceptable to Himself if mankind was physically incapable of keeping them and obeying them to the full. Yet we tell ourselves, through this false teaching, that it is impossible to keep Torah and thus we don’t have to nor should we be made to. Why? Because Yeshua kept Torah perfectly and thus we have been released from all responsibility of keeping Torah. Hogwash! That’s like saying, I own this hot muscle car and thus it is impossible for me to observe the speed laws because my muscle car is inherently so fast. Therefore, I shouldn’t be expected to obey the speed laws. For real!? Come on. Let’s be real about this. We have the capacity to endure and pass any test
CJB 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has seized you beyond what people normally experience, and God can be trusted not to allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear. On the contrary, along with the temptation he will also provide the way out, so that you will be able to endure. (1Co 10:13 CJB)
The Father placed the Chosen Ones in a multi-faceted situation: a wilderness, lacking many provisions, and with a multi-cultural grouping of individuals. All of these elements made for a crucible that the Father could use to mold and fashion His chosen in to a set apart people, holy unto Himself, Yehovah’s unique treasure out of all the peoples on the face of the earth. So it is with us today: we find ourselves in an unequally yoked world. Our world is part and parcel of the testing ground to shape us in to the form and image of Yeshua. When we come to terms with this reality, then and only then may we move beyond our fleshly defaults. I’m working on this and I’m hanging so very hard to the Holy Spirit to give me that extra weight to help me overcome my evil tendencies. I hope that you will join me, in whatever capacity you are struggling, and overcome our tendency to adversely react to the people, places and things around us. May we be victorious over the flesh and shine as the sun among the peoples of the earth.
Be most blessed.
by Rod Thomas | Feb 25, 2014 | Podcasts
CJB Numbers 11:4 Next, the mixed crowd that was with them grew greedy for an easier life; while the people of Isra’el, for their part, also renewed their weeping and said, “If only we had meat to eat!(Num 11:4 CJB)
The term mixed in Hebrew is “as-pee-oof” and denotes a collection, a rabble, a collected multitude. “As-pee-off” is only used in Numbers 11:4
CJB Exodus 12:38 A mixed crowd also went up with them, as well as livestock in large numbers, both flocks and herds. (Exo 12:38 CJB)
Mixed in Hebrew in this passage is “ereb” meaning mixture or mixed people. These people fell alusting; lusted exceedingly; grew greedy; had strong craving; lusted greatly. The people wept and lusted after an easier life–Oh that we had meat to eat…”
CJB 1 Corinthians 10:1 For, brothers, I don’t want you to miss the significance of what happened to our fathers. All of them were guided by the pillar of cloud, and they all passed through the sea, 2 and in connection with the cloud and with the sea they all immersed themselves into Moshe, 3 also they all ate the same food from the Spirit, 4 and they all drank the same drink from the Spirit- for they drank from a Spirit-sent Rock which followed them, and that Rock was the Messiah. 5 Yet with the majority of them God was not pleased, so their bodies were strewn across the desert. 6 Now these things took place as prefigurative historical events, warning us not to set our hearts on evil things as they did. (1Co 10:1 CJB)
These things were our example so that we do not set our hearts on “evil things” or better, things other than that which Yehovah intends for us to have. This story provides for us types or examples.
by Rod Thomas | Feb 24, 2014 | Podcasts
The Gospel Your Pastor Never Taught You
Part 5
Concluding the Parables of Matthew 13:
In Matthew 13, Yahoshua gave the people eight parables about what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. Each parable contained its own message. After Yahoshua gave the last parable, He was done teaching. He then asked the crowd if they understood what he had taught them and they said “Yes”. So he gave them the gravity of their calling in the form of a parable: “51Jesus said unto them, have you understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord. 52 Then said he unto them, Therefore, every scribe which is instructed unto the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, which brings forth out of his treasure things new and old.” The people who answered yes are claiming to understand the parables that went forth. What did they understand? In verse 52, Yahoshua is telling them what they are claiming to understand by their “yes “answer. Now that they have learned what the Kingdom of Heaven is like, He is now turning His focus to the workers in the kingdom, after spending a few hours instructing them.
Now that you have been instructed about the Kingdom of Heaven, and you have claimed to understand the teachings by your “yes” answer, you are now in the position of scribes because you have been given specialized knowledge about the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore as a scribe you are like a householder, which is the master who holds a key to the house. Thus you are now holding knowledge, which is considered keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. The knowledge is the storehouse of treasure. Some of the treasure is old and some are new; however, the scribe is responsible to use both the old and new knowledge and connect them with increased understanding so that he can teach it to others. The greater his understanding the better he will be able to show the relationship and connection between the new and the old. Because the old covenant has been amended to show the fulfilling of the redemption portion of the law, the old law has now become renewed covenant to show the fulfillment.
The unedited full text of the Jewish encyclopedia, records the Hebrew meaning of the word “scribe” as “a teacher whose office it is to interpret the Torah for people.” You can visit the encyclopedia page at http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13356-scribes It makes common sense that in order to interpret the Law, one must first understand the Law. So Yahoshua is being specific by targeting the “scribes who have been instructed unto the Kingdom of Heaven”. Thus, it becomes clear that the teaching sessions of the parables of the Kingdom of Heaven have been training sessions for the sons of the kingdom! These sons are scribes trained for the kingdom. They are the people who understood Torah the parables and the ones for whom the message is intended. They are the sons of the kingdom. These are not the existing scribes of the synagogue and the Sanhedrin, they are new recruits from among the people who have been looking forward to the Messiah and are accepting of Yahoshua. As the scribes of the new kingdom they are expected to be Torah observing, with understanding great enough to teach and interpret the Torah to others.
Only the scribes will hear the word of the kingdom and understand it. By teaching the word 
he will bear fruit (make disciples) and yield a hundredfold, sixty-fold and thirty-fold. The process of multiplication begins as more disciples are made. This teaching would have increased their understanding of the hidden things so they can teach it to others. Could this be a recruitment of officers for the new kingdom? As you can see, the people who will be sons of the kingdom are those who 1) accept Yahoshua as Messiah and Master, and 2 obeys Torah and will apply their understanding to make disciples by teaching others about the Old and the Renewed covenant.
Parable #1: The Sower: taught the people that the Kingdom of Heaven operates on the principles of seed time and harvest; and that the harvest is produced only by a few who grow in understanding of the kingdom message. Though the opportunity to bear fruit is 
given to all, only a few make use of the opportunity to bear fruit. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. The focal point of the interpretation of this parable is in verse 12. “Whosoever hath”, hath what? The answer is the desire to grow in understanding. Whosoever has the desire to grow in understanding, to him shall be given more understanding: but whosoever does not have the desire to grow in understanding even that (little understanding) which he has will be taken away.
Note what John the Baptist said in Matthew 3:7-10 to the Pharisees and Sadducees: “7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
Parable #2: A Man Who Sowed Good Seed in His Field (Parable of the Tares):
“37 He answered and said unto them, He that sows the good seed is the Son of man; 38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are 
the children of the wicked one; 39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. 40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. 41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; 42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear”.
You may recall John the Baptist said of Yahoshua in Matthew 3:11-12, “11I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” Yahoshua used similar words in the parable above.
You may ask, how does a Scribe becomes trained? Yahoshua told His disciples in John 14:26, “26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” This verse tells us that every Scribe trained for the Kingdom of Heaven must be baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire!
In Matthew 23:2-3 we read, “2The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, 3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.” There is a portion of the translation of verse three which is a bad translation. The rest of the verse is fine except for the portion that says, so do and observe whatever they tell you. The bad translation for this phrase came as a result of the Greek translating from a bad Aramaic translation. Thus the Greek was not translated from the Hebrew text but from the Aramaic text. So the Greek is a translation from a translation. The Aramaic presented this word as “yomru” which means “they tell”, instead of “yomar”. The word that is being mistranslated is the word “yomar” which means “he tells” The actual translation for verse 3 reads, “Do what he (Moses) tells to do, but not the works that they do. For they preach but do not practice”. For more information visit http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/50_pharisees.html
According to the Jewish encyclopedia http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13356-scribes teachers of the Torah are the Scribes. In Matthew 23 Yahoshua tells us not to obey the Takanot and Ma’asim (the reforms and additions to the Torah) of the Pharisees. In this chapter, Yahoshua rebukes and reprimands them severely because of their Takanot and Ma’asim. It appears that Yahoshua is recruiting scribes to be trained for the Kingdom of Heaven. Throughout his ministry, Yahoshua has been antagonized by the scribes and Pharisees continuously because he has been challenging their interpretation of the Torah. They accuse Him of breaking Torah and He is able to show them that He is not breaking Torah; however, he is not obeying their Takanote and Ma’asim (man-made additions and changes and private interpretations) of the Torah.
Thus, in verse 52 Yahoshua is implying that the sons of the Kingdom of Heaven are Scribes trained for the purpose of training others in the Torah. This new Scribe is in the position of authority like the master of a house. This is a honored position because he holds the keys to the house. He can differentiate between the old and the new treasure, which are the Old covenant and the Renewed Covenant.
Being our teacher and the greatest teacher of all times, Yahoshua knew that the information he was sharing was a hidden secret that was not to be shared with everyone. Have you ever heard of hiding in plains sight? Then this was an overt way of accomplishing a covert mission in public. Basically, He was saying to the sons of the kingdom, “for your eyes only”. Yahoshua had a mission to the lost sheep of Israel, so the message was directed to the few within the group who had ears to hear, eyes to see and a heart to understand. These are the ones who would hear the message, and follow through to action. This is why he started out with the parable of the Sower. The Good Soil group was the choice group though it made up a very small portion of the seeds that were planted yet it was the only group to produce fruit.
Understanding Torah comes through obedience to the commands of Yahovah. We must teach obedience to Torah because our obedience is an expression of our faith in Yahovah.
The apostle Paul in Acts 26:18-23 is an excellent example of the Scribe that Yahoshua is recruiting for the Kingdom of Heaven. He is adept in the Torah, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, he was able to impart knowledge and open the eyes of people to the scriptures so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Yahoshua, to the treasures of the scriptures, the reality of the power of darkness, to expound on the difference between the Old Testament and the Renewed Covenant, the prophecies concerning the Messiah, the law of grace, mercy, faith and redemption in the Torah, to teach clearly so the person can choose the power of Yahovah to deliver them from darkness.
