torah sinai

This week’s Torah portion Yitro- Jethro (Exodus 18:1–20:23), is the portion which includes the giving of the Ten Words at Sinai. There is so much vital information to marvel at in these texts, this year…as usual, there were some new things I didn’t notice before I’d be honored to share here:

Exodus 19; 12 You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, ‘Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the border of it; whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. 13 No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the ram’s horn (היבל haYovel) sounds (משך mashak) a long blast, they shall come up (עלו`alah ) to the mountain.” 14 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people, and they washed their garments. 15 He said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.” 16 So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet (שפר shofar) sound (וקל qowl), so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. 17 And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. 19 When the sound (וקל qowl) of the trumpet (השופר HaShofar) grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder.

היבל_Strongs_ H3104 yowbel yo-bale’ or yobel {yob-ale’}; apparently from H2986; the blast of a horn (from its continuous sound); specifically, the signal of the silver trumpets; hence, the instrument itself and the festival thus introduced.

שפר_Strongs_H7782 showphar sho-far’ or shophar {sho-far’}; from H8231 in the original sense of incising; a cornet (as giving a clear sound) or curved horn.

משך_strongs_H4900 mashak maw-shak’- to draw, used in a great variety of applications (including to sow, to sound, to prolong, to develop, to march, to remove, to delay, to be tall, etc.).


עלו_Strongs_H5927 `alah aw-law’ -to ascend, intransitively (be high) or actively (mount); used in a great variety of senses, primary and secondary, literal and figurative.

So here is what I noticed in the Torah portion this week. Please send me any insights and thoughts on what you think this could mean/be point to (if anything):

There are two Hebrew words used from the text above. There is the word Yovel-horn and this Yovel horn is “led or drawn out, or sounded” = in the Hebrew Mashak. This word sounds strikingly close to the word Mashiac (Mashiac is mem shin kof meaning anointed used when referring to Messiah, Mashak is mem shin chaf).

This word Yovel is found ONLY here in the Torah in refernce to this special sound/instrument which signals to the people that they may approach the mountain where YAHWEH will descend, come down on the mountain.

The rest of the times it is used are in Leviticus and once in Numbers and only in those texts referring to the Jubilee year. The 50th year wherein the people’s debts were released and freedoms proclaimed throughout the Land. There is a 50 day count from Pesach (which took place before leaving Egypt) which led them to this very day of revelation at Shavuot (the giving of the Torah). It is at the sound of the Yovel that the people are free to approach the mountain and experience their God at the Mashak…drawing out of the Yovel horn.


This year..2015…happens to be the Shemittah year and the Yovel. Is it possible we should prepare ourselves for a Sinai experience? Just a thought. Back to Mashak- this word meaning to draw out, sound, sow, etc. interestingly this word is relatively rare and what makes it all very interesting are the four occasions wherein it occurs.

First Mashak- Bereshit (Genesis) 37;28 The Ishmaelite traders pullling Yoseph out (Mashak) of the pit which his brothers threw him into…linked to Yeshua’s resurrection on the 3rd day, for from this pit he rises (of course after still more trial and growth) to nearly ultimate power and kingship. Keeping in mind that Yoseph’s lfe and experiences are a portend of Messiah (see the following link for textual examples: http://www.elshaddaiministries.us/Handouts/Joseph_a_type_of_Yeshua.pdf)

joseph pit

2nd Mashak- Exodus 12; 21 On the 10th of the Hebrew month of Nissan the people were to choose a yearling, spotless lamb or goat and they were to observe it…(might one infer that this could be linked to the three full days of concecration in the Torah text?) on the 14th of Nissan it was to be led out (Mashak) by the ” the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb.” This lamb is not to have any of its bones broken and is to be roasted whole. Remember the blood of this lamb was to mark the doorpost and lintels of the homes of the obedient families living in Egypt and it would serve as a marker and, if you will, boundary for the destroying one.


Third Mashak- is found in our text above. The mashak of the yovel horn signaling for the bride (all those at the foot of the Mountain of God who were prepared, concecrated, desiring to come into covenant relationship) to come up and meet her groom (HaShem- The Lord- King and Giver of the Torah/Lawgiver).


4th Mashak- Devarim (Dueteronomy 21;3) This is one of the most (to my mind) ‘intruiging’ texts of the Torah. The case- a man is found slain and there is no evidence of who murdered him. The elders of the people measure to the closest city and the leaders of that city are to lead a heifer, who has never been drawn out (Mashak) by a yoke to a valley flowing with water. The elders are to break the heifers neck.The Levites are to come forward and there are Levitical cities dispersed throughout the Israelite lands) for it is “by their word every dispute and every assault shall be settled.” ( Bearing in mind the context of theTorah text of our Torah portion, just prior to the Sinai expereince we meet Yitro (Jethro) who advises Moshe (of the tribe of Levi) to appoint leadership to help him judge the people.) The Levites witness the elders wash their hands(taking us back to the concecration and clothes being washed by the people before the Glory comes down on Sinai)…over the heifer, whose innocent blood served to atone for the unavenged victim found in the city. Listen to this part of their testimony: ” Deuteronomy 21; 8 Accept atonement, O Lord, for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and do not set the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel, so that their blood guilt be atoned for.’ 9 So you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord.


Back to the Yovel-horn:

The next place we find this yovel horn is in the book of Yohoshua (Joshua, his name is a form of Yeshua-Salvation). In these texts there is the same Mashak-drawing out of the Yovel horn, at the sound of this particular horn once again the people are told to go up into the Jericho. This is the same word used in our Exodus text…the people were to wait for this Yovel sounding and only then were they to go up: עלו_Strongs_H5927 `alah aw-law’- to ascend, intransitively (be high) or actively (mount); used in a great variety of senses, primary and secondary, literal and figurative (as follow).

joshua 1

4 Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns ( Shofarot שופרות HaYovelim היובלים) before the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow (תקעו taqa) the trumpets (b’shofarot בשופרות) .
5 It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn (b’keren בקרן HaYovel היובל ), and when you hear the sound (qowl קול) of the trumpet ( השופר shofar), all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people will go up every man straight ahead.”
6 So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord.” 7 Then he said to the people, “Go forward, and march around the city, and let the armed men go on before the ark of the Lord.”
8 And it was so, that when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns (Shofarot שופרות HaYovelim היובלים) before the Lord went forward and blew (תקעו taqa) the trumpets (השופרות shofarot); and the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed them.
9 The armed men went before the priests who blew (תקעו taqa) the trumpets ( שופרות shofarot), and the rear guard came after the ark, while they continued to blow (תקעו taqa) the trumpets (שופרות Shofarot). 10 But Joshua commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout nor let your voice be heard nor let a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I tell you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout!”

בקרן_Strongs_ H7161 qeren keh’-ren- from H7160; a horn (as projecting); by implication, a flask, cornet; by resembl. an elephant’s tooth (i.e. ivory), a corner (of the altar), a peak (of a mountain), a ray (of light); figuratively, power.

תקעו_Strongs_H8628 taqa` taw-kah’- to clatter, i.e. slap (the hands together), clang (an instrument); by analogy, to drive (a nail or tent-pin, a dart, etc.); by implication, to become bondsman by handclasping).

So as you can see above we have the reappearance of these HaYovel Shofarim. This time there is an additional word used, qeren- horn as found in Daniel’s vision. Additionally the term used for the force used to produce the sound from these shofarim is the word Taqa- to clatter, clang, etc.


What is the connection to Joshua and Jericho with our Torah portion? Let’s think. Foremost seems the connection of the people awaiting this sounding of a specific horn, the HaYovel horn before they are permitted to go up…there is there is the consecrating of the people before they experience HaShem, in Joshua the people are to stay away from all the ‘banned’ items, people, etc. found within the city but the gold, silver, bronze and iron are to be consecrated (קדש_Strongs_H6944 qodesh ko’-desh from H6942; a sacred place or thing; rarely abstract, sanctity.) to HaShem and placed in His ‘treasury’. (Joshua 6;17-21) It is interesting that the Lord brought me to this portion connected to Rahab, a harlot who aided the spies of Israel, acknowledged the power of HaShem after hearing all that He did for Israel in Egypt…and converted, joining the people and coming into covenant with HaShem. (See Joshua 6) Hear what this convert states and bear in mind this connection to the Sinai revelation where the 10 words are given, namely her wording and commandment 1-2 ( Exodus 20; 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.):


shofar sunset

Pretty wonderful. The further connection, we spoke briefly of Yitro (Jethro, the father in law of Moses) previously but what we now mention is that in our portion he too becomes a convert. He makes similar expressions in his confession:


Back to the force with which the Yovel Shofar’s made their sound in the book of Joshua:


And here is where the sounding of these instruments ultimately should lead us…to a future day, where God Himself will sound His great shofar, like at Sinai, once more and again…we will be called up to meet Him. The term used in verse 14 of Zechariah 9 is taqa, the Lord will taqa the shofar draw his flock to him and save them.

Zechariah 9;9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
and he shall speak peace to the nations;
his rule shall be from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.

I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.

12 Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
today I declare that I will restore to you double.

13 For I have bent Judah as my bow;
I have made Ephraim its arrow.
I will stir up your sons, O Zion,
against your sons, O Greece,
and wield you like a warrior’s sword.
The Lord Will Save His People

14 Then the Lord will appear over them,
and his arrow will go forth like lightning;
the Lord God will sound the trumpet
and will march forth in the whirlwinds of the south.

last trumpet

15 The Lord of hosts will protect them,
and they shall devour, and tread down the sling stones,
and they shall drink and roar as if drunk with wine,
and be full like a bowl,
drenched like the corners of the altar.

16 On that day the Lord their God will save them,
as the flock of his people;
for like the jewels of a crown
they shall shine on his land.

Grain shall make the young men flourish,
and new wine the young women.


Baruch attah Adonai Eloheinu Melech HaOlam, Blessed are You Lord our God King of the universe. You alone have planted among us Life Eternal. Blessed are You Lord our God, Gracious Giver of the Torah. B’Shem Yeshua HaMashiac, Amein.

contact: safeguardingtheeternal@wordpress.com


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