Is it allowed to lie in order to save lives?

Exodus 1:18 – 2:10

The midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them."

(Ex. 1:19 ESV)

Is it allowed to lie in order to save lives?

The Hebrew midwives feared the Almighty more than Pharaoh and that's why they didn't kill the Hebrew male children who were born, which was the order from the king. When the king reprimanded them, they responded with something not totally true.

Is it allowed to use lies in order to save lives?

To lie is to say words that twist the truth. Is it true that Hebrew women were vigorous (the Hebrew text literally says that they were "animals" implying that they were able to give birth without help like animals do) and that they gave birth before the midwife could get to them? It is very possible that it was so sometimes, especially given the severe situation the whole people were in. It is also true that the midwives actually assisted the Hebrew women when giving birth (v.17) though it was not always so. Thus, we could understand that the midwives' words were just true in part. They didn't tell Pharaoh the whole truth to save their lives and the Almighty honoured them for having acted that way.

According to Jewish law, it is allowed to break almost any commandment in order to save a life in a very critical moment. The halachah – practical Jewish law – establishes that it is allowed to break all the commandments except three – blasphemy, murder and adultery – in order to save a life. This principle is called pikuach nefesh – פיקוח נפש – salvation of the soul/life. Commandments were given to live by them not to die by obeying them (Lev. 18:5). In this way, what the midwives did could be justified. They used a half-truth to save their own lives as well as others'.

Rachav lied to save lives (Jos. 2:5). Michal, king David's wife, used lie to save lives (1 Sam. 19:14, 17). There are other examples in king David's life in which he hides truth or lies to save lives (1 Sam. 21:2, 13; 27:10-11).

We must remember the fact that king David was a man after the Eternal's heart (1 Sam. 13:14) who knew that the Eternal desires truth in the inner parts (Ps. 51:6) and who was aware that only the one who speaks truth in his heart will dwell in the presence of the Eternal, as it is written in Psalm 15:1-2: "A Psalm of David. O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart.” (ESV) And in Psalm 26:3 king David himself says: "For Your mercy is before my eyes; and I have walked in Your truth." (LITV)

The Eternal cannot lie. Lie does not come from Him. Hasatan – an angel who rebelled against the Eternal – is the father/origin of lie (John 8:44). The children of the Eternal don't associate to lie and if they lie by error, they repent in order to avoid being judged together with the father of lies.

I am personally convinced that we should never use lies, no matter how critical the moment is, not even to save lives. In a grave situation, there are other ways of speaking to hide a truth that could harm or even cause someone's death.

May the Eternal help us never to lie and may He give us wisdom to know how to hide part of the truth when necessary to avoid damage to others.

May the Spirit of truth be poured upon us abundantly.

Who do we have to obey?

But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live.

(Ex. 1:17 ESV)

Who do we have to obey?

All authority in this world is established by the Almighty. This is one of the seven commandments given to Noach and his sons. (Gen. 9:6). If one is set in a context in which there is an authority that doesn't fulfill its task, doesn't obey what is established by the Eternal or forces its subjects to break any of the Eternal's commandments, one is not forced to obey that authority. We must obey Elokim rather than men that He set as representatives of the Almighty on earth (Acts 4:19; 5:29).

Every man must obey and fear the authority figures that the Eternal has set upon him; parents, elder siblings, teachers, rabbis, other spiritual leaders, police authorities, politicians, judges, etc. (1 Peter. 2:13-15). The one who rebels against the authorities rebels against the Almighty (Rom. 13:1-7). We must obey the authorities in everything as long as they don’t contradict the Torah of the Eternal.

The Hebrew midwives submitted to the authority that the Eternal had set over them, the king of Egypt. However, there was a point in which a conflict between authority and principles arose. The king of Egypt wanted to force them to murder all male firstborns of the Hebrews. This is a violation of the commandment, "you shall not murder". So, in the one hand, there was the commandment regarding submission to all authorities; and on the other hand, there was the commandment against murder. The midwives could not fulfill both.

The principle stating that if there is a conflict between two commandments, one of them has preference over the other and it is not necessary to obey it, applies here. In this case, they opted for the commandment that forbids murder, because it has preference over the commandment to obey the authorities.

The reason they could do that is because they feared the Eternal more than the human authority that the Almighty had established over them. This attitude was the right one. When there is a conflict between authorities the Eternal ALWAYS comes first. The Eternal protected and blessed the midwives for not obeying an illegal commandment from the king of Egypt.

Let's learn this lesson.

Shavua tov, Have a good week,

What is a commandment?

When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gather

When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

(Gen. 49:33 ESV)

What is a commandment?

The Torah says that Yaakov finished commanding his sons and then he drew up his feet into the bed and expired. The word translated as "commanding" is letsavot – לצות –

which has the same root as mitsvah – מצוה – commandment in singular and mitsvot - מצות – commandments in plural. The meaning of the root tsavah – צוה – is: to constitute, to enjoin, to give a charge.

This teaches us that when Yaakov pronounced all these wonderful blessings upon his sons he did so with authority and with the power of the Spirit of the Eternal. The words that came out of his mouth had, and still have, power to mark the destiny of each one of the twelve tribes.

It also teaches us that the commandments of the Eternal shouldn't be understood as forcing orders that are impossible to follow. When the Eternal gives a commandment, He also sends His Spirit so that men receive strength to live that commandment correctly. Within each one of the 613 commandments the power of the divine gentle blow is there to assist those who are willing to obey them.

The commandments should also be looked upon as assignments. The one who receives a commandment has an important assignment. The more commandments we have, the more important the assignment is. In this way, men can feel fulfilled of having a task in life.

The one who can relate with the commandments in a correct way, will not fall in the trap of legalism, but will be able to live in the freedom of obedience by love, doing it with joy. The Messiah was sent to us for that purpose.

May the Eternal clearly reveal to us the difference between an assignment and legalism.

With love,

ed to his people.

(Gen. 49:33 ESV)

What is a commandment?

The Torah says that Yaakov finished commanding his sons and then he drew up his feet into the bed and expired. The word translated as "commanding" is letsavot – לצות –

which has the same root as mitsvah – מצוה – commandment in singular and mitsvot - מצות – commandments in plural. The meaning of the root tsavah – צוה – is: to constitute, to enjoin, to give a charge.

This teaches us that when Yaakov pronounced all these wonderful blessings upon his sons he did so with authority and with the power of the Spirit of the Eternal. The words that came out of his mouth had, and still have, power to mark the destiny of each one of the twelve tribes.

It also teaches us that the commandments of the Eternal shouldn't be understood as forcing orders that are impossible to follow. When the Eternal gives a commandment, He also sends His Spirit so that men receive strength to live that commandment correctly. Within each one of the 613 commandments the power of the divine gentle blow is there to assist those who are willing to obey them.

The commandments should also be looked upon as assignments. The one who receives a commandment has an important assignment. The more commandments we have, the more important the assignment is. In this way, men can feel fulfilled of having a task in life.

The one who can relate with the commandments in a correct way, will not fall in the trap of legalism, but will be able to live in the freedom of obedience by love, doing it with joy. The Messiah was sent to us for that purpose.

May the Eternal clearly reveal to us the difference between an assignment and legalism.

With love,

Why did Yosef receive the largest blessing?

The blessings of your father have excelled the blessings of my ancestors, Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.

(Gen. 49:26 NKJV)

Why did Yosef receive the largest blessing?

Yosef received the longest blessing with 61 words in the Hebrew text. Yehuda's blessing has 55 words. Also, among the blessings that Moshe pronounced over the twelve tribes, Yosef's is the largest (Deut. 33)

Why did Yosef receive the largest blessing among his brothers? I want to point out two reasons:

First, because he suffered more than anyone of them

Second, because he had consecrated himself more than his brothers. The Hebrew word that has been translated as "separate” or “consecrate" is nazir – נזיר – whose root nazar – נזר – means to set a distance, to abstain oneself. It is the same word used for the vow of the Nazirite in Numbers 6.

The one who suffers for justice and the one who separates from sin, impurity and the world will always receive the greatest blessing in this life and in the coming life.

May the Eternal give us strength to be joyful in suffering due to justice and truth knowing that they produce a good result with lots of blessings.

Who understands words well?

And (he ) lived

Genesis 49:1-18

Yisachar is a donkey… Dan shall be a serpent…

(Gen. 49:14a, 17a private translation)

Who understands words well?

Yaakov blessed each one of his sons with a particular blessing. When he got to Yisachar and Dan he called them donkey and serpent. How would you react if your father told you: "Donkey, may you be a serpent." Would you be offended? Why would you be offended? Because your father called you donkey and serpent? In Yaakov's blessing's case these were prophetic words from heaven, so how would you feel if heaven called you donkey and serpent? What kind of blessing would that be?

If one felt offended it is because we would be giving these words, donkey and serpent, a negative and offensive sense. Many people use names of animals to offend others. Words like "pig", "donkey", "monkey", "wolf", "dog", etc. are used to offend. In these cases, a comparison between the person's behaviour and the animal is done, and then, the comparison focuses on the negative aspects, applying them to the other person to hurt him or her. If the person who is offended is sensitive or if he has a complex of inferiority or rejection, he will be very damaged by those words. It is like rubbing salt in an open emotional wound.

However, the comparison could be positive instead of negative. It all depends on the sense given to the words. I remember that I once told a very strong, hard-working woman, "Indian", because I consider that Indian women are worthy of praise because of their strength and industriousness. My comparison was with the purpose of praising her. I then found out that in her culture it is very offensive to call someone that. When I apologised for having offended her, she told me that she understood my intention, thankfully.

The donkey was the animal used in the time of the patriarchs for transportation and for carrying goods. It was a very useful animal for all kinds of chores. The donkey is one of the best servants men have had along history.

Regarding the serpent, its abilities for defensive purposes were actually very positive. So our father Yaakov's words to his sons were only positive and they are great blessings.

This teaches us that words can have different meanings depending on the person, culture, time and context. Therefore, when we read the Scriptures, it is very important that we don't try to understand the Hebrew terms and expressions according to a modern context unconnected with the ancient Hebrew culture.

Most of the false doctrines and misinterpretations of the Scriptures are due to lack of knowledge of the words in their context.

Even though translators of the Scriptures have tried, with good intentions, to transfer to other languages and cultures, concepts that were written and understood in totally different cultures and languages; their translations always present mistakes and misunderstandings. This is inevitable.

Another aspect that must be taken into account is the theological platform from which the divine words are read, interpreted and translated. A non-Jewish translator will never be able to understand the Hebrew Scriptures correctly because his mind is conformed by theological concepts that differ with Biblical-Hebrew idiosyncrasy. If it is difficult for a person whose mother tongue is Hebrew to understand the Scriptures, how much more would it be for a foreigner!

Therefore, we have to be very careful when pulling out doctrines from a translation of the Scriptures. When reading a translation, we don't only read the translation of what was written originally, but also what the translator thinks the original writer meant, and that does not always match the truth. This is simply because the translator gives a different meaning to terms than what they had when they were originally written, not because he didn't want to understand them correctly, but because his mind has been formed in a different way and his understanding of such terms is different from the original.

The same applies when reading the Scriptures directly in their original languages: Hebrew, Aramaic, and possibly Greek. We have to be careful not to introduce modern or Greco-Roman meanings to the words because we will understand them wrong and then draw conclusions that many times affect our faith and conduct negatively.

May the Eternal give us humbleness to pay attention to what the Jews who know the Eternal and the Scriptures teach and, most of all, may He give us a spirit of revelation and wisdom from above when searching the Scriptures so that we can understand them correctly for our own instruction.

Kol tuv, All the best,

Who is open to follow the Eternal in what is out of the ordinary?

VaYechi 12-2

And (he) lived

Genesis 48:10-16

But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim's head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh's head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.

(Gen. 48:14 NIV)

Who is open to follow the Eternal in what is out of the ordinary?

Ephraim was set over his older brother by orders from heaven. Israel knew very well what he was doing when he crossed his arms. He was guided by the Spirit of the Eternal to do it. His right hand was placed not only on the one who would receive a double portion of territory in the promised land, but who was also going to become the main tribe of the ten who would form the kingdom of the north after the nation's split (1 King. 11).

In that way, Ephraim received a very important role in Israel. The two most important tribes are Yehuda and Ephraim. The salvation plan that the Eternal prepared for the world revolves around these two tribes. Even if salvation comes from the Jews (John 4:22) Ephraim plays an important role in the lost world's redemption project. In tomorrow's manna we will talk about this some more.

Today we will stop and think again in the truth of the fact that the guidance of the Spirit of the Eternal goes beyond and over natural order. The logical order was that Menashe received the firstborn right and therefore the right hand should have been placed on him, but the Eternal wanted to change the order of things into something supernatural.

It is easy to follow things' natural course and do what's always been done or what we've learned we must do. However, when the Spirit of the Creator is in action, it is very possible that things change once in a while. That's why we must be spiritually open to any kind of change in what is supposed to be normal. When we walk with the Eternal we must be prepared for any surprise that is out of the ordinary.

May the Eternal help us have open minds for any change in the routine so that His Spirit can create new things in and through us.

Many blessings,  www.messianictorah.org

Why did Israel say that he could die after seeing Yosef?

Why did Israel say that he could die after seeing Yosef?

And (he) approached

Genesis 46:28 – 47:10

Israel said to Joseph, Now I am ready to die, since I have seen for myself that you are still alive.

(Gen. 46:30 NIVUK)

Why did Israel say that he could die after seeing Yosef?

Our father Israel lived for one thing: to fulfill the Eternal's purpose for his life. He knew that his history was in Yosef and his other sons. He knew that the Eternal had chosen his children to be the fulfillment of the promises made to his fathers. If one of them should be missing, there would be a great loss in the divine plan for the family. Yaakov understood that Yosef was very important not only because the life of every human being is very precious and very valuable, but also because HaShem had given him the role of a powerful prince in the world to help many other people. Yaakov knew that through the seed of Avraham all the families of the earth would be blessed and Yosef played a very important role in the fulfillment of that promise.

That's why Israel said to Yosef after seeing him because he knew that his role of father and instructor of his children had been fulfilled and through them, the Eternal's promises would continue to be carried out.

However, that was not the moment for the patriarch's death. The Eternal wanted to give him a pleasant old age time after so many years of grief and hard work. Since he had taken care of Yosef for 17 years of his early life, now Yosef was able to take care of his father with all kinds of goods and good food for another 17 years until his death (47:28).

May the Eternal, who is good and powerful, fulfill His purpose in each one of us so that we can feel and say before dying, that we have fulfilled the task for which we were born.

May the Eternal let his face shine upon you and give you grace,

Ketriel