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A brief overview of the One called Wonder and His marvellous works!.

Shabbat Shalom family,

All praise and esteem be unto our great and mighty Elohim, יהוה of Hosts, whose works are great and marvellous!!!

Ḥazon/Revelation 15:3-4 “And they sing the song of Mosheh the servant of Elohim, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvellous are Your works, יהוה Ěl Shaddai! Righteous and true are Your ways, O Sovereign of the set-apart ones! 4 Who shall not fear You, O יהוה, and esteem Your Name? Because You alone are kind. Because all nations shall come and worship before You, for Your righteousnesses have been made manifest.”

This is the song that Yoḥanan saw being sung by those overcoming the beast and his image and the number of his name, just before the seven plagues of the wrath of Elohim were to be poured out, and this is a song that we, as a faithful remnant are to be singing as we continue to stand firm in our Mighty King, יהושע Messiah, overcoming by the Blood of the Lamb, the Word of our witness, not fearing death!!!.

In a message called, “OUR WONDROUS AND MARVELLOUS KING! – A brief overview of the One called Wonderful and His marvellous works!”, I want to dig a little deeper into some key words that are found in Scripture, that are truly wonderful and marvellous!!!

So ‘wonderful’ that, at the revelation of the understanding of these words, we are greatly stirred to do what we ought to be continually doing – and that is to be giving all praise and esteem to our Wonderful Creator and King, declaring His wondrous works in all we do!!.

In the verse from Ḥazon/Revelation 15:3 that I opened with, the Greek word that is translated as ‘marvellous’ is θαυμαστός thaumastos – Strong’s G2298 which means, ‘wonderful, amazing thing, marvellous, passing human comprehension’, and the more we grow in the wisdom and understanding of our lovingly committed Creator, the more we are able to see the wonder of His name and His works..

As part of this week’s Shabbat Torah portion from Bemiḏbar/Numbers 4:21-7:89, we will also be reading from Shophetim/Judges 13, and it is with that in mind, that I want to further our exploration of the Wonder of our Beloved King, by looking at a couple of verses from this chapter, which gives us the account of the parents of Shimshon being told that they would have a son that was to be separated unto יהוה from the womb.

In this message, I want to focus on the Messenger of יהוה, as we read in:

Shophetim/Judges 13:17-19 “Then Manowaḥ said to the Messenger of יהוה, “What is Your name? When Your words come true, then we shall esteem You.” 18 And the Messenger of יהוה said to him, “Why do you ask My name, since it is wondrous?” 19 And Manowaḥ took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it upon the rock to יהוה. And He did wondrously while Manowaḥ and his wife looked on.”

I often think that many people miss the powerful revelation that is contained in these verses, and this event carries such great insight and understanding for us, in overcoming many debates regarding our Master.

Manowaḥ asks the Messenger of יהוה what His Name was, for when His words came true, they could esteem Him. This, in itself, is very powerful as we recognise how, at the fullness of time, when the Word of יהוה is fully come true, according to His Word, then all shall confess the esteem of His Name!!!

The name מָנוֹחַ Manowaḥ – Strong’s H4495 means, ‘rest’, and we know that those who ‘enter the rest’ of Elohim, that is – those who faithfully guard His Sabbaths and commands, shall esteem His Name, and sing of the great and marvellous works of our King!

In answer to his question of the Messenger’s Name, the Messenger of יהוה replies with the following: ‘why do you ask – since it is WONDROUS?’

This is where our journey in this message gets exciting!!!.

The Hebrew phrase that is used here for ‘since it is wondrous’ is written as follows:

וְהוּא־פֶלִאי – v’hoo pheli,

The Hebrew word for ‘wondrous’ is פִּלְאִי pili – Strong’s H6383, which is used as an adjective which means, ‘wonderful, incomprehensible’, which comes from the root verb פָּלָא pala – Strong’s H6381 which means, ‘to be surpassing or extraordinary, fulfil a special (vow), to do extraordinary or hard things, to show oneself wonderful or marvellous’..

The Name of יהוה expresses His characteristics and the wonders of His marvellous works. The Messenger of יהוה was revealing to Manowaḥ who He is, and when Manowaḥ gave his offering upon the rock, the Messenger of יהוה did ‘wondrously’ as Manowaḥ looked on!.

The Hebrew word that is translated as ‘wondrously’ comes from the root verb פָּלָא pala – Strong’s H6381.

So, here in these verses, we see the adjective and verb being used, in expressing who the Messenger is, as seen by His works.

This adjective: פִּלְאִי pil-i – Strong’s H6383 is used in one other verse in Scripture:

Tehillah/Psalm 139:6 “Knowledge too wondrous for me, it is high, I am unable to reach it.”

In this Psalm, Dawiḏ was expressing how great and awesome יהוה is, and proclaims how יהוה knows everything – his sitting down and his rising up, his thoughts and even though there was not even a word on his tongue, יהוה knows it all!!!

יהוה is incomprehensible, and no matter where we try to go, He is there – and then he expresses how wonderful the works of יהוה are and how wondrously we are made!

Tehillah/Psalm 139:14 “I give thanks to You, For I am awesomely and wondrously made! Wondrous are Your works, and my being knows it well.”

The Hebrew word that is translated as ‘wondrous’ is the root verb that we have been looking at, which is פָּלָא pala – Strong’s H6381, while the Hebrew word that is translated as ‘wondrously’ is the primitive root פָּלָה palah – Strong’s H6395 which means, ‘to be separated or distinct, distinguished, wondrously’, and a derivative of this word, is פַּלּוּא Pallu – Strong’s H6396 which ‘distinguished or separated’ and was the name of Re’uḇĕn’s second son..

Why I am also mentioning this word, is that we are able to understand how Sha’ul may have become known as ‘Paul’, when we see in Ma’asei/Acts 13:9, which from the Greek has been translated by most translations as ‘Sha’ul, who is also Paul…’, which would actually be better understood correctly as ‘Sha’ul who was also ‘separated/distinguished’, as we can recognise this to be the correct understanding, when you read Ma’asei/Acts 13:2, when the Set-Apart Spirit said ‘separate unto Me Barnaḇa and Sha’ul…’!!!.

There is no Greek equivalent for the Hebrew word ‘pallu’ and therefore the Latin word ‘paulos’ was written in here.

The point I want to make, is that Sha’ul’s name was not changed to Paul – he was separated unto יהוה for that which he had been called!

It is by the Set-Apart Spirit of יהוה that we are wondrously made and separated unto Him for the service of a royal and set-apart priesthood!.

Let’s get back to more wonderful words that reveal our Wonderful Creator!

Yeshayahu/Isaiah 9:6 “For a Child shall be born unto us, a Son shall be given unto us, and the rule is on His shoulder. And His Name is called Wonder, Counsellor, Strong Ěl, Father of Continuity, Prince of Peace.”

In prophesying of the coming of Messiah, this verse in Yeshayahu makes a clear proclamation of who the Messiah is, and what His Name is called – and one of them, of course, being ‘Father of Continuity/Everlasting Father’, which we are not going to look at in-depth in this message.

However, I want to highlight the first Name that is mentioned here – and that is: ‘WONDER’, which is the noun פֶּלֶא pele – Strong’s H6382 which comes from the root verb פָּלָא pala – Strong’s H6381..

This is very exciting for us to recognise here, in that The Child that was born unto us – יהושע Messiah – is called by the Name ‘WONDER’ – and the Messenger of יהוה told Manowaḥ that His Name was ‘Wondrous’.

The very Messenger who appeared to Manowaḥ and was taken up in esteem, before their eyes, was none other than יהושע Messiah!!!.

The adjective פִּלְאִי pili – Strong’s H6383 is used twice in Scripture, as mentioned, and the noun פֶּלֶא pele – Strong’s H6382 is used 13 times, which I again find very interesting to take note of, as we know that the term אֶחָד eḥad – Strong’s H259, in Hebrew, means ‘ONE’ and carries the numerical value of 13, as follows: אֶ =1 (Aleph); חָ =8 (Het); ד =4 (Dalet).

And with the rule being on the shoulders of the One called Wonder – that is יהושע Messiah’s shoulders, it speaks of how He would bear our burdens, by coming to fully meet and proclaim the Torah, so that through His Blood, He would bring back the two Houses of Yisra’ĕl and Yehuḏah, as One in Him!.

Without reading all 13 verses where this word פֶּלֶא pele – Strong’s H6382 occurs, here are a couple that speak of the wondrous works of יהוה:

Shemoth/Exodus 15:11 “Who is like You, O יהוה, among the mighty ones? Who is like You, great in set-apartness, awesome in praises, working wonders?”

Tehillah/Psalm 77:11 “I remember the deeds of Yah, for I remember Your wonders of old.”

Tehillah/Psalm 77:14 “You are the Ěl who does wonders; You have made known Your strength among the peoples.”

Tehillah/Psalm 89:5 “And the heavens praise Your wonders, O יהוה, Your trustworthiness, too, in the assembly of the set-apart ones.”

Tehillah/Psalm 119:129 “Your witnesses are wonders; so my being observes them.”

Dani’ěl/Daniel 12:6 “And one said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long until the end of these wonders?”

Only the One who is Wonderful knows the end of all His Wonders, for He is the First and the Last!.

Now let us look at a couple of verses, where we find the denominative root verb פָּלָא pala – Strong’s H6381, which clearly speak of the wondrous works of our Wonderful Creator and Redeemer:

Shemoth/Exodus 3:20 “And I shall stretch out My hand and smite Mitsrayim with all My wonders which I shall do in its midst. And after that he shall let you go.”

Shemoth/Exodus 34:10 “And He said, “See, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I am going to do wonders such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of יהוה. For what I am doing with you is awesome.”

Diḇre haYamim Aleph/1Chronicles 16:9 “Sing to Him, sing praise to Him, Speak of all His wonders!”

Diḇre haYamim Aleph/1 Chronicles 16:12 “Remember His wonders which He has done, His signs and the right-rulings of His mouth”

Diḇre haYamim Aleph/1 Chronicles 16:24 “Declare His esteem among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.”.

We are to proclaim and declare His wonders, which we cannot do if we do not know who The Wonder is!!!

Tehillah/Psalm 119:18 “Open my eyes, that I might see Wonders from Your Torah.”

It is only by His Set-Apart Spirit, that opens our eyes, are we able to see Wonders from His Torah and see how the Torah clearly speaks of, and reveals, our Wonderful Redeemer and King – יהושע Messiah!.

There are two very key verses that are contained in the Renewed writings, which give us a clear witness of the ability for us to acknowledge and recognise our Wondrous Saviour and Elohim, by His Spirit:

Qorintiyim Aleph/1 Corinthians 12:3 “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of Elohim says יהושע is a curse, and no one is able to say that יהושע is Master except by the Set-apart Spirit.”

Pilipiyim/Philippians 2:11 “and every tongue should confess that יהושע Messiah is Master, to the esteem of Elohim the Father.”

These two verses are very clear in our ability to boldly make the confession of who Messiah is – He is Wonder who does wondrously!!!

In the Aramaic text of the Renewed Writings (N.T.), known as the Peshitta N.T., we find the term that is used in Aramaic for ‘Master’, when referring to Elohim, as ‘MarYah’, which literally renders the meaning of ‘Master יהוה’, and is used in the Aramaic text of the Tanak whenever referring to יהוה..

In the Aramaic script of these two verses above, we find the literal translation of the Aramaic very clear as it literally Translates as:

Qorintiyim Aleph/1 Corinthians 12:3 “…., neither can a man say that Master יהוה is יהושע except by the Set-Apart Spirit”

Pilipiyim/Philippians 2:11 “…every tongue should confess that Master יהוה is יהושע Messiah….”.

The reason I am sharing this with you, is simply to show what was being revealed to Manowaḥ and his wife, as the clear Message of the Wonder of יהוה was being opened up before their eyes.

It is only by the Set-Apart Spirit that we are able to see and comprehend this!.

When looking at the ancient pictographic symbols of the early script of the Hebrew letters, we can see a very powerful and clear revelation of Messiah, is this word He expressed in answering Manowaḥ..

The word פִּלְאִי pili – Strong’s H6383, in the ancient script, looks like this (reading from right to left):

.

Pey – פִּ:

This letter in the ancient script is pictured as , which is an ‘open mouth’ and carries the meaning of ‘speak and blow’, from the functions of the mouth, and can have the meaning of ‘scatter’ by blowing. It can also mean sword or beard as in things with edges, as well as a region in depicting a place with edges or boundaries. It also can represent that which has been spoken forth from the words of one’s mouth, as being established!.

Lamed – לְ:

The ancient script has this letter as , and is pictured as a ‘shepherd’s staff’, can give the meaning of ‘to or toward’ and can represent that which pushes or pulls a flock in a direction, and can speak of authority or a yoke that is used to lead and guide, as well as the ability to bring back by Authority..

Aleph – אִ:

The ancient script has this letter as and is pictured as ‘the head of an ox’, and represents ‘strength’, meaning ‘muscle’ as the ox is the strongest of the livestock animals. This also carries the meaning of ‘yoke’, as an ox is placed in a yoke in order to plough or pull a heavy load in the right direction. This can also picture for us the ‘red heifer’ sacrifice that יהושע Messiah fulfilled!.

Yod – י:

The ancient script has this letter as which is ‘an arm and hand’ and carries the meaning of ‘work, make, throw’, from the primary functions of the arm and hand, and it also represents worship or giving thanks in the extending of hands as a gesture of this. The work of one’s hands is the basic meaning of this letter!.

When looking at these pictographic symbols we are able to see the revelation of the One called Wonder as we are able to ascertain from this word:.

THE ONE CALLED WONDER, WHO HAS OPENED HIS MOUTH AND SPOKEN HIS WORD, IS THE GOOD SHEPHERD, WHO IS OUR HEAD WHO HAS REVEALED HIS OUTSTRETCHED ARM AND HAND TO US, IN BECOMING THE PERFECT SACRIFICE IN HIS OWN BLOOD, AND HAS REDEEMED US, IN ORDER TO SHOW FORTH HIS WONDROUS WORKS, WHICH WE ARE TO PRAISE, PROCLAIM AND DECLARE!

What is worth noting here, is that the difference in the letters of the word that is used in Shophetim/Judges 13:18, which is פִּלְאִי pili – Strong’s H6383, for wondrous and the word that is used in Yeshayahu/Isaiah 9:6, which is פֶּלֶא pele – Strong’s H6382, for ‘Wonder/Wonderful’, is that with the word that is used in Shophetim/Judges, there is an extra letter at the end – and that is the letter ‘yod’ as shown above, which is a powerful illustration of how He had manifested Himself before Manowaḥ, by revealing His Outstretched Arm and Hand!

Yeshayahu/Isaiah 53:1 “Who has believed our report? And to whom was the arm of יהוה revealed?”

His Arm has been revealed to those who enter into His rest!!!

For many this is too marvellous to comprehend and can only be revealed by His Set-Apart Spirit! Have you believed the report of the prophets!!!

This is the ‘Marvellous mystery’ that shall be fully revealed for all to see – and that is the great wonder of who our Creator is!!!

It is Wondrous to carefully consider how our Creator could come Himself and dwell among us! This is why He is called ‘Wonder’ – as this is clearly beyond, or rather, ‘passes human comprehension’!.

What we are to recognise, is that those who faithfully Hear, Guard and Do His commands and diligently keep His Sabbaths and Appointed Times, shall have their eyes opened to see and comprehend the Outstretched Arm of יהוה, as He shall reveal Himself to those who faithfully continue to ‘enter into His rest’, by simply being lovingly committed to walking in loving obedience to His Word and stripping away all dogmas and traditions of man, that has caused many to be veiled from this wonderful truth that we are to proclaim!.

When I started out with the text from Ḥazon/Revelation 15, I mentioned that the Greek word that is translated as ‘marvellous’, is θαυμαστός thaumastos – Strong’s G2298, and this is the Greek word that is used in the LXX (Septuagint – Greek translation of the Tanak (O.T.)) in the verse from Shophetim/Judges 13:18, where the Messenger declares His Name to be ‘Wondrous’.

In the Renewed Writings we find this Greek word being used 7 times, of which I will list for you a few of these so that you can begin to further understand the powerful declaration of who Our Wonderful Redeemer and King is!

Mattithyahu/Matthew 21:42 “יהושע said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner-stone. This was from יהוה, and it is marvellous in our eyes’?”

This Messiah spoke after He gave the parable of the wicked tenants who killed the son of the master of the vineyard (it is a parable used to teach!!!).

This is repeated in:

Marqos/Mark 12:10-11 “Have you not read this Scripture, ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner-stone. 11 ‘This was from יהוה, and it is marvellous in our eyes’?”

After these words, the Pharisees were seeking to seize Him, but feared the crowd as they knew that the parable was about them who had denied who He is!!!.

Who did they reject?

The Wonder – יהוה who had revealed His Mighty Arm that saves, for יהושע (Yahushua) is יהוה (YAHWEH) our Saviour!

“It is marvellous in our eyes”– The One called ‘Wonder’ was right before their eyes and they could not comprehend who He is!!!.

Yoḥanan/John 9:30 “The man answered and said to them, “Why, this is a wonder! You do not know where He is from, yet He opened my eyes!”

These were the words of the man who was born blind, when he was speaking to the Pharisees after He was given his sight, and he was declaring the ‘wonder of the works of Him who is Wonderful’!.

Kěpha Aleph/1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a set-apart nation, a people for a possession, that you should proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light” .

We have been called out of darkness and ignorance into His marvellous light – that is: into the knowledge and reign of His Kingdom – and it was Yisra’ĕl whom יהוה called to be a priesthood when He made it clear to a delivered nation, in Shemoth/Exodus 19: 5-6, that if they diligently obeyed His voice and guarded His covenant, then they would be His treasured possession, and they would be a reign of priests and be a set-apart nation. And the Wonder of His coming in the flesh, was to redeem and call His lost sheep out of darkness, by the revelation of His outstretched Arm and Hand – and His sheep know His voice!!!.

When Philippians 2 tells us that at the Name of יהושע that every knee should bow – that is that every knee in heaven and in earth and beneath the earth, and that every tongue shall confess that He is Master, it is clear that when He does come again, the Wonder will be fully revealed and every tongue shall confess and truly acknowledge that יהושע is, in fact, the very presence and embodiment of יהוה, which passes all human comprehension, yet the full mystery shall be revealed.

And as Manowaḥ saw the Messenger of יהוה – that is: the Wondrous יהושע, going up in the flame, so too did the taught ones of Messiah see יהושע going up in a cloud into the heavens, while standing on the Mount of Olives; and they were told that this same יהושע that they saw ascending into the heavens will come in the same way as they saw Him leave! He is coming on the clouds and He shall set His foot on the place where He left – the Mount of Olives – which Zeḵaryah/Zechariah 14 makes clear, in who it is that shall set His feet on the Mount of Olives:.

Zeḵaryah/Zechariah 14:3-4 “And יהוה shall go forth, and He shall fight against those gentiles, as He fights in the day of battle. 4 And in that day His feet shall stand upon the Mount of Olives, which faces Yerushalayim on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, a very great valley, and half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south.”.

My hope with this message, is that, by these powerful words that we find in the Living Word, we shall confidently understand, by the revelation of the Set-Apart Spirit, the Wonder of our WONDROUS AND MARVELLOUS KING, and that we may remember His wondrous works and proclaim His wonders to the nations, as we carry the very Light of His presence, for we are able to proclaim who the True Master יהוה is – for He is Wondrous, and He has done many wonders and in Him we are wondrously made, aměn!.

May our Wonderful and Mighty Redeemer and King continue to do wondrous works in your life, as you guard and walk in the Wonderful Gift of His Word that He has given, and revealed, to us in יהושע Messiah, to whom we reverently bow and confess, as Master and Husband!.

יהוה bless you and guard you; יהוה make His face shine upon you and show favour to you; יהוה lift up His face upon you and give you shalom!.