See and Hear the Spirit: The Parables 09/21 by Segulah | Spirituality Podcasts

What did Messiah mean by 100 fold, 60 fold, and 30 fold in the Parable of the Sower? What did Messiah really express in the literal words he used when He taught the Parable of the Talents? What did Messiah intend for us to HEAR FROM ABOVE, through all the words He used in the Parable of the 10 Virgins? Segulah shows you how to See and Hear the Pure Spirit of the Word by tying them all together so that they weave beautifully and perfectly together to form the Kingdom tapestry that they were intended to bring to us.

Source: See and Hear the Spirit: The Parables 09/21 by Segulah | Spirituality Podcasts

See and Hear the Spirit: The Vision

Click on the Link below to listen. Also, if you are encouraged and know that your Spirit is being fed from above, from the Spirit of Elohim… click FOLLOW on Blogtalk radio and get the new podcasts when they post. You can also find me on iTunes Podcasts for download. Thanks and Blessings.

See and Hear the Spirit: The Vision

See and Hear the Spirit: Introduction

Segulah launches her blogtalk podcasting with this first episode where she will tell listeners what they can expect to hear when they tune in. Learn about the host, hear why she has chosen to participate in BlogTalk radio, get her proposed podcast uploading schedule and a brief run-down of the first topics she will be speaking about. It is eleven minutes as a beginning to a renewed path – a path to the Spirit of Wisdom. It is the Good News in an ENTIRELY RENEWED LIGHT. 

Click on the link below and it will open a new window for listening.

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The Second Commandment

The Second Commandment

 

“You do not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of that which is in the heavens above, or which is in the earth beneath, or which is in the waters under the earth, you do not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, YaHUaH your Alohim am a jealous El, visiting the crookedness of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, and showing kindness to thousands, to those who love Me and guard My commands.” Exodus 20:4-6

What you see above is the second commandment given to us “as it is written.” When is the last time you saw this commandment displayed in this manner – anywhere, besides when you read it in your Bible yourself? This commandment has been shortened, dissected, changed, even eliminated by some “assemblies?” of “faith.” This is another instruction (covenant article) that we have completely nullified and made void. We must realize, at some point brethren, this activity cannot continue in the assemblies and homes. We cannot continue changing our covenant articles and still expect to be the people of God. [On a side note, this is not to discuss the “numbering” of the commandments, but the actual “words” of them.]

Here is what is at stake for us in guarding or not guarding His Words: “And now, if you diligently obey My voice, and shall guard My covenant, then you shall be My treasured possession above all the peoples – for all the earth is Mine – and you shall be to Me a reign of priests and a set-apart nation.” Exodus 19:5-6. When the covenant is broken, His Covenant does not go away, it is eternal. When His Covenant is broken, YaHUaH does not go away, He also, is eternal. What happens when the covenant is broken and brought to naught in the lives and ears of people, is our position as His people is removed and broken. You may want to read that again.

“Obey My Voice, and I shall be your Alohim, and you be My people.” Jeremiah 7:23

So let us get back to this commandment “as it is written” and see just how valuable it is for us and why we need to return to guarding it as we are charged with.

This commandment has tied to it a declaration of YaHUaH’s character and how that character is made visible and real in the earth and His people. It is a characteristic that is born out of passion and possession. Yet most of the time, this plainly declared characteristic of our Creator is not found in the printing of this commandment or discussed in most conversations of those who pride themselves in memorizing the commandment. When it is recited, it is brushed through and stated as a simple “don’t do” and YaHUaH is misrepresented in the misguided understanding.

His Character: “For I, YaHUaH your Elohim am a jealous El”

Isn’t this amazing? The Creator of the Universe tells His creation something of His character here directly. Does a statue do this? Is the sun, moon, or stars zealous for our affection and worship? What about a tree, or flower? Of course not. These things have no life, for they are “created things.” They are creation and not The Creator! What does it mean to us that He is a jealous El? This language speaks of possession and ownership over something… namely His Bride, His people Israel. He could have said He is a ruling El, or a tyrannical El, or judging El. He could have said He is a mighty El, or a powerful El, or a punishing El. He didn’t, He said jealous. Zealousness and jealousy come out of passion and caring. Additionally, He knows who He is: the one true power and creator of all things, all powerful, all knowing, all merciful and all loving. Because He knows this, He will not stand for anything else to have His place in the hearts, minds, and souls of His people. This is great love which some today label as wicked and vengeful.

As an all knowing and all loving Creator, He is well aware of the “non-sense” in worshipping or serving any man-made image. Man made gods are dead and lead us to death. Man cannot create a god even if he believes he can. Sometimes mankind has worshipped things that are real, i.e. sun, moon, and stars… or even trees and creation… which are real, but have no power. YaHUaH created these things also to serve Him. YaHUaH, in His wisdom and love for us, gives this instruction to protect us from giving time and space of worship to dead things and things that do not prosper for us. Every moment we spend venerating or speaking to some image, memorial, or looking into the stars for our future… its time spent away from Him. Because He has proclaimed Himself to be jealous, He will not stand for this and will take action upon our lives and intercede in our lives to bring us back to Him.

This commandment includes veneration by the way. It does not matter how veneration is packaged, it is unacceptable to YaHUaH. Thesaurus synonyms for veneration: worship, adoration, reverence, honor, respect, admiration, regard

Every single one of these actions belong to God and God alone. Do not give them to statues, bones, memorials, images, icons, symbols and the like. This includes statues of memorable people. Think about it. The person being “venerated” which means worshipped, is dead (asleep). They do not hear, speak, walk, or do any acts on our behalf. This activity comes out of Egypt and is worship of the dead and necromancy. We, as His People, are not to do this.

Scripture tells us quite plainly, “For there is one Elohim, and one Mediator between Elohim and men, the Man Messiah YaHUsHa.” 1 Timothy 2:5

Exodus 34:14 “for you do not bow yourselves to another mighty one, for YaHUaH, whose Name is jealous, is a jealous El – “

This jealousy characteristic is so much a part of who our God is, it is even proclaimed as His Name, as above in Exodus 34:24. From the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament on this Hebrew word qanna for jealous:

This verb expresses a very strong emotion whereby some quality or possession of the object is desired by the subject. Although the term may be used to denote one of the characteristics of living men as in Ecclesiastes 9:6, or in a derogatory sense to denote hostile and disruptive passions as in Proverbs 27:4, or in a favorable sense to denote consuming zeal focused on one that is loved as in Psalms 69:9.

It is helpful to think of “zeal” as the original sense from which derived the notions

“zeal for another’s property” = “envy”

“zeal for one’s own property” = “jealousy”

Did you see that? The zeal our Father has for us is JEALOUSY. And why is that? Because we are HIS PROPERTY.

qanna’ specifically with the jot at the end is the noun given for a Name of YaHUaH – Jealous, His Name is Jealous. This noun, is used only of God and in the context of idolatry. It shows the parallel between adultery and idolatry. As a husband holds his wife to himself and is permitted to kill her and her illicit lover in the case of adultery, so God relates to His people. This consuming characteristic of the zeal our Elohim has for us will be revisited later in this work after we cover some more of the meaning of the commandment and its Words.

What is a carved or graven image? It is the Hebrew word pecel {peh’-sel} from 06458; TWOT – 1788a; n m AV – graven image 28, carved image 2, graven 1; 31 1) idol, image

In the likeness of:

Likeness is temuwnah {tem-oo-naw’} or תמנה temunah {tem-oo-naw’} from 04327; TWOT – 1191b; n f AV – likeness 5, similitude 4, image 1; 10 1) form, image, likeness, representation, semblance

Heavens – stars, planets, galaxies, moon, sun, clouds, angels

Earth – animals, man, woman, trees, bushes, flowers, birds

Waters – fish, dolphins, sea creatures, sea shells, any shells, sharks

You do not bow down:

Bow down – shachah {shaw-khaw’} a primitive root; TWOT – 2360; v AV – worship 99, bow 31, bow down 18, obeisance 9, reverence 5, fall down 3, themselves 2, stoop 1, crouch 1, misc 3; 172 1) to bow down 1a) (Qal) to bow down 1b) (Hiphil) to depress (fig) 1c) (Hithpael) 1c1) to bow down, prostrate oneself 1c1a) before superior in homage 1c1b) before God in worship 1c1c) before false gods 1c1d) before angel

To serve them:

– abad {aw-bad’} a primitive root; TWOT – 1553; v AV – serve 227, do 15, till 9, servant 5, work 5, worshippers 5, service 4, dress 2, labour 2, ear 2, misc 14; 290 1) to work, serve 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to labour, work, do work 1a2) to work for another, serve another by labour 1a3) to serve as subjects 1a4) to serve (God) 1a5) to serve (with Levitical service) 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to be worked, be tilled (of land) 1b2) to make oneself a servant 1c) (Pual) to be worked 1d) (Hiphil) 1d1) to compel to labour or work, cause to labour, cause to serve 1d2) to cause to serve as subjects 1e) (Hophal) to be led or enticed to serve

Now to cover another portion of this instruction (commandment) that is hardly ever taught or spoken:

YaHUaH’s Words: “visiting the crookedness of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me”

Hold on to your boots here, because we are going to cover something about this word “visiting” that you may have never heard or read before. The word “visiting” is not necessarily a negative thing. Most usages of this word are in a positive light in scripture. It can be negative… but to use the word punishment to translate this Hebrew word is the least acceptable translation. Did you get that? To say that YaHUaH punishes is the least acceptable translation of the Hebrew word. Remember that.

From THE NET Bible for the explanation of the Hebrew word for “visiting” which is the Hebrew word paqad:

The word pqd (paqad) is difficult to translate. It essentially means that God intervenes in the lives of people for blessing or for cursing. Some would simply translate the participle here as “punishing” the children for the sins of the fathers. That is workable, but may not say enough. The verse may mean that those who hate YaHUaH and do not keep his commandments will repeat the sins their fathers committed and suffer for them. Deut 24:16 says that they will die for their own sins and not their father’s sins. [So right here we in fact DO see that using the word punish cannot be appropriate, for Scripture itself tells us this] It may have more to do with the patterns of sin being repeated from generation to generation; if the sin and the guilt were not fully developed in the one generation, then left unchecked they would develop and continue in the next. But it may also indicate that the effects of the sins of the fathers will be experienced in the following generations. God is showing here that his ethical character is displayed in how he deals with sin and righteousness. There is a justice at work in the dealings of God that is not there in the pagan world.

Tie this in with their note on the following phrase “to those who hate me”:

This is an important qualification to the principle. The word “hate” carries with it the idea of rejecting God and his word. To hate God means to reject him and to defiantly oppose him. Hating God is likened unto being His enemy. Such people are doomed to carry on the sins of their ancestors, and bear the guilt with them.

The actions of our parents can absolutely cause us to be born out of or cut off from God’s presence, and therefore His Teaching. If our earthly father lives as an enemy of God, he will find himself expelled from the presence, teaching, and tent of people of YaHUaH. This tells us there will be no true divine guidance for the children, and there may be no blessings for them. Grandchildren may be greatly afflicted, walking in curses, and begin to wonder why things are so bad. There are many cases in which the children awaken in the fourth generation and return to YaHUaH because of these truths. YaHUaH sets forth this divine order and decree… why? Because He is punishing or vengeful? No. He does it because He is a jealous El and He plainly told us prior to this action that is decreed. We are His possession and He will intervene into our generations on behalf of His Name’s sake. Would we prefer He leave us to die in exile? Would we prefer He leave us alone and never come after us as His people again so that we die in our ignorance and transgression forever? We MUST get back to the true meaning and understanding of what love means.

This phrase is full of mercy and grace too. To translate this word “visit” to be “punish” may be a miscarriage of our Creator’s character. To add weight to this position is the phrase that follows in this command, “showing kindness to thousands, to those who love Me and guard My commands.”

Now, between “those who hate me” and “showing kindness to thousands” there is a single Hebrew letter and it is the letter “vav” – ו

This Hebrew letter “vav” can represent either the English word “and” or the English word “but.” If we use the word “and” we can see how this visiting of Alohim upon the third and fourth generation is a positive and merciful action brought upon us by His jealousy for His possession. If we use the word “but” we see that because the latter phrase “showing kindness to thousands” is plainly positive… that the contrasting word “but” causes us to see that the previous phrase “visiting the crookedness” as a negative.

This is a common thing in Scripture and it leaves the understanding to be one based upon our view and relationship with YaHUaH. A believer who sees Him as a loving Father, ever merciful, kind, and forgiving will see the positive. A person who is angry, in transgression, not speaking to Him, etc… may choose to see the negative. Both views are there in the reading, so it is a choice.

Here is more from the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament on the Hebrew word paqad for visiting, numbering, or appointing (some translations have punishing).

The basic meaning is to exercise oversight over a subordinate, either in the form of inspecting or of taking action to cause a considerable change in the circumstances of the subordinate, either for the better or for the worse.

It is said of the verb, which occurs more than 300 times in the Tanak (old testament): “There is probably no other Hebrew verb that has caused translators as much trouble as paqad. This verb occurs in the Akkadian language usually with the meaning of appointing a governor or other official.

Speiser considers the root of this word (pqd) to be “attend to with care” or “take note.” It is impossible to prove whether this is the actual origin, but the fact that at least half of the occurrences involve positive action by a superior in relation to his subordinates strongly suggests that such action is a vital part of the meaning of the word.

When translated “visit” as 57 times in the KJV (King James Version), this word almost always has the sense of “making a visitation” and points to action that produces a great change in the position of a subordinate either for good or for ill. Speiser suggests a close parallel to the phrase “to raise the head,” used in Genesis 40:13,19. Pharaoh “lifted up the head” of both his servants the baker and the butler – one to restoration and the other to death.

The word paqad is similarly used in what might seem to be two opposite senses in Jeremiah 23:2 “Therefore thus said YaHUaH Alohim of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people, “You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and have not tended (paqad) them. See, I am punishing (paqad) you for the evil of your deeds,” declares YaHUaH.

References in I Samuel 20:6, 18, 25, 27 to David’s seat being empty or to David being missed involve the idea of Saul’s oversight over his subordinate. The references to cattle or sheep not being missed in I Samuel 25:7, 15, 21 relate to David’s protection of Nabal’s flock. A similar reference to God’s oversight of his people and finding none missing is contained in Jeremiah 23:3-4

“Therefore I shall gather the remnant of My flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and shall bring them back to their fold. And they shall bear and increase. And I shall raise up shepherds over them, and they shall feed them. And they shall fear no more, nor be discouraged, nor shall they be lacking,” declares YaHUaH.

This is “visiting”… this is paqad in our commandment as YaHUaH watches over us and will visit us in the third and fourth generation to make sure we can return to Him even if our fathers walk away from Him in concerning the adultery of idol worship.

The second half of the phrase: “showing kindness to thousands, to those who love Me and guard My commands,” doesn’t require much explanation. When we guard His commands, we show YaHUaH we love Him and He pours out kindness and blessing upon us because we have allowed Him to do so according to the Ways of His Instructions.

YaHUsHa said, “If you love Me, guard My commands.”

“Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?” (Jeremiah 16:20).

Now to show some examples of what we have done to the second commandment to bring it down to a mere “thou shall not do” and missing out on the glorious whole meaning that you have just read. Please know that in showing these as examples, there is no insult or harm meant to the people of these religions. It is the religion itself that is the problem. Doctrine out of organized religion that chooses to misrepresent our King.

From online sites teaching Judaism:

“You shall have no other gods besides Me… Do not make a sculpted image or any likeness of what is in the heavens above…” — This commandment is a prohibition to believe in or worship any other deities, gods, or spirits. It is also a prohibition against objects like crucifixes, and any forms of paintings or artistic representations of God. (from www.templesanjose.org)

Prohibition of Improper Worship

This category is derived from Ex. 20:3-6, beginning, “You shall not have other gods…” It encompasses within it the prohibition against the worship of other gods as well as the prohibition of improper forms of worship of the one true G-d, such as worshiping G-d through an idol. (www.jewfaq.org)

The two paragraphs above have not included our wonderful Alohim’s character. Remember that picture of His being jealous for us? Where is it in the above teachings? And also… where is the blessing and His kindness, and the blessing of His visitation upon our generations to return us to our Deliverance? This is surely violence to our Father’s Word indeed.

The Catholic Catechism has completely removed this commandment from their teachings. Completely omitted. An outrage to be sure.

The Episcopal Catechism: To put nothing in the place of God (from http://anglicansonline.org/basics/catechism.html#The%20Ten%20Commandments)

Nothing much needs to be said about the Episcopal teaching above, considering all that has already been covered thus far. So much is missing in this instruction, and the instruction is made void.

“You shall not make anything to be with Me — gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves.” (Exodus 20:23). He is a limitless, unseen, living Alohim.

“What you have in your mind shall never be, when you say, ‘We will be like the Gentiles, like the families in other countries, serving wood and stone.'” (Ezekiel 20:32).

Isaiah 24:5

The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.

Why should the nations say, “Where now is their Alohim?”

But our Alohim is in the heavens;

Whatever pleased Him, He has done.

Their idols are silver and gold,

The work of men’s hands.

They have mouths, but they do not speak;

They have eyes, but they do not see;

They have ears, but they do not hear;

They have noses, but they do not smell;

They have hands, but they do not handle;

They have feet, but they do not walk;

They make no sound through their throat.

The ones who make them, shall become like them –

All who trust in them.

Psalm 115:2-8

Deut. 4:15-18 “So watch yourselves CAREFULLY, since you did not see any form on the day YaHUaH spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire, LEST YOU ACT CORRUPTLY and make a graven image for yourselves in the form of any figure the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water below the earth…”

Psa 97:7 Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols: worship him, all ye gods.

Yahusha said, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.” (John 4:23) Notice it is only the “true” worshipers who are able to worship the Father in spirit and in truth. “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. (Jn. 4:24)

The guarding of the second commandment will also have an impact upon those who will be living during the last days spoken of in the Book of the Revelation. “And he leads astray those dwelling on the earth because of those signs which he was given to do before the beast, saying to those dwelling on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword, yet lived.” Rev. 13:14

Keeping the second commandment will keep us from this danger in times to come.

Adding To and Taking From

Several months ago, around the time of the second feast of the year (Pentecost or Shavuot), I had a notion to try my hand at creating and sustaining a sourdough starter.

A sourdough starter is nothing more than ground or milled grain (flour) and water. The flour and water is mixed and then left out and left alone (except for feeding which we will get to in a moment) to mature for several days in a container. Over time, the mixture that inhabits small bacteria… some good and some bad will begin to show visual signs of life. These bacteria live in and on the grain naturally and by leaving them alone in the water they will begin to feed on the carbohydrate in the grain and produce gasses from the digestion. With time, air bubbles will be seen and an aroma will be detected.

This project was much harder than it sounds. It took me several weeks and several tries with new batches to get this thing going. I almost reached the point of throwing my hands up and saying, “just forget it!” but I persevered. I also thought I was doing this for the taste of sourdough. We no longer buy bread, crackers, cookies, muffins, or any bread product from the store. I make them all here at home – homemade so that we know all the ingredients. What I have come to appreciate is that in addition to wonderful tasting bread… my sourdough starter is also my natural yeast for getting my bread to rise. I never knew that either! But now I do.

I also learned something FAR more important as well which I will share in a moment.

After several batches of the “store-bought” flour failed… I decided to mill the kamut wheat I had grown specifically for the feast of shavuot. I did not have enough to make the two loaves of bread for the feast, I just had a nice full hand- full of the kamut wheat berries. I was torn about destroying them by milling them, but read about how good starters actually come, not from the yeast floating around in the air like everyone says… but from the natural bacteria both on and in the grown grain berries that are “on” the grain. So I thought if any grain will have the bacteria I needed to get this thing going… it is my kamut wheat that I grew out in the back yard. So I milled it. I mixed it with some distilled water and went to work.

Low and behold… it worked! The little bit of dough began to smell nice and fruity. I carefully measured and weighed out the flour and water mixture I fed it with each and every 8 hours and truly did my very best to be successful. And guess what? The sourdough starter is still going today after 4 months. I have baked dozens of beautiful and great tasting loaves of all kinds of bread and there is never any doubt or problem with having the loaf rise… perfectly!

Now… why am I sharing this on this blog that is about walking with our Creator and King?

I am being taught a language. A language not of words but of actions. The understanding comes through the doing for this language. Why do you think God gives us instructions? Some people, many people, call His instructions “commandments” I guess it depends on how a person sees them. I see them as instructions: instructions for life. As I do what is spoken of in His Word, I am blessed with learning the language. It is not truly a language that can be written down with letters and words.

Anyway, one morning… actually the morning of Shavuot I believe it was… as I was doing a morning feeding of the sourdough starter I finally had going with the kamut wheat from my garden, I SAW SOMETHING IN WHAT I WAS DOING.

Each time I fed the starter with more water and more flour, I first had to remove some of the starter that was in the container. This is how a starter is fed:

The existing lump is gently stirred down a bit.

All but about 1/4 of a cup is removed from it and thrown away.

Then more water and more flour is added and stirred in.

This is left for 8-12 hours to begin the process again.

I suddenly realized I was “adding to and taking from” the original measure of milled wheat. Each time I did this, I was removing more of the true, initial wheat and adding flour from a different, outside source to keep it going.

When the simple yet beautiful truth of this hit me, I began to cry. I suddenly realized “why” I was doing this sourdough starter, what the purpose was for it, and how it came to me. My Father had something to teach me, in a way I would never, ever, ever forget. I had read the words a thousand times, but now… now I truly “saw with understanding”

And now, O Yisra’el, listen to the laws and the right-rulings which I am teaching you to do, so that you live, and shall go in and possess the land which YaHUaH Alohim of your fathers is giving you.

Do not add to the Word which I command you, and do not take away from it, so as to guard the commands of YaHUaH your Alohim which I am commanding you. Deuteronomy (Debraim) 4:1-2

Every Word of Eloah is tried; He is a shield to those taking refuge in Him.

Do not add to His Word, Lest He reprove you, and you be found a liar.

Two I have asked of You – Deny them not to me before I die: Remove falsehood and a lying word far from me; Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me my portion of bread; lest I become satisfied and deny, and say, “Who is YaHUaH?” and lest I be poor, and steal, and seize the Name of my Elohim. Proverbs (Mishle) 30:5-9

I have been working on understanding the instructions for the Feast of Unleavened Bread for a very long time. Not the understanding we are given from teachers, Rabbis, and others… but the true meaning. It is becoming clearer to me and I hope to be able to share what I am learning very soon. It is difficult to put into words. Take care for the words you eat from others and digest. Take care for what you say and teach others so that we don’t become the “added” flour from an outside source that is not our Master alone. We are to be the pure lump from His Seed, His kernel of wheat, without words of instruction that has turned us aside to the right or to the left. Each time the Feast of Unleavened bread comes around again, we have a new opportunity to begin again. Remove all the extra teachings of the foreign flour we have taken in throughout the previous year. Start again, with a new lump. The true matzah that is the true mitzvah. So you see it?

Yadah 1

O Yah, the Glory of my fathers and strength of my days

Who else but You? Who else but You?

You are my breath of life and my salvation all the day.

There is chaos all around me and eyes full of emptiness, yet in my being I have peace because You are there.

You and You alone are full of might and power.

By Your Word have you created all things.

I never forget Your Tender Mercies and Strong Hand when You delivered me.

You are the New Song of my heart and shall ever be.

Who else but You? Who else but You?

You never leave me nor forsake me, and though You slay me, I shall praise You

If I am hungry, I shall praise You

If I am cold, I shall praise You

If I am destitute, I shall find joy in You

Worthy, worthy, worthy are You above all that is and ever shall be

Beyond all words – You are

You are everywhere Father YaHUaH! And thanks be forever for it!

Kindness without end and hope eternal exist only in You

My Rock, my Redeemer, My Inner Being – I love You

Blessed be Your Name, forever on my lips and in my hands

Amazing Love!

Our Plans for Passover 5850 (2014)

As I write this article to share what it is we in our household are doing for Passover that is coming up, it is still the year 5849 on God’s Calendar which is the Gregorian 2014. In case it is unknown to you, the Elohim (God) of Israel marks the beginning of the year in the springtime, not the dead of winter. That is the reason I am marking the time of this article as I am. The people who are walking in covenant with Yahuah Elohim (the LORD God) are awaiting the declaration of the New Year still, as it is Yahuah and Yahuah alone who declares the days, weeks, months, and years.

So, as we are waiting for the New Year to come about – we also start planning for the Keeping of Yahuah’s Spring Festivals too. In the first month of each New Year, there are three Festivals that occur for us to observe and keep: Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits. You can read about these in His Instruction manual for living (the Torah) and specifically in Leviticus 23.

What are we doing this year? Well, this year will be our eighth keeping of these feasts and each year as we learn more from our weekly studies and Sabbath keeping, we are always growing and by His Grace, receiving more understanding of not only His Word but His Wisdom and what it is that He is trying to convey to us and His desire for us to do. Like many who are coming out of Babylon and the false teachings of christianity, it has been a long and confusing road for us. We made the same mistake many many others make in that we were reading the Bible AND listening to teachers. I suppose this is only natural considering the way we were trained to simply go to a building where some man or woman was teaching and sit there and listen to what they say and believe what they are saying and teaching. Those learned habits are hard to break. But as we grew weary of all the confusion, contradictions, one assembly teaching this thing, and another assembly teaching that thing… one claiming to do it this way and another saying you have to do it another way or you are wrong…. about a year and a half ago, my husband and I FINALLY got the message.

“My Counsel is sufficient for you”

He says this all along to us, but we are hard of hearing and lack faith and confidence that it is true for some reason. But no more. Yes, we do occasionally read something from a friend who writes or teaches just to keep up with what is going on or also to perhaps catch a “topic” to **look into the Scriptures for** to see if it is lining up with His Word or not. In doing this, we also learn a lot. This is part of our way of enacting the “be a Berean” concept and also “to prove” what has been said.

It is for this reason, that we have turned our ears, eyes, and heart towards Him FIRST… that a lot has changed in our keeping of time, keeping of feasts and festivals, and many other things. We have been able to discover that so very much of what we are doing is still coming from mankind and not scripture, Yahuah’s Word.

It is for this reason also, that our Passover observance is going to be very different from many of our believing friends. I know they must think we are out in left field and way off target… but we must go with what we have been shown. He will let us know if we are on target (hitting the mark) or off target (missing the mark). The main important thing is to prove to Yahuah that we listen to Him and follow Him – regardless of what everyone else is doing.

Our Plans for Passover 5850, then, begin with the keeping of time. By the reckoning we are now going by, we have one more month before the beginning of the year. Judaism which keeps the Hillel calculated calendar are in the month Adar bet, which is a thirteenth month this month and the last one of the year 5849… as also are the messianic communities. They are also in the month Adar Bet, the thirteenth because there has been no ripe barley in Israel to bring for first fruits at the end of the twelfth month.

Now this means that at the next new moon, whether conjunction moon, sighted moon, or calculation of time… the new year must be proclaimed. There is no fourteenth month. There are either 12 or 13. There is no 14.

For us, we are in the twelfth month right now [that was when I started this novella anyway :)]. Why? because we marked the first month this year as the month when the sun was in Aries… as it was the year when the mixed multitude came out of Egypt. So what we are doing now is looking up and keeping watch to see where the sun is in relationship to the stars and the moon (which marks the 29-30 day months). For this reason also, we are putting very little emphasis on all the “blood moon omens” that are all in the news. These moons do not fall on the feasts days according to how we are walking out the feasts.

You can refer back to a previous article I shared “The Lamb’s Witness from Heaven” to get the details on this understanding and proofs. So when the next new moon comes in the next weeks, we will be looking up. If the sun is in Aries – then it will be a new year for us and the month of the spring festivals will commence. If the sun is not in Aries, we will be keeping a thirteenth month this year and the next new moon when the sun is in Aries (the sign of the Lamb) we will observe the spring Festivals. It is that simple. We are looking up – to heaven – the sun, moon, and stars, just as Father told us to do in Genesis.

What to do if the first grain (barley) is aviv (in the green ears) at the next new moon? Well it is simple. Harvest the *first ripe* grain (barley) when it is ripe and keep it as the *bikkur* for the offering at the Feast of First Fruits. We will not eat any of the new harvest until the first fruits are waved before Yahuah at first fruits. Then we will eat of the harvest freely. The first and best of the new harvest for the year belongs to Yahuah. It is His Bikkur and we will wave it for our acceptance.

For passover in years past, we have done what most people do: run around in the days leading up to Passover removing “leaven” from our homes. Always trying to figure out once again, “is this leavened? Is that leavened? What is leaven exactly? Do the packaged items matter? What if it is already cooked and not ‘rising’ now? Do we have to give it away or just get it out of the main house area? Is leaven yeast or is it something else?” And it goes on and on and on… and we begin wondering… is this really what it is all about? And then wondering, “How is this helping me walk with my Elohim?” How is this improving my relationship with Him? How is this making me a cleaner, better, more fit for His use, causing my spirit and attitude toward Him and my fellow brother or sister to be better than it was before? And the answer is always the same: “I just don’t know.” Something doesn’t seem to add up in all this activity somehow. I will say however, that just by doing it, there is satisfaction in that I do it because He said so (if in fact He did say so, which is what I am now studying in great depth to find out!)

Then last Passover, some things began to become a little clearer as we listened to God’s counsel and had removed many of the confusing voices coming from all the different directions. That is when it occurred to me what was going on in the unseen realm concerning these matters. By removing all the “voices” I began wondering if perhaps “the voices” were the leaven. Hmmm, perhaps God was doing for us what we were unable at the time to understand to do for ourselves. He does know the deep desires of our hearts and even knows what we need before we ask.

Remove the leaven.

It happened as a consequence to adhering to the previous Word: “My Counsel is Sufficient for you.”

Yahusha said, “Mind! And beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”

And the disciples, in their lack of understanding, do exactly what we do today. They reasoned among themselves, saying, “Because we brought no bread!” Thinking that the issue is about bread! But it is not about bread and our Messiah tells us plainly what the issue is all about!

Here is what He says,

“O you of little belief, why do you reason among yourselves because you brought no bread?

Do you still not understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you picked up? Or the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you picked up?

How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread, to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees?”

Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.   Matthew 16:6-12

And again we get even more insight in the Gospel of Luke chapter 12

Meanwhile, when an innumerable crowd of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His taught ones, first,

“Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”

Yahusha goes on to explain the matter:

“Whatever is concealed shall be revealed, and whatever is hidden shall be known. So whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms shall be proclaimed on the house-tops.

The word “hypocrisy” is the English word for the Greek word:

υποκρισις hupokrisis {hoop-ok’-ree-sis} from 5271; TDNT – 8:559,1235; n f AV – hypocrisy 5, dissimulation 1, condemnation 1; 7 1) an answering 2) an answer 3) the acting of a stage player 4) dissimulation, hypocrisy

It comes from the Greek word: G5271

υποκρινομαι hupokrinomai {hoop-ok-rin’-om-ahee} middle voice from 5259 and 2919; TDNT – 8:559,1235; v AV – feign 1; 1 1) to take up another’s statements in reference to what one has decided for one’s self 1a) to reply, answer 2) to make answer (speak) on the stage 2a) to impersonate anyone, play a part 3) to simulate, feign, pretend

G5259 is

υπο hupo {hoop-o’} a primary preposition;; prep AV – of 116, by 42, under 48, with 14, in 1, not tr 6, misc 3; 230 1) by, under

G2919 is

κρινω krino {kree’-no} perhaps a primitive word; TDNT – 3:921,469; v AV – judge 88, determine 7, condemn 5, go to law 2, call in question 2, esteem 2, misc 8; 114 1) to separate, put asunder, to pick out, select, choose 2) to approve, esteem, to prefer 3) to be of opinion, deem, think, to be of opinion 4) to determine, resolve, decree 5) to judge 5a) to pronounce an opinion concerning right and wrong 5a1) to be judged, i.e. summoned to trial that one’s case may be examined and judgment passed upon it 5b) to pronounce judgment, to subject to censure 5b1) of those who act the part of judges or arbiters in matters of common life, or pass judgment on the deeds and words of others 6) to rule, govern 6a) to preside over with the power of giving judicial decisions, because it was the prerogative of kings and rulers to pass judgment 7) to contend together, of warriors and combatants 7a) to dispute 7b) in a forensic sense 7b1) to go to law, have suit at law

I know sometimes looking up the origin of words can seem like minutia and boring but truly it is necessary to “get” what meaning is behind these words. And Yes! it is very important.

Now, let us go back to the original instruction in Exodus.

“Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. Indeed on the first day you cause leaven to cease from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that being shall be cut off from Yisra’el.

And on the first day is a set-apart gathering, and on the seventh day you have a set-apart gathering. No work at all is done on them, only that which is eaten by every being, that alone is prepared by you.

And you shall guard the [Festival of] {not in the original text!} unleavened bread, for on this same day I brought your divisions out of the land of Mitsrayim. And you shall guard this day throughout your generations, an everlasting law.

In the first [month], on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month in the evening.

For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, that same being shall be cut off from the congregation of Yisra’el, whether sojourner or native of the land.

Do not eat that which is leavened – in all your dwellings you are to eat unleavened bread.

Exodus 12:15-20

I want to read my King’s Words with virgin eyes, as a child reading it for the first time… without the influence of centuries of twisting, man-made tradition, rabbinal teachings, etc. I wanted to see what was there, in the text and in the words, to understand more about this instruction concerning the leaven. After 8 years… it is still confusing and a mystery… and this should not be. Something is wrong. So, in depth study of the Hebrew words began, and I had to begin back in Exodus 12:8 because it is the first mention of the unleavened bread.

What I am about to share with you is simply my findings thus far. I am not teaching, cajoling, forcing, saying “this is how it is and you are all wrong” or anything like that. I am sharing my study openly. I like to do this also simply to get my findings recorded for reference too. Feedback and insight is always welcome 🙂

In Exodus 12:8 we are receiving instruction from Moses for the first time on what we are to do the day and night of passover with the primary focus on “the lamb” We are told when to get the lamb, when to sacrifice the lamb, what to do with its blood, and what to do with its body. So in verse 8 we are being told how to prepare it and eat it… and we get the first mention of unleavened bread.

Here is what I got from the original Hebrew:

And the aleph tau flesh your food in this night My burning shadow and instructions for the journey (commandments) in bitterness you consume it.

Did you know, that the Hebrew word for unleavened bread (matzot) and the Hebrew word for commandment (mitzvah) are spelled and written exactly the same? I did not either until now.

Now there are two types of bread it seems. Bread from heaven (God’s Word, manna, Yahusha – God’s Son) and then all other breads (from world, men, women, church, books, earth, etc)

One is known as: unleavened bread

The other one is known as: leavened bread

So, are we talking about food or are we talking about His Word? You decide. Maybe it is both. I have been thinking alot lately about “The Lord’s Prayer” Give us our daily bread. It is like daily unleavened bread, His Word, not polluted with hypocrisy and twisting OR even better than that, that WE are not eating IT in hypocrisy… acting like we love Him and keep His commandments by going through some kind of process of throwing out all our yeast products and appearing on the outside to others to be righteous, but never looking to Him and stepping back to consider whether or not we are truly living upon His Bread DAILY, meditating and studying upon His “Instructions for the Journey” [Torah]

So I got to wondering about this word: matzot (unleavened bread in verse 8) What if Yahuah was really saying: mitzvah? We already know that the verse does not say bitter “herbs” The word herbs is not there at all. What if the idea of bread is not there either? Hmmm. More questions. Don’t worry… I am not saying that it doesn’t say bread, but what if… just what if, He meant “My Words”?

I was imagining that night in Egypt, trying to place myself there and wondering what it must have been like. I would have been eating that lamb in force. I always lose my appetite when I am nervous, worried, or in anguish. And I definitely would have been all of that, that night. Perhaps my good Egyptian friend, who I see every day and say hello to — just found her son dead in their home. To hear her wailing and crying out over her dead child would be unbearable. With each bite of the lamb my hands would be shaking in fear and sadness and YES – GREAT BITTERNESS and each swallow would have been very very hard.

So I definitely “get” the eating the flesh in or with bitterness… so what about “the instructions for the journey?” We were about to set out on a journey, that’s for sure. Then there is that part about “roasted in fire” and how if the Hebrew words… just taken literally… actually read (or say) “My burning shadow” or even “My shadow fire, flaming, supernatural fire”, this brings to me more questions.

We know that Yahuah led us out of Egypt and on the journey in a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day. And we lived by every word and instruction that came out of His mouth by Moses. And then we also have the words of Sha’ul concerning the festivals of Yahuah and how they are “shadows of good things to come, which is Yahusha”

Let no one therefore judge you in eating or in drinking, or in respect of a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths – which are a shadow of what is to come – but the Body of the Messiah. Colossians 2:16-17

Take a read of these most beautiful verses also from Isaiah:

Listen to Me, O coastlands, and hear, you peoples from afar! YaHUaH has called Me from the womb, from My mother’s belly He has caused My Name to be remembered. And He made My mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of His hand He hid Me, and made Me a polished shaft. In His quiver He hid Me.” And He said to Me, ‘You are My servant, O Yisra’el, in whom I am adorned.’ Yeshayahu 49:1-2

“But I am YaHUaH your Alohim, stirring up the sea, and its waves roar. YaHUaH of hosts is His Name. And I have put My Words in your mouth, and with the shadow of My hand I have covered you, to plant the heavens and lay the foundations of the earth, and to say to Tsiyon, ‘You are My people.'” Yeshayahu 51:15-16

“Woe to the stubborn children,” declares YaHUaH, “to make counsel, but not from Me, and to devise plans, but not of My Spirit, in order to add sin to sin; who are setting out to go down to Mitsrayim, and have not asked My mouth, to be strengthened in the strength of Pharaoh, and to seek refuge in the shadow of Mitsrayim! And the strength of Pharaoh shall become your shame, and the refuge in the shadow of Mistrayim your confusion.” Yeshayahu 30:1-3

The words of King David:

Show me favor, O Alohim, show me favor! For in You my being is taking refuge; and in the shadow of Your wings I take refuge, Until destruction passes by. Tehillim 57:1

For You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I sing. Tehillim 63:7

I don’t know… pretty compelling this.

Then there is all the times we read the phrase: “My Word shall be in your mouth”

“Seven days you eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day is a set apart gathering to YaHUaH. Unleavened bread is to be eaten the seven days, and whatever is leavened is not to be seen with you, and leaven is not to be seen with you within all your border. And you shall inform your son in that day, saying, ‘It is because of what YaHUaH did for me when I came up from Mitsrayim.’

And it shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a reminder between your eyes, that the Torah of YaHUaH is to be in your mouth, for with a strong hand YaHUaH has brought you out of Mitsrayim.” Exodus 13:6-9

“And He humbled you, and let you suffer hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, to make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but by every utterance that comes from the mouth of YaHUaH.” Deuteronomy 8:3

“For the Word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart – to do it.” Deuteronomy 30:14

“Do not let this Book of the Torah depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you guard to do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and act wisely.” Yahusha 1:8

“I am YaHUaH your Alohim, Who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim; Open your mouth wide, and I fill it.” Tehillim 81:10

“How sweet to my taste has Your Word been, More than honey to my mouth!” Tehillim 119:103

There are scores of scripture concerning ‘His shadow’ and what is to be ‘in our mouths’ and so because I need to at least bring this article to a close our I will never get it posted… I will bring it to a conclusion for now. I still have a lot of work to do bringing in all the other scripture in concerning the unleavened bread, what the passover means and doesn’t mean, and what ‘leaven’ means.

In conclusion (for today), we will be cleaning out old books that clutter our house here. Books full of commentary, opinions, theology, traditions, etc. Cleaning out the leaven we have gathered over the years in our walk of faith. This year also, I will be preparing the unleavened bread ‘each day’ also instead of making a huge batch for the week. I get the feeling this is more appropriate. Most most most importantly – we will be focusing on the mitzvot, the commandments. Perhaps even reciting one per day of the seven days with a goal of being able to recite it without having to read it.

Just additional FYI

{Any dough left to rest will naturally become leavened, because yeast spores exists everywhere.

The most common source of leavening in antiquity was to retain a piece of dough from the previous day to utilize as a form of sourdough starter. Pliny the Elder reported that the Gauls and Iberians used the foam skimmed from beer to produce “a lighter kind of bread than other peoples.” Seems this was also called “barm”}

oh! and one more thing about “hypocrisy” and what we learned it means and why it is leaven… When thinking about this concept of “acting out or speaking on a stage, another person’s words, immitating” and things like that – doesn’t it just fit perfectly into the concept of unleavened bread (matzot) in that YaHUaH is instructing us, that for this week of ‘unleavened bread’ that MY WORDS are to be in your mouth. Not the words of some other person or god as in hypocrisy… but MY WORDS.

Something to consider….

The Understanding came in the Morning

I had such a wonderful experience this morning, that I simply had to make a record of it and share.

I was blessed to hear another wonderful teaching last Tuesday on the amazing matter of the aleph tav– את.  The aleph tav is a little two Hebrew letter word/phrase/connector found in the Hebrew TaNaK that is not and never has been translated into any language of Scripture. It is used over 7,000 times in the Hebrew TaNaK, and it is also found in the Messianic Writings in the Book of Revelation to identify Who it is that is speaking with Yochanan (John):

“I am the ‘Aleph’ and the ‘Taw’, Beginning and End,” says YaHUaH “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8

The teaching of the Aleph Tav is quite extensive and I will not get into that here. Additionally, we are still learning about it. Suffice it to say that for me – The Almighty in Revelation chapter 1 verse 8 above states that He IS the Aleph Tav – He is the Strength of the Covenant. In Hebrew, aleph came from a paleoHebrew picture of an ox head and had the meaning of strength, first, head and the taw is the picture of crossed sticks with a meaning of mark, covenant, or monument.

There are several references throughout Scripture concerning a seal, a mark, a sign upon people (Jeremiah and Revelation) and/or things (like tabernacle furniture). The את is also found immediately proceeding direct objects within Scripture.

Pastor Taylor from Beit Lechem Ministries was teaching on this and he was right concerning— what good is the knowledge of the aleph tav if there is nothing that I can do with it? How is the knowledge of this aleph tav working in my daily walk, my halakhah with my Creator?

I was reminded of the verse in Colossians

“… to whom Elohim desired to make known what are the riches of the esteem of this secret among the gentiles: which is Messiah in you, the expectancy of esteem.” Colossians 1:27

I have had some difficult couple of weeks/days where I work with people and personalities. Quite frankly I have not been settled or pleased with my words, thoughts, or actions in some specific situations and it has been causing me some unrest in my spirit. There has been an uncleanness moving through the folks at work and this uncleanness has made its way to my office.

The last few couple of times I had an opportunity to “do well” – I feel that I have failed. And so, the combination of the knowledge of the Aleph Tav and recent events has had me in a bit of a tizzy as to how to change my habits.

You see, prior to these last few days of the disappointing incidents, I had determined that I was going to walk in such a way as to literally be wearing the aleph tav. It was, in my mind, on my person, on my forehead and I would know… that because I am literally wearing the aleph tav, I will be able to focus on being like YaHUshA, my Savior. I soon realized that when I am by myself, I have no trouble remembering that I am wearing the Aleph Tav. As soon as someone approaches me and engages me in conversation — the Aleph Tav is forgotten and the memory of it does not return until several minutes or hours after I am alone again. This was eye opening and very troubling to me!

My goal is to wear the Aleph Tav and keep it on me at all times and in all situations … in essence….. to be like YaHUshA. 

On Shabbat, I heard a very convicting round table discussion on bitterness and how bitterness can just really really harm our walk in Messiah. I knew I had bitterness concerning people at my work. What was I going to do? I am failing at wearing the Aleph Tav AND I have bitterness! This is terrible and MUST stop!

So on the first day, in the morning (stay with me, this is where it gets good) – I am still contemplating in prayer on how this matter is going to be resolved in my life and asking for Father to help me. I am going through ideas on how to get this thing accomplished… to wear the Aleph Tav in consistency and Truth.

I have an idea: I will write the Aleph Tav… את  on me, in ink, on my hand, so that I can look at it when someone approaches me to talk and before I speak and all throughout my day. Then a thought came to me — no, I cannot do that for it is much too much like a tattoo and I am not to write on my body. Then another thought — I will write the Aleph Tav on a piece of paper and TAPE that piece of paper to my wrist so that I can ‘see it’

Then!

Like a prevailing wind!

I saw it and I REALLY, REALLY understood. Brothers and sisters, what I have just described to you is a principle that comes straight out of our Fathers Instructions —

 

“And you shall lay up these Words of Mine in your heart and in your being, and shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.”

Deuteronomy 11:18, 6:8

I hope and pray this story of my experience has been a blessing to you, and that all of us who are desiring to be transformed to the proper Image of our Set-apart and Perfect Creator and Redeemer, can continue to strive towards that mark. Shalom!

Hebrews (Ibrim) Chapter 3

Chapter 3

1 Therefore, set-apart brothers, partakers of the heavenly calling, closely consider the Emissary and High Priest of our confession, Messiah YAHUsha,

Reviewing from the last portion of chapter 2, Shaul was telling us about how The Messiah had become flesh, and called us brothers so that we can be assured of the Trustworthiness, Faithfulness and Compassion of our High Priest and King. Because of this, those who share in a purpose that is above ourselves – that part of us that is the Image of our Elohim – to perceive or look deeply into the Shaliach (the Ambassador or Emissary) AND Cohen Gadol (High Priest) of our COVENANT. Did you see that? Yahusha is the High Priest of our Covenant – that is the word. [Confession just does not do it justice]

2 who was trustworthy to Him who appointed Him, as also Mosheh in all His house.

Have you noticed we are going back to the giving of the Torah again? That is where all wisdom and knowledge is – in His Torah, His Teachings and Instructions.

3 For this One has been deemed worthy of more esteem than Mosheh, as much as He who built the house [family] enjoys more respect than the house [family].

4 For every house [family] is built by someone, but He who built all is Elohim.

5 And Mosheh indeed was trustworthy in all His house as a servant, for a witness of what would be spoken,

6 but Messiah as a Son

Moses as a servant and Messiah as a Son

over His own house [family], whose house [family]  we are if we hold fast the boldness and the boasting of the expectation firm to the end.

7 Therefore, as the Set-apart Spirit says, “Today, if you hear His voice,

8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness,

9 where your fathers tried Me, proved Me, and saw My works forty years.

I would like to pause right here and actually take us back to the time and place Shaul is referring to to make his point AND where Elohim said these words to us. So many times when we are reading the Renewed Covenant Writings – we gloss over these things and to our detriment and lack of complete and/or full understanding.

Shaul takes us back to Shemoth (Exodus) Chapter 15. The Israelites had just left Mitsrayim (Egypt) and just finished singing a song to YaHUaH praising His Strength and Rulership. They were traveling in the Wilderness of Shur and they had been three days without water. And they came to Marah, and they were unable to drink the waters of Marah (which means bitter), for they were bitter. So the name of it was called Marah. And the people, grumbled against Mosheh, saying, “What are we to drink?” Then he cried out to YaHUaH, and YaHUaH showed him a tree. And when he threw it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a law and a right-ruling for them, and there He tried them. And He  said, “If you diligently obey the voice of YaHUaH your Elohim and do what is right in His eyes, and shall listen to His commands and shall guard all His laws, I shall bring on you none of the diseases I brought on the Mitsrites, for I am YaHUaH who heals you.”

Notice here, our ever-merciful Father has compassion on us when we are fresh out of bondage. He knows that we have to learn, grow, mature in our relationship with HIM. He asks us to listen to His voice, obey, and guard His Word and He will heal us. YaHUaH gave them water in Chapter 15, quail and manna in Chapter 16, and they came through the wilderness and camped at Rephidim in Chapter 17. But now see, in Chapter 17 what they do after all this – at Rephidim, there was no water for the people to dirnk. Therefore the people strove with Mosheh, and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Mosheh waid to them, “Why do you strive with me? Why do you try YaHUaH?” And the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Mosheh, and said, “Why did you bring us out of Mitsrayim, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” Then Mosheh cried out the YaHUaH, saying, “What am I to do with this people? Yet a little and they shall stone Me!”

This is where Elohim instructs Mosheh to strike the rock to get water. And Mosheh called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the ‘strife’ of the children of Yisra’el, and because they ‘tried’ YaHUaH, saying, “Is YaHUaH in our midst or not?”             This event is referenced many, many times throughout scripture. No matter the current situation we find ourselves in, it is not a good idea to start questioning His Love and Faithfulness for us. He saves us, teaches us, loves us. Let us not be so fickle as to begin trying Him as soon as things look bad for us.

10 “Therefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.’

11 “As I swore in My wrath, ‘If they shall enter into My rest…'”

Additionally, Shaul is quoting almost verbatim from Tehillim (Psalms) 95:7-11 “For He is our Elohim, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice “Do not harden your hearts as in Meribah, and as in the day of Massah in the wilderness, “When your fathers tried Me, have proved Me, though they saw My work. For forty years I was grieved with that generation, and said, ‘They are a people who go astray in their hearts, and they do not know My ways.’ “As I swore in My wrath, ‘If they enter into My rest…’ ”

12 Look out, brothers, lest there be in any of you a wicked heart of unbelief in falling away from the living Elohim,

13 but encourage one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened by the deceivableness of sin.

14 For we have become partakers of Messiah if we hold fast the beginning of our trust firm to the end,

15 while it is said, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

16 For who, having heard, rebelled? Was it not all who came out of Mitsrayim, led by Mosheh?

17 And with whom was He grieved forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness?

18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter into His rest, but to those who did not obey?

19 So we see that they were unable to enter in because of unbelief.

(Chapter 4….)Therefore, since a promise remains of entering into His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the Good News was brought to us as well as to them, but the word which they heard did not profit them, not having been mixed with belief in those who heard it.

I do not know about any of you, who may read this study, but I cannot help but read here – that Shaul is warning us about something. “Therefore……. since a promise remains of entering into His rest.” You know, the mixed multitude who came out of Egypt obtained salvation – but proved to be hard in their hearts and unbelieving. I have a question for you all – Is there something more required other that salvation to enter into His Rest?

I would love to hear thoughts on this question.

Kingdom of Heaven: Properly Defined!

Malkut Shamayim

The Kingdom of Heaven, i.e. the Kingdom of YAHUAH Elohim. In this phrase, as in many

other expressions dating from the last half of the Second Temple period, the term

“heaven” is used as an evasive synonym {a word or phrase that means the same thing, but saying something else so as to not “say the real word or phrase”} or circumlocution {a paraphrase}  for YAHUAH, the personal name of the Almighty. The fact that, in the Apostolic Writings, the term “heaven” is a circumlocution or evasive expression for the personal names of YAHUAH, is widely

misunderstood in Christianity—hence the deplorably otherworldly and pagan “we are going to heaven for eternity”  is a myth.

The truth is that the Malkut Shamayim is coming to the redeemed remnant of mankind and to the earth. What has been lost in Adam, is gained and restored in Messiah Yahusha, the corporate representative of the Yisra’el of Elohim—redeemed Yisra’el and Gentiles grafted into the commonwealth of Yisra’el.

We have the firstfruits now, but the fulness comes later—when Messiah returns.

The teaching of some dispensationalists that there is a difference between the “Kingdom

of Heaven” and the “Kingdom of God” is an incorrect teaching dating from a time when

there was little appreciation of the communication principle of hermeneutics.

The Malkut Shamayim is a present reality. If I stand next to a table, I would say, “the

table is near.” This refers to spatial nearness. Likewise, the expression “the Kingdom of

Heaven is at hand or near” refers to its actual, spatial presence. The Malkut Shamayim is

a present, dynamic reality. In the fulness of time, it will become a physical reality on

earth. It is “here now but not yet in its fulness.”

The Malkut Shamayim is:

ì The supreme rulership and absolute sovereignty of YAHUAH Elohim. The Kingdom

of Heaven is the Kingship of YAHUAH. Remember that, in the Apostolic Writings,

the term Heaven is often not a place, but an evasive synonym for the personal

name of Almighty YAHUAH.

ì YAHUAH ruling and reigning actively, forever and ever. Imparting His life, His

Ruach, His redemption to man, through the Son. The king is a saviour—see

Psalm 72. The Almighty redeems to rule.

ì The redeemed people whom YAHUAH rules over. All authority has been given to

the Son—Yeshayahu 40:10. The movement started by Messiah Yahusha is the

Kingdom of Heaven. Those who submit to His mastership are in the Kingdom.

The Kingdom owns us; we are the subjects of the Kingdom. King Messiah is not

only our Saviour but also our Master.

ì The supernatural manifestations of the Spirit of YAHUAH.

Some applications of how to operate in the authority and power of the Kingship of

YAHUAH and His Messiah:

ì Repent, turn around. Confess your sins. Be cleansed. Be clothed. Be equipped.

Be commissioned. Now go.

ì Live a kingdom-centred life? How? Do the will of YAHUAH—“Thy kingdom

come, Thy will be done.” The manifestation of His kingdom, His kingship,

expands on earth as more and more people know Him and do His will. Submit to

His authority. Be faithful and obedient. Do the will of our Father in Heaven.

How? Prayer and Scripture, prayer and Scripture, prayer and Scripture… Hear

and obey. All who call the Messiah Adon (Master) are not part of His movement;

only those who do the will of His Father in Heaven—Mattityahu 7:21. Those

who “name and claim” but do not obey are not in the Kingdom. We must take the

yoke of the Kingship of YAHUAH on our shoulders. How? By obeying Torah in

the measure it has been laid on us:  We should

bend the neck, put on the yoke, and do the work of the Kingdom. The yoke is

easy to bear, but it is still a yoke. The Kingdom is for free, but it costs everything.

ì Lead a life characterised by humility. Be not puffed up. The Almighty is in

charge; He placed all under His Son.

ì Beautify the commandments. When observing a commandment, do it with joy

and beauty.

ì Lead a life characterised by productivity and abundance in fruit. There is not a

single Hebrew word for “prosperity” in the sense of the accumulation of wealth.

Scripturally, prosperity refers to being equipped for what YAHUAH has sent us to

do. We should bear this fruit in the here and now, in our daily walk. As the Body

of Messiah, we share in the power of the Ruach that is upon Him. He is the

Bearer and Bestower of the Ruach. He bestows that power and authority to those

inside His movement. By the power and authority of YAHUAH in our lives, we

should bear abundant fruit and have abundant life.

ì Become connected to the community of the faithful. Be an active part of

Yahusha’s living movement; don’t try to be a “lone ranger,” a Rambo. Do not

fight battles alone; let the rest of the army support you in prayer. Think “we” and

“us” and not “I” and “me.”

ì Realise you are in continual spiritual conflict. Satan is upset when people leave

his territory and get into the Kingdom of YAHUAH. The Malkut Shamayim frees the

captives who are in Satan’s hold. The adversary takes offence at this and attacks.

You are part of a community engaged in conflict. So put on the full armour of

Elohim—truth, salvation, active witnessing, righteousness, the manifestations of

the Ruach HaQodesh, the authority of the names of YAHUAH and Yahusha.

Proclaim the mastership of Messiah Yahusha. Heal the sick, drive out demons,

set the captives free—by the power of Almighty YAHUAH and the authority given

to us by the Son.

ì Realise that the Kingdom is a present reality, but a reality that is manifest in

firstfruits-form. The Kingdom is in our midst individually and as a community of

believers.

Taken from Glossary of Hebraic terms, changing YHWH to YAHUAH.

Hebrews (Ibrim) Chapter 2

Sha’ul opens with the verse we closed with in Chapter one. I confess it took me 3 days to get through verses 1-4! But now, worth every minute of the toil!

1 Because of this we have to pay more attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away.

From the study of Chapter 1, it was difficult to see who Sha’ul was saying the messengers were, but it is clear to me now. He is speaking of all those who have “heard His voice” and proclaimed His Word.

BUT!

There are two occasions in ALL of scripture, where we hear from The Creator Himself!

1. The Giving of the Torah

2. Words of YAHUSHA

So the “this” Sha’ul is talking about here is the Torah – following – although messengers/angels/servants have been sent to us, mankind, to “serve” us and to “serve” YAHUAH – There are some concepts, instructions, statutes, teachings that we MUST pay attention to above all others, and he warns us that if we don’t take care – this truth will slip away from us (to our destruction). He is exalting YAHUSHA to His rightful place as, not only above all the messengers/angels/servants, but to position equal to the Father.

With this in mind we can move on to verse 2

2 For if the word spoken through messengers {prophets} proved to be firm, and every transgression and disobedience received a right reward,

Some of my translations have the word “word” capitalized, meaning the word is the Word (YAHUSHA) and/or the word is Torah {both are interchangeable). This Word {Torah} that was spoken WAS proved to be firm or steadfast as we know from the scriptures. In the wilderness, it was immediate – in the prophets, it was delayed but DID happen to the people in that they were expelled from the land into captivity.

It is true that the Torah emphasizes immediate, concrete, physical rewards and punishments rather than abstract future ones. See, for example, Lev. 26:3-9 and Deut. 11:16-17

“If you walk in My laws and guard My commands, and shall do them, then I shall give you rain in its season, and the land shall yield its crops, and the trees of the field yield their fruit. And your threshing shall last till the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last till the time of sowing. And you shall eat your bread until you have enough, and shall dwell in your land safely. And i shall give peace in the land, and you shall lie down and no one make you afraid. And I shall clear the land of evil beasts, and not let the sword go through your land. And you shall pursue your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you And five of you shall pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you pursue ten thousand. And your enemies shall fall by the sword before you. And I shall turn to you and make you bear fruit, and shall increase you, and shall establish My covenant with you. Leviticus 26:3-9

and….

Guard yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you trun aside and serve other mighty ones and bow down to them. Then the displeasure of YAHUAH shall burn against you, and HE shall shut up the heavens, and there be no rain, and the land not five its increase. And you shall perish quickly from the good land which YAHUAH is giving you. Deuteronomy 11:16-17

Certain sins are punished by the sinner being “cut off from his people.” See, for example, Gen. 17:14 and Ex. 31:14. This punishment is referred to as kareit (kah-REHYT) (literally, “cutting off,” but usually translated as “spiritual excision”), and it means that the soul loses its portion in the World to Come.

And an uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, his life shall be cut off from his people – he has broken My covenant. Genesis 17:14

And you shall guard the Sabbath, for it is set-apart to you. Everyone who profanes it shall certainly be put to death, for anyone who does work on it, that being shall be cut off from among his people. Exodus 31:14

Let us not forget also that the Children of Israel were eventually “cut off” from the land for their “not remembering and doing” the commands of The Torah of  YAHUAH – allowing them to be taken into captivity to Assyria and Babylon. {It is so neat to realize now, that Sha’ul is/could very well be HERE talking to the exiled “seed of Abraham” in Italy! And I KNOW he is speaking to the scattered children and gentiles even today – for have we NOT honored the Words, but have drifted away, even teaching they are no longer valid?}

So with these very few examples I have added here, one can see that Sha’ul was certainly speaking the truth when he stated ” the word spoken through messengers {prophets} proved to be firm, and every transgression and disobedience received a right reward,”

3 how shall we escape if we neglect so great a deliverance {Torah}, which first began to be spoken by the Master {YAHUAH}, and was confirmed to us by those that heard {Mosheh, all the Children of Israel at Mt Sinai, the prophets}

The Great Deliverance:

The Mosheh came, with Hoshea (Yahoshua) son of Nun, and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. And when Mosheh ended speaking all these words to all Yisra’el, he said to them, “Set your heart on all the words with which I warn you today, so that you command your children to guard to do all the Words of this Torah. For it is not a worthless Word for you, because it is your life, and by this Word you prolong your days on the soil which your pass over the Yarden to possess.  Deuteronomy 32:44-47

4 Elohim also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Set-apart Spirit, distributed according to His own desire?

YAHUAH has done many things throughout the history of the earth, world, and mankind to prove to us His Torah is True. He bears Witness to it.

5 For it is not to messengers that He has subjected the world to come, concerning which we speak.

6 But somewhere one has witnessed, saying,”What is man that You remember him, or the son of man that You look after him?

7 You have made him a little lower than the messengers {Elohim is most probably the word used in the original letter because Sha’ul is quoting Psalms, see below. The Greek translation uses angels, which does not make sense}. You have crowned him with esteem and respect, and set him over the works of Your hands.

That someone was the Psalmist, David.

Psalms 8:4 -8  What is man that You remember him? And the son of man that You visit him? Yet You have made him a little less than Elohim, And Have crown him with esteem and splendour. Youhmade him rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all under his feet, All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, The birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,Passing through the paths of the seas.

8 You have put all in subjection under his feet. For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left none (that is) not subjected to him. But now we do not yet see all subjected to him. {referencing how there is a “world to come” when all things will be changed}

In verse 8, the word “see” is

horaō    hor-ah’-o

Properly to stare at (compare G3700), that is, (by implication) to discern clearly (physically or mentally); by extension to attend to; by Hebraism to experience; passively to appear: – behold, perceive, see, take heed.

We do not yet “see” or discern, meaning perceive with understanding. This does not mean it is not so. Very important concept for us to grasp. All things ARE subjected to Him, but only the Set apart Spirit enables this type of “seeing.” Experience!

9 But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the messengers, YAHUSHA, because of the suffering of death crowned with esteem and respect, that by the favour of Elohim He should taste death for everyone.

So interesting that the “see” in this verse is different

blepō   blep’-o

A primary verb; to look at (literally or figuratively): – behold, beware, lie, look (on, to), perceive, regard, see, sight, take heed.

So, what we DO SEE, literally, is YAHUSHA, a man with flesh, blood, skin, and bone. So by definition of the “flesh” He was (for a while and for a specific purpose)  a little lower than the messenger so that He could suffer death.

From the AENT, we are told that the Greek translations have excluded a phrase that was in the original Aramaic text at the very end of verse 9 which says “because He tasted death for the sake of everyone apart from Elohim”

“apart from Elohim” – satar min Alaha. Removed from the Greek translation. This omission was likely due to a theological debate; the Monophysites were a powerful sect that sprung up in the middle of the Second Century in Alexandria, Egypt. Their core belief was that Messiah only had the appearance of a human but was in reality, completely divine. Such theology ignored statements like “Not my will, but Your Will,” along with many others; nevertheless, it gained popularity when the Imperial Byzantine “New Testament” text was emerging. Earlier versions were so violently suppressed in the West that only Aramaic believers in the Middle East had retained the original. In context, two facts become critical. First, we know this heresy arrived early; Origen (ca. 185-232) quotes the Peshitta-exclusive reading of this verse and further substantiates this view. Second, this reading also plays into extensive themes about Messiah laying down his humanity, as well as showing that Elohim’s divine nature neither bled nor died on the stake (Acts 20:28). This is one of the clearest examples where original Jewish understanding was almost completely obliterated by Roman and Byzantine cultures who preferred polytheistic theologies. Peshitta, in the rival Persian Empire, escaped all these revisions and kept its original Eastern (and Jewish) values intact. On this matter, Stephen Silver noted: It is understood by the use of the phrase, khaya b’qnomeh in John 5:26, that YAHUSHA “had the price of redemption,” “Life in Himself” to redeem all that “call upon His Name.” Clearly, this was and is the “will of the Father.” In Hebrews 2:9, setar min Alaha “Life in Himself” represents both Elohim in Him, as well as YAHUSHA’s humanity,; so it is obvious that his humanity was laid down that he might take it again (John 10:17). This was the “will of the Father made manifest in the Son” by his life, death and resurrection.” There is a “remez” (hint) here that refers to Genesis 44:30, “v’naf’sho k’shurah v’naf’sho,” “and his soul is knot-tied in his soul.” Substituting b’tibohteh for min seta reflects Pagan thinking that Torah was to be replaced by “grace.” However, “Life in Himself” manifests this grace and truth of Torah, eternally (John 1:17, Exodus 34:6), Torah, withou YAHUSHA MESSIAH, is “dead letter.” YAHUSHA MESSIAH without Torah, is “sloppy agape.”

Isaiah 53:10  But YAHUAH was pleased to crush Him, He laid sickness on Him, that when He made Himself an offering for guilt, He would see a seed, He would prolong His days and the pleasure of YAHUAH prosper in His hand.

10 For it was fitting for Him, because of whom all (are) and through whom all (are), in bringing many sons to esteem, to make the Princely Leader of their deliverance perfect through sufferings {WE ARE IN HIM!}

11 For both He who set apart and those who are being set apart are all of One, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brothers,

12 saying, “I shall announce Your Name to My brothers, in the midst of the assembly (not church) I shall sing praise to You.”

Psalms 22:22  {These are the words of Messiah spoken through David} I make known Your Name to My brother; in the midst of the assembly I praise You. And YAHUSHA  DID announce the Name of the Father to His Brothers – the followers in John Chapter 17:6, he states “I have revealed Your Name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world.” And John 17:26 “And I have made Your Name known to them, and shall make it known, so that the love with which You love Me might be in them, and I in them.” The religious leaders, both then AND NOW, were avoiding the Father’s Name, because of man-made traditions then – AND IGNORANCE AND UNIVERSALISM NOW – He is again making His Name known in our day!!! HalleluYAH!

13 And again, “I shall put My trust in Him.” And again, “See, I and the children whom Elohim gave Me.”

Psalm 91:2  He is saying of YAHUAH, “My refuge and my stronghold, My Elohim, in whom I trust!”

Isaiah 8:18 Look, I and the children whom YAHUAH has given me – for signs and wonders in Yisra’el from YAHUAH of hosts, who dwells in Mount Tsiyon.

14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself similarly shared in the same, so that by means of His death, He might destroy him having the power of death, that is, the devil,

15 and deliver those who throughout life were held in slavery by fear of death

Romans 8:15, 21  For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba Father.” AND that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage to corruption into the esteemed freedom of the children of Elohim.

16 For, doubtless, He does not take hold of messengers (He did not take on an immortal manifestation), but He does take hold of the seed of Abraham (He assumed a mortal manifestation)

17 So in every way He had to be made like His brothers, in order to become a compassionate and trustworthy High Priest in matters related to Elohim, to make atonement of the sins of the people.

Once a year, every year on Yom HaKippurim (The Day of Atonement) – a commanded observance by our Creator Elohim YAHUAH – the High Priest would enter in to the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the Children of Israel. A National Atonement. This Shadow Picture of good things to come has not fully been revealed in its completeness. Future events will occur on this Holiday! Please see my post on Yom HaKippurim for greater explanation https://segulah.wordpress.com/2010/09/20/day-of-atonements-yom-hakippurim/

18 For in what He had suffered, Himself being tried, He is able to help those who are tried.

Leviticus 21:1-24

Image via Wikipedia

Beautiful SPIRITUAL Image of YAHUAH

Leviticus 21:1-24

Tahor/Tameh = Clean/Unclean

Our Loving Father communicates His Nature to us. So many times people ask “how can you

know God?” His instructions to us on how we are to live and serve Him is where we can find the

answer to this question. One of the many ways this truth is demonstrated so beautifully is in the

specific way He instructs us in His Torah. This paper will discuss the specific instructions

concerning how to deal with corpses, the dead, and how to get back in communion relationship

with Him. About this time you are saying “whoa, CORPES, DEATH?” Please keep reading. It is a

perfect image of our Creator and Father and how He is pure Life.

Brothers and sisters, these instructions are not about us, they are about WHO HE IS. Our Father

is trying to tell us ABOUT HIMSELF.

Initially, one may think this topic one of morbidity and of minimal concern. Some may think we

are given these instructions for purpose of sanitation or health and prevention of infections and

things of that sort. I imagine that many in the church are not even aware of these instructions

given to us by our Father and Creator, the very One Whom it is expressed we worship, but have

little knowledge of. Our Father tells us who He is by His instructions to us on how to be able to

commune with and serve Him. If we claim to love and serve Him, let us make EVERY effort to

KNOW Him and His nature. This only comes through His Torah, and the teaching of the Holy

Set-Apart Spirit.

Is it sinful to have dealings with the dead when taking care of burial? No. We must take care of

those who pass away and bury them. But, we are instructed by our Elohim that we become

unclean when we come in contact with the dead, human or animal corpse. Why? Is this some

mindless hoop we are to jump through? Some sort of “works” that makes us “in good stead” with

the Father? A measurement by which I can say I am better than you, because I am “clean?” Every

instruction we are given has a reason behind the instruction. The opposite of death is life. Can

anyone argue this point? Where there is death, there is no life. Where there is life, there is no

death. Our Father is pure life. He is the Creator of Life, the Giver of life, the Sustainer of life, the

Deliverer from death. He is teaching us about who He is in this basic, physical instruction. When

taken to the eternal, spiritual understanding, there is little that is much more beautiful than this.

Brothers and sisters, these instructions are not about us, they are about WHO HE IS. Our Father

is trying to tell us ABOUT HIMSELF.

I am going to keep repeating this phrase in hope to change a pervasive, and me-centered mind-set

throughout this paper. Stay with me…….

Pertaining to these instructions in His Torah, He demonstrates a gradient on the topic of death.

The instructions become more restrictive with each group of people BECAUSE OF THEIR

RELATIONSHIP TO YAHUAH AND HIS IMAGE.

Concerning the people of Israel (us) Numbers 19:11

He who touches the dead of any human being is unclean (tameh) for seven days.

The people of Israel (we) had to take care of and deal with burial of dead bodies and animal

corpses, but were considered unclean for seven days and underwent a ritual to purify themselves

(ourselves) to be able to once again commune with the Holy One. Until they (we) purified

themselves (ourselves), they (we) could not come to the tabernacle of service or provide offerings

to the Holy One.

Consider brothers and sisters what our offerings are today to The Holy One. Is it not our prayers,

our requests for blessings, our very lives that are required offerings for today? Our Father does

not change according to Malachi Mal’aki 3:6 “For I am YAHUAH, I shall not change, and you, O

sons of Ya’aqob (Jacob, Israel), shall not come to an end.

And also in James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from

the Father of lights, with Whom there is no change, nor shadow of turning.

So now I would ask you, what has changed in Our Father’s requirement, DUE TO HIS NATURE,

for us to draw near to Him? There has been no change. We must be clean, Tahor. It is not about a

rule or work. IT IS HIS NATURE THAT MAKES THIS SO.

Brothers and sisters, these instructions are not about us, they are about WHO HE IS. Our Father

is trying to tell us ABOUT HIMSELF.

Leviticus 21:1-3 Concerning the Priests, Sons of Aharon

1. And YHWH said to Mosheh, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aharon, and say to them: ‘No

one is to be defiled for the dead among his people,

2. except for his relatives who are nearest to him: for his mother, and for his father, and for his

son, and for his daughter, and for his brother;

3. and for his maiden sister who is near to him, who has had no husband – for her he is defiled.

These instructions are for the Priests only. The priests were not the ones dedicated to enter into

the Holy of Holies once per year like the Cohen Gadol, or High Priest. Nor are they considered

removed from sanctity (or the Holy One) as far as members of Israel. They are in the middle and

therefore are allowed to be defiled by death when it involves immediate family ONLY. In other

words, they were to LIMIT their contact with any dead thing because they were given charge of

the Temple services.

Even so, they were considered tameh, or unclean, for 7 days. Notice this ‘uncleanness’ is not

sinfulness. This issue is critical to understand. Not all uncleanness is sin, but our Father is so Holy

and so opposite of death, that to have touched death renders one unable to be near Him for 7

days.

Brothers and sisters, these instructions are not about us, they are about WHO HE IS. Our Father

is trying to tell us ABOUT HIMSELF.

To the High Priest Leviticus 21:10-12

10. And the high priest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil was poured and who

is ordained to wear the garments, does not unbind his head nor tear his garments,

11. nor come near any dead body, nor defile himself for his father or his mother,

12. nor go out of the set-apart place, nor profane the set-apart place of his Elohim, for the sign of

dedication of the anointing oil of his Elohim is upon him, I am YAHUAH.

The High Priest, the Cohen Gadol, is instructed to NEVER come near any dead body. He and he

alone, and only one time per year on Yom Kippurim, was to go into the Holy of Holies where the

Ark of the Covenant and Mercy Seat resided (The Holy One Himself resided) to make atonement

for the people of Israel. The High Priest was closest to Yahweh by His responsibility of entering

the PRESENCE of Yahweh. The High Priest was the representation of the Image of YHWH on

earth to the people. Therefore, the High Priest was to be the farthest removed from death of all

the groups of people.

Brothers and sisters, these instructions are not about us, they are about WHO HE IS. Our Father

is trying to tell us ABOUT HIMSELF.

There are no instructions for the Nations of the world. Is this why there is so much history of the

worship of the dead in all the ancient pagan religions. Egypt, Babylon, Celts, Aztecs, Mayans all

are well-known and documented for their fascination, worship, and calling upon the dead. Does

the church fall into this category also, in that it withholds the teaching that Yahweh instructs us

on dealing with the dead? Think about this. Do you want to be considered in this group? Without

instructions? Without Torah?

Brothers and sisters, these instructions are not about us, they are about WHO HE IS. Our Father

is trying to tell us ABOUT HIMSELF.

We begin to see a gradient of Holiness. Starting with the Nations or the world, to the Children of

Israel (including the foreigner and sojourner), then to the Priests/Levites, and finally to the High

Priest. Why would this be? Could it be that our Father’s Nature is pure Holiness, pure tahor, pure

cleanliness, pure LIFE?

Be ye Holy, as I am Holy. Holy = Set Apart

Leviticus 19:2

“Speak to all the congregation of the children of Yisra’el, and say to them, ‘Be set-apart, for I

YAHUAH your Elohim am set-apart.”

1 Peter 1:16

Peter states: because it has been written, “Be set-apart, for I am set-apart.”

Here, the disciple of Yahshua quotes from the “Old Testament.” Has there been any change?

YAHUAH forbid!

Now, one may ask, where do I fit in to all of this?

And there IS an answer.

Take a look at 1 Peter chapter 2

So, brothers and sisters, just in case you may be thinking that this instruction does not pertain to

you, allow me to remind you of what the Apostle Kepha wrote in 1 Peter Chapter 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,

10 who once were not a people, but now the people of Elohim; who had not obtained

compassions, but now obtained compassion.

So we are given a picture of nearness to our Father of Life:

World – Nation of Israel – Cohenim – Cohen Gadol

Unsanctified -> Sanctified – >More Sanctified -> Most Sanctified (image of YAHUAH)

Worship the dead – >Can bury the dead, but are tamei for 7 days and must go through a ritual to

get back to tahor – >can only bury close relatives -> NEVER to come in contact with the dead.

Our Father exists at the diametric opposite of where death is.

YAHUAH is LIFE, pure LIFE. No death is to come near Him.

Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you. How can we draw near to Him when we have

death all over us? Uncleanness is death. Uncleanness leads to death. Being Clean (following

YAHUAH’s instructions) leads us to life!

We ask from Him pearls and blessings, yet we bring Him filth.

YAHUSHA Our Messiah’s sacrifice covers us – yes. But should that take away our desire to be as the

Father instructs us to be? Yahweh forbid! He desires a RELATIONSHIP with us. Don’t we desire

a RELATIONSHIP with Him. Be ye Holy, as I am Holy. Why does He instruct us on this? Could

it be, that He is life and no death can exist in His presence? YES!

THE TEACHING OF THE IMAGE OF YAHUAH! PURE LIFE!!

Repentance Part 2

Let us start with a quick review of  repent in the Scriptures.

Nacham – to feel sorrowful, to regret, to think again after.

Teshuvah – to turn, to return.

We learned that repent (nacham) was used in the Tanak quite often to express a feeling of sorrow, or needing comfort – especially anytime when used to describe characteristics of our Father, YAHUAH. For He certainly is not a man that He should repent.

We also learned that repent (teshuvah) is used 1,000 times more often when talking about an action that we, believers, should be involved with – not only once – but a lifetime! Also 1000 times more often used in the Messianic Writings. Also, the word teshuvah is the term used by the Apostles and our Messiah himself when He and they proclaimed REPENT!

Certainly, this has to mean to us, it is better to return than to feel sorry. Oh Messiah, tell us what You mean by repent! He says to us “return”

Master YAHUSHA, return to what? Return to Me, you were with Me “in the beginning”, but you have gone after another way. “Repent now, for the Kingdom is near. Now is the time, to “return” to My Ways, My Instructions, My Way of Life that I have written for you, My teachings – return to My Torah.

To make teshuvah is to empower the spirit.

“Draw near to Elohim, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hand, you sinner: sanctify your hearts, you divided in mind.” James 4:8

Teshuva is the basis of how we draw near to YAHUAH, and it is only realized through Torah observance. Torah is the Will of YAHUAH. We run around constantly wondering “am I in His Will, what is His Will for me, even that no one knows the Will of God” This is false! His Will is expressed in His Torah. If we are living in obedience to His Teachings and Instructions – we ARE in His Will.

It is the Torah of YAHUAH that is perfect – converting the soul, yet many are quick to reject Torah even when they have little or no understanding of how it reveals the Kingdom of Elohim according to Messiah. One cannot know, until one chooses to live according to the Torah – how wonderful and revealing it is. It is Life! Just as Moses told us on the mountains prior to entering into the land. He said ”

8 And you shall again obey the voice of the LORD and keep all his commandments that I command you today.

9 The LORD your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For the LORD will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers,

10 when you obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

11 “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off.

12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’

13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’

14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.

15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil.

16 If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.

17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them,

18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.

19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,

20 loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” Deuteronomy 30:8-20

Beloved, how much clearer can our Creator be to us concerning our lives?

 

Before Messiah came, the Torah was kept from the Gentiles (Nations) by the Rabbis, but Messiah did the opposite- He brought the Torah to the Nations. Messiah is the New Mediator of a Re-Newed Covenant. The Re-Newed covenant requires that the Torah be written upon our hearts – this is what it means to have a clean heart, whether a person is Jewish or not in this matter is irrelevant.

In other words when we make teshuvah and truly follow in the footsteps of Messiah, others will most certainly scorn us for living like a Jew because Christianity has done an extensive makeover to take the Jew out of their version of YAHUSHA. The resistance against us for making true repentance will come from church people, family, friends, pastors and those who habitually accuse followers of Messiah of being “legalists” and “Judaizers” because they prefer their own traditional worldly lifestyles. But Messiah says:

“Whoever finds his soul will lose it, and whoever loses his soul for my sake will find it”  Matthew 10:39.

So do not fear man, who can destroy the body only, but fear Him who is able to destroy body and soul. I can also say with great assurance, that there is so much incredible joy in living in His Will, according to His Torah, and in the footsteps of Messiah, that it just does not matter what others say or do.

“Repent, for the Reign of the Heavens is near!”

Did you know that our Father has a Government? He has a Kingdom – hopefully we know that, right? In His Kingdom, there is a constitution – a covenant – by which He requires His people to live. If there were no Holy Constitution, how would we expect His Kingdom to be different from this world? Our Father’s Torah is His Ways, a constitution if you will. If we desire to live in His Kingdom – then as He says Repent, return to My Ways.

Repent – return and enter into the Government of Messiah, rather than talk about it. I see so many, myself included, sin and repent, sin and repent, sin and “rededicate” my life again and again. What is wrong? This should not be so in our lives. Our Father and Messiah does not desire this spiritual torture for us. Could it be, beloved, that someone has told us the manual on how to live and get well is no longer valid?

Have we learned to Keep the Sabbath? No, we are told it was changed.

Have we learned that there is a way to eat, clean and unclean? No, we are taught a huge lie that all foods were declared clean.

Have we been taught that we are not to be intimate during menstruation? No, we are not taught that.

Have we been taught not to learn the way of the heathen and do what they do? No, we have Easter, Christmas, even Halloween in the so-called house of worship!

Have we been taught how to observe the beautiful celebration of Passover, which teaches untold treasures about our Messiah? No, instead we learn all the ways of the pagan fertility goddess if Ishtar(Easter).

THESE ARE JUST A VERY, VERY SMALL LIST OF WHAT WE HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN!

Now, when our Messiah says repent, return to the Torah – surely we can see how we need to. The Torah is our Creator’s teaching and instructions on how we are to live, prosper, and draw near to Him. The Government of Messiah started in the Garden of Eden and continues through to the World to Come, and every generation is called to depart from iniquity, turn away from all false dominions and subscribe to Messiah. To do this a person must stop adhering to the teachings of man and turn to YAHUAH to observe His Torah – His Divine instructions – and begin to learn about Justice, Peace and Righteousness according to Messiah. 1

One of the very first words on the lips of Messiah YAHUSHA was “repent”. It is imperative that we understand how to repent (make Teshuvah) and turn to YAHUAH and keep His Commandments. Whenever we read in the scriptures “return to Elohim”, “return to the LORD”, “return to God” – all Hebrews understand that this literally means “return to Torah.”

I hope and pray that we make teshuvah all of our lives, a continual return to His Torah until we no longer have breath, to run the race and finish in His Kingdom.

Please comment, correct, bring forth more understanding, question if you would like. Let us all make teshuvah!

1. Aramaic English New Testament

 

Repentance Part 1

One of the unexpected blessings of being brought out of the church system and into a personal walk with YAHUsha, the True Hebrew Messiah – was a lie.

How could a lie be a blessing? Let me explain.

Have you ever been involved in a relationship, worked for a corporation, had a business agreement, or some sort of contract with someone else based upon trust? Only later to find out, the very basis of that relationship and trust had a lie involved in it. No matter how small or large the deception is – once you find out about it – everything else from that point is up for investigation and doubt.

That somewhat describes my relationship with the Christian Church. I spent 30 years in the Christian church belief system. I would go there for teaching, fellowship, Bible study and all the rest. As a child, I fervently studied the New Testament and the words of my Savior and His disciples. Then I got busy with my adult life and career, and let the spiritual aspect of my life get squeezed out for time spent on worldly things.

Then the Set-apart Spirit spoke again in my life, “What about My Sabbath?” He said. Long story short (very short) – I remember thinking, “this is my chance!  To begin really learning about Him, My Creator, without influence of anyone but the Set-apart Spirit to speak to me and teach me.” As a child, I KNEW the scripture instructs us to worship on the Sabbath, but for some reason I thought the preachers knew something I did not for all their years of training and study. I knew of no Christian church meeting on the Sabbath, and I would have to do this at home in a personal fashion and was excited about doing so for I knew it to be pleasing to Elohim. I knew it in my spirit.

Now back to the issue of the lie. If my church and pastor would deceive me (whether intentionally or by blindness) about the Set-apartness of the Sabbath day unto our Set-apart Creator, what else have I been deceived about? All other terms and doctrines were now fair game for investigation – and there, beloved, is the blessing! So my topic for this writing – Repentance.

What is repentance?

Up until a short time ago, the following has been my understanding of what repentance means:

The Holy Spirit or the Biblical New Testament texts would convict my spirit about something. Maybe I had said or done something throughout my life or throughout my day that I knew to be wrong. My conscience would let me know that what I had done was wrong and I needed to make amends. I needed to and would ask for forgiveness from God and then do my best not repeat that misdeed or spoken word again, and to truly be sorry for what I had done or said. Knowing that I was truly regretful of what I had done or said, I could be assured that I was forgiven for that sin or transgression.

But even in this scenario, I cannot help but wonder now, how much of the conviction was from what I knew of what my Savior taught, or just a consequence of what my parents and society had taught me. There were “sins” of lying, cross words or actions, jealousy, being inconsiderate of others, holding grudges or being angry at someone, and disobedience. I remember getting spankings for some of these as a child. Spankings certainly had an effect on my learning right from wrong. When I was very young, the learning was based upon fear. Later on, I learned I did not like hurting my parents by my transgressions of their instructions, and so when I did – I felt sorry for having done the thing.

There are also hundreds of thousands of people who are good people. They are kind, they don’t cheat or steal, they certainly are not murders and they treat others decently. These people will tell you they are agnostics or atheists even. They don’t hurt other people because they know they would ‘regret’ having done it and have the capability of feeling remorse.

So what is it that is different about the believer’s repentance that is any different than a non-believer who has repentance? Have you ever thought about that? What is it that makes ours  (believers) different?

Let’s go to the scriptures.

Let us explore the words in the languages of the Bible that are used to demonstrate what truly IS repentance for a believer. Let’s start with the Greek, since that is the language the typical American Bible is translated from in the Messianic Scriptures (aka New Testament).

Greek: metanoia  –

This Greek word is a compound word made of ‘meta’ (meaning after, with) and ‘noeo’ (meaning to perceive, to think, the result of perceiving or observing). The entire word means ‘to think differently after.’

This is interesting because don’t we usually know before the transgression is completed, that it was wrong before we did it, yet we did it anyway? Again enters the question of ‘social ethics or morality’ vs. true scriptural repentance. Then we have regret or sorrow for having done it? Does this sound like rebellion to you? It does to me – but let us continue our word study.

In both Aramaic (the accepted language of the day at the time of The Messiah and His disciples) and in Hebrew (the mother tongue of The Messiah) there are two different words that we have translated into English as the same word: repent.

In Aramaic, the word most often is teshuwa

In Hebrew, two words interchangeably are used: shuv, for teshuva and nacham.

Teshuva means “to return” שוב shuv (to return)

Nacham means “to comfort” נחם nicham (to feel sorrow).

For the next several paragraphs, I will be using information taken from the Aramaic English New Testament.

In Moshe’s (Moses) appeal to YAHUAH both of these words (teshuva and nacham) appear in the same verse:

“Turn (shuv) from thy fierce wrath, and repent (nacham) of this evil against thy people” Exodus 32:12.

Hebrew thought predominantly focuses on the word shuv as in teshuva, whereas the Christian church theology has adopted the nacham.

These two words are very, very different in their meanings.

Why is this?

Shuv appears 1,066 times in Scripture but is almost entirely negated by modern Christian theology. This is the stuff that irritates me. Why would the shepherds of today do this? Something so important as repentance, which is written in over 60 verses in the New Testament, and spoken repeatedly by our Savior and His disciples, obviously repentance is of extreme importance to Him.

The first mention of shuv is:

“in the sweat of your face shall you eat bread, until you return (shuv) unto the ground…” Genesis 3:19.

Clearly shuv means to return to where you’ve come from and this is the key to true repentance.

Teshuva (repentance) means return to YAHUAH.

“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return (shuv) unto YAHUAH, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our Elohim, for he will abundantly pardon” Isaiah 55:7.

A return to YAHUAH.

In order to return to something, you would have to have been there before. In reality, the spirit of each individual belongs to YAHUAH and by surrendering and turning to YAHUAH every soul is, in fact, returning to their spiritual origin. This is also what it means, ‘to be born from the beginning.’ This is what our Messiah was revealing to Nicodemus in their chat that night.

There is a way to return to YAHUAH, true repentance, and that is to return to His Ways. Our Creator created us according to His purpose. By returning to Him our true purpose is revealed, but we must also return to Him on His terms and conditions.

Now, for the other term nacham. Nacham is translated as comfort, sorrow, repent, comforter, ease, and all together for a total of only 108 times in the Scriptures.

As believers, we have been taught almost only this definition of the word repent. We sin, we are sorrowful, ask for forgiveness, we are comforted in knowing our Father is forgiving and merciful, we are covered by grace and the blood of our Messiah. Is this all there is to it? Please know, I am not talking about ‘salvation’ I am talking about ‘true living in JOY – sanctification‘

Is this the message of our Messiah and all of Scripture? Sorrowful living and needing comfort doesn’t seem to be the overriding message of the Scriptures when we have just learned that teshuva (to return) occurs over 1,000 times and nacham (comfort/sorrow) occurs only 108 times. Additionally, it is of great import to know that even when nacham IS used and translated as repent, it is in reference to our Father YAHUAH only. In all of the following verses, the word repent is used for our Father having sorrow: Genesis 6:6, 6:7, Exodus 32:12, 32:14, Deuteronomy 32:36, Judges 2:18. In Judges 21:6, 21:15 the children of Israel repented for Benjamin, or “felt sorrow” for Benjamin. There are several verses that use repent to feel sorrow and need comfort.

So there appears to be two issues at play in our Scriptures for our learning, teaching, and understanding to help lead us into wisdom and truth.

There is repent in English that means sorrow, repent, comfort and then there is repent in English that means to return. I have explored the sorrow and comfort form of the word repent and found it to be most frequently related to our Father, YAHUAH Himself, and we know from Scripture also that The Most High has no need to return because He is the Origin.

We could feel sorrow all our lives for our actions however, and never ever reach true repentance. Why? Repentance for us means to return, teshuva.

To repent is to return to YAHUAH and is the basis on how we draw near to Him. True repentance is only realized through Torah observance. Torah is the Will of YAHUAH, His Love Letter, His Promise, and His Covenant. Torah contains the Terms and Conditions of YAHUAH’s Love towards His Creation.

Let’s look at an analogy and prophetic word our Messiah shared with the people and us concerning what happens when we stop our transgression, yet do not complete what is necessary (teshuva), and return to Torah. Matthew 12:43-45

43. “Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. 44. “Then it says, ‘I shall return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and decorated. 45. “Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”

He is teaching us what happens if we do not return to His Teachings and Instructions after we realize we are transgressing His Torah. We can feel sorrow and regret and ask for forgiveness, but if we do not then actively begin a life obedient to His Torah, we run the risk of actually being worse off than before. You see, it is one thing to be free from bondage, but it is something completely different to then Walk in the Kingdom in Freedom.

Another analogy:

Imagine you are on a railroad track bound and tied and there is a train coming. If nothing happens to change your situation – your certain death is only a matter of time. Then someone arrives on the scene and tells you that if you say that you are sorry for the sin in your life, they would untie you, thereby giving you a chance to escape death. You say you are sorry and you are untied. This is a picture of the doctrine of repentance in the Church. Beloved there is more!

You still have to get up and move out of the way to live! If you are untied but remain sitting where you are, you are still dead.

Not sinning is not what our Messiah and His disciples called us to.

Our Messiah called us to repentance – to return to His Torah to Life.

Our Messiah’s first words when He began His earthly ministry are found in Matthew 4:17

From that time YAHUSHA began to proclaim and to say,

“Repent, for the reign of the heavens has drawn near.”

John the Baptist preached, “Repent, for the reign of the heavens has come near!”

Seek YAHUAH while He may be found. Repent, for the reign of the heavens has drawn near!

Part 2 – a work in progress

 

 

The Wedding at Mt Sinai

Notes taken from a teaching CD by a wonderful Torah Teacher: Glenn McWilliams. His website is TK Torah Keepers, combined with extra thoughts from me.

Beloved ones, making all haste to write to you concerning our common deliverance, I felt the necessity to write to you urging you to earnestly contend for the belief which was once for all delivered to the set-apart ones.

Jude wrote these words somewhere around 70 AD. There was no such thing as the “New Testament.” Please think on that for a while. So this belief (faith) Jude is speaking of comes by evidence of what was known and written of at the time he wrote it. There can be no doubt, he is speaking of the belief demonstrated by the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) and the prophets (men like Moses, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Elijah, etc). He goes on…

For certain men have slipped in, whose judgment was written about long ago, wicked ones perverting the favour of our Elohim for indecency, and denying the only Master YHWH and our Master YAHUsha Messiah.

This word favour can also mean Grace – the grace of our Elohim for indecency- indecency meaning wantonness, filthiness. So the apostle Jude is telling us that there are men within the Body of Messiah who are perverting the truth, and saying that the God of the Old Testament (remember, that is what Jude is writing about here – there is no New Testament at that time) instead of being full of Grace or favour, is indecent or found wanting.

Question: Have you ever heard it said today “the God of the old testament is different from Jesus?” Or maybe you have heard it said “Grace is found in the New Testament and judgment is found in the Old Testament?” or “In the Old Testament, God is angry – but Jesus brings grace, salvation and forgiveness.”

Jude goes on…

But I intend to remind you, though you once knew this, that YAHUAH, having saved a people out of the land of Mitsrayim (Egypt), afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

Keep that in mind as we go through now: The Wedding at Mt Sinai!

The Hebrew word for Genesis is bereshith. As you can see, it begins with the hebrew letter “beyt” and has a b sound as in boy. The whole word, bereshith, means = in the beginning. The hebrew letter beyt, from the paleo-hebrew represents a house:

The name of this letter is Beyt and has a “b” sound. This letter is a picture of a nomadic tent such as would have been used by the ancient Hebrews and represents what is inside the tent – the family. The meaning of this letter can be tent or within. (Ancient Hebrew Research Center website)

Bereshith begins with the hebrew letter “bet” and ends in the hebrew letter “tav”. Now the hebrew alphabet actually begins with the alef and 22 letters later, ends in the tav; from alef to tav. Alef is similar to our english letter “a” and is silent.

Likewise, Alef is a silent letter, it is the first letter. Strongly related to the Creator. He is the First, The Strength, The Initial, a Silent Spirit. But when He creates, He speaks it. Torah (God’s teaching and instructions) begins with the letter bet because He made a sound, just like the letter bet. Bet is the first actualized and spoken thought.

Now you know that Beyt is a picture of a tent or house. It is now easy to see that the Hebrew word beit = house. The bet is made large in Bereshith, but there are no capital letters is Hebrew, it is simply enlarged. Elohim is building His House, His beit. I would argue the most important and significant house in all creation – His Kingdom.

Furthermore, in Hebrew thought, a house is not bricks and mortar – but a family. The first thing a man does in building a house is find a wife. In the Hebrew mind, when a man says “I am going to build a house,” he does not go out and hire a contractor and builder and architect. He goes out and finds a wife!

So the house, the beit, is defined by what is inside, the household is the family, the people.

Psalm 127:1

If YAHUAH does not build the house, its builders have laboured in vain. If YAHUAH does not guard the city, The watchman has stayed awake in vain.

What does YAHUAH say is the purpose of a wife?

We can look to the creation of Adam and Eve to find out. Purpose of a wife. Adam was created to be the manifest presence of Elohim in the world. It became clear to Elohim that Adam could not do this alone. He needed a helpmeet. The purpose of Eve was to help Adam be the image of Elohim. Any other purpose the world or man has created is a false purpose. Adam and Eve together had one purpose: to manifest the Image of Elohim in the world.

Genesis 1:26-28

And Elohim said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the earth and over all the creeping creatures that creep on the earth.” 27. And Elohim created the man in His image, in the image of Elohim He created him – male and female He created them.  28. And Elohim blessed them and Elohim said to them, “Bear fruit and increase, and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over all creatures moving on the earth.”

When Elohim brought the woman to the man he said in Genesis 2:23

And the man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. This one is called ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of man.

Elohim gave them: power of creativity, the ability and authority to rule over and interact with creation.

In this Garden of Eden, the original purpose, The Spirit of Elohim would communicate to the spirit of man and man would carry out the desire of the creator in the world. The communication and instruction and teaching was not mixed. It was pure.

Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of mixed seed. No longer was their information pure from the Holy One only. Now man would use human reasoning and sensual knowledge. With exclusive revelation from Elohim, the Image was pure and right. With mixed revelation – now the image is corrupted.

Gen 2:17

but do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that you eat of it you shall certainly die.”

The pure Image of Elohim died in the world that day, just as Elohim told them they would die in that day.

All information is now mixed seed. It has been mixed from the time that Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The only other time the information is not mixed, is when the patriarchs and prophets, and Moses hear directly from God, and through the words of YAHUsha Elohim in the flesh.

YAHUAH’s heart is to restore all the world to His Image, the True Image. This is to  come through the Seed of the Worman. However, Women do not have seed, so one could ask – how is this going to come to pass? YAHUAH’S plan is for A collective Bride or Wife – for a people that will fulfill the role of a woman, a wife, to fulfill the role of building His House, the House of YAHUAH.

In the ancient world, there were 3 means by which marriage would take place:

1. sexual intercourse Gen 4:1 “two became one”  bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh.

2. exchange of a token. Example would be Isaac and Rabecca. When Eleazar went to find Isaac a wife, he took with him great wealth in jewelry of gold.

3. A contract. Example is Jacob working for his wife Rachel. He contracted with his uncle Laban to work for 7 years for Rachel.

In the Hebrew culture there are 3 parts to the biblical marriage:

1. betrothal through arrangement.

2. solemnizing – the actual ritual involving the community, a wedding ceremony where the contract was  read publicly and a celebration ensued. This was the public testimony.

3. consummation – when that which has been agreed upon becomes a reality. Two become one.

The following are some pattern and props of typical Jewich wedding

1. Mikvah

A pool of water for immersing the body to purify it from ritual uncleanliness, as part of the ceremony of conversion.

mikvah – the ritual cleansing the bride goes through before the wedding feast to ensure she is clean for her groom.

 

The Bridal Mikvah

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Chuppah                                                                          

A spread canopy under which the bride and groom stand during the wedding ceremony.

The canopy represents the honeymoon chamber of the couple and symbolises the home that is about to be established.

3. The bride circling the chuppah 7 times, then entering in.

4. The reading of the ketubah, the contract.

5. token of the covenant is exchanged

6. Then off to consummate.

YAHUAH and His Chosen Bride

YAHUAH found Israel in filth in Egypt. He begins to woo her unto Himself. Exodus 3:7-8

An YAHUAH said, “I have indeed seen the oppression of My people who are in Mitsrayim (Egypt), and have heard their cry because of their slave-drivers, for I know (yadah) their sorrows. 8. “And I have come down to deliver them from the hand of the Mitsrites, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Kena’anites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hiwwites and the Yebusites.

He saw, He heard, He knew. The word used here for “know” is the hebrew yada. This is the same word used in Genesis 4:1 where we are told Adam knew (yada) Eve, his wife. The use of this word here illuminates to us how deep the “knowing” was that YAHUAH knew – intimately, as if it was happening to himself. He feels her pain. He is coming, He is going to deliver her, He is going to bring her up, He is going to give her a land.

Isn’t that what any bride wants? To be seen, heard, loved, rescued, delivered, and then protected in a home, a place of her own with her beloved. I know I do.

In Exodus 3:13-15, YAHUAH introduces Himself to her by Name.

And Mosheh said to Elohim, “See, when I come to the children of Yisra’el and say to them, ‘The Elohim of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His Name?’ what shall I say to them?”  14. And Elohim said to Mosheh, “I am that which I am.”  And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Yisra’el, ‘I am has sent me to you.'”  15. And Elohim said further to Mosheh, “Thus you are to say to the children of Yisra’el, YAHUAH Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Yitshaq, and the Elohim of Ya’aqob, has sent me to you. This is My Name forever, and this is My remembrance to all generations.”

He begins wooing with promises. 7 bold “I wills” made by YAHUAH to Israel. Nothing so far from Israel as far as any commitment on their part. It is all YAHUAH. Exodus 6:6-8

“Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the LORD (יהוה); I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the LORD (יהוה) your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the LORD (יהוה).’ ”

In Exodus Chapters 6-15 He demonstrates His Will and His Promises. Introduces distinctions of Israel v. Egypt. Israel did nothing to merit favor.  He ransomed them, He performed miracles for them, He placed no condition upon their deliverance.  Why? in hopes of winning their hearts!  Only after they were delivered, redeemed, and saved, does He ask for a commitment.

Then the “if” comes. The proposal – a conditional covenant

Exodus 19:2-

For they set out from Rephidim, and had come to the Wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness. So Yisra’el camped there before the mountain.  3. And Mosheh went up to Elohim, and YAHUAH called to him from the mountain, saying, “This is what you are to say to the house of Ya’aqob, and declare to the children of Yisra’el:  4. You have seen what I did to the Mitsrites, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.  5. ‘And now, if you diligently obey My voice, and shall guard My covenant, then you shall be My treasured possession (segulah) above all the peoples – for all the earth is Mine – 6. ‘and you shall be to Me a reign of priests and a set-apart nation.’ Those are the words which you are to speak to the children of Yisra’el.”

1. obey the voice

2. keept he covenant

YAHUAH wants to know: will you submit? will you be exclusively mine? will you be  bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh? will you bare the yoke of my image? will you manifest my image to the world?

They (we) MUST keep the Torah. They cannot be the image of Elohim if they do not keep the Torah. The Torah is self revelation of YAHUAH. Anything other than that is a false image. You must submit to the conditions of the Torah.

This mandatory submission was enacted only after they were saved. No coersion. They could at any time accept of reject the offer. Egypt was already destroyed. He wanted them to love HIM.  For love to be love, it must be freely given. For it to be freely given – there must be a choice to withhold it.

It was the same in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. Both trees were available to them, and every time they chose not to eat of the forbidden tree – they were saying – I love you YAHUAH because I CHOOSE to. When we choose to live according to the covenant, The Torah (God’s teaching and instructions) we too, are saying YAHUAH I want to be your bride, I choose to love you.

The Betrothal

Same is true for the Sinai covenant. They were not captured and forced.  Ex 19:8.

And all the people answered together and said, “All that YAHUAH has spoken we shall do.” So Mosheh brought back the words of the people to YAHUAH.

No way can it be a curse or bondage. We do not introduce our earthly spouse as a curse, a burden, a ball and chain. Why do we do it to the Father? when it concerns His Torah, our wedding contract. Yet that is what we are taught all of our lives – that the contract does not apply to us, it is bondage, legalism, no longer valid, done away with.  My question is WHY? If it is done away with, I have no hope!  Why can’t I be the bride of the Messiah, why can’t I follow His Instructions, Why can’t I have the choice to be His peculiar treasure? That hears His voice and obeys His covenant?

It is for the Jews only!!   NO! – Paul says I am grafted in. Is Paul a liar?  NO!

When YAHUsha (Jesus) tells us “if you love me, keep my commandments” – He is talking about the Torah – God’s teaching and instructions.

A peculiar treasure – a segulah.

Isaiah 49:16

“See, I have inscribed you in the palms of my hands of My hands; your walls are always before Me.

John 10:28-29

“And I give them everlasting life, and they shall by no means ever perish, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. 29. “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all. And no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.

30. I and My Father are one.”

We are segulah if we heed His voice and keep His covenant. YAHUSHA is speaking about the voice and the shephard in John 10:27

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. (they follow Torah)

Election is not one of privelage, but of responsibility – to bear His image to the world. For the salvation of the world. Ex 19:5. For all the earth is mine. Our calling is for the world. We do not keep Torah so that we can be saved. We keep it for the salvation of others.

Now solemnization

Ex 19:10-14    mikvah takes place

And YAHUAH said to Mosheh, “Go to the people and set the apart today and tomorrow. And they shall wash their garments,  11. and shall be prepared by the third day. For on the third day YAHUAH shall come down upon Mount Sinai before the eyes of all the people. 12. “And you shall make a border for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch the border of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall certainly be put to death. 13. ‘Not a hand is to touch it, but he shall certainly be stoned or shot with an arrow, whether man or beast, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds long, let them come near the mountain.” 14. And Mosheh came down from the mountain to the people and set the people apart, and they washed their garments.

Ex 19:16   The chuppah

And it came to be, on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain. And the sound of the ram’s horn was very loud, and all the people who were in the camp trembled.

Ex 19:16-18      The Groom enters

And Mount Sinai was in smoke, all of it, because YAHUAH descended upon it in fire. And its smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and all the mountain trembled exceedingly.

Ex 19:12     Bride circles the chuppah  (Moses represents the Bride and the Ketubah is created)

And you shall make a border for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch the border of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.

Exodus 19:25- 20: 17  Moses comes down the mountain with the ketubah, the marriage contract

Our Precious Ketubah

 

And Mosheh went down to the people and spoke to them. 20:1. And Elohim spoke all these Words saying, 2. I am YAHUAH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, out of the house of slavery. 3. You have no other mighty ones against My face. 4. “You do not make for yourself a carved image, or any likenss of that which is in the heavens above, or which is in the earth beneath, or which is in the waters under the earth. 5. you do not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, YAHUAH your Elohim am a jealous El, visiting the crookedness of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6. but showing kindness to thousands, to those who love Me and guard My commands. 7. “You do not bring the Name of YAHUAH your Elohim to naught, for YAHUAH does not leave the one unpunished who brings His Name to naught. 8. “Remember the Sabbath day, to set it apart. 9. “Six days you labour, and shall do all your work,  10. But the seventh day is a Sabbath of YAHUAH your Elohim. You do not do any work – you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11. “For in six days YAHUAH made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore YAHUAH blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart. 12. “Respect your father and your mother, so that your days are prolonged upon the soil which YAHUAH your Elohim is giving you. 13. “You do not murder. 14. “You do not commit adultery. 15. “You do not steal. 16. “You do not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17. “You do not covet your neighbor’s house, you do not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, or whatever belongs to your neighbor.”

The token of betrothal and marriage

 

Sabbath: I belong to YAHUAH

Exodus 31:13-17

 

“And you, speak to the children of Yisra’el, saying, ‘My Sabbaths you are to guard, by all means, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, to know that I, YAHUAH, am setting you apart. 14. ‘And you shall guard the Sabbath, for it is set-apart to you. Everyone who profanes it shall certainly be put to death, for anyone who does work on it, that being shall be cut off from among his people. 15. ‘Six days work is done, and on the seventh is a Sabbath of rest, set-apart to YAHUAH. Everyone doing work on the Sabbath day shall certainly be put to death. 16. ‘And the children of Yisra’el shall guard the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant. 17. ‘Between Me and the children of Yisra’el it is a sign forever. For in six days YAHUAH made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.'”

The Sabbath is our sign, our token, our wedding ring. When we do not keep Sabbath, we are taking off the ring, and pretending we are not married. we are playing the harlot.

Into the tabernacle.

By obeying the voice and keeping the covenant, the Torah – we become the manifest presence of our Messiah and Creator. Our Messiah and bridegroom can live with us, within us.

Psalm 103:18-19

To those who guard His covenant, And to those who remember His orders to do them, 19. YAHUAH has established His throne in the heavens, and His reign shall rule over all.

When we keep and do the Torah – His teaching and instruction, His Image is seen in the world.

A word about Grace and the God of the “Old Testament”

It was Grace that created Adam and Eve. It was Grace that chose Noah, brought the flood, and saved a people from destruction by mixing clean and unclean so the world could be saved. It was Grace who brought Abram out of the Chaldeans. It was Grace that gave Sarah a child. It was Grace that brought Rebecca to Isaac. It was Grace that gave Rebecca children. It was Grace that took Joseph to Egypt to save the line that would bring us the Messiah for OUR salvation. It was Grace that gave Mary the virgin birth of the savior of the World.

Grace belongs to YAHUAH Elohim! It was Grace who tabernacled with us in the flesh of a man, YAHUsha who suffered for redemption and restoration of the whole world unto Himself to those who hear, believe, and obey.

It was Grace that gave a people the Torah and Grace that gave a people Himself in the form of YAHUsha. So what does it mean to follow Him? Hear His voice and do what He did. He came to show us – was it all in vain? Let it not be so in your life!

YAHUsha kept the seventh day Sabbath, YAHUsha kept Passover, YAHUsha observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread, YAHUsha observed Pentecost, YAHUsha celebrated Day of Trumpets, YAHUsha observed the Day of Atonements, YAHUsha kept the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day, YAHUsha lived and taught the Torah, YAHUsha spoke out against Traditions of Men, YAHUsha made the money changers get out of His Father’s House of Prayer.

Does this look like our life also? It should, this is the life and testimony of our Messiah!

Don’t let anyone steal your contract. Learn it, know it, live it, obey it. That is what the Bride is doing!

 

 

Day of Atonements (Yom HaKippurim)

YAHUAH’s Sabbath morning, the Sabbath between Yom Teruah (the Day of Blowing) and Yom HaKippurim (Day of Atonements) has been full of blessings. My husband had taken down some verse references from a reading he had done the past week. They are listed below if you would also like to read them for yourself.

Exodus 30:1-10

Numbers 29:7-11

Leviticus 16

Leviticus 23:27-31

Leviticus 25:9

I am going to type them out here for this sharing of what we learned – HalleluYAH!

Exodus 30:1-10:

“And you shall make an altar to burn incense on, make it of acacia wood, (2) a cubit long and a cubit wide – it is a square – and two cubits high, its horns of the same. (3) “And you shall overlay its top, and its sides all around, and its horns with clean gold. And you shall make for it a moulding of gold all around. (4) “And make two gold rings for it, under the moulding on both its sides. Make them on its two sides, and they shall be holders for the poles to lift it with. (5) “And you shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. (6) “And you shall put it before the veil that is before the ark of the Witness, before the lid of atonement that is over the Witness, where I am to meet with you. (7) “And Aharon shall burn on it sweet incense, morning by morning. As he tends the lamps, he shall burn incense on it. (8) “And when Aharon lights the lamps between the evenings, he shall burn incense on it – a continual incense before YHWH throughout your generations. (9) “Do not offer strange incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering, and do not pour a drink offering on it. (10) “And Aharon shall make atonement upon its horns once a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonement – once a year he makes atonement upon it throughout your generations. It is most set-apart to YHWH.”

On this portion of our reading, some things we saw were – Yahuah is speaking about our prayers to Him. The altar of incense represents the prayers, the prayers of the children of the covenant. The altar of incense is an important part of the Day of Atonements because the High Priest makes atonement upon its horns once a year. There is another altar with horns – the altar of sacrifice (the Brazen altar) in the outer court of the Tent of Meeting, but more on this later.

The altar of incense (our altar of prayer) is to be no strange (unholy) language, no sacrifices, no offerings. This altar is MOST SET APART UNTO YHWH. I propose this altar of incense is pure praise and worship! Our Father Himself tells us that to obey is better than sacrifice and He would that there never be sacrifices and only praise and worship. But because of His Great Holiness, and our lack thereof, He provides a way for us to draw near to Him. He provides a covering, a covering of blood.

Also, that Aharon was to put the altar before the veil that is before the ark of Witness, before the lid of atonement that is over the Witness, WHERE I AM TO MEET WITH YOU. I knew I had to understand this part especially. Where is my Father going to meet with me (and you)?

Literally, there no longer is a veil. We can read in Matthew 27:51

And see, the veil of the Dwelling Place was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth was shaken, and the rocks were split.

Also, the ark of Witness has been hidden away. But we know that all the figures of the Temple exist in Heaven – the True Temple, of which the earthly figures are a copy – the ark of Witness, the presence of Elohim, resides in Heaven.

Aharon burning sweet incense on that altar morning by morning. Likewise, I am to offer up my prayer of praise and worship on the altar, rising early every morning.

Atonement is made by blood. The lid of atonement is where the High Priest sprinkled the blood of the sacrificed animals. Starting westward (opposite his body) and sprinkling eastwardly (towards himself). Then sprinkling in front of the ark of Witness. Did this make a tau in blood? The Hebrew letter tau? The blood on a cross?

The Messiah, Yahusha atoned for the sin of the world.  1 John 2:1-2

“My little children, I write this to you, so that you do not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Intercessor with the FAther, Yahusha Messiah, a righteous One. (2) And He Himself is an atoning offering for our sins, and not for ours only but also for all the world.”

So now, can you see it? Partial fulfillment of good things to come from all the way back to the Children of Israel in the wilderness at Mt Sinai. Praise and worship, morning by morning unto YAHUAH, in a direct manner covered by the atoning blood of a sinless Messiah who allows us to meet with our Holy Creator.

That was only the first portion…….

Numbers 29:7-11

“And on the tenth day of this seventh month you have a set-apart gathering, and you shall afflict your beings, you do not work. (8) ‘And you shall bring near a burnt offering to YHWH, a sweet fragrance: one young bull, one ram, seven lambs a year old, perfect ones they are for you, (9) and their grain offering: fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the one ram, (10) one-tenth for each of the seven lambs, (11) one male goat as a sin offering, besides the sin offering for atonement, the continual burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings.”

This is how the Day of Atonements (Yom HaKippurim) would have started when the Children of Israel were in the wilderness learning to serve, worship, and draw near to a Holy Elohim. This day is a specially, appointed day in the eyes of our Creator. He says it and He does not change. Here in this portion, He is telling us when this special appointed time is – it falls on the 10th day of the 7th month. We CANNOT use the Roman calendar to get this time right. Our Creator gets to create the timetable – we do not. He does not want us to work, He wants us to gather together in a sanctified way – a Holy Assembly if you will, He wants us to humble ourselves before Him in praise, worship, and service, and finally to bring a burnt offering. This is our complete selves – heart, soul, mind, body, the living sacrifice.

I know there is a lot here to take in. Keeping in line with the truth that the Feasts of YHWH are “shadow pictures of good things to come” What is the shadow picture that the Day of Atonements represents? First off, it is safe to say that this observance is part of the “Fall Feasts” or occurs in the Autumn of the year. It is commonly believed and I also hold to the fact that all the commanded observances of YHWH have initial, intermediate, and final fulfillments. There is a feeling to me, and evidently among many believers, that the understanding of what it is Our Father desires us to glean from this Holy Rehearsal eludes us. Even the “Jewish” sages had/have little to no understanding of the two goats and the meaning of Azazel.

Leviticus 16 (I know what you are thinking…. is she going to type the whole chapter?! – YES I AM!! because it is so very important to me sharing what we saw)

So…..

And YHWH spoke to Mosheh after the death of the two sons of Aharon, as they drew near before YHWH, and dies. (2) And YHWH said to Mosheh, “Speak to Aharon your brother not to come in at all times to the Set-apart Place inside the veil, before the lid of atonement which is on the ark, lest he die, because I appear in the cloud above the lid of atonement. (3) “With this Aharon should come into the Set-apart Place: with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering, and of a ram as a burnt offering. (4) “He should put on the set-apart linen long shirt, with linen trousers on his flesh, and gird himself with a linen girdle, and be dressed with the linen turban – they are set-apart garments. And he shall bathe his body in water, and shall put them on. (5) “And from the congregation of the children of Yisra’el he takes two male goats as a sin offering, and one ram as a burnt offering. (6) “And Aharon shall bring the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. (7) “And he shall take the two goats and let them stand before YHWH at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

Now – a right ruling straight out of the Torah with this same wording…..

In Deuteronomy 19:16-19 “When a malicious witness rises up against any man to accuse him of turning aside, (17) then both men who have the dispute shall stand before YHWH, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days. (18) “And the judges shall diligently search and see if the witness is a false witness, who has falsely accused his brother, (19) then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from your midst.

(8) “And Aharon shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for YHWH and the other lot for Azazel. (9) “And Aharon shall bring the goat on which the lot for YHWH fell, and shall prepare it as a sin offering. (10) “But the goat on which the lot for Azazel fell is caused to stand alive before YHWH, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness to Azazel.

Here is where there remains many questions even from the Rabbis and teachers. What do the goats mean, and there is no “TRUE” explanation of what this Azazel means. It appears nowhere else in all of scripture. I wonder if the limited understanding that remains within Judaism is due to the unbelief in the Messiah Yahusha, the Gospels, and the Book of the Revelation. I am going to try to show you how the language is much the same as judgement day and the Day of YAHUAH. I am going to suggest that the following rehearsal is not only that of the Day of Atonement when Yahusha our Messiah entered into Heaven as our High Priest and made atonement for the world, but a rehearsal for what will happen at the first judgement upon the earth, and the final at the Great White Throne judgement upon HaSatan and those who do not repent.

“And Aharon shall bring the goat on which the lot for YHWH fell, and shall prepare it as a sin offering.

Clearly, this offering, as the Word states, is the sin offering. Its blood will be part of that blood used by the High Priest to make atonement for the altar unto YHWH, the altar of incense, the lid of atonement, the Tent of Meeting, and all the people. The lot for YHWH fell on this goat, in other words, this goat is YHWH’s choice. This goat of YHWH’s choice is the sin offering. Its blood will be shed, it will be sacrificed. This goat is Israel, this goat is anyone who is part of the covenant of YHWH, this goat is us. This goat is YHWH’s choice, but it is a sin offering and must be sacrificed for transgressions. Only blood atones (covers) for the forgiveness of sins. In the passage of time, YAHUSHA became this blood atonement in our place. Our blood would still be required of us, but for our Messiah paying that price for our sin. Clearly, this is representative of the sin offering Yahusha made in His own, pure and sinless blood and entered into Heaven and atoned (covered) all.

Now….. the other goat.

(10) “But the goat on which the lot for Azazel fell is caused to stand alive before YHWH, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness to Azazel.

This goat is not for YHWH. The text would not read “but” if we were not to understand there is a contrast coming. “But the goat…” This goat is for something else – but not YHWH. Why is this goat “caused to stand alive before YHWH?” We could not help but think of the judgement, the day of judgement, the Day of YAHUAH (Day of the LORD). Who is it in the scriptures that will stand alive before YHWH? Let us see……

As we already saw earlier in Deuteronomy, a false accuser will stand before YHWH (or judges). Who is the supreme false accuser? Is it not HaSatan, the adversary?

“And I heard a loud voice saying in the heaven, “Now have come the deliverance and the power and the reign of our Elohim, and the authority of His Messiah, for the accuser of our brothers, who accused them before our Elohim day and night, has been thrown down.” Revelation 12:10

Back now to Leviticus 16

(11) “And Aharon shall bring the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall slaughter the bull as the sin offering which is for himself, (12) and shall take a fire holder filled with burning coals of fire from the altar before YHWH, with his hands filled with sweet incense beaten fine, and shall bring it inside the veil. (13) “And he shall put the incense on the fire before YHWH, and the cloud of incense shall cover the lid of atonement which is on the Witness, lest he die. (14) “And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the lid of atonement on the east side, also in front of the lid of atonement he sprinkles some of the blood with his finger seven times. (15) “And he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, and shall bring its blood inside the veil, and shall do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the lid of atonement and in front of the lid of atonement. (16) “And he shall make atonement for the Set-apart Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Yisra’el, and because of their transgressions in all their sins. And so he does for the Tent of Meeting which is dwelling with them in the midst of their uncleanness. (17) “And no man should be in the Tent of Meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the Set-apart Place, until he comes out. And he shall make atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the assembly of Yisra’el. (18) “And he shall go out to the altar that is before YHWH, and make atonement for it. And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. (19) “And he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and set it apart from the uncleanness of the children of Yisra’el.

The High Priest, in this portion, is Aharon. Our High Priest today is Yahusha The Messiah. Aharon is to make atonement for the Tent of Meeting, the altar (on the horns), the Set-apart Place, and the altar of incense (on the horns), for himself, and for all the children of Israel – using the blood of a bull, a ram, and a goat. Yahusha makes atonement for all the world with His own, pure blood. This, I suggest is the initial fulfillment of this beautiful rehearsal. Read the words of Shaul (Paul) from the book of Hebrews Chapter 9:

“Now the first covenant indeed had regulations of worship and the earthly set-apart place. (2) For a Tent was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, and the table, and the showbread, which is called the Set-apart Place. (3) And after the second veil, the part of the Tent which is called Most Set-apart, (4) to which belonged the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that held the manna, and the rod of Aharon that budded, and the tablets of the covenant, (5) and above it the kerubim of esteem were overshadowing the place of atonement – about which we do not now speak in detail. (6) And these having been prepared like this, the priests always went into the first part of the Tent, accomplishing the services. (7) But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for sins of ignorance of the people, (8) the Set-apart Spirit signifying this, that the way into the Most Set-apart Place was not yet made manifest while the first Tent has a standing, (9) which was a parable for the present time in which both gifts and slaughters are offered which are unable to perfect the one serving, as to his conscience, (10) only as to foods and drinks, and different washings, and fleshly regulations imposed until a time of setting matters straight. (11) But Messiah, having become a High Priest of the coming good matters, through the greater and more perfect Tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, (12) entered into the Most Set-apart Place once for all, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood, having obtained everlasting redemption. (13) For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the defiled, sets apart for the cleansing of the flesh, (14) how much more shall the blood of the Messiah, who through the everlasting Spirit offered Himself unblemished to Elohim, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living Elohim? (15) And because of this He is the Mediator of a renewed covenant, so that, death having taken place for redemptions of the transgressions under the first covenant, those who are called might receive the promise of the everlasting inheritance. (16) For where a covenant is, it is necessary for the death of the covenanted one to be established. (17) For a covenant over those dead is firm, since it is never valid while the covenanted one is living. (18) Therefore not even the first covenant was instituted without blood. (19) For when, according to Torah, every command had been spoken by Mosheh to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, (20) saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which Elohim commanded you.” (21) And in the same way he sprinkled with blood both the Tent and LAL THE VESSELS OF THE SERVICE. (22) And, according to the Torah, almost all is cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is not forgiveness. (23) It was necessary, then, that the copies of the heavenly ones should be cleansed with these, but the heavenly ones themselves with better slaughter offerings than these. (24) For Messiah has not entered into a Set-apart Place made by hand – figures of the true – but into the heaven itself, no to appear in the presence of Elohim on our behalf, (25) not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters into the Set-apart Place year by year with bold not his own. (26) For if so, He would have had to suffer often, since the foundation of the world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the offering of Himself. (27) And as it awaits men to die once, and after this the judgment, (28) so also the Messiah, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time, apart from sin, to those waiting for Him, unto deliverance.”

Back again to Leviticus 16……..

(20) “And when he has finished atoning for the Set-apart Place, and the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat.

“And when he has finished atoning for all, he shall bring the live goat.” This goat has nothing to do with atonement! So what is this goat for?

(21) “Then Aharon shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and shall confess over it all the crookednesses of the children of Yisra’el, and all the transgressions in all their sins, and shall put them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a fit man. (22) “And the goat shall bear on itself all their crookednesses, to a land cut off. Thus he shall send the goat away into the wilderness.

Walk with me now to the book of the Revelation when we read about the dragon, the serpent, Revelation chapter 13

(5) And he was given a mouth speaking great matters and blasphemies, and he was given authority to do so forty-two month. (6) And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against Elohim, to blaspheme His Name, and His Tent, and those dwelling in the heaven. {there is the accuser again AND those who do likewise!} (7) And it was given to him to fight with the set-apart ones and to overcome them. And authority was given to him over every tribe and tongue and nation. (8) And all those dwelling on the earth, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the slain Lamb, from the foundation of the world shall worship him.

A common, popular, and well known brotherly and sisterly wish during this time of Atonements in Judaism is this “May your name be written in the Book of Life” I wonder if they know this is in the Book of the Revelation of YAHUSHA The Messiah!

Let us read some more about what YHWH is going to do to this serpent.

Revelation 17

(1) And one of the seven messengers who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying to me, “Come, I shall show you the judgment of the great whore sitting on many waters {peoples, crowds, nations, and tongues}, (2) with whom the sovereigns of the earth committed whoring, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her whoring.” (3) And he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast covered with names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

Continuing the reading through the rest of Revelation chapter 17 and 18, the whore is Babylon. Most of Chapter 18 tells the story of her fall and judgment, but for this study on the Day of Atonements I am going to Revelation 18:20 for the comparative words.

(20) “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you set-apart emissaries and prophets, for Elohim has completely avenged you on her!”

And also in Revelation 19:2

“Because true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great whore who corrupted the earth with her whoring. And He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.“

This is the end of the “judgment” of the great whore of Babylon, the counterfeit religions of the world. The goat, on which the lot fell for Azazel. She looks similar to the true assembly, she claims a Christ, she claims a day of worship, she claims holidays of observance. But they are all false. The only way to know the difference is to know the Torah and have the testimony of the True Hebrew Messiah, YAHUsha. Directly following this judgment is the battle of beast and the sovereigns of the earth with YAHUsha where HE slays them all with the sword of HIS mouth.

Revelation 19:21-20:6

(21) And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.

(1) And I saw a messenger coming down from the heaven, having the key to the pit of the deep and a great chain in his hand. (2) And he seized the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, (3) and he threw him into the pit of the deep, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should lead the nations no more astray until the thousand years were ended. And after that he has to be released for a little while. (4) And I saw thrones – and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them – and the lives of those who had been beheaded because o the witness they bore to YAHUsha and because of the Word of Elohim, and who did not worship the beast, nor his image, and did not receive his mark upon their foreheads or upon their hands. And they lived and reigned with Messiah for a thousand years. (5) (and the rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended) – this is the first resurrection. (6) Blessed and set-apart is the one having part in the first resurrection. The second death possesses no authority over these, but they shall be priests of Elohim and of Messiah, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

This in the intermediate fulfillment of Yom HaKippurim in its rehearsal. Let us continue to the final fulfillment. Revelation 20:7-15

(7) And when the thousand years have ended, Satan shall be released from his prison, (8) and he shall go out to lead the nations astray which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. (9) And they came up over the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the set-apart ones and the beloved city. And fire came down from Elohim out of the heaven and consumed them (10) And the devil, who led them astray, was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet are. And they shall be tortured day and night forever and ever. (11) And I saw a great white throne and Him who was sitting on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. (12) And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before the throne, and the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged from what was written in the books, according to their works. (13) And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and death and the grave gave up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. (14) And the death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death. (15) And if anyone was not found written int he Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

The final fulfillment of this Yom HaKippurim, Day of Atonements, Day of YAHUAH!!

(23)” Aharon shall then come into the Tent of Meeting, and shall take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the Set-apart Place, and shall leave them there. (24) “And he shall bathe his body in water in the set – apart place, and shall put on his garments and shall come out and prepare his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people, (25) and burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar. (26) “And he who sent away the goat to Azazel washes his garments and shall bathe his body in water, and afterward he comes into the camp (27) and the bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Set-apart Place, is brought outside the camp. and they shall burn their skins, and their flesh, and their dung with fire. (28) “And he who burns them washes his garments, and shall bathe his body in the water, and afterward he comes in the camp. (29)” And this shall be for you a law forever: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you afflict your beings and do no work, the native or the stranger who sojourns among you. (30) “For on that day he makes atonement for you, to cleanse you, to be clean from all yours sins before YHWH. (31) “It is a Sabbath of rest for you, and you shall afflict your beings- a law forever. (32) “And the priest, who is appointed and ordained to serve as priest in his father’s place, shall make atonement, and shall put on the linen garments, the set apart garments (33) and he shall make atonement for the Most Set- apart Place, and make atonement for the Tent of Meeting, and for the altar, and make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. (34) “And this shall be for you a law forever, to make atonement for the children of Yisra’el for all their sins, once a year.” And he did as YHWH commanded Mosheh.

These final two portions are more of the instructions that ABBA gave to us on how He desires for us to observe, serve, and obey Him.

Leviticus 23:27-32

“On the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be a set-apart gathering for you. And you shall afflict your beings, and shall bring an offering made by fire to YHWH. (28) And you do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before YHWH your Elohim. (29) “For any being who is not afflicted on that same day, he shall be cut off from his people. (30) “And any being who does any work on that same day, that being I shall destroy from the midst of his people. (31) “You do no work – a law forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. (32) “It is a Sabbath of rest to you, and you shall afflict your beings. On the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you observe your Sabbath.”

Leviticus 25:9

“You shall then sound a ram’s horn to pass through on the tenth day of the seventh month, on the Day of Atonement cause a ram’s horn to pass through all your land.”

It is right to humble ourselves on this day. We have a High Priest who has atoned FOR us with His precious blood on our behalf. All our sins and transgressions are laid upon the head of our accuser. Our accuser receives all that he has done to us, a repayment. We are bystanders in this drama while our King and Redeemer accomplishes all His good work for us. In truth, there is nothing we can do – He alone does all. And HE HAS DONE AND WILL DO IT ALL.

Let us Seek the Father while He may yet be found. Repent, humble  ourselves for He will humble the proud, and lift up the lowly.

Amein!

Praise Report Yom Teruah 2010

Well…… we had been waiting 3 days to hear from Israel or to see the sliver of the New Moon telling us of YAHUAH’s declaration of the 1st day of the seventh month so that we could meet with Him on His appointed time, declared from the beginning of time itself. The anticipation was growing with each passing sunset when we would faithfully check with our brothers and sisters in Israel – whether or not they had spotted the New Moon, and also simply walk outside and look toward the sunset for the New Moon ourselves. Many had already declared Yom Teruah and the 1st day of the seventh month (which was not the 1st without the new moon), but I couldn’t help thinking “how can they celebrate and call the Feast when there is no moon in sight anywhere?” But that is how it is with traditions and man-made things ….. they make no sense.

This is a New Moon Sighting

Now, some background information for this week. My husband had found a shofar (a ram’s horn) that he truly liked a couple of weeks earlier, and he wanted  it so badly. We already have two beautiful shofars, but he wanted this one. So we agreed to purchase the shofar, along with a prayer shawl for both of us. We also decided that someone else could use one of our other shofars since we were getting another one – and so we agreed to give it to a loved one, so they could also observe the Feast, the appointed time of YAHUAH with zest.

So while we waited for our things to arrive, we boxed up our shofar and sent it away half way across the United States from where we live. Then…….. the day arrives when the New Moon must be sighted, or declared due to the 30th day of the month of Elul (the 6th month), and my husband still does not have his beloved shofar. Spirits are kinda down, but still very exited about the possibility of the New Moon and all the praise and worship we will be doing. Not only an appointment with our Creator, but a Sabbath too! Doesn’t get more exciting than that!

Sunset that evening where we live was to be 7:54 PM. The beautiful sliver of the New Moon HAD been sighted over Jerusalem, so we knew it would happen this evening, and we were also preparing for Shabbat. UPS usually delivers at our house at 6:30 PM, and it was now 7:00 PM and no delivery. My husband and I were secretly still holding out hope we would get the shofar and prayer shawls.

All of the sudden the door bell rang – and it was our blessing from YAHUAH!!!! One of the most beautiful shofars we have seen, and our prayer shawls too!!! Our Father gave a us a memory of provision, a monument to remember.

His Beautiful Gift to us

Theme: Queen Ester

Theme: The Torah

We opened our Father’s Sabbath with prayer and thanksgiving, then I promptly ran outside to see the New Moon – I saw and ran inside to give the great and good report and we celebrated, shouted, and blew into the night and into the Sabbath!!! What a wonderful time and memory that we will have forever with our Creator and Father!

Shalom!

Leviticus 23:23

Numbers 29:1

Matthew 25:13

Revelation 11:15

Thoughts from the Morning Run 2

Ugh! It is starting already: people making plans for their children and themselves for Halloween. I am saddened by it. If they only realized what they are choosing to do, surely they would not be engaging in the ritual, and teaching their children to do so too. But who is going to tell them, but YaHuWaH Himself and His Yahusha. I wonder if they are searching for Him at all during the week, at night, in prayer? Or are they so busy and think that things are ‘good enough.’ It got me to also thinking – what is something I can do different THIS year to be a better witness of Yahusha’s Truth and His Torah, commands, statutes, and judgements. I began praying while I ran asking for guidance from the Set-apart Spirit of the Holy One of Israel.
I could think only of how wonderful it is be given the opportunity to observe His statutes and His Holy Feasts in my lifetime. It is Life unto Salvation! So much freedom in knowing “for sure” that I am doing what pleases Him. Throwing off the empty pagan-based stuff that I now find abominable! Just as He does – HalleluYaH!! Praise be to my Elohim!
Near the end of my run, I heard a quietness in my spirit that just said “Tell them your King, your Messiah desires that you have nothing to do with paganism, that you are walking out being the Bride of the Bridegroom and you want to be found faithful.” I almost starting crying – like I always do. I love Him so. Thank you Yahusha. The greatest love story of all creation: You and Your People!

And YHWH spoke to Mosheh, saying

Leviticus 23:23-25
And YHWH spoke to Mosheh, saying, “Speak to the children of Yisra’el, saying,
‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you have a rest, a remembrance of blowing of trumpets, a set-apart gathering.
‘You do no servile work, and you shall bring an offering made by fire to YHWH.'”

The seventh month is simply the seventh month. Our Creator gave us a timetable, so that we could not only know the times and seasons, but we could learn of Him, obey Him, and serve Him. Nowadays, this seventh month is named Tishri. The first day of the seventh month is only a few days away now.
If this day was a work day for me, I would take off work to honor the day as instruction by my Elohim.
YHWH says it is a day of remembrance. A remembrance for what one might ask. It is the day that a HOLY Creator spoke to an entire Nation!
Do many people think about this? I mean REALLY think about this? The Creator Almighty Originator of all that is – SPOKE to a people.

The Feast of Trumpets!! Also known as Yom Teruah which means the “Day of Blowing”

Yom Teruah
Day of Trumpets
The First of the Three Fall Feasts of Yahweh
Leviticus 23:23
And Yahweh spoke to Mosheh, saying, “Speak to the Children of Israel, saying,
‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you have a rest, a
remembrance of blowing of trumpets, a set-apart gathering.
“You do no servile work, and you shall bring an offering made by fire to YHWH.’”
One of the first places (if not THE first place) we see the words “blowing of the trumpets, or Ram’s horn, is in Exodus 19:16. In the following verses, we were brought to the mountain by Mosheh TO HEAR the WORDS and VOICE of YAHWEH.
16 And it came to be, on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain. And the sound of the ram’s horn was very loud, and all the people who were in the camp trembled.
17 And Mosheh brought the people out of the camp to meet with Elohim, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
18 And Mount Sinai was in smoke, all of it, because YHWH descended upon it in fire. And its smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and all the mountain trembled exceedingly.
19 And when the blast of the ram’s horn sounded long and became louder and louder, Mosheh spoke, and Elohim answered him by voice.
This is the day Yahweh, our Elohim spoke to us the Ten Words, or Ten
Commands. Yahweh gave Mosheh much, much more instruction one on one,because we said that we could not hear from Yahweh like that ever again, for fear we would die.

The instruction is given again in Numbers 29:1
We are commanded by Yahweh to hold a remembrance of this day on the first day of the Seventh month. The seventh month is the month of Tishri on Yahweh’s Calendar. This time corresponds to late September to Early October on our Pagan Calendar.
The Hebrew word used for our English word ‘remember, or remembrance’ is Zikron.
From the glossary of Hebraic terms:
Teruah – A sound.
shofar An awakening blast; a loud shout. The actual Scriptural designation for the 1st day of the 7th month is literally: “the memorial day of Blasting” (Leviticus 23:24).
The word often translated “trumpets” occurs 36 times in the Hebrew Scriptures. (teru’ah),
It is actually singular, and although it can be associated with the blast of a shofar, or ram’s horn (as in Leviticus 25:9), it most literally refers to a loud noise, including a shout of a crowd or army. It does not necessarily involve the blowing of a trumpet (see, for example, 1 Samuel 4:5). It can simply mean a shout of triumph or victory, or even a cry of alarm. The context of Leviticus 23 does not make clear what is intended, though the word often does have apocalyptic connotations (as in Tzephanyah 1:16). What should not be overlooked is that the concept of a memorial is somehow also imbedded in the meaning of this holiday and the Hebrew word refers to something recalled or (zikron) remembered—either from the past, or in anticipation of the future.
Zikron – to call something from the past into the present.
In the writings of the re-newed covenant (The New Testament), Yahshua and His disciples are seen observing this feast beginning in John chapter 7. Yahshua instructs His disciples to go ahead up to Jerusalem in observance of the Feasts that begins with the Feast of Trumpets and culminates in the Feast of Tabernacles to occur 15 days later. The Feast of Trumpets is not one of the Feasts that command appearance in Jeruselam, but it is one of the 7 moedim (set apart holy days of Yahweh) that are to be observed throughout our generations.
On this day, we are to blow the Shofar, blow the trumpet, shout and proclaim in remembrance of the day that our Elohim made us holy and set-apart by giving us the Commandments, His Torah (the teachings and instructions of Yahweh.)
The Spring Feasts have all been fulfilled when Yahshua came the first time and was sacrificed.
The Fall Feasts have yet to be fulfilled, and WILL BE fulfilled when Yahshua
returns again. So here, the Fall Feasts take on a new meaning of what is yet to come. The blowing of the trumpets will usher in the Messiah at a day in the future.
Knowing about this Feasts, AND ALL THE FEASTS will help us to be prepared on the time-table of our Holy Elohim.
Yom Teruah is the only Feast that occurs on a day and hour no one knows
because it is determined by the sighting of the re-newed moon in the 7th month.
Interestingly, these exact words were used by Yahshua when he spoke of His return
Mathew 24:36 “But concerning that day and the hour no one knows, not even the messengers of the heavens, but My Father only.”
Just think about what this could mean about this Feast and what could be coming some year in the future on the 1st day of the 7th month!

You know what I and my house will be doing on Yom Teruah!! Blowing the Shofar and shouting: “The King of Israel lives!!!”

Thoughts from the Morning Run 1

One reason I love to run is I always find my mind and thoughts going straight to Yahushua (Jesus). I usually begin thinking about His Word and how much I love it. My mind wanders across verses and scriptures that I have recently studied, or some that I find especially comforting.

The past 6 months – Psalm 91 has been one that I have taken into my heart and memorized almost completely. I abide in Him. I go to His secret place, under His Wings. He keeps the tempter away from me. I say of YaHWeH “You are my strength and my stronghold, in You alone will I trust.”

It got me to thinking about the common statement by people when they are stressed or feeling anxiety, “I am going to my happy place.”  I have even said that before. So I prayed to My Father to help me to remember this morning, my run, and His comfort to me. That He alone is my Joy, My Strength, My All in All, My Complete Portion. I need no other place. I love Him.