News Letter 5851-054
2nd day of the 13th month 5851 years after the creation of Adam
The 13th Month in the Sixth year of the Third Sabbatical Cycle
The Third Sabbatical Cycle after the 119th Jubilee Cycle
The Sabbatical Cycle of Earthquakes, Famines and Pestilence
The Year of the Tithe for the Widows, Orphans & Levites
Less than 1 month to get ready for the Sabbatical year that begins at Aviv 2016

OR IS IT?

Why I Use the Karaite Calendar Data (2016)

Each year there is a big discussion surrounding the aviv (edible) barley. Let’s take a look at this years’ discussion, because it may prove instructive. Along the way there might be a little anti-Semitism, which I hope we can end up purging from our movement.

There are three main parties sending out aviv reports this year. One is the Karaites (Nehemia Gordon & Crew). I went with Mr. Gordon on the Karaite Aviv search in 2004, and have remained in contact. The fact that he makes himself available for communication is a much bigger deal than most people realize (more below.)

The Karaites did NOT find the barley in the land of Israel to be aviv on 3/10/2016. This is from their report:

After scouring the Land of Israel for Aviv Barley, the Aviv Search Team has concluded beyond any doubt that the time of the Aviv has not yet arrived. We found individual stalks of Aviv barley in the Judean Desert and northern Negev. However, we did not find any fields with substantial quantities of Aviv Barley.

The answer is clear. The new moon sighted on March 10, 2016 is the beginning of the 13th Hebrew Month. The First Hebrew Month, Chodesh Ha-Aviv, will begin on April 8, 2016 (barring clouds). The festival of Passover (Chag HaMatzot) will begin April 22 at sunset and Shavuot will fall out on Sunday June 12, 2016.

We sighted the new moon of the 13th Hebrew Month on March 10, 2016 from Jerusalem.

And let’s just get this out of the way–the Karaites do not believe in Yeshua, but they do believe in the Tanach, and they also reject rabbinic interpretation. So while I wouldn’t ask him for a sermon on 1st Corinthians, I don’t have any real qualms about asking him regarding calendar issues, because we both read the same calendar passages. I double-check everything (“Trust but verify”), but this is made possible, because he answers correspondence.

There were two other reports this year. One of the observers is a man who mistook wheat for barley one year, and yet claims to be an expert. He also sent out a report saying he found aviv barley, but he does not answer correspondence. His tone is anti-Karaite, and he has been wrong in the past—so while he claims to be an expert, I cannot take his word. (If he wants to remedy that, he can email me.)

Another brother and his wife flew to Israel to do an Aviv search, again because they don’t like the Karaites (along with some other reasons). They sent out a nice report, except his technical are wrong. He basically guessed that the barley WILL be ready ten days from now (i.e., in time to offer the wave sheaf, if we declare the new moon early):

>> Initial Report March 9th: This morning around 9 AM we inspected a new location, which we have no inspected before. Over 50 percent of the wild barley will be aviv within 10 days time on its own.

While this brother is perhaps to be commended on his zeal, guessing that perhaps 50% of the barley looks like it will be aviv 10 days AFTER the new moon is not the same as the barley being aviv BEFORE the new moon (which is how it went down in Exodus).

Shemote (Exodus) 9:31
31 Now the flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the head and the flax was in bud.

Then, the new moon took place three chapters LATER (AFTER the plague).

Shemote (Exodus) 12:1-2
1 Now Yahweh spoke to Moshe and Aharon in the land of Egypt, saying,
2 “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.”

Further, “cherry picking” aviv stalks to form a man-made wave sheaf ahead of the rest of the harvest is a questionable practice, as the Wave Sheaf is supposed to be cut AT THE SAME TIME as the regular barley harvest commences.

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 16:9
9 “You shall count seven weeks for yourself; begin to count the seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain.”

So the net upshot is that Nehemia and the Karaites are the only one of the three teams I have a positive track record with. I need that positive track record in order to declare the head of the year. But if a man calls wheat barley, and then won’t return correspondence (not even from the past few years), and if he openly claims that part of his motivation was anti-Karaite right from the start, then I do not truly feel comfortable in using his data.

Praise Yahweh for everyone’s good zeal in trying to get things right! Now if only the Messianics would realize that both the Torah and the Great Commission command us to unify, organize, and act as a well-regulated nation (rather than a headless mess!). All things in Elohim’s time, I guess.

Blessed be Yahweh, who is to be blessed.

Norman B. Willis
servants@nazareneisrael.org
www.nazareneisrael.org

]And I agree with him. Again, although I agree does not change the facts. Some say the barley is Aviv and others say it is not. Will the barley be aviv ready for the fire come March 25th when it is to be roped off Friday afternoon, and then cut after Sabbath and prepared for the next morning on wave sheaf day as a roasted grain offering of first fruits?

Lev 2:12  As an offering of the firstfruits, you shall bring them to Jehovah. But they shall not be burned on the altar for a sweet savor. 13  And every sacrifice of your food offering shall you season with salt. And you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your food offering. You shall offer salt with all your offerings. 14  And if you bring a food offering of your firstfruits to Jehovah, green ears roasted by fire, grains of a garden, you shall bring near for a food offering your firstfruits, 15  And you shall put oil on it and lay frankincense on it. It is a food offering. 16  And the priest shall burn it as incense with its memorial offering from its grains and from its oil, besides all its frankincense, a fire offering to Jehovah.

Here is what one report on March 2 claims. Yet Nehemiah, whom I have trusted for the past 11 years, says there is no ripe barley now a full week later.

I have had the wrong understanding of who it was that reported the wheat was aviv one year. I have just been sent the report for that which identifies the proper person. We all make mistakes and hopefully learn from it, which is why instead of each person being their own entity searching out the barley we should have a place for each to be double checked by others. Here is the link.

Assemblies of Yahweh added 3 new photos.

2 March at 12:44 ·

After an intensive day of travel, the delegation found multiple fields of barley that have developed into the late dough stage. As they discovered yesterday, Yahweh has allowed the season to develop quickly because of the wet and very warm conditions. As a matter of fact there was a stiff dry breeze in the Negev with temperatures that reached to 30 C. (86 F) followed by the prediction of rain tonight and tomorrow. Make sure to keep watching for continued updates and let’s pray together that Yahweh keeps everyone safe and in His hands as we kick our preparations for the spring Holy season into high gear. Praise Yahweh and shalom!

Another report I have read was this one

Abib Search Report, March 8, 2016Before We Begin…Several Points:

1. I present this report in good faith as an account of my visit to Eretz Israel which began on Thursday March 3 and concluded early on March 7, 2016. I was accompanied on this trip by my wife, Michelle. I have visited Israel now six times in the past years to conduct similar reviews of the growing season. Michelle has accompanied me on four of these trips. As a farmer for most of my life, I have grown no fewer than 15 crops of Barley on my farm in the United States and have been part of the Abib and sacred calendar review process for more than 15 years. Our journey to review the growing season in Israel always begins with humble prayer before Yahweh and petitions of His guidance in the process. Yahweh has always answered that prayer, as He has this year.

2. I have previously presented logical arguments in support of early Abib. Briefly, the entire determination of Abib in Biblical times was an integral part of the Agricultural season.The Israelites relied on the first crop of the year to feed their animals and replenish their own food supplies. There would be a tremendous amount of concern in those times then that the crop be certified Abib as soon as possible in order for the harvest to begin.In some cases, undoubtedly, the very survival of the people would depend on a timely approval of the High Priest to offer the wave sheaf. Talmudic record tells us that the High Priest would even “collate” a wave sheaf, bringing the most mature stalks of grain from various farms and various fields and producing a sheaf. A harvest delayed by a month would mean extended shortage of feed stuffs and the probability of a lost harvest as a month delay could mean a harvest lost in the fields. Another consideration has to be the seven-week interlude between the barley (offered at Feast of Unleavened Bread) and wheat (offered at Shavuoth) crops. A delay in Abib to offer the Barley would definitely mean damage to the wheat crop seven weeks later. Imagine each farmer,knowing where and when he planted the first crop after the Feast of Tabernacles checking that crop each day, looking for the first sign of emerging heads and finding the most ripe stalk during the waning 12th moon; then choosing that stalk and bringing it to the priest for approval to harvest in the next month. It was for this reason that the grain was allowed to be parched for the meal offering, to give every opportunity to accept early Abib and allow a timely harvest of the crop. We should resist all of the artificial and non-scriptural delays that have been built in by Jewish tradition and faulty reasoning. Determining Abib is a simple process, yet a process that has always been based on a judgment call, at one time of the High Priest, now we are put into the unenviable position to make these judgments for ourselves.

3. I base my determinations on a number of factors as listed below. I recognize that the scriptures do not plainly say “look for Barley” or “this is what you shall seek”. Rather, the Word of Yahweh is simply to Moses that “this month is the first of months” (Exodus12:2). It is for this reason that I include looking at all the factors that I do. The only requirement is that there be a sheaf of harvest-able grain to offer after the Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. We know from the Exodus story that the events transpired in the time of year when Barley was in heads, but wheat was not (Genesis 9:31-32). We also know the name of the Month is Abib (Deuteronomy 16:1), meaning young, green or emerging ears of grain. What has happened however is that there have been added a number of man-made definitions, assertions, and stipulations over the years that seem to delay confirming Abib. I continue to challenge the conventional thinking, in an effort to shy away from Jewish tradition, and seek the hand of Yahweh in the process.

4. I want to share that my research this year has been to draw better conclusions as it relates to agricultural grains and wild grains. In December 2015 I was able to conference
   with Dr. Heather Darby, a foremost researcher in production and research of ancient grains. The information from Dr. Darby, when combined with current agricultural research and some new data I’ve uncovered in reference to domestication of grain has convinced me that we are on the right track with our approach to Abib. For years, we have allowed the Karaite Jews to set the narrative that only wild grains can be considered. As stated above, the logical arguments to why we should accept certain characteristic varieties of agricultural grains lead us to examine all grain crops, not out-right rejecting agricultural grain because it is “modern”. To this end I believe I have conclusive evidence that the theories about “wild-only” are not valid. I will present more on this in later writing and conversation once I have an opportunity to get Dr. Darby on the record in a proper interview and support her assertions with properly noted research. It’s important to note that in past conversations with Israel Agriculture Ministry researchers that we have learned that they consider the varieties commonly reckoned as “wild grain” to be noxious weeds and not valid as grain crops. Often these “wild” varieties are found to not have grain even at full maturity. It is rational and valid to challenge the premise of seeking Abib only with these varieties. However, that being said, in order to bring those who do not directly agree with my premise, I continue to examine “wild” grain crops and include them in my determination and judgment. For the purposes of this year’s search, I will look at a number of factors to make my judgment on Abib.

 

These factors include: Examination of wild grains; Examination of volunteer agricultural grain; Commercially planted agricultural grains; Other Spring-planted crops Growth evaluation of perennial crops such as grape vines and fruit trees; Report From this year’s Trip – Thursday, March 3: We landed safely on Thursday, just after lunchtime. After acquiring our car we headed South along Rts. 40 and 6 to the Lahavim junction. After seeing many fields of agricultural grain in full and developed heads along the way, we took Rt. 31 and Rt. 358 towards Lahav to find specific examples of current crops. From Lahav, we cut back towards the sea, along Rts. 310 and241. Pictured here is grain typical of what we were finding in this Upper West area of the Negev. We found “wild” two-row barley that was late in dough stage and in significant volume to easily say there would be plenty for wave-sheaf offering of first fruit. By my experience, late dough stage such as what I was finding would be well mature in the three weeks intervening my inspection and the night of the wave-sheaf. Note also the presence of what some call “wild oats” in this photo. From this area we headed back north, cutting east towards Lachish. In the ground around Tel Lachish, we found several vineyards displaying growth of leaves, far beyond budding. Grapes in leaf is a sure sign of early season growth. Not all vineyards we found in this area were leafed out, but most displayed growth of buds. In the area of Bet Shemeth, and up into the Ayalon Valley, we found many more fields of agricultural barley in full and developed heads as well as apple orchards in full blossom. Fruit trees such as apple, pear, and cherry in blossom confirms early season. It is not always common to find such blossoming fruit trees this early in the season. We spent the night in Jerusalem. We observed blooming rosebushes on Mt. Zion and in the new City. Again, we don’t always see the roses in bloom, another sign that we are witnessing an early Spring. Friday, March 4:We spent Preparation Day visiting sites in and around the Old City and visiting the Mahane Yehuda market to acquire what was needed for the Sabbath. In the afternoon, we travelled north to Megiddo and the Jezreel Valley where we again found many fields of well-developed agricultural grain. In areas west of Tel Megiddo, along Rt. 66 and side roads, we saw additional “wild two-row barley” (pictured) that was also in dough stage. This was not universal, however, we found some wild grain that still had seeds with liquid (starchy milk). We continued up to the Galilee, staying overnight and Sabbath in Tiberias. Sabbath, March 5: During the day portion of Sabbath, we took the opportunity to travel along the north shore of Kinneret and up into the Golan to where we typically spend a few hours for Sabbath Bible Study at the Banias Springs. Along the way, we went up Rt. 90 along the west edge of the Hula valley. Here we found volunteer grain growing along a fence row that was well advanced. This was wheat that had grown probably from scattered seed from last Summer’s harvest. Not fertilized or irrigated, it was in full and developed heads that were already in mature dough stage. Note that from experience and Scripture (Genesis 9:31-32) we know that wheat follows barley by several weeks. We also here, in the far north, found many fields of agricultural grain in well-developed heads. Of particular note were several fields of spring-planted sweet peas. These peas (pictured) were well advanced and in bloom emergence stage, which indicates a full four to six weeks of effective growing season already this year. Four to six weeks of growing season would also correlate to developed Abib grain.We checked areas of “wild” grain along Rt. 87 and side roads around Qatsrin and found similar to what we found further south, though much of it was just out of flower stage, with fully exposed heads. 1st Day of the Week, March 6: This morning we headed south out of Tiberias to the area of Kibbutz Kinneret. Here, on the ridge coming out of the Galilee basin along Rt. 767, we found many areas of“wild barley” which was found to be in various stages from post-flower to late milk/early dough stage. Near the town of Sharona, we found volunteer grain which was well-developed. I took a video of that grain being shucked and you can clearly see the whole grain emerging from the head and the advanced stage of development. I will post this video on the Yahweh’s Obedient Servants Ministry Facebook page later this afternoon. Bear in mind that today, the 1st day of the week, is fully three weeks before the wave sheaf would need to be prepared. Grain crops mature from dough stage to harvest in approximately 14-17 days in good weather conditions. Dry grain at harvest stage is well beyond the threshold moisture needed to parch the grain. All along the upper Jezreel Valley west of Nazareth and over towards Haifa, we continued to see many fields of very well-developed agricultural grain. Along the sea coast we saw grain crops where the heads were fully ripe and beginning to bend down in maturity. It was rare and difficult to find agricultural barley in great area. Barley has fallen out of favor in Israel as a commercial crop and as a consequence wheat has moved to the forefront as the crop of choice. Again, it is important to note that wheat develops later than Barley in all situations and since the Bible never specifies Barley as the Abib crop, there is no problem with examining wheat as a marker for the season.That being said, I always prefer to base my judgment on the stage of development found in the Barley crop.We concluded our evaluations as night fell, confident that we had accumulated enough data and evidence to make a proper determination.Our return flight to the United States left early Monday morning. Conclusion: It is my judgment that there is significant and verified evidence that the season is well-advanced in Eretz Israel. In my opinion, there is sufficient fully mature grain, in both the “wild” and “agricultural” crops that a first of the first-fruits sheaf would be available to wave on the evening after the Sabbath of March 26, 2016 and that there would be sufficient grain (parched or raw) to be ground into the required meal offering at that time. Therefore, it is my expressed conclusion that the New Moon crescent we seek on the evening of March 9, 2016 will be the first of the New Year, and begin the month of Abib. Respectfully Submitted, Solomon Meyer Please Join us for a conference call to discuss these findings on Wednesday evening, March 9 at 8:00PMEST. Conference call is accessed by calling (405)421-0045 and entering conference ID 792371

In both reports they claim to have many fields of barley found and yet Nehemiah and his team who have been doing this since 1994, could not find any fields of barley that were ripe. So I am very troubled at these two very conflicting reports. The reason being that if the barley is Aviv then this determines all, ALL the Holy Days for this year. If in fact the barley is not Aviv then all the Holy Days are postponed one month. It is extremely important to understand and to know for sure. Will we have barley that can be roasted come Sabbath evening during the days of Unleavened Bread?

But are the reports actually conflicting? Or are they both telling us a similar thing but from different perspectives? When I was with Nehemiah a number of years ago he told me that if he could get an omer of barley he would declare the month aviv. Like myself, Nehemiah has grown in his understandings and adjusted himself as he learns more. We are all doing the same thing. Nehemiah’s position now is that the barley must be aviv by the first of the month in order to declare the month Aviv or Adar bet and that he must have two fields as in two witnesses. He does not have a crystal ball in which he can predict with accuracy that in 14 days on wave sheaf day the barley is going to be 100% for sure ready for the wave offering. In fact, one year Nehemiah took me out to double check if indeed the barley was ripe for the start of Passover. He was not 100% sure until we checked and it was.

But now his position is that he is not going to guess and it must be aviv ready by 1st of the month. In the dough stage, as these others are reporting is potentially going to be ready come Passover 14 days later. Again we do not know for sure. It is not the month of the new lambs or the ewe, it is not the month of new growth on the fig or grape vines, and it is not the month of turtle doves. It is the month of aviv. We are to look at the barley and nothing else. Anything else is from the Talmud and not the scriptures.

After listening to Brian Hoecks teaching on this I must now repent of this and correct it.  Brian Convery is looking at these things in Israel based on Song of Solomon.

Son 2:11  For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over; it goes to itself. 12  the flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land; 13  the fig tree puts forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, My love, My beautiful one, and come away.

I was then sent the following comment and cc’d to me about the above report.

Shalom Stephen,

Thank you for sharing your assessment. I am not writing to change your mind but wanted to share with you a little more of my thought process.

I too, waited to make my final decision until hearing from Nehemia yesterday. As you said, he is approachable and will answer questions. I support his work both in written word and financially. He is a brother to me spiritually and we are kindred spirits in searching the Torah although we don’t always end up with the same answer.

For full disclosure, Solomon Meyer is my cousin and he shared an honest report. He has visited Israel for many years looking for Aviv. He and I differ on what constitutes Aviv, specifically around which grains are acceptable, such as cultivated wheat and barley versus wild barley. He had an open conference call two nights ago so anyone could ask questions. The conference call information was shared twice this week, Tuesday and Wednesday, to ensure that everyone had a chance to talk with him.

I specifically asked him about the wild barley and he confirmed that he found large amounts of wild barley in the soft and hard dough stage. You and I likely agree that the barley in Ex. 9:31 was beyond the hard dough stage for the hail to destroy the crop. Having worked and grown up on a farm, heavy storms can push the grain stalks to the ground in the dough stage, the stalks will attempt to recover and they can be harvested when they mature. Based on Zadoks scale, Ex. 9:31 barley would seem to be mid to late kernel development after the dough stage.

Brian Convery also provided significant reports of barley in the hard dough stage. Nehemia did not find significant grain in the Aviv stage. Three reports with for the most part cohesion of what was found – wild barley in the soft to hard dough stage.

Lev. 2:14 “‘If you offer a meal offering of first fruits to YHWH, you shall offer for the meal offering of your first fruits grain in the ear parched with fire, bruised grain of the fresh ear.

Josh. 5:11 “They ate unleavened cakes and parched grain of the produce of the land on the next day after the Passover, in the same day.”

The grain in the hard dough stage can be roasted or parched. It takes a lot more barley stalks to make a homer of flour but it is possible. Their are multiple examples that the harvest could not begin before the offering was made. This led to my conclusion that the wild barley which would have been closer to ancient Israel’s crop is parchable now so it will be well into the dry down by the time the wave sheaf is to be offered.

I try to compile all the reports that I find and make them available for decisions by the heads of the household. They are also archived for historical purposes. This year I looked back a couple years and found Nehemia had reported Aviv on March 11th. To me that meant that March 10th this year is possibly Aviv and I know a lot of assemblies go by the calculated calendar first so I needed to ensure as many people know about the possibility. I recorded a video and started warning in December of the pending possibility. The following are the reports that I shared so far. I will upload Nehemia’s latest report a little later today.

 

https://paleotimes.org/

 

All these questionable years, I put in vacation time for both possible dates. I am glad I did because I thought we would not have Aviv in March.

I pray that this helps clarify my thoughts. I am thankful to YHWH that Nehemia, Solomon and Brian with their respective teams provided Aviv search reports. It is such a blessing. Bless YHWH!

YHWH bless,

Jim

Deu 16:1  Observe the month Abib, and keep the Passover to Jehovah your God. For in the month of Abib, Jehovah your God brought you forth out of Egypt by night.

This word Observe also means to Guard.

H8104 sha?mar  shaw-mar’

A primitive root; properly to hedge about (as with thorns), that is, guard; generally to protect, attendto, etc.: – beware, be circumspect, take heed (to self), keep (-er, self), mark, look narrowly, observe, preserve, regard, reserve, save (self), sure, (that lay) wait (for), watch (-man).

With all that is going on around us in the world and there are many things I could be showing you, we must guard Yehovah’s holy days. Each of you must know how they work and how they come. Each of you are going to be Kings or Priests in the Kingdom, then you better darn well know how Yehovah’s holy days are determined and when they are and what they mean. You have to know it to teach it and to enforce it, to GUARD them.

Each of you are going to judge angels in the future. In order to do that you need to be able to judge this matter and come to the proper conclusion.

Will the barley be ready for the Wave Sheaf offering? I do not know. I am not there and you have not sponsored me to be there to look for you. Those there claim Passover is going to be next month. Others claim it is this month. What are you going to do?

Brian Hoeck of Truth on the Web had this to say about whether or not the barley had to be aviv on the 1st of the month or if it could be aviv by the 15th of the month:

This Scripture states:

Deuteronomy 16:1 Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God; for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night. (JPS 1917)

The phrase “month of Abib” occurs twice in this verse, and both are translated from the same Hebrew phrase: “chodesh ha aviv”

“Chodesh” means either “month” or “new moon”

With that knowledge, what does the context tell us? Does the following translation reflect the truth?

Deuteronomy 16:1 Observe the New Moon of the Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God; for in the New Moon of the Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.

Obviously no, it doesn’t. The Israelites were brought forth on the 15th of the month, not New Moon day.

This phrase “chodesh ha aviv” ALWAYS refers to the “month” of the Aviv in Scripture. Here are the other instances:

Exodus 13:4 This day came ye out in the month Abib.

Again, they came out on the 15th.

Exodus 23:15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)

And:

Exodus 34:18 The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt.

Is the Feast of Unleavened Bread appointed for the New Moon of the Aviv, or rather, for the month of the Aviv? Hint: It starts on the 15th.

And he also shared this information as well.

Exodus 9:31 through 12:6 has been referenced by some here. These Scriptures DESCRIBE what happened in the year of the exodus — the plague of hail while the barley was aviv is a DESCRIPTION. It is NOT a PRESCRIPTION. It does not inform us that the barley MUST be aviv prior to the New Moon.  And, further PRESCRIPTION is given in Leviticus 2:14 which requires the first fruits offering to be either aviv or karmel. Hence, by Scriptural PRESCRIPTION, the barley doesn’t need to be aviv until firstfruits offering day.

So after all is said and done, you must choose whether this is the month of Aviv or the month of Adar bet? Will you keep the Passover this month or next month?

Based on the evidence I have been shown, I will be keeping the Passover March 24-25 and I have hopefully arranged for someone to go out and check the barley and make sure it is aviv ready a few days before. If in fact it is not ready then I will be forced to change my position.

May Yehovah guide each of you in your studies of this years barley being aviv. Pray for those who do the searches and for those who teach you. But pray to Yehovah to give you knowledge and understanding and the wisdom to use them for His glory.