News Letter 5846-043
27th day of the 9th month 5846 years after creation
The 9th Month in the first year of the third Sabbatical Year
The Third Sabbatical Year of the 119th Jubilee Cycle

December 4, 2010

Shabbat Shalom from Grandpa Joe to my extended family,

Last week I was showered with blessings and congratulations from around the world for my New and first Granddaughter. I really do thank you all for you kind blessings. I have told my son and Daughter and as soon I get to see my Granddaughter again I will tell her about all of you. I also can’t wait until I can show her around Jerusalem. I had the honour of carrying a young man by the name Jonah on my shoulders while we were at Shiloh. I never felt as proud as when I was explaining things to him. I can hardly wait to show my own family one day.

I would like to share one congratulatory email. I am always surprised at who is reading the News letter. This particular lady used to terrorize me as a child when she babysat me. But for some reason I still love her.

Congrats, Joe & Barb, I just know you will make great grandparents. You do this by being there lots & lots. You both will be amazed at how much love will pour out of you each time you look at this little person. Then you will think: gee if I had known how easy grandchildren were, I would have had them first. Congrats again!! oh, you could have given out chocolate cigars & instead of cancer just contribute to obesity!!!
Love you for always
Aunt Rosebud

Dear Joe

A hearty mazel tov to you from me in Chester, England on becoming a grandad for the first time! Wonderful news to read in yesterday’s Sighted Moon newsletter. I thank our Elohim for this little girl and ask that He would reveal Himself to her as she grows up. I pray that she will come to a saving knowledge of the gospel & become a mighty woman of faith in Y’shua HaMaschiach, her personal Saviour. Amein!

In His Name,

Hannah

OK that was two and I had to share that. Hey I am now a Grandpa, in fact Jono has dubbed me Grandpa Joe, and so I am going revel in this while I can. I must tell you that when I had planned this News Letter a month ago I did not know I would be a Grandpa. Or at least I had not thought of it. But one lady who was with us in Jerusalem has asked me to do an article on this week’s subject. She was to have written the article but I have not received it. So now with the birth of my grandchild I find this so much more personal than before. We will get to it in a moment.

Here are a couple more comments.

Hey Brother Joseph, I count it a privilege to be able to receive and read the info and teaching you offer weekly. It’s sad how some people think they have to attack someone for this but it ain’t like its anything new, and like you pointed out if they don’t like it scroll down and unsubscribe. I’ve owned several businesses and been involved in ministry works and so on and I’m always amazed at how people treat other people. Well Bro Joe I thank God for your work and dedication, may Yahweh bless you and keep you, turn His 
countenance toward you , and give you His Peace.

Vernon Liles Skiatook , 
Oklahoma, U.S.A.

Regarding the use of the Sacred Names (and avoidance of heathen names):

I certainly agree that we gain nothing by being condemning, and it continues to amaze me that the Almighty is so lenient regarding the breaking of most all of His rules. It seems to me that there are phrases that can be used that would be communicative, and non-confrontational…. Such as ‘The Almighty’ ‘The Savior’ ‘The Creator’ Which terms, being descriptions, rather than ‘names’, strictly speaking, should be fully acceptable to YHVH, and would not be confrontational. — Which would also be very clear, and not communicate condemnation to the hearers.

‘We ought to please YHVH, rather than men’, but certainly we also ought to communicate rather than confuse, (or confront). If we continue to ‘model’ behavior that we understand to be unacceptable we are at best a poor example, and adding to the confusion.
It seems to me that there are two ditches here. On the one hand we do not want to be more permissive than YHVH is. (in modeling unacceptable choices). On the other hand we certainly do not want to be more judgmental than YHVH is, and He has for a long time, and in many striking ways, permitted the use of the heathen Names. It is my understanding that this road (between the ditches) gets narrower over time. (The times of our ignorance YHVH winked at, but now He calls all men to obedience.–Acts 17:30).
Please continue to pray about this detail, and I will continue to pray that you do what is pleasing to YHVH.–(I think I have the wisdom from YHVH, and am guided by His Spirit,,, but I have been wrong before often enough that it does not behoove me to act as an authority.)

When I write, I ‘transliterate’ the tetragrammaton (Yod Hey Vav Hey) rather than ‘transliterating’ the ‘Name’. I think (hope) this is acceptable to the Almighty…… 🙂
Shalom John

After last week’s article I have received many versions of how to say the name of Yehovah. So this week I forwarded each and every one to Keith Johnson to answer as I have this past year. Keith has answered and here is his reply. Once you have read this then you can go and read what Nehemiah Gordon has also said about the name of Yehovah. Nehemiah is Jewish and a Hebrew language scholar.

It is very encouraging to see the renewed interest on the Name of our heavenly Father. As a result, Nehemia Gordon and I have worked diligently on providing both information and inspiration on this important topic. Please find a link to a television interview that gives two hours worth of information presented by a Jewish Bible scholar and a Gentile pastor on the Name. It is my hope to dialogue with those who are willing to read my new book His Hallowed Name Revealed Again. After you have watched the interview and read the book, I hope that you will be inspired to become an ambassador of His name! Share the information and inspiration with someone else! If you have questions, please feel free to email me at keith@aprayertoourfather.com

Here is the link to the television interview http://hishallowedname.com/2010/11/television-interview/
(This is an awesome interview; Brethren you do need to listen to this. Joe Dumond)

Keith Johnson- Author of His Hallowed Name Revealed Again and co-author of A Prayer to Our Father: Hebrew Origins of the Lord’s Prayer

I also wrote to Keith this week and had to share with him something and I also want to share with you a confession I have had to make.

I said to Keith;

I did not like the name of our Creator being like that of the JW’s. In fact I had to admit that on FB this morning. I have been rebelling since you convicted me of the proper way to say and write the name. I have gone from God in my United Church of God days to Yahweh in 2005. And after reading you manuscript this past winter I began to say Yahovah with an ‘a’ and not an ‘e’ to show I had changed but was still in rebellion. And I did this each week publicly.

After reading Nehemiah’s note on it and watching your GLC interview I could no longer keep up my rebellion. You will notice the changes in my emails at the bottom of this one which is how they will now be sent out.

I am also including your response this week and will share my confession then.

I do want to thank you for this great and awesome work you have done. His name will now be proclaimed in these the last days. And thanks to a Methodist Minister of all people.

I can hardly wait until you come to Israel this Sukkot. Jono has said he is going to come too. We will be able to broadcast this live from Jerusalem each day. I will be able to show you and prove to you where the true temple of Yehovah was and where the ark of the covenant is to this very day. Once I do this you will be in tears as other are once they see this.

So from now on brethren, when I write the name of Father it will be Yehovah as has been proven by Keith Johnson and Nehemiah Gordon.

After sending this to Keith he has responded as follows.

Joseph,
I have waited patiently with no judgment for you to acknowledge the struggle you have had with the pronunciation. For 9 months (the time from conception to birth) I have wondered when you would finally say something and acknowledge the yah prefix as something outside of the biblical witness. I am honored to be a part of the process of you coming to terms with the witness found in the Hebrew manuscripts regarding His personal, powerful and profound name Yehovah! I only hope and pray that the newsletter, the interview and the book will help others come to the same conclusion! Blessings to you in His Name, my friend!
Keith

I have been speaking to Jono at http://www.truth2u.org/ on his international radio show and I will be again this weekend for two hours. We have been talking about the Prophecies of Abraham. We have shared about the Curses of the Sabbatical and Jubilee years. And we have specifically talked about the current Sabbatical cycle which matches the curse of Lev 26 for Pestilence, Famines and Earthquakes; As well as the blood moons coming in 2014, and 2015. There is to be a blood moon on Dec 21 this month.

Anyway Jono has now been following the Pestilence outbreak in Haiti which suffered a severe earthquake this past year and was not sure as to whether or not I was on to something. Although the severe drought the past 10 years in Australia has caused many to wonder if I might be correct, but the current bumper crop would seem to have shown me to be wrong.

Well, this week Jono has sent me more headline news from Australia about the bumper crop that is about to be washed away due to the extreme amount of rain that has come just as the farmers were about to harvest this crop. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/11/30/3080803.htm
and here is another article Crops on a ‘knife edge’ as rain soaks south-east
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/02/3082300.htm
Splitting fruit: cherry growers in Young have lost 80 per cent of their crop.
Bumper harvests hurt by rain The National Farmers Federation (NFF) says grain and fruit harvests across south-eastern Australia are under serious and continued threat.

The Farmers say;
“the inundation has caused significant crop damage.”
“it is the last thing local producers need after 10 years of drought”
“600 acres of canola there has been flattened.”
“All the wheat’s starting to turn”
“The more rain we’re getting, the more trouble we’re going to get with the possibility of shot grain, with the possibility of crops starting to go rotten and fall over”
“premium cherries that were fetching $70 a tray are now worth only $5 to $10 a tray.”
“There’s probably 20 per cent damage out there of fruit that was on the trees and I imagine there’s going to be more than that,”
“There’s some varieties that growers will just walk away from and won’t even pick.”

In my News Letter last January in the introduction I asked why all these disasters on Haiti and other places in the world. You can read this at: “HAITI’S EARTHQUAKE, HOLLAND, SPANISH, BELGIUM, SCANDINAVIA, SWEDEN & NORWEGIAN ANCESTRY AND SOME OF INDIA , CHINA AND AFGHANISTAN”

Also this week from Israel a disaster when 37 Prison Guards were burned in a bus caught in a fast racing forest fire. http://www.ivpressonline.com/news/la-fg-israel-fire-20101203,0,1378354.story It is the rainy season and Israel has had not had any rain. Why is this? Where is Yehovah?

Well in Zechariah 14:18 we read If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

If you are obeying Yehovah then He will be your shield. If not then the one you are obeying can protect you….or not.

6 “My people have perished for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being priest for Me. Since you have forgotten the Torah of your Elohim, I also forget your children. Hosea 4:6

A few weeks ago I said of the Haitians whose Cholera epidemic was out of control, that if they wanted things to get better then they should pray to the false god they have been worshiping all these years and see if he would do anything. I was mocking them as well as all of you who will not obey Yehovah and wonder why these disasters come upon you.

Psalms 59: 5 And You, ???? Elohim of hosts, Elohim of Yisra’?l, Awake to punish all the gentiles; Show no favour to any wicked traitors. Selah. 6 They return at evening, They howl like a dog, And go around the city. 7 See, they belch out with their mouth, Swords are in their lips, For who is listening? 8 But You, ????, laughs at them, You mock all the gentiles. 9 O my Strength, I wait for You; For Elohim is my strong tower, My Elohim of kindness.

Proverbs 1: 20 Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the broad places. 21 At the head of the noisy streets she cries out, At the openings of the gates, In the city she speaks her words: 22 “How long, you simple ones, Would you love simplicity, And shall scoffers delight in their scoffing, And fools hate knowledge? 23 “Turn at my reproof. See, I pour out my spirit on you, I make my words known to you1. Footnote: 1See Ps. 33:6. 24 “Because I called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one inclined, 25 “And you spurned all my counsel, And would not yield to my reproof, 26 “Let me also laugh at your calamity, Mock when your dread comes, 27 “When your dread comes like a storm, And your calamity comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you. 28 “Let them then call on me, but I answer not; Let them seek me, but not find me. 29 “Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of ????, 30 “They did not accept my counsel, They despised all my reproof, 31 “Therefore let them eat the fruit of their own way, And be filled with their own counsels. 32 “For the turning away of the simple slays them, And the complacency of fools destroys them. 33 “But whoever listens to me dwells safely, And is at ease from the dread of evil.”

Because Yehovah has called on those in Australia and they refused to listen. Because Yehovah stretched out his hand in friendship and again they refused, now when these disasters come Yehovah will laugh at them. You Australia will seek Him and not find Him because you hated knowledge and would not fear Yehovah or accept His knowledge. So now you suffer with blistering droughts for a season, and then when the crops come you have to contend with locusts and when they leave then flooding rains inundate you and wipe out your bumper crops. WAKE UP AUSTRALIA; Yehovah is working with you and only a hand full have said here we are. WAKE UP AUSTRALIA. Return to the Torah of Yehovah before the next curse comes and you next go to war and are destroyed and your wives and little ones sent into harsh captivity where they will be treated like whores and dogs. The curse of war is the next one to come. Pestilence is at the door. Australia you are blessed to have Yehovah working against you; you are cursed because you refuse to listen.

Back in September I gave you an article written by a Doctor from South Africa who was sharing what she had learned about the pill which many women use as contraceptive to prevent them from having children. You can read this article at: “May Your Name be Written in the Book of Life“.

Then a couple of weeks later I was shown from the book of Jasher another article in which the people before the flood used to drink a certain potion in order not to have children and how displeased Yehovah was with this. You can read this at News Letter 5846-034 6374 “Shabbat Shuva & The Pill in Noah’s Day”

For the past month I have been very tough on Judah and the false teaching that are put forth as fact from them. It is now time to turn our attention back on ourselves, for we are no better.

Since WW II The State of Israel has assisted in the abortion of almost 2 Million babies. Each female soldier in Israel is given two state sponsored abortions while they are in the service of the army. If they do not accept the abortion they are kicked out of the army immediately.

I would like you to watch the two videos at http://www.beadchaim.com/In-the-News

If you have had an abortion, please I am not here to condemn you. But you do have things you will want to and need to talk about, even after 30 years. This web site above is posted to help you. Not to condemn you, so please watch the two videos at the above site.
http://www.abundantlife.org.il/

Here in Canada in the year 2006, 20.7 % of all pregnancies were aborted. 20.7% one 5th of all the children.

Since 1970 when they began to record abortions Canada has aborted just under 3 million children. You can read the statistics at http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/policy/abortion/ab-canada.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_the_United_States
Abortion in the United States has been legal for women since the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade of January 22, 1973. That decision established that a woman has a right to self-determination (often referred to as a “right to privacy”) covering the decision whether or not to carry a pregnancy to term, but that this right must be balanced against a state’s interest in preserving fetal life.

Again since 1970 up to 2005 The USA has recorded abortions of 37.5 Million babies. And not all abortions are recorded. This is greater than the whole population of Canada which is over 30 million.

The trend follows a damning report published last year which showed Britain had become the abortion capital of Europe, overtaking France for the first time. There were 219,336 terminations carried out in 2007, compared to 209,699 in France, 150,000 in Romania, and 127,000 in Italy.

We have heard so much about the abortion issue over the years that many of us have become callas to even thinking about it.

This article was planned before the arrival of my Granddaughter. But her birth shines a spotlight on the issue.

When I looked at China the statistics blew me away. I had to re-look at it several times. I could not believe the number I was seeing. I am not even going to try and add them up. I am too afraid. But for just 2007 the number of recorded abortions was 7632539. That is over 7 million babies in one year. This is the average number each year for 36 years. That is about 252 Million babies aborted since 1970. That is almost the size of the USA, that have been aborted by the Chinese.

During WW II Hitler killed 1.5 Million Jewish children. The State of Israel has helped to kill almost 2 Million. During WW II Hitler killed about 6 million Jews in the death camps.

Estimates range from about 50-70 million killed in World War 2. The Wikipedia article “World War II Casualties” favours the relatively high figure of 72 million. Of these, 61 million were on the Allied side and 11 million were on the Axis side. The article gives a figure of 23 million dead for the Soviet Union and 20 million for China. These figures of course include civilian dead. (Note that the figure for China was recently revised sharply upwards from earlier estimates of about 11 million).
For Germany the overall total is given as just under 7.4 million.

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_people_died_in_World_War_2#ixzz16Y0b0gSc

Not even counting the abortions of China but just North America; that is the USA and Canada we have aborted 40.5 Million children since 1970. Almost as many as were killed in the Second World War all together; and people say Hitler was bad.

Using these statistics Hitler is a saint in comparison to present day Society.

Do you not see something terribly wrong with that statement?

Are we completely out of our minds?

Our society encourages multiple lovers on TV and in many books. It promotes sex on all levels of our media. But when someone is caught in infidelity or someone becomes pregnant then society pooh-poohs that. We have hypocritical double standards that are ruining us and killing our children.

Without thinking, without a care we, and yes I do mean even those of us who do not do abortions; all of us have fallen for the Babylonian and Assyrian religions and worship and not given it a second thought. We do this because we are not religious; we do this because we do not care nor want to find out. We enjoy being the ostrich with our ass in the air and head in the ground. What we do not know will not hurt us, or so we think. We are cursed with a curse, and all of us have accepted the blood of these innocents as being OK. Their blood is on our collective hands. None of us are free of it.

In 1983 I heard a sermon that was to change my life. I have never forgotten this one sermon. I am now going to share it with you. And I want you to think about this.

Israel was kicked out of the land because they had descended down to the level of the nations they had removed who were there when they came in with Joshua. They had removed the Ammorites, Moabites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites Gurgashites, Hivites and Jeusites because these peoples had given sway to the worship of Nimrod in all of its perverted ways. Some of the people who were amongst the innumerable multitudes that crossed the Red Sea with the Israelites also began to practice these perverted teachings and took them with them when they left and came to what is now Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula. Yes I am talking about the Aztec and Inca people.

When Israel, the Northern Ten Tribes were kicked out of the land in 723 BC, did they learn a lesson? No not at all. They continued to practice these same things in the lands they were driven to.

One of the places some of Israel fled to was Carthage on the north coast of Africa. Phoenicians were also Israelite Tribes according to Yair Davidiy at http://www.britam.org/Questions/QuesPhoenicians.html so what follows is very disheartening.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Carthage
The Religion of Carthage was a direct continuation of the Phoenician religion with significant local modifications.

Carthage derived the original core of its religion from Phoenicia. The Phoenician pantheon was presided over by the father of the gods, but a goddess was the principal figure in the Phoenician pantheon. The system of gods and goddesses in Phoenician religion also influenced many other cultures. There are too many similarities to be overlooked. In some instances the names of gods underwent very little change when they were borrowed. Even the legends maintained major similarities. Egyptian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Persian and others had their influences on the Phoenician faith system as well as borrowed from it.

As Professor Louis Foucher wrote: “We are comparatively ill informed about the deities worshipped by the early Phoenicians when they came to Carthage from the East

Cippi and stelae of limestone are characteristic monuments of Punic art and religion, and are found throughout the western Phoenician world in unbroken continuity, both historically and geographically. The majority was set up over urns containing the ashes of human sacrifices, which had been placed within open-air sanctuaries. Such sanctuaries constitute striking relics of the Western Mediterranean Phoenician or Punic civilization.

One of the most important stelae was the “Marseilles Tariff” found in the port of Marseille and originally from the temple of Baal-Saphon in Carthage. The tariff regulated the payments to the priests for performing sacrifices,[3] and is close related to the normatives and provisions of the Leviticus.[4]

Child sacrifice

Carthage was described by its competitors as practicing child sacrifice. Plutarch (ca. 46–120 AD) mentions the practice, as do Tertullian, Orosius, Diodorus Siculus and Philo. However, Livy and Polybius do not. The Hebrew Bible also mentions what appears to be child sacrifice practiced at a place called the Tophet (“roasting place”) by the Canaanites, related to the Carthaginians, although there is to date no evidence of human sacrifice among the Canaanites.

In former times they (the Carthaginians) had been accustomed to sacrifice to this god the noblest of their sons, but more recently, secretly buying and nurturing children, they had sent these to the sacrifice.[5]

Some of these sources suggest that babies were roasted to death on a heated bronze statue. According to Diodorus Siculus, “There was in their city a bronze image of Cronus extending its hands, palms up and sloping toward the ground, so that each of the children when placed thereon rolled down and fell into a sort of gaping pit filled with fire.”[5]

The accuracy of such stories is disputed by some modern historians and archaeologists.[6][7] Nevertheless, several apparent “Tophets” have been identified, chiefly a large one in Carthage, dubbed the “Tophet of Salammbó”, after the neighborhood where it was unearthed in 1921.[8]

Sites within Carthage and other Phoenician centers revealed the remains of infants and children in large numbers; many historians interpret this as evidence for frequent and prominent child sacrifice to the god Ba’al Hammon.

Greek, Roman and Israelite writers refer to Phoenician child sacrifice. However, some historians have disputed this interpretation, suggesting instead that these were resting places for children miscarried or who died in infancy. The debate is ongoing among modern archeologists and historians. Skeptics suggest that the bodies of children found in Carthaginian and Phoenician cemeteries were merely the cremated remains of children that died naturally.[9] Sergio Ribichini has argued that the Tophet was “a child necropolis designed to receive the remains of infants who had died prematurely of sickness or other natural causes, and who for this reason were “offered” to specific deities and buried in a place different from the one reserved for the ordinary dead”.[10]
According to Lawrence and Wolff there is a consensus among scholars is that Carthaginian children were sacrificed by their parents, who would make a vow to kill the next child if the gods would grant them a favor: for instance that their shipment of goods were to arrive safely in a foreign port.[11] They placed their children alive in the arms of a bronze statue of:
“ the lady Tanit … . The hands of the statue extended over a brazier into which the child fell once the flames had caused the limbs to contract and its mouth to open … . The child was alive and conscious when burned … Philo specified that the sacrificed child was best-loved.[12]
”
Later commentators have compared the accounts of child sacrifice in the Old Testament with similar ones from Greek and Latin sources speaking of the offering of children by fire as sacrifices in the Punic city of Carthage, which was a Phoenician colony. Cleitarchus, Diodorus Siculus and Plutarch all mention burning of children as an offering to Cronus or Saturn, that is to Ba`al Hammon, the chief god of Carthage. Issues and practices relating to Moloch and child sacrifice may also have been overemphasized for effect. After the Romans finally defeated Carthage and totally destroyed the city, they engaged in post-war propaganda to make their arch enemies seem cruel and less civilized.

Motivations behind the sacrifices

Some authors, like Stager and Wolff,[11] believe that the real purpose behind children’s sacrifices was birth control. The fact that the preferred victims were male, however, exposes the weakness of this theory. The most plausible motivation was, according to available evidence, to establish a way of “cementing the vertical and horizontal power relationship within the social structure”.[13]

Evidence from archaeology

Most archaeologists accept that some sacrifices did occur. Lawrence E. Stager, Professor of Archaeology of Israel and Director of the Semitic Museum at Harvard University, who directed the excavations of the Carthage Tophet in the 1970’s, takes the view based on ancient texts that infant sacrifice was practiced there. Stager is joined by Joseph Greene, Assistant Director of the Semitic Museum, a member of Stager’s team in the excavations of Carthage, and author of the American Schools of Oriental Research’s “Punic Project Excavations”: Child Sacrifice in the Context of Carthaginian Religion: Excavations in the Tophet.

According to these scholars, in the Tophet of Salammbó, Carthage, an estimated 20,000 urns were deposited between 400 BC and 200 BC, with the practice continuing until the early years of the Christian period. The urns contained the charred bones of newborns and in some cases the bones of fetuses and 2-year-olds. These double remains have been interpreted to mean that in the cases of stillborn babies, the parents would sacrifice their youngest child. There is a clear correlation between the frequency of sacrifice and the well-being of the city. In bad times (war, poor harvests) sacrifices became more frequent, indicating an increased assiduousness in seeking divine appeasement, or possibly a population controlling response to the reduction of available food in these bad times, or perhaps increased child mortality due to famine or disease.

The area covered by the Tophet was probably over an acre and a half by the fourth century B.C., with nine different levels of burials. Archaeologists have also discovered evidence of child sacrifice in Sardinia and Sicily.

Animal remains, mostly sheep and goats, found inside some of the Tophet urns strongly suggest that this was not a burial ground for children who died prematurely. The animals were sacrificed to the gods, presumably in place of children (one surviving inscription refers to the animal as “a substitute”). It is conjectured that the children unlucky enough not to have substitutes were also sacrificed and then buried in the Tophet.

The Tophet

“Tophet” is a term derived from the Bible, used to refer to a site near Jerusalem in which Canaanites and Israelites sacrificed children. It is now used as a general term for all such sacred sites. In Carthage, it was the location of the temple of the goddess Tanit and the necropolis.

The Bible does not specify that the Israelite victims were buried, only burned, although the “place of burning” was probably adjacent to the place of burial. Indeed, soil in the Tophet of Salammbó was found to be full of olive wood charcoal, probably from the sacrificial pyres. We have no idea how the Phoenicians themselves referred to the places of burning or burial or to the practice itself, since no large body of Phoenician writing has come down to us.

Jeremiah 7:31 NKJAnd they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into My heart.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gehenna
Gehenna (Greek ??????), Gehinnom (Rabbinical Hebrew: ?????, ????,) and Yiddish Gehinnam, are terms derived from a place outside ancient Jerusalem known in the Hebrew Bible as the Valley of the Son of Hinnom (Hebrew ??? ??????????); one of the two principal valleys surrounding the Old City.

In the Hebrew Bible, the site was initially where apostate Israelites and followers of various Ba’als and false gods, including Moloch, sacrificed their children by fire (2 Chr. 28:3, 33:6; Jer. 7:31, 19:2-6.

Evidence for and against the practice of child sacrifice

It has been argued by some modern scholars that evidence of Carthaginian child sacrifice is sketchy at best and that it is far more likely to have been a Roman blood libel against the Carthaginians to justify their conquest and destruction. M’Hamed Hassine Fantar, Director of Research at the Institute of National Cultural Heritage, Tunisia, argues that the Tophet of Salammbó, Carthage, was a cemetery for stillborns and infants who had died of natural causes, and whose bodies were then cremated.

Sergio Ribichini has also argued that the Tophet was “a child necropolis designed to receive the remains of infants who had died prematurely of sickness or other natural causes, and who for this reason were “offered” to specific deities and buried in a place different from the one reserved for the ordinary dead”. He adds that this was probably part of “an effort to ensure the benevolent protection of the same deities for the survivors.” [14] The few Carthaginian texts which have survived make no mention of child sacrifice, though Carthaginian votive steles (several in Egyptian style) display a priest carrying a living-child, apparently to sacrifice.

Conversely, work at Motiya, an island off Sicily which was home to a large Phoenician colony, showed that the bones of children buried in the local Tophet belonged to male children under the age of five. There was no evidence of disease in these bones (which survived cremation). This argues against the theory that children buried in the Tophet died of random causes. As effective a tool of anti-Carthaginian propaganda child sacrifice may have been, the Motiyan investigation offered strong evidence to support the classical sources.

That is what is said in Wikipedia about Carthage. I would now like each of you to go to: “Are You Worshiping Molech or Just keeping Christmas“. And with many people adding a Chanukah bush to the Chanukah celebrations this week; I also want you to keep in mind what is being shown to you in this article. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah_bush

A Hanukkah bush is a bush or tree—real or simulated—that some American and Canadian Jewish families display in their homes for the duration of Hanukkah. It may, for all intents and purposes, be a Christmas tree (without any Christian ornaments).

Remember what we have recently read about the Festival of Lights which both Chanukah and Christmas are a celebration of. And the god Kronos which Alexander Hislop says the following;

The classic reader may remember that one of the gods of primeval antiquity was called Ouranos, * that is, “The Enlightener.”
* For Aor or our, “light,” and an, “to act upon” or produce, the same as our English particle en, “to make.” Ouranos, then, is “The Enlightener.” This Ouranos is, by Sanchuniathon, the Phoenician, called the son of Elioun–i.e., as he himself, or Philo-Byblius, interprets the name, “The Most High.” (SANCH) Ouranos, in the physical sense, is “The Shiner”; and by Hesychius it is made equivalent to Kronos, which also has the same meaning, for Krn, the verb from which it comes, signifies either “to put forth horns,” or “to send forth rays of light”; and, therefore, while the epithet Kronos, or “The Horned One,” had primarily reference to the physical power of Nimrod as a “mighty” king; when that king was deified, and made “Lord of Heaven,” that name, Kronos, was still applied to him in his new character as “The Shiner or Lightgiver.”

Now we have just read above in Wikipedia the following; Cleitarchus, Diodorus Siculus and Plutarch all mention burning of children as an offering to Cronus or Saturn, that is to Ba`al Hammon, the chief god of Carthage.

Cronus is the same as Kronos. Please read the article Are you Worshiping Molech and Just keeping Christmas. Once you have read the article then come back and read what is to follow.

The USA and Canada, The United Kingdom and Australia and New Zealand and South Africa are all part of the current Ten Northern Tribes of Israel. We were to set the example to the rest of the world on how to live and be living testimony to the law of Yehovah. We have not done this. In fact we have not only not upheld these values, we have instead gone after the values of those nations who knew not the law of Yehovah and done even worse.

I have shown you just how many infants have been aborted just since 1970. These are the ones reported. The numbers are mind numbing. In the article I have asked you to read above, I show you how Israel was out of the land or as it was written, the land will vomit you out for these abominations. These abominations are the Live Sacrifices of Children done to the god Molech in the valley of Gehenna. Today it is called Christmas and Chanukah. Same abomination just wrapped up in different paper. It is still something the land is about to vomit us out for and is still putrid to Yehovah.

Are we so stupid to think that because we are now modern and supposedly more civilized today that Yehovah can’t touch us? I would say give your head a shake, but I do not need to, because Yehovah is going to give each of these Hebrew nations a shaking like none the world has ever seen, no nor ever will see again. And once He has shaken the living tar out if Israel, The USA and UK and her commonwealth of nations, Yehovah is going to turn His attention to those other nations of the world and shake them.

Isaiah 2: 19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, from dread of ???? and the splendor of His excellency, when He arises to shake the earth mightily. 20 In that day man shall throw away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made, each for himself to worship, to the moles and bats, 21 to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the crags of the rugged rocks, because of the fear of ???? and the splendor of His excellency, when He arises to shake the earth mightily. 22 Cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for in what is he to be reckoned upon?

Isaiah 13: 11 “And I shall punish the world for its evil, and the wrong for their crookedness, and shall put an end to the arrogance of the proud, and lay low the pride of the ruthless. 12 “I shall make mortal man scarcer than fine gold, and mankind scarcer than the gold of Ophir. 13 “So I shall make the heavens tremble, and the earth shall shake from her place, in the wrath of ???? of hosts and in the day of the heat of His displeasure. 14 “And it shall be as the hunted gazelle, and as a sheep that no man takes up – every man turns to his own people, and everyone flees to his own land. 15 “Whoever is found is thrust through, and everyone taken falls by the sword. 16 “And their children are dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses plundered and their wives ravished.

The one thing that we know of today that will shake both Heaven and earth are Nuclear bombs.

One the Hill East of Jerusalem Solomon made an altar to Molech and there his wives made sacrifices. What would they have sacrificed?

1 King 11:7 Then Shelomoh built a high place for Kemosh the abomination of Mo’ab?, on the hill that is east of Yerushalayim, and for Molek? the abomination of the children of Ammon. 8 And so he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and slaughtered to their mighty ones. 9 Therefore ???? was enraged with Shelomoh, because his heart had turned away from ???? Elohim of Yisra’?l, who had appeared to him twice, 10 and had commanded him concerning this word, not to go after other mighty ones. But he did not guard what ???? had commanded. 11 And ???? said to Shelomoh, “Because you have done this, and have not guarded My covenant and My laws, which I have commanded you, I shall certainly tear the reign away from you and give it to your servant. 12 “Only, I do not do it in your days, for the sake of your father Dawid?. Out of the hand of your son I shall tear it. 13 “Only, I shall not tear away all the reign but give one tribe to your son for the sake of my servant Dawid?, and for the sake of Yerushalayim which I have chosen.” 14 And ???? raised up an adversary against Shelomoh, Had?ad? the Ed?omite. He was of the seed of the sovereign in Ed?om

Because of this awful thing that Solomon did, the reign was torn from him.

In exodus 20:14 we are told not to commit Adultery.

Yahshua expanded this commandment so that even if we lusted after a women we would have committed adultery. Mathew 5: 27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. 29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

This is where the abortion issue begins; In the lust of the eyes. It then grows into an adulterous relationship or a fornications one. Once this is acted upon then when a child is conceived then the mother is left to commit the murder of the child which then breaks the command found in Exodus 20:13 You shall not murder.

No it is not just the woman who commits murder; it also the man who the moment he unzipped his pants with the full intention of not committing to this relationship has also committed murder. These men are nothing but cowards and scoundrels, having gotten the lust quotient satisfied, they now walk away as if nothing happened. Leaving all the consequences to the woman. Where are the real men? Is there such a thing in these last days?

Paul wrote in 2 Tim 3:1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,

We need real men to stand up and put an end to this dreadful cycle of lust and sex and abortions. When you see the lights of Christmas and Chanukah Remember that Kronus the one who began this murderous teaching of sacrificing the unborn and the newly born on his birthday of Dec 25 at the winter solstice had these children sacrificed to himself alive on a red hot statute of himself. This is why this time of year is for the children. It was to kill them.

Triennial Torah Cycle

We now return to our 3 1/2 year Torah studies which you can follow online.

We are now in our 38th week since we began this first year of this 3rd Sabbatical cycle of the 119th Jubilee cycles since Adam and we began at Aviv 1 which was March 20, 2010 on the Gregorian calendar. I do hope you are reading each of these chapters as we come to them and not just my own comments on them. Read it yourself and let Yehovah inspire you.

Gen 40     2 Sam 8-10      Ps 80-81     Luke 2

Gen 40

This week we are reading about the dreams of the butler and the baker and how Joseph was able to interpret them. The lesson here is found in the next chapter 41. Joseph had not yet learned to give the credit of understanding the dreams to the one who made it possible, Yehovah.

Both times Joseph says this is the interpretation of it. In chapter 41 two years goes by before Joseph is remembered. Notice how Joseph answers in 41:16 1 And Yos?ph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me, let Elohim answer Pharaoh with peace.”
And again in 25 And Yos?ph said to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one. Elohim has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do:
Joseph now has a submissive attitude giving Yehovah the credit for all his understanding.

2 Samuel 8-10

The rest which the Lord had given David from all his enemies round about he did not long enjoy. About two years after he had taken Jerusalem we find him engaged in war with several different nations. The first of these are the irrepressible Philistines, whom David subdues, and from whom he takes Metheg-ammah, an important town in Gath, which, from its commanding position, was called the bridle of the mother city. A blow was thus struck at the metropolis of Philistia. Like one of the heads of the Apocalyptic beast, it was wounded to death, but like it also its death-wound was healed; for although subdued, the Philistines were not yet wholly vanquished.

After recording this subjugation of the Philistines, the chapter is occupied in relating the wars which David carried into some of the nations beyond the borders of Canaan, which he not only conquered but made tributary. And this leads us to consider a distinction which the Israelites were commanded to make between the Canaanitish nations and those whose countries bordered upon Canaan, but were separate from it.

The seven nations inhabiting Canaan were to be utterly destroyed, but the nations beyond Canaan, unless they resisted, were only to be subdued and made tributary. In Deuteronomy 20this is clearly stated: “When you come near to a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace to it. And it shall be, if it make you answer of peace, and open to you, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries to you, and they shall serve you…. Thus shall you do to all the cities which are very far off from you, which are not of the cities of these nations. But of the cities of these people, which the Lord your God does give you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes.”

http://www.answers.com/topic/cherethites-and-pelethites

Foreign mercenaries who formed David’s bodyguard. The Cherethites are first mentioned in I Samuel 30:14 which records the Amalekites’ raid on Ziklag and the “south (Negeb, in Hebrew) of the Cherethites”, an area also named the land of the Philistines (I Sam 30:16) implying that the Cherethites’ Territory constituted the southern part of Philistia. The Cherethite region may be identical with the Hazerim of Gaza (Deut 2:23), a territory of the Caphtorim of Caphtor.

After David’s accession to the throne he established a military unit consisting of Cherethites and Pelethites under the command of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada (II Sam 8:18). The unit remained loyal to the king when Absalom revolted (II Sam 15:14, 18); it participated in the war against Sheba the son of Bichri (II Sam 20:7), and was present at Solomon’s enthronement (I Kgs 1:38, 44). The Cherethites were still mentioned in the 6th century B.C. in Zephaniah’s prophecy on the Philistines (Zeph 2:4-5), possibly indicating that the Philistines and the Cherethites were identical and that the Cherethites were named after Crete, their island of origin. I has also been suggested that the Cretans arrived before the Philistine invasion of the 12th century B.C. and that the two peoples merged. However, as the Cretan origin of the Cherethites is uncertain, the meaning of the name Cherethites and Pelethites still requires further research.

IN chapter 9 we read of Mephibosheth The name of Saul’s son by the concubine Rizpah, daughter of Aiah. During the reign of King David, some members of Saul’s family were punished for what had been done unto the Gibeonites. Mephibosheth and his brother Armoni along with five others, were “hanged on a hill before the Lord” by the Gibeonites, and their bodies left exposed in the sun for five months (2 Sam. 21:8-10).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mephibosheth

The son of Jonathan, and grandson of Saul (2 Sam. 4:4). He was lame in his feet. He was five years old when his father and grandfather fell in the Battle of Mount Gilboa. Hearing of this calamity, his nurse fled with him from Gibeah, the royal residence, and in her haste stumbled, dropping him on the ground and causing his paralysis (2 Sam. 19:26). He was carried to the land of Gilead, where he found refuge in the house of Machir, son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar, by whom he was reared.

Some years later, when King David had subdued all the adversaries of Israel, he recalled the family of Jonathan, and discovered that Mephibosheth was residing in the house of Machir. So he sent royal messengers there, and brought Mephibosheth and his infant son Micah to Jerusalem, where they resided from that point on (2 Sam. 9).

When David was a fugitive, according to the story of Ziba (2 Sam. 16:1-4), Mephibosheth proved unfaithful to him, and Ziba was subsequently awarded all of Mephibosheth’s estate. However (2 Sam. 19:24-30), Mephibosheth later told David that he had remained loyal to him, and that Ziba had lied. David then ordered the estate divided between the two; Mephibosheth allowed Ziba to keep everything as he was simply content in knowing that David was safe.

After this incident, Mephibosheth is only mentioned as having been protected by David (2 Sam. 21:7). Although apparently he was given up to suffer the same justice, perhaps when a seventh member of Saul’s family could not be located (2 Sam. 21:8-9)
I want to comment on chapter 10. This is the one many proponents for the growing of a beard use to justify their belief. But let us read it. Half the beard is cut off. I would think that one side of the face is cut off and the other left intact in order to make the men look stupid. This is also the reason that their clothing was cut so that their nakedness was left exposed. The whole thing was to make them look hideous.

Adam Clarke;

The beard is held in high respect in the East: the possessor considers it his greatest ornament; often swears by it; and, in matters of great importance, pledges it. Nothing can be more secure than a pledge of this kind; its owner will redeem it at the hazard of his life. The beard was never cut off but in mourning, or as a sign of slavery. Cutting off half of the beard and the clothes rendered the men ridiculous, and made them look like slaves: what was done to these men was an accumulation of insult.

John Trapp

To cut off their garments in the middle was also an obvious insult and humiliation. “That the shame of their nakedness might appear, and especially that of their circumcision, so derided by the heathen.”

Psalm 80-81

http://www.ucg.org/bible-commentary/Psalms/79)-Lamenting-prayer-over-enemy-invasion-and-devastation;-80)-Prayer-for-national-restoration/default.aspx
Where the superscription of Psalm 80 has “Set to ‘The Lilies’ [Hebrew Shoshannim]. A Testimony [Eduth] of Asaph,” this could be rendered “Set to ‘The Lilies of Testimony.’ Of Asaph.” The NIV has “The Lilies of the Covenant.” Compare the superscription of Psalm 60, which has, “Set to ‘Lily of the Testimony'” (Shushan Eduth). As in other cases throughout the Psalter, the first part of the superscription of each of these psalms may be a postscript of the preceding psalm.

As in the previous psalm (79), the nation is in distress—plundered by enemies (compare 80:12-13). And as before, it may be that Asaph was prophesying of national invasion beyond his lifetime—perhaps even of the end time still to come. Yet, just as Psalm 79 ends with reliance on God as the Shepherd of His people (see verse 13), so Psalm 80 opens with an appeal to the Shepherd of Israel who leads Joseph (the leading birthright people and therefore representative of the nation as a whole) like a flock (verse 1; compare Psalm 23; John 10).

God, who dwells between the cherubim—as represented on the earthly copy of God’s throne, the mercy seat atop the Ark of the Covenant (see Exodus 25:17-22)—is asked to “shine forth” (Psalm 80:1), showing His glory through His intervening power (verse 2). Note the beginning of verse 2: “Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.” The psalm is here essentially pleading, “March against the [enemy] nations as you marched in the midst of your army from Sinai into the promised land (in that march the ark of the covenant advanced in front of the troops of these three tribes; see Nu 10:21-24…)” (Zondervan NIV Study Bible, note on Psalm 80:2).

The central theme of the psalm is clear from the repeated refrain asking, “Restore us…” (verses 3, 7, 19), with building intensity in calling on God: “…O God” (verse 3), “…O God of hosts” (verse 7) and “…O Lord God of hosts” (verse 19). The rest of the repeated refrain, “Cause Your face to shine [i.e., smile favorably on us], and we shall be saved” (same verses), is essentially drawn from the priestly blessing of Numbers 6:25: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.” We have previously noted the use of this language in other psalms as well (see Psalms 4:6; 44:3; 67:1; 119:135). Here in Psalm 80 the people had been experiencing the opposite—the rebuke of God’s countenance (His angry expression) causing them to perish (80:16).

“How long,” Asaph asks (as is common in laments), will God be angry and refuse to answer His people’s prayers? (verse 4; compare 13:1-2; 79:5). In the desert wilderness, God, as His people’s caring Shepherd, fed them with manna and gave them water to drink from the rock. But now, figuratively, He has given His people their tearful misery to eat and drink (80:5). They have become a source of contention and mockery to neighboring countries (verse 6)—rather than the blessing and positive example they were intended to be. So again the plea of restoration is raised (verse 7).

In verses 8-16 Asaph likens Israel to a vine and vineyard, imagery found in other passages (see Isaiah 5:1-7; 27:2-6; Jeremiah 2:21; 12:10; Ezekiel 15:1-8; 17:6-8; 19:10-14; Hosea 10:1; 14:7). God bringing the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land is pictured as transplanting the vine (Psalm 80:8). His driving out of the nations before them (same verse) is compared to a caring vinedresser clearing the ground for the vine (verse 9; compare Isaiah 5:2). The vine filled the land (Psalm 80:9), growing to immense stature so that hills and tall trees, symbolic of other national powers (compare Ezekiel 17), were overshadowed as the vine grew (Psalm 80:10). It spread from the Sea (the Mediterranean) to the River (the Euphrates) (verse 11), representing Israel’s dominion reaching this extent, as it did during the reigns of David and Solomon.

Yet things have dramatically changed. God has broken down His vine’s hedges—its protective fence (referring to His own divine protection)—and allowed others to plunder it (verse 12). The boar and wild beasts (unclean animals here representing foreign invaders) uproot and devour it. Because of God’s anger it is burned with fire and cut down (verse 16). Compare God’s later words, probably adapted from Psalm 80, in Isaiah 5:5: “And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; and break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.”

The psalm calls on God to look at the sorry state of the vine now and to “visit” it (Psalm 80:14)—to show it care and restore it as it was. There is a play on words in the last several verses here. The Hebrew word for vineyard in verse 15 “is used only here in the Bible; it literally means ‘root-stock'” (Nelson Study Bible, note on verses 4-17). Then we see the word “branch” in the same verse—giving us the common pairing of root and branch. Yet the Hebrew word for branch here is ben, meaning “son”—the same word translated “son” in verse 17 in the expression “son of man.”

The nation of Israel was not just as a mere plant to God as a vinedresser but was God’s own son (see Exodus 4:22)—intended to serve as His “right-hand man” (see Psalm 80:17), a model nation to properly represent Him to the world (as a vine bearing godly fruit). Yet the imagery here likely pointed to Israel’s Davidic ruler as well, the particular “son of man” (meaning human being) who was to lead the nation in setting the proper example. Moreover, the words here no doubt look to the ultimate “Branch” who would come from the vine of Israel and the line of David—the Messiah. He too would be, in a unique way, God’s own Son.

Jesus would later tell His followers that He is the true vine, that God the Father is the vinedresser and that they, abiding in Him as the vine, are the branches (John 15:1-8). Jesus Himself was brought out of Egypt and replanted in the Promised Land, preaching throughout the breadth of the land. He suffered terribly for sin at the hands of enemies (not His own sin but that of others). He was brutalized and died. But He rose again—and through His death and resurrection all may be saved. Indeed, it is through this Son and His followers that the vine of Israel would be reconstituted in a spiritual sense and revived—so that it would never turn from God again (see Psalm 80:18). The physical Israelites will be restored to God’s favor or grace through being grafted into spiritual Israel (compare Romans 11; Galatians 6:16).

Thus, as the final refrain calls for again (Psalm 80:19), Israel will be restored, God will smile favorably on His people and they shall be saved.

http://www.ucg.org/bible-commentary/Psalms/81)-Israel-admonished-to-heed-God;-82)-God-will-judge-the-rulers-of-the-earth-and-bring-true-justice;-83)-Prayer-for-help-against-an-international-enemy-coalition/default.aspx
Appeals for Repentance, Justice and Deliverance From Foes (Psalms 81-83)
The middle of the superscription of Psalm 81, which may be part of a postscript to Psalm 80, contains the Hebrew phrase al gittith. We saw this earlier in the superscription of Psalm 8, and it reappears in Psalm 84. The NIV leaves it mostly untranslated as “According to gittith,” whereas the New King James Version renders it as, “On an instrument of Gath.” The Zondervan NIV Study Bible comments, “The Hebrew word perhaps refers to either a winepress (‘song of the winepress’) or the Philistine city of Gath (‘Gittite lyre or music’; see 2Sa 15:18)” (note on Psalm 8 title).

Asaph composed Psalm 81 as a festival song (verses 1-3)-albeit one in which national enemies remain a serious concern (see verses 14-15), as in other psalms of Asaph in Book III.

The people were to “sing aloud,” to “make a joyful shout,” to “raise a song,” to “strike the timbrel,” to play “the pleasant harp with the lute” (verses 1-2), to “blow the trumpet” (the shofar or ram’s horn) because it was a statute and law of God to do so (verses 3-4)-revealed by God at the time of the Exodus (verse 5). It is important to recognize the congregational nature of worship here. As commentator George Knight remarks on these verses: “You cannot hold a festival all by yourself. It is God’s will, however, that we should hold festivals. These verbs sing aloud, shout for joy and so on are all expressed in the plural” (Psalms, comments on Psalm 81). The word for “statute” (verse 4) or “decree” (NIV) “refers in its original usage to something that is meant to be imperishable for it has been chiseled in stone. God then ‘demands’ our regular worship. In his wisdom he knows that it is our regular participation in congregational worship that keeps us right with himself. Public worship is God’s good idea, not ours” (same comments).

Verse 3 causes some confusion as to the timing of this particular celebration and trumpet blowing. Some take it to mean every New Moon (new month), every full moon and every sacred festival day. However, there was no law or statute to blow the ram’s horn or celebrate at all of these times. Indeed, in the law God gave through Moses the blast of the ram’s horn was commanded for only one festival, the Feast of Trumpets (see Leviticus 23:24; Numbers 29:1). This Holy Day actually falls on a New Moon-and is the only annual festival that does. Yet what of the mention of the full moon in Psalm 81:3? Some see other annual festivals indicated here. Passover and the First Day of Unleavened Bread come at the time of the full moon in the first month of the Hebrew sacred calendar. The beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles does as well-and many see verse 3 as indicating the entire fall festival period in the seventh month, from the Feast of Trumpets through Tabernacles. However, the word translated “full moon” can simply mean “full” or “fullness,” and could here imply the completion of a month-thus the beginning of a new one. The Ferrar Fenton Translation makes no mention of the full moon-only the New Moon. So it may well be that the Feast of Trumpets is exclusively meant here, though the call to celebration and reflection on God’s deliverance fits with all of God’s festivals.

Note again the timing of God’s revelation of the statute in verse 5: “This He established in Joseph [representative of all Israel] as a testimony, when He went throughout the land of Egypt.” This translation would indicate the time that God sent the plagues against Egypt. However, nothing is recorded in Moses’ writings about God revealing the command to blow the shofar at the Feast of Trumpets until Israel was later gathered at Mount Sinai. It is possible that He gave Moses an earlier revelation while in Egypt.

Yet it seems more likely that a very general time frame is meant-that is to say, God gave the Israelites this statute long ago around the time that He destroyed Egypt to free them. Alternatively, some versions translate verse 5 as saying that God established the statute when Joseph (i.e., Israel) went out of Egypt (compare Tanakh, New and Revised English Bible, New American Bible, Fenton).

The end of verse 5 says, “I heard a language [literally, lip] I did not understand.” There is some dispute as to who is speaking here. In the remainder of the psalm, from verses 6-16, it is clearly God who is speaking, referring to Himself as “I.” That would seem to argue for the “I” at the end of verse 5 also being God. Yet how could the omniscient God not understand the Egyptian language? For this reason, many take the “I” in verse 5 to refer to each Israelite singing the song-following the Jewish understanding that each and every Jew even today was personally and individually delivered from ancient Egyptian bondage.

Yet the word rendered “understand” in verse 5, yada, has the general meaning of “know.” As Strong’s Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary notes, this word can mean “acknowledge…regard, have respect [for]” (Abingdon Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Strong’s No. 3045). Indeed, just as God says He does not “know” those who do not obey Him, He could just as well say that He does not “know” (acknowledge or regard) the speech of those who defy Him. Consider that Egypt’s language and speech was thoroughly polluted with idolatrous references. “As in [Psalm] 114:1, there is a disdain for the history, culture, and language of Egypt” (Nelson Study Bible, note on verses 3-5).

In Psalm 81:7, God answering in “the secret place of thunder” is evidently a reference to the giving of His law and covenant at Mount Sinai, when “there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled…. Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire… And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice” (Exodus 19:16-19; compare 20:18). Thus, it would seem that in the “memorial of blowing of trumpets” at the Feast of Trumpets (Leviticus 23:24), the Israelites were to recall this earlier trumpet blast when God came down in power and glory, descending with thunder and fire, as a prelude to giving His law. Interestingly, the Feast of Trumpets primarily represents the time of Christ’s return, when He will come in great power and glory, in a devouring fire, as a prelude to revealing His law anew to Israel and all nations. Moses gave the point: “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin” (Exodus 20:20)-as they had at Meribah, when they questioned whether God was among them after having experienced the Exodus (17:1-7; Psalm 81:7).

In verses 8-10, God reminds the people of what He told them at Sinai-and implicitly holds out His offer of covenant relationship anew. In verse 9, He reiterates the first of the Ten Commandments-that there be no foreign gods among His people (see Exodus 20:3). And in verse 10 of Psalm 81, He repeats the preamble to the Ten Commandments: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt” (see Exodus 20:2). This great episode should have been enough to convince them to trust and obey Him. God promised to be His people’s provider (Psalm 81:10b).

Historically, Israel failed to listen (verse 11), so God allowed them to go their own way (verse 12)-although that’s not what He wanted (verse 13). If His people would obey, He would subdue their enemies (verse 14). It seems likely that God inspired Asaph to write this psalm while Israel was experiencing problems from enemies-perhaps while David was still battling foreign nations. And the words would certainly take on greater urgency in later times of foreign oppression.

In verse 15, the Israelites’ enemies are referred to as God’s enemies-“the haters of the Lord” (compare 83:1-4). The NKJV says that when God subdues them, they “would pretend submission to Him” (81:15). The NIV alternatively says they “would cringe before him.” Then note the latter phrase in verse 15: “But their fate would endure forever.” The Hebrew word translated “fate” here actually means “time.” Most see this as meaning judgment on the enemies. But “their” might refer back to the Israelites, just as “them” in the next verse does-in which case the verse would mean that obedient Israelites would endure for all time.

God’s desire is to give His people the very best of everything (verse 16)-and He eventually will if they will only heed Him and walk in His ways. The Feast of Trumpets and the other fall festivals picture the ushering in of a time when Israel will repent and all God’s promises will come to fruition. Even other nations will be grafted into Israel to learn God’s way and share in the promises as well. This is certainly a wonderful reason to joyfully celebrate.

Luke 2

Once again I find it interesting that we are reading the true story of the birth of Yahshua as we enter the pagan time of year known as Christmas. Just like Chanukah with its Chanukah bush there are added to the truth lies and traditions that just cannot be found in the scriptures. Once you read the truth in the scriptures you will see the false teaching that have come to be associated with both Chanukah and Christmas. It is these false traditions that you must avoid. And as shown to you above Nimrod the enlightener also called Kronus the one to whom the children were sacrificed alive, has his great celebration done on Dec 25 when no shepherds would be in the fields tending the flocks.

The story of Yahshua’s birth is a great story but has been so polluted by all the false teachings that most do not go there. Please read the story and stay away from the false teachings.

The 613 Mitzvot

We now continue to study the 613 laws of Torah which we can read at http://www.jewfaq.org/613.htm
We are doing 7 laws each week. We shall study laws 262-268. We also have commentary, with editing from me, again from http://theownersmanual.net/The_Owners_Manual_02_The_Law_of_Love.Torah

262 Not to rebel against the orders of the Court (Deut. 17:11) (CCN158).

(262) Do not rebel against the orders of the Court. “According to the sentence of the law in which they [the priests, Levites, and judges] instruct you, according to the judgment which they tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left from the sentence which they pronounce upon you.” (Deuteronomy 17:11) This is merely the negative restatement of affirmative Mitzvah #261. I would only reiterate that Yahweh’s definition of “the court” and Maimonides’ description would differ somewhat. And that’s understandable. Israel made a fatal judgment error in 31 AD, and they haven’t understood a word Yahweh said ever since that time.

It’s fascinating, however, to note what Yahshua did with this passage when confronted with the judgment of the “Court” of his day. Without quibbling over the legality of the judicial assembly, He did precisely what is commanded here: He submitted to the decision of the Sanhedrin. They determined that He must die, so rather than defending Himself (which was well within His power, both verbally and angelically), He opened not His mouth, but willingly picked up His cross and gave up His life so that we could live. He Himself had said that not the smallest letter of the Law would pass away until all of it was fulfilled. That had to include the parts that were “inconvenient” for Him. Like death.

Injuries and Damages

263. To make a parapet for your roof (Deut. 22:8) (CCA75). See Love and Brotherhood.

(263) Make a parapet for your roof. “When you build a new house, then you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring guilt of bloodshed on your household if anyone falls from it.” (Deuteronomy 22:8) Because we are given a reason for the precept “make a parapet” in the Torah, we may safely extrapolate this principle to a general prohibition against creating unnecessary hazards that might endanger innocent bystanders. Yahweh is not advocating the idiotic American pipedream of creating a risk-free society, but merely of taking reasonable steps to ensure the safety of people in your sphere of influence. The definition of “reasonable,” of course, shifts with the available technology. There was a time when it was unheard of to put a taillight or a rear-view mirror on an automobile. Now seat belts (excuse me: technologically advanced passive occupant restraint systems), ABS brakes, and air bags are ubiquitous, and GPS navigation and infrared reverse-gear warning systems are making inroads. “Reasonable” is in the eye of the beholder.

Beyond controlling our environmental risks, however, we should also be on guard against bringing “guilt of bloodshed” upon ourselves through our spiritual negligence. In Romans 14 and I Corinthians 8, for example, Paul talks at length about how to avoid putting pitfalls and stumbling blocks in the way of our less mature believing brothers and sisters. Inevitably what is called for is some small personal sacrifice on our part—building a parapet, so to speak—designed to prevent our neighbors from falling down and hurting themselves. It’s not merely good manners; it’s the law.

264. Not to leave something that might cause hurt (Deut. 22:8) (CCN190). See Love and Brotherhood.

(264) Do not leave something that might cause hurt. “When you build a new house, then you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring guilt of bloodshed on your household if anyone falls from it.” (Deuteronomy 22:8) Again, by making a separate negative mitzvah corresponding to a previous affirmative one, Maimonides has reminded us of the contrived nature of his Laws list—the self-conceived system of finding so many “do-this” precepts and so many “don’t-do-this” instructions, when a simple perusal of the Torah reveals literally hundreds of things he missed. So if you’re looking for commentary on Deuteronomy 22:8, see Mitzvah #263. If you’ll forgive me, I’m going to take off on a tangent. The subject: redundancy.

Any thoughtful person will admit that we’ve lost something of the meaning of our scriptures through the process of translation and the morphing of language over time. Cultural nuances have been lost; word meanings in the target languages have shifted; and translators have made (gasp!) mistakes. The classic biblical blunder is the consistent mis-translation of the divine name: Yahweh. Every popular English translation renders ???? (YHWH) as “the LORD,” not just once or twice, but 6,868 times in the Old Covenant scriptures! (Actually, there is evidence that Yahweh told us His name an even 7,000 times—the other 132 instances are places where Jewish scribes removed YHWH from the texts and replaced it with adonay, meaning lord.) Words should be translated. Names, however, should be merely transmitted (if the target language will accommodate them) or at worst, transliterated—making small phonetic adjustments to fit a new alphabet. But changing “Yahweh” (which literally means “I Am”) to “the LORD” is neither—it is a blatant and misleading substitution of one thing for something completely unrelated. It is, to put it charitably, a mistake.

Systematic sabotage like that is rare, however. Usually, we get ourselves in doctrinal trouble by merely taking a sentence or a phrase out of context and mis-applying it. But the LORD—just kidding: Yahweh—built a failsafe system into His scriptures, the same one NASA uses when they design a Space Shuttle: redundancy. Every important truth in the Bible is explained twenty different ways in twenty different places. God will use different words to describe something, or He will employ a different symbol, metaphor, or prophetic dress rehearsal. If we are familiar with and receptive to the whole of scripture, we can’t miss what Yahweh wanted us to know. There isn’t a single essential doctrine in the New Testament that wasn’t introduced and explained in the Old. That’s why it’s possible to come to a saving knowledge of the Messiah through nothing more than a tiny scrap of scripture from John or Paul’s writings, and yet one can spend a lifetime studying the Scriptures and never really get to the bottom of it.

This type of back-up system redundancy is not what Maimonides and his fellow rabbis employed, however. Theirs was nothing but an annoying repetition of the same basic facts (or fables) restated as affirmative and negative propositions in order to arrive at a predetermined number of rules. Oy vey.

265. To save the pursued even at the cost of the life of the pursuer (Deut. 25:12) (affirmative). See Life.

(265) Save the pursued even at the cost of the life of the pursuer. “If two men fight together, and the wife of one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of the one attacking him, and puts out her hand and seizes him by the genitals, then you shall cut off her hand; your eye shall not pity her.” (Deuteronomy 25:11-12) The rabbis are on another planet here, but I’ll admit that the supporting passage for this mitzvah (and the next one) isn’t exactly easy. Most commentaries just skip over it. At first glance, it looks uncharacteristically harsh. As a matter of fact, this is the only instance in the Torah where physical mutilation was prescribed as punishment for an offense, though Yahweh’s law was unique in its restraint on the subject. (For example, Assyrian law said a man who kissed a woman who wasn’t his wife was supposed to get his lips cut off.)

Note that the Israelite wife wasn’t prohibited from defending her husband in general. There was no problem (in theory) against smashing hubby’s attacker over the head with a chair. Nor was this a thinly veiled euphemism for adultery (which carried its own penalty); it clearly describes something drastic done in the heat of a disagreement in order to gain the upper hand. A little word study might help us get to the heart of matter. The original Hebrew text includes the word ’ach (brother or countryman), making it clear that the husband’s adversary is a fellow Israelite—thus potentially metaphorical for a fellow believer. The word translated “seize” (chazaq) doesn’t so much mean “to take or grab an object” as it is a denotation of seizing power. It means: “be strong, strengthen, conquer, become powerful, harden one’s defenses.” We need to realize that the precise scenario that’s pictured in this precept is extremely unlikely. In fact, not a single occurrence is recorded in the Bible. So to me at least, it’s pretty clear that Yahweh was using this hypothetical sequence of events to illustrate something that does happen on a fairly regular basis. Yahweh seems to be saying, “Don’t emasculate (metaphorically or otherwise) a fellow believer, even in the well-intentioned defense of what you hold dear. If you destroy his ability to have a fruitful ministry in the future merely to gain a temporary advantage now in some dispute, I will in turn remove your ability to manipulate and control your world. I have provided ways (see mitzvot #227-252) to settle your disputes—you are not to take matters into your own hands.” At least, that’s what I think it means.

266. Not to spare a pursuer, but he is to be slain before he reaches the pursued and slays the latter, or uncovers his nakedness (Deut. 25:12) (negative).

(266) Do not spare a pursuer; he is to be slain before he reaches the pursued and slays the latter, or uncovers his nakedness. “If two men fight together, and the wife of one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of the one attacking him, and puts out her hand and seizes him by the genitals, then you shall cut off her hand; your eye shall not pity her.” (Deuteronomy 25:11-12) Huh? The rabbis have clearly taken the ball and run with it—out into left field. This mitzvah is merely the negative permutation of the one we just saw; in other words, it’s very existence is pointless. See #265.

Property and Property Rights

267. Not to sell a field in the land of Israel in perpetuity (Lev. 25:23) (negative).

(267) Do not sell a field in the land of Israel in perpetuity. “The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me.” (Leviticus 25:23) As we saw in Chapter 6, this is part of the Law of Jubilee. Although the land was “given” to Israel, both in general terms (Genesis 12:7) and specific (Numbers 26-27 and Joshua 13-21), ownership of the land remained Yahweh’s. Tribes were assigned their regions and individuals had custody of individual tracts of land, but they couldn’t “sell” them in perpetuity, since they belonged to God. Rather, they could only “lease” them out to their neighbors, and then only for a limited period of time: until Jubilee. Automatic release of encumbered inheritances came once every fifty years—once in a lifetime, for all intents and purposes.

The symbols, in light of the rest of scripture, are patently obvious. Our inheritance is eternal life, but through our sin, we have fallen into spiritual poverty, “selling” our souls to Satan. But Yahweh has pre-arranged the opportunity for us to recover our inheritance, because after all, our lives (like the lands of the Israelites) are not really our own; we were redeemed with a price—the precious blood of Yahshua. So what happens when Jubilee comes? Some will accept the gift of Jubilee and retake possession of their inheritance, eternal life. But others will despise this once-in-a-lifetime chance and sell their souls back to Satan.

268. Not to change the character of the open land (about the cities of) the Levites or of their fields; not to sell it in perpetuity, but it may be redeemed at any time (Lev. 25:34) (negative). See Levi.

(268) Do not change the character of the open land about the cities of the Levites or of their fields. Do not sell it in perpetuity; it may be redeemed at any time. “If a man purchases a house from the Levites, then the house that was sold in the city of his possession shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel. But the field of the common-land of their cities may not be sold, for it is their perpetual possession.” (Leviticus 25:33-34) There were slightly different rules for the Levites (compared to the other tribes of Israel) which help us understand the bigger picture. Levites (that is, the tribe of Moses and Aaron) were characterized as those whose inheritance was Yahweh Himself. Thus they were assigned no personal, temporal lands, but rather were given cities throughout Israel in which to live, in which they could “own” homes, and they had communal lands (not individual family plots) they could farm. Here we see that their homes could be leased to other Israelites, just like any property (again signifying their spiritual poverty through sin, and again redeemed at Jubilee), but their community fields could not be disposed of because they did not belong to any one individual, but to the tribe.

Levi as a tribe symbolically represents the true believers among God’s chosen people—either among Israel or the gentile Ekklesia, the wheat among the tares as it were. It’s not that the Levites were all “saved” while the others were not; they as a group are simply a picture, a symbol, of those who are. Thus though individual believers have an inheritance that needs to be redeemed, the “perpetual possession” of the inheritance (eternal life) of the saints as a group is secure.