Newsletter 5861-022
The 2nd Year of the 5th Sabbatical Cycle
The 30th year of the 120th Jubilee Cycle
The 1st day of the 6th month, 5861 years after the creation of Adam
The 5th Sabbatical Cycle after the 119th Jubilee Cycle
The Sabbatical Cycle of the Red Heifer, Famine, Captivity & The 2 Witnesses
July 26, 2025
Shabbat Shalom to the Royal Family of Yehovah,
Shabbat Shalom to you all.
Cognitive Dissonance!
Yes, this week we are going to discuss the mental attitude that many of us possess. It is time to get serious with your sins as we approach these 40 days leading up to the Day of Atonement. The last day to have your name found in the book of life.
Everyone who supports this work is entitled to get all of our PDFs and audiobooks from Sightedmoon as our way of thanking you.
I am asking those of you who are not supporters to start now by donating just $10-$20 per month. If just 1000 of you would do that each month for the next year, the difference we could make in the Philippines and elsewhere. I have already had to pass on a number of things because we did not have the funding.
All of us see the sword coming. We are all collectively the watchman spoken of in Ezekiel 33. We all have a responsibility to warn those who do not know what is coming and to wake up the sleeping 10 virgins.
Ezk 33:1 And the Word of Jehovah came to me, saying,
Ezk 33:2 Son of man, speak to the sons of your people, and say to them: When I bring the sword on it, on a land, and take one man from the people of the land, of their borders, and set him for their watchman;
Ezk 33:3 if, when he sees the sword come on the land, he blows the trumpet and warns the people,
Ezk 33:4 then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword does come and take him away, his blood shall be on his own head.
Ezk 33:5 He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning. His blood shall be on himself. But he who takes warning shall deliver his soul.
Ezk 33:6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming, and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned; if the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity. But I will require his blood at the watchman’s hand.
Ezk 33:7 And you, son of man, I have set you a watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore you shall hear the Word from My mouth, and warn them from Me.
Ezk 33:8 When I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die; if you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked one shall die in his iniquity; but I will require his blood at your hand.
Ezk 33:9 But, if you warn the wicked of his way, to turn from it; if he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul.
I may be the one speaking and moving from place to place, but this ministry is comprised of those on our executive team, those who debate with me on Shabbat, those who pray for this work every day, and those who support this work financially. It takes all of us together to do this work. Not everyone can do what James does to maintain the site. That is his job.
You all can see what I am trying to do and who I am trying to reach. It will require funding to accomplish some of it. It will take prayers to open certain doors to other parts of this work. I do not ask for your tithes, but I do ask for your support. If those teachings you have learned here at SightedMoon.com have blessed you, then please consider supporting those who are working to help you grow spiritually.
Neh 13:10 And I saw that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them; for the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each one to his field.
Neh 13:11 And I contended with the rulers and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together and set them in their place.
Neh 13:12 And all Judah brought the tithe of the grain and the new wine and the oil into the treasuries.
Neh 13:13 And I made treasurers over the treasuries, Shelemiah the priest, and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah. And next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah. For they were counted faithful, and their office was to distribute to their brothers.
Neh 13:14 Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds which I have done for the house of my God, and for the offices of it.
I pray to Yehovah that You will not blot out our work. I pray that Yehovah will cause it to be shared now in these last days and throughout the 7th millennium, to teach people about the Jubilee cycles and how this understanding helps them to understand prophecy, both now and again at the end of the 7th millennium. I pray Father Yehovah that you will rain down a blessing on each and every person supporting this work at this time. Protect them and their families from the sword that is coming. I pray, Father, you will weigh heavily on those who do not or will not support this work in any way. I pray, Father, for your help in my old age, to strengthen me and give me great health to do all that must be done in waking up both the foolish and the wise. Help us complete this work. Find us all busy at our stations and not asleep as some, which you, as that Thief in the Night, will now find. Please, Father, bless us as we do this work.
Torah Portion
Torah Portions
We read through the entire Torah along with the Prophets and the New Testament, once over the course of 3 1/2 years. Or according to the Sabbatical Cycle which means we read it all twice over a 7-year period. This allows us to cover more in-depth rather than being rushed to cover as much as is covered on an annual basis. We allow all to comment and take part in the discussions.
Septennial Torah Portion
If you go to Torah Portion in our archived section, you can then go to the 1st year, which is the 1st year of the Sabbatical Cycle, the one we are in now, as we state at the top of every Newsletter. There, you can scroll down to the proper date and see that this Shabbat, we could very well be midrashing about:
Exodus 30
Isaiah 55-56
Proverb 1
John 20-21
We are in the 1st Sabbatical Cycle in 2024-2025. We go through the entire bible twice in a 7 year cycle. This means we cover the entire bible once every 3 1/2 years. It gives us more time to debate and discuss each portion we read.
If you missed last week’s exciting discoveries as we studied that section, you can go and watch past Shabbats on our media section.
It Was A Riddle Not A Command
It Was A Riddle Not A Command
Listen to this Podcast discussing one of Joseph’s most popular books.
You Can Learn the Secret Meaning of:
No One Knows the Day of the Hour
Why does no One Know When Jesus was born?
When Does the Thief in the Night Come?
Why Are the Foolish Virgins Rejected?
No One Knows The Day or The Hour is a Hebrew idiom or parable.
Jesus spoke in parables to conceal His message which He later explained to the Apostles.
No One Knows The Day or the Hour is telling you the very day He will come back on!
The exact opposite to what you thought it said!
This is the very same day when He first came.
The Book of Revelation Tells you the very day and hour He was born.
You are given clues in Revelation about the thief that comes in the night, about being caught naked and ashamed. All of these clues tell you about the very day He is coming back.
Paul wrote to the Thessalonians telling them they had no need to write them about the Day of the Lord
FOR THEY KNEW FULL WELL THE MOEDIM!!!
Knowing the Moedim shows you the Day and Hour No Man Can Know.
We are also told about the Two Witnesses in the Book of Revelation…
What revelations do the Two Witnesses show you about the birth of Jesus?
There was a heavenly Host praising God when Jesus was born.
This, too, tells you the Day He was born.
Are you aware that the 5 Foolish Virgins did not understand what the Thief in the Night was?
Do You?
All these questions and so much more are explained in detail.
It was a Riddle for us to figure out.
It was not a command that we could not know.
We can KNOW.
YOU Can Know!
Thoroughly researched and profoundly significant!
5.0 out of 5 stars
There just isn’t a better book on Christian prophecy than this! What an eye opener!
Of the many books and articles that I have read on prophecy in my personal search for truth, this is the only one that does not rely on old ideas that were developed hundreds of years ago when knowledge was minimal. So much more has been learned through historical and archeological research. The world has changed so much that before now no one could have clearly envisioned how prophecy might play out.
I think the average Christian doesn’t realize that recent developments in technology and huge increases in knowledge offer us a unique opportunity to raise the veil so that we might see clearly what was once hidden behind a dark glass.
After learning about these things and seriously considering the Bible, with a willingness to set aside my traditional beliefs about prophecy, I have come to the conclusion that this book is inspired by God. Mr. Dumond presents compelling information that overturns long held assumptions and unverified beliefs making the entire body of prophetic knowledge fully accessible. As a matter of fact I think that just about anyone with no previous knowledge of the Bible would understand things that scholars have devoted their lives to explaining.
I would like everyone to know what is being shown in the pages of this book. No serious truth seeker should pass up the opportunity to have their eyes opened through its revelations. I believe it is the most important book ever written,- next to the Bible itself.
Thank you Joseph Dumond.
Amazon Customer: Ross Boraan
Order your copy Today!
The Mystery of the Jewish Rapture 2033
The Mystery of the Jewish Rapture 2033
Podcast Review of Joseph’s Book “The Mystery of the Jewish Rapture”
No beating around the bush.
Everyone Knows We are Close to the End.
We can Prove it with the Jubilee Cycles.
It is Time Now to Learn.
Order your copy Today!
The Stones Cry Out Part 1 & Part 2
The Stones Cry Out Part 1 & Part 2
Do you want to know how to prove the Zadok Calendar, the Enoch Calendar, and the Book of Jubilee Calendar false?
Do you want to know how the calendar issue became so confusing?
I got this awesome endorsement and I want to share it here now. with you.
In The Stones Cry Out, I walk you through the history of each change and why those changes came about, starting with the Maccabean days. Yes, it all began around 164 B.C. When Yehshua was here, he was dealing with two schools of thought. The Sadducees were all but wiped out when the Temple fell in 70 C.E. This left only the Pharisees, who began to be persecuted after the failure of the Bar Kochbah Revolt in 134 C.E.
The truth began to become out of focus around 160 C.E. when Rabbi Jose wrote the Seder Olam. This work originally was written to proof Simon Bar Kochbah was the Messiah. When that did not pan out the history was later revived and then redacted as the truth into the Mishneh Torah by Rabbi Judah ha Nasi in 180 C.E. After this the Jerusalem Talmud begins to debate these issues. It was then during this time as the Jerusalem Talmudist are forced to flee and the Babylonian Talmudist continue to grow until the 6th century that Hillel came up with a solution to help them keep the Holy Days at the proper time while they were out of the land of Israel. He did this in 358 C.E. This work was then modified and adjusted over the next 800 years with additions added and other rejected. Until it was finally redacted once again in 1177 by Rambam. And with that we now have the modern Hillel calendar which includes the errors passed on during each redaction. These errors included the time of the Sabbatical and Jubilee years.
Once the Temple was destroyed in 70 C.E., the Jews recorded time by counting from the time It was destroyed. This is why the 40 tombstones of Zoar, which record this information, are crucial to understand.
When you understand why the Postponement rules were first created so that the crescent moon would not be seen in another part of the world before it was seen in Israel then you can understand how they were still trying to follow the crescent moon to begin the month. The Tombstones show us this exact thing. The tombstones also show us when the Jews changed from a crescent moon to a Conjunction moon to begin the month. They also show us when the Jews changed the year from the month of Aviv to the Tishri to begin the year.
I really want you to understand these things so you know why you do what you do as far as following a calendar to keep Yehovah’s moedim.
Get your Free copies of The Stones Cry Out Part 1 and Part 2 here https://sightedmoon.com/the-stones-cry-out-lp/
And share this information with your FB friends and Bibles Study groups. If they don’t like it, it never cost them anything.
Get your copy today. If you want a paperback copy, I have them on Amazon for the least amount they would let me post them there. Order both of them and start to understand the history of how these changes affect those who follow Yehovah and keep His Feasts.
I would like to add this recent comment to encourage you all to get this book and learn these truths. And the Book is FREE. You have no reason not to get it.
Most people assume that Hillel created the calendar in 358 C.E. They then assume that because it was a Sanhedrin, they are not allowed to change in order to obey Yehovah. The Hillel calendar has been changed many times since 358 C.E. up until 1177 C.E. Few people talk about these changes but we do in our latest Book The Stones Cry Out Part 1 which is free on our website. The Hillel calendar was changed on many occasions and many sought to make other changes during this time. They never needed a Bet Din to approve those changes. They just did them. So this excuse that we do not have the right to obey Yehovah because the Bet Din has not approved it is a crock of crap.
You have the obligation to obey Yehovah. You have the duty to prove which calendar you are to go by. You must prove it beyond all doubt. Yehshua never followed the Hillel calendar. Nor did any of the Apostles.
The reason no man can know the day or the hour is because it refers to a crescent moon to begin the 7th month. That is the day He was born on and the day He comes to judge on. At a day and hour no one can know. Using the Hillel calendar predicts Yom Teruah years in advance so every one knows when to keep it. But even in the Hillel calendar they keep two days of Yom Teruah reckoning back to the sighted moon. Also in the postponement rules developed long after Hillel, they again state that if the conjunction is at a certain time then the day begins at such and such, in order that the moon will not be seen in another part of the world before it is seen in Israel. That was rule number 2.
Everyone has to choose. You have the right to be wrong. But if you choose to be wrong then you also must live with the consequences that come with sin. And that is the death penalty for not keeping the Holy Days, these Sabbath at the proper time. It is your choice.
Just because you write in to me to justify your position does mean it is right. It just means your sounding off.
Allow me to share this endorsement of our latest book again. If you have read our books, please share your thoughts about them with us in the comments below or email me.
And yes, many observe the Equinox. There are many who are deceived, improperly educated. And this is why Joe puts out a newsletter every week, why he writes books, why the SightedMoon Zoom Shabbat service started, why he travels to places like England and the Philippines to share this message and why were are going to the NRB in February. The calendar is always a divisive issue in social circles because the details are many, that’s why there are so many books Joe has written. I’m not looking to put Joe on a pedestal here. This is not about Joe worship. But Joe has tenaciously studied out the calendar from every angle, not to prove himself right, to to seek to find and share what Yehovah is telling us about His Calendar.
In The Stones Cry Out, Joe has shared the history of all the different groups within Israel, and the beliefs they had about the scriptures and the feast days and the calendar. When you line it all up, you can see for yourself the how and why these misunderstandings and arguments about how and where and why they came about.
This is my new favourite book and I’m only 60-70 pages in. And I encourage you to read the footnotes in this one. Sometimes there’s more footnote on the page than Joe’s words.
Sombra Wilson
When I wrote Stones Cry Out, I wanted it to be one of our FREE books so everyone would have it. It is more of an encyclopedia than a book to read. It will be your quick resource book; you will have access to every question about any calendar, how it got started, and who started it. You will also learn the history of how the Mishnah was assembled, when it was assembled and why. Then, you will learn how that information was transferred into both the Jerusalem and the Babylonian Talmud until it reached its final stage in the Mishneh Torah. Along with this progression, the calendar also progressed and changed long after 358 C.E. when Rabbi Hillel first published it. But…what was before the Hillel calendar? What does the Mishnah record about those things?
The Stones Cry Out was originally going to be one book explaining all the various proofs we have discovered, demonstrating when the Sabbatical and Jubilee years are throughout history.
You can know; it is not a mystery.
As I began to write The Stones Cry Out, I quickly found myself going back, time and time again, to explain how the calendar is behind the confusion of the Sabbatical and Jubilee years. The Rabbis, as they began to write the Mishnah, incorporated wrong understandings, and those errors were written into what became known as the Talmud and then the Mishneh Torah. The expulsion from the land and subsequent persecutions in trying to send out messengers to report the barley being found or the crescent moon being seen, proved to be more and more dangerous over time. All of these things took place over 14 centuries.
Then as I was working on The Stones Cry Out, I discovered that many people were now accepting the Zadok calendar as factual. This is when we pivoted to include all the details of the various calendars that have crept back into public knowledge today and are being used to mislead new people who are just starting to learn about the calendar. All of this was directly connected to the period starting with the Hasmonaeans, up to the destruction of the Temple. Then, with the compiling of the Mishnah, the studies that led into the writing of the Jerusalem Talmud, then the Babylonian Talmud and finally the Mishneh Torah, each error that was added is compounded over time.
The Stones Cry Out, Part 1 explains the history of how each compilation of the Oral Torah incorporated errors, leading the followers thereof away from the actual Torah. In understanding these facts, it is then possible to understand more readily how the Sabbatical and Jubilee years were then mixed and later changed. By explaining all this history, I will be able to help you the reader understand the tombstones when most authorities do not. They have assumed, to their error, the Hillel calendar to have always been in use since Mount Sinai. Not understanding the history of the calendars is why most authorities dismiss the tombstones as too confusing to use. Once you understand The Stones Cry Out Part 1, Part 2 will be very easy to grasp.
Daniel 7:25 tells us he will change the appointed seasons and commandments. Many assume Constantine did this when he made Sunday the Sabbath. Few have considered the calendar’s many changes and how they relate to us today. Hidden in this proverbial swamp of confusion is the truth about the Sabbatical and Jubilee years. The Sabbatical and Jubilee years reveal the truths about the calendar that have been hidden for almost 2000 years.
We are in the very last days and Yehshua warned us that during this time:
Mat 24:10 And then many will be offended, and will betray one another, and will hate one another.
Mat 24:11 And many false prophets will rise and deceive many.
Mat 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many will become cold.
Mat 24:13 But he who endures to the end, the same shall be kept safe.
Paul also warned Timothy about these last days, warning that some would leave the truth and begin to follow demonic teachers:
1Ti 4:1 But the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and teachings of demons,
Paul again warned the Thessalonians that the Great Falling away would take place in the last days. How can you fall away if you have never come to know the truth? So who is Paul talking to? Those who are called and answer that calling begin to walk this road of restoration back to Yehovah, and then at some point along that walk, they change and leave this walk following the teachings of demons to false calendar.
2Th 2:1 Now we beseech you, my brothers, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,
2Th 2:2 that you should not be soon shaken in mind or troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word or letter, as through us, as if the Day of Christ is at hand.
2Th 2:3 Let not anyone deceive you by any means. For that Day shall not come unless there first comes a falling away, and the man of sin shall be revealed, the son of perdition,
2Th 2:4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, setting himself forth, that he is God.
We must endure until the end. We must not let ourselves become offended by personalities and leave the faith once given.
I want you all to have access to and the ability to read this book and use it as a reference. https://sightedmoon.com/the-stones-cry-out-lp/ Click on the link fill in the form and you will have access to the FREE PDF anywhere in the world. If you want a copy you can hold in your hands we have published it at Amazon for the lowest price they would allow us. Order you copy after Shabbat and begin to read it today.
Join Our Sabbath Meetings
Join Our Sabbath Meetings
There are many people in need of fellowship and who are sitting at home on the Sabbath with no one to talk to or debate with. I want to encourage all of you to join us on Shabbat, and to invite others to come and join us as well. If the time is not convenient then you can listen to the teaching and the midrash after on our YouTube channel.
What are we doing and why do we teach this way?
We are going to discuss both sides of an issue and then let you choose. It is the work of the Ruach (Spirit) to direct and to teach you.
The medieval commentator Rashi wrote that the Hebrew word for wrestle (avek) implies that Jacob was “tied”, for the same word is used to describe knotted fringes in a Jewish prayer shawl, the tzitzityot. Rashi says, “thus is the manner of two people who struggle to overthrow each other, that one embraces the other and knots him with his arms”.
Our intellectual wrestling has been replaced by a different kind of struggle. We are wrestling with Yehovah as we grapple with His Word. It is an intimate act, symbolizing a relationship in which Yehovah and you and I are bound together. My wrestling is a struggle to discover what Yehovah expects of us, and we are “tied” to the One who assists us in that struggle.
Today, many say Israel means “Champion of God”, or better — the “Wrestler of God”.
Our Torah sessions each Shabbat teaches you and encourages you to constantly challenge, question, argue against, as well as view alternative views and explanations of the Word. In other words, we are to “wrestle with the Word” to get to the truth. Jews worldwide believe that you need to wrestle with the Word and constantly challenge Dogma, Theology, and views or else you will never get to the Truth.
We are not like most churches where “The preacher talks and everyone listens.” We encourage everyone to participate, to question and to contribute what they know on the subject being discussed. We want you to be a champion wrestler of the Word of Yehovah. We want you to wear the title of Israel, knowing that you not only know but are capable of explaining why you know the Torah to be true with logic and facts.
We have a few rules though. Let others talk and listen. There is no discussion about UFO’s, Nephilim, Vaccines or conspiracy-type subjects. We have people from around the world with different world views. Not everyone cares who is the President of any particular country. Treat each other with respect as fellow wrestlers of the word. Some of our subjects are hard to understand and require you to be mature and if you do not know, then listen to gain knowledge and understanding and hopefully wisdom. The very things you are commanded to ask Yehovah for and He gives to those who ask.
Jas 1:5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and with no reproach, and it shall be given to him.
We hope you can invite those who want to keep Torah to come and join us by hitting the link below. It is almost like a Torah teaching fellowship talk show with people from around the world taking part and sharing their insights and understandings.
We start off with some music and then some prayers and it’s as though you were sitting around the kitchen back in Newfoundland having a cup of coffee and all of us enjoying each other’s company. I hope you will grace us with your company someday.
Sabbath services begin at 12:30 PM EDT where we will be doing prayers, songs and teaching from this hour.
Shabbat midrash will begin at about 1:15 pm Eastern.
We look forward to you joining our family and getting to know us as we get to know you.
Joseph Dumond is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Joseph Dumond’s Personal Meeting Room
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Our Celtic Roots
Our Celtic Roots
The New Moon of the 6th Month
The New Moon of the 6th Month
Through the Eyes of a Minister’s Daughter
Through the Eyes of a Minister’s Daughter
Amara Abrina
THE BOOK OF MALACHI
I’ve been sounding the alarm on Yehovah’s Jubilee Cycles for nearly 20 years, calling His remnant back to Torah obedience amid these closing days of the 120th Jubilee (1996–2045). As we stand in 2025, the second year of the 10 Days of Awe, with wildfires devouring lands like the coals of the Thief in the Night judging the unfaithful, questions flood in about why people ignore the obvious signs around us.
1 Thessalonians 5:2, MKJV: “For you yourselves know accurately that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night”
How can folks see wars escalating, weather turning apocalyptic, and disasters mounting, yet not connect the dots to Yehovah’s warnings? The answer lies in cognitive dissonance—a mental tug-of-war that keeps hearts hardened, much like Pharaoh in Exodus, who saw plagues but refused to repent.
Exodus 7:13, MKJV: “And Pharaoh’s heart hardened, and he did not listen to them, as Jehovah had said.”
This isn’t just psychology, brethren; it’s spiritual blindness, the “strong delusion” of:
2 Thessalonians 2:11 MKJV: “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.”
Today, we’ll unpack cognitive dissonance with Scripture’s sword, tying it to the Beast’s deception and the curses of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 unfolding before our eyes. Since October 7, 2023—the abomination igniting end-time woes—wars and extreme weather have surged, yet many dismiss them as “normal” or “climate change,” not sin’s consequence.
Defining Cognitive Dissonance: The Mental Battle of Conflicting Truths
Cognitive dissonance, first described by psychologist Leon Festinger in 1957, is the discomfort or tension we feel when our beliefs, attitudes, or behaviours clash with new evidence or realities.[Festinger, Leon. A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. 1957.] From Latin roots—”cognoscere” (to know) and “dissonare” (to sound apart)—it’s like a mental cacophony, the brain’s alarm when ideas don’t harmonize.[Etymonline, “Cognitive, Dissonance.” 2025. https://www.etymonline.com.] Picture holding two opposing thoughts: you believe you’re healthy, but a doctor’s report says otherwise. The stress pushes you to resolve it—change your lifestyle, deny the report, or rationalize “it’s not that bad.” Merriam-Webster calls it “psychological conflict from incongruous beliefs held simultaneously,” while Oxford adds the anxiety from incompatible actions.[Psychology Today, “Cognitive Dissonance.” 2024. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/cognitive-dissonance, Merriam-Webster, “Cognitive Dissonance.” 2025. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cognitive%20dissonance.] PsychCentral notes it’s universal, affecting everything from diets to politics, with people often choosing denial over change to ease the pain.[Oxford Dictionary, “Cognitive Dissonance.” 2025. https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/cognitive-dissonance.]
Brethren, this isn’t modern jargon—Yehovah wired us this way, but sin twists it into rebellion. When truth confronts falsehood, the carnal mind resists.
Romans 8:7 (MKJV) warns: “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be.”
Cognitive dissonance explains why people see miracles yet harden hearts, like the crowds who saw Yehshua heal but crucified Him.
(John 12:37, MKJV: “But though He had done so many miracles before them, yet they did not believe on Him”).
In the end times, it’s the Beast’s tool to deceive, as
Revelation 13:14 (MKJV): “And he deceives those dwelling on the earth because of those signs which were given to him to do before the beast.”
People cling to lies despite evidence, resolving dissonance by rejecting Yehovah’s call.
Cognitive Dissonance in a Biblical Context: From Pharaoh to the End Times
Brethren, cognitive dissonance is spiritual warfare, where Satan blinds minds to Yehovah’s truth
2 Corinthians 4:4, MKJV: “In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ (who is the image of God) should shine on them.”
In Exodus 7-12, Pharaoh’s dissonance is classic: plagues of blood, frogs, gnats, flies, livestock death, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and firstborn slayings confronted his belief in Egypt’s gods and his divinity:
Exodus 7:17, MKJV: “Thus says Jehovah, In this you shall know that I am Jehovah. Behold, I will smite with the rod in my hand upon the waters in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.”
Each plague clashed with his worldview, yet he rationalized—”the magicians did likewise” for the first three (Exodus 7:22, MKJV)—or hardened his heart, denying Yehovah’s power until destruction:
Exodus 12:29-30, MKJV: “And it came to pass at midnight, that Jehovah smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt… and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.”
This pattern repeats in end times: people see signs but don’t repent, as
Revelation 9:20-21 (MKJV): “And the rest of the men who were not killed by these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands… Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.”
What was the dissonance? Holding on to idols while curses fall.
Leviticus 26:1, MKJV: “You shall make no idols to yourselves… for I am Jehovah your God.”
At sightedmoon.com, we’ve seen this in reactions to our teachings—folks dismiss the Jubilee cycles or the 2020 daily cessation because it challenges traditions, resolving tension by rejection rather than repentance. It is easier to talk about Chem trails, flat earth, Nephilim, giants, the Vax, and political leaders than it is to reason on obeying Yehovah.
Jeremiah 6:16, MKJV: “Thus says Jehovah, Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths where the good way is, and walk in it, and you shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk in it.”
The Beast exploits this: deceiving with signs (2 Thessalonians 2:9, MKJV: “whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders”), people believe the lie because they “did not receive the love of the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:10, MKJV). Cognitive dissonance keeps them trapped—seeing evil but not turning, they will not repent and begin to obey.
Cognitive Dissonance in Extreme Weather and Wars: Seeing Curses but Denying Sin
Brethren, nowhere is cognitive dissonance more evident than in how the world views the spike in wars and extreme weather since October 7, 2023—the abomination that launched these woes at the Nova Festival and the recent flash floods that killed many people— the true cause remains oblivious to them. People witness devastation but refuse to link it to Yehovah’s curses for sin in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, rationalizing it as a “coincidence” or “climate change” instead of repenting. Let’s examine the data, then the spiritual blindness.
Since October 7, 2023, wars have intensified, with battle deaths rising to 170,700 in 2023 (an 11% increase from 153,100 in 2022), and estimates for 2024 are at 160,000—the highest since 2019 (Uppsala Conflict Data Program).[Fondapol, “Terrorism Deaths 1996-2025.” 2025.] Active conflicts rose to 59 in 2023 (highest since WWII), with nine major wars (up from 8). Civilian deaths surged 72% to 33,000 in 2023, with child violations at 32,990 (UN reports). Key: Israel-Gaza (56,500 deaths), Ukraine (71,000 in 2023), Sudan/Myanmar escalations. Compared to 2003-2023 (~70,000 deaths/year average), post-2023 shows 20-30% increase in fatalities/conflicts.
Extreme weather has exploded: 2023 had 28 US billion-dollar disasters ($93 billion cost, NOAA record); 2024 had 20+ by July (~$50 billion), above 2003-2023 average of 8/year (rising to 18/year recently).[ Globally, 2023-2025 heat records shattered (2023 hottest at 14.98°C, 2024 hotter); wildfires (Canada 2023 burned 18.5 million hectares, 3x average); floods (Brazil 2024 killed 150+); storms (2024 Atlantic 20+ named). Costs: $143 billion/year from climate, 2023-2025 ~$200-300 billion annually, up 50% from 2003-2023. Frequency: Up 83% in climate events 2000-2019 vs. 1980-1999, accelerating post-2023 (WMO). Attribution: Climate change boosted 72+ events since 2023 (Carbon Brief).
Yet, people see this but don’t associate it with curses:
Leviticus 26:19-20 (MKJV: “And I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heaven like iron and your earth like bronze. And your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield its increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits”);
Deuteronomy 28:23-24 (MKJV: “And your heavens over your head shall be bronze, and the earth that is under you iron. Jehovah shall make the rain of your land powder and dust. It shall come down from the heavens on you until you are destroyed”).
Dissonance: Believing “it’s just weather” or “human-caused,” not sin’s consequence, they resolve tension by denial, not repentance:
Romans 1:18-20, MKJV: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness… so that they are without excuse”).
At SightedMoon.com, we’ve seen folks dismiss Jubilee curses as “Old Testament,” missing Yehshua’s fulfillment didn’t abolish consequences:
Matthew 5:17-18, MKJV: “Do not think that I have come to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to destroy but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, Till the heaven and the earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle shall in any way pass from the Law until all is fulfilled”).
Breaking Free from Cognitive Dissonance Through Torah Obedience
Brethren, Yehovah offers you a way to escape from dissonance:
“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32, MKJV).
The Torah—Sabbaths, Feasts, commandments—is the anchor, aligning your mind, your soul with His.
(Psalm 119:105, MKJV: “Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path”).
In these days, as curses unfold, returning to obedience is the only way to break the chain that curse us.
Leviticus 26:19, MKJV: “And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass,”
(Deuteronomy 30:1-2, MKJV: “And it shall be when all these things have come on you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you shall call them to mind among all the nations where Jehovah your God has driven you, and shall return to Jehovah your God and shall obey His voice according to all that I command you today, you and your sons, with all your heart, and with all your soul.”
At SightedMoon.com, thousands have overcome dissonance by embracing the Torah truths. This is why we focus on Torah each week and do not chase endless fables down never-ending rabbit holes.
Isaiah 8:20, MKJV: “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this Word, it is because no light is in them”).
Brethren, choose truth over comfort—repent, keep His ways, and shine in the darkness! This forward about cognitive dissonance is a result of the teaching given next by Tom Bradford who triggered in me a whole lot of “right ons” as he studied into Malachi. Ask yourself how complacent you have become by explaining away those things happening all around you.
THE BOOK OF MALACHI
Lesson 4, Chapter 1 Continued 2
By Tom Bradford
We will continue our journey through Malachai in our steady and deliberate fashion because the inspired work and what it presents to us demands it. I’ll remind you that because of the way Malachai is constructed there is something important to talk about at every turn.
It is only logical that every year that goes by, and the dimension of time puts more distance between us and the actual event when an ancient biblical document was written, it would naturally result in more obscurity of how that culture thought, or how we are able to identify with what is written, and thus it is harder to discern what is meant by the narrative we read. On the other hand, while what I just said is true, it is ironic that in the modern age, because of the increase of interest and knowledge of the ancient Semitic languages and script, and the discovery of scores of thousands of cuneiform documents along with a better ability to accurately translate those records, and with each generation of scholars building upon work of the previous, suddenly we find ourselves in the strange position of having MORE knowledge and understanding of some of those biblical documents as each year goes by than we did 1000 years ago. This is a rather new phenomenon, and I can only assume that God has a reason for wanting us to know a lot of things that not that long ago were unknown and seemingly unknowable.
As I have mentioned a few times, the somewhat recent academic study discipline of cognate languages (that is, languages that existed earlier than biblical Hebrew, but out of which the Hebrew language evolved and eventually separated), has resulted in the eruption of an even newer field of biblical study that recognizes, and is able to identify, ancient biblical Hebrew cultural idioms, expressions, and figures of speech in the Holy Scriptures. Idioms and figures of speech by their nature defy what we would call a literal translation because the sum of the words carries a meaning that is different than what the individual words used in their literal sense mean. A typical American idiom or expression like “don’t let the cat out of the bag” loses its meaning if taken literally, word for word. When those words are strung together, it simply means not to divulge a secret. It works that way because that string of words forms a recognized and understood expression. So, since we are now finding scores of Hebrew idioms and expressions in the Hebrew Bible, this means that reading the Old Testament as we find it in our English Bibles needs much revision or at least a revision of how we are to understand the intent of those words. The ironic part is that we have only yet to understand what a few of those idioms actually mean. So, it seems that many things that Christian (and sometimes Jewish) scholars and pastors think were being said in the Bible, were not. Thank goodness, Christ never told anyone to go fly a kite or sacred kite flying would probably be part of every worship service.
Since perhaps the most significant aspect of the Book of Malachai is that it represents the end of the Prophetic era… Malachai being the final biblical Prophet (chronologically speaking) of the Old Testament genre… and since Malachai rushes by certain statements that are actually major biblical principles, but he gives us no explanation for, or definition of, them… then it is important that we pause to look at all of this with both a magnifying glass and from a wide-angle lens. As you have seen thus far in our study, sometimes looking at a single word or phrase and better interpreting it through the lens of all the relatively recent research, can give us a far better and deeper insight on intended meaning on the one hand, and result in a different conclusion of the overall meaning of an oracle of God on the other.
It is actually very much like our recent astrophysics and astronomic research that has been so greatly enhanced by the deployment of the Hubble space telescope, and now joined by other and even more sophisticated space telescopes. It has enabled scientists to look further back in time to the actual beginning moment of the Universe, such that some things we thought we knew, were wrong. That is, instead of the logical assumption of passing time producing a larger and larger distance between humanity and the Creation event that would naturally create a more and more obscured ability to understand it, and thus introduce greater and greater error in our conclusions, new research and technology has actually found a way to look further back in time and reveal some underlying fundamentals of the creation of the Universe that we never knew were there. The result is that many old and settled conclusions have found themselves in need of revision.
The challenge now becomes this new information and reality filtering down to our Bibles, and then even further to the Seminaries, Pastors and Churches. Even then, however, the question becomes: with all this new information will the Church governments be willing to amend some of their most cherished doctrines to conform with the better understanding (in some cases) of what God’s Word says? Or will the Church find it too threatening or complicated to change those doctrines and simply stay the course? I’m sorry to say that thus far, history says they will just stay the course. So… what will you do?
In our previous lesson we opened up the 2nd burden given to Malachai that begins at chapter 1 verse 6. God unloads on the Levitical Priesthood. It’s best if we re-read this portion to set the foundation for today’s study.
RE-READ MALACHAI CHAPTER 1:6 – end
Mal 1:6 A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My fear? says Jehovah of Hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. And you say, In what way have we despised Your name?
Mal 1:7 You offer defiled bread upon My altar; and you say, In what way have we defiled You? In your saying, The table of Jehovah, it is a thing to be despised.
Mal 1:8 And if you offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if you offer the lame and the sick, is it not evil? Bring it now to your governor. Will he accept you, or lift up your face, says Jehovah of Hosts?
Mal 1:9 And now entreat the face of God, that He favor us. This has been by your hands, will He lift up your faces, says Jehovah of Hosts?
Mal 1:10 Who is even among you who will shut the doors, and you not kindle fire on My altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says Jehovah of Hosts. I will not be pleased with an offering from you.
Mal 1:11 For from the rising of the sun even to its going in, My name shall be great among the nations; and everywhere incense shall be offered to My name, and a pure food offering. For My name shall be great among the nations, says Jehovah of Hosts.
Mal 1:12 But you are profaning it when you say, The table of Jehovah, it is polluted; and its fruit, His food, is to be despised.
Mal 1:13 You also said, Behold, what a weariness it is! And you have puffed at it, says Jehovah of Hosts. And you bring plunder, and the lame, and the sick, and you bring the food offering. Should I accept it from your hand, says Jehovah?
Mal 1:14 But cursed be a deceiver; and there is in his flock a male, yet he vows it, but sacrifices to Jehovah a blemished one. For I am a great king, says Jehovah of Hosts, and My name is feared among the nations.
While it is the Priesthood that is specifically named, nonetheless God’s accusations pertain to the entire nation… all the Jews of Yehud (and without doubt, also to all the Jews living in the Diaspora). The primary accusation is that the duty of the Priesthood to teach truth, as taken from the Torah, to all the Jewish people had been neglected. In the minds of the priests, they had been teaching truth. In the minds of the people, they had been hearing these truths. In reality the priests were teaching manmade doctrines that they claimed were proper interpretations of God’s Word, and so the people were learning those manmade doctrines all the while believing they were learning the divine truth.
I enjoy the conversational style of the narrative that sets up an imagined conversation between God and the personified collective Priesthood. It is God who accuses the priests, and then they respond by being incredulous about why God would say what He said about them. Essentially, they are denying God’s accusations. The accusations begin with this statement:
CJB Malachi 1:6 “A son honors his father and a servant his master. But if I’m a father, where is the honor due me? and if I’m a master, where is the respect due me?- says Yehoveh-Tzva’ot to you cohanim who despise my name.
The collective response of the Priesthood is:
CJB Malachai 1:6 …’How are we despising your name?’
In modern terms, they are saying: “We disagree at such an unfounded accusation!” The first thing to understand about this statement is that this is not a simple matter of the Priests breaking a specific Torah Law. I also don’t think God is asking the Levite priests to recall the Exodus commandment (that is one of the 10 Commandments) for children to honor their parents. The priests would never think to question that commandment, nor ever think they were breaking it. Rather God is simply stating the fact that just as the undisputed Middle Eastern cultural proverb that a son is always supposed to honor his father, and a servant is always supposed to honor and obey his master, then so is Yehoveh the Father and Master of all Israel to be treated with at least as much honor and obedience. Maybe the priests have forgotten that God is their Father.
Probably because of the Lord’s Prayer of the New Testament, it is normal and customary for Believers to routinely refer to God as Father. However, this same thought wasn’t at the tip of the tongue or the front of the mind of the ancient Hebrews. Rather, for them, the term “father” when speaking of the Israelites as a people group was applied to the Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Abraham, specifically, was called Father Abraham by the earliest Israelites. It was Moses that first applied the term Father to God.
CJB Deuteronomy 32:6 You foolish people, so lacking in wisdom, is this how you repay Yehoveh? He is your father, who made you his! It was he who formed and prepared you!
Isaiah, and also Jeremiah, call Yehoveh the Father of Israel. Even so, neither the priests nor the Israelites looked upon God in this fatherly way. And here in Malachai, God is reminding them that they should. All along, Yehoveh has treated Israel as a son; so why haven’t they reciprocated by treating Him as their father? It’s the priesthood’s fault! It’s their job to formally educate the people in this and other truths, and to demonstrate it in their own behavior and actions, and they haven’t done either (according to the Prophet).
In the middle of Malachai 1:6, the CJB reads: “…if I’m a Master, where is the respect due Me?”. “Respect” is a much too weak of a word to translate the Hebrew word morah. Morah carries the sense of terror, awe, dread or fear. A servant was indeed in dread of his master because, generally speaking, a master could legally require anything, and do almost anything to a servant short of killing him. The conditions of that servant’s life were in his master’s hands at all times. So, a better more intended translation would be: “…if I’m a Master, where is the awe and dread due Me?”. The reason for God approaching the Levites in this way is that the relationship between them is based on covenant. Thus, obedience and allegiance to the already revealed will of God (as set down in the terms of the Law of Moses), established the nature of the relationship between God and Israel and it ought to have engendered as much awe and dread as love of Him. Remember: God has no interest in anyone’s warm feelings of affection towards Him. The only thing God accepts as love is obedience to His laws and commandments. So, it is not that the Levite Priests weren’t showing warm affections towards Yehoveh, or saying good things about Him; it’s that they were not obeying God’s covenant terms nor properly regarding His authority and kingship over them. And, as we’ll see, those covenant terms have much to do with the Levites’ main area of responsibility: teaching people the Torah and all the Hebrew Bible (as it existed up to that point in history).
So, how does God view their lack of obedience and reverence to Him? He says that it amounts to despising His name. And, He includes His name: Yehoveh Tzva’ot… Yehoveh of hosts… so that there can be no mistake. In Hebrew, the word for name is shem. Shem means a distinguishing mark or attribute. It is that character or attribute of a person that gives them their identity. So, when referring to God, God’s shem means the essence of God’s very being as a completely unique being; a being that is far above, and totally different from, every other being because all other beings are created. Therefore, God is saying to the Levites that it simply doesn’t matter what you say or claim, because you don’t obey Me out of proper fear and awe (God’s definition of love towards Him). In behaving this way, they have avoided or rejected the very person of God, which He calls “despising” His name.
I want to pause to point out something this passage highlights that is literally life and death. All this that we’re learning has no value whatsoever if we don’t apply it to our lives in the terms God expects of us. Knowing and doing are two different things.
CJB James 2:19-20 19 You believe that “God is one”? Good for you! The demons believe it too- the thought makes them shudder with fear! 20 But, foolish fellow, do you want to be shown that such “faith” apart from actions is barren?
The Levite Priesthood had the knowledge, yet they had hijacked the Hebrew faith and the Torah, and reformulated it essentially into some new Jewish religion made in their image, but selling it to the people as the true faith of God. The Israelite people went blindly along with them. A few centuries earlier, after Solomon’s death and a costly civil war which saw unified Israel split into two kingdoms… Judah and Ephriam/Israel… Jeroboam became king over Ephraim/Israel. He immediately installed his own separate priesthood, ordered a new and different temple, reworked the Torah, and started a new religion. The Levite Priesthood was following a similar path. If any of us think this applies only to the ancient Hebrews and their priests, and somehow Believers in Yeshua and the institutions created to acknowledge this belief are immune to this propensity to corrupt, we are sadly mistaken.
(Those following the Hillel, Zadock, Enoch, Lunar Sabbath have done exactly the same thing Mr Bradford is describing here.)
Folks, if we do as the Ephraim/Israelites did, and as the Levite Priesthood the 5th and 6th centuries B.C. did by changing God’s very image; and if we set aside His laws and commands and moral code and exchange them for modified ones that express our own doctrines, then in God’s economy, we are overtly saying that we despise Him. It simply doesn’t matter how we humans look at it or how we intended it. I’m not inventing this; it is right here before us in Malachai (and in many of the other Prophets that we’ve already studied). But, who among us wants to hear that indictment? Rather, we tend to respond much like the Levite Priests: we say, “No, God, you’re wrong! How could you say something like that about me and my Church?”. It is ironic that any human who claims to be a God-worshipper could think that when God reprimands us and tells us why we are being reprimanded, and informs us of what we are doing wrong, that we would respond by telling Him that perhaps He is wrong! Telling Him that He is judging us on the wrong criteria! Rather, we need to re-embrace the fact that God’s Word is the standard we are to strive for. His Word is the mirror we stand in front of to see if we, His worshippers and followers, are who we claim we are and are living out His manual for living the redeemed life. I tremble at how much Judaism and Christianity have deviated from God’s Word, deny that they have done so (even though what is taught is so often visibly and obviously well off the mark as compared to what the Bible plainly says), and then go right on as though all is well. Any of us who do not regularly test ourselves and what our leaders are telling us against what God’s Word says, is taking a big, and unnecessary, risk. And, the painful truth is that when we do this, it doesn’t really come from innocent error. It comes from us wanting our own way, or in being quite comfortable with what we believe, or from disinterest in discovering God’s truth, or in fear of finding out that what we have believed for many years might be wrong. And, leaders, teachers and elders, this applies doubly to us.
So, in verse 7, which is God’s response to the priests’ asking in what way are they despising His name, we read this:
CJB Malachi 1:7 By offering polluted food on my altar! Now you ask, ‘How are we polluting you?’ By saying that the table of Yehoveh doesn’t deserve respect;
The first part of God’s response has to do with the how the priests have neglected the proper discharge of their duties as the ones who are to officiate and tend to the altars and all that happens upon them. What is the polluted food? There are two possibilities, because the term “my altar” could be referring to 2 different things. Outside the front door of the Temple sanctuary is the large bronze altar that is also called the altar of burnt offering. This is where animals and the grain offerings are sacrificed and burnt up as sacrifices to Yehoveh. The other altar is the Altar of Showbread. This smaller altar is located inside the Temple sanctuary, in its front chamber called the Holy Place. There was no open fire on this altar except for incense that was burned on it. No animals were ever placed on it and it wasn’t really for sacrificing per se. Rather, 12 loaves of bread made from a very special recipe were put there, and rotated out with 12 fresh loaves every Shabbat. This is further complicated by the reality that in the first part of verse 7, what it really says is: “By offering polluted lechem on my altar”. In Hebrew, lechem has a double meaning. It can mean “bread”, just as we think of loaves of bread. But it is also the same word that means “food” in general. So, which is it in this verse? I think it is more likely the altar of burnt offerings being referenced because verse 8 immediately rolls into speaking about the unfit animals that are being used for sacrifice, and it is discussed even further in verse 14.
In sacrificing, polluting a sacrifice is mainly only possible as concerns the meat. There are indeed ways to pollute the showbread, or perhaps the grain part of every offering, but those ways have more to do with the condition of the worshipper or the priest than with some fault with the food items themselves. The word used here in Malachai for polluted is mego’al and it means to be ritually defiled. A defiled offering makes it ritually unsuitable for its purpose, and therefore unacceptable to God. Yet, the priests were knowingly using those defiled sacrifices.
The final part of verse 7 says: “… by saying that the table of Yehoveh doesn’t deserve respect”. This phrase “table of Yehoveh” only appears here in Malachai and nowhere else in the Bible. This has led some interpreters to conclude that it means the table upon which the Showbread is placed. That is, it is a special piece of furniture. But, the greater possibly is that it is an expression. It was a common Middle Eastern expression that was used in Europe as well. The phrase was “table of the king”. If this is the case (I think it clearly is) verse 7 was not referring to furniture, but rather to the king’s food supply. To eat from the table of the king meant that you ate food supplied by the monarchy often including actually dining with the king. It was an honor to be asked to partake, and of course, you got the best food available in the kingdom prepared by the best chefs because it was for the king.
The question, then, is what kind of sacrifice is being contemplated here, since there were several different kinds, each for a separate and unique purpose. There is not enough information to be certain about it. Yet, there are hints that might expose it. There is a daily offering of sacrifice that occurs morning and evening called the tamid. This offering is made on behalf of the entire people of Israel as a whole. Therefore, since this isn’t about any individual’s offense or personal concern, then there was no individual offender to supply and bring the sacrificial animal for slaughter. Instead, the priesthood supplied the needed animals from their own flocks and herds, and animals for the tamid were needed every day. It seems far more likely to me that this polluted food offering was that the priests would give themselves a break and occasionally used an animal for the tamid from the priestly herd that was damaged goods. This was never to be done, and likely God is calling these priests onto the carpet about it.
There was another side to offering a polluted sacrifice. It’s that people that were themselves polluted… ritually unclean… could contaminate an otherwise suitable sacrificial offering merely by touching it. A principle of ritual impurity is that an impure thing that contacts a pure thing, defiles that pure thing thus rendering it unclean. Impurity was transferable by touch, and sometimes by proximity. Thus, the priests could have been careless and somehow become ritually impure, and when they offered a sacrifice, the fact that they touched it polluted the sacrifice, which kept the disqualified animal from being used. Except, what we read tells us that the priests used these ritually defiled animals anyway. This action made God’s “food” (the table of Yehoveh) despised. Verse 8 tells us a little more about the nature of the animal and the pollution.
CJB Malachi 1:8 so that there’s nothing wrong with offering a blind animal as a sacrifice, nothing wrong with offering an animal that’s lame or sick. Try offering such an animal to your governor, and see if he will be pleased with you! Would he even receive you?” asks Yehoveh-Tzva’ot.
The CJB does as a number of standard English Bible texts do, and leaves out some words. The word often left untranslated is ki, which has the sense of time to it, and so ought to be translated as “when”. The RSV does a better job with this verse.
RSV Malachi 1:8 When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that no evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that no evil? Present that to your governor; will he be pleased with you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts.
So, the idea is that sometimes (when) blind, or lame, or sick animals are offered it is an evil thing for the priests to do… but it does not always happen and probably not as the rule. So, Malachai exposes that the priests don’t seem to see a problem with only occasionally offering up an unsuitable and defiled animal because it was blemished in some way, or improperly handled, that makes its use prohibited. This was a direct violation of a Torah law.
CJB Deuteronomy 15:21 But if it has a defect, is lame or blind, or has some other kind of fault, you are not to sacrifice it to Yehoveh your God;
What the priest does has direct bearing and connection to the covenant. They are supposed to be protectors and the par excellence observers of the covenant for the people, but their corrupt minds lead them to violate and have contempt for the covenant. Did the people know what the priests were doing wrong when they offered faulty animals? Of course! These were not arcane rules about sacrificing that only the priests knew; they were rules that had been in place for 800 years, and the people knew the rules because they had to personally bring sacrifices that adhered to the ritual requirements of the Law of Moses.
It is just human nature that when we observe a leader do what he or she tells you is something that you are not supposed to do, we have a couple of different reactions. We lose respect for the leader, see them as a hypocrite, or we see that behavior as a license to do the same ourselves. In that way, this wicked behavior gets passed on from the leadership to the people. Let’s make this more applicable to an average Believer in the 21st century.
While a sacrifice is not precisely the same thing as an offering given to your place of worship, the principles are biblically the same. The worth of your gift is indicated by its intrinsic value to you, the giver. For instance: if you make $1000 per week in pay, and you put a $20 bill in the offering box as your weekly tithe, you have just established that gift’s worth, before God, as amounting to very little in His eyes because it cost you so very little. But, if a person making $100 a week puts a $20 bill in the offering box as their weekly tithe, the intrinsic value is very great in God’s eyes because it was very costly for that person. It is that intrinsic value, as opposed to its market or face value, by which God judges the giver.
As for a sacrifice that is polluted (defiled, unclean) it is different than a tithe in that no matter who gives it, it has a value of zero. Even worse, God will not accept a polluted sacrifice. In fact, it would be better to have not given a sacrifice at all because such a sacrifice says to God that you have no fear of Him and in fact are showing Him contempt.
An immutable biblical principle is that when we give to God… whether required as our obligation or as a free-will gift… it must be from our best or God rejects it. If it is not from our best, or it is knowingly polluted, it tells God that we do not love Him nor are we sincere. Let me be clear: does this mean His feelings get hurt? Like if, husbands, you forget your anniversary and it hurts your wife’s feelings? Not at all. Your wife reasonably expects you to remember her as a show of love towards her, with the sincerity of that love being reflected by your warmest affections along with the giving her a meaningful gift and celebrating your marriage to her. God expects your gifts towards Him as love reflected as a matter of your sincere obedience to His commandments, in order that He is pleased. Each have their own rightful expectations, but they are quite different, so attempting to substitute the one for the other makes it unacceptable. That is, your wife doesn’t consider it as love if she has to command you to remember your anniversary, and God doesn’t consider it as love if all you offer Him is your warmest affections in place of actual obedience.
Even so, in all cases of giving and sacrifice, our love that is shown must be genuine, sincere, and authentic. If we give to God grudgingly and only in order to mechanically obey a command, that gift has no value. If we give a gift to our wife mechanically or grudgingly because its only in our best interests if we do, that gift has no value.
So, after Yehoveh says that to give Him a blemished sacrifice is, of course, a sinful evil (and clearly the Levitical priests are thinking that if it only happens now and then, it shouldn’t be that big of a deal to God), how about they try giving a worthless or blemished gift to their civil governor? How do you suppose he will receive it? Graciously? Feigning delight for your sake and thinking “it’s the thought that counts”? I love the way this question is asked in two parts. The first part is: would the governor be pleased with the gift itself (that is, is he grateful for it; delighted and finding good value in it)? And the second part is: would you ever even be received by the governor to give to him a poor or defective gift in the first place?
In ancient times, a person requesting an audience with a king or governor or some other higher- up authority, might wisely bring a good gift if they hoped to get in. An assistant to the king or governor would be the first to examine and evaluate that gift. If it is something they know will please the authority figure, they get their audience. If it is substandard in any way, the petitioner is sent packing and never even gets the opportunity to stand before the man. There aren’t shades of gray. It’s either yes or no. This was common knowledge in those ancient times. So, why (God asks) would these wicked priests think that if this is so with a mere earthly governor, that it wouldn’t be doubly so with the Creator of the Universe?
I could spend a couple of minutes and give you a few anecdotes of actual experiences I’ve had over the years with people who want to donate things to the ministry and feeling good about it. But, sometimes it was because someone had no more use for it, or it was broken and needed repair, or it was old and obsolete, etc. And, of course, they want the ministry to see these things as valuable and to feel grateful about it, even though they well know the truth. I can tell you it doesn’t reflect well on the giver nor does it tell me they have any respect or sincere care about contributing to the ministry efforts. But what we humans might think of these rather valueless gifts being offered to us is so unimportant compared to what God thinks of our puny efforts to please Him, when these efforts are based on insincerity and low intrinsic value of the offering. And, in the case of the Levites and their officiating of Temple duties, and their giving of sacrifices, and the performance of other ritual tasks that are required of them, God doesn’t grade on a curve nor does He pretend. It is yes or no; accepted or not accepted.
This might be something we don’t want to hear about or deal with because we don’t like it. We’d prefer to think of God as a kindly grandfather whose commands are but suggestions, and who winks at sin provided we don’t sin too much or commit a big one. But the biblical reality is clear and tells us something else, so there is no need trying to fool ourselves or thinking we can fool God. Verse 9 adds more fuel that fire.
CJB Malachi 1:9 So if you pray now that God will show us favor, what your actions have accomplished is that Yehoveh-Tzva’ot asks, “Will he receive any of you?
Ugh. It just gets worse. Rather than tear this apart word for word, let’s look at the intent and thought. What is being said is ironic. It’s like: seriously? You do wrong, you do evil, you disobey and then honestly expect to be in God’s presence and for Him to bless you? Good luck with that.
This principle that is presented to us in ironic fashion is not meant to be funny. It’s meant to have an impact. It is one thing for ordinary people to just rationalize their wrong behavior and sins as being generally inconsequential in nature, and so therefore feel perfectly righteous in approaching God in prayer seeking His favor. But, it is another for God’s priests to do it. In the purely human sphere, psychologists use the term cognitive dissonance to describe such expectations and behavior. That is, you hold firm pre-existing beliefs (no matter how illogical or irrational) that are in conflict with information and facts you are well aware of that contradicts what you choose to believe and what you do. Usually, the person experiencing this uses rationalization (no matter how absurd) to explain that what they’re doing or believing is, nonetheless, correct.
It is spiritual cognitive dissonance to ignore God’s laws and commands, to behave in ways completely counter to the instructions of God’s Word, and then turn around and fully expect for God to hear our prayers and intervene on our behalf to give us what we seek. In fact, as with the king or governor, the final words of this verse (“Will he receive any of you?”) reveal that you will never even get an audience to present your concerns that the king or governor might consider them. And, so, why would we expect that as holy, as all-knowing, as universally omnipotent is God, that He would ever entertain your prayers in the midst of such wicked behaviors? That, my friends, is a pretty unnerving thought. Yet, here it is right before us and I have no doubt that none of us think “that can’t be right”. We believe what it says; we just don’t like what it means.
Shalom Joseph: Blessed Rosh Codesh. This Rosh Kodesh begins the month of Elul. Forty days later this period of teshuvah concludes with the Day of Atonement.
At about 30, at his mikveh, as Yeshua came up out of the Jordan River, the heavens were opened and those there heard… “This is my dearly beloved son, who brings me great joy.” This was a change in Yeshua’s status, an anointing with the power of God, Yeshua’s adoption as Yehovah’s royal messenger. It was after this, Yeshua began doing miracles. (water into wine – wedding at Cana of Galilee). Forty days later he left the wilderness and returned to civilization as Yehova’s anointed messenger on Yom Kippur. There’s a lot more that happened in Torah and Scripture at this time period.
Do contribute to Joseph’s work in the Philippines. Remember, the Jehovah’s Witnesses are there too, hot on his heels! Remember Forty days of teshuvah! Peter B. Smith