Eating Chammaschith From the Genizah

Joseph F. Dumond

Isa 6:9-12 And He said, Go, and tell this people, You hear indeed, but do not understand; and seeing you see, but do not know. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn back, and be healed. Then I said, Lord, how long? And He answered, Until the cities are wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land laid waste, a desolation, and until Jehovah has moved men far away, and the desolation in the midst of the land is great.
Published: Mar 30, 2023

News Letter 5859-008
The 7th Year of the 4th Sabbatical Cycle
The 28th year of the 120th Jubilee Cycle
The 9th day of the 2nd month, 5859 years after the creation of Adam
The 4th Sabbatical Cycle after the 119th Jubilee Cycle
The Sabbatical Cycle of Sword, Famines, and Pestilence

Day 21-The Third Sabbath in Counting the Omer

April 1, 2023

Shabbat Shalom to the Royal Family of Yehovah,

I want to invite you all to follow me on Telegram. Just click this link. Since I was removed from Facebook, I have been looking for a way to get my message out.  Trying to fit it all into one email is going to be challenging to read. I can post notices on Telegram and you will be able to share them with your own people.


Last week I said the following and set off a number of readers who follow what they are now calling the Zadok Calendar.

I said:

You should know that each and every month is either 29 or 30 days. It is never 31 like the Gregorian or the newest messianic fang-dangled invention called the Zadok calendar. As we draw closer to the end of this age it is going to be more and more crucial that you understand how to reckon the Holy Days by Yehovah’s instructions given to you in Leviticus. You are going to judge angels. So you must be able to judge the calendar now. And once you can both explain and judge the methods for determining the calendar then all the others expose their false teachings quite easily.
If you can’t, then it is time you start to learn. You can do this at sightedmoon.com. We have all the information there for you to study. But you must study it to learn it. When the test comes and it is coming, there will be no one to hold your hand. You must know.
The Antichrist is going to look and sound just like the Messiah. Unless you know the facts, unless you know the Torah and how to discern the calendar you too could be led astray to follow the antichrist.

Apparently I upset some people. LOL what’s new?

So this week we will expose the Zadok Calendar which is just a new name for the Book of Jubilee Calendar which is just another name for the Enoch Calendar. In fact we will expose all three for the heresy that they are.

If you are looking into this then fine. Go down the rabbit hole. If you come out the other side and you decide you want to keep it, understand you are no longer my brother in the faith. You have now become a tare. One who looks like wheat and think they are wheat, but in truth they have nothing of any value worth harvesting. If again you come out the other side of this rabbit hole and begin to teach and promote this Chammschith, then you are now a wolf in sheeps clothing, and are now my enemy. Wolves and sheep do not live together. The wolf seeks to devour the sheep and the shepherd is going to kill the wolf.  Make no mistake in what I am saying. If you are promoting this crap you are a wolf and NOT my brother in the faith. You are an enemy of the Torah.

You can repent and return to the truth, or be one who is going to lead the sheep away from the truth by not keeping the Holy Days at the proper time.

Last week we allowed you to judge what is going on with Devorah and her barley reports and how they are changing. After I posted the initial report, I had about three more follow up reports from Devorah. I posted them. If you did not see them please go back and review the updates. The new understanding she has is causing an implosion of the Karaites. Michael Rood, Arthur Bailey and Yoel HaLevi, are going to keep Passover next week. Others who are following Devorah will keep it next month. This will be the third month for those of you who are follow us and kept Passover last month. And as I prepare this Newsletter, March 29, Devorah has announced she will go out and inspect the fields in the next couple of days again. It would not surprise me if she has a change of heart and is now going to keep Passover this month.

What is the difference between those who promote the Zadok calendar and Devorah promoting Passover in what is now the 3rd month?


The new year began February 21, 2023. We had checked the barley just before Wave Sheaf Day to confirm. Actually, Becca and Randy Cates, did this on March 6, 2023. They confirmed that the barley was indeed Aviv again on March 8.

If we had postponed the month, then much of the barley would be lost by Wave Sheaf Day in April. If you watch the report from Devorah carefully, you will see that the barley she holds in her hands has already shattered. When she grabs it, she says the tops have fallen off. Devorah posted that video on March 22, 2023. We will  examine the video for you to learn and become an authority.

We are also told to number our days.

Psa 90:12  So teach us to number our days, so that we may bring a heart of wisdom.

At Sightedmoon.com we have these charts you can download to keep track of the days according to when the moon was sighted. This way, you can know when the Holy Days are. And it is free to download.

Click here to download for free.

 


I want to encourage you who have not already signed up for our weekly Newsletter to click the button and sign up now. We also want to encourage you to get your family and assemblies to sign up. If your brother or sister has their names added to the list, they will be invited to purchase each of our books.

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London England

We are being asked to come again, to the United Kingdom and to speak this time in the London area sometime in June. We are asking those interested in the London vicinity to please contact me with their emails so I can let those organizing this event how many to expect.

And at the same time, if you would like to me to speak in your area, then let us know.

Featured Book

This week I was sent the following two emails.

Shalom brother Joe,

I wanted to share something that I hope will be encouraging to you. I was having a phone conversation with a man I know, he is also a christian pastor. It came up that we had just celebrated Passover and were starting another holiday tonight. I reminded him of what I had shared with him back before 2020 (aspects from your 2300 days book). Also reminding him that we were on a festival when everything started and the WHO announced a world pandemic. He remembered. We started talking about the ‘times’ we are in and he mentioned the verse, ‘no man knows the day or the hour… ‘, but he is sensing there is more to it.
 
The conversation went in another direction for a bit. I then shared with him that the verse ‘was a riddle, not a command’, and that I knew a man who wrote a book on that very subject. He stopped me abruptly, and asked if I had the book, because ‘he would read that.’
 
This is the first book on Hebrew roots subjects that I ever recall him asking for. There are others that I have shared, but the title of your’s hooked him. I know it is the Spirit and nothing you or I did, but having the tool/book at hand made it easy to share. I ordered him a copy and it is being sent to him. I don’t know what fruit it will bear, but praying it will. Thanks for writing the books and all the work you have done through the years.
 
Shalom,
I do hope all of you will be willing to share our books with those who are seeking them. I also hope you will share the links and intros below on your social media pages. I pray you all do to help us spread the word.
 
Another awesome email I got was this one. He also sent some awesome pictures of his garden from last year. And it was beautiful.
Shalom Joe,
 
This is Nick Caron, Glenn’s oldest son.
I’ve been wanting to write to you for some time now to thank you for all that you are doing for Yehovah and wanted to share the blessings i have received since last seeing you at Sukkot in 2013.
I wanted to let you know that after we came back from that Feast and learning all that you had taught to us from Yehovah that my family and i have been blessed ever since.
 
Ill go back a little bit first to give some background:
I started reading the bible in 2010 or so.
My wife and i who were not married at the time but had 2 small boys, started to have our eyes opened.
 
Thanks to my father admonishing us to read our bibles after he had come to the truth and began attending UCG and was baptized a couple years prior.
My father and I did not have a great relationship growing up and i was raised Catholic mostly attending on Sundays with my mother and of course keeping all the holidays.
 
The first thing my wife and i realized thanks to my dad and our research is that we should not be keeping Christmas and so in 2010 we gave up Christmas for the first time.
 
Of course, that seemed quite significant at the time and my mother and grandparents, and my in-laws were dumbfounded and ridiculed us for it.
I remember my oldest son who was just about 4 was quite sad about it but got over it fairly quickly thankfully.
 
Little did i know that was only the start of what we would need to rid ourselves of.
 
Next came the Sabbath and after realizing that i was working on the Sabbath every Friday night because i worked 2nd shift in manufacturing and the shift was 245 pm to 1045 pm i knew i had to confront my manager and see if i could get Fridays off or switch for a different shift.
 
The only option i was given was to go to third shift, which the last shift for the week ended on Friday morning.
With my heart seeking to follow the truth i agreed to go to 3rd shift.
My dad invited us to attend with UCG for the Night to be much observed in 2011 that year.
And i got to meet the people he had been gathering with the past few years and what they were all about.
 
The next thing was that my wife and realized we should commit to marriage and did so in September of that year.
Yehovah also blessed us with a daughter who was in the womb as my wife was about 6 months pregnant when we tied the knot.
 
Shortly thereafter we started attending UCG with my father and younger brother and began to keep the Holy days starting in 2012.
My wife and i were baptized the following September in 2012 and kept our first Feast of Tabernacles with UCG and rented a cabin with my father, mother and brother. We were started to watch a lot of Michael Roods videos and also Ron Wyatt and we heard about Nehemiah and Joseph Dumond and looked into the Prophecies of Abraham
We learned about the calendar and that we should be keeping it by the sighting of the crescent moon to begin the month and the barley to start the year.
Shortly after this a position at my company opened up on 1st shift in a different department, although i had to take a 10% pay cut i agreed to it for the quality of life i would get back.
Not long after this we attended the Feast of Sukkot in Fall Creek Falls with you Joe in 2013.
Boy did our eyes open wide after that and my brain was overloaded with all the truths Yehovah revealed to us through your teachings.
I cannot thank you enough for this.
After this it was if the floodgates of heaven opened and blessing upon blessing was bestowed upon us.
My wife as you may remember was pregnant at the time and we had out 2nd daughter born in March of 2014.
At my company they needed me to return to my old department but this time on 1st shift and they gave me a good bump in pay to return as well.
After a couple of months, a position opened up in research and development, and i put together my first resume by the seat of my pants and i got noticed. After many people interviewed and a couple months go by and i was given the position and my own small office and worked a fairly independent role with quite a few perks and another big raise.
It wasd July 2014 when i was in the new role.
At the same time my Wife and I began to look at houses as somehow, we were approved for a loan after working with a mortgage broker that happened to be a coworker of mines wife.
We looked at many houses, but most were either out of our price range or were swept up before we could even get an offer in.
 
We looked at one last house and piece of land with about 11 acres next to a 10000-acre State Park.
 
Only about 20 min from my work. The house had been foreclosed for over a year but didn’t need too much.
 
We went for it at we are still there today.
 
Shortly after i began to prepare the land because i wanted to farm it but other than about 1.5 clear acres the rest was woods and could not support a farm.
 
I picked up first chainsaw and got to work and some hundreds of trees later was able to open up a sizeable space to support a large garden and pasture for goats, sheep and chickens.
 
We also got to prepare to keep our first Sabbatical year in 2016.
 
We were blessed beyond belief that year and did not struggle.
We stocked up and my father blessed us with produce being tossed away that we were able to eat.
 
I believed Yehovah would bless us, and he did.
 
Yehovah blessed us even during Covid with money to buy a freeze dryer and also a large vehicle for our ever-growing family of 7 children now.
 
Then this past year we had the biggest garden of our lives to prepare for the Sabbatical year
 
Joe Thank you for sharing all that you have been given by Yehovah and i cannot thank you enough not just for my father Glenn who has helped me to understand much of it as well but also for my family and the blessings we continue to receive.
 
We still attend UCG typically on Shabbat mornings at get home around 2-3pm to tune into the Zoom meetings.
 
We got a new pastor who is close to my age and his wife, and 2 small boys and they have been a blessing to the congregation.
He puts his heart into every Sermon, and we have become quite good friends even though he doesn’t agree with the Calendar we keep he has looked into Sighted moon a little bit.
I pray he can be given the same understanding we have but it’s difficult for him being his career and having to stay faithful to UCGs doctrine.
I try to plant seeds as i perceive the brethren and some ask why but not seeing a lot taking root.
One family has though as im sure you have met Matt and Sam Peterson.
They are trying to do best to keep the correct Calendar and this Sabbatical year, and they have so much love for Torah.
 
We attend the zoom meetings nearly every Shabbat under Caron family.
 
I know I don’t speak on there at all but i get so much just from listening to your teachings along with the Torah portions and midrashing. Of course, I love hearing my father speak as well and everyone else.
 
I was sinful from my youth and often spoke before thinking. So, I still guard my mouth nowadays and try to listen more.
Not to mention our house is usually like a zoo with all our blessings running around.
 
We still keep the zoom going in the background at full blast on our small set of speakers lol hoping to glean all we can.
 
Hoping to speak more at some point and maybe at least give some testimony but for now i still just get so much from listening to everyone on there.
 
Please feel free to share this testimony on the website or anyone you see fit.
 
Thank you again Joe!
Yehovah bless you!
 
Your brother and friend,
Nick Caron
Brethren, I remember meeting NIck and I am still debating his awesome Dad. I cannot tell you how great a feeling I get knowing I have been able to be used by Yehovah to help brethren understand our God. I know many have gotten upset and stormed off in the past only to grow and come back in time to learn more. And that too is an awesome feeling. To see people grow and learn and to have more light bulb moments.
 
Please do understand that you are all part of that. Your help by donations, prayers and by posting these links below to your pages so your friends and families can learn on their own without you in their faces. So please do help share these messages below on a regular basis.

If you want to can post this simple lead to encourage people to come and read our article for free on our website. Or you can write your own ad.

 
This one is about the Exodus.

The Exodus Story
On the 7th Day of Unleavened Bread, God wiped Pharaoh’s armies out in an instant.

You’re About To Have Your Mind BLOWN!!

What happened to Egypt after the Exodus?
Let us show you the rest of the story.

How did Israel cross over on dry ground
and where exactly is this place?
You are told in Exodus 15. It is right there.

We have video evidence of the chariots
beneath the Red Sea.
They are free to watch with this article.

Who was the Pharoah of the Exodus,
Nefertiti or Akhenaten?
Who was Pharoah afterwards?

What year did it take place in?

Can we really know any of these things?

What does the Feast of Oaths teach us?

In 2022, I climbed to the top of Mount Sinai. I saw the Golden Calf Altar where Israel sinned. I saw the 70 wells and where Israel came out of the Red Sea.

Let us show you all this and much more.

And It’s FREE!

https://lnkd.in/gVXV8GCM

https://sightedmoon.org/the-exodus-story

 
This one is whether Passover should be on the 14th or the 15th.
 
BEN HA ARBAYIM
&
PIDYON HA’BON ARTICLES

Do you understand these two Hebrew expressions?

 
Which day is the Passover to be eaten? Is it on the 14th or the 15th?
 
Can you know this age old debate?
 
Did Jesus change Passover with the Last Supper?
 
What is the Fast of the First Born, and when is it to be kept?
 
Your Bible has the answers. We can show you those scriptures and much more about every detail in the Passover that Yehshua did.
 
Let Us Show You.
 
And It’s FREE!
https://sightedmoon.org/ben-ha-arbayim
 

 

This one is about the Mark of the Beast that they can read for free.

FREE 

 “THE MARK 
OF THE 
BEAST”
Satan Has Deceived the Whole World!

Maybe Even You.
 
Do You Know What the Mark Is?
It’s Not What You Think. 
 
Let Us Show You. And Then Decide. 
And Its FREE!
 
https://sightedmoon.org/mark-of-the-beast-free-offer

 

 

The Mystery of the Jewish Rapture 2033

The Mystery Of the Jewish Rapture In 2033, by Joseph Dumond, unlocks a veritable treasure trove of biblical revelations. These priceless hidden treasures, once understood and accepted, will dramatically change the life of anyone reading this amazing work. I say life’s changing, as for sure we live today at the end of the age—a calamitous time when mankind is destined to perish in the billions. It sorely grieves the spirit of the author that most of those in the Church are totally unprepared for what is to come. This book is meant to be a lifeline for those who really want to learn the truth, no matter how uncomfortable it may be for them.

In this context, the concept of an escape such as presented by the Rapture theory, presents an easy way out. Joseph Dumond does not get involved in arguing in favour of a Pre-Trib, Mid-Trib, or Post-Trib Rapture. Instead, he simply presents us with unassailable and conclusive evidence directly from the Scriptures, leaving the reader to decide for him or herself. In the same breath, he reveals the subtle key embedded in the very words of Jesus/Yeshua, who, when speaking of His return, stated: 

 36 “No man can know the day or the hour, no, not the angels in heaven, but only My Father.” (Matthew 24:36)

The incredible irony is that Yeshua, our Messiah, has thus hidden the key to understanding in this very phrase, so that only those who obey His Commandments will know exactly on which day He will return.

Millions are anxious for the Rapture to come and whisk them away at any moment. Few if any understand that the Bible they claim to follow and obey tells them precisely when the Rapture is to take place. It has been there all along hidden in plain sight. It is the same thing for the coming of the Messiah. He tells you Himself when to look for Him.

The Mystery of the Jewish Rapture 2033 is going to show you using the Jubilee Cycles how you can not only know the year the Rapture is going to take place in but even the very day. 

No Longer will you have the pain of yet another letdown from yet another theory. No longer will you be guessing exactly when the Rapture is to happen. You will know!

You will be able to prove this from your own Bible and then you will absolutely know.

With the information The Mystery of the Jewish Rapture 2033 reveals, you will know exactly what it is that the Five Wise virgins understood and why they were ready for when the Messiah does come. It is because they knew.

We want you to be ready for the Rapture. We want you to be absolutely sure of when it is to take place and why. And we want to celebrate this day with you. It is going to be one of the greatest days in the history of mankind. So great that even the Exodus will be forgotten and this day will be the day spoken of. A day that you have the opportunity to be a part of. One of the Greatest Days in the History of Mankind. We look forward to being there with you.

 

It Was A Riddle Not A Command

Yehshua always spoke in parables publicly.

Matthew 13:34 Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable, so that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.”

He did this on purpose so they would not understand.

Matthew 13:10-17 And the disciples said to Him, Why do You speak to them in parables?

He answered and said to them, Because it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them.

For whoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance. But whoever does not have, from him shall be taken away even that which he has.

Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not; nor do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which said, “By hearing you shall hear and shall not understand; and seeing you shall see and shall not perceive; for this people’s heart has become gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and they have closed their eyes, lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.”

But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which you see, and have not seen them; and to hear what you hear, and have not heard them.

Yehshua spoke about the 5 Foolish Virgins in a parable.

Matthew 25:11-13 Afterwards the other virgins came also, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.

But he answered and said, Truly I say to you, I do not know you.

Therefore watch, for you do not know either the day or the hour in which the Son of Man comes.

The expression “No Man Knows the Day or the Hour” is what Yehshua was speaking about in the previous verses of Matthew 24:36 and here He is using the same expression in this parable again.

This is what most Christians use to dismiss any and all end time prophecies as being false teachings. They do not realize it was a parable meant to say something and hide the truth from those whose hearts have grown stupid which is what that word gross means when Isaiah says their hearts have become gross.

Yehshua was telling the foolish they would not and could not know the day or the hour and at the same time telling the wise the precise time He would return on.

The question is which one are you?

Order the book and find out which one you are and learn how to change from being a foolish virgin to one of the 5 Wise Virgins.

Order the book so you never have to hear the words, I never knew you.

Also order both audio books and play them while you drive or walk or exercise. You can listen to them anywhere anytime, even when you do not have the time to study or read.

You can read what others are saying by reading the reviews at Amazon. If you have read these books, then please do consider writing us an endorsement to encourage others.


This week I am talking about knowing the calendar. Understanding it and being able to explain it. Do you know when the Hillel Calendar started? Do you know why it began and the reasons for it? If can’t explain any of those questions you will want to get our latest book The Restoration of All Things and then read it. We explain this historically for you to know. Get the book today and start to understand. Just click on this link.

THE SABBATH 101

The Sabbath 101

I have been asked a number of times for the basics of keeping Torah. I have told those asking where to look but still more come and they are overwhelmed by the amount of articles, videos and books to go through. I never set out for it to be like that. But we have been posting a weekly newsletter since 2005. That is about 938 newsletters which have been viewed 9,701,688 times. We have written 8 books selling 5,439 copies as of this week. We have created about 552 videos, which have had 2,778,234 views as of today.

Just looking at these numbers tells me we are doing something right. And at the same time we continue to dive deeper into the things we are teaching. But for the new people it can be over whelming.

I had the great opportunity to visit Batman, Bat-woman and Alfred, and I even stayed in the Bat-cave. Batman has compiled a number of teachings that are geared for the new person and those just starting out in this walk. He also put together three of the books we now offer at Sightedmoon. I want to make all of these available for you to take advantage of, but you can’t tell Batman.

Here is the video section.

You can order one of two books. Scripture Lessons for the Kingdom & More Scripture Lessons for the Kingdom

Scripture Lessons for the Kingdom is exactly that, short lessons for those new to Torah. We have taken many of the lessons from the website and condensed them down into one to two-page lessons. While these do not cover everything, they will cover the basics and give you a good starting place for your journey into the Word of YHVH. We hope you enjoy this book and look forward to hearing back from you and your stories about this journey.

AND

We also have a third book about the covenant titled I Do. It is an e-book only format.

The servants of the groom are announcing the wedding, but will the bride prepare herself properly to say “I do”?  I do is a short book that both teaches and challenges one who has accepted the betrothal to the Lamb to do that which will prepare them for that great day when the groom arrives.

TORAH PORTIONS

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 at our archived section, you can then go to the 7th year which is the 7th year of the Sabbatical Cycle, the one we are in now, as we state at the top of every News Letter. There you can scroll down to the proper date, and see that this Shabbat we could very well be midrashing about:

Numbers 19

Hosea 1-2

Song of Solomon 1-5

Romans 10-11

If you missed last week’s exciting discoveries as we studied that section you can go and watch past Shabbats on our media section.

SABBATH MEETINGS

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 I and you 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 Services will begin at about 1:15 pm Eastern.

On the Holy Day, The Last day of Unleavened Bread, we will be having two meetings. One at 10 AM Eastern and the afternoon will be 2 PM Eastern. Look forward to seeing you all there.

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

Join Zoom Meeting

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Counting the Omer

Counting the Omer

Someone is surely going to ask you or say it publicly, where are we commanded to count the omer?

When you are asked this then you will take them to Lev 23:15

“You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the Lord.

Lev 23:15 וספרתם H5608  לכם ממחרת H4283  השׁבת H7676  מיום H3117  הביאכם H935  את H853  עמר H6016  התנופה H8573  שׁבע H7651  שׁבתות H7676  תמימת H8549  תהיינה׃ H1961

Lev 23:15 And ye shall count H5608  unto you from the morrow H4480 H4283  after the sabbath, H7676  from the day H4480 H3117  that ye brought H935(H853) the sheaf H6016  of the wave offering; H8573  seven H7651  sabbaths H7676  shall be H1961  complete: H8549

Counting is the word Saphar or H5608 omer is the word for sheaf or H6016.

This mitzvah (“commandment”) derives from the Torah commandment to count forty-nine days beginning from the day on which the Omer, a sacrifice containing an omer-measure of barley, was offered in the Temple in Jerusalem, up until the day before an offering of wheat was brought to the Temple on Shavuot. The Counting of the Omer begins on the morrow after the weekly Shabbat during Passover, and ends the day before the holiday of Shavuot, the ‘fiftieth day.’

Here you are told that there are different methods of counting the 50 days. The first was to count 7 full weeks and the second was to count out the full 50 days.

Again in Deut 16:9 you are told to again COUNT. It is a commandment to count the days and or weeks. And you start from the time when the sickle is first put to the Barley grain which was done after sunset after the weekly Saturday Sabbath. This counting began with Wave Sheaf Day.

“You shall count seven weeks. Begin to count the seven weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain.

According to some the commandment ‘and you shall count for yourselves fifty days’ means to simply observe the 50th day as Shavuot while others actually declare out loud the number on each of the fifty days. A medieval Karaite Jewish practice combines two different methods of declaring the daily count. The first method is the counting of seven weeks. Each day, the number of the week and the number of the day in the week are declared. So for example, the first day is ‘first day of the first week’. The second counting method used is an overall number for each day. In this method Day one is ‘the first day’ and Day 25 is ‘the twenty-fifth day’. These two methods are used to satisfy the commandment to count seven weeks (Deuteronomy 16:9) as well as the commandment to count fifty days (Leviticus 23:16).

During each one of these days of Counting the Omer to Pentecost, Jewish tradition has developed around reading the Psalms on certain days. I find this to be very beneficial. It is customary that following the “Counting of the Omer,” one recites Psalm 67, for according to tradition, that Psalm has forty-nine words, which corresponds perfectly to the forty-nine days of the “Counting of the Omer.”

And as you meditate on and do these readings, which includes the Counting of the Omer command, keep in mind what this symbolizes. It is the counting of the Sabbatical and Jubilee Years and where we are in that cycle. We are in the twenty-eighth year in 2023, which corresponds to the twenty-eighth day of the “Counting of the Omer.”

Wave Sheaf day is so exciting to understand and so amazing to believe because it forebodes the time when we will be changed and raised up. If you want to call this the Rapture then I can except that if you are obeying Yehovah. If you’re not obeying Yehovah and you think the laws are done away with, then you will not be in this resurrection or raptured. You will be told to be gone you workers of lawlessness, I never knew you.

Order the book The Mystery of the Jewish Rapture 2033 at this link.

We will speak more about this as Pentecost draws closer. The Feast of Oaths, the 8th day and the Jubilee year. Think about how they are all connected to each other.

When you count from the Wave offering of the barley to Pentecost it is called the counting of the Omer. You are to count each day up to the 50th day. This Sunday, March 12, 2023, is day one. We are to count the Omer.

As I said, this is the most special time of year for me and in years past I couldn’t put my finger on exactly why, other than it had something to do with Yehshua’s resurrection and waiting in anticipation for Shavuot. While I cannot put into words how my understanding of this has grown, all I can say is that “it clicked!” and “now I get it!”, at least more than before. Understanding follows obedience. So OBEY and learn. You learn by doing as we are told in James.

James 2:18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

All 50 days and each of the Psalms can be found at the back of our book Remembering the Sabbatical year of 2016

Counting of the Omer – Week 1

Today is the 1st day of the 1st week of seven weeks. Today is the 1st day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day 1 The Law of Yehovah 119:1-8

Psa 119:1 Blessed are the perfect in the way, Who walk in the Torah of Yehovah!
Psa 119:2 Blessed are those who observe His witnesses, Who seek Him with all the heart!
Psa 119:3 Yea, they shall do no unrighteousness; They shall walk in His ways.
Psa 119:4 You have commanded us To guard Your orders diligently.
Psa 119:5 Oh, that my ways were established To guard Your laws!
Psa 119:6 Then I would not be ashamed, When I look into all Your commands.
Psa 119:7 I thank You with uprightness of heart, When I learn the right-rulings of Your righteousness.
Psa 119:8 I guard Your laws; Oh, do not leave me entirely!

Today is the 2nd day of the 1st week of seven weeks. Today is the 2nd day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day 2 Obedience to Law of Yehovah 119:9-16

Psa 119:9 How would a young man cleanse his path. To guard it according to Your word?
Psa 119:10 I have sought You with all my heart; Let me not stray from Your commands!
Psa 119:11 I have treasured up Your word in my heart, That I might not sin against You.
Psa 119:12 Blessed are You, O Yehovah! Teach me Your laws.
Psa 119:13 With my lips I have recounted All the right-rulings of Your mouth.
Psa 119:14 I have rejoiced in the way of Your witnesses, As over all riches.
Psa 119:15 I meditate on Your orders, And regard Your ways.
Psa 119:16 I delight myself in Your laws; I do not forget Your word.
Footnote: 1See also vv. 24, 35, 47, 70, 77, 92, 143, 174, Rom. 7:22.

Today is the 3rd day of the 1st week of seven weeks. Today is the 3rd day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day 3 Happiness in Law of Yehovah 119:17-24

Psa 119:17 Do good to Your servant, Let me live and I guard Your word.
Psa 119:18 Open my eyes, that I might see Wonders from Your Torah.
Psa 119:19 I am a sojourner in the earth; Do not hide Your commands from me.
Psa 119:20 My being is crushed with longing For Your right-rulings at all times.
Psa 119:21 You rebuked the proud, cursed ones, Who are straying from Your commands.
Psa 119:22 Remove from me reproach and scorn, For I have observed Your witnesses.
Psa 119:23 Though princes sat, speaking against me, Your servant meditates on Your laws.
Psa 119:24 Your witnesses also are my delight, My counsellors.

Today is the 4th day of the 1st week of seven weeks. Today is the 4th day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day 4 Determination to obey Law of Yehovah 119:25-32

Psa 119:25 My being has been clinging to the dust; Revive me according to Your word.
Psa 119:26 I have recounted my ways and You answered me; Teach me Your laws.
Psa 119:27 Make me understand the way of Your orders; That I might meditate on Your wonders.
Psa 119:28 My being has wept from grief; Strengthen me according to Your word.
Psa 119:29 Remove from me the way of falsehood, And favour me with Your Torah.
Psa 119:30 I have chosen the way of truth; Your right-rulings I have held level.
Psa 119:31 I have clung to Your witnesses; O Yehovah, do not put me to shame!
Psa 119:32 I run the way of Your commands, For You enlarge my heart.

Today is the 5th day of the 1st week of seven weeks. Today is the 5th day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day 5 A prayer for understanding 119:33-40

Psa 119:33 Teach me, O Yehovah, the way of Your laws, And I observe it to the end.
Psa 119:34 Make me understand, that I might observe Your Torah, And guard it with all my heart.
Psa 119:35 Make me walk in the path of Your commands, For I have delighted in it.
Psa 119:36 Incline my heart to Your witnesses, And not to own gain.
Psa 119:37 Turn away my eyes from looking at falsehood, And revive me in Your way.
Psa 119:38 Establish Your word to Your servant, Which leads to the fear of You.
Psa 119:39 Turn away my reproach which I dread, For Your right-rulings are good.
Psa 119:40 See, I have longed for Your orders; Revive me in Your righteousness.

Today is the 6th day of the 1st week of seven weeks. Today is the 6th day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day 6 Trusting the Law of Yehovah 119:41-48

Psa 119:41 And let Your kindnesses come to me, O Yehovah; Your deliverance, according to Your word,
Psa 119:42 So that I answer my reprover, For I have trusted in Your word.
Psa 119:43 And do not take away from my mouth The word of truth entirely, For I have waited for Your right-rulings;
Psa 119:44 That I might guard Your Torah continually, Forever and ever;
Psa 119:45 That I might walk in a broad place, For I have sought Your orders;
Psa 119:46 That I might speak of Your witnesses before sovereigns, And not be ashamed;
Psa 119:47 That I might delight myself in Your commands, Which I have loved;
Psa 119:48 That I might lift up my hands to Your commands, Which I have loved; While I meditate on Your laws.

Today is the 7th day of the 1st week of seven weeks. Today is the 7th day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath. Today is Sabbath, the 1st Sabbath of seven Sabbaths. Today completes the 1st week of seven weeks.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day 7 Is the First Shabbat Confidence in Law of Yehovah 119:49-56

Psa 119:49 Remember the word to Your servant, On which You have caused me to wait.
Psa 119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction, For Your word has given me life.
Psa 119:51 The proud have utterly scorned me, I did not turn aside from Your Torah.
Psa 119:52 I remembered Your right-rulings of old, O Yehovah, And I comfort myself.
Psa 119:53 Rage has seized me because of the wrong Who forsake Your Torah.
Psa 119:54 Your laws have been my songs In the place of my sojournings.
Psa 119:55 I have remembered Your Name in the night, O Yehovah, And I guard Your Torah.
Psa 119:56 This has become mine, Because I have observed Your orders.

Counting of the Omer–Week 2

Today is the first day of the second week of seven weeks. Today is the eighth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Eight | Devotion To the Law of Yehovah | Psalm 119:57-64

57 You are my portion, O Yehovah; I have promised to guard Your words. (Psalm 119:57)
58 I have sought Your face with all my heart. Show me favor according to Your Word. (Psalm 119:58)
59 I have thought upon my ways, and turned my feet to Your witnesses. (Psalm 119:59)
60 I have hurried, and did not delay to guard Your commands. (Psalm 119:60)
61 The cords of the wrong have surrounded me, Your Torah I have not forgotten. (Psalm 119:61)
62 At midnight I rise to give thanks to You, for Your righteous right-rulings. (Psalm 119:62)
63 I am a companion of all who fear You, and of those guarding Your orders. (Psalm 119:63)
64 O Yehovah, Your kindness has filled the earth. Teach me Your laws. (Psalm 119:64)

Today is the second day of the second week of seven weeks. Today is the ninth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Nine | The Value of the Law of Yehovah | Psalm 119:65-72

65 You have done good to Your servant, O Yehovah, according to Your Word. (Psalm 119:65)
66 Teach me good sense and knowledge, for I have trusted in Your commands. (Psalm 119:66)
67 Before I was afflicted I myself was going astray, but now I have guarded Your Word. (Psalm 119:67)
68 You are good, and do good. Teach me Your laws. (Psalm 119:68)
69 The proud have forged a lie against me. With all my heart I observe Your orders. (Psalm 119:69)
70 Their heart has become like fat, without feeling. I have delighted in Your Torah. (Psalm 119:70)
71 It was good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn Your laws. (Psalm 119:71)
72 The Torah of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces. (Psalm 119:72)

Today is the third day of the second week of seven weeks. Today is the tenth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Ten | The Justice of the Law of Yehovah | Psalm 119:73-80

73 Your hands have made me and formed me; make me understand, that I might learn Your commands. (Psalm 119:73)
74 Those who fear You see me and rejoice, for I have waited for Your Word. (Psalm 119:74)
75 I know, O Yehovah, that Your right-rulings are righteous, and in trustworthiness You have afflicted me. (Psalm 119:75)
76 Please let Your kindness be for my comfort, according to Your Word to Your servant. (Psalm 119:76)
77 Let Your compassions come to me, that I might live, for Your Torah is my delight. (Psalm 119:77)
78 Let the proud be put to shame, for with lies they perverted me; but I study Your orders. (Psalm 119:78)
79 Let those who fear You turn to me, and those who know Your witnesses. (Psalm 119:79)
80 Let my heart be perfect in Your laws, so that I am not put to shame. (Psalm 119:80)

Today is the fourth day of the second week of seven weeks. Today is the eleventh day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Eleven | Prayer For Deliverance | Psalm 119:81-88

81 For Your deliverance my being has pined away, for I have waited for Your Word. (Psalm 119:81)
82 My eyes have pined away for Your Word, saying, “When would it comfort me?” (Psalm 119:82)
83 For I have become like a wine skin in the smoke, Your laws I have not forgotten. (Psalm 119:83)
84 How many are the days of Your servant? When do You execute right-ruling on those who persecute me? (Psalm 119:84)
85 The proud have dug pits for me, which is not according to Your Torah. (Psalm 119:85)
86 All Your commands are trustworthy. They have persecuted me with lies. Help me! (Psalm 119:86)
87 They almost made an end of me on earth, but I, I did not forsake Your orders. (Psalm 119:87)
88 Revive me according to Your kindness, that I might guard the witness of Your mouth. (Psalm 119:88)

Today is the fifth day of the second week of seven weeks. Today is the twelfth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Twelve | In the Law of Yehovah | Psalm 119:89-96

89 Forever, O Yehovah, Your Word stands firm in the heavens. (Psalm 119:89)
90 Your trustworthiness is to all generations; You established the earth, and it stands. (Psalm 119:90)
91 According to Your right-rulings, they have stood to this day, for all are Your servants. (Psalm 119:91)
92 If Your Torah had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. (Psalm 119:92)
93 Let me never forget Your orders, for by them You have given me life. (Psalm 119:93)
94 I am Yours, save me; for I have sought Your orders. (Psalm 119:94)
95 The wrong have waited for me to destroy me; I understand Your witnesses. (Psalm 119:95)
96 I have seen an end of all perfection; Your command is exceedingly broad. (Psalm 119:96)

Today is the sixth day of the second week of seven weeks. Today is the thirteenth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Thirteen | Love For the Law of Yehovah | Psalm 119:97-104

97 O how I love Your Torah1! It is my study all day long. (Psalm 119:97 | Footnote: 1See also vv. 119:113, 119:119, 119:127, 119:163, 119:165, 119:167)
98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies; for it is ever before me. (Psalm 119:98)
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your witnesses are my study. (Psalm 119:99)
100 I understand more than the aged, for I have observed Your orders. (Psalm 119:100)
101 I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I might guard Your Word. (Psalm 119:101)
102 I have not turned aside from Your right-rulings, for You Yourself have taught me. (Psalm 119:102)
103 How sweet to my taste has Your Word been, more than honey to my mouth! (Psalm 119:103)
104 From Your orders I get understanding; therefore I have hated every false way. (Psalm 119:104)

Today is the seventh day of the second week of seven weeks. Today is the fourteenth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath. Today is Sabbath, the second Sabbath of seven Sabbaths. Today completes the second week of seven weeks.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Fourteen | Light From the Law of Yehovah | Psalm 119:105-112

105 Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105)
106 I have sworn, and I confirm, to guard Your righteous right-rulings. (Psalm 119:106)
107 I have been afflicted very much; O Yehovah, revive me according to Your Word. (Psalm 119:107)
108 Please accept the voluntary offerings of my mouth, O Yehovah, and teach me Your right-rulings. (Psalm 119:108)
109 My life is in my hand continually, and Your Torah I have not forgotten. (Psalm 119:109)
110 The wrong have laid a snare for me, but I have not strayed from Your orders. (Psalm 119:110)
111 Your witnesses are my inheritance forever, for they are the joy of my heart. (Psalm 119:111)
112 I have inclined my heart to do Your laws forever, to the end. (Psalm 119:112)

Counting of the Omer–Week 3

Today is the first day of the third week of seven weeks. Today is the fifteenth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Fifteen | Safety In the Law Of Yehovah | Psalm 119:113-120

113 I have hated doubting thoughts, but I have loved Your Torah. (Psalm 119:113)
114 You are my hiding place and my shield; I have waited for Your Word. (Psalm 119:114)
115 Turn away from me, you evil-doers, for I observe the commands of my Elohim! (Psalm )119:115
116 Support me according to Your Word, that I might live; and put me not to shame because of my expectation. (Psalm 119:116)
117 Sustain me, that I might be saved, and always look to Your laws. (Psalm 119:117)
118 You have made light of all those who stray from Your laws, for falsehood is their deceit. (Psalm 119:118)
119 You have made to cease all the wrong of the earth, like dross; therefore I have loved Your witnesses. (Psalm 119:119)
120 My flesh has trembled for fear of You, and I am in awe of Your right-rulings. (Psalm 119:120)

Today is the second day of the third week of seven weeks. Today is the sixteenth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Sixteen | Obedience To the Law of Yehovah | Psalm 119:121-12

121 I have done right-ruling and righteousness; leave me not to my oppressors. (Psalm 119:121)
122 Guarantee Your servant’s well-being; let not the proud oppress me. (Psalm 119:122)
123 My eyes have pined away for Your deliverance, and for the Word of Your righteousness. (Psalm 119:123)
124 Do with Your servant according to Your kindness, and teach me Your laws. (Psalm 119:124)
125 I am Your servant—make me understand, that I might know Your witnesses. (Psalm )119:125
126 It is time for Yehovah to act! For they have broken Your Torah. (Psalm 119:126)
127 Therefore I have loved Your commands more than gold, even fine gold! (Psalm 119:127)
128 Therefore all Your orders I count as right; I have hated every false way. (Psalm 119:128)

Today is the third day of the third week of seven weeks. Today is the seventeenth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Seventeen | Desire To Obey the Law of Yehovah | Psalm 119:129-136

129 Your witnesses are wonders; so my being observes them. (Psalm 119:129)
130 The opening up of Your words gives light, giving understanding to the simple. (Psalm 119:130)
131 I have opened my mouth and panted, for I have longed for Your commands. (Psalm 119:131)
132 Turn to me and show me favor, according to Your right-ruling, toward those who love Your Name. (Psalm 119:132)
133 Establish my footsteps by Your Word, and let no wickedness have rule over me. (Psalm 119:133)
134 Redeem me from the oppression of man, that I might guard Your orders. (Psalm 119:134)
135 Make Your face shine upon Your servant, and teach me Your laws. (Psalm 119:135)
136 Streams of water have run down from my eyes, because they did not guard Your Torah. (Psalm 119:136)

Today is the fourth day of the third week of seven weeks. Today is the eighteenth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Eighteen | The Justice of the Law of Yehovah | Psalm 119:137-144

137 Righteous are You, O Yehovah, and Your right-rulings are straight. (Psalm 119:137)
138 You have commanded Your witnesses in righteousness and truth, exceedingly. (Psalm 119:138)
139 My ardor has consumed me, for my adversaries have forgotten Your words. (Psalm 119:139)
140 Your Word is tried, exceedingly; and Your servant has loved it. (Psalm 119:140)
141 I am small and despised; I have not forgotten Your orders. (Psalm 119:141)
142 Your righteousness is righteousness forever, and Your Torah is truth. (Psalm 119:142)
143 Distress and anguish have found me; Your commands are my delight. (Psalm 119:143)
144 The righteousness of Your witnesses is forever. Make me understand, that I might live. (Psalm 119:144)

Today is the fifth day of the third week of seven weeks. Today is the nineteenth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day  Nineteen | Prayer For Deliverance | Psalm 119:145-152

145 I have called with all my heart. Answer me, O Yehovah! I observe Your laws. (Psalm 119:145)
146 I have called upon You. Save me, that I might guard Your witnesses. (Psalm 119:146)
147 I rise before dawn, and cry for help. I have waited for Your Word. (Psalm 119:147)
148 My eyes have gone before the night watches, to study Your Word. (Psalm 119:148)
149 Hear my voice according to Your kindness; O Yehovah, revive me according to Your right-ruling. (Psalm 119:149)
150 Those who pursue mischief have drawn near; they have been far from Your Torah. (Psalm 119:150)
151 You are near, O Yehovah, and all Your commands are truth. (Psalm 119:51)
152 Of old I have known Your witnesses, that You have founded them forever. (Psalm 119:52)

Today is the sixth day of the third week of seven weeks. Today is the twentieth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Twenty | Plea For Salvation | Psalm 119:153-160

153 See my affliction and deliver me, for I have not forgotten Your Torah. (Psalm 119:153)
154 Plead my cause and redeem me. Revive me according to Your Word. (Psalm 119:154)
155 Deliverance is far from the wrong ones, for they have not sought Your laws. (Psalm 119:155)
156 Your compassion’s are many, O Yehovah. Revive me according to Your right-rulings. (Psalm 119:156)
157 My persecutors and adversaries are many; I have not turned aside from Your witnesses. (Psalm 119:157)
158 I saw traitors and was grieved, because they did not guard Your Word. (Psalm 119:158)
159 See how I have loved Your orders, Yehovah. Revive me according to Your kindness. (Psalm 119:159)
160 The sum of Your Word is truth, and all Your righteous right-rulings are forever. (Psalm )119:160

Today is the seventh day of the third week of seven weeks. Today is the twenty-first day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath. Today is Sabbath, the third Sabbath of seven Sabbaths. Today completes the third week of seven weeks.

Psa 67:1 Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2 For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3 Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5 Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6 The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7 Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Twenty-One | Dedication To the Law of Yehovah | Psalm 119:161-

161 Rulers have persecuted me without a cause, but at Your Word my heart stood in awe. (Psalm )119:161
162 I rejoice at Your Word as one who finds great treasure. (Psalm 119:162)
163 I have hated falsehood and loathe it, Your Torah I have loved. (Psalm 119:163)
164 I have praised You seven times a day, because of Your righteous right-rulings. (Psalm )119:164
165 Great peace have those loving Your Torah, and for them there is no stumbling-block. (Psalm )119:165
166 Yehovah I have waited for Your deliverance, and I have done Your commands. (Psalm 119:166)
167 My being has guarded Your witnesses, and I love them exceedingly. (Psalm 119:167)
168 I have guarded Your orders and Your witnesses, for all my ways are before You. (Psalm 119:168)

Counting of the Omer–Week 4

Today is the first day of the fourth week of seven weeks. Today is the twenty-second day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Twenty-Two | A Prayer For Help | Psalm 119:169-176

169 My cry comes before You, O Yehovah. Make me understand according to Your Word. (Psalm )119:169
170 Let my prayer come before You. Deliver me according to Your Word. (Psalm 119:170)
171 My lips pour forth praise, for You teach me Your laws. (Psalm 119:171)
172 My tongue sings of Your Word, for all Your commands are righteousness. (Psalm 119:172)
173 Your hand is a help to me, for I have chosen Your orders. (Psalm 119:173)
174 I have longed for Your deliverance, O Yehovah, and Your Torah is my delight. (Psalm 119:174)
175 My being lives, and it praises You; and Your right-rulings help me. (Psalm 119:175)
176 I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commands. (Psalm 119:176)

Today is the second day of the fourth week of seven weeks. Today is the twenty-third day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Twenty-Three | True Happiness | Psalm 1:1-6

1 Blessed is the man who shall not walk in the counsel of the wrong, and shall not stand in the path of sinners, and shall not sit in the seat of scoffers. (Psalm 1:1)
2 But his delight is in the Torah of Yehovah, and he meditates in His Torah day and night. (Psalm 1:2)
3 For he shall be as a tree planted by the rivers of water, that yields its fruit in its season, and whose leaf does not wither, and whatever he does prospers. (Psalm 1:3)
4 The wrong are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind blows away. (Psalm 1:4)
5 Therefore, the wrong shall not rise in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. (Psalm 1:5)
6 For Yehovah knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wrong comes to naught. (Psalm 1:6)

Today is the third day of the fourth week of seven weeks. Today is the twenty-fourth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath. This represents the 24th year of the Counting of the Jubilee cycle. 2019

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Twenty-Four | Confidence In Yehovah | Psalm 11:1-7

Psa11:1 In Yehovah I have taken refuge; Why do you say to me, “Flee to your mountain like a bird”?
Psa 11:2  For look! The wrong bend a bow, They set their arrow on the string, To shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.
Psa 11:3  When the foundations are destroyed, What shall the righteous do?
Psa 11:4  Yehovah is in His set-apart H??al, The throne of ???? is in the heavens. His eyes see, His eyelids examine the sons of men.
Psa 11:5  Yehovah tries the righteous, But His being shall hate the wrong And the one who loves violence.
Psa 11:6  Upon the wrong He rains snares, Fire and sulphur and a scorching wind Are the portion of their cup.
Psa 11:7  For Yehovah is righteous, He has loved righteousness; The upright shall see His face.

Today is the fourth day of the fourth week of seven weeks. Today is the twenty-fifth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Twenty-Five | What Yehovah Requires | Psalm 15:1-5

1 Yehovah who does sojourn in Your Tent? Who does dwell in Your set-apart mountain? (Psalm )15:1
2 He who walks blamelessly, and does righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart. (Psalm )15:2
3 He has not slandered with his tongue, he has not done evil to his neighbor, nor lifted up a reproach against his friend. (Psalm 15:3)
4 In whose eyes a reprobate one is despised, but he esteems those who fear Yehovah, he who swears to his own hurt and does not change. (Psalm 15:4)
5 He has not put out his silver at interest, and has not taken a bribe against the innocent. He who does these is never moved. (Psalm 15:5)

Today is the fifth day of the fourth week of seven weeks. Today is the twenty-sixth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Twenty-Six | The Creation of Yehovah | Psalm 19:1-7

1 The heavens are proclaiming the esteem of El; and the expanse is declaring the work of His hand. (Psalm 19:1)
2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. (Psalm 19:2)
3 There is no speech, and there are no words. Their voice is not heard. (Psalm 19:3)
4 Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them He set up a tent for the sun. (Psalm 19:4)
5 And it is like a bridegroom coming out of his room. It rejoices like a strong man to run the path. (Psalm 19:5)
6 Its rising is from one end of the heavens, and its circuit to the other end. And naught is hidden from its heat. (Psalm 19:6)
7 The Torah of Yehovah is perfect, bringing back the being. The witness of Yehovah is trustworthy, making wise the simple. (Psalm 19:7)

Today is the sixth day of the fourth week of seven weeks. Today is the twenty-seventh day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Twenty-Seven | A Prayer For Guidance | Psalm 25:4-10

4 Show me Your ways, O Yehovah. Teach me Your paths. (Psalm 25:4)
5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the Elohim of my deliverance. On You I wait all the day. (Psalm 25:5)
6 Remember, O Yehovah, Your compassion and Your kindnesses, for they are from everlasting. (Psalm 25:6)
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth, and my transgressions. According to Your kindness remember me, for Your goodness’ sake, O Yehovah. (Psalm 25:7)
8 Good and straight is Yehovah; therefore, He teaches sinners in the way. (Psalm 25:8)
9 He guides the meek ones in right-ruling, and He teaches the meek ones His way. (Psalm 25:9)
10 All the paths of Yehovah are kindness and truth, to those who guard His covenant and His witnesses. (Psalm 25:10)

Today is the seventh day of the fourth week of seven weeks. Today is the twenty-eighth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath. Today is Sabbath, the fourth Sabbath of seven Sabbaths. Today completes the fourth week of seven weeks.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Twenty-Eight | Longing For Yehovah | Psalm 63:1-8

1 O Elohim, You are my El; I earnestly seek You. My being has thirsted for You. My flesh has longed for You in a dry and thirsty land without water. (Psalm 63:1)
2 Therefore I have had a vision of You In the set-apart place, to see Your power and Your esteem. (Psalm 63:2)
3 Because Your kindness is better than life, my lips do praise You. (Psalm 63:3)
4 Therefore I bless You while I live. In Your Name I lift up my hands. (Psalm 63:4)
5 My being is satisfied as with marrow and fat, and my mouth praises You with singing lips. (Psalm 63:5)
6 When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches. (Psalm 63:6)
7 For You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I sing. (Psalm 63:7)
8 My being has closely followed You. Your right hand did uphold me. (Psalm 63:8)

Counting of the Omer–Week 5

Day Twenty-Nine A Song of Thanksgiving Psalm 67:1-7

Today is the first day of the fifth week of seven weeks. Today is the twenty-ninth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Today is the second day of the fifth week of seven weeks. Today is the thirtieth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Thirty | Yehovah & His People (Part I) Psalm 78:1-16

Psa 78:1   My people, give ear to my Torah, Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
Psa 78:2  I open my mouth in a parable; I utter riddles of old,
Psa 78:3  Which we have heard and known, For our fathers have related them to us.
Psa 78:4  We do not hide them from their children, Relating to the generation to come the praises of Yehovah, And His strength and His wonders which He has done.
Psa 78:5  For He raised a witness in Ya?aqo?, And set a Torah in Yisra’?l, Which He commanded our fathers, To teach them to their children;
Psa 78:6  That it might be known to a generation to come, To children who would be born, To rise up and relate them to their children,
Psa 78:7  And place their trust in Elohim, And not forget the works of ?l, But watch over His commands,
Psa 78:8  And not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation which did not prepare its heart, Whose spirit was not steadfast to ?
Psa 78:9  The children of Ephrayim, armed bowmen, Turned back in the day of battle.
Psa 78:10  They did not guard the covenant of Elohim, And they refused to walk in His Torah,
Psa 78:11  And they forgot His deeds And His wonders which He had shown them.
Psa 78:12  He did wonders in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Mitsrayim, in the field of Tso?an.
Psa 78:13  He split the sea and caused them to pass through, And He made the waters stand up like a heap,
Psa 78:14  And led them with the cloud by day, And all the night with a light of fire.
Psa 78:15  He split the rocks in the wilderness, And made them drink, as from the great depths,
Psa 78:16  And brought forth streams from the rock, And caused waters to come down as rivers.

Today is the third day of the fifth week of seven weeks. Today is the thirty-first day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Thirty-One | Yehovah & His People (Part II) Psalm 78:17-31

Psa 78:17  Yet they sinned still more against Him To rebel against the Most High in the desert.
Psa 78:18  And they tried ?l in their heart By asking food according to their desire.
Psa 78:19  And they spoke against Elohim. They said, “Is ?l able to set a table in the wilderness?
Psa 78:20  “Look, He struck the rock, So that the waters gushed out, And the streams overflowed. Is He able to give bread also? Would He provide meat for His people?”
Psa 78:21  Therefore Yehovah heard, and He was wroth; So a fire was kindled against Ya?aqo?, And displeasure also came up against Yisrael?
Psa 78:22  Because they did not believe in Elohim, Neither did they trust in His deliverance.
Psa 78:23  Yet He had commanded the clouds above, And opened the doors of the heavens,
Psa 78:24  And He rained down manna on them to eat, And He gave them the grain of the heavens.
Psa 78:25  Men ate bread of the mighty; He sent them provisions to satisfaction.
Psa 78:26  He made an east wind blow in the heavens; And by His power He brought in the south wind.
Psa 78:27  And He rained meat on them like the dust, And winged birds like the sand of the seas,
Psa 78:28  And let them fall in the midst of His camp, All around His Dwelling Place.
Psa 78:29  So they ate and were completely satisfied, For He brought them what they desired.
Psa 78:30  They had not turned away from their desire, Their food was still in their mouths,
Psa 78:31  When the wrath of Elohim came against them, And He killed among their fat ones, And He struck down the choice ones of Yisra’?l.

Today is the fourth day of the fifth week of seven weeks. Today is the thirty-second day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Thirty-Two | Yehovah & His People (Part III) Psalm 78:32-39

Psa 78:32  In spite of all this they still sinned, And did not believe in His wonders.
Psa 78:33  So He ended their days in a breath, And their years in trouble.
Psa 78:34  When He killed them, then they sought Him, And they returned and did earnestly seek ?l.
Psa 78:35  And they remembered that Elohim was their rock, And the Most High ?l their redeemer.
Psa 78:36  But they flattered Him with their mouth, And they lied to Him with their tongue,
Psa 78:37  For their heart was not steadfast with Him, And they were not true to His covenant.
Psa 78:38  But He, the Compassionate One, Pardoned crookedness, And did not destroy them. And many a time He turned His displeasure away, And did not stir up all His wrath.
Psa 78:39  For He remembered that they were but flesh, A passing breath that does not return.

Today is the fifth day of the fifth week of seven weeks. Today is the thirty-third day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Thirty-Three | Yehovah & His People (Part IV) | Psalm 78:40-55

Psa 78:40  How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert!
Psa 78:41  And again and again they tried ?l, And provoked the Set-apart One of Yisra’?l.
Psa 78:42  They did not remember His hand, The day when He redeemed them from the adversary,
Psa 78:43  How He worked His signs in Mitsrayim, And His wonders in the field of Tso?an.
Psa 78:44  He turned their rivers into blood, And they could not drink their streams.
Psa 78:45  He sent among them swarms of flies which devoured them, And frogs which destroyed them,
Psa 78:46  And gave their crops to the caterpillar, And their labour to the locust.
Psa 78:47  He destroyed their vines with hail, And their sycamore trees with frost,
Psa 78:48  And gave their beasts over to the hail, And their livestock to bolts of fire.
Psa 78:49  He sent on them the burning of His displeasure, Wrath, and rage, and distress, A deputation of messengers of evils.
Psa 78:50  He made a path for His displeasure; He did not spare their being from death, But gave their life over to the plague.
Psa 78:51  And He struck all the first-born in Mitsrayim, The first-fruits of strength in the tents of ?am,
Psa 78:52  Then made His own people go forth like sheep, And led them in the wilderness like a flock.
Psa 78:53  And He led them on safely, And they did not fear, But the sea covered their enemies.
Psa 78:54  And He brought them to the border of His set-apart place, This mountain which His right hand had gained,
Psa 78:55  And drove out nations before them, And allotted them a measured inheritance, And made the tribes of Yisra’?l dwell in their tents.

Today is the sixth day of the fifth week of seven weeks. Today is the thirty-fourth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Thirty-Four | Yehovah & His People (Part V) Psalm 78:56-72

Psa 78:56  Yet they tried and rebelled Against the Most High Elohim, And did not guard His witnesses,
Psa 78:57  But they turned back And acted treacherously like their fathers; They twisted like a treacherous bow.
Psa 78:58  For they enraged Him with their high places, And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images.
Psa 78:59  When Elohim heard this, He was wroth, And greatly despised Yisra’el,
Psa 78:60  And He left the Dwelling Place of Shiloh, The Tent which He had set up among men.
Psa 78:61  And He gave His strength into captivity, And His comeliness into the hand of the adversary.
Psa 78:62  And He gave His people over to the sword, And He was wroth with His inheritance.
Psa 78:63  His young men were consumed by fire, And His maidens were not praised.
Psa 78:64  His priests fell by the sword, And their widows could not weep.
Psa 78:65  Then Yehovah awoke as one asleep, As a mighty man who shouts because of wine.
Psa 78:66  And He struck His adversaries backward, He put them to an everlasting reproach.
Psa 78:67  Then He rejected the tent of Yoseph, And did not choose the tribe of Ephrayim,
Psa 78:68  But chose the tribe of Yehudah, Mount Tsiyon, which He loved.
Psa 78:69  And He built His set-apart place like the heights, Like the earth He founded it forever.
Psa 78:70  And He chose Dawi? His servant, And took him from the sheepfolds;
Psa 78:71  He brought him in from tending the ewes, To shepherd Yacaqob His people, And Yisra’?l His inheritance.
Psa 78:72  And he shepherded them According to the integrity of his heart, And led them by the skill of his hands.

Today is the seventh day of the fifth week of seven weeks. Today is the thirty-fifth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath. Today is Sabbath, the fifth Sabbath of seven Sabbaths. Today completes the fifth week of seven weeks.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Thirty-Five | Yehovah, the King Psalm 93:1-5

Psa 93:1  Yehovah shall reign, He shall put on excellency; Yehovah shall put on strength; He shall gird Himself. Indeed, the world is established, immovable.
Psa 93:2  Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting.
Psa 93:3  Rivers shall lift up, O Yehovah, Rivers shall lift up their voice; Rivers lift up their breakers.
Psa 93:4  Yehovah on high is mightier Than the noise of many waters, The mighty breakers of the sea.
Psa 93:5  Your witnesses have been very trustworthy. Set-apartness befits Your house, O Yehovah, forever.

Counting of the Omer–Week 6

Today is the first day of the sixth week of seven weeks. Today is the thirty-sixth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Thirty-Six | Yehovah, the Judge Psalm 94:12-23

Psa 94:12  Blessed is the man You discipline, O Yah, And instruct out of Your Torah,
Psa 94:13  To give him rest from the days of evil, Until the pit is dug for the wrong.
Psa 94:14  For Yehovah does not leave His people, Nor does He forsake His inheritance.
Psa 94:15  For right-ruling returns man to righteousness, And all the upright in heart follow it.
Psa 94:16  Who would rise up for me against evil-doers? Who would stand up for me against workers of wickedness?
Psa 94:17  If Yehovah had not been my help, My being would soon have settled in silence.
Psa 94:18  When I said, “My foot has slipped,” Your loving-commitment, O Yehovah, supported me.
Psa 94:19  When anxiety was great within me, Your comforts delighted my being.
Psa 94:20  Would a throne of destruction, Which devises trouble by law, Be joined with You?
Psa 94:21  They band together against the life of the righteous, And declare innocent blood wrong.
Psa 94:22  But Yehovah is my defense, And my Elohim the rock of my refuge,
Psa 94:23  And brings back on them their own wickedness, And cuts them off in their own wrongdoing; Yehovah our Elohim does cut them off.

Today is the second day of the sixth week of seven weeks, the thirty-seventh day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Thirty-Seven | A Song of Praise Psalm 95:1-7

Psa 95:1  Come, let us sing to Yehovah! Let us raise a shout to the Rock of our deliverance.
Psa 95:2  Let us come before His face with thanksgiving; Let us raise a shout to Him in song.
Psa 95:3  For Yehovah is a great ?l, And a great Sovereign above all mighty ones.
Psa 95:4  In whose hand are the depths of the earth; The mountain peaks are His also.
Psa 95:5  His is the sea, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land.
Psa 95:6  Come, let us bow down and bend low, Let us kneel before Yehovah our Maker.
Psa 95:7  For He is our Elohim, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice:

Today is the third day of the sixth week of seven weeks, the thirty-eighth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him! 

Day Thirty-Eight | Yehovah, the Supreme King Psalm 96:1-13 (14)

Psa 96:4  For great is Yehovah and greatly to be praised, He is to be feared above all mighty ones.
Psa 96:5  For all the mighty ones of the peoples are matters of naught, But Yehovah made the heavens.
Psa 96:6  Excellency and splendour are before Him, Strength and comeliness are in His set-apart place.
Psa 96:7  Ascribe to Yehovah, O clans of the peoples, Ascribe to Yehovah esteem and strength.
Psa 96:8  Ascribe to Yehovah the esteem of His Name; Bring an offering, and come into His courts.
Psa 96:9  Bow yourselves to Yehovah, In the splendour of set-apartness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.
Psa 96:10  Say among nations, “Yehvoah shall reign. The world also is established, immovable. He judges the peoples in straightness.”
Psa 96:11  Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
Psa 96:12  Let the field exult, and all that is in it. Let all the trees of the forest then shout for joy,
Psa 96:13  At the presence of Yehovah. For He shall come, For He shall come to judge the earth. He judges the world in righteousness,a And the peoples with His truth. Footnote: aSee also Psa 98:9, Act 17:31, Rev 19:11.

Today is the fourth day of the sixth week of seven weeks, the thirty-ninth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Thirty-Nine | Yehovah, the Ruler of the World Psalm 98:1-9

Psa 98:1  Sing to Yehovah a new song! For He has done wonders; His right hand and His set-apart arm Have brought Him deliverance.
Psa 98:2  Yehovah has made known His deliverance; His righteousness He has openly shown Before the eyes of the nations.
Psa 98:3  He has remembered His loving-commitment And His trustworthiness to the house of Yisra’?l; All the ends of the earth have seen The deliverance of our Elohim.
Psa 98:4  Raise a shout to Yehovah, all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.
Psa 98:5  Sing to Yehovah with the lyre, With the lyre and the voice of a song,
Psa 98:6  With trumpets and a voice of a shophar; Raise a shout before Yehovah, the Sovereign.
Psa 98:7  Let the sea roar, and all that fills it, The world and those who dwell in it.
Psa 98:8  Let the rivers clap their hands, Let the mountains sing together for joy before Yehovah,
Psa 98:9  For He shall come to judge the earth. He judges the world in righteousness, And the people in straightness.

Today is the fifth day of the sixth week of seven weeks, the fortieth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Forty | Yehovah, the Supreme King Psalm 99:1-9

Psa 99:1  Yehovah shall reign; Peoples tremble! He is enthroned on the keru?im; The earth shakes!
Psa 99:2  Yehovah is great in Tsiyon, And He is high above all the peoples.
Psa 99:3  They praise Your Name, great and awesome, It is set-apart.
Psa 99:4  And the strength of the Sovereign Shall love right-ruling; You Yourself shall establish straightness; You shall execute right-ruling And righteousness in Ya?aqo?.
Psa 99:5  Exalt Yehovah our Elohim, And bow yourselves at His footstool, He is set-apart.
Psa 99:6  Mosheh and Aharon were among His priests, And Shemu’?l was among those calling upon His Name. They called upon Yehovah, and He answered them.
Psa 99:7  He spoke to them in the column of cloud; They guarded His witnesses And the law He gave them.
Psa 99:8  You answered them, O Yehovah our Elohim. You were a forgiving ?l to them, Though You took vengeance on their deeds.
Psa 99:9  Exalt Yehovah our Elohim, And bow down towards His set-apart mountain; For Yehovah our Elohim is set-apart.

Today is the sixth day of the sixth week of seven weeks, the forty-first day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Forty-One | The Love of Yehovah Psalm 103:1-22

Psa 103:1  Bless Yehovah, O my being, And all that is within me, Bless His set-apart Name!
Psa 103:2  Bless Yehovah, O my being, And do not forget all His dealings,
Psa 103:3  Who forgives all your crookednesses, Who heals all your diseases,
Psa 103:4  Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with loving-commitment and compassion,
Psa 103:5  Who satisfies your desire with the good, Your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Psa 103:6  Yehovah is doing righteousness And right-ruling for all the oppressed.
Psa 103:7  He made known His ways to Mosheh, His acts to the children of Yisra’?l.
Psa 103:8  Yehovah is compassionate and showing favour, Patient, and great in loving-commitment.
Psa 103:9  He does not always strive, nor maintain it forever.
Psa 103:10  He has not done to us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our crookednesses.
Psa 103:11  For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His loving-commitment toward those who fear Him;
Psa 103:12  As far as east is from west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Psa 103:13  As a father has compassion for his children, So Yehovah has compassion for those who fear Him.
Psa 103:14  For He knows how we are made; He remembers that we are dust.
Psa 103:15  A man’s days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
Psa 103:16  For the wind blows over it, and it is no more, And its place no longer remembers it.
Psa 103:17  But the loving-commitment of Yehovah Is from everlasting to everlasting Upon those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children,
Psa 103:18  To those who guard His covenant, And to those who remember His orders to do them.
Psa 103:19  Yehovah has established His throne in the heavens, And His reign shall rule over all.
Psa 103:20  Bless Yehovah, you His messengers, Mighty in power, who do His Word, Listening to the voice of His Word.
Psa 103:21  Bless Yehovah, all you His hosts, You His servants, who do His pleasure.
Psa 103:22  Bless Yehovah, all His works, In all places of His rule. Bless Yehovah, O my being!

Today is the seventh day of the sixth week of seven weeks, the forty-second day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath. Today is Sabbath, the sixth Sabbath of seven Sabbaths. Today completes the sixth week of seven weeks.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Forty-Two | Yehovah & His People (Part VI) Psalm 105:1-11

Psa 105:1  Give thanks to Yehovah! Call upon His Name, Make known His deeds among the peoples.
Psa 105:2  Sing to Him, sing praise to Him; Speak of all His wonders.
Psa 105:3  Make your boast in His set-apart Name; Let the hearts rejoice of those seeking ????.
Psa 105:4  Seek Yehovah and His strength; Seek His face always.
Psa 105:5  Remember His wonders which He has done, His miracles, and the right-rulings of His mouth,
Psa 105:6  O seed of A?raham His servant, Children of Ya?aqo?, His chosen ones!
Psa 105:7  He is Yehovah our Elohim; His right-rulings are in all the earth.
Psa 105:8  He has remembered His covenant forever, The Word He commanded, for a thousand generations,
Psa 105:9  The covenant He made with A?raham, And His oath to Yits?aq,
Psa 105:10  And established it to Ya?aqo? for a law, To Yisra’?l – an everlasting covenant,
Psa 105:11  Saying, “To you I give the land of Kena?an, The portion of your inheritance.”

Counting of the Omer–Week 7

Today is the first day of the seventh week of seven weeks. Today is the forty-third day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Forty-Three | Yehovah’s Graciousness Psalm 106:1-5

Psa 106:1  Praise Yah! Oh, give thanks to Yehovah, For He is good! For His loving-commitment is everlasting.
Psa 106:2  Who does relate the mighty acts of Yehovah? Or declare all His praise?
Psa 106:3  Blessed are those who guard right-ruling, Who do righteousness at all times!
Psa 106:4  Remember me, O Yehovah, in the acceptance of Your people; Visit me with Your deliverance,
Psa 106:5  To see the good of Your chosen ones, To rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, To make my boast with Your inheritance.

Today is the second day of the seventh week of seven weeks. Today is the forty-fourth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Forty-Four | In Praise of Yehovah Psalm 111:1-10

Psa 111:1  Aleph Praise Yah! I thank Yehovah with all my heart, B?t In the company of the straight, and of the congregation.
Psa 111:2  Gimel Great are the works of Yehovah, Dalet Searched for by all who delight in them.
Psa 111:3  H? Splendour and greatness are His work, Waw And His righteousness stands forever.
Psa 111:4  Zayin He has made His wonders to be remembered; ?et Yehovah shows favour and is compassionate.
Psa 111:5  Tet He has given food to those who fear Him; Yod He remembers His covenant forever.
Psa 111:6  Kaph He has shown His people the power of His works, Lamed To give to them the inheritance of the nations.
Psa 111:7  Mem The works of His hands are truth and right-ruling, Nun All His orders are trustworthy,
Psa 111:8  Same? They are upheld forever and ever, Ayin Performed in truth and straightness.
Psa 111:9  P? He sent redemption to His people, Tsadi He has commanded His covenant forever. Qoph Set-apart and awesome is His Name.
Psa 111:10  R?sh The fear of Yehovah is the beginning of wisdom, Shin All those doing them have a good understanding. Taw His praise is standing forever.

Today is the third day of the seventh week of seven weeks. Today is the forty-fifth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Forty-Five | The Happiness of a Good Person Psalm 112:1-10

Psa 112:1  Aleph Praise Yah! Blessed is the man, Who fears Yehovah, B?t Who has greatly delighted in His commands.
Psa 112:2  Gimel Mighty in the earth shall be his seed, Dalet The generation of the straight ones shall be blessed.
Psa 112:3  H? Wealth and riches are in his house, Waw And his righteousness is standing forever.
Psa 112:4  Zayin Light has risen in the darkness to the straight ones, Those showing favour, ?et The compassionate, And the righteous.
Psa 112:5  Tet Good is a man showing favour and lending, Yod He sustains his matters in right-ruling.
Psa 112:6  Kaph For he is never shaken; Lamed The righteous is remembered forever.
Psa 112:7  Mem He is not afraid of an evil report. Nun His heart is steadfast, trusting in ????.
Psa 112:8  Same? His heart is upheld, he is not afraid, Ayin While he looks on his adversaries.
Psa 112:9  P? He scattered abroad, He gave to the poor, Tsadi His righteousness is standing forever. Qoph His horn is exalted with esteem.
Psa 112:10  R?sh The wrong one sees it and shall be vexed; Shin He gnashes his teeth and shall melt. Taw The desire of the wrong ones does perish.

Today is the fourth day of the seventh week of seven weeks. Today is the forty-sixth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Forty-Six | The Reward of Obedience Psalm 128:1-6

Psa 128:1  Blessed are all who fear Yehovah, Who walk in His ways.
Psa 128:2  You shall eat the labour of your hands. Be blessed, and let it be well with you.
Psa 128:3  Let your wife be As a fruit-bearing vine within your house, Your sons like olive plants all around your table.
Psa 128:4  Look, so shall the man be blessed Who fears Yehovah.
Psa 128:5  Yehovah shall bless you out of Tsiyon, And let you see the good of Yerushalayim All the days of your life,
Psa 128:6  And let you see your children’s children! Peace be upon Yisra’?l!

Today is the fifth day of the seventh week of seven weeks. Today is the forty-seventh day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Forty-Seven | A Prayer For Help Psalm 130:1-8

Psa 130:1   Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Yehovah.
Psa 130:2  O Yehovah, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive To the voice of my prayers.
Psa 130:3  O Yah, if You should watch crookednesses, O Yehovah, who would stand?
Psa 130:4  But with You there is forgiveness, That You might be feared.
Psa 130:5  I looked to Yehovah, My being has looked, And for His word I have waited.
Psa 130:6  My being looks to Yehovah More than those watching for morning, watching for morning.
Psa 130:7  O Yisra’?l, wait for Yehovah; For with Yehovah there is loving-commitment. And with Him is much redemption,
Psa 130:8  For He shall redeem Yisra’?l From all his crookednesses.

Today is the sixth day of the seventh week of seven weeks. Today is the forty-eighth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Forty-Eight | A Call For the Universe To Praise Yehovah Psalm 148:1-14

Psa 148:1  Praise Yah! Praise Yehovah from the heavens, Praise Him in the heights!
Psa 148:2  Praise Him, all His messengers; Praise Him, all His hosts!
Psa 148:3  Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all you stars of light!
Psa 148:4  Praise Him, heavens of heavens, And you waters above the heavens!
Psa 148:5  Let them praise the Name of Yehovah, For He commanded and they were created.
Psa 148:6  And He established them forever and ever, He gave a law and they pass not beyond.
Psa 148:7  Praise Yehovah from the earth, You great sea creatures and all the depths,
Psa 148:8  Fire and hail, snow and clouds, Stormy wind that does His word,
Psa 148:9  The mountains and all hills, Fruit tree and all cedars,
Psa 148:10  Wild beasts and all cattle, Creeping creatures and flying birds,
Psa 148:11  Sovereigns of the earth and all peoples, Rulers and all judges of the earth,
Psa 148:12  Both young men and maidens, Old men and children.
Psa 148:13  Let them praise the Name of Yehovah, For His Name alone is exalted, His splendour is above the earth and heavens.
Psa 148:14  He also lifts up the horn of His people, The praise of all His lovingly-committed ones; Of the children of Yisra’?l, A people near to Him. Praise Yah!

Today is the seventh day of the seventh week of seven weeks. Today is the forty-ninth day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath. Today is the seventh Sabbath of seven Sabbaths. Today completes the seventh week of seven weeks.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Forty-Nine | A Prayer of Thanksgiving Psalm 138:1-8

Psa 138:1  I give You thanks with all my heart; Before the mighty ones I sing praises to You.
Psa 138:2  I bow myself toward Your set-apart H??al, And give thanks to Your Name For Your loving-commitment and for Your truth; For You have made great Your Word, Your Name, above all.
Psa 138:3  On the day I called You did answer me, You made me bold with strength in my being.
Psa 138:4  Let all the sovereigns of the earth Give thanks to You, O Yehovah, When they shall hear the words of Your mouth.
Psa 138:5  And let them sing of the ways of Yehovah, For great is the esteem of Yehovah.
Psa 138:6  Though Yehovah is exalted, He looks on the humble; But the proud He perceives from a distance.
Psa 138:7  Though I walk in the midst of distress, You revive me; You stretch out Your hand Against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand saves me.
Psa 138:8  Yehovah does perfect for me. O Yehovah, Your loving-commitment is everlasting. Do not forsake the works of Your hands.

SHAVUOT | FEAST OF PENTECOST

This Feast of the fiftieth day has been a many-sided one and as a consequence, has been called by many names. The names are as follows:

  • Chag Ha-Shavuot or Hag Shabu’ot (Feast of Weeks)
  • Azeret shel Pesah (Closing Season Of the Passover)
  • Yom ha-Bikkurim (Day of the First-Fruits)
  • Feast of Shabua or Hagga di-Shebu’aya
  • Hag ha-Kazir (Feast of Harvest)
  • Azeret (Closing Festival)

Today is the fiftieth and final day of the counting from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath. Today is the morrow of the seventh Sabbath, the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Harvest, or the Day of First-Fruits.

Psa 67:1  Elohim does favour us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
Psa 67:2  For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
Psa 67:3  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa 67:5  Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psa 67:6  The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
Psa 67:7  Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Day Fifty | Praise Yehovah! | Psalm 150:1-6

Psa 150:1  Praise Yah! Praise ?l in His set-apart place; Praise Him in His mighty expanse!
Psa 150:2  Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!
Psa 150:3  Praise Him with the blowing of a shophar; Praise Him with the harp and lyre!
Psa 150:4  Praise Him with tambourine and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
Psa 150:5  Praise Him with sounding cymbals; Praise Him with resounding cymbals!
Psa 150:6  Let all that has breath praise Yah. Praise Yah!

What is a Genizah?

Before we begin this weeks study, all of you must understand what a Genizah is and what its purpose is. So let me quote to you exactly what Wikipedia says on this subject.

 

 

 

Genizah

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genizah

 
 

A genizah at the Narkeldanga Cemetery, in Kolkata, India.[1]

A genizah (/ɡɛˈnzə/; Hebrew: גניזה, lit.‘storage’, also geniza; plural: genizot[h] or genizahs)[2] is a storage area in a Jewish synagogue or cemetery designated for the temporary storage of worn-out Hebrew-language books and papers on religious topics prior to proper cemetery burial.

Etymology[edit]

The word genizah comes from the Hebrew triconsonantal root g-n-z, which means “to hide” or “to put away”, from Old Median *ganza- (“depository; treasure”).[3] The derived noun meant ‘hiding’ and later a place where one put things, and is perhaps best translated as “archive” or “repository”.

Description[edit]

A genizah in a synagogue (Samarkand, Uzbekistan, ca. 1865-72)

Genizot are temporary repositories designated for the storage of worn-out Hebrew language books and papers on religious topics prior to proper cemetery burial, it being forbidden to throw away writings containing the name of God. As even personal letters and legal contracts may open with an invocation of God, the contents of genizot have not been limited to religious materials; in practice, they have also contained writings of a secular nature, with or without the customary opening invocation, as well as writings in other Jewish languages that use the Hebrew alphabet (the Judeo-Arabic languages, Judeo-Persian, Judaeo-Spanish, and Yiddish).

Genizot are typically found in the attic or basement of a synagogue, but can also be in walls or buried underground. They may also be located in cemeteries.[3]

The contents of genizot are periodically gathered solemnly and then buried in the cemetery or bet ḥayyim. Synagogues in Jerusalem buried the contents of their genizot every seventh year, as well as during a year of drought, believing that this would bring rain. This custom is associated with the far older practice of burying a great or good man with a sefer (either a book of the Tanakh, or the Mishnah, the Talmud, or any work of rabbinic literature) which has become pasul (unfit for use through illegibility or old age). The tradition of paper-interment is known to have been practiced in Morocco, Algiers, Turkey, Yemen and Egypt.

History[edit]

A possible geniza at Masada, eastern Israel

The Talmud (Tractate Shabbat 115a) directs that holy writings in other than the Hebrew language require genizah, that is, preservation. In Tractate Pesachim 118b, bet genizah is a treasury. In Pesachim 56a, Hezekiah hides (ganaz) a medical work; in Shabbat 115a, Gamaliel orders that the targum to the Book of Job should be hidden (yigganez) under the nidbak (layer of stones). In Shabbat 30b, there is a reference to those rabbis who sought to categorize the books of Ecclesiastes and Proverbs as heretical; this occurred before the canonization of the Hebrew Bible, when disputes flared over which books should be considered Biblical. The same thing occurs in Shabbat 13b in regard to the Book of Ezekiel, and in Pesachim 62 in regard to the Book of Genealogies.

In medieval times, Hebrew scraps and papers that were relegated to the genizah were known as shemot “names,” because their sanctity and consequent claim to preservation were held to depend on their containing the “names” of God. In addition to papers, articles connected with ritual, such as tzitzit, lulavim, and sprigs of myrtle, are similarly stored.

According to folklore, these scraps were used to hide the famed Golem of Prague, whose body is claimed to lie in the genizah of the Old New Synagoguein Prague.

Modern genizah collection receptacle on street in Nachlaot, Jerusalem

By far, the best-known genizah, which is famous for both its size and spectacular contents, is the Cairo Geniza. Recognized for its importance and introduced to the Western world in 1864 by Jacob Saphir, and chiefly studied by Solomon Schechter, Jacob Mann[4][5] and Shelomo Dov Goitein, the genizah had an accumulation of almost 280,000 Jewish manuscript fragments dating from 870 to the 19th century. These materials were important for reconstructing the religious, social and economic history of Jews, especially in the Middle Ages.

For all practical purposes, the Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered between the years 1946 and 1956, belonged to a genizah from the 2nd-century BCE.

In 1927, a manuscript containing Nathan ben Abraham‘s 11th-century Mishnah commentary was discovered in the genizah of the Jewish community of Sana’a, Yemen. Nathan had served as President of the Academy under the revised Palestinian geonate, shortly before its demise in the early 12th century CE. In 2011, the so-called Afghan Geniza, an 11th century collection of manuscript fragments in Hebrew, Aramaic, Judaeo-Arabic and Judeo-Persian, was found in Afghanistan, in caves used by the Taliban.[6]

In Germanic lands genizot have been preserved in buildings dating back to the early modern period[7] and till today, dozens of Genizot have been saved. Researchers began to study the material, soon realizing that these findings could provide insight into the life of Jewish rural communities from the 17th to 19th century. The de:Genisaprojekt Veitshöchheim and other researchers are dealing with the inventory, the digitization and the publication of the finds.[8]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Chakraborty, Showli (1 September 2014). “Jewish Past, Digital Present”. The Telegraph, Kolkata. Archived from the original on September 5, 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  2. ^ Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, 1961
  3. ^ Jump up to: ab Katzover, Yisrael. “The Genizah on the Nile”. Hamodia Features, April 21, 2016, p. 14.
  4. ^ “Mann, Jacob”. Jewish Virtual Library. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  5. ^ Mann, Jacob (1920–1922). The Jews in Egypt and in Palestine under the Fāṭimid caliphs: a contribution to their political and communal history, based chiefly on Genizah material hitherto unpublished. London: Oxford University Press. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  6. ^ “Ancient manuscripts indicate Jewish community once thrived in Afghanistan”. CBS News. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  7. ^ Singer-Brehm, Elisabeth. “Genizot of German Lands”. Encyclopedia of Jewish Book Cultures. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
  8. ^ Singer-Brehm, Elisabeth. “Research on Modern Genisot in Germany”. Aschkenas. Retrieved 25 March 2023.

 

Yehshua Was The Word

Yehovah is the Torah. The first five books of the Bible. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. These books show you who Yehovah is and how to get to know Him and to be known by Him.

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Joh 1:14  And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us. And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and of truth.

As we have explained many times Yehovah is represented by the goat on the Day of Atonement that is killed for a sin offering.

Lev 16:5  And he shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.

Lev 16:6  And Aaron shall offer his young bull of the sin offering which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself and for his house.

Lev 16:7  And he shall take the two he-goats and present them before Jehovah at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

Lev 16:8  And Aaron shall cast lots on the two he-goats; one lot for Jehovah and the other lot for a complete removal.

Lev 16:9  And Aaron shall bring the goat on which Jehovah’s lot fell, and offer it for a sin offering.

Lev 16:10  But the goat on which the lot fell to be the complete removal shall be presented alive before Jehovah, to make an atonement with him, to let him go for a complete removal into the wilderness.

The Torah Scroll represents Yehovah. Yehovah came to this earth as Emmanuel, God with us, and was known as Yehshua. Yehovah saves.

When He was crucified and killed by us and for us, in exactly the same way a Torah Scroll is to be buried our Messiah was also buried.

Just like in Qumran, the Genizah was in front of the place of meeting or the synagogue. I show this to people every time I take them there on tour. Every synagogue was to be built facing Jerusalem. This was done in Qumran. The caves were in front of the synagogue.

Now come back to Jerusalem. The Temple was facing east. On the other side of the Kidron, where Yehshua was killed is the mount called Golgotha. It was on this mount in a new tomb that He was interned. Exactly as the word was interned in an earthen jar, so our Messiah was interned in the earth in front of the Temple on the right hand side.

Anything that has Yehovah’s name on it was not to be just thrown out. It had to be treated with the sanctity of His name. It had to be buried in a certain way. And this was in fact also prophesying about His death. Because heretics used the name of Yehovah in their writings these books also had to be buried in a Genizah. For this reason you find in the Genizah of Qumran, the heretical books of Enoch and Jubilee and the Essenes. They were not gospel, nor sacred. They did have Yehovah’s name in them.

Eating Chammaschith From the Genizah

Eating Chammaschith From the Genizah

In our bible, many of you have made a big deal out of this one word and have totally missed the meaning being put forward to you. It is the word sorceries and is G5331 and in greek is pronounced as pharmakeia. Here are two verses it is found in.

Galatians 5:20  Idolatry, G1495  witchcraft, G5331  hatred, G2189  variance, G2054  emulations, G2205  wrath, G2372  strife, G2052  seditions, G1370  heresies, G139

Rev 18:23 And G2532  the light G5457  of a candle G3088  shall shine G5316  no more at all G2089 G3364  in G1722  thee; G4671  and G2532  the voice G5456  of the bridegroom G3566  and G2532  of the bride G3565  shall be heard G191  no more at all G2089 G3364  in G1722  thee: G4671  for G3754  thy G4675  merchants G1713  were G2258  the G3588  great men G3175  of the G3588  earth; G1093  for G3754  by G1722  thy G4675  sorceries G5331  were all G3956  nations G1484  deceived. G4105

From this many of you assume that all drugs made in a pharmacy is witchcraft and to be avoided. And this became the big hullabaloo over the vaccines during the COVID pandemic.

So just read the verse again and insert the current misunderstood word. Instead of saying “for by your sorceries were all you nations deceived” say, For by your druggist or pharmacies or modern medicines were all the nations deceived. This is absolutely ludicrous. That is not what Yehovah is conveying to you. Notice what Thayer has to say about this word and take note of #4.

G5331   (Thayer)

φαρμακεία

pharmakeia

Thayer Definition:

1) the use or the administering of drugs

2) poisoning

3) sorcery, magical arts, often found in connection with idolatry and fostered by it

4) metaphorically the deceptions and seductions of idolatry

It is the mixing of religious ideologies. The worship of false gods and pagan worship is the mixing of it with the worship of Yehovah and thinking it is all good. Covering all the bases as it were. Or believing all road lead to Yehovah. This is utterly false and it is an abomination.

Let’s look at this word in the Old Testament. In 1 Samuel, Saul did not obey the commands of Yehovah and read how Samuel rebuked him.

1Sa 15:19 Why then did you not obey the voice of Jehovah? Why did you fly on the spoil and do evil in the sight of Jehovah?

1Sa 15:20 And Saul said to Samuel, Yes, I have obeyed the voice of Jehovah, and have gone the way which Jehovah sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have completely destroyed the Amalekites.

1Sa 15:21 But the people took from the spoil, of the flocks and herd, the best of the things devoted to sacrifice to Jehovah your God in Gilgal.

1Sa 15:22 And Samuel said, Does Jehovah delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of Jehovah? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice! To listen is better than the fat of rams!

1Sa 15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idol-worship. Because you have rejected the Word of Jehovah, He has also rejected you from being king!

Like Saul, many of you also say “Yes, we have obeyed the voice of Yehovah, and follow His Commandments.” Samuel says to him, that his rebellion at not obeying, is like the sin of witchcraft, and he associated this sin with idol worship. Idol Worship? Saul did not obey Yehovah’s commands, and that is likened to idol worship.

At first, Saul did as God commanded him: “Saul attacked the Amalekites, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt” (verse 7). Yet, for some reason—perhaps it was a personal or political aversion to slaying a fellow king—”Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them” (verse 9). For this act of disobedience, God rejected Saul as king over Israel (verses 11, 23, 26), and in the process of time, gave the throne to David.

There is a bit of irony in the fact that, when questioned about sparing Agag and the livestock, Saul frames his disobedience as a way to honor God: “[The people] have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed” (verse 15). The prophet Samuel, justifiably, tells him to shut up.

After some back and forth, in which Saul doubles down on his excuse, Samuel explains why the king’s disobedience was such a great sin in the eyes of God:

Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft [or divination], and stubbornness [or defiance] is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king. (I Samuel 15:22-23)

Saul had convinced himself that God would accept an extravagant offering of animal flesh, bestowing on Him great honor and glory for their victory over the Amalekites, in place of his simply doing what He said. Put another way, the king had prioritized a pious demonstration of worship (read, appeasing gift) over obedience. Samuel’s inspired response is essentially, “Sorry, Saul, but you got it completely backward!”

As the prophet says, “To obey is better than sacrifice” (see Mark 12:33). God looks more favorably on a person who takes His Word at face value and single-mindedly follows its direction than on someone who blithely excuses his failures and reframes them as “opportunities” to bring God glory. This latter attitude is perilously close to the apostle Paul’s rhetorical question, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” (Romans 6:1).

The explanation for Samuel’s declaration of God’s priorities appears in I Samuel 15:23: “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” Not doing as God says is not merely disobedience but rebellion: “open opposition toward a person or group in authority,” as the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it. In other words, it is a manifestation of an individual’s active, anti-God nature. Disobedience to God’s commands puts a person on the wrong side of the battle line dividing right from wrong. Such a one may as well have taken up arms against God!

His comparison of rebellion to witchcraft can seem strange at first, since insurrection and sorcery appear to have little in common. However, the comparison is not focused on the kinds of sin they represent but on their magnitude: Rebellion is just as bad as witchcraft. Disregarding God’s clear commands is just as spiritually dangerous as getting involved in demonism. In fact, rebellion is one of the demons’ great sins. Both rebellion and divination lead a person away from God, and without repentance, open a place for him in the camp of the demons. This is why God rejected Saul as king over His people. He would not have a declared enemy ruling over Israel.

How many of you are the same as Saul? You obey at first but then change Torah or Yehovah commands to suit your way of thinking.

We have another example of the word witchcraft, but it does not use the word witchcraft. You must look at the story and understand it. Then as now, there was no king over Israel and every man did what was right in his own eyes.

It is the story of Micah in the book of Judges.

 Jdg 17:3  And when he had given back the eleven hundred of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly given the silver to Jehovah from my hand for my son to make a graven image and a molten image. And now I am giving it to you.

Jdg 17:4  And he gave the money back to his mother. And his mother took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a refiner, who made of it an engraved image and a molten image. And they were in the house of Micah.

Jdg 17:5  And the man Micah had a house of gods, and made an ephod and household gods, and anointed one of his sons, who became his priest.

Jdg 17:6  In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his eyes.

 

This is the story of Micah, which is not the prophet Micah from Morasthite in the book of Micah.

This Micah stole some money from his mom, repented, and returned it to her. In return, his mom consecrated the silver to the Lord to make an idol. This idol was joined by several other ‘worship items,’ and a Levite was hired to be Micah’s priest. Then Micah’s shrine and priest were stolen by the tribe of Dan. And they became an object of worship for that whole tribe.

This story shows you how they merged the worship of Yehovah with pagan practices. And it is just reported as a historical event with no indication that this was a problem. The only indication that something was wrong was the phrase, “In those days, there was no king, and everyone did what they thought right.” So it would appear that Micah and the others in this story did not see anything wrong in their actions.

How guilty are we of doing what Micah did? Mixing the worship of Yehovah with idolatry. And never even realizing what we are doing. Most of us would probably vehemently deny that we are guilty of such a thing. But idols take many different forms.

We are this week exposing the false worship of Yehovah by those who use the Enochian, also known as the Jubilee, and Zadok Calendar.

These various names are all used for the same system. They had remained “Buried” in history until their remains were found amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls between 1946 and 1956 in various caves around Qumran.

Sacha Stern wrote the following about the Enoch and Jubilee Calendars in his book CALENDAR AND COMMUNITY, A History of the Jewish Calendar Second Century BCE-Tenth Century CE

1.1.7 Qumran sources and calendrical practice

Given this diversity of calendars, it may be wondered whether they were all intended to be used in practice. Schematic calendars excel in mathematical simplicity, but for this reason, they fail to comply with astronomical reality. Both the calendar of Jubilees and the 3-year lu­nisolar cycle assume an average solar year length of 364 days, which as we have seen, falls short of the real solar (tropical) year by approxi­mately 1-1/4 days. There is no provision, in these calendars, for occasional adjustments or intercalations—in spite of various attempts, by modern scholars, to conjecture that there must have been.6S Observance of these calendars over a protracted period would have caused the biblical festi­vals to occur in the wrong agricultural seasons, in blatant violation of Mosaic Law. This is unlikely to have been tolerated by any Jewish sect or community.

Likewise, the average length of the lunar month, which is assumed in the 3-year lunisolar cycle, is considerably too short. Every three years, the calendar month would fall behind the lunar month by approximately half a day. This discrepancy is smaller than the solar discrepancy of  1 1/4 days per annum, but arguably just as significant. This is because the phases of the moon are far more obvious to the casual observer than as­tronomical solstices and equinoxes. Whereas a discrepancy of one week between the calendar and the actual solar year can easily go unnoticed, a discrepancy of two days between the middle of the calendar month and the full moon is obvious to any inexperienced observer.

The length of the lunar (synodical) month is, in reality, over 44 minutes in excess of 29 1/2 days. Consequently, a lunar calendar cannot consist of a simple alter­ nation of 29 and 30-day months. Approximately every 36 months an additional day must be inserted, and a further day every 360 months (which make up for the accumulation each month of 44 minutes). In the Qumran 3-year cycle, this requirement is partially met with the intercalation every 3 years of an extra-se­quential 30-day month. However, this intercalation only provides an additional half-day to the cycle (i.e. the half-day remaining after deduction of 29 1/2 days for the actual lunar month).66 Therefore, the 3-year lunar cycle of the Qum­ran calendar accumulates a discrepancy of approximately half a day every three years, and of an additional day every 360 months.

The calendars of Qumran sources could only have been used in practice if their users were not bothered by these discrepancies. Some scholars have entertained this possibility on the basis of a passage in Enoch 80: 2-8, which reads that in the days of sinners the years shall be shortened, so that rain and vegetation will come ‘late’. This passage sug­gests a discrepancy between the calendar and the seasons; Enoch does not attribute this discrepancy to a fault in the calendar, but rather to human sin causing disruption of the seasons. Such a perspective could have justified the observance of a calendar that was falling behind the moon and the seasons.67

This Enoch passage may have justified a moderate discrepancy; but whether it would have justified a revolving calendar, with festivals such as Passover occurring in all seasons of the year, remains perhaps to be established. To repeat, the observance of Passover in any other season than the spring would have been a blatant violation of Mosaic Law. Many scholars, therefore, would favour the view that if any of these calendars were ever adopted in practice, as suggested by the book of Jubilees and the Damascus Rule, they would have been abandoned early on, as soon as these discrepancies became excessive.68 Alternatively, schematic cal­endars such as the calendar of Jubilees or the 3-year lunisolar cycle could have been used over a longer stretch of history, but only for short periods at a time. Discrepancies could have been rectified whenever necessary, on a purely ad hoc basis.

Most likely, perhaps, is that these schematic calendars served only as idealistic or theoretical models—much as has been argued in the con­text of Enoch’s calendars, with which Qumran calendars are evidently related.69 Qumran calendars may also have been construed as relevant to some futuristic, ideal world order. This might be suggested from the syn­chronization, in 4Q320-1, of the lunisolar cycle with the cycle of priestly courses;70 in the context of the Qumran community, the Temple-centred priestly courses would only have pertained to some eschatological ideal.

61 Pace Wise (1994*) 229.
62 So Wise (1994*) 229-30.
63 According to Talmon and Knohl (1995: 297—8), reference to this last day can also be found in 4Q321.
64 e.g. Wacholder and Wacholder (1995) 7-8 and 29-30; see bibliography cited in Wise (1994a) 100. This theory does not account for the listing of the last day of the months in 4Q320 (which in this theory would correspond to one day before the full moon).

65 For a summary, see Beckwith (1970). For a more recent attempt, see Glessmer (1996b) and (1999) 262-8. Glessmer emphasizes that this attempt is only hypothetical, as it is not supported by any explicit statement in the text (1996b: 156-7).

66 Beckwith (1992: 459) gives an erroneous account of this discrepancy, corrected in the later version (1996: 119).

The Qumran calendars, which today are called the Zadok calendar, are based on 30-day months for a 360-day year.

They assume that the 150 days in which Noah was in the ark proves that Noah kept a 30-day month for those five months in the ark. They do not recognize that Noah could not sight the moon during that time, and as such, each month becomes 30 days in length.

You will also notice that the Zadok calendar has two 30-day months each quarter and a 31-day month for every third month in a quarter. The year is divided by four quarters each.

Noah does not mention nor count that 31st day as they try to insist. But they do try to confuse you with hyperbole talk to explain it away. In other words our modern expression of bullshit baffles brains. Don’t fall for it

When Daniel speaks of a 1260-day, and 1290-day year, they will use this as further proof of the 360-day year and 30-day months. Again the sun and moon will not be seen during this time, so they are automatically 30-day months.

Another major faux pas or blunder of the Zadok calendar is that each quarter begins at the vernal equinox, and the month subsequently begins at that time. So, the equinox is day one on the calendar. This then does two things. It pays no attention to what phase the moon is in now nor does it matter to them what state the first fruits of the land of Israel are in.

All that matters is the equinox and no witnesses are needed.

This year, 2023, the spring equinox fell on Mon, Mar 20, 2023 5:24 PM Do they count Monday as day one or Tuesday? This year that works out to be the Conjunction of the moon to begin your counting from. Not the crescent moon. Don’t let them use this year to say, “see it is right on”, because it is not.

Look at 31 AD when Yehshua was killed.

The Equinox was March 23, 31 AD. That is 18 days before the conjunction of the next month. You can see it just by looking at Torah Calendar.

Another form of this abomination, for that, is what it is, are those who use the equinox and the Zadok calendar to line up the constellations so that every season is aligned to the constellation. They claim this is proven by Gen 1:14. They liken this claim to the paleo hebrew letter Tet.

All of this is the same as when Satan spoke to Eve. He ignored some basic facts. When Eve also glossed over those facts, then, Satan continued to lead her astray.

What basic facts do these Qumran, Enoch, Jubilee, Zadok and Equinox Solar or sun-only calendars all neglect and minimize?

Notice what Encyclopedia Britannica has to say about the length of time of one year. You will notice that it is never 360 or 364.

year, time required for Earth to travel once around the Sun, about 365 1/4 days. This fractional number makes necessary the periodic intercalation of days in any calendar that is to be kept in step with the seasons. In the Gregorian calendar a common year contains 365 days, and every fourth year (with a few exceptions) is a leap year of 366 days.

In astronomy, several kinds of year are distinguished, having slightly different lengths. The solar year (365 days 5 hours 48 minutes 46 seconds), also called tropical year, or year of the seasons, is the time between two successive occurrences of the vernal equinox (the moment when the Sun apparently crosses the celestialequator moving north). Because of the precession of the equinoxes (an effect of a slow wobble in Earth’s rotation), the solar year is shorter than the sidereal year (365 days 6 hours 9 minutes 10 seconds), which is the time taken by the Sun to return to the same place in its annual apparent journey against the background of the stars. The anomalistic year (365 days 6 hours 13 minutes 53 seconds) is the time between two passages of Earth through perihelion, the point in its orbit nearest the Sun. A lunar year (used in some calendars) of 12 synodic months (12 cycles of lunar phases) is about 354 days long. A cosmic year is the time (about 225 million years) needed for the solar system to revolve once around the centre of the Milky Way Galaxy.

Now let’s look at the lunar cycle of a month. again from Encyclopedia Britannica

month, a measure of time corresponding or nearly corresponding to the length of time required by the Moon to revolve once around the Earth.

The synodic month, or complete cycle of phases of the Moon as seen from Earth, averages 29.530588 mean solar days in length (i.e., 29 days 12 hours 44 minutes 3 seconds); because of perturbations in the Moon’s orbit, the lengths of all astronomical months vary slightly. The sidereal month is the time needed for the Moon to return to the same place against the background of the stars, 27.321661 days (i.e., 27 days 7 hours 43 minutes 12 seconds); the difference between synodic and sidereal lengths is due to the orbital movement of the Earth–Moon system around the Sun. The tropical month, 27.321582 days (i.e., 27 days 7 hours 43 minutes 5 seconds), only 7 seconds shorter than the sidereal month, is the time between passages of the Moon through the same celestial longitude. The draconic, or nodical, month of 27.212220 days (i.e., 27 days 5 hours 5 minutes 35.8 seconds) is the time between the Moon’s passages through the same node, or intersection of its orbit with the ecliptic, the apparent pathway of the Sun.

As a calendrical period, the month is derived from the lunation—i.e., the time elapsing between successive new moons (or other phases of the moon). A total of 12 lunations amounts to 354 days and is, roughly, a year. A period of 12 lunations was therefore used by some primitive peoples to make their calendrical year. As is obvious, the lunar-based year (and a calendar derived from it) cannot be accurately correlated with a solar-based year, and the month’s continued use in the Gregorian calendar of modern times is merely a recognition of its convenience as a calendar division (see Table).

The reality of hard facts about the moon’s rotation around the earth, and both the earth and the moon’s rotation around the sun, are proof enough to disprove the solar calendars of Qumran false and that they are based on a complete lack of intelligence.

Yehovah’s calendar revolves around understanding that each month is either 29 or 30 days each month. This compensates for the .530588 variable each month.

The year is 354 days a year. A difference of 11 days from the Solar year each year. This is adjusted by an intercalated month about every three years. But this is also determined by the growth of Barley in Israel—something these other calendars all want to dismiss.

They do not regard the barley nor having the very first fruits for the wave offering. They completely miss the mark.

The reason these false calendars have been found in the Genizah is because they have Yehovah’s name on them, not because they are true or Holy. And the Genizah was the burial place for both old, worn-out scrolls and for heretical books.

Do not be deceived by sophisticated double talk.

How Did the Essenes Get Started?

The following article is from my Newsletter 5845-048 The Truth That Chanukah Hides.

It was written in December 12, 2009. There is so much that most people have zero understanding about. When and why did the Essenes begin to form the community in Qumran? What was going on in the world at that time.

https://sightedmoon.com/the-truth-that-chanukah-hides/

The Chronology of Simon

The High Priest Simon came to power after the capture and death of his brother Jonathan by the Syrian Greek Empire. Simon then won freedom for the Judeans in the 170th Seleucid year.

Thus the yoke of the heathen was taken away from Israel in the hundred and seventieth year.

Then the people of Israel began to write in their instruments and contracts, “In the first year of Simon the high priest, the governor and leader of the Jews.” (1 Maccabee 13:41-42)

He also laid a great many men in ambush in many places of the mountains, and was superior in all his attacks upon them; and when he had been conqueror after so glorious a manner, he was made high priest, and also freed the Jews from the dominion of the Macedonians, after one hundred and seventy years of the empire [of Seleucus]. (Josephus, Wars 1:2:2)

This liberation and exemption from tribute came to the Jews in the 170th year of the Syrian Kingdom, reckoned from the time when Seleucus, surnamed Nicator, occupied Syria. (Josephus Antiquities 13:6:7)

At the end of Simons government, Simon and his two sons, Mattathias and Judas, were visiting Simons son in law, Ptolemy, in Dok, near Jericho. Ptolemy then treacherously murdered Simon. 1 Maccabees dates Simon’s murder in the 177th year, in the eleventh month called Sebat (Shebat; i.e. Jan/Feb). [This is recorded in 1 Maccabee 16:14. The Eleventh month is recorded in Zechariah 1:7]

Josephus adds that Simon died having “ruled over the Jews for eight years in all” (Josephus Antiquities 13:7:4). The year 177, therefore equals the eighth year of Simon. This fact is confirmed by other statements in these texts dating the regnal years of Simon.

-1 Maccabees, 13:41- 42 states that the 170th year was dated in contracts as “the first year of Simon”
-Josephus Antiquities 13:6:7, reports that “in the first year of his high priesthood”, Simon “liberated the people from servitude to the Macedonians”, which Josephus then dates as the 170th year of the Syrian kingdom.

-1 Maccabees 14:27, makes the following statement: “the eighteenth day of Elul (August/September), in the 172nd year, being the third year of Simon the High Priest,” etc. This comment equates the 172nd year with Simons third year, thereby agreeing with the fact that the 177th year would have been Simons eighth year.

 

John and the Approaching Sabbath Year

After killing Simon, Ptolemy imprisoned Simon’s wife and two sons, Mattathias and Judas, and then sent men to kill his third son, John Hyrcanus. John, fortunately, escaped the assassins’’ hands. (1 Macc 16:18-23; Josephus Wars 1:2:3, Antiq 13:7:4) Ptolemy then withdrew to the fortress of Dagon, located above Jericho, while John, “assuming the high priestly office of his father, first propitiated the deity (Yahweh) with sacrifices, and then marched out against Ptolemy and attacked his stronghold.” (Josephus Antiquities 13:8:1, Wars 1:2:3)

Though John Hyrcanus was superior to Ptolemy in his forces, he was at an emotional disadvantage, for Ptolemy had brought John’s mother and brothers up to the city walls and tortured them in the sight of all. John seeing his family treated in this way, “slackened his efforts to capture the place”. But John’s mother helped to change his mind when she yelled to him that it would be pleasant for her to die in torment if the enemy paid the penalty. After hearing these words, “Hyrcanus was seized with a powerful desire to capture the fortress, but when he saw her being beaten and torn apart, he became unnerved and was overcome with compassion at the way in which his mother was being treated.” (Josephus Antiquities 13:8:1, Wars 1:2:3)

These events occurred in the eleventh and twelfth months, i.e. Shebat and Adar, of the 177th year, since they immediately followed Simon’s murder in the eleventh month of that year. (1 Macc 16:14) Abruptly Hyrcanus was forced to withdraw his troops because the Sabbath year was arriving (i.e. the 178th year):

And as the siege was drawn out into length by this means, that year on which the Jews used to rest came on; for the Jews observe this rest every seventh year, as they do every seventh day; so that Ptolemy being for this cause released from the war, (19) he slew the brethren of Hyrcanus, and his mother; and when he had so done, he fled to Zeno, who was called Cotylas, who was then the tyrant of the city Philadelphia. (Josephus, Antiquities 13:8:1)

And as the siege was delayed by this means, the year of rest came on, upon which the Jews rest every seventh year as they do on every seventh day. On this year, therefore, Ptolemy was freed from being besieged, and slew the brethren of John, with their mother, and fled to Zeno, who was also called Cotylas, who was tyrant of Philadelphia. ( Josephus Wars 1:2:4)

It is extremely unlikely that anyone could have endured torture in this horrible manner for seven months, which would have been required if the Sabbath year had begun with Tishri (Sept./Oct.) instead of Nisan. Neither does it seem plausible that Hyrcanus would have been unable to take the small fortress at Dagon within that amount of time, especially under these circumstances. The evidence, therefore, clearly indicates that the Sabbath year at that time began with Nisan, which was only about a month or so away from the time that the siege began.

[For those of you who insist the Sabbatical Year begins with Tishri, you need to read this last paragraph again very slowly. All these events took place in the month of Shebat, the 11th month. Then the Sabbatical year began in the 1st month of the year Aviv or Nisan.]

 

War and the Sabbath

The practice of not warring on the Sabbath (whether the Sabbath day or Sabbath Year) was the law of the Jews during the days of John Hyrcanus. For example, the War Scrolls states, “But in the year of release they shall mobilize no man to go into the army, for it is a Sabbath of rest for the sovereign (Yahweh). (1 QM 2:6-10 Dead Sea Scroll titled the War Scrolls from the Essenes’ apocalyptic vision of the final battle between the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness.) The word of Josephus, in this regard, are very important, for he points out that the army of Hyrcanus remained “inactive” during the Sabbath year, “the year of not working the ground,” because “they observe this custom every seventh year, JUST AS ON THE SEVENTH DAY.” (Josephus Antiquities 13:8:1)

Up until the invasion of Judea by Antiochus Epiphanes, the Jews would neither go to war or defend themselves on the Sabbath. But after the outrage committed by Antiochus Epiphanes against the Jews at Jerusalem in 167 B.C.E., after the Jews refused to defend themselves on the Sabbath day and were needlessly slaughtered because of it, a decree was issued by the priest Mattathias and his friends stating:

Whosoever shall come to make battle with us on the Sabbath day, we will fight against him: neither will we all die, as our brethren that were murdered in the secret place. (1 Macc., 2:41 and 1 Macc 2:27-41)

The fact that the Jews of this period avoided military aggression during the Sabbath year as they did on the Sabbath day explains why Hyrcanus was unable to pursue his war against Ptolemy even though by doing so he might have saved the lives of his mother and brothers.

This is one section of the Maccabees that shows us the year of 134 B.C. as a Sabbatical year. You can read of the many scriptures from I and II Maccabees telling us about the other Sabbatical year of 162/161 BC at http://www.yahweh.org/publications/sjc/sj12Chap.pdf Make sure you study the chart in this chapter carefully.

With just this information alone you can count by 7 from one Sabbatical year to another and even down to our time. You can also purchase the Sabbatical and Jubilee calendar I have for sale on my web site at Visit the Charts Archive. It has each and every Sabbatical year from the Creation of Adam up to our time and beyond to the 120th Jubilee year. If you want to understand when the Sabbatical years were and how they are prophetic time clocks of Yehovah then you need to have this booklet showing you when these things occurred in history and how you can count down to the time the Messiah returns.

You have now the information explaining two events about the Sabbatical years which are lost and forgotten by all the Chanukah celebrations. We are now going to look at a third event that Chanukah covers over and is forgotten. For some of you this will be too much.

It is also during this tumultuous time of the Maccabees that another event takes place. We have a hint in the Dead Sea scrolls, but it is not until you tie the information from those scrolls to the Maccabees that any of it makes complete sense.

Here are two quotes about the timing of when the Essenes lived.
http://www.abu.nb.ca/Courses/NTIntro/InTest/Qumran.htm 

Josephus first mentions the Essenes as a distinct Jewish group in the time of Jonathan (160-142 BCE): “Now at this time there were three schools of thought (heresies) among the Jews” (Ant. 13.171).

It must also be noted that the archaeologists who excavated the site of the Qumran settlement determined that it was inhabited by the community from c. 150 BCE until 68 CE (see R. de Vaux, Archaeology and the Dead Sea Scrolls).

The Essenes believed the end of the world was very near. Everything they did was in preparation for the expected Messiah. But have you ever asked yourselves why they thought this. It was due in part to the wars that were happening during the Maccabee revolt. As you are well aware Antiochus Epiphanes was an example of the Antichrist that we look for in our time. To them He was the anti-messiah.

But there was another huge event that they write about and we are now going to share this with you. This is more information that the keeping of Chanukah hides. A tradition not found in Torah.

We are told in 1 Maccabees 14:37 that at the beginning of Simons reign, (142 B.C.- 134 B.C.) after he dislodged the Macedonians from the Akra which was a fortified tower or Citadel to the south of the Temple in the City of David that Simon began to rebuild this Akra Citadel. They restored the Akra to its original state prior to the Antiochus Epiphanes desolation of the Temple in 167 B.C. The Temple was 150 feet wide going North and South and 500 feet long going East and West. The Akra was a rock formation south of the Temple, and south of the Gihon Spring, which David had fortified and it towered over the Temple. It was used to keep peace in the Temple should different factions start up. It was also used to protect the Temple from outsiders.

But there was a problem. If this Akra Citadel should be captured again by the gentiles in the future they would once again have this fortress that could be used against the Israelites. This same tower looked over and into the Temple.

Simon decided to change his mind about the Akra. After securing all of Jerusalem, he stopped the rebuilding of the Akra, which the Jews were again fortifying. Josephus states that Simon consulted with the authorities in Jerusalem and they all confirmed it was better for the protection of the nation and the Temple that the Akra should have its summit reduced in size. (War V.4,1) They then assigned men to begin the destruction of that southern summit. As Josephus stated: ‘So they all set to and began to level the hill.’ (Antiquities XIII.6,7.)

[Brethren just so you realize what we are talking about. The Akra was part of the City of David. It was the southernmost Easternmost part of the City of David. Looking up from the south towards the north in the Kidron Valley you would have seen the Citadel of David and then this Akra which towered over the Temple which was situated on the Ophel which was directly over the Gihon Spring. To know exactly where the City of David was we can go to 2 Chronicles 32:30 This same Hezekiah also stopped the water outlet of Upper Gihon, and brought the water by tunnel to the west side of the City of David. Hezekiah prospered in all his works.

When I am in Israel I take people to the pool of Siloam and I read this scripture to them. I then ask them which way is west and then they begin to see where the Citadel of David once stood. You can see the mouths drop and then they begin to understand. It is one of my favourite moments on the tour. We also read in 2 Chronicles 33:13 Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God. 14 After this he built a wall outside the City of David on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, as far as the entrance of the Fish Gate; and it enclosed Ophel, and he raised it to a very great height.]

After accomplishing this levelling by Simon, the result made the adjacent hill called the Ophel, (upon which stood the Temple), higher than the former Akra. (Wars V 4,1.) But Simon went even further than this. He thought it was prudent if he thoroughly levelled the Akra to the ground. (War I 2,2.) Josephus said: ‘So they all set to and began to level the hill, the Akra, and without stopping work night or day, after three whole years brought it down to the ground and the surface of the plain.’ (Antiquities XIII.6,7.)

They cut to the bedrock, the Akra. This meant that the Ophel knoll just to the north (on which the Temple stood) was then higher than the Akra as Josephus stated in War V. 4,1. But this did not end the matter. With the Akra cut down, the Temple was now left without a fortress to protect it.

Simon was presented with a major problem. The original Akra, The City of David or Mount Zion, had been levelled to the ground. There was no longer a fortress adjacent the Temple to protect it and supervise the worshipers. He then built a fortress to the north of the Temple where the Dome of the Rock now stands. Simon called this the Baris. Later in Herods time, Herod rebuilt the Baris into the same shape and size as the Roman garrisons of his time. This is now what most today call the temple mount. It is not where the Temple was. This is where the Baris was and it was call Fort Antonio after Mark Anthony by Herod.

Simon and the Jewish Authorities then noticed a prophecy in Isaiah 29 that the whole of the City of David (then called Ariel) was prophesied by Yahweh to be levelled to the ground. Indeed, such destruction of the original Zion is effectively what Simon and the Jewish authorities had done. They had completely destroyed the original city of Jerusalem with its Citadel and Mount Zion and they left the southeast ridge without its former Akra. What had once been a high area called Mount Zion and reckoned as being the ‘utmost heights,’ was so levelled to the ground that it now became known as ‘the Lower City’.

They did this by tearing down many of the original buildings on the former Mount Zion and rebuilt them to the west on what was from then on called Mount Zion. The upper City became the Lower city and the Lower City to the west became the Upper City.
In Micah 4:10 we read “You Zion shall go fourth out of the city, and you shall dwell in the field.”

This is exactly what happened. Mount Zion was tore down and moved to the west. All the dirt from the Akra was pile up to the west of the City of David and it was called Mount Zion as it is to this very day.

The context of the eleven chapters of Isaiah, 25-35, reveals the utter destruction of Zion and finally, even the Temple Mount on the Ophel, itself. Look at the beginning of the long prophecy in Isaiah chapter 25. Notice verse two. The Jewish Targum shows this prophecy to be a reference to Jerusalem. Isaiah said, ”For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defensed city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built [or, it shall never be rebuilt].”

This prophecy of Isaiah fits the time of Simon the Hasmonean perfectly. The Syrian Gentiles were then and had been for twenty years, occupying the City of David, The Citadel, but Isaiah stated that the palace of the foreigners shall be destroyed and never be rebuilt.” Notice the full prophecy of Isaiah 25:5 “Thou shalt bring down the noise of the strangers [foreigners]….the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.” Going on to verse 12 Isaiah predicts: “And the fortress of the high fort of thy wall shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust.” This again is a prophecy of utter destruction of the fortress and the high fort of thy walls [of Judah’s wall, not Moab’s]. This is a prophecy about a cutting down to bedrock of a fortress-and the context of Isaiah 25-35 shows it refers to Jerusalem. Simon would have understood this prophecy as justification for cutting down Jerusalem’s Citadel in which the Syrian Gentiles had taken refuge.

There is more, in Isaiah 25:12 ‘The fortress of the high fort of your walls He will bring down, lay low, And bring to the ground, down to the dust.’

And in Isaiah 27:9 there is still more. ‘Therefore by this the iniquity of Jacob will be covered; And this is all the fruit of taking away his sin: When he makes all the stones of the altar Like chalkstones that are beaten to dust, Wooden images and incense altars shall not stand. 10 Yet the fortified city will be desolate, The habitation forsaken and left like a wilderness; There the calf will feed, and there it will lie down And consume its branches’

There is yet more. Even the Ophel Hill, the hill on which the Temple Stood, that was located just to the North of the Original Mount Zion where King David’s City had stood, and King Daivd’s City was East of the pool of Siloam that Hezekiah had dug from the Gihon Spring, the Ophel hill would become totally forsaken and made a place only for caves and dens. In the King James the word Ophel is redered as “ Forts’ in Isaiah 32:14. It reads 14 Because the palaces will be forsaken, The bustling city will be deserted. The forts and towers will become lairs forever, A joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks–.

Yes even the Ophel, The Temple Mount would eventually become “a pasture of flocks” and a place of caves. This final chapter in the destruction of Ariel, Mount Zion, took place in 70 C.E. when the Romans destroyed the Temple to its very foundation. Yeshua prophesied that, “Not one Stone would be left upon another.” When you go there and stand over the Gihon Spring you can see that not one stone is left upon another. Yet when you go to what today is called the Temple mount you can clearly see the stones on upon the other from Herod’s time. They are the ones with the 4-6 inch border around the outside edge.

Moving Mount Zion to the south western hill and building up the Baris North of Temple which finally become Fort Antonio and is today called the temple mount, is not all that Simon and his contemporaries performed. When they looked at the state of the Temple, its walls and buildings, that had utterly been profaned by Antiochus Epiphanes and later with some rebellious Jewish renegades who controlled the Temple Mount, led by Acimus, who controlled the Temple Mount between the time of Antiochus and Simon the Hasmonean, they were appalled at the destruction and desecration that had been accomplished to the Temple over that twenty-five year period.

The Temple was standing in its place as a hulk of profaned architecture that bore no signs of holiness or sanctification. Something also had to be done to the Temple itself. Simon, who was the High Priest of the Nation, along with the other Jewish authorities in Jerusalem decided to completely renovate the Temple and to make a new type of Jerusalem for the people of Judah. Indeed, when Simon got through rebuilding the Temple and Jerusalem, he had a type of “New Jerusalem” that looked nothing like it appeared from the time of Solomon down to the time of Antiochus Epiphanes.

Simon and the Jewish authorities, for all practical purposes built a new Temple and a new City of Jerusalem. The Construction of a new Temple was done in two stages. It started with the actions of Judas Maccabeus about twenty years before Simon began to reign. Notice what the Jews did in 164 B.C. after the desolation of the Temple by Antiochus Epiphanes. Judas Maccabeus (the older brother of Simon the Hasmonean) had the Temple purified and rededicated as best he could. In so doing, he caused the Altar of Burnt Offerings to be torn down and the old stones stored away in the region of the Temple Mount. He then had a new Altar built in its place.

I Maccabees 4:42-50 “He chose blameless priests, devote to the law; these purified the Sanctuary and carried away the stones of the Abomination [an idol shrine] to an unclean place [such as the valley of Hinnom]. They deliberated what ought to be done with the altar of burnt offerings that had been desecrated. The happy thought came to them to tear it down, lest it should be a lasting shame to them that the Gentiles had defiled it; so they tore down the altar. They stored the stones [of that altar] in a suitable place on the Temple hill, until a prophet should come and decide what to do with them. Then they took uncut stones, according to the law, and built a new altar like the former one. They also repaired the Sanctuary and the interior of the Temple and purified the courts.”

(This is what the celebration of Chanukah is suppose to represent but today it is recorded in Wikipedia that In the United States, Hanukkah is considered as one of several primary holidays within the Christmas and holiday season. See the end of this article.)
The rebuilding of the Altar of Burnt Offerings and refurbishing the earlier Temple was done about twenty years before the reign of Simon the Hasmonean. This ‘purification’ by Judas Maccabeus was the first occasion when the festival of Hanukkah was ordained for the Jewish people. It is normally believed that this is the only occasion when the festival was ordained for the Jews to observe, but this is not what history tells us. There were to be two additional times when the New Festival of Hanukkah was to be sanctified. These two other occasions will be shortly explained.

It was at first thought proper by Judas Maccabeus that a simple purification of the Temple structure was all that was necessary to resume a sanctified ceremonial service at the Holy Place. But the “purification” of Judas was only a partial affair. The High Priesthood soon fell to Alcimus who was a priest in charge of the Temple for the next five years. Alcimus was a thorough going Hellenist and as a last act of rebellion against the principles of true religion as viewed by righteous Jews, he started to tear down the inner wall of the Temple to allow the Gentiles unrestricted access into the sacred enclosure. I Maccabees 9:54-56 The author of Maccabees states that these actions brought about his untimely death that many Jews thought was Yahweh’s judgment upon the rebellious priest. I Maccabees 9:56-57

These abominations of the High Priest Alcimus were a further pollution to the Temple. This made the former attempt at purifying the Sanctuary by Judas to be looked on by the Jews as incomplete. Indeed, for twenty years after the debaucheries by Antiochus, the Temple could not be adequately purified because of the Gentile troops in the Syrian garrison. (This was the Akra, the City of David) With the Akra located alongside the Temple, the Syrians continuously harassed the Jewish worshipers who attempted to enter the Sanctuary. I Maccabees 1:36. This situation after Alcimus continued for 15 years while the Syrians were in the Akra.

The fact is, the Temple had been so utterly desecrated for three years by Antiochus Epiphanes and his supporters, both Gentile and Jews, that only minor repairs could be done by Judas and others while the Syrians occupied the Akra garrison. This was also the case after the defilements caused by Alcimus. Simon however defeated the Syrians in the Akra. This allowed Simon and the Jewish authorities to focus their attention on the Temple once again. What they witnessed before them was a sad spectacle to behold. The only appraisal that could adequately describe what they observed was that of the prophet Daniel. It was to them an ‘abomination of desolation.” Daniel 11:31; 12:11. To the Jewish authorities this signified, through the prophecies of Daniel, that Yehovah had accounted the building and its site as utterly desolate and thoroughly stripped of all holiness.

Recall that Antiochus gave orders to set up the idol of Zeus Olympus in the Holy Of Holies. He also dedicated the whole of the Temple structure to the worship of Zeus. He even commanded many swine to be offered on the altar with their grease splattered on the stones in all areas of the Temple, including the holiest parts. Antiquities XIII.8,2. Even that did not end the pollution. Second Maccabees 6:4,5 laments “The gentiles filled the Temple with debauchery and revelry; they amused themselves with prostitutes and had intercourse with women even in the sacred court. They also brought in the Temple things that were forbidden, so that the Altar was covered with abominable offering prohibited by the laws.”

One can only imagine the filthy graffiti and other defilement’s that marred the majority of the stones of the Temple. In the prophecies of Daniel the word “desolation” was used to appraise the condition of the once beautiful Temple. To Simon and the Jewish authorities, this was the only adequate word to describe the wrecked Temple standing in front of them. The scars of pollution embracing the Temple were so deep that the Jewish authorities considered its condition as being “abominable’ and “desolate”.

When they looked closely at the biblical revelation about the situation they were witnessing, they were able to determine that no amount of repair or washing down could erase the evidence of the corruption. They read about the judgment of Yehovah found in the Holy Scriptures in Ezekiel 7:22. The teaching in that verse showed that Yehovah had formerly decreed that once the Temple in the time of Nebuchadnezzar had been stripped of its furniture and taken to Babylon, Yehovah then reckoned the whole of the Temple, the whole and not just a part of it, as thoroughly polluted and without the slightest holiness.

Simon and the Jewish authorities were also able to read in the Law of Moses what should be done with polluted houses that could not be purified because of the utter contamination and desolation that accompanied them. In Deuteronomy 7:26 Moses stated that if any abominable thing, like an idol, was brought into a house, even the whole house itself should be destroyed along with the abominable thing because that single abomination contaminated and desolated the whole house.

There was also the example of Achan and his family. When Achan was found with a single accursed thing in his baggage, not only was Achan and his family destroyed but also al his baggage had to be consumed together because that one item contaminated the whole. Joshua 7:11-26 As a matter of fact, if an Israelite’s house had been so contaminated with the evidence of leprosy throughout the house, its house and belongings had to be destroyed together. Leviticus 14:33-45. The specific instructions were: 44 then the priest shall come and look; and indeed if the plague has spread in the house, it is an active leprosy in the house. It is unclean. 45 And he shall break down the house, its stones, its timber, and all the plaster of the house, and he shall carry them outside the city to an unclean place.

In this case Yehovah ordered the house and its stones to be deposited in an “unclean Place”.

We must now switch to the Book of Enoch. I do not normally quote from this book but this will add to our understanding of what we have been reading.

Enoch 90:28-30 We are going to also include rendering of Charles and Charleworth in brackets.
“I stood up to see till the old House [The old Temple] was removed [the text reads submerged, see R.H. Charles]; and all the columns were brought out [Charles: carried off], and all the pillars and ornaments of the House [the old Temple] were at the same time wrapped up [Charles: literally submerged] along with it [the house was also submerged], and it [the old Temple] was taken out [Charles: carried off, Charlesworth: abandoned] and put in a place [literally in one place] in the south [literally at the right hand] of the land. And I looked till the Lord of the Sheep brought [Charles: brought about] a new house greater and loftier than that first and raised it up [a new Temple was built] in the same place as the first which had been removed [Charles: folded up-like taking a blanket off a bed and folding it up]: all its columns were new, and it ornaments were new and larger than those of the first [Temple], the old one which he had taken away; and the Lord of the Sheep [Israel] was in the midst of it [this new Temple]

Remember an important point. Recall that when Simon and the Jewish authorities read the Law of Moses that any contaminated house of the Israelites was to be torn down, a further command was given about the disposition of the polluted stones of the house. Leviticus 14:45 And he shall break down the house, its stones, its timber, and all the plaster of the house, and he shall carry them outside the city to an unclean place.

Everything connected with a contaminated house (even Yehovah’s house) had to be carried off to an unclean place. And what was the Valley of Hinnom? It was long known as an unclean place where defiled idols and polluted houses had their remains buried and destroyed.

It was simple for Simon and the Jewish authorities to read what happened to such contaminated houses in Jerusalem in the time of Jeremiah. They read how the Royal Houses of the Kings of Judah and others were defiled in the time of Jeremiah. And what did the prophet Jeremiah inform the people to do with those defiled houses? Jeremiah ordered that those contaminated houses would be broken down into pieces “and they shall bury them in Tophet.” And where was Tophet? It was the Valley of Hinnom on the southern side of Jerusalem. Jeremiah 19:1-15. Tophet was also an unclean place and a fit place to fullfil Leviticus 14:45 which instructed that the defiled stones, timbers and mortar of any polluted house should be buried in such a place.

So where did Simon place the stone of the former Temple that was now polluted beyond the place of purification? The Book of Enoch says the stone were placed at ONE PLACE on the right side of the land. When you are facing east as the Temple of Yehovah did then the one place to the right hand side is a perfect description of The Valley of Hinnom. More specifically where the Valley of Hinnom meets the Kidron.

Simon and the Jewish authorities also noticed that the abominable possessions of Achan were thoroughly destroyed and even the geographical area where the abomination had occurred was declared anathema. It was called the Valley of Achor. They concluded that even the area where the polluted Temple once stood was also no longer a holy and sanctified region. Even the ground supporting the Temple had been defiled. So they also removed the topsoil and dirt under the Temple and removed it according to the biblical instructions.

It was during this time that others began to protest what Simon and the Jewish authorities were doing. These people believed that they were in the last days and that the Messiah was about to come. They fled Jerusalem for fear that Simon might have them killed.

This group then began to write of this time and they referred to themselves as the “Teacher of Righteousness” and to describe Simon the Hasmonean as “The wicked Priest”.

Let us conclude this article with what the Teacher of Righteousness had to say and recorded this in what we today call the Dead Sea Scrolls.

“This was the time of which it is written, Like a stubborn heifer thus was Israel stubborn (Hosea4:16), when the Scoffer [the Man of Lies] arose who shed over Israel the waters of lies [The Scoffer deceived All Israel]. He caused them to wander in the pathless wilderness, laying low the everlasting heights [what was intended to remain high and lofty for long ages he had cut down and laid low], abolishing the ways of the righteous and removing the boundary [other translators render the word ‘boundary’ as ‘landmark’] with which the forefathers had marked out their inheritance, that he might call down on them [Israel] the curse of His Covenant and deliver them up to the avenging sword of the Covenant.

The demolishing of the “everlasting heights” is a direct reference to Mount Zion which took three years of day and night work to tear down to the very bedrock. The moving of the “Landmark” is referring to the moving of Mount Zion from its original place in the City of David and taking it over to the west side or what is now the upper city. This Teacher of Righteousness who was also a priest could no longer take what Simon the Hasmonean or as he called him That Wicked Priest, was doing to the Temple Mount and the City of David and the Akra, which as this Teacher of Righteousness says he was “laying low the lofty heights.” Another translation of the Dead Sea scrolls says it this way, “He brought down the lofty height of old”

The expression of lofty heights is found in Psalm 48:1-4 Great is Yehovah and most worthy of Praise in the city of our El, His holy mountain. It is beautiful in its Loftiness, the joy of the whole earth. Like the utmost heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the Great King.

Brethren as Paul Harvey used to say now you know the rest of the story. If you want to read this story in greater detail then order the book The Temples Jerusalem forgot by Ernest L. Martin from www.askelm.com

As I was preparing this article I received the following email from a couple who toured with us in Jerusalem this Sukkot in 2009.
David Sielaff from www.askelm.com “carries on the work of Ernest L Martin”

Askelm.com stands for ask Ernest L Martin, a Christian/bible/history scholar who passed away 01/2002, left a lifetimes library of work behind to benefit others, that David Sielaff manages and promotes, and expands upon some.

Thanks to YAH and Joe Dumond from www.sightedmoon.com for reminding me/us of this information as he walked us about the old city of Jerusalem, and the temple mount site(s), this past sukkot 09’, pointing out these beliefs/findings of Ernest L Martin (and other historians/writings) whom I knew of, thru David Sielaff from www.thebyteshow.com but, on a first pass basis, mostly forgotten, with some hesitancy, from the unbelievableness of it all, but now after going there and being blessed by Joe’s “tour” we can really picture the pieces’ to put together. It’s not just an audio file or words to read in a book, but a real place we’ve really been, and can place the pieces in the correct orientation, to fit together. With YAH’s reminder to revisit these teachings again, we can’t wait to go again, after a thorough going over of these teachings, again. And enjoy, coincidently (or not so coincidently), a very peaceful place, the old/real temple site, just south of the hustle and bustle of all the “goings on”, up above, to the north, in the distraction caused by YAH
Enjoy!!
Shalom!!
See you, next time, in Jerusalem!!
Jon and lori levesque

The Levesques were witnesses also to just how hard it is to come out of hell. After I showed them the Temple location we then went to hell and back. Gehennah is Hell

Who were the Essenes?

The following article is written by my friends Schalk and Elsa.

http://www.setapartpeople.com/enoch-calendar

Who were the Essenes?

Rule of the Essene community at Qumran

With our recent study on the Dead Sea Scrolls, we had a lot of exposure to the group of people called the Essenes. The majority view at the moment states that they were the people who lived at Wadi Qumran. It is believed that they were the owners of the scrolls that were found in the Judean desert. There is also another reason that a lot of people are looking at this group. They are known for the fact that they did not use the lunar calendar. In their scrolls it is clear that they followed a solar calendar. This makes it clear that they did not follow the norm of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Except for these two facts, what else do we know about this group. What do we really know about them? Did they have truth that we should be aware of?

The origin of the Essenes

We do not know for certain  where the movement originated. Currently two theories exist in the academic world. Both these theories are interpretations of the facts at hand. They differ in the time and place that the Essenes originated. The first theory claims that they were a group that originated in Israel. This happened during the Hasmonean kings (The Palestine-origin theory.) The second, more common, theory claims that this group started in Babylon during the exile (Babylonian theory.)1

The Palestine-origin theory

In 172 B.C. the Zadokite high priest, Onias, was murdered in Jerusalem. Meneleus, a highly hellenized Jew, then replaced him as high priest. Meneleus was not from the line of Zadok and for many people this made him an usurper. At the same time, Antiochus Ephiphanies force hellenization on the Jewish people. This resulted in the revolt lead by Judas Maccabeus. This revolt was successful in removing the Roman rule. The Maccabeans established  an independent state under the Hasmonean line. Yet, the Hasmoneans did not return the nation to the Torah, but rather increased hellenization. Judas Maccabee signed a treaty of friendship with the Roman Senate. Then in 152 B.C, Jonathan Maccabee made himself High Priest. He thereby joined the role of king and High Priest into one person. He was also seen as an usurper. The Palestine-origin theory claims that the Essene movement formed during this time. It was as a reaction to the corruption of the priesthood. They believed that their ancestral religion had become corrupted by non-Zadokites. They rallied behind a man they called “Moreh haTzedek“, the Teacher of Righteousness. He was the real High Priest from the line of Zadok. Only he had the authority to interpret and teach the Scriptures. The Wicked Priest opposed the Teacher of Righteousness. The Wicked Priest ruled illegitimately in Jerusalem.

Babylonian Theory

This theory claims that the Essene movement started much earlier during the exile in Babylon. Many of the Jews in Babylon saw the exile as an divine punishment. To ensure that this did not happen again, a group bound themselves together to ensure perfect observance of the law. After the exile, some of this group returned to the land, while others remained in Babylon. This return to the land took place during the time of the Hasmonean kings. The hellenization that occurred disappointed the returnees. As a result, they withdrew themselves from the community. They believed that they were to follow their pure ways. Then they would be saved from the coming messianic judgment. Researchers base most of their support for this theory upon the content of the Damascus document. Archeologists found eight copies of this document in the caves around Qumran. This document was also found in the Ben Ezra synagogue in Fustat, Egypt. The Babylonian theory sees a large part of this document as historical. During the exile in Babylon Jews wrote this document. The theory is also supported by a claim that some of the words used in the Isaiah scroll reflect a Babylonian prototype.

What do we actually know about them?

We have two classes of information about who the Essenes really were. The first class is writings of people outside their community. Here we include Josephus, Philo and Pliny the Elder as the main contributors. The second class of documents is what the community itself recorded. This is based on the theory that the people who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls were Essenes.Essenes-2

Josephus

In his book, The Wars of the Jews, Josephus described the Essenes as one of the major groupings within Judaism. He mentioned that they were the more conservative sect and that they had a strong communal bond. They lived a simple life, with little focus on material things. He described their way of sharing their assets and that all people were equal in the community. He also mentioned that they did not have dedicated cities but lived within cities with others. Josephus also mentioned that they had a person dedicated in every community to look after strangers. In this book, he clearly mentioned that there were two groups within this grouping. One of these groups practiced celibacy, while the other believed in marriage. 2 In one of his other books, Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus described their doctrine in a bit more detail. He also mentioned that there were around 4,000 men. Josephus mentioned that the Essenes believed in:

  • immortality of souls
  • righteousness is to be earnestly striven for

He also stated that they did not offer sacrifices in the Temple, but rather offered their own sacrifices.

Philo

In his document, Every Good man is Free, Philo gives us a description of the Essenes. He starts by confirming the number of Essenes as around 4,000 men. He states that this group is known for the piety and their service to YHVH. He also confirms that these people live a simple life. Some work the earth and others devoted themselves to arts that are a result of peace. Both Philo and Josephus mention that there were no slaves among the Essenes and that all men were free. Philo disagreed with Josephus on some topics. Philo stated that the Essenes did not live in cities in order not to contaminate themselves with evil. He also mentioned that they did not collect earthly possessions and lived a “poor” life. Based on the amount of coins that archeologists found at Qumran, this is difficult to believe. Philo also recorded that the Essenes did not participate in any form of war. They refrained from making any weapons or machinery that could be used for war. Josephus mentioned cases where Essenes were involved in warfare and praises them for their courage. Most interesting, Philo made the statement that the Essenes did not offer any animal sacrifices.3

Pliny the Elder

In his book, The Natural History, Plinius (aka Pliny the Elder) gave us a different view of the “Esseni“, as he called them. He describes a group of people that lived in the Judean dessert, near the Dead Sea in the area of Masada. It is this geographical description that historians used to first link Qumran to the Essenes. He described a different view of the Essenes. He stated clearly that they lived completely apart from the world and did not have any money. He also made the statement that they were celibate. They sustained the existence of the group by recruiting strangers into their group. We know that researchers question these two statements. Archaeologists found physical evidence at Wadi Qumran that allows us to question these statements. For example, they found a significant number of coins in the compound. They also found bodies of women and children in the graves surrounding the site. This is also a contradiction to the fact that one of the fragments found at Qumran, 4Q502, described the liturgy for the “Ritual of Marriage.” The statement of course have made many people ask if this is even the same group that Pliny was referring to.4

Their own writings

The other source of history we have is the writings that were found in the Judean Dessert. The most significant document in this context, is the Damascus Document. This document is known by many names including:

  • Cairo Damascus Document
  • Damascus Rule
  • Zadokite Fragments

We do not have one complete scroll of this document. We have two scroll fragments that researchers used to create a complete scroll (CDa & CDb). The complete document consists of 22 columns. This document consists of two sections according to the academics. The first part of the document is called the Admonition. It comprises of history, moral instruction, exhortation, and warning addressed to the members. The second part of the document describes the Laws. It looks at the laws as expressed to them through the teachings of the Teacher of Righteousness. In the scroll, columns 1 to 4, the writer gives us a summary of the history of the community. This document describes the history of the Jewish nation from before the time of Noah up to the exile to Babylon. It mentions that the people came to realize that the exile was a punishment for their sin. A group of people, the sons of Zadok, decided to keep themselves to the commandments of YHVH. They saw the sons of Zadok as the elect of Israel. They supported this, using the verse in Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 44:15 15 “But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary when the sons of Israel went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer Me the fat and the blood,” declares YHVH Elohim.

These sons of Zadok are the ones that will stand to the end of days. The concept of YHVH’s covenantal faithfulness is emphasized and given as the reason for the election of the sons of Zadok.

Karaite Connection

A theory exists that claims that there is a direct relationship between the Essenes and the Karaites. There is currently no physical evidence for this statement. Some facts do support this theory.

  • Both the Essenes and the Karaites reject the oral law.
  • If we follow the Babylonian Theory, it would place the two groups in the same place. This increases the probability of the Karaites, developing out of the Essene community.
  • The copies of the Damascus document that were found in the Ben Ezra Synagogue, shows that the Karaites in Egypt had access to the Essene documents. The fact that more than one copy was found indicates that it was not a personal copy.

Both of these groups have also been linked to the Sadducees. The alternative theory is that both these groups were founded from the Sadducees. This common origin then explains the similarity between the two groups.

What did they believe?

What exactly did this community believe. The simplest way to put it – they were the ultra conservatives of Judaism at the time of the second Temple. They believed, based on the Damascus document (CD 4:8; CD 6:14), that they alone knew the exact interpretation of the Scriptures. To put it differently, they agreed with most of Judaism on the basics of the faith, but they disagreed on the application thereof.5 In order for us to understand their practices and rituals, it is important to understand how they perceived the world around them. Let us start with how they saw themselves. The Essenes believed that they were YHVH’s chosen people. They were the true sons of Zadok and they had followed YHVH’s instructions. The community of Qumran had followed His instruction and moved to the wilderness.

Isaiah 40:3–5
3 A voice is calling, “Clear the way for YHVH in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our Elohim. 4 “Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; 5 Then the glory of YHVH will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of YHVH has spoken.”

This verse is likely the reason for them setting up the community in Qumran. They wanted to prepare themselves for the revelation of the glory of YHVH. From the contents of the Dead Sea Scrolls, it is clear, that this group believed that the messianic era was near. They were preparing themselves for the final battle. As mentioned in an earlier post, the War Scroll describes this battle in detail. Angelic beings would assist them in their fight against evil. With the arrival of their messiah, they would defeat the enemy.

Their view of the messiah

There is quite an active discussion in the research community about the exact definition of “messiah” in the Qumran community. Researchers can give proof that they believed in two messiahs. These two messiahs would appear at the same time.

“The faith of Qumran was that the last days would bring two messiahs … The more prominent messiah is the priestly one—the messiah of Aaron. The second and apparently lower-ranking messiah is the lay one—the messiah of Israel. Precisely what the [Qumran] messiahs would do, other than officiate at the messianic banquet, is not clear … There is no second messiah in the New Testament, as there was at Qumran.” 6

The concept of two messiahs is based on the leadership structure after the return from Babylon. At that time they had two rulers. Zerubbabel was a descendent of King David. Joshua, the High Priest, was a descendent of Aaron. The prophet Zechariah was instructed to anoint Joshua the High Priest in the house of Zerubbabel. He also placed a silver crown on his head. He then pronounced a prophecy that stated that the Messiah will in future combine the two offices.

Zechariah 6:9–15
9 The word of YHVH also came to me, saying, 10 “Take an offering from the exiles, from Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah; and you go the same day and enter the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they have arrived from Babylon. 11“Take silver and gold, make an ornate crown and set it on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 12 “Then say to him, ‘Thus says YHVH of hosts, “Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of YHVH. 13 “Yes, it is He who will build the temple of YHVH, and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.” ’ 14 “Now the crown will become a reminder in the temple of YHVH to Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah and Hen the son of Zephaniah. 15“Those who are far off will come and build the temple of YHVH.” Then you will know that YHVH of hosts has sent me to you. And it will take place if you completely obey YHVH your Elohim.

The community at Qumran believed that the same system will be in place. The messiah from the line of Aaron will rule over the matters of the Law and will oversee the purity of the people. The messiah from the line of David will lead the nation into the final battle. This view is based on the text found in the Manual of Discipline (1QS). In column 9, lines 10 to 11 read:

“They shall be judged by the first statutes, by which the Community members were ruled at first, until there shall come the Prophet and the Messiahs [plural] of Aaron and Israel.” 7

However, the older copy of this Manual, 4Q259, lacks this line. At the same time we have another manuscript 4Q521, also known as “The Messianic Apocalypse” that supports a one messiah view. This fragment dates from somewhere between 200 B.C and 70 C.E. This manuscripts describes two key points. It states that one messiah will rule heaven and earth. It also describes the resurrection of the dead that is to occur at the time of the messiah. Thus, the scrolls do not lead us to a final conclusion. We cannot get a clear picture of the precise view of the Essenes on the Messiah and His role.

The Temple

I already mentioned earlier in this article that there were some issues related to the Temple Service. We see in the writings about the Essenes some discrepancy in their view on animal sacrifices. We have also seen that the Essenes considered themselves as the true righteous community, the remnant. This statement already puts them in opposition to the Pharisees and Sadducees in Jerusalem. From the discussion earlier, we know that both origin theories claim that the Essenes did not believe that the High Priest in Jerusalem was a descendent of Zadok. Among the scrolls at Qumran, we have an interesting scroll. The “Temple Scroll” ( 11QTemple ) provides us with a view of what the Essenes believed the pre-messianic temple should be like. The scroll consist of 19 sheets, each 3-4 columns wide, giving a total of around 8,75m. The scroll does not repeat all the regulations of the Temple from the Pentateuch. It combines all the different commandments into a clear message. The scroll combines the text of the Pentateuch into subjects: the temple, the festivals, statutes for the king, etc… It also uses the style of midrash to explain what readers may perceive as differences between the different books. In some cases this leads to the author inserting text that does not appear in the Torah.8The scroll also adds some interesting things. For example, it adds another courtyard to the temple complex. This courtyard would make the temple complex larger that what was then Jerusalem. This courtyard and it’s gates represent the encampments of the Israelites around the tabernacle. Most interesting is that the writer changes the text from the 3rd person to the 1st person. Thus, he records the commandments as if YHVH Himself is speaking. This is also true for the additions that do not appear in the Pentateuch. The Temple Scroll is also strict in applying the commandments. It interprets all Jerusalem as the camp of Israel. Therefor it applies the rules of the camp, as defined in Deuteronomy 23:12–14, to the city of Jerusalem. Thus, they built the toilets outside the city walls. They also ensured that there were mikvah baths outside the camp for the people to wash before re-entering the city. Archaeological finds around Jerusalem confirmed this fact. In the area marked as the Essene quarter, the archaeologists found the Essene gate. They also found the toilets outside the city wall and a water supply that led to the baths outside the city walls. This view of camp purity is also present in the War Scroll. From this scroll we see that the Essenes had no problem with the temple system. They had a problem with how the priests in Jerusalem interpreted and applied the texts. Even though some of them lived in Jerusalem, they applied their own interpretation of the purity laws. The Damascus document summarizes their view when it quotes Proverbs 15:8.

“The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination, but the prayer of the just is an agreeable offering” – Damascus Document Column 11 rules 20–21

 

Teacher of Righteousness

The Essenes had one person that they believed had the mandate to interpret the Scriptures. They referred to him as “The Teacher of Righteousness.” (Moreh haTzedek) From the documents of the Essenes we know little about him. The prominent theory is that this was a real person and not the title used by more than one person. Some people credit the Teacher as the founder of the Essenes. We know from the Damascus document (CD 1:9-11) that he joined after the group had already existed. For the Essenes he was the Unique Teacher (CD 20:32).  His interpretation of the Scriptures was the only valid interpretation. His presence caused a split in the community, with some people deciding to join the Wicked Priest (CD 6:10-11.) Within the community he had an opponent referred to as “the Man of Lies.” Outside the community he had an opponent called “the Wicked Priest.” All indications point to either Jonathan Maccabee or his brother Simon to be this outside opponent. Under the leadership of the Teacher, the Essenes wrote the “first” commentaries on the Scriptures. The scrolls in the Judean dessert contained commentaries on the books of Habakkuk and Nahum. We also have a commentary on Psalm 37. Researchers credit some of the Hymns in the Thanksgiving Psalms to the Teacher of Righteousness.

Their practices

Now that we have a basic idea of what they believed, we can also have a look at what they did. We have a detailed description of their practices and rituals. They recordered these for us in many of the scrolls found in the Judean Dessert. The most significant of these are the Manual of Discipline, the Damascus Document and Community Rule.

PurityEssenes-3

We know that the Essenes believed that they were the elect, living in the end times. According the War Scroll, they would soon be visited by angels and then by the messiah(s). Thus, it was important for them to ensure their ritual purity. We have already seen before how literal and strict they were about the ritual purity of the camp. Based on the findings at Qumran, we know that personal purity was also as high a priority. The number of mikvot found at Qumran makes this clear to us. There were 13 stepped pools found at the site. This is the site with the highest density of ritual baths. The largest mikvah at Qumran (locus 71) can contain around 300 cubic meters of water. What is also unique about these baths at Qumran is the dividing line(s) they have on the stairs leading into the pool. The current understanding is that this line separated the people entering the pool. It kept the unclean people entering the pool from the clean people leaving the pool. In some case there were two lines with a space between to make sure that the people do not touch one another by accident. Once they had put on their white clothes and bathed themselves, they would enter the communal eating area. Here they would be served and partake in a strictly controlled ritual of eating. This included blessings before and after the meal by the priest.  They allowed nobody, except the priests to speak during the meal. They believed that this ritual was to prepare them for the time that the Messiah would dwell with them and teach them.

Prayer

For the community in Qumran, prayer was a key part of their daily routine. This may be the reason why  archaeologists found so many copies of Psalms in the caves. As we have seen in the previous study, the book of Psalms was the book of Scripture that most copies were found of. We also see that the community used a lot more liturgy than the 150 psalms we currently have in our Scriptures. In the scroll 4Q503 (225 papyrus fragments) we find some of the daily communal prayers that the Essenes used. This scroll describes the blessing that they recited in the evening and the morning. This scroll seems to contain the blessings for the first month. The text is a collection of blessings and responses that the community gave to bless YHVH for the sunrise and the sunset. What is most interesting, and seldom mentioned, is that these blessings also correlated with the changing phases of the moon. Their documents describe the phases of the moon using 1/14th as the division – 28 day month. According to these blessings, they started their day in the evening. The evening blessing is always mentioned first. The blessings of sunrise is then mentioned as part of the day started in the evening. (4Q503 fragment 3 lines 5-15.)  Josephus provides us the most controversial comment about these prayers.

And as for their piety towards God, it is very extraordinary; for before sunrising they speak not a word about profane matters, but put up certain prayers which they have received from their forefathers, as if they made a supplication for its rising. – Wars of the Jews 2.128 2

This remark from Josephus tells us that the Essenes prayed towards the sun at sunrise. We cannot interpret the text to say that they were worshiping the sun. Josephus uses the Greek word “eis.” The translation above translates it as “for.” In most cases translators us the word “towards.” The Greek word that would be used for praying “to” the sun would have been “pros.” YHVH gave the prophet Ezekiel a vision about this practice.

Ezekiel 8:16–18
16 Then He brought me into the inner court of the YHVH’s house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of YHVH, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of YHVH and their faces toward the east; and they were prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun. 17He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and provoked Me repeatedly? For behold, they are putting the twig to their nose. 18 “Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them.”

Here we can see that YHVH did not approve of this practice. The scroll 1QS (Community Rule column 10 lines 1-5 ), describes the six times of the day that the people had occasion for daily prayers. They did not only divide the day into three, as was the practice in the Temple, but also divided the night into three. They prayed the first night prayer when the first night watch started. They prayed the second night prayer when the stars shine at their brightest. The third night prayer is done when the stars disappear. We also find in a number for scrolls the liturgy of the holy days. These included the Sabbath as well as the days that they marked as annual feasts. The Sabbath receives special attention with the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice. These were found in many fragments (4Q400–407 and 11Q17). The documents 4Q507–509 (Festival Prayers) provide us with some of the liturgy that the Essenes used for the annual feasts. It pays a lot of attention to the Day of Atonement.

Covenant Renewals

The concept for a covenant is part of the core of the community at Qumran. They saw their community as the members of a covenant. The scroll that describes the rules and regulations of this group is the Community Rule (1QS.) This scroll refers to the group as the “Covenant of Grace.” Their view of the covenant is also further explained in the Damascus document. The Damascus document contains three references (CD 6.19, 8.21 and 9.12) to a “new covenant.” The people entered into this new covenant in the land of Damascus. The rules of the community required that members of this covenant return to the study of the Torah. The community also required strict adherence to these laws. The only valid interpretation of the laws came from the teacher of Righteousness and his priests. Membership to this covenant was not to be taken lightly. A new person could only join the covenant fully after 2 years. Once a new member was accepted by the overseer, he was still not a proper member of the community. During the first year the new member cannot touch the “Purification of the Many.” They were also not allowed to join their property with the community. When joining they took his property from him, but kept it separate from the rest. If after one year, the member decided not to join the covenant, they returned his property. If the community allowed the member to continue after the first year, and he agreed to this, they mixed his property with their property. Yet, he was still not allowed to partake of the drink of the congregation. The Dead Sea Scrolls describe the procedure in this way, but, Josephus provides a three year process. Josephus adds another year that the new member had to spend outside the community before they allow him to join. They saw the covenant as an everlasting covenant. Once a member joined the covenant, they were not allowed to leave the covenant. They performed the ceremony to inaugurate new members once a year. They held the ceremony in the third month to coincide with Shavuot (feast of oaths). The tradition of the covenant renewal in the third year can be traced back to the book of Jubilees. It states:

For this reason it is ordained and written on the heavenly tablets, that they should celebrate the feast of weeks in this month once a year, to renew the covenant every year. Book of Jubilees 6:179

This verse is referring the covenant that YHVH made with Noah after the flood. Yet, this group interpreted it refer to the complete covenant that YHVH had with the nation. During this feast the whole community gathered and they inducted the new members. During the ceremony they also excommunicated members that trespassed the rules of the community. According to the Community Rule, the ceremony started with an acknowledgement of sin and repentance. And all who enter the covenant are to make confession after them, saying, We have acted perversely, we have transgressed, we have sinned, we have done wickedly, ourselves and our fathers before us, in that we have gone counter to the truth. God has been right to bring His judgment upon us and upon our fathers. Howbeit, always from ancient times He has also bestowed His mercies upon us all, and so will He do for all time to come. 1QS 1.24 – 2.1 Essenes-4

 

The Damascus document calls this covenant also the “covenant of repentance.” This was not only for own personal sin, but also for the sins of the forefathers. After this, the priest pronounced the blessing for those who have kept the commandments and the curse over those who strayed. This sounds a lot like the description of the blessings and curses in Deuteronomy. The difference is that in the Damascus document, the blessing and curses became personal. In Deuteronomy the blessings and curses are for the nation. Thus we can see that the Essenes believed that everybody in the community must be held personally responsible for their actions. Each of these blessings and curses was followed by the community twice repeating “amen.” This reminds us a lot of the ceremony that was done on Mount Ebal  once Joshua had led the nation into the promised land.

Who were Essenes

There is a lot of speculation about characters of the Apostolic writing being Essenes. You will be able to find a lot of articles claiming that John the Baptist was an Essene. You will also see a lot of articles claiming that Y’shua followed the practices of the Essenes. Yet, this is pure speculation. There is no reference to John, Y’shua, James the Just, or Paul in any of the writings found in the Judean dessert. People mark John the Baptist as an Essene because of the fact the some similarities exist. These include:

  • John lived a very simple lifestyle
  • John was celibate
  • Repentance was a key message for John
  • Baptism was a key part of John’s ministry
  • John lived in the dessert (maybe even close to Qumran)

There are also some articles claiming that Y’shua was an Essene and He followed some of their traditions. The fact that Y’shua went to the Temple for the feasts, should already place a big question mark next to this question. Some scholars have even claimed that Y’shua was anti-Essense, just like He was anti-Pharisee. Here is an interesting discussion to illustrate this argument. In his last article written10, Yigael Yadin makes a very interesting case to proof that Y’Shua was anti- Essene. He based his first argument on the following scripture:

Matthew 5:43–45
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Who was it that taught you should hate your enemy? This instruction never occurs in the Scriptures and was also not found in any teachings of the Pharisees. In the Manual of Disciple (1QS), we find the following instruction to the community:

He shall admit into the Covenant of Grace all those who have freely devoted themselves to the observance of God’s precepts, that they may be joined to the counsel of God and may live perfectly before Him in accordance with all that has been revealed concerning their appointed times, that they may love the sons of light, each according to his lot in God’s design, and hate all the sons of darkness, each according to his guilt in God’s vengeance. 1QS 1.6-11 according to the translation of Geza Vermes

 

Thus according to Yardin, Y’shua was speaking directly against the teaching of the Essenes. The second argument used by Yigael Yardin is based on the following portion of Scripture:

Mark 8:14–21
14 And they had forgotten to take bread, and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them. 15 And He was giving orders to them, saying, “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” 16 They began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. 17 And Y´Shua, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? 18 “Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember, 19 when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?” They said to Him, “Twelve.” 20“When I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?” And they said to Him, “Seven.” 21 And He was saying to them, “Do you not yet understand?”

From this passage Yardin posts two questions:

  1. What was the leaven of Herod?
  2. Why are the number of baskets so important to understand?

These two questions are interrelated. He states that the 12 baskets refers to the 12 loaves of bread that the priests ate weekly. He is telling followers not to follow the teachings of the Pharisees but to follow His teachings. What then would the 7 baskets of bread have to do with the Herodians? According to Yardin, Josephus stateed that Herod was the protector of the Essenes and showed special favor to them. Thus, the reference here in Mark, could be pointing to the Essenes of the time. The Temple Scroll provides another interesting point. It describes the feasts that the Essenes kept over and above the feasts of Leviticus. One of these feasts is a seven day feast known as the “Day of Ordination.” It is based upon the seven day ceremony that was performed to inaugurate Aaron and his sons. Take note of one of the specific instructions given for this ceremony:

Leviticus 8:31–32
31 Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, “Boil the flesh at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and eat it there together with the bread which is in the basket of the ordination offering, just as I commanded, saying, ‘Aaron and his sons shall eat it.’ 32 “The remainder of the flesh and of the bread you shall burn in the fire.

Here we find a reference to bread that Aaron and his sons had to eat. As this was a seven day process, the Essenes made from this a rule for seven baskets of bread. Also, they did not see this process as a once off event, but rather an annual event. The offerings for this feast, including the baskets of bread is described in the Temple Scroll, 11QT 14. Thus, Yardin states that the seven baskets of bread refers to the teachings of the Essenes. This then proofs that Y’shua specifically warned His disciples against the traditions and teachings of the Essenes and the Pharisees. Both these parties were adding instructions and commandments. The disciples were rather to follow the instruction of Y’shua. One of the original scholars of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Robert Eisenman, has put another theory forward. In his book entitled “The Dead Sea Scrolls and the First Christians” he claims to prove that Y’shua’s brother James was the Teacher of Righteousness. He uses his interpretation of the Habakkuk Pesher, the Damascus Document and The Community Rule to proof his point. He claims that all the proof required is internal (that is within the content of these scrolls.) So far he has only been able to convince a small group of academics of his view.

Conclusion

From this study, we have seen that the details about the Essenes are not exact. We have some sources that seem to contradict one another every now and again. The biggest volume of material we have, comes from the caves in the Judean desert. Although people make the assumption that the group of people staying at Qumran were Essenes, this fact is not 100%. From the writings of these scrolls, we have learned that the group was a splinter group of Judaism that believed to be the true remnant. They believed that the current Temple was a corrupt institution. It had deviated from the commandments of YHVH. They were also convinced that all the prophecies had been fulfilled and that they were now living in the end times. They were expecting the messiah or messiahs to come to dwell among them after the final war. For this reason they kept strict purity laws. The Essenes saw their community as the original camp as described in the first five books of the Torah. We have seen no proof that John the Baptist or Y’shua were members of this community. There may be some evidence to proof that Y’shua was warning His followers against the teachings of the Essenes. There is a lot of interest in the exact calendar that the Essenes kept. To give this topic the bandwidth required, we have decided to do a follow-up post to cover only this topic. Please make sure you subscribe to our list to ensure that you receive this study.

References

  1. Shanks, H. (Ed.). (1982). BAR 08:05 (Sep/Oct 1982) – Essene Origins: Palestine or Babylonia?
  2. Josephus, F., & Whiston, W. (1987). The works of Josephus: complete and unabridged. Peabody: Hendrickson.
  3. Yonge, C. D. with Philo of Alexandria. (1995). The works of Philo: complete and unabridged (pp. 689–691). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson.
  4. Pliny the Elder. (1855). The Natural History. (J. Bostock, Ed.) (pp. 1430–1431). Medford, MA: Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street.
  5. Shanks, H. (Ed.). (1982). BAR 08:05 (Sep/Oct 1982).
  6. James C. VanderKam, “The Dead Sea Scrolls and Christianity,” in Understanding the Dead Sea Scrolls, ed. Hershel Shanks (New York: Random House, 1992)
  7. Shanks, H. (Ed.). (1992). The Messiah at Qumran, BAR 18:06 (Nov/Dec 1992).
  8. Freedman, D. N., Herion, G. A., Graf, D. F., Pleins, J. D., & Beck, A. B. (Eds.). (1992). In The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary. New York: Doubleday.
  9. Charles, R. H. (Ed.). (2004). Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament (Vol. 2, p. 22). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
  10. Shanks, H. (Ed.). (1984). BAR 10:05 (Sep/Oct 1984). The Temple Scroll – The longest and Most Recently Discovered Dead Sea Scroll, Yigael Yadin.

The Heresy of the Enoch Calendar

Recently Nehemia Gordon interviewed Dr. Miryam Brand who holds a Ph.D. in Bible and Second Temple Literature from New York University and an M.A. in Bible and Biblical Interpretation from Matan and Haifa University. Her book on the portrayal of sin in the Second Temple period (Evil Within and Without: The Source of Sin and Its Nature as Portrayed in Second Temple Literature) was published in 2013 and her commentary on the Book of Enoch was published as part of Outside the Bible in 2013. She has taught at Brown University, New York University, and Stern College and has spoken at Hebrew University, Cambridge University, and the University of Kiel. She is currently an Associate Fellow at the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research.

Dr. Brand stated in this interview that

the Book of Enoch is really several books. It’s really about five books, maybe six if you count the last chapters as a separate book, which by the way, themselves are kind of built up of different pieces. But those books each have a different point. They only thing they have in common is Enoch as a character, and that’s pretty much the only thing they have in common.

She also said the book of Enoch was written between the 2nd century BC and 70 AD. It was not written the Enoch before the flood. The earliest full copy of Enoch was not found until the 16th century and only in the Ge’ez Ethiopian version. Then we find them in the Genizah of Qumran in fragments. No full text versions.

Dr Brand also said in the interview:

So, first I just want to make clear also that just as I said that first Enoch is really a whole bunch of books, they’re actually from different time periods. So the parables of Enoch are actually dated to between 40 before the Common Era, and before 70 to the Common Era. In other words, it’s after the Parthian invasion in 40 BCE and before the destruction of the Second Temple.

You can listen to the rest of the interview at Hebrew Voices #17 – Enoch Walking with Angels (Rebroadcast) Posted on June 1, 2016 by Nehemia Gordon

 

The following article is from our Newsletter 5850-014, published on June 28, 2014. It is taken from an article written by my friends Schalk and Elsa.

https://sightedmoon.com/the-heresy-of-the-enoch-calendar/

http://www.setapartpeople.com/enoch-calendar

 

The Heresy of the Enoch Calendar

Written by Schalk_and_Elsa on. Posted in False teachingsYHVH’s Appointed times
In some of our recent posts, we have discussed the calendar and it’s origin. One topic that we have not yet addressed is the topic of the solar calendar – also known as the Enoch calendar. We have recently seen some groups starting to promote the Enoch calendar as the “original” calendar of YHVH. According to this group, the calendars based on the moon dates are from after the Babylonian exile. Followers of the Enoch calendar teach that the lunar calendar is something that the nation picked up from the Babylonians. According to them, the lunar calendar was never part of the first temple period. This topic also ties in nicely with the recent in-depth studies about the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Essenes.

We often read that one of the ways to explain the misconception that Y’Shua was keeping a Pesach meal a day before the rest of the community, is the fact that He was following another calendar. Most often, the calendar referred to is the calendar followed by the Essenes. In our previous article, we have shown that Y’Shua was most likely anti-Essene. He warned His followers about the teachings of the Essenes.

Let us do a more detailed study of the Enoch calendar and the calendar of the Essenes. The more we know about this calendar the better we can decide what the Scriptural calendar is.

The origin of the calendar

There is no record of the Enoch calendar in the Scripture. We can find the most likely origin or proof of this calendar in the books of Enoch and Jubilees. These two books do not make up our current canon of Scripture.

We have lots of texts in the book of Jubilees that quote passages from the Book of Enoch. Thus, we can assume that the book of Enoch was written first. It was then followed by the book of Jubilees and then the writings of the community at Qumran. The books of Enoch and Jubilees are not well known. Let us first get a bit more detail on these two books.

History of the books

These two books do not form part of the canon of Scripture that either Judaism or Christianity recognizes. These books are classified as “Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament.” These books were written late, compared to the canonical books. These books are only accepted by the Ethiopian churches (Orthodox Christian and Jewish.) It is interesting that, although Beta Israel, also known as Ethiopian Jews, see both these books as canonical, they still follow the lunar calendar. Their calendar is a combination of the ancient calendar of Alexandrian Jewry, Book of Jubilees, Book of Enoch, Abu Shaker and the Ge’ez calendar.
At the caves in the Judean desert, archeologists found fragments of the book of Enoch. (1Q23-24, 2Q26, 4Q201-212, 4Q530-33, 6Q8) Most of the fragments found are too small to translate to English. Not all parts of the book of Enoch were present at Qumran. The fragments found were in Aramaic. The Aramaic versions of the book do not tie up nicely with the Ge’ez (Ethiopian) translation. 4Q209, the Astronomical Book, in the Aramaic version is longer than the Ge’ez version. Also, the Aramaic version found at Qumran of the Book of the Giants, does not exist in the Ge’ez translation. But this book is preserved in the medieval Jewish literature. This indicates to us that the text of this book has not been well preserved. We do not even know which parts were originally included and which parts were added later.

We also have evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls that the Book of Jubilees was originally written in Hebrew. It was then later translated to Greek. In the caves of the Judean desert, archaeologists found several fragments of this book in Hebrew. They found twelve fragments of the Book of Jubilees. Only some fragments found in cave 4 are large enough to be translated into English. (4Q216 – 4Q220) At Qumran, fragments were also discovered of books that are close to Jubilees but not exactly the same. The researchers have called these “pseudo- Jubilees” (4Q225-227.) We also find reference to the book of Jubilees in the Damascus Document. Here, the book uses the original Hebrew name – “Book of the Divisions of Times into their Jubilees and Weeks” – CD 16.2-4. Based on the Hebrew manuscripts found, it appears as if the Ge’ez (Ethiopian) translations of Jubilees are still fairly accurate.

For both books, the most complete manuscripts only exist in Ge’ez. Ge’ez is the ancient South Semitic language that originated in Eritrea and the northern region of Ethiopia. We have proof that these books were translated from Hebrew/Aramaic to Greek, Greek to Latin and also from Greek to Ge’ez.

Content of the books

Enoch

The book of Enoch consists of multiple parts that were put together as one book by a later editor. The book consists of the following parts:

  • Book of Watchers – Chapters 1-36 including fragments of the Book of Noah in chapters 6-11
  • Book of the Parables – Chapters 37-71 is also known as the Book of Similitudes
  • Book of the Luminaries – Chapters 72-82
  • The Dream Visions – Chapters 83-90
  • Critical Structure – Chapters 91-104
  • God and Messiah to dwell in Man – Chapter 105
  • Latin fragment of the book of Noah – Chapters 106-107
  • Appendix added later – Chapter 108

The parts of this book were not all written by one author. It also appears that these books are not structured in chronological sequence. The authors of all the sections belong to the Chasids or their successors the Pharisees. The Book of the Luminaries seems to be the oldest, dating from the third century B.C. The Book of Watchers contains parts of the Book of Luminaries, indicating that it was compiled at a later stage. The Book of the Parables appears to be the most recent. It is believed that it was written towards the end of the first century B.C. This part of the book was not found among the scrolls at Qumran. Also, the Book of Luminaries found at Qumran is much longer than the Ethiopic versions.1

The Book of the Luminaries is presented as a revelation from the archangel Uriel (YHVH is my light.) In the book, Enoch translates to his son Methuselah, all that Uriel has shown him about the laws of the cosmos and how this works. The purpose of this work is to show the uniformity of YHVH’s creation. It also shows how the movement of the luminaries and the blowing of the wind confirms this.

According to this model the firmament is like an upside down cup on a saucer. The saucer is the earth and where the cup and saucer meet, there are twelve gates. These gates are where the sun and moon rise during the 12 months of the year. The sun rises in the eastern gate and the sets again in the corresponding western gate. Next to these gates are many windows through which the stars emerge and disappear. This pattern is based upon the solar calendar of 364 days. It is divided into 4 sections, each with 91 days. The months consist of 30 days, except for the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th months. These four months each have an extra day. In the Aramaic fragments found at Qumran (4Q208-9), we also have a tabulation that correlates the movements of the sun and the moon during the annual cycle.

This seems to be the oldest recording we have of the solar calendar.

Jubilees

The Book of Jubilees is a re-telling of Genesis 1 to Exodus 12. It does differ in that this work is also an interpretation of the text. The author sometimes uses the exact same wording. Sometimes he deletes the text and in other cases he adds his interpretation to the text. The re-telling also follows a chronological sequence. This means that the author mixed the texts of different books of the Torah. The author also removed perceived contradictions. This provides us with a `targum´ on the books of Genesis and Exodus.

The author adds his own interpretation of the Scripture in several places. He does this by adding the phrase “For this reason it is written (or ordained) in the heavenly tablets ….” For example, he claims that nakedness is forbidden because YHVH clothed Adam and Eve. He also uses the same method to argue that the solar calendar must be followed to celebrate the feast2:
Jubilees 6:17-18

17 For this reason it is ordained and written on the heavenly tablets, that they should celebrate the feast of weeks in this month once a year, to renew the covenant every year. 18 And this whole festival was celebrated in heaven from the day of creation till the days of Noah—twenty-six jubilees and five weeks of years: and Noah and his sons observed it for seven jubilees and one week of years, till the day of Noah’s death, and from the day of Noah’s death his sons did away with (it) until the days of Abraham, and they eat blood.1

The main purpose of the author is to get the Jews of his time to return to Torah. He is specifically interested in the halakhah, the way these commandments should be lived. To encourage the Jews to keep these commandments, he sometimes adds text to raise the importance of some of the commandments. For example, he states that Noah made a proper sacrifice:
Jubilees 7:3-5

3And he celebrated with joy the day of this feast, and he made a burnt sacrifice unto YHVH, one young ox and one ram, and seven sheep, each a year old, and a kid of the goats, that he might make atonement thereby for himself and his sons. 4 And he prepared the kid first, and placed some of its blood on the flesh that was on the altar which he had made, and all the fat he laid on the altar where he made the burnt sacrifice, and the ox and the ram and the sheep, and he laid all their flesh upon the altar. 5 And he placed all their offerings mingled with oil upon it, and afterwards he sprinkled wine on the fire which he had previously made on the altar, and he placed incense on the altar and caused a sweet savor to ascend acceptable before YHVH his Elohim.He also states that Jacob paid tithes of all he had (including his clothes). Jacob also made his son Levi a priest to do the offerings on the 15th of the month.

Jubilees 32:2-4

2 And Jacob rose early in the morning, on the fourteenth of this month, and he gave a tithe of all that came with him, both of men and cattle, both of gold and every vessel and garment, yea, he gave tithes of all. 3And in those days Rachel became pregnant with her son Benjamin. And Jacob counted his sons from him upwards and Levi fell to the portion of YHVH and his father clothed him in the garments of the priesthood and filled his hands. 4 And on the fifteenth of this month, he brought to the altar fourteen oxen from amongst the cattle, and twenty-eight rams, and forty-nine sheep, and seven lambs, and twenty-one kids of the goats as a burnt-offering on the altar of sacrifice, well pleasing for a sweet savour before YHVH.1

In the last two chapters the author also provides a detailed description of how the Sabbath and the feast of Pesach must be celebrated.
As mentioned before, the author follows a chronological sequence in his re-telling. This chronology is based on the solar calendar and uses the jubilees as a major marker of time. The author claims that the calendar that was revealed to Enoch by the angel Uriel, as the true calendar.

Jubilees 4.16–18
16 And in the eleventh jubilee Jared took to himself a wife, and her name was Bâraka, the daughter of Râsûjâl, a daughter of his father’s brother, in the fourth week of this jubilee, *and she bare him a son in the fifth week, in the fourth year of the jubilee, and he called his name Enoch. 17 And he was the first among men that are born on earth who learned writing and knowledge and wisdom and who wrote down the signs of heaven according to the order of their months in a book, that men might know the seasons of the years according to the order of their separate months. 18 And he was the first to write a testimony, and he testified to the sons of men among the generations of the earth, and recounted the weeks of the jubilees, and made known to them the days of the years, and set in order the months and recounted the Sabbaths of the years as we made (them), known to him. 1

Unlike Enoch, the author of Jubilees becomes specific about the solar calendar being the only calendar. He specifically makes the statement that people will later start following a calendar that is not 364 days. This will cause the people to celebrate the appointed times on the wrong days.

Jubilees 6.35–38
35 For I know and from henceforth will I declare it unto thee, and it is not of my own devising; for the book (lies) written before me, and on the heavenly tablets the division of days is ordained, lest they forget the feasts of the covenant and walk according to the feasts of the Gentiles after their error and after their ignorance. 36 For there will be those who will assuredly make observations of the moon—how (it) disturbs the seasons and comes in from year to year ten days too soon. 37 For this reason the years will come upon them when they will disturb (the order), and make an abominable (day) the day of testimony, and an unclean day a feast day, and they will confound all the days, the holy with the unclean, and the unclean day with the holy; for they will go wrong as to the months and sabbaths and feasts and jubilees. 38 For this reason I command and testify to thee that thou mayst testify to them; for after thy death thy children will disturb (them), so that they will not make the year three hundred and sixty-four days only, and for this reason they will go wrong as to the new moons and seasons and sabbaths and festivals, and they will eat all kinds of blood with all kinds of flesh. 1

The book is dated based on the contents of the book and the paleographic dating of the fragments found at Qumran. Researchers currently date the Book of Jubilees to somewhere between 175 and 75 B.C. The late date of the book is also supported by the fact that the text most closely relates to the text of the Septuagint. Yet, it’s text is different enough to show that it does not rely purely on the Septuagint text.

Why are these books not canonical?

Enoch

In the Book of Jude, we do find a reference that proves the author was familiar with some of the contents of the Book of Enoch. But, the author of Jude does not mention that he is quoting from the Book of Enoch.

Jude 14–15
14 It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, YHVH came with many thousands of His holy ones, 15 to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

Thus to take the fact that the two books contain similar material, further would be inaccurate. It is not sound logic to now imply that the Book of Jude makes the Book of Enoch canonical. If we were to follow this logic, we would also need to make the works of the Greek writers Aratus (Acts 17:28), Menander (1 Cor. 15:33), and Epimenides (Tit. 1:12) canonical. Paul referred to their writings in his epistles.

A big concern with the Book of Enoch is in the way that it presents Enoch. Based on the Scripture of Genesis 5:22-24 we have the interpretation of Enoch ascending to heaven.

Genesis 5:22–24
22 Then Enoch walked with YHVH three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters. 23 So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24 Enoch walked with YHVH; and he was not, for YHVH took him.

Enoch 1:1–2
1The words of the blessing of Enoch, wherewith he blessed the elect «and» righteous, who will be living in the day of tribulation, when all the wicked «and godless» are to be removed. 2 And he took up his parable and said—Enoch a righteous man, whose eyes were opened by God, saw the vision of the Holy One in the heavens, ‹which› the angels showed me, and from them I heard everything, and from them I understood as I saw, but not for this generation, but for a remote one which is for to come.1

This interpretation has Enoch ascending into heaven, seeing the vision of YHVH and then receiving the wisdom that he has to share with his son. The story of the angel showing Enoch the heavenly beings is a similar style to the temple being shown to Ezekiel. We also see in Enoch 46:1-3 a description of the “One who had the head of Days” as well as another that is called the “Son of Man.”

Enoch 46:1–3
1 And there I saw One who had a head of days,
And His head was white like wool,
And with Him was another being whose countenance had the appearance of a man,
And his face was full of graciousness, like one of the holy angels.
2 And I asked the angel who went with me and showed me all the hidden things, concerning that Son of Man, who he was, and whence he was, (and) why he went with the Head of Days?
3 And he answered and said unto me:
This is the Son of Man who hath righteousness,
With whom dwelleth righteousness,
And who revealeth all the treasures of that which is hidden,
Because the Lord of Spirits hath chosen him,
And whose lot hath the pre-eminence before the Lord of Spirits in uprightness for ever.1

This vision is again very similar to another one we find in Scripture. In the Book of Daniel we find the following:

Daniel 7:13–14
13 “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. 14 “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.

In the Book of Daniel we see that the Messiah is called the Son of Man. What makes the Book of Enoch a serious problem is that later, the book describes how Enoch becomes the “Son of Man.”

Enoch 71:14–15
14 And he (i.e. the angel) came to me and greeted me with His voice, and said unto me:
‘This is the Son of Man who is born unto righteousness,
And righteousness abides over him,
And the righteousness of the Head of Days forsakes him not.’
15 And he said unto me:
‘He proclaims unto thee peace in the name of the world to come;
For from hence has proceeded peace since the creation of the world,
And so shall it be unto thee for ever and for ever and ever.1

The author of the Book of Enoch, sees Enoch ascending into heaven on a cloud and then later becoming the Son of Man (Messiah.) For any believer in Y’Shua the Messiah, this must be a reason to discard the Book of Enoch as an inspired writing.
A less serious issue with the book should be how accurate the revelation really is. Today we know that some of the truths revealed to Enoch are actually wrong. Here are some of the known inaccuracies:

  • The solar cycle is 364 days. We know that it is 365,25 days. The counter argument to this is that Enoch is describing the solar year before the flood of Noah. This cannot be true as Enoch also describes how the days become shorter and then again longer as the year progresses. This would not be the case in a “pre-Noah calendar”.
  • Enoch 72:37 states that the sun is 7 times brighter than the moon, but that these two are of equal size. We know that this is not correct. If a man looks at the sun and moon from earth, they may appear to be of the same size. If the Creator was to reveal the truth about the luminaries to Enoch, He surely would have known that the sun is much larger than the moon.
  • The Book of Enoch describes two calendars. It has the details of a solar and a lunar calendar. If the solar calendar is the “real calendar”, why describe both?

Book of Jubilees

The first reason to doubt the Book of Jubilees would be it’s strong reliance on the Book of Enoch. As we have discussed in the previous section, there are serious concerns with some of the content of Enoch.

Another reason to doubt the book of Jubilees would be it’s inaccuracy of the chronology. The author takes a strong stance on the importance of the sabbatical and jubilee years, but yet he gets it wrong. For example, Jubilees 4:21 states that Enoch was six years of Jubilees with YHVH,but Gen 5:22 states that Enoch was 300 years with YHVH.
Jubilees 4.21

And he was moreover with the angels of YHVH these six jubilees of years, and they showed him everything which is on earth and in the heavens, the rule of the sun, and he wrote down everything.1

Genesis 5:22
22 Then Enoch walked with YHVH three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters.

This would mean that a Jubilee is 50 years. This is in contradiction with the rest of the Book of Jubilees (Jubilees 23.8). Let us look at another example. We have the following information about Abraham:
Jubilees 11.14–15
14 And in this thirty-ninth jubilee, in the Second week in the first year, Terah took to himself a wife, and her name was ’Ednâ, the daughter of ’Abrâm, the daughter of his father’s sister. 15 And in the seventh year of this week she bare him a son, and he called his name Abram, by the name of the father of his mother; for he had died before his daughter had conceived a son.1
Jubilees 22.1
And it came to pass in the first week, in the forty-fourth jubilee, in the second year, that is, the year in which Abraham died, that Isaac and Ishmael came from the Well of the Oath to celebrate the feast of weeks – that is, the feast of the first fruits of the harvest – to Abraham, their father, and Abraham rejoiced because his two sons had come.1
Jubilees 23.8
And he lived three jubilees and four weeks of years, one hundred and seventy-five years, and completed the days of his life, being old and full of days. 1
According to these verses, Abraham was born in the thirty-ninth jubilee, the seventh year of the second cycle. Abraham died in the forty-fourth jubilee in the second year of the first cycle. But, if we add 3 jubilees to his birth we get to the 42nd jubilee and if we add another 4 cycles we get to the seventh year of the sixth cycle. Thus we have at least one jubilee missing somewhere. The author tries to keep his text aligned with the book of Genesis 25:7. In the process he gets his calculations all wrong.

The Essenes

Many of the scrolls describe for us the calendar of the Essenes. We do not know everything about their calendar, but from their writings we can learn a lot about their practices.

They followed a twelve month calendar in which the year consisted of 364 days. The Temple Scroll (11QTemple) describes this calendar in detail. The editor of the scroll, Yigael Yadin, dated the scroll to around the time of John Hyrcanus. This would date the scroll to around 135 to 104 BC.
With this calendar, the first day of the year would always be on the fourth day of the week after the spring equinox. The Essenes did this because YHVH created the sun on the fourth day. This, then implies that the first three days of creation was before the start of the first year. So we have three days that do not belong to any year.

The months also have a fixed pattern. There are always twelve months in a year. Each month is 30 days. Every quarter they added an extra day. Thus the sequence is 30; 30; 31. The calendar repeated the sequence 4 times to make a total of twelve months. This then ended up being a 364 day year.
Unless some change was made periodically to the Essene’s 364-day calendar, the time of the observance of the annual feasts would get out of synch with the seasons. The Essenes would end up observing the spring festivals in winter. It would take only a few decades for noticeable calendar slippage to occur because it was “off” by almost 1 1/4 days a year. Some form of intercalation was obviously necessary. But, we have no proof that the Essenes applied any intercalation. We also have no references in the books of Enoch or Jubilees on how to do this.

The scrolls of the community at Qumran also tell us about their annual feasts. They had more agricultural feasts than the feasts recorded in Leviticus 23. These were a harvest Festival of Grapes and another of Olives. Other festivals observed by the Qumran sectarians included the Festival of the Wood Offering, the Feast of the Wine and the Festival of the Priests’ Consecration (ordination). They did not celebrate the feasts of Purim or Chanukah.
The result of this method is that all dates always fall on the same day of the week every year. The sabbath falls on the same date in a given month, year in and year out. And festivals all fall on the same day of the week every year. Passover always falls on Tuesday.
The annual schedule was as follows:

Month Day Feast
1 1–8 Days of Ordination for Priests
1 14 Passover
1 26 Waving of the Omer (first fruits)
3 15 The Festival of Weeks (Shavu’ot)
5 3 Festival of New Wine
6 22 Festival of Oil
6 23-29 Festival of the Offering of Wood
7 1 Day of Remembrance (Yom T’Ruah)
7 10 Day of Atonement (Yom Kippurim)
7 15 Festival of Booths (Sukkot)

The calendar regulated not only the schedule for the feasts. It also regulated the time for the various groupings of priests who provided service in the Temple. The community organized the priests into 24 courses (mishmar / mishmarot). Each mishmar conducted Temple service for one week starting on the first day of the week. Each group bore a family or clan name and was assigned specific weeks. Since 24 groups serving twice equaled only 48 weeks, four groups served three times a year. This made up the complete 52-week year. The scrolls include several tables of the six-year cycle of priestly courses. It also mentions the families who were expected to officiate in the Temple in weekly turns of duty. In every 52-week year, four families had three, rather than two, turns. Thus it took six years to complete the cycle.

Who are the true Zadokites?

Most of us see Second Temple Judaism as a singular unit of belief. Based on the writings of the Apostolic Scriptures, we acknowledge some splintering within the group. We know about the Pharisees, the Sadducees and also the Samaritans. In recent years the Essenes have also started coming into focus. Yet, there was a much larger division within Second Temple Judaism that most of us are unaware of. We need to understand this more fundamental division if we want to contextualize the Enoch calendar.

After the return of the nation from the Babylonian exile, a Zadokite priesthood was established in Jerusalem. They claimed, based on Scripture, that the sons of Zadok were the priests. Most importantly, Zadok was the priest in the time of king David. It was Zadok who anointed king Solomon. In the book of Chronicles, it is documented that they were the priests until the exile to Babylon. 7

1 Chronicles 6:3–15
3 The children of Amram were Aaron, Moses and Miriam. And the sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 4 Eleazar became the father of Phinehas, and Phinehas became the father of Abishua, 5 and Abishua became the father of Bukki, and Bukki became the father of Uzzi, 6 and Uzzi became the father of Zerahiah, and Zerahiah became the father of Meraioth, 7 Meraioth became the father of Amariah, and Amariah became the father of Ahitub, 8 and Ahitub became the father of Zadok, and Zadok became the father of Ahimaaz, 9 and Ahimaaz became the father of Azariah, and Azariah became the father of Johanan, 10 and Johanan became the father of Azariah (it was he who served as the priest in the house which Solomon built in Jerusalem), 11 and Azariah became the father of Amariah, and Amariah became the father of Ahitub, 12 and Ahitub became the father of Zadok, and Zadok became the father of Shallum, 13 and Shallum became the father of Hilkiah, and Hilkiah became the father of Azariah, 14 and Azariah became the father of Seraiah, and Seraiah became the father of Jehozadak; 15 and Jehozadak went along when YHVH carried Judah and Jerusalem away into exile by Nebuchadnezzar.

1 Kings 1:32–34
32 Then King David said, “Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.” And they came into the king’s presence. 33 The king said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord, and have my son Solomon ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon. 34Let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there as king over Israel, and blow the trumpet and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’

Now that the Davidic monarchy no longer existed, they felt the need to lead the nation. Soon the need for a king disappeared, as these functions were now taken over by the priesthood. The priesthood held that the Covenant at Sinai is the significant covenant. This covenant enforces the importance of Moses and Aaron. The Hasmonites replaced the Zadokite priesthood during the Maccabean period. They replaced the Zadokites because of their support of the Hellenization of the Jewish nation. The replacement of the Zadokites was in place in the time when Y’Shua went to the Temple.

At the same time there were other sects of Judaism. These included some of the people that never left the land during the exile. There were some smaller groups, all with their own truth. These smaller groups can be grouped together as the Enochic Jews. The Enochic Jews also included some of the Samaritans. We find in the writings of Abu’l Fath a description of an interesting group of Samaritans called the “Sect of Dustan” – also known as Dositheans. This is a group that formed after John Hyrcanus destroyed the Samaritan temple on Mt. Gerizim. This group shows many similarities with the teachings of the Qumran community.
These include:

  1. Very strict sabbath observance – No feeding or rescuing of animals on the sabbath. (CD 10:14–11:18)
  2. The concern regarding the purity of their water, both for drinking and for mikvah. (1QS 3:4–5)
  3. They both followed a solar calendar as laid down by both the Book of Jubilees and 1 Enoch. (1QS 10:1–5; 1QpHab 12:5–9)8

We do know that they cannot be the exact same group. The community at Qumran saw Jerusalem as the place of worship. They also saw the writings of the prophets as canonical. However, we do know that one of the reasons that the sect of Dustan split from the Samaritans was the Judaising tendencies of this sect. The influence of this group on the community at Qumran is very obvious.

The Enochic Jews claimed that their priesthood was before the priesthood of Aaron. Their priesthood came from people like Adam and Enoch. To them the significant covenant is the covenant with Noah after the flood. Their writings did not emphasize the Sinai covenant. They based their covenantal proceeding around what happened with Noah.

For more information on this complex topic, we recommend the works of Gabriele Boccaccini. Specifically his book – Beyond the Essene Hypothesis – covers this topic in detail. This is an area of history and religion that still has so many unanswered questions.

Conclusion

In order for you to be able to accept the Enoch calendar, you also need to change some of the other fundamental parts of your belief system. These fundamental changes would include:

  • Changing your definition of what inspired scripture is. You now need to make books like Enoch and Jubilees part of this definition. This would then include the part where Enoch sees himself as the Son of Man.
    Accepting these two books then opens the door to some other books to be included. It also puts books like Leviticus in opposition to some of these additional books. (e.g. Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs)
  • To be a true follower of the authors of these additional books, you would need to de-emphasize the Mosaic covenant. You would then need to place a greater importance of the covenant with Noah. In the books of Enoch and Jubilees, there is a lot more focus on the way of Noah, than what happened with the nation as they were lead out of Egypt. They justified their calendar based on what Noah did.
  • Thus we can see that the Enoch calendar carries behind it a fundamental shift in your belief. A small decision, like accepting the Book of Enoch as truth, has a ripple effect. The Book of Enoch leads to the book of Jubilees, which in turn leads to the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs. All this then leads to putting the Enoch literature (including their alternative priesthood) at the same level as the rest of Scripture.

As the final point, we would like to explain why we call this a heresy. We claim to be the followers of Y’Shua the Messiah. If we are His followers and His disciples, it means we must do as He did. In our previous article, we have shown you two proof points about why we believe that Y’Shua was anti-Essene. To take this point a bit further, we need to add the following facts:

  • Y’Shua never quoted from the books of Enoch or Jubilees.
  • Y’Shua went to the feasts in Jerusalem according to the calendar of the Judeans.

John 5:1–2
1 After these things there was a feast of the Jews (Judeans), and Y’Shua went up to Jerusalem2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes.

  • Y’Shua’s parents took Him to the Temple in Jerusalem to be redeemed.

Luke 2:22–24
22 And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to YHVH 23 (as it is written in the Law of YHVH, “Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to YHVH”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of YHVH, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

  • Y’Shua told us that we need to listen to what these people (the scribes and Pharisees) teach. We were not to do as they do, but still listen to them.

Matthew 23:1–3
1 Then Y’Shua spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, 2 saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses3 therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.

  • Y´Shua chose Paul, a Pharisee, to be His apostle to the nations. He did not choose an Essene or a supporter of the Enochic Judaism.

Acts 9:11–17
11 And Y´Shua said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Master, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem; 14and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” 15 But Y´Shua said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel16 for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.” 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Master Y´Shua who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 23:6
But perceiving that one group were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began crying out in the Council, “Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!”

These points make it clear that Y’Shua saw the priesthood in Jerusalem as the valid priesthood. He does not tell us to listen to those in the seat of Adam, the seat of Noah or even the seat of Enoch. It is about the priesthood as defined in the Sinai covenant. After the death of Y’Shua, His disciples and Paul kept on going to the Temple in Jerusalem. They continued with the offers in the Temple, including sin offers.

All this implies that if we want to accept the Enoch calendar as the true calendar, we would need to contradict, thus reject, the teachings of Y’Shua. We then need to follow the teachings of a renegade Second Temple Period sect of Judaism. Y’Shua even warned us about the teachings of this sect. I think it is significant that this sect has ceased to exist. Why are some so desperate to resurrect this false teaching?

References

  1. Charles, R. H. (Ed.). (2004). Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
  2. Nickelsburg, G. W. E. (2005). Jewish literature between the Bible and the Mishnah : a literary and historical introduction (2nd ed.). Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
  3. Shanks, H. (Ed.). (2002). BAR 28:06 (Nov/Dec 2002). – Review: Discoveries in the Judaean Desert Vol. XXI, Qumran Cave 4—XVI: Calendrical Texts
  4. Vanderkam, J. C. (1992). Calendars: Ancient Israelite and Early Jewish. In (D. N. Freedman, Ed.)The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary. New York: Doubleday.
  5. VanderKam, J. C., & Flint, P. W. (2002). The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Their Significance for Understanding the Bible, Judaism, Jesus, and Christianity (1st ed.). New York: HarperSanFrancisco.
  6. Cansdale, L. (1997). Qumran and the Essenes: A Re-Evaluation of the Evidence. (M. Hengel & P. Schäfer, Eds.) (Vol. 60). Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck).
  7. http://www.heavenlyascents.com/2008/07/07/how-many-judaisms/
  8. Cansdale, Lean. Qumran and the Essenes: A Re-evaluation of the Evidence. 1997. Tubingen : Mohr. ISBN 3-16-146719-1

The Deal Breaker

The Deal Breaker

Here is the secret information most of those peddling the Qumran false teachings don’t want you to know.

They assume you don’t know how to count.

They assume you don’t care about Obeying Yehovah properly.
They assume you don’t know the year is 365 days, 6 hours, 13 minutes 53 seconds long.
They assume you don’t know the moon or month is 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes 3 seconds long.

They assume you do not understand Deuteronomy.

Deu 13:1  If a prophet rises among you, or a dreamer of dreams, and gives you a sign or a wonder,
Deu 13:2  and the sign or the wonder which he foretold to you occurs, saying, Let us go after other gods which you have not known, and let us serve them,
Deu 13:3  you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For Jehovah your God is testing you to know whether you love Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deu 13:4  You shall walk after Jehovah your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments, and obey His voice, and you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him.
Deu 13:5  And that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken to turn you away from Jehovah your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slaves, to thrust you out of the way in which Jehovah your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put the evil away from the midst of you.

They assume you won’t understand that by keeping the Holy Days at the wrong times you will be serving other gods. These calendars cause you to keep the Holy Days at the wrong times.

Deu 18:20  But the prophet who shall presume to speak a word in My name which I have not commanded him to speak or who shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
Deu 18:21  And if you say in your heart, How shall we know the word which Jehovah has not spoken?
Deu 18:22  When a prophet speaks in the name of Jehovah, if the thing does not follow nor come to pass, that is the thing which Jehovah has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You shall not be afraid of him.

Don’t fall prey to false teachings about the calendar. You are susceptible to them if you do not understand how to prove which one is TRUE. Which one is from Yehovah.

So long as you keep your head in the sand, you are in danger of being deceived.

These Qumran calendars, the Enoch, Jubilee, Zadok, and Dead Sea Calendars are all false teaching Yehovah has sent to test you.

Deu 13:3  you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For Jehovah your God is testing you to know whether you love Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Remember what you are told. Love the truth. Search the Bible, not some garbage dump also known as a Genizah where heretical teachings are placed. Do not swallow the chammaschith that was buried there.

2Th 2:8  And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the breath of His mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming,
2Th 2:9  whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10  and with all deceit of unrighteousness in those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, so that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie,
2Th 2:12  so that all those who do not believe the truth, but delight in unrighteousness, might be condemned.

Those who teach these calendars are false prophets. They can repent right away, or they can die in the next few years.

How can we know absolutely for sure what calendar to use?

Let me now give you the deal breaker these false teachers will not teach you. But you must do your homework and either study this and do the work or you will remain unsure.

Do this homework to build your defences against all these false teachers that are coming more now as we approach the end of this age. Fortify your mind with the truth from the scriptures. Do it now.

The Deal Breaker is simple to do. All you have to do is count, but you have to do it.

Ezekiel’s 30 days are one of the teachings we have had on our site for some time. The Babylonians took Ezekiel captive in the first wave of attacks on Judah in 609 B.C. That was long before the Essenes ever lived. Long before the book of Enoch and the Enochian calendar were ever invented. Long before the Book of Jubilees was ever written, which can’t even add up the Jubilee cycles it is talking about and its version of the Enoch calendar. Ezekiel recorded the dates and seasons 2600 years before the sanctimonious-sounding Zadok calendar was reinvented, copying the Enoch calendar.

I do get upset and hate those who promote teachings that lead the brethren away from Torah and Yehovah. We can disagree about things, but when you lead people away from the truth to serve other gods, I get upset.

Note the following story about Lashon Harah.

The harm done by speech is even worse than the harm done by stealing or by cheating someone financially, because amends can be made for monetary harms, but the harm done by speech can never be repaired. For this reason, some sources indicate that there is no forgiveness for lashon ha-ra (disparaging speech). A Chasidic tale illustrates this point: A man went about the community telling malicious lies about the rabbi. Later, he realized the wrong he had done, and began to feel remorse. He went to the rabbi and begged his forgiveness, saying he would do anything he could to make amends. The rabbi told the man, “Take a feather pillow, cut it open, and scatter the feathers to the winds.” The man thought this was a strange request, but it was a simple enough task, and he did it gladly. When he returned to tell the rabbi that he had done it, the rabbi said, “Now, go and gather the feathers. Because you can no more make amends for the damage your words have done than you can recollect the feathers.”

Speech has been compared to an arrow: once the words are released, like an arrow, they cannot be recalled, the harm they do cannot be stopped, and the harm they do cannot always be predicted, for words like arrows often go astray.

Those who preach these false calendars are doing the same as those who lashon harah. Once they have publicized their false teachings, how many others will become deceived? It began with one false book written about 150 B.C. and here we are today with thousands or more being led astray. Do not listen to it or share those false teachings.

So if you are ready, let me now share with you the deal breaker which will destroy all these false calendars. Then you will know the truth. Go to Ezekiel’s 30 Days.

11 Comments

  1. Donna

    I am not saying what calendar I follow, as it is not relevant to my point. However, I will say that nature does not know what is happening either. We had grass growing, plants and trees blooming, then came more cold weather and frosts that killed it all off. Then another cycle of the same. The weather patterns in our time are being manipulated and causing nature to be unnatural and out of season. The scriptures are true and you are correct, no one knows the day or the hour, yet the brethren should know the seasons. The seasons are defined by the luminaries, nature responds to them, however evil persists on interrupting the natural cause and effect Yah created. I pray that you will reconsider your judgement on the souls of others that are trying to do their best in their understanding. It is not our place to sit in Messiah’s Judgement Seat judging the final outcome of another’s soul. Shalom <3

    Reply
    • Joseph F Dumond

      Shabbat Shalom Donna, You have read my article and have made a judgement. We all judge others all the time. Do I trust this person or not? Everyone does their own research. Not a problem. The problem arises when you begin to teach others a false teaching. Then you must make a judgment and warn others about it. Satan does not tell you who he is. But we are warned he is going to be like the Most High. You must judge if this is from Yehovah and being protected from what is coming or is this from Satan and you being thrown into the lake of fire.

      Too many think it is just a game and have not awakened to the fact this is for eternal life. We must all get on Yehovah’s calendar and those who don’t will be judged. You are commanded to judge!

      Lev 19:17 You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall always rebuke your neighbor, and not allow sin on him.

      If you see your brother sinning requires you to judge if he is sinning. Then once you do you are to warn him to stop. You SHALL ALWAYS DO THIS!

      1Jn 3:15 Everyone hating his brother is a murderer. And you know that no murderer has everlasting life abiding in him.
      1Jn 4:21 And we have this commandment from Him, that he who loves God should love his brother also.

      It would be very easy for me to sit at home and do my own studies and not share them. But I see too many not obeying Yehovah. Because I love Yehovah, I must also love other people. And if I am to do that, then out of love for those people, I must warn them when they are sinning. According to John, I am doing this out of love for you.
      Those who keep any of the solar calendars and promote them to others are sinning and in danger of not entering into the Kingdom. I am not judging them. I am loving them by pointing out their errors. They are judged by the word of Yehovah.

      Reply
      • Shannon Elliott

        Thank you for speaking out for the correct observational based lunar Calendar of Yehovah’s Moedim, Joseph. Your sounding the warning is good stewardship of the knowledge Yah is giving you through studying. Bravo.

        The idea (I believe) from Scripture is to get others on the right path. We have SO inherited lies from our fathers, so many years of not quite caring have led to so many of us being unaware of the times.

        Yes, always in love, always. But, nevertheless, the true Calendar must prevail so that we can get back on track, just as with the true Timeline.

        We must all work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Thinking about king Josiah here, upon hearing Torah. His response was correct. And ours should be similar. We must not think to hide behind the multitude.

        The multitude will follow the Man of Sin, who is the angel from the Bottomless Pit. Better to begin where we are, with heartfelt repentance, and action to match.

        Each of us kneeling before the King. That’s where the Grace of Yehoshua comes in. We could never do it without His sacrifice, nor without His Holy Spirit. We tremble before our Holy Elohim Yehovah!

        Reply
  2. Stuart Wall

    Shalom Joseph. I think this is such an important point, that I really feel compelled to respond to your response to Donna, especially in light of your original words. The scriptures you quoted speak about your “brother”, which is all well and good, but you originally said:

    If you come out the other side and you decide you want to keep it, understand you are no longer my brother in the faith. You have now become a tare. One who looks like wheat and think they are wheat, but in truth they have nothing of any value worth harvesting. If again you come out the other side of this rabbit hole and begin to teach and promote this Chammschith, then you are now a wolf in sheeps clothing, and are now my enemy.

    So what is it? Are you correcting your brothers in the faith or are you standing in the judgement seat of Messiah and declaring them as children of the devil instead? Two brothers can look at the same scriptures and come to different intellectual conclusions, it’s not for you to judge their hearts.

    What does scripture say about who will inherit the kingdom of God? Does it talk about who determines the right calendar? It has nothing to do with such things, but rather the character of Jehovah’s children.

    Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 
    Gal 5:20  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 
    Gal 5:21  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 
    Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 
    Gal 5:23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 
    Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 
    Gal 5:25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 
    Gal 5:26  Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

    Mat 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

    Sure, the calendar is important, it’s in the Torah, but it’s not one of the weightier matters of the law. It doesn’t determine or define our godly character.

    Amos 5:21 I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. 
    Amo 5:22  Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. 
    Amo 5:23  Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. 
    Amo 5:24  But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

    Matt 12:7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.

    Again, the feasts and calendars are important, but the end goal is the development of godly character.

    We live in a world of extreme wickedness, we should be uniting not dividing. Where does scripture tell us to treat a brother as an enemy if he does not agree on the same calendar?

    1 Cor 5:11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

    At a stretch you could say that someone keeping the wrong calendar (but still the right feasts!) is an idolater, but really? Certainly not in this context. And where do you draw the line? We go from expelling brothers and sisters who keep Xmas/Easter, to those who keep the true feasts but on the wrong days, to what next? Expelling those who keep the right days but start them when the sun is the whole way over the horizon and not when it first touches it?

    I very much value your ministry Joseph, it was instrumental in helping me come back to the faith in the last few years, but I really think you miss the forest for the trees sometimes.

    Reply
    • Joseph F Dumond

      Shabbat Shalom Stuart, thank you for your views. I am humbled to have a part in your return. Thank you for sharing that.

      We tolerate those coming out of Christmas and Easter. We know they are working it out as we did. We do not tolerate those who promote it.

      You quoted:
      Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
      Gal 5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
      Gal 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

      Did you read the part in the article about witchcraft. It is the mixing of Torah with other idolatrous acts. Those “brethren” who mix the enoch or Zadok or solar calendars with Torah, are performing witchcraft. Pharmakiea as it is in Revelation. It is about spiritual idolatry, not drug store prescriptions.
      Those who keep these other calendars are promoting and encouraging the brethren to keep other Holy Days.

      As I said Lev 19:17 and 1 John 3:15 and 4:21 compel me to speak out. If they continue to go down the road they are on they will be killed by Yehovah. But I will be found guilty of murder for not warning them.

      The same way we warn those about Christmas and Easter we warn the brethren about false calendars, and adultery and Lashon Harah. You cannot mix His truths with pagan inventions. To see it and remain silent is to murder your brother and it is not showing love for Him or towards Yehovah. I must speak out.

      You said we live in a world of extreme wickedness and that we should be uniting. Why are you not united with the wicked? It is because you have judged them as wicked. You made a judgment call. The same as I do.

      Yes, we would all be united if we all agreed. But with you, or with those keeping the Zadok calendar, or the Hillel, or Jubilee Calendar. Who do we unite with?
      I am not judging who is going to be in the Kingdom. That is Yehovah’s job, not mine. My job is to warn those I see not obeying to get back in line with Yehovah. Most people can’t stand to be told they are wrong on a subject. So they fight back. Read what I shared in the article. Did you do the homework assignment? Did you count the days in the Ezekiel 30-day article? It proves beyond all doubt that 600 years before the Enoch, Jubilee, Dea Sea, or Zadok calendars were ever conceived, Ezekiel was keeping the crescent moon calendar with alternating 29 or 30-day months and adding a 13th month. The article tries to make the 30-day month work. It tries to make the 31-day month work. They just do not add up. Only the 29 and 30-day sightedmoon calendar works and it also shows you a 13th-month works.

      Reply
    • Abraham Ojeda

      Shalom Joe,

      I would like to also assist in responding to Stuart. Hopefully everyone reading through these comments can see the bigger picture.

      First, this was a nicely written piece exposing the fraud of the Enoch calendars. Whenever people promote these writings they neglect the words of Yeshua that clearly state that not a single “yod or dot” would disappear from any of the inspired Hebrew writings until heaven and earth pass away (Mat. 5:18). Enoch and these other fraudster books don’t have any 100% intact Hebrew manuscripts!

      Now, back to the calendar. Is it important? Is it one of the “weightier” matters of the Torah?

      We all must learn the parable of King Jereboam, the first king of Northern Israel. Remember, he was king over 10 of the 12 tribes. The majority. This is what he instituted as soon as he was king (1Kings 12:32,33):

      “Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made.

      So he made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised in his own heart. And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense.”

      Notice that this came from the imagination of Jereboam’s heart. Why? He was on a power trip and worried that Israel would be going to Jerusalem for the 3 pilgrimage Feasts *at the correct time* and possibly make Reheboam of the south their king again. This was a *big* sin. Two golden calves. But the bigger picture is that the SIN of the North has always been keeping the Feasts a month LATE. This is what led to their destruction before Judah and the scattering that caused them to be wanders among the nations now for over 2500 years now. I would consider that a *weighty* matter of the Torah. 100%.

      The bigger picture is that Joe is part of the 2-tribe minority, so to speak, that sees past the lies of the BS and the golden calves. We are the minority. We understand the sighted moon and barley. Everyone else wants their calves… but hey, all we can do is warn.

      May Yeshua lead you into all truth

      Abraham

      Reply
      • Stuart Wall

        Shalom Abraham,

        There’s a difference between a king willingly rebelling and leading an entire nation astray in a system of worship to suit his own ego, than a modern day believer 3000 years later doing his best to follow the path Jehovah has laid out for him. The Torah is still in effect, which is why Yeshua said that no “yod or dot” would pass away, but that’s different to saying that the scriptures would be maintained in their purity. There are many different manuscripts and translations with no original writings, even in the canonised scriptures, so I’m not going to judge my brother because he has a different intellectual understanding than me.

        My major concern with Joe’s post is that he can say something as preposterous as “but in truth they have nothing of any value worth harvesting” simply because they follow a different calendar. The Kingdom of Jehovah will be filled with those who embody the fruits of the Spirit, not those who give intellectual assent to a particular method of worship. The feast days serve to lead people into a greater understanding of who Yeshua is and what He has done for us, but they have no virtue in and of themselves and should not be lauded above having a personal spirit-endowed relationship with Yeshua Himself.

        Reply
  3. Lucinda Gibbs Robinson

    Joseph- This might be helpful to those wondering about drugs and prescription drugs.

    Drugs-
    Pharma companies produce several levels or classes of drugs
    1.Bio-identical-These substances are the exact replica of natural substances. Any drug company can manufacture these. The drug companies can not patent these substances because they occur in nature. Examples are insulin, cortisone, bio-identical hormone, tincture of myrrh, salt, water, etc.
    2. Antibiotics- Some of these have their origin in natural substances. Examples are forms of penicillin, streptomycin, etc. Some are a total manufactured, not in nature product.
    3. Interrupter drugs- These drugs stop a chemical reaction from going on in your body. Most are totally made up chemicals not occurring in the body or nature.
    4. Pain killers-Many of these derive their origin from the poppy plant like cocaine, novacaine, heroin, morphine, etc. Some others are a totally made up chemical not found in body or nature.
    Just because the FDA has put some of the naturally derived substances under prescription does not mean you should not use them. You have to know where each ”drug” comes from and what is in each. Many countries allow some of the natural forms to be bought in regular grocery stores like penicillin, etc.
    The FDA wants to control any natural substance that really works and put it under prescription so that profits can be high and taxes can be derived off of them. The FDA also wants to control natural substances (like essential oils) and force labeling at too low of dosages so you think they do not work and will be driven to use a patented drug for which you are charged a huge price.
    Not everything under prescription is sorcery, as you can see from the above information. Each one has to be judged on its origin, purity, and purpose for a Bible believer. Many drugs and their capsules and especially injections named vaccinations have many Biblically unclean ingredients. See my book on Amazon named SHOT DETOX for more information on this.

    Reply
    • Joseph F Dumond

      Shabbat Shalom Lucinda, this article is not about drugs. The word Pharmakeia is not about drugs. It is about mixing Yehovah’s truths with pagan practices, like the Enochian calendar and mixing Christmas with the Torah. It is idolatry.

      You want to qualify which drugs are OK and which are not. That is up to each individual person. We are not talking about those things here. We spent three years trying to get people to understand the word Paharmakeia, but they would not get it, being blinded by the hysteria. We will not allow more comments here in that area of vaccines or no vaccines.

      Reply
  4. Robert Marr

    Whoa. What a newsletter packed full to the brim. Glory to YHVH for His unsearchable wisdom. 👍

    First the Deborah report. I could tell immediately it was lacking serious truth especially in terms of the firstfruit wave offering as compared to what the Law explains. She is confusing a lot of people as even my wife kept seeing her pages on Facebook and was asking me to consider her points. I listened and responded accordingly.

    The whole Geniza topic is fascinating. The different ones around world, I was amazed. And also how you said geniza were always put out in front…was it to the east…of the main temple, that part was very interesting.

    I agree the Torah Scroll represents YHVH. I love how this matches John 1:1. Hallelujah for such clarity of Scriptures.

    The whole topic on Essenes and Book of Enoch and Jubilees is a complex issue. I can see that now. Before this I was unaware.

    I am grateful for the referral you mentioned like Sacha Stern and Abul Fath, etc. I would look into them.

    Lastly I was unaware how much John Hycanrus changed Jerusalem around and rearranged it. This is baffling to me. Its kinda sad. And that Isaiah predicts it is a double whammy.

    I knew Judah Maccabee made a pact with Rome. I didn’t recognize this act as evil. Who knows? I knew He also reached out to Sparta and even calls them long lost brothers in effect.

    Since we didn’t live in their day, it hard to say exactly if such and such was right or wrong. The same goes for us today, how can we compare ourselves and our walk with those in Bible times who lived in the land of Israel and had been so close in time to the days of Moses…

    The enoch calendar is obviously off when compared to Leviticus 23. Maybe they had their reasons but I guess the main point today is yes that sect died out and why would one go after these things buried for thousands of years when the real canonical texts have not been buried but have been widely published again and again?

    That last part is common sense. YHVH is faithful to every generation and sustains every generation with His Word therefore the conclusion in regards to this newsletter is abundantly clear.

    Shalom

    Reply
  5. Shannon Elliott

    Brother Joseph, I just wish to give you encouragement not to weary in the Mighty Battle for the Calendar.

    People have to run their course at times, on a thing. But if you keep pronouncing the true history of the true Calendar, and back it up with Scripture, and history, the truth will become clear to those sheep being drawn to it.

    The time is short, and that cannot be helped. But you ARE fighting the good fight, and the True Calendar and true method of discerning the times, from year to year, will prevail — as Yehovah has planned.

    I just wish to thank you, and to encourage for you to stay the course in the Calendar. Shalom!

    Reply

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