NewsLetter 5859-049 or 5860-001
The 7th year of the 4th Sabbatical Cycle or
The 1st Year of the 5th Sabbatical Cycle
The 28th year of the 120th Jubilee Cycle or
The 29th year of the 120th Jubilee Cycle
The 6th day of the 13th month 5859 years after the creation of Adam or
The 6th day of the 1st month 5860 years after the creation of Adam
The 4th Sabbatical Cycle after the 119th Jubilee Cycle or
The 5th Sabbatical Cycle after the 119th Jubilee Cycle
The Sabbatical Cycle of the Red Heifer, Famine & The 2 Witnesses
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February 17, 2024
Shabbat Shalom to the Royal Family of Yehovah. As you can tell, I just do not know which month we are in right now. Is it the 13th month or is the month of Aviv?
As most of you know, we are now in the year 2024, which represents the 1st year of the 10 Days of Awe. Each year during those 10 Days we read the Selicot Prayers and pray our name may be found in the Book of Life. Our latest book, The 10 Days of Awe, goes into much more detail than what I will be able to cover here each week. I urge you all to get it and read it. It is time we all repent during the little time we have left and get right with Yehovah so that your name may be found in the Book of Life.
Do not presume you have 10 years to get this done. One of the very first things to happen during this time is the persecution of the Saints. Repent now before the persecution comes to your place.
This Sabbath is the first Sabbath of this new year, if again the Barley is Aviv. I want to start this last 10 years off with each of us and all of us repenting and begging Yehovah to forgive us and have mercy on us, so He can find our names in His Book of Life.
Torah Portion
Torah Portions
We read through the entire Torah along with the Prophets and the New Testament, once over the course of 3 1/2 years. Or according to the Sabbatical Cycle which means we read it all twice over a 7-year period. This allows us to cover more in-depth rather than being rushed to cover as much as is covered on an annual basis. We allow all to comment and take part in the discussions.
Septennial Torah Portion
If you go toĀ Torah PortionĀ 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:
Genesis 1
Deuteronomy 34
Joshua 1-4
Malachai
Psalm 1
Matthew 1-2:18
Revelation 22
As we approach the end of the year we are doubling up on our Torah Portions so that we can fit them all in before the year ends. We thought we had an Adar Bet and four more weeks. I am not sure we do so we are going to double up.
If you missed last weekās exciting discoveries as we studied that section, you can go and watch past Shabbats on ourĀ media section.
Join Our Sabbath Meetings
Join Our Sabbath Meetings
There are many people in need of fellowship and who are sitting at home on the Sabbath with no one to talk to or debate with. I want to encourage all of you to join us on Shabbat, and to invite others to come and join us as well. If the time is not convenient then you can listen to the teaching and the midrash after on our YouTube channel.
What are we doing and why do we teach this way?
We are going to discuss both sides of an issue and then let you choose. It is the work of the Ruach (Spirit) to direct and to teach you.
The medieval commentator Rashi wrote that the Hebrew word for wrestle (avek) implies that Jacob was ātiedā, for the same word is used to describe knotted fringes in a Jewish prayer shawl, the tzitzityot. Rashi says, āthus is the manner of two people who struggle to overthrow each other, that one embraces the other and knots him with his armsā.
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 ātiedā to the One who assists us in that struggle.
Today, many say Israel means āChampion of Godā, or better ā the āWrestler of Godā.
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 āwrestle with the Wordā 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 āThe preacher talks and everyone listens.ā 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 UFOās 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 1:5Ā Ā 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 itās as though you were sitting around the kitchen back in Newfoundland having a cup of coffee and all of us enjoying each otherās 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, Shavuot, 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 Dumondās Personal Meeting Room
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Chinese New Year and the Exodus
Chinese New Year and the Exodus
This year, the Chinese New Year was lined up with the potential New Year if the Barley is Aviv. The earliest records of the Chinese keeping this time of year go back about 3500 years.
Chinese New Year has enjoyed a history of about 3,500 years. Its exact beginning is not recorded. Some people believe that Chinese New Year originated inĀ the Shang DynastyĀ (1600ā1046 BC), when people held sacrificial ceremonies in honor of gods and ancestors at the beginning or the end of each year.
The Exodus took place in the year 1379, which is not far off from the Chinese and when they first recorded it.
The year of the Exodus was directly after a Sabbatical year exactly as we are doing now.
Moses was called by Yehovah and told in Exodus 12:2:
Exo 12:2Ā This month shall be to you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you.
We know Moses was told these things after the Hail curse in Egypt.
Exo 9:25Ā And the hail struck throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast. And the hail struck every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field.
Exo 9:31Ā And the flax and the barley were stricken, for the barley was in the head, and the flax was in bud.
The Barley was in the head and the flax was in the bud. As you can see, the barley in the chart below is anywhere after day 51. Exodus 9:31 does not say the barley was ripe. It just says it was in the head. If the hail was strong enough to destroy trees, then it was also strong enough to destroy the grass which is the barley. Yes it could be at the golden stage and then snap off, but if the heads have any weight to them, then they too, would have been destroyed by the hail.
What many people also forget to understand is that after the Passover, in 1379 BC, Israel came to the Red Sea and there Yehovah parted the Sea and He stacked up the waters in heaps. IN other words Yehovah caused the walls of the Red Sea to freeze on both sides so cold that they held back the waters while Israel crossed over on the sea bottom which was frozen. As the bottom warmed up then the Egyptian horses and chariots got stuck in the mud and had a difficult time until finally as the sun rose on the frozen glacial ice, that it then broke and caved in on the Egyptian Army. I say this to show it was very cold at this time of year. The time when the Aviv, or Green Ears are everywhere on the land.
As to when does the Sabbatical Year end?
Deu 11:10Ā Ā For the land into which you go to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt from which you came out, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your foot, like a garden of herbs.
Deu 11:11Ā Ā But the land which you are entering to possess it is a land of hills and valleys, drinking water from the rain of the heavens.
Deu 11:12Ā Ā It is a land which Jehovah your God cares for. The eyes of Jehovah your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year.
Deu 11:13Ā Ā And it will be, if you will listen carefully to My commandments which I command you today, to love Jehovah your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,
Deu 11:14Ā Ā I will give the rain of your land in its due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil.
Deu 11:15Ā Ā And I will send grass in your fields for your cattle so that you may eat and be full.
Deu 11:16Ā Ā Take heed to yourselves that your heart may not be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods, and worship them,
Deu 11:17Ā Ā and Jehovah’s wrath be kindled against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain, and so that the land will not yield her fruit, and you perish quickly from off the good land which Jehovah gives you.
Deu 11:18Ā Ā Therefore you shall lay up these my words in your hearts and in your souls, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, so that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.
Deu 11:19Ā Ā And you shall teach them to your sons, speaking of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
Deu 11:20Ā Ā And you shall write them upon the door posts of your house, and upon your gates,
Deu 11:21Ā Ā so that your days and the days of your sons may be multiplied in the land which Jehovah swore to give to your fathers, like the days of the heavens upon the earth.
Deu 11:22Ā Ā For if you will carefully keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love Jehovah your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him,
Deu 11:23Ā Ā then Jehovah will drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall possess greater and mightier nations than you.
Deu 11:24Ā Ā Every place on which the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours, from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even to the furthest sea shall your border be.
Deu 11:25Ā Ā There shall no man stand before you, forJehovah your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon the face of all the land that you shall tread upon, as He has said to you.
Deu 11:26Ā Ā Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse:
Deu 11:27Ā Ā A blessing if you obey the commandments of Jehovah your God which I command you today,
Deu 11:28Ā Ā and a curse if you will not obey the commandments of Jehovah your God, but will turn aside out of the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.
Deu 11:29Ā Ā And it will be, when Jehovah your God has brought you into the land where you go to possess it, you shall set the blessing upon Mount Gerizim, and the curse upon Mount Ebal.
Deu 11:30Ā Ā Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way of the sunset, in the land of the Canaanites, who dwell in the plain across from Gilgal beside the plains of Moreh?
Deu 11:31Ā Ā For you shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which Jehovah your God gives you, and you shall possess it and dwell in it.
Deu 11:32Ā Ā And you shall be careful to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you today.
This means that once we know when the 1st day of the New Year is, you can begin planting. But because we do not know whether or not the barley will be ripe at any particular time, we must wait to discover if we have a 12th or 13th month this year. It does not matter whether you are in the southern or northern hemisphere. Aviv 1 is the same date around the world. Yehovah’s laws do not change and we all must be diligent in obeying them if we desire to break the curse that are now upon the world. Obey so you and your family can be free of the chains of sin and know His Freedom.
The Year goes from Aviv to Aviv. But if we do not have Barley for Wave Sheaf Day, then this next month will be the 13th. Wait until Wave Sheaf Day to know for sure what to do. Be patient.
Exo 12:2Ā Ā This month shall be to you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you.
You are not to plant or harvest in this Sabbatical year from Aviv 1, 2023, to Aviv 1, 2024.
You are not to plant.
Lev 25:4Ā Ā But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest to the land, a sabbath for Jehovah. You shall neither sow your field, nor prune your vineyard.
You are not to harvest.
Lev 25:5Ā Ā You shall not reap that which grows of its own accord of your harvest, neither gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It is a year of rest to the land.
You are to stock up on food in the sixth year.
Lev 25:20Ā Ā And if you shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow nor gather in our increase!
Lev 25:21Ā Ā Then I will command My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.
Lev 25:22Ā Ā And you shall sow the eighth year, and eat of old fruit until the ninth year; until its fruits come in, you shall eat the old fruit.
You are to read the Entire Torah on the 1st day of Sukkot in the Sabbatical Year.
Deu 31:9Ā Ā And Moses wrote this Law and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and to all the elders of Israel.
Deu 31:10Ā Ā And Moses commanded them, saying: At the end of seven years, at the set time of the year of release, in the Feast of Tabernacles,
Deu 31:11Ā Ā when all Israel has come to appear before Jehovah your God in the place which He shall choose, you shall read this Law before all Israel in their hearing.
Deu 31:12Ā Ā Gather the people, men and women and the little ones, and your stranger who is within your gates, so that they may hear and that they may learn and fear Jehovah your God, and be careful to do all the words of this Law,
Deu 31:13Ā Ā and that their sons who have not known may hear and learn to fear Jehovah your God, as long as you live in the land where you go over Jordan to possess it.
You are to forgive debts in the Sabbatical Year.
Deu 15:1Ā Ā At the end of every seven years you shall make a release.
Deu 15:2Ā Ā And this is the manner of the release. Every man who has a loan to his neighbor shall release it. He shall not exact it from his neighbor, or from his brother, because it is called Jehovah’s release.
The Barley Report
The Barley Report
This year, Norman Willis of Nazarene Israel has declared this month Adar Bet, or a 13th month. Norman has now adopted the position that the Barley must be Aviv by the end of the 12th month. This is a new position for him as far as I can tell.
Becca’s latest video states that she must have the barley in the state of Aviv by the 10th day of Aviv when the lambs are taken in by each family and watched. A position she has been working towards now for a little while.
Takonot and Ma’asim are the laws that the Rabbis enacted based upon their understanding of the Oral Laws and then combined with the Torah or even overrode what the Torah said to do. We do not currently have a Beit Din or House of Elders to decide on these matters. Even if we did, many would still do it their own way. And this is exactly what we have today. Those following Devorah will be two months from now before they keep the month of Aviv. Most of the Karaiates will be keeping the Month of Aviv next month. And amongst those following Becca Norman or myself, we are now at different positions as to when is the cut-off date to declare what is Aviv Barley.
Just because we differ is not a reason to no longer associate with those who do not agree with us.
I want to suggest that there is only one Holy Day that has a “do over,” and that one Holy Day is Passover. You could only do it over if you had contacted a dead person in the 7 days leading up to Passover or been on a journey, and this is if the Passover was in the first month. Hezekiah kept the second Passover for all of Israel and Judah on the grounds the Levites were not ready, and Yehovah blessed them.
We are all striving to obey Yehovah. The Barley during the Middle Ages also caused the Karaites to keep it at different times. So, our problem today is no different than when they strived to obey in the Middle Ages. If, on Wave Sheaf Day, there is no kernel to ground flour, then I will be doing a do-over. Not because I missed the first one, but because I got the ripeness of the barley wrong. I will not have missed Passover. But if I skip this month as well as Passover and there is indeed barley on Wave Sheaf Day, then I do not get a do-over. I will have missed it.
So what is the Month of Aviv?
Abib does not mean “green ears”, despite the incorrect translation in the King James Bible. The precise meaning of Abib must be reconstructed by going into the fields and studying the barley and cross-referencing this with the Biblical evidence. The Bible often speaks of “Abib parched in fire”. This refers to grain which is developed enough to be eaten after it has been parched. In contrast, “Green Ears” is such a broad term that it can refer to grain which when parched will shrivel up leaving no edible material. This has been confirmed by experiments. In order to be Abib, the barley must be more developed thanĀ Green, tender ears.
Sightedmoon.com maintains the Barley must be ripe enough to be roasted or parched to dry up the remaining moisture, and then the seed that remains be ground into flour to make the wave offering. The Barley is not cut until after Sabbath and prepared that Sunday morning. Nor does the barley have to be grown next to the temple in order to qualify. That is a takonot. So we will still wait until that time to declare this month Aviv or not Aviv. It is quite clear to me. We have been looking for Barley in Israel since 2005. I have done some of the searches with Nehemia during this time. It was in 2016 that we began to split with the Karaite group as they developed a takonot and Ma’asim of their own, stating the barley must be Aviv by the 12th month and that they had to have fields and fields of it so all the farmers could make the Wave Offering at the same time. This is impossible as the barley ripens at various stages throughout the country. So, the first barley is representative of all the country, which has yet to come to maturity.
The fields are right now green; the barley is green in the head. It is the month of green ears or green heads. Is it ripe enough to be roasted and ground into flour, that is the question.
Becca Biderman reported on Wednesday, February 7, 2024, the following.
There is a slim chance this will be a 12 month year. But a chance nonetheless. I did find an amazing amount of super young barley with heads from white to blooming to just beginning to tip their heads. Stay tuned. I’ll try to get a video up but don’t think it will happen today, likely tomorrow.
The 1st month, or the 13th, beganĀ Sunday, February 10, after sunset and Monday, February 11, 2024. Begin to plan on how you are going to remove all the leaven from your homes, cars, and work areas. If the barley is Aviv, then you will only have one week to get ready. So plan as if Passover will be on Sunday evening February 25 and Monday February 26 is the First Holy Day.
If I get any reports from Becca, I will update this post right here. So check back from time to time to see what news we have discovered. You can get the long range weather reports at this link.
Passover 2024
Passover 2024
IF THE BARLEY IS AVIV:
The Footwashing will on Saturday evening of February 24,
Passover on Sunday evening February 25.
The First Holy Day of Unleavened Bread is Monday, February 26 starting the evening before with the Passover meal and
The 7th day of Unleavened Bread on Sunday March 3, which is also going to be Wave Sheaf Day.
The Perpetual Calendar
The Perpetual Calendar
We have available from our website a calendar you can use to keep track of the days of the month based on when the Barley is ripe and when the moon is sighted. ALl you have to do is download it. https://sightedmoon.com/perpetual-calendar/
With the new year about to begin, you can learn about the calendar as you record it. This is a great tool to have and it is free to anyone who wants it.
Law and Grace ā Galatians explained
Law and Grace ā Galatians explained
This week we continue to study the works of Paul.
We have been showing you these past few weeks about the teachings of Paul and how they were as Peter said twisted by those who know not the Torah.
2Pe 3:16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
We are showing you how many in the Christian world use grace in orderĀ NOTĀ to keep the law and this is where they have erred. At the same time as we do this, this teaching will cause many in the Messianic groups to become uncomfortable. I know I am when I study this. Why? Because we too, need to be reminded that we are not saved because we keep the Torah. There is a line that some cross between keeping Torah for the Love of Yehshua and keeping all the other laws to justify themselves.
Consider the following verse in Luke 18:9-14;
9 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 āTwo men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, āGod, I thank You that I am not like other menāextortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.ā 13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, āGod, be merciful to me a sinner!ā 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.ā
What I have come to learn this week as I prepared this study was something that has nagged at me for a long time. Then this week I heard it again on the radio. One of the Christian radio stations used this verse to despise the Pharisee because he kept Torah or the law. The radio host then went on to say that āWe are saved by graceā.
What he was doing was putting down the Jewish Torah and he was exulting those who only need to be saved by grace. I am not going to get into his sermon but it reminded me of this theme that both Yehshua and Paul were addressing. In fact, now as I think about it Yehshua was addressing it a number of times and we have never gotten it. Paul is more plain and this is where his message gets confused by those who do not know the scriptures.
It is not the Pharisee or the Torah that is being put down. It is the attitude that is being shown as contemptible. The Pharisee thought he was saved because he kept the Law because he kept the Torah. The Tax collector knew he had not and was guilty of sin and he was in a state of repentance.
As you go through this lesson and next weekās lesson on Romans please keep the above scripture in mind. It is not the Pharisee Yehshua is attacking, it is the attitude of self-righteousness.
Law and Grace ā Galatians explained
We are looking at this subject as this is the one topic that prevents Judah from coming to know Yehshua. They are prevented because of how they see all those who call themselves Christian trying to do away with the Torah. It is how those who call themselves Christian actually take the scriptures and twist it and try to sell paganism back to those who actually know what Torah says. It is on this subject that those who call themselves Christian become an embarrassment to all of Yehshuaās followers, due to the hypocrisy of the way they quote scriptures. With their lack of understanding of Jewish ways and that Yehshua was a Torah observant Jew and that He never sinned. This means He kept both the law and had grace at the same time.
Unless you know Torah, you cannot understand how grace is applied. So please read the following very carefully and do not rush through it. In fact, many of you should read the following more than a couple of times. Even Monthly until we all get it.
I am going to quote from Torah Rediscovered by Ariel and Dāvorah Berkowitz. Pages 111-115.
Another factor contributing to the misinterpretation of Shaāul is the language he uses, especially in Romans and Galatians, in discussing the believers relationship to the Torah. We have two specific phrases in mind: upo nomon (āUnder the lawā) and erga nomou (āworks of the lawā). When Shaāul uses these terms, it is generally in a negative light.
Look, for example, at Romans 6:14 which reads āfor you are not under law but under grace [italics ours]ā. Here Shaāul is stressing that the believer in Yehshua is dependent on Messiah for his salvation, which he can only receive through the grace of Yahweh. An example of the second phrase, āworks of the lawā, is found in Galatians 2:16 āknowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Yehshua the Messiahā. Whatever āworks of lawā means, it is clearly being used in a negative sense, denoting something opposed to having faith in Yehshua for salvation. Indeed, Shaāul rebuked the Galatians for trusting in works of law.
In these passages, Shaāul was teaching against legalism-the attempt to earn, merit, or keep ones salvation through obedience to law. But there were no sufficient words to express ālegalism.ā Instead he had to use certain phrases which, interpreted incorrectly, could easily lead one to believe that he was against Torah.C.E.B. Cranfield has shed some light on the meaning of these two Greek phrases, helping us to perceive what Shaāul actually meant as well as to understand more fully his true stand on the Torah.
āIt will be well to bear in mind the fact (which, as far as we know, had not received attention before it was noted) that the Greek language of Paulās day possessed no word group corresponding to our ālegalismā, ālegalistā, and ālegalisticā. This means that he lacked a convenient terminology for expressing a vital distinction, and so was surely seriously hampered in the work of clarifying the Christian position with regard to the law. In view of this we should always, we think, be ready to reckon with the possibility that Pauline statements, which at first sight seem to disparage the law, are really directed not against the law itself but against that misunderstanding and misuse of it for which we now have a convenient terminology.ā
We encounter the same dilemma in the Hebrew language. There is no Hebrew word which can easily convey the concepts of ālegalismā or ālegalistā. Thus Shaāul, whether using his Hebrew-oriented mind or his Greek language, was hindered in his attempts to explain that legalism was not what Yahweh intended.
The next detrimental theological tradition we must bring to light is the long standing misinterpretation of nomos/torah in the Book of Galatians. This is the book that says, āBut if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the lawā (5:18). Moreover, such people have āfallen from graceā (5:4). In addition, āI Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you.ā (5:2).
These rather harsh-sounding statements, among a host of others in this letter, have been used for centuries against any believer who desired to follow Torah-especially in regard to circumcision, Shabbat observance, or any other non-moral issue. What are we to make of them?The explanation is rather simple; all we have to know are two basic facts. The first is the hermeneutical principle established by Acts 21:20. If it appears that Shaāul was teaching against the Torah in any way, that impression has to give to the truth of how he lived his life. If Acts 21 tells us that Shaāul lived his life according to the Torah and encouraged other to do the same, then we will miss the boat if we interpret Galatians as coming from an anti-Torah viewpoint.
The second fact to bear in mind is the hermeneutical principle of context, especially the context of the whole book. To be specific, the context of the letter to the Galatians is that of justification by faith. Shaāul was warning them not to make a ālawā out of the Torah. By turning Yahweh`s teaching and covenant into a list of legalistic laws, the Galatians were abandoning the principle of justification by faith and resorting to justification by works. They were using the Torah as a means of earning, meriting, or keeping the eternal salvation which they had received by grace through faith in the finished work of Yahshua.
Shaāul provides several indications that this was the case with the Galatians. The first was in 2:16, ānevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but through faith in Messiah Yahshua, even we have believed in Messiah Yahshua, that we may be justified by faith in Messiah, and not by the works of the law; since by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.ā The issue on Shaāulās mind was Yahwehās requirement for our justification.
Looking at the Greek of Galatians 2:16, we find that the definite article before the phrase āworks of lawā has been left out. It is not, as many English versions translate it, āworks of the lawā. If the translator adds the definite article, it helps the reader to assume that āthe lawā is a reference to the Torah. In fact, however it is not. āWorks of lawā is a phrase indicating a man-made system of works, of which performance based acceptance, is the core belief. Ergon nomou should be translated āworks of lawā
Thus, Galatians 2:16 should read: āknowing that a man is not justified by works of law but through faith in Messiah Yahshua, even we have believed in Messiah Yahshua, that we may be justified by faith in Messiah, and not by works of law; since by works of law shall no flesh be justified.ā
Galatians 5:4 reads, āYou have been severed from Messiah, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.ā Many use this verse to demonstrate that those who follow the Torah have fallen from the grace of Yahweh because they are obeying the ālawā instead of Messiah-who, it is argued, set them free from the law. In defense of this position, they cite the context (verse 2-3): āBehold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Messiah will be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision that he is under obligation to keep the whole law.ā They say, āIf you do what Torah says and circumcise your sons, you are no longer following Yahshua.ā
Our response, Shaāul himself provides the key for the correct understanding of this passage in verse 4, in which he tells us that anyone who observes Torah while āseeking to be justified by lawā will encounter serious difficulties.
Some of the Galatians thought that obeying the Torah (or any set of standards) would cause them to receive their spiritual heritage-justification before Yahweh. However, the moment a person believes that obedience can secure righteousness, he has moved from the realm of grace, into that of works. The blessings of Yahweh, he thinks, are attainable as a result of what he does.
Shaāul, on the other hand, says that such a person has fallen from the principle of grace to the principle of ālaw.ā In effect, when one believes such an erroneous teaching, the atonement accomplished by Yahshua has no value for him, since he is relying on what he does instead of what Yahshua did for him.The teachings of the Torah were never to be used for such a purpose. Eternal salvation is based on the receiving the promises of Yahweh, which are given by grace to those who do not deserve them. The only acceptable response to this grace is to receive it by faith, rather than to attempt to earn it by doing something. If we obey the Torah in order to enjoy the blessings of the grace of Yahweh received by faith, we are not āfallen from graceā; but rather, we are embracing the grace of Yahweh for our lives. Put another way, if man tries to earn the blessings of Yahweh instead of appropriating Messiahās life, he has abandoned the principle of grace and fallen to the principle of ālawā. To live the Torah is to live our new creation life in Messiah: it is actually His life in us, a life of grace and truth. Thus, the Torah is Yahwehās revelation to those born of Him, concerning how they are to act in line with truth of the Good News. (Galatians 2:1)
Real biblical faith is the kind of trust in Yahweh that always results in a changed way of life. The Torah (as well as the New Covenant-Brit Chadasha) describes what that changed life looks like. It does not cause that changed life. That is the miraculous work of Yahweh, born of His grace.
Our point was to establish the fact that the statements in the letter which seem to teach against the Torah are not against it at all if one uses the Torah properly. There were some Galatians who were turning the Torah into ālawā by using it as a means of justification rather than as a way of life resulting from their justification.
From another book by Ariel and Dāvorah Berkowitz called Hold Fast we read on pages 143-149 the following.
Even more so than the letter to the Romans, the epistle to the Galatians is cited to discourage those in the body of Messiah who desire to live according to the teachings of Moses.
All of the so called āproblem passagesā from Galatians can easily be answered in a Torah-positive way if we simply bear in mind the context of the whole book of Galatians. The context is established in the letterās thesis statement in 2:15-16: āWe are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles; nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Messiah Yahshua , even we have believed in Messiah Yahshua, so that we may be justified by faith in Messiah and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.
Please note what we just explained in the passage above about āworks of lawā.The thesis is this: No person may be justified before Yahweh by obeying any list of rules or teachings. That is legalism. Rather, justification is a gift of Yahweh given by grace to those who rely solely on the person and work of Messiah Yahshua.
One of the problems in the Galatians fellowship was that there were apparently teachers circulating either from within or from without who were saying that justification is achieved by a combination of faith plus works. In other words, they were teaching that a person had to do the Torah in addition to trusting Messiah in order for Yahweh to declare him righteous. Accordingly, we can expect to find many seemingly anti-Torah statements in this letter, which we do! If we remember this background then we can realize that Paul is not teaching against Torah, but he is writing against a legalistic observance of the Torah. Let us examine several passages from this oft-misunderstood letter.Galatians 2:15-16
āWe are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles; nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.As we have already stated, this passage is the thesis statement for this letter to the Galatians. The issue on Paulās mind was Yahwehās requirement for our justification.
There is one more point from verse 16 that we would like to make. Looking at the Greek of Galatians 2:16, we find that the definite article before the phrase āworks of lawā has been left out. It is not, as many English versions translate it, āworks of the lawā. If the translator adds the definite article, it helps the reader to assume that āthe lawā is a reference to the Torah. In fact, however it is not. āWorks of lawā is a phrase indicating a man-made system of works, of which performance based acceptance, is the core belief. Thus this phrase is Ergon nomou and should be translated āworks of lawā.
Accordingly, Galatians 2:16 should read āknowing that a man is not justified by works of law but through faith in Messiah Yahshua, even we have believed in Messiah Yahshua, that we may be justified by faith in Messiah, and not by works of law; since by works of law no flesh be justified.ā
We encounter the same translation mistake in verse 19 which states, āFor through the Law I died to the Law, that I might live to Yahweh.ā Here again, in the Greek, there are no definite articles before the words translated ālawā, Knowing this permits us to translate this verse: āFor, I through law, died to law, in order that to Yahweh I might live.ā The point here is that Paul was not saying that he died to the Torah, but merely to ālawā. We can paraphrase what he was saying in this way: āIt was through legalistic obedience to a set of laws that I realized that I was a sinner. For, I found that it is only through a personal relationship with Him that Yahweh grants a new life. My attempt at legalism backfired! Instead of making me closer to Yahweh, it only served to emphasize my sinfulness. Therefore, in Messiah, Yahweh caused me to die to law that I might live for Him.ā
The Torah then, was not in question. Our constant need in the flesh to feel good about ourselves by believing that we have earned righteousness is what is in question! Any time that the Torah of Yahweh is reduced to a system of works, what we have is no longer Torah but a man made system of works-law. Man will always try to reduce Yahwehās words to laws to be obeyed instead of the Words of Life-what they truly are. We who are in Messiah have died to exactly this abuse of the Word of Yahweh. Now we embrace the Renewed Covenant in our relationship with Yahweh as that which is our very life, our new creation life!
Galatians 3:2
This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
There are some who use this verse to contrast life in the Spirit against a life of Torah. Their argument is that we did not receive the Spirit of Yahweh by following the Torah.Our suggestion is that the Torah is not even in this verse. Once again, we encounter the phrase āworks of the lawā. In the Greek it is the same grammatical construction that was in 2:16. Therefore, it should not read āworks of the lawā, as it is the Torah that is being referred to, but āworks of lawā. Hence, this verse is saying that it was not through legalism that we received the Spirit of Yahweh. We could not earn Yahwehās Spirit. Rather Yahweh gave us His Spirit by faith, at the moment of salvation. Thus, this verse is against legalism, not against Torah.
Galatians 3:21-25
21 Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. 22 But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.Here is a case where the word nomos is probably being used to refer to the Torah. In the Greek, it has a definite article before it, āthe Lawā (the Torah). This series of verses concludes a passage where Paul is comparing the covenant with Abraham with the covenant of Sinai. His conclusion is that the Torah was not given to impart life. That was the purpose of the covenant with Abraham. We receive life by faith. He continues to argue that there are only two things the Torah can do for those who attempt to receive spiritual life from Yahweh by obeying the Torah. First, the Torah can point out their sinfulness (Verse 22) and second, the Torah can, then point them to the one who removes sin-The Messiah (verses 23-25).
Verses 23-24 represent only one of the many purposes for the Torah. In fact, the Torah has specific functions for both the righteous (the Saved) and the unrighteous (the unsaved). As far as the righteous are concerned, 2 Timothy 3:16 states, āAll scriptures is inspired by Yahweh and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of Yahweh may be adequate, equipped for every good work.ā Of course, āall scriptureā would most certainly have included the Torah.
As far as the unrighteous are concerned, our passage in Galatians indicates what the Torah can accomplish for them. It can serve to point out their sinfulness and point them to Messiah. In this capacity, we should note that 3:25 says, āBut now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.ā The tutorā is, in context, the Torah. When a person comes to Messiah and receives Him by faith, that particular function of the Torah has ceased (i.e., there is no longer a need for the Torah to serve as a tutor to lead the person to the Messiah). At that point, the Torah begins to function in a totally different capacity-the capacity for which it was originally designed; it describes the lifestyle of the redeemed.
[The Greek word translated ātutorā is actually āpedagogueā. Paul was drawing upon a very familiar illustration Greco-Roman world of which he was a part. Well-to-do families often hired someone to serve as a protector for their children when they sent them to their teachers. The protector was not the teacher, but merely someone who made sure that a child would safely reach his or her teacher. Paul uses this kind of language in Galatians 3:22 to illustrate how the Torah functioned as a protector.
How does Yahweh preserve such people? One way He has chosen to do so, though certainly not the only way, is through the Torah. According to Galatians 3:22, the Torah can function as a pedagogue, as the Greek word for ātutorā should be translated (verse 24). The pedagogueās duty was āto conduct the youth to and from school and to superintend his conductā¦he was not a āteacherāā Hence he was something of a body guard to help ensure the students safety on the way to the teacher.
In verse 23, Paul explains this protective concept with a slightly different image. There he uses a word which has usually been translated as ākept in custody.ā However, by rendering the Greek verb sunkleiomenoi in such a manner, translators have unwittingly cast a negative shadow on the Torah, depicting it as something that holds people captive, like prisoners. But the word can have a slightly different connotation. It can also be rendered āclose upā, āhem inā, or āencloseā in a positive sense. Seen in this light, the verse emphasizes protection rather than imprisonment. Furthermore, this translation also fits well with the concept of the pedagogue.
Thus, the Torah was intended to preserve the mental, moral and social safety of the environment into which an individual was born and raised. The person was protected āuntil the date set by the Fatherā (Galatians 4:2) when the Spirit of Yahweh would lead them to the Teacher, the Messiah.
Galatians 3:28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
This verse has often been cited to show that there is no place in the life of a believer in Yahshua for the Torah or anything pertaining to Israel. It has often been said that, in Messiah, there is no room for Jewishness because we are new people in Messiah.
Dr. Daniel Juster remarks in his book Jewish Roots page 111-112, āPaul is not saying that all distinctions between men and women have been obliteratedā¦It is precisely the same Jew and non-Jew in the Messiah. Both may be called to different styles of life and witness, to different fields of service, yet they are spiritually one in Messiahā¦ Note as well, non-Jews are called (in verse 29) not spiritual Israel, but the offspring of Abraham by faith.āIt is interesting how most believers have applied this verse over the years. Erroneously thinking that this verse teaches that there is to be no more Torah expression (āneither Jewā¦ā), many believers have lived non-Torah oriented lifestyles. In doing so, however, they have not realized that they did not practice the second expression of the verse that says, āthere is neither Jew nor Greek.ā They did not realize that much of their lifestyle reflected that of gentile non-believers. For example, in their attempt to practice the āneither is there Jewā part, they replaced explicit Torah teachings with manmade traditions propagated by some church leaders decades after the Newer Covenant Scriptures were written. In this process, they have failed to realize that such practices would then, also violate the second phrase, āneither is there Greek (gentile)ā. In so doing, they have espoused a decidedly culturally non-Jewish life style (and have pressured Jewish believers to do the same.)
This verse actually speaks nothing about Torah observance or non-observance. Rather, it merely emphasizes the spiritual equality of Jewish believers with believers from among the gentiles.
Galatians 4:21-31Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman. 23 But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise. 24 This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar. 25 Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. 27 For it is written, āREJOICE , BARREN WOMAN WHO DOES NOT BEAR; BREAK FORTH AND SHOUT, YOU WHO ARE NOT IN LABOR; FOR MORE NUMEROUS ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE DESOLATE THAN OF THE ONE WHO HAS A HUSBAND.ā 28 And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also. 30 But what does the Scripture say? āCAST OUT THE BONDWOMAN AND HER SON, FOR THE SON OF THE BONDWOMAN SHALL NOT BE AN HEIR WITH THE SON OF THE FREE WOMAN.ā 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of a bondwoman, but of the free woman.
This passage is a midrash developed by Paul in order to illustrate the difference between those who trust Messiah for their righteousness and those who are relying on a legalistic observance of the Torah or any set of laws for their salvation.
In our opinion, the key to understanding this midrash is to remember the context in which it is found. The immediate context begins in chapter three where Paul begins to compare the two covenants-the covenant with Abraham and the covenant of Sinai. In this midrash, Paul relates what happens when people reverse the proper theological order of the covenants. In other words, theologically, as well as historically, Yahweh made the Abrahamic covenant before He enacted the covenant of Sinai. It had to be that way because in the Abrahamic covenant, the promises of Yahweh were to be received by faith, while the second covenant was basically one in which those promises would only be fully enjoyed with fruitfulness through obedience.
Abrahamās relationship to Hagar and the subsequent fruit of that bond (Ishmael) is compared to those who put the covenant of Sinai first before the covenant of promise (Abrahamic). Through Hagar, Abraham was attempting to secure the promises through his own efforts instead of relying on Yahwehās word and trusting in Yahwehās promises concerning Sarah. Thus, it is with those who try to earn their righteousness from Yahweh by obeying the Torah. Faith always must precede obedience. In addition, saving faith always results in obedience.Galatians 5:1-6
It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. 2 Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3 And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. 4 You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we, through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.This will be the final text from Galatians that we will study. It appears to be a devastating blow to our whole argument, stating that if anyone practices circumcision (or any part of the Torah, for that matter,) he will be severed from Messiah.
The key to the proper interpretation of this passage is the following italicized phrase in 5:4 where Paul states, āYou have been severed from Messiah, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.ā This phrase indicates the motive behind the circumcisions being performed among the Galatians, which were the focus of Paulās criticisms. It tells us that some people were being circumcised in order to be justified by Yahweh. In other words, legalism was the problem, not circumcision.
We need to remember that Paul of Tarsus lived according to the Torah (Acts 21). He would never have taught against the Torah. Since circumcision was one of the many teachings of the Torah, we can safely conclude, therefore, that Paul was not arguing against circumcision per se. In fact, we recall that he had Timothy circumcised (Act 16:3).Paulās problem with circumcision in Galatians was that some were doing it in order to earn or keep their salvation; they were seeking to be justified by it. Herein was the core of the problem He had no problems with practicing circumcision provided it was done with the proper biblical motive (i.e., as the sign of the covenant between Yahweh and Israel).
Verse 4 presents the stark contrast between law and grace. One either attempts to earn or keep his salvation by what he does or he relies solely on the grace of Yahweh for salvation. The two concepts, law and grace, do not and never can mix. Paul said that whenever a person begins to trust in what he does to gain (or keep) his salvation, he has ceased practicing the principle of grace and has gone over to law. In fact, some people even attempt to make a law out of Torah (by practicing circumcision, in this context). The plain truth is that whenever someone relies on his works to gain righteousness from Yahweh, he has ceased to function according to grace. No one can be saved in this manner. Salvation is solely by grace through faith in the person and work of Yahshua.
Brethren we have looked at some very hard to understand scriptures and I hope you are able to grasp what is being taught here by Paul. Some of you have told me that the things I teach here at www.sightedmoon.com are way over your head. That I am teaching at a university level and you are just learning at a grade school level. It is the same thing as Paul. Please read these texts carefully and prayerfully.
To help you a little, consider this. Youāre going to a new Church or Synagogue. Youāre late and trying to find a shortcut. Traffic is backed up and you see a street that goes right to the side of the place youāre looking for. You take it, and once youāre on the road you see it is a one-way road and youāre going the wrong way. You safely make it to the parking lot of the church or Synagogue and a Police car pulls in right behind you.
You try to justify yourself because you are going to worship at this building. But the officer still takes your license and insurance and goes back to his car. You have driven the wrong way on a one-way street. It is going to cost you $350 dollars in fines. Money you donāt have and canāt afford.
The police officer comes back and gives you a warning (go and sin no more) and asks you to be more careful next time. But this time he is not going to charge you and bids you a good day. You have now received grace. You did nothing to deserve it. You did earn the penalty for breaking the law. But you were pardoned and not charged. This is grace.
The law that says the street is a one-way street does not change. It is still a law. You are still not allowed to go the wrong way on it. If you do, people could die. Just because you have been given grace this time for breaking a law does not absolve you from obeying it from here on out. The laws still must be kept. Does this law get you into the kingdom? No. Nor are you a legalist by keeping this law.
We do not keep the laws of Yehovah to be saved. We keep the laws of Yehovah because we are saved. The laws of Torah like the laws of society are there for the good of all. We can keep these laws and not believe. It is Yehovah who has called you. By Faith you are answering that call.
I want to close this study with Jude 4
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
This word Lasciviousness;
is a compound of (as a negative particle) and a presumed selges (of uncertain derivation, but apparently meaning continent); licentiousness (sometimes including other vices) ā filthy, lasciviousness, wantonness.
1. unbridled lust, excess, licentiousness, lasciviousness, wantonness, outrageous, shamelessness, insolence
King James Word Usage ā Total: 9
lasciviousness 6, wantonness 2, filthy 1
In Galatians 5:19 we read
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, 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.
You become unclean when you sin. You sin when you cave into your lusts and do not restrain them. So, people can do whatever they want, believing that the sins they repeatedly commit are forgiven by grace because the laws are done away. But sin is still sin.
Consider the warnings of Jude, each one of you, who are turning the grace of Yehshua into a license to continue to sin and to satisfy your own lust of the flesh.
Heb 10:26-31 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.Ā Anyone who has rejected Mosesā law dies without mercyĀ on the testimony of two or three witnesses.Ā Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?Ā For we know Him who said, āVengeance is Mine, I will repay,ā says the Lord. And again, āThe Lord will judge His people.ā It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Once you have come to understand that the Torah was there to guide you, how we are to live. Once you learn the Laws, the Covenant of Mount Sinai, the laws which were there to teach us how to live, to then throw them aside and to say you are saved by grace and have no need for the law, what sacrifice is left for you?
As we shared with you in our study on Colossians 2:16, Yehshua paid the debt that you were under for not keeping the law. The law tells you the price for not keeping it and the blessings for keeping it. Yehshua paid that price, that debt, which was your life, your soul, that you owed.
Now you are to carry on with your life having had that debt removed. It does not give you free reign to keep on sinning.
1 John 3:4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.
Jude is telling you that there are some who are saying the law is done away and will lead you away from the truth. He is warning you that they are taking what Yehshua did on the tree for you and turning it into evil by telling you not to obey the law. Yehshua paid the penalty because you broke that law. Now that it is paid for go and enjoy your life and do not sin, do not break that law anymore.
The men Jude is warning you about the same ones Yehovah is speaking to on the judgment day in Mat 7:21-23
āNot everyone who says to Me, āLord, Lord,ā shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, āLord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?ā And then I will declare to them, āI never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!ā
Mat 25:1-12 āThen the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
āAnd at midnight a cry was heard: āBehold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!ā Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, āGive us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.ā But the wise answered, saying, āNo, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.ā And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
āAfterward the other virgins came also, saying, āLord, Lord, open to us!ā But he answered and said, āAssuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.ā
You read the comments after our Articles from those who do not keep the law and are trying to justify it through grace. They are misled and will be told I do not know you. Yehovah is going to say that because it is by keeping the law that we come to know Yehovah. It is by keeping the law that we come to know him.
1 John 2:3 By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments.
1 John 2:5 But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him:
1 John 5:1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the worldāour faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
Selichote
40 Days of Repentance & Selichot
The following is from an earlier article we posted. I want you to focus in on the final ten days of Awe and consider it as these final 10 years of awe we are now starting.
Shalom Brethren,
On Sunday August 12th of 2018 we now begin the 6th month which Judah calls the month of Elul and the start of the traditional 40 days of repentance.
The 6th month of Elul is a time of repentance in preparation for the High Holidays of Yom Teruah The Feast of Trumpets and Yom Kippur The Day of Atonement. Tradition teaches that the month of Elul is a particularly propitious time for repentance. Elul is seen as a time to search oneās heart and draw close to God in preparation for the coming Day of Judgment. This mood of repentance builds through the month of Elul to the period of Selichot, to Yom Teruah, and finally to Yom Kippur.
The name of the month (spelledĀ lla Alef-Lamed-Vay-Lamed) is said to be an acronym of āAni lādodi vādodi li,ā āI am my Belovedās and my Beloved is mine,ā a quote from Song of Songs 6:3, where the Beloved is Yehovah and the āIā is all twelve Tribes of Israel. In Aramaic (the vernacular of the Jewish people at the time that the month names were adopted), the word āElulā means āsearch,ā which is appropriate because this is a time of year when we search our hearts.
According to tradition, the month of Elul is the time Moses spent on Mount Sinai preparing the second set of tablets after the incident of the golden calf (Ex. 32; 34:27-28). He ascended on Rosh Chodesh Elul and descended on the 10th of Tishri, at the end of Yom Kippur, when repentance was complete. Other sources say that Elul is the beginning of a period of 40 days that Moses prayed for G-d to forgive the people after the Golden Calf incident, after which the commandment to prepare the second set of tablets was given.
(Side note: The abomination of the Golden Calf led to the death of 3000 people that day.
Exo 32:19Ā And it happened, as he came near to the camp and saw the calf and dances, the anger of Moses became hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them at the bottom of the mountain.
Exo 32:20Ā And he took the calf which they had made and burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and dropped it upon the water, and made the sons of Israel drink of it.
Exo 32:21Ā And Moses said to Aaron, What did this people do to you, that you have brought so great a sin upon them?
Exo 32:22Ā And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord become hot. You know the people, that they are set on mischief.
Exo 32:23Ā For they said to me, Make us gods who shall go before us. For this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.
Exo 32:24Ā And I said to them, Whoever has any gold, let them break it off. And they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and there came out this calf.
Exo 32:25Ā And when Moses saw that the people were naked, (for Aaron had made them naked to their shame among their enemies,)
Exo 32:26Ā then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, Who is on Jehovah’s side? Come to me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves to him.
Exo 32:27Ā And he said to them, Thus says Jehovah, the God of Israel: Each man put his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and kill each one his brother, and each one his neighbor, and each one his kindred.
Exo 32:28Ā And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.
Exo 32:29Ā For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves today to Jehovah, since each one has been against his son, and against his brother, and in order to give you a blessing today.
Exo 32:30Ā And it happened on the next day, Moses said to the people, You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to Jehovah. Perhaps I shall make an atonement for your sin.
Exo 32:31Ā And Moses returned to Jehovah, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made themselves gods of gold.
Exo 32:32Ā And now will You forgive their sin! And if not, I pray You, blot me out of Your book which You have written.
Exo 32:33Ā And Jehovah said to Moses, Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.
Exo 32:34Ā And now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, My Angel shall go before you. And in the day of My visitation I will visit their sin upon them.
Exo 32:35Ā And Jehovah plagued the people because they made the calf, which Aaron made.
On October 7, 2023, at the end of the count of 1290 days, the Abomination of Buddha was set up and they were dancing around it and that day 1400 fell in the state of Israel. The bitter waters of verse 20 is the curse of the Sotah woman being enacted out. The bitter waters in 2023 are Hamas. A mass of people is likened to waters or the sea. I am not condemning the people of Israel, but neither am I going to turn away and not look at this horrendous event. Verse 34 tells us of the time when Yehovah is going to come, which is very near to us now. This is why we must understand and implement these Selichot prayers. October 7, 2023 is our Shofar blast, our wake up call to get ready.)
Customs of Elul
During the month of Elul, from the second day of Elul to the 28th day, the shofar is blown after morning services every weekday. The shofar is not blown on Shabbat. It is also not blown on the day before Yom Teruah to make a clear distinction between the rabbinical rule of blowing the shofar in Elul and the biblical mitzvah to blow the shofar on Yom Teruah.
Four blasts are blown: tekiah, shevarim-teruah, tekiah. You can listen to this combination of blasts at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgviT2ywVDk&t=10s. Rambam explained the custom of blowing shofar as a wake-up call to sleepers, designed to rouse us from our complacency. It is a call to repentance. The blast of the shofar is a very piercing sound when done properly.
Elul is also a time to begin the process of asking forgiveness for wrongs done to other people and the time to forgive those seeking it from you. According to Jewish tradition, Yehovah cannot forgive us for sins committed against another person until we have first obtained forgiveness from the person we have wronged. This is not as easy a task as you might think if you have never done it. This process of seeking forgiveness continues through the Days of Awe.
The Days of Awe are the Ten days from Yom Teruah to Yom Kippur, a time for deep introspection and considering the sins of the previous year.
Many people visit cemeteries at this time because the awe-inspiring nature of this time makes us think about life and death and our own mortality. Again, these are the traditions that Judah has developed during this time.
It is also customary to recite Psalm 27 each day from the New Moon of the 6th month until Sukkot in the 7th Month.
Psa 27:1 A Psalm of David. Jehovah is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? Jehovah is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When the wicked, my enemies and my foes, came on me to eat my flesh, they stumbled and fell. 3 Though an army should camp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise against me, in this I am trusting. 4 One thing I have desired from Jehovah, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of Jehovah, and to pray in His temple. 5 For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His shelter, in the secrecy of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me up on a rock. 6 And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies, my encirclers; and I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle. I will sing; yea, I will sing praises to Jehovah. 7 Hear, O Jehovah, when I cry with my voice; and have mercy on me, and answer me. 8 My heart says to You, Seek my face; Your face, O Jehovah, I will seek; 9 Hide not Your face from me. Turn not Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. 10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then Jehovah will take me up. 11 Teach me Your way, O Jehovah, and lead me in a plain path, because of my enemies. 12 Deliver me not over to the will of my enemies; for false witnesses have risen up against me, and he that breathes out cruelty. 13 I would have fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of Jehovah in the land of the living. 14 Hope in Jehovah; be of good courage, and He shall make your heart strong; yea, hope in Jehovah.
Selichot
As the month of Elul draws to a close, the mood of repentance becomes more urgent. Prayers for forgiveness called selichot (properly pronounced āsālee-KHOHT,ā but often pronounced āSLI-khusā) are added to the daily cycle of religious services. Selichot are recited in the early morning, before normal daily shacharit service. They add about 45 minutes to the regular daily service.
Selichot are recited from the Sunday before Yom Teruah until Yom. If Rosh Hashanah begins on a Monday or Tuesday, selichot begins on the Sunday of the week before Rosh Hashanah, to make sure that there are at least 3 days of Selichot. The first selichot service of the holiday season is usually a large community service, held around midnight on Motzaei Shabbat (the night after the sabbath ends; that is, after nightfall on Saturday). The entire community, including men, women and older children, attend the service, and the rabbi gives a sermon. The remaining selichot services are normally only attended by those who ordinarily attend daily shacharit services in synagogue.
A fundamental part of the selichot service is the repeated recitation of the āThirteen Attributes,ā a list of Yehovahās thirteen attributes of mercy that were revealed to Moses after the sin of the golden calf (Ex 34:6-7):
Exo 34:6 And Yehovah passed by before him and proclaimed, Yehovah! Yehovah God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the sons, and on the sons of sons, to the third and to the fourth generation.
Yehovah Yehovah El Rachum Vechanun Erek Apieyim Verav Chesed Veemet
Yehovah [1], Yehovah [2], God [3], merciful [4], and gracious [5], long-suffering [6], abundant in goodness [7] and truth [8], keeping mercy unto the thousandth generation [9], forgiving iniquity [10] and transgression [11] and sin [12], who cleanses [13].
Why is āYehovahā listed twice as an attribute? And why are three of these āattributesā Names of God? Different names of God connote different characteristics of God. The four-letter Name of God (rendered here as āYHVHā) is the Name used when God is exhibiting characteristics of mercy, and the Talmud explains that this dual usage indicates that God is merciful before a person sins, but is also merciful after a person sins. The third attribute is a different Name of God that is used when God acts in His capacity as the almighty ruler of nature and the universe.
Consider this, if you will. In the year 2033 Satan is to be locked away. The Ten Years before this time is also known as the Days of Awe and they begin in the year 2024. 30 Years before this would bring you to 1994. That is the year I left the Worldwide Church of God and began my own in-depth studies, which have continued up until today.
Soul searching in the SelichotĀ ā Ask the Rabbi
Q. What are the origins of the Selichot (penitential prayers) that are recited in the lead-up to Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur?
A. There were times when the approach of the day of judgment, proclaimed with the shofar each weekday of Ellul and on Rosh HaShanah, sent shivers through Jewish hearts. Fearful lest they might not repent in time or even, God forbid, add further sins to those that had accumulated during the year, some would even observe a āfast of wordsā and hardly speak during Ellul.
Into this pattern, the prayers for forgiveness, Selichot, fitted so naturally, that had they not existed it would have been necessary to invent them. SM Lehrman wrote,
āOne can still visualise the crowded houses of worship with men, women and children; and in oneās ears there still reverberate the sobs and groans of a prayerful congregation swayed by the heart-felt cry of āDo not cast us away when old age creeps in upon us; do not abandon us when our strength is spentā.ā
The word Selichot comes from selichah, āforgivenessā. The Psalmist said, ki imācha haselichah, āfor forgiveness is with Theeā (Psalm 130:4). Prayers for forgiveness were solemnly recited on fast-days in time of drought (Mishnah Taāanit, chap. 2). Eventually they formed part of the service on all public fast days and days of intercession. They reflected the theology that suffering must have been caused by sin, and therefore, repentance, confession and prayer for pardon would surely secure Godās favour and avert the evil decree.
The best known Selichot service is associated with the end of Ellul (amongst Sephardim, from Rosh Chodesh) and the beginning of Tishri. It has won its way into Jewish hearts and yet, like a number of the other specially popular occasions in the calendar, does not have a very ancient lineage. Simchat Torah and Tu BiShvat, Yahrzeit and Yizkor and even Bar-Mitzvah are other examples of observances that entered Judaism long after the Biblical period and yet are so well-entrenched that people assume they must surely stem from Sinai.
The Ten Days of Penitence were known from the time of the Talmud. The verse from Isaiah 55:6, āSeek ye the Lord while He may be found,ā was applied to this time of the year when, said the Rabbis, God is especially accessible. In post-Talmudic times, the days of penitence were marked by changes and interpolations (such as zochrenu) in the liturgy. It also became customary to rise early on these days to supplicate Divine favour, and there was a long debate amongst the Geonim as to whether and when to fast during the ten days, even on Rosh HaShanah and Shabbat Shuvah.
Eventually, the custom settled that instead of fasting on the two days of Rosh HaShanah and Shabbat Shuvah and Erev Yom Kippur, four days of fasting should precede Rosh HaShanah. Today we have abandoned these fasts but retained the prayers that went with them. Hence, we commence Selichot four days before Rosh HaShanah. In practical terms, this means that Selichot commences on the Sunday before Rosh HaShanah, but if the festival falls on Monday or Tuesday they commence from the Sunday of the previous week.
A further reason suggested for having four days of Selichot is that the Rosh HaShanah liturgy includes the Biblical phrase, āyou shall observe a burnt offeringā, and like an offering which needs to be scrutinised for defects for four days, so we need four days of self-searching before the day of judgment.
The Sephardi custom of commencing Selichot forty days before Yom Kippur (though some communities had the custom of commencing on 15th Ellul and not on Rosh Chodesh) reminds us that at the beginning of Ellul, after the episode of the Golden Calf, Moses ascended Mount Sinai again, after warning the people to behave properly in his absence, and came down on 10 Tishri with the message salachti, āI have forgiven.ā
The Selichot reverberate with references to bāashmoret haboker, āthe beginning of dawnā and indeed much weight attaches to the custom of dawn or pre-dawn Selichot. It is not only that there were objections to uttering supplications at night. Psychologically there is a more subdued mood just before daybreak than is often seen in the more excited, almost theatre-like feeling of midnight Selichot.
This does not mean to say that Selichot at midnight, especially on the first Saturday night, are not permissible, and probably most who come to midnight Selichot would otherwise not attend or recite Selichot at all, but it is not always possible to combine a musical performance with the mood of introspection and penitence.
At first, the Selichot service consisted of Biblical verses and short invocations of Godās mercy. Later, the Thirteen Divine Attributes came to be constantly repeated, since the Talmud attached great importance to enunciating and striving to emulate them. Rabbi Yochanan, in a daring piece of imagery, even declared that God put on a tallit like a cantor and demonstrated to Moses how to recite the attributes, assuring him that if Israel had sinned but recited this passage they would secure forgiveness.
With the development of liturgical hymns, Piyyutim, the Selichot were embellished with poetical compositions which were distributed amongst the days when Selichot were said. These fall into four groups, tochachot (admonitions), akedot (reflections on the Binding of Isaac), techinnot (supplications) and bakkashot (petitions). Every day has its pizmon, a composition with a refrain; the name derives from the same Greek root as the word Psalm.
Like most Piyyutim, these tend to be intricate interweavings of phrases and ideas from the Bible, Talmud and Midrash. Their literary structure and ideological ambience are, however, of little interest to the average worshipper. What moves most people is not the intellectual as much as the emotional content of the service. And in terms of the feelings aroused by the time of year, the mood of the moment, the melodies and refrains, and even the fact that Selichot probably creates more genuine piety than any of our other prayers, it must be said that this is truly one of our most successful liturgical experiences.
There is a custom to recite ten chapters of Tehillim each day during the month of Elul after the morning Shaharit service. After talking to Rico Cortes about this amazing subject, he shared with me the psalms to be read each day.
The Psalms of Repentance.
Psalm16,
You Will Not Abandon My Soul
Psa 16:1Ā Ā A Secret Treasure of David. Watch over me, O God; for in You do I put my trust.
Psa 16:2Ā Ā Oh my soul, you have said to Jehovah, You are my Lord; I have no goodness apart from You.
Psa 16:3Ā Ā As to the saints in the earth, they are the excellent, in whom is all my delight.
Psa 16:4Ā Ā Their sorrows shall be multiplied who run after another god. I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood; and I will not take their names on my lips.
Psa 16:5Ā Ā Jehovah is the portion of my inheritance, and of my cup; You shall uphold my lot.
Psa 16:6Ā Ā The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; yea, I have a beautiful inheritance.
Psa 16:7Ā Ā I will bless Jehovah, who has given me wisdom; my heart also instructs me in the nights.
Psa 16:8Ā Ā I have set Jehovah always before Me; because He is at My right hand, I shall not be moved.
Psa 16:9Ā Ā Therefore My heart is glad, and My glory rejoices; My flesh also shall rest in hope;
Psa 16:10Ā Ā For You will not leave My soul in hell; You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
Psa 16:11Ā Ā You will make Me know the way of life; in Your presence is fullness of joys. At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Psalm 32,
Blessed Are the Forgiven
Psa 32:1Ā Ā A Psalm of David. A Contemplation. Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Psa 32:2Ā Ā Blessed is the man to whom Jehovah does not charge iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
Psa 32:3Ā Ā When I kept silence, my bones became old through my roaring all the day long.
Psa 32:4Ā Ā For by day and by night Your hand was heavy on me; my sap is turned into the droughts of summer. Selah.
Psa 32:5Ā Ā I confessed my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, I will confess my transgression to Jehovah; and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
Psa 32:6Ā Ā For this let every godly one pray to You, in a time when You may be found; surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come near him.
Psa 32:7Ā Ā You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall circle me with songs of deliverance. Selah.
Psa 32:8Ā Ā I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you, My eye shall be on you.
Psa 32:9Ā Ā Be not like the horse, or like the mule, who have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, so that they do not come near you.
Psa 32:10Ā Ā The wicked has many sorrows, but mercy embraces him who trusts in Jehovah.
Psa 32:11Ā Ā Be glad in Jehovah, and rejoice, you righteous; and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.
Psalm 41,
O Lord, Be Gracious to Me
Psa 41:1Ā Ā To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.Blessed is he who acts wisely toward the poor; Jehovah will deliver him in time of trouble.
Psa 41:2Ā Ā Jehovah will watch over him and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed on the earth; and You will not deliver him to the soul of his enemies.
Psa 41:3Ā Ā Jehovah will hold him up on the bed of sickness; You will change all his bed in his illness.
Psa 41:4Ā Ā I said, Jehovah, be merciful to me; heal my soul; for I have sinned against You.
Psa 41:5Ā Ā My enemies speak evil of me, saying, When will he die, and his name perish?
Psa 41:6Ā Ā And when he comes to see me, he speaks vanity; his heart gathers iniquity to itself; he goes out and speaks of it.
Psa 41:7Ā Ā All those hating me whisper against me; they plot evil against me.
Psa 41:8Ā Ā They say, A wicked thing is poured out on him, and he who lies down shall rise no more.
Psa 41:9Ā Ā Even a man, my friend, in whom I trusted, who ate of my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.
Psa 41:10Ā Ā But You, O Jehovah, be merciful to me, and raise me up, so that I may repay them.
Psa 41:11Ā Ā By this I know that You delight in me, because my enemy does not triumph over me.
Psa 41:12Ā Ā And I, in my integrity You uphold me; and You set me before Your face forever.
Psa 41:13Ā Ā Blessed is Jehovah, the God of Israel, from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen and Amen!
Psalm 42,
Why Are You Cast Down, O My Soul?
Psa 42:1Ā Ā To the Chief Musician. A contemplation; for the sons of Korah. As the hart pants after the water brooks, so my soul pants after You, O God.
Psa 42:2Ā Ā My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?
Psa 42:3Ā Ā My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day, Where is your God?
Psa 42:4Ā Ā When I remember these things, I pour out my soul on me; for I had gone with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God with the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping the feast.
Psa 42:5Ā Ā Why are you cast down, O my soul, and moan within me? Hope in God; for I shall praise Him for the salvation of His face.
Psa 42:6Ā Ā O my God, my soul is cast down within me; therefore I will remember You from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermons, from mount Mizar.
Psa 42:7Ā Ā Deep calls to deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; all Your waves and Your billows have gone over me.
Psa 42:8Ā Ā Jehovah will command His loving-kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me, my prayer to the God of my life.
Psa 42:9Ā Ā I will say to God my rock, Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the cruelty of the enemy?
Psa 42:10Ā Ā As with a sword in my bones, my enemies shame me; while they say daily to me, Where is your God?
Psa 42:11Ā Ā Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why do you moan within me? Hope in God; for I still praise Him, the salvation of my face, and my God.
Psalm 59,
Deliver Me from My Enemies
Psa 59:1Ā Ā To the Chief Musician. Do not destroy. A secret treasure of David, when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him. Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; defend me from those who rise up against me.
Psa 59:2Ā Ā Deliver me from the workers of evil and save me from bloody men.
Psa 59:3Ā Ā For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul; the mighty are gathered against me; not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O Jehovah.
Psa 59:4Ā Ā Without my fault they run and prepare themselves; awaken to help me, and look on me.
Psa 59:5Ā Ā And You, O Jehovah, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the nations; do not be merciful to any plotting evil. Selah.
Psa 59:6Ā Ā They return at evening; they make a noise like a dog, and go around the city.
Psa 59:7Ā Ā Behold, they bellow out with their mouth; swords are in their lips; for they say, Who hears?
Psa 59:8Ā Ā But You, O Jehovah, shall laugh at them; You will mock at all the nations.
Psa 59:9Ā Ā O my Strength, let me look to You, for God is my strong tower.
Psa 59:10Ā Ā The God of my mercy shall go before me; God shall let me see my desire on my enemies.
Psa 59:11Ā Ā Do not kill them, lest my people forget; scatter them by Your power and bring them down, O Jehovah our shield.
Psa 59:12Ā Ā For the sin of their mouth is the word of their lips, even let them be taken in their pride; and for cursing and the lying which they speak.
Psa 59:13Ā Ā Consume them in wrath; consume, so that they may not be; and let them know that God rules in Jacob to the ends of the earth. Selah.
Psa 59:14Ā Ā And at evening they shall return; let them howl like a dog, and go around the city.
Psa 59:15Ā Ā Let them wander up and down for food, and growl if they are not satisfied.
Psa 59:16Ā Ā But I will sing of Your power; yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning; for You have been my strong tower and hiding-place in the day of my trouble.
Psa 59:17Ā Ā To You, O my strength, I will sing; for God is my strong tower and the God of my mercy.
Psalm 77,
In the Day of Trouble I Seek the Lord
Psa 77:1Ā Ā To the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph. I cried to God with my voice, to God is my voice; and He gave ear to me.
Psa 77:2Ā Ā In the day of my trouble I sought Jehovah; my hand was poured in the night, and ceased not; my soul refused to be comforted.
Psa 77:3Ā Ā I remembered God, and was troubled; I complained, and my spirit fainted. Selah.
Psa 77:4Ā Ā You keep my eyes awake; I am troubled and I cannot speak.
Psa 77:5Ā Ā I have thought on the days of old, the years of ages past.
Psa 77:6Ā Ā I remember my song in the night; I speak with my own heart, and my spirit carefully searches.
Psa 77:7Ā Ā Will the Lord cast off forever? And will He be favorable no more?
Psa 77:8Ā Ā Is His mercy gone forever? Has His Word failed for all generations?
Psa 77:9Ā Ā Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies? Selah.
Psa 77:10Ā Ā And I said, This is my weakness, the years of the right hand of the Most High.
Psa 77:11Ā Ā I will remember the works of Jehovah; surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
Psa 77:12Ā Ā I will also think on all Your work, and talk of Your doings.
Psa 77:13Ā Ā Your way, O God, is in holiness; who is so great a God as our God?
Psa 77:14Ā Ā You are the God who does wonders; You have declared Your strength among the people.
Psa 77:15Ā Ā You have with Your arm redeemed Your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.
Psa 77:16Ā Ā The waters saw You, O God, the waters saw You; they were afraid; the depths also were troubled.
Psa 77:17Ā Ā The clouds poured out water; the skies sent out a sound; Your arrows also flew here and there.
Psa 77:18Ā Ā The voice of Your thunder was in the sky; the lightnings lit up the world; the earth trembled and shook.
Psa 77:19Ā Ā Your way is in the sea, and Your path in the great waters, and Your footsteps are not known.
Psa 77:20Ā Ā You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Psalm 90,
From Everlasting to Everlasting
Psa 90:1Ā Ā A Prayer of Moses, the man of God. O Jehovah, You have been our dwelling-place in all generations.
Psa 90:2Ā Ā Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting You are God.
Psa 90:3Ā Ā You turn man to dust, and say, Return, sons of men.
Psa 90:4Ā Ā For a thousand years in Your sight are as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.
Psa 90:5Ā Ā You carry them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep; in the morning they are like grass which grows up.
Psa 90:6Ā Ā In the morning it sprouts and shoots up; in the evening it is cut down, and dries up.
Psa 90:7Ā Ā For we are burned up by Your anger, and by Your wrath we are troubled.
Psa 90:8Ā Ā You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your face.
Psa 90:9Ā Ā For all our days pass away in Your wrath; we finish our years like a murmur.
Psa 90:10Ā Ā The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by strength they are fourscore years, yet their pride is labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
Psa 90:11Ā Ā Who knows the power of Your anger? And as Your fear is, so is Your wrath.
Psa 90:12Ā Ā So teach us to number our days, so that we may bring a heart of wisdom.
Psa 90:13Ā Ā Return, O Jehovah! How long? And give pity to Your servants.
Psa 90:14Ā Ā Satisfy us early with Your mercy, so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Psa 90:15Ā Ā Make us glad according to the days of our affliction, the years in which we have seen evil.
Psa 90:16Ā Ā Let Your work appear to Your servants, and Your glory to their sons.
Psa 90:17Ā Ā And let the beauty of Jehovah our God be on us; and establish the work of our hands on us; yea, the work of our hands, establish it.
Psalm 105,
Tell of All His Wonderful Works
Psa 105:1Ā Ā O give thanks to Jehovah; call on His name; make known His deeds among the people.
Psa 105:2Ā Ā Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; talk of all His wonderful works.
Psa 105:3Ā Ā Glory in His holy name; let the heart of those who seek Jehovah rejoice.
Psa 105:4Ā Ā Seek Jehovah and His strength; seek His face evermore.
Psa 105:5Ā Ā Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth,
Psa 105:6Ā Ā seed of His servant Abraham, sons of Jacob His chosen.
Psa 105:7Ā Ā He is Jehovah our God; His judgments are in all the earth.
Psa 105:8Ā Ā He has remembered His covenant forever, the Word which He commanded to a thousand generations;
Psa 105:9Ā Ā the covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac;
Psa 105:10Ā Ā and He confirmed it to Jacob for a Law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant,
Psa 105:11Ā Ā saying, To you I will give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance;
Psa 105:12Ā Ā when they were a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it.
Psa 105:13Ā Ā When they went from one nation to another, from a kingdom to another people,
Psa 105:14Ā Ā He allowed no man to do them wrong; yea, He reproved kings for their sakes,
Psa 105:15Ā Ā saying, Touch not my anointed, and do My prophets no harm.
Psa 105:16Ā Ā And He called for a famine on the land; He broke the whole staff of bread.
Psa 105:17Ā Ā He sent a man before them, Joseph, being sold for a servant;
Psa 105:18Ā Ā whose feet they hurt with chains; he was laid in iron,
Psa 105:19Ā Ā until the time that his word came, the Word of Jehovah refined him.
Psa 105:20Ā Ā The king sent and set him free; the ruler of the people, and let him go free.
Psa 105:21Ā Ā He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all he owned,
Psa 105:22Ā Ā to chain his leaders at his pleasure, and teach his elders wisdom.
Psa 105:23Ā Ā Israel also came into Egypt, and Jacob resided in the land of Ham.
Psa 105:24Ā Ā And He increased His people greatly and made them stronger than their enemies.
Psa 105:25Ā Ā He turned their heart to hate His people, to deal craftily with His servants.
Psa 105:26Ā Ā He sent Moses His servant, and Aaron whom He had chosen.
Psa 105:27Ā Ā They showed His signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.
Psa 105:28Ā Ā He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they did not rebel against His Word.
Psa 105:29Ā Ā He turned their waters into blood, and killed their fish.
Psa 105:30Ā Ā Their land swarmed with frogs in the rooms of their kings.
Psa 105:31Ā Ā He spoke, and there came fly swarms and gnats in all their borders.
Psa 105:32Ā Ā He gave them hail for rain and flaming fire in their land.
Psa 105:33Ā Ā He struck their vines also and their fig trees, and broke the trees of their borders.
Psa 105:34Ā Ā He spoke, and locusts came, and larvae without number;
Psa 105:35Ā Ā and they ate up all the plants in their land, and ate the fruit of their ground.
Psa 105:36Ā Ā He also struck all the first-born in their land, the chief of all their strength.
Psa 105:37Ā Ā He also brought them out with silver and gold; and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.
Psa 105:38Ā Ā Egypt was glad when they departed; for the fear of them had fallen on them.
Psa 105:39Ā Ā He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light in the night.
Psa 105:40Ā Ā They asked, and He brought quail, and satisfied them with the food of heaven.
Psa 105:41Ā Ā He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.
Psa 105:42Ā Ā For He remembered His holy promise and Abraham His servant.
Psa 105:43Ā Ā And He brought forth His people with joy, and His chosen with gladness,
Psa 105:44Ā Ā and gave them the lands of the nations; and they inherited the labor of the people,
Psa 105:45Ā Ā so that they might take heed to His Precepts and keep His Laws. Praise Jehovah!
Psalm 137,
How Shall We Sing the Lord’s Song?
Psa 137:1Ā Ā There we sat down by the rivers of Babylon; also, we wept when we remembered Zion.
Psa 137:2Ā Ā We hung our lyres on the willows in its midst.
Psa 137:3Ā Ā For there our captors demanded a song from us; and our plunderers demanded gladness, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
Psa 137:4Ā Ā How shall we sing Jehovah’s song in a foreign land?
Psa 137:5Ā Ā If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget.
Psa 137:6Ā Ā If I do not remember you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth; if I do not prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy.
Psa 137:7Ā Ā Remember, O Jehovah, the sons of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Make it bare! Make it bare, even to the foundation of it!
Psa 137:8Ā Ā O daughter of Babylon, O destroyed one! Blessed is he who will repay to you your reward which you rewarded to us.
Psa 137:9Ā Ā Blessed is he who seizes and dashes your little ones against the stones.
Psalm 150.
Let Everything Praise the Lord
Psa 150:1Ā Ā Praise Jehovah. Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in the expanse of His power.
Psa 150:2Ā Ā Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him according to His excellent greatness.
Psa 150:3Ā Ā Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; praise Him with the harp and lyre.
Psa 150:4Ā Ā Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; praise Him with stringed instruments and pipes.
Psa 150:5Ā Ā Praise Him on the sounding cymbals; praise Him with the resounding cymbals.
Psa 150:6Ā Ā Let everything that breathes praise Jehovah. Praise Jehovah!
Brethren, I have researched this subject to bring as much information to you as I could about it.
If you do not totally understand this or agree that is OK. I would like to strongly suggest you all now go to my friend Rico Cortes site and read and as well listen to each of the prayers sung at this time.
While the whole Messianic world argues about how to pronounce the Name, Calendars, One Law or two laws, one house or two house. Our Jewish Brothers are at the same time praying as One Nation, One People, One Heart, One Voice. It is Sad that we, the people who believe in Yeshua, can not agree on anything, but the ones who do not recognize Yeshua as Messiah know how to pray to the Father in Unity. We need to repent and learn how to pray for forgiveness.
Rico Cortes.
Please go and listen to the psalms as they are sung in Hebrew, and read the psalms as you repent during the next 40 days leading up to the Day of Atonement.
One last point.
I have been keeping the Feasts since 1982 and this Hebraic Way since 2005. Without exception, during the time leading up to Sukkot, each year, there have been trials and tribulations that have happened to me and to those I know going to the Feast. We lose our jobs or we have the car break down the day before we are to go. Something unforeseen happens, and you have to make that awful choice of do you stay and not go to the Feast or do you say damn the torpedoes and go anyway.
I have been threatened with being fired, and people get all heated up about my going. I have left expecting to be divorced when I get back, or all my things tossed out of the house. These are the days of trials, symbolic of the years before the tribulation when you will be sorely tried.
Sometimes, all you can do is throw your hands in the air and let Yehovah know you are sorry for your sins and you are going to keep the Holy Days no matter what.
We who understand the Sabbatical and Jubilee cycles know how little time is left. We know that in 2020 the worse disasters we could ever imagine will be upon us. We are told to ENDURE to the end. It means you put up with a great deal that you do not like. Brethren know and understand the meaning of these days and endure until He comes.
Learning The Protocol of the King
With permission from Rico I share with you his teaching on Selichot.
Selichot Prayers taken from the Siddur
LEARNING THE PROTOCOL OF THE KING
http://wisdomintorah.torahteachers.com
Rico Cortes
Shalom and Welcome
Welcome to Wisdom in Torah. This little booklet contains the Selichot prayers for our time of Repentance during the month of Elul, starting August, to the day of Yom Kippur. On the Wisdom in Torah website, I will be doing the opening prayers by only using the Psalms. Then I will read from the Selichot Siddur.
For those who do not know, Selichot are prayers for forgiveness and Siddur is a prayer book.
The opening prayers are listed separately so you can pick which ones you want to start with. Then, continue with the prayers in the Siddur.
I really pray that we can all put our hearts, minds, and souls into approaching our Father, who is our King. Remember, the principle is for us to be together praying to the Father as one people, one nation, one mind, one heart, one voice and one soul.
Shalom Rico
To Contact Rico
Rico Cortes P.O. Box 1845 Auburndale, Florida, 33823
http://wisdomintorah.torahteachers.com/
wisdomintorah1@gmail.com
Selichot Prayers using the Psalms and the Siddur
Learning the Protocol of the King
The Four Steps of Repentance
Teshuvah (Return or Repentance) is a generous gift from G-d, which allows us to erase our improper actions through a four-step process (see below).
The Torah tells us that no matter how far we stray or how many times we sin, G-d will wait for us to return to him through Teshuvah.
There are four basic parts to Teshuvah:
1. Leaving the Sin
2. Regret
3. Confession Before G-d
4. Acceptance for the Future
1. Leaving the Sin
Leaving the sin consists of stopping the commission of the sinful act. One cannot do Teshuvah if one continues to do the sin, even if he or she were to perform the next three steps perfectly.
2. Regret
Regret consists in sincerely regretting oneās wrong action. One must be genuinely ashamed and embarrassed over oneās sins.
3. Confession Before G-d
Acceptance for the future consists of resolving in oneās heart never to commit the sin ever again.
4. Acceptance for the Future
Confession before G-d consists of an oral confession spoken out loud, in which one formulates in words the commitments and attitudes one has reached in his or her heart. One should say, āI have sinned, I have done such and such; I deeply regret my actions, and I declare before G-d, Who knows my innermost thoughts, that I will never do this sin again.ā
What YHVH is really looking for is the sincerity of the effort that a person puts into their Teshuvah!
Source:Ā http://www.ou.org/chagim/elul/foursteps.html
Introduction to Prayer
Psalm 51:15 O YHVH, open my lips, And that my mouth declare Your praise.
Shema
Devarim 6:4 āHear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
āAnd these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.Devarim 11:13 āAnd it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.ā Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, lest the Lordās anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.
āTherefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth.
Numbers 15:37 And YHVH spoke to Mosheh, saying, 38 āSpeak to the children of Yisraāel, and you shall say to them to make tzitziyot1 on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue cord in the tzitzit1 of the corners. Footnote: 1 See Explanatory notes ā āTzitzitā ā plural Tzitziyot. 39 āAnd it shall be to you for a tzitzit, and you shall see it, and shall remember all the commands of YHVH and shall do them, and not search after your own heart and your own eyes after which you went whoring, 40 so that you remember, and shall do all My commands, and be set-apart unto your Elohim.?41 āI am YHVH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, to be your Elohim. I am YHVH your Elohim.ā
Blessing after the Shema
And certain, established and enduring, fair and faithful, beloved and cherished, delightful and pleasant, awesome and powerful, correct and accepted, good and beautiful is this affirmation to us forever and ever.
True ā the God of the universe is our King; the Rock of Jacob is the Shield of our salvation. From generation to generation, He endures, and His Name endures, and His throne is well established; His sovereignty and faithfulness endure forever. His words are living and enduring, faithful and delightful forever and to all eternity; for our forefathers and for us, for our children and for our generations, and for all the generations of Your servant Israelās offspring.
Upon the earlier and upon later generations, this affirmation is good and enduring forever. True and faithful, it is an unbreakable decree. It is true that You are the YHVH, our God and the God of our forefathers, our King and the King of our forefathers, our Redeemer, the Redeemer of our forefathers; our Molder, the Rock of our salvation; our Liberator and our Rescuer ā this has ever been Your Name. There is no God but you.
ASHREI ā Contentment Awaits (Psalm 145)
Ashrei Psalm 145
Contentment awaits those who dwell in Your house; may they always praise You, Selah. Contentment awaits the people for whom this is so, contentment awaits the people whose God is the LORD.I will exalt you, my God the King, and I will bless Your Name forever and ever. Every day I will bless You and I will laud Your Name forever and ever. The LORD is great and exceedingly lauded, and His greatness is beyond investigation. Each generation will praise Your deeds to the next and of Your mighty deeds they will tell; The splendorous glory of Your power and Your wondrous deeds I shall discuss. And of Your awesome power they will speak, and Your greatness I shall relate. A recollection of Your abundant goodness they will utter, and of Your righteousness they will sing exultantly.
Gracious and merciful is the LORD, slow to anger, and great in kindness. The LORD is good to all; His mercies are on all His works. All Your works shall thank You, O LORD, and your devout ones will bless You. Of the glory of Your kingdom they will speak, and of Your power they will tell; To inform human beings of His mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of His kingdom. Your kingdom is a kingdom spanning all eternities, and Your dominion is throughout every generation.
The LORD supports all those who are fallen and straightens all those who are bent. The eyes of all look to You with hope, and You give them their food in its proper time; You open Your hand, and satisfy the desire of every living thing. Righteous is the LORD in all His ways, and magnanimous in all His deeds. The LORD is close to all who call upon Himā to all who call upon Him sincerely. The will of those who fear Him He will do, and their cry He will hear and save them. The LORD protects all who love Him; but all the wicked He will destroy.
Half-Kaddish
English version of Prayer.
1 May His great name be exalted and sanctified is Godās great name
2 in the world which He created according to His will!
3 May He establish His kingdom
4 and may His salvation blossom and His anointed be near.
5 during your lifetime and during your days
6 and during the lifetimes of all the House of Israel,
7 speedily and very soon! And say, Amen.
a Hebrew Aramaic version
1 Yitgaddal veyitqaddash shmeh rabba
2 Be?alma di vra khirāuteh
3 veyamlikh malkhuteh
4 [veyatzmah purqaneh vigarev (getz) meshiheh]
5 be?ayekhon uvyomekhon
6 uv?aye dekhol bet yisrael
7 be?agala uvizman qariv ve?imru amen
The congregation recites the next two lines and then the leader:
8 May His great name be blessed
9 For ever, and to all eternity!
10 Blessed and praised, glorified and exalted,
11 extolled and honoured, adored and lauded
12 be the name of the Holy One, blessed be He,
a 14 hymns, praises and consolations
The half kaddish ends here.
Here the ācomplete kaddishā includes:
16 May the prayers and supplications
17 of all Israel
18 be accepted by their Father who is in Heaven; And say, Amen.
8 yehe shmeh rabba mevarakh
9 le?alam ul?alme ?almaya
10 Yitbarakh veyishtabba? veyitpaar veyitromam
11 veyitnasse veyithaddar veyit?alleh veyithallal
12 shmeh dequdsha, brikh hu.
13 le?ella (l?ella mikkol) min kol birkhata
14 veshirata tushbe?ata vene?emata
15 daamiran be?alma ve?imru amen
The half kaddish ends here.
Here the ācomplete kaddishā includes:
16 Titqabbal tzlothon uva?utāhon
17 dākhol bet yisrael
18 qodam avuhon di bishmayya, v?imru amen
Psalms of Selichot
Psalm 27:1 YHVH is my light and my deliverance; Whom should I fear? YHVH is the refuge of my life; Whom should I dread? 2 When evil-doers come against me To eat up my flesh, My adversaries and my enemies, They shall stumble and fall. 3 Though an army encamps against me, My heart does not fear; Though battle comes up against me, Even then I would be trusting. 4 One matter I asked of YHVH ā this I seek: To dwell in the House of YHVH All the days of my life, To see the pleasantness of YHVH, And to inquire in His H?kal. 5 For in the day of evil He hides me in His booth; In the covering of His Tent He hides me; On a rock He raises me up. 6 And now my head is lifted up above my enemies all around me; And I offer in His Tent with shouts of joy; I sing, yea, I sing praises to YHVH. 7 Hear, O YHVH, when I cry with my voice! And show me favour, and answer me. 8 To my heart You have said, āSeek My face.ā Your face, YHVH, I seek. 9 Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn Your servant away in displeasure; You have been my help; Do not leave me nor forsake me, O Elohim of my deliverance. 10 When my father and my mother have forsaken me, Then YHVH does take me in. 11 Teach me Your way, O YHVH, And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies. 12 Do not give me over To the desire of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, And they 13 What if I had not believed To see the goodness of YHVH In the land of the living! 14 Wait on YHVH, be strong, And let Him strengthen your heart! Wait, I say, on YHVH!
Psalm 130: 1 A Song of degrees. Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Jehovah. 2 Lord, hear my voice, and let Your ears listen to the voice of My prayers. 3 If You will keep in mind iniquities, O Jehovah, who shall stand, O Lord? 4 But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared. 5 I wait for Jehovah, my soul waits, and in His Word I hope. 6 My soul waits for Jehovah more than morning-watchers who are watching for the morning. 7 Let Israel hope in Jehovah; for with Jehovah there is mercy, and with Him is plentiful redemption. 8 And He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.Psa 17:1 A Prayer of David. Hear the right, O Jehovah; listen to my cry; Give ear to my prayer, for it is not in lips of deceit. 2 Let my judgment go out from Your presence; let Your eyes behold uprightly. 3 You have proved my heart; You have visited me in the night; You have tried me, and You will find nothing; my thoughts do not pass beyond my mouth. 4 Concerning the works of men, by the Words of Your lips, I am kept from the paths of the destroyer. 5 My steps have been held in Your paths, so that my footsteps have not slipped. 6 I have called on You, for You will hear me, O God; bow down Your ear to me; hear my speech. 7 Set out Your wonderful loving-kindness, O Savior of those seeking refuge in You, by Your right hand, from those who rise up against me. 8 Keep me as the pupil, the daughter of the eye; hide me under the shadow of Your wings, 9 from the face of the wicked who strip me. Those against my soul, My foes, encircle me. 10 They are enclosed in their own fat; with their mouth they speak proudly, 11 they have now hemmed in our steps, they have set their eyes to bow me to the earth, 12 their likeness is like a lion that longs to tear, and like a young lion lurking in secret places. 13 Arise, O Jehovah, disappoint him, bow him down; deliver my soul from the wicked by Your sword, 14 from men by Your hand, O Jehovah, from men of the world whose portion is in this life, and whose belly You fill with Your treasure. They are satisfied with sons, and will leave their riches to their babes. 15 As for me, I will behold Your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with Your image.
Psa 32:1 A Psalm of David. A Contemplation. Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man to whom Jehovah does not charge iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. 3 When I kept silence, my bones became old through my roaring all the day long. 4 For by day and by night Your hand was heavy on me; my sap is turned into the droughts of summer. Selah. 5 I confessed my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, I will confess my transgression to Jehovah; and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah. 6 For this let every godly one pray to You, in a time when You may be found; surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come near him. 7 You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall circle me with songs of deliverance. Selah. 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you, My eye shall be on you. 9 Be not like the horse, or like the mule, who have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, so that they do not come near you. 10 The wicked has many sorrows, but mercy embraces him who trusts in Jehovah. 11 Be glad in Jehovah, and rejoice, you righteous; and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.
Psa 51:1 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your loving-kindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me completely from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I confess my transgressions; and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done evil in Your sight; that You might be justified when You speak, and be clear when You judge. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden part You shall make me to know wisdom. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which You have broken may rejoice. 9 Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from Your presence, and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways; and sinners shall be converted to You. 14 Deliver me from the guilt of shedding blood, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. 15 O Jehovah, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise. 16 For You do not desire sacrifice; or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. 18 Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion; build the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then shall You be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering; then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.
Psa 65:1 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm and Song of David. To You silence is praise, O God, in Zion; and to You is a vow paid. 2 To You who hears prayer, all flesh comes. 3 Things of iniquity are mightier than I; as for our transgressions, You shall purge them away. 4 Blessed is the one whom You choose, and cause to come near You. He shall dwell in Your courts; we shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, of Your holy temple. 5 By awesome things in righteousness You will answer us, O God of our salvation; who are the hope of all the ends of the earth and the sea, of those far away. 6 The mountains are established by Your strength, banded together with might, 7 who stills the noise of the sea, the roar of their waves, and the uproar of the peoples. 8 And the inhabitants of the furthermost places are afraid of Your signs; You make the beginning of the morning and the evening rejoice. 9 You visit the earth and water it; You greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, for in this way You have prepared it. 10 You fill its terraces with water; You deepen its furrows; You make it soft with showers; You bless the sprouting of it. 11 You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drop fatness. 12 They drop on the pastures of the wilderness; and the little hills gird themselves with joy. 13 The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with grain; they shout for joy and sing.
Psa 85:1 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm for the sons of Korah. O Jehovah, You have been gracious to Your land; You have brought back the captivity of Jacob. 2 You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people; You have covered all their sins. Selah. 3 You have taken away all Your wrath; You have turned from the heat of Your anger. 4 Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause Your anger toward us to cease. 5 Will You be angry with us forever? Will You draw out Your anger to all generations? 6 Will You not give us life again, so that Your people may rejoice in You? 7 Show us Your mercy, O Jehovah, and grant us Your salvation. 8 I will hear what God Jehovah will speak; for He will speak peace to His people, and to His saints; but let them not turn again to folly. 9 Surely His salvation is near those that fear Him, so that glory may dwell in our land. 10 Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. 11 Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from Heaven. 12 Yea, Jehovah shall give good; and our land shall yield its increase. 13 Righteousness shall go before Him and shall set us in the way of His steps.
Psa 102:1 A prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before Jehovah. Hear my prayer, O Jehovah, and let my cry come to You. 2 Hide not Your face from me in the day when I am in trouble; bow down Your ear to me; in the day I call, answer me quickly. 3 For my days go up like smoke, and my bones glow like a firebrand. 4 My heart is stricken, and dried like grass, so that I forget to eat my bread. 5 Because of the voice of my groaning, my bones hold fast to my skin. 6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am like an owl of the desert. 7 I watch, and am as a sparrow alone on the house top. 8 My enemies curse me all the day; and they who are mad against me are sworn against me. 9 For I have eaten ashes like bread, and have mixed my drink with weeping, 10 because of Your anger and Your wrath; for You have lifted me up and cast me down. 11 My days are like a shadow stretched out; and I wither like grass. 12 But You, O Jehovah, shall endure forever; and Your memory to all generations. 13 You shall arise, and have mercy on Zion; for the time to pity her, yea, the set time, has come. 14 For Your servants take pleasure in its stones, and pity its dust. 15 So the nations shall fear the name of Jehovah, and all the kings of the earth Your glory. 16 When Jehovah shall build up Zion, He shall appear in His glory. 17 He will turn to the prayer of the forsaken and not despise their prayer. 18 This shall be written for the generation to come; and the people who shall be created shall praise Jehovah. 19 For He has looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from Heaven Jehovah beheld the earth; 20 to hear the groaning of the prisoner, to set free the sons of death; 21 to declare the name of Jehovah in Zion, and His praise in Jerusalem; 22 when the peoples and the kingdoms have gathered together to serve Jehovah. 23 He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened my days. 24 I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days; Your years are through the generation of generations. 25 Of old You have laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of Your hands. 26 They shall perish, but You shall endure; yea, all of them shall become old like a garment; like a robe You shall change them, and they shall be changed; 27 but You are He, and Your years shall have no end. 28 The sons of Your servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before You.
Psalm 27:1 YHVH is my light and my deliverance; Whom should I fear? YHVH is the refuge of my life; Whom should I dread? 2 When evil-doers come against me To eat up my flesh, My adversaries and my enemies, They shall stumble and fall. 3 Though an army encamps against me, My heart does not fear; Though battle comes up against me, Even then I would be trusting. 4 One matter I asked of YHVH ā this I seek: To dwell in the House of YHVH All the days of my life, To see the pleasantness of YHVH, And to inquire in His H?kal. 5 For in the day of evil He hides me in His booth; In the covering of His Tent He hides me; On a rock He raises me up. 6 And now my head is lifted up above my enemies all around me; And I offer in His Tent with shouts of joy; I sing, yea, I sing praises to YHVH. 7 Hear, O YHVH, when I cry with my voice! And show me favour, and answer me. 8 To my heart You have said, āSeek My face.ā Your face, YHVH, I seek. 9 Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn Your servant away in displeasure; You have been my help; Do not leave me nor forsake me, O Elohim of my deliverance. 10 When my father and my mother have forsaken me, Then YHVH does take me in. 11 Teach me Your way, O YHVH, And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies. 12 Do not give me over To the desire of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, And they 13 What if I had not believed To see the goodness of YHVH In the land of the living! 14 Wait on YHVH, be strong, And let Him strengthen your heart! Wait, I say, on YHVH!
Psa 103:1 A Psalm of David. Bless Jehovah, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name. 2 Bless Jehovah, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits; 3 who forgives all your iniquities; who heals all your diseases; 4 who redeems your life from ruin; who crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercies; 5 who satisfies your mouth with good; your youth is renewed like the eagleās. 6 Jehovah works righteousness and judgment for all who are pressed down. 7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel. 8 Jehovah is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and rich in mercy. 9 He will not always chasten, nor will He keep His anger forever. 10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so is His mercy toward those who fear Him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. 13 As a father pities his children, Jehovah pities those who fear Him. 14 For He knows our form; He remembers that we are dust. 15 As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes. 16 For the wind passes over it, and it is gone; and its place shall know it no more. 17 But the mercy of Jehovah is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness is to sons of sons; 18 to those who keep His covenant, and to those who remember to do His Commandments. 19 Jehovah has prepared His throne in the heavens; and His kingdom rules over all. 20 Bless Jehovah, O angels of His, who excel in strength, who do His command, listening to the voice of His Word. 21 Bless Jehovah, all His hosts, ministers of His who do His pleasure. 22 Bless Jehovah, all His works in all places of His rule; bless Jehovah, O my soul.
Psa 104:1 Bless Jehovah, O my soul. O Jehovah my God, You are very great; You have put on honor and majesty, 2 covering Yourself with light as with a robe; and stretching out the heavens like a curtain; 3 He lays the beams of His upper rooms in the waters. He sets the clouds as His chariots; He walks on the wings of the wind; 4 He makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flaming fire. 5 He laid the earth on its foundations; it shall not be shaken forever. 6 You covered the deep as with a robe; the waters stand above the mountains. 7 At Your rebuke they flee; at the voice of Your thunder they hurry away. 8 They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys to the place which You have founded for them. 9 You have set a bound that they may not pass over, so that they do not turn again to cover the earth. 10 He sends the springs into the valleys; they flow between the hills. 11 They give drink to every beast of the field; the wild asses break their thirst. 12 By them the birds of the heavens will have their place of rest; they sing among the branches. 13 He waters the hills from His upper rooms; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works. 14 He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for the service of man, to bring forth food out of the earth, 15 and wine cheers the heart of man, and oil makes his face shine, and bread sustains the heart of man. 16 The trees of Jehovah are full, the cedars of Lebanon which He has planted; 17 where the birds make their nests; the fir trees are the house of the stork. 18 The high hills are for the wild goats, and the rocks are a refuge for the badgers. 19 He appointed the moon for seasons; the sun knows its going down. 20 You make darkness, and it is night, in which all the beasts of the forest creep forth. 21 The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their food from God. 22 The sun rises; they are gathered, and go to their dens to lie down. 23 Man goes out to his work and to his labor until the evening. 24 O Jehovah, how many are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your riches. 25 This is the great and wide sea, in which are creeping things without number, both small and great animals. 26 There the ships go; You made this great sea animal to play in it. 27 These all wait on You, that You may give them their food in due season. 28 You give to them, they gather; You open Your hand; they are filled with good. 29 You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. 30 You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; and You renew the face of the earth. 31 The glory of Jehovah shall endure forever; Jehovah shall rejoice in His works. 32 He looks on the earth, and it trembles; He touches the hills, and they smoke. 33 I will sing to Jehovah as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. 34 My thoughts of Him shall be sweet; I will be glad in Jehovah. 35 Let the sinners perish from the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless Jehovah, O my soul. Praise Jehovah!
Shema Israel, YHVH, Eloheynu, YHVH echad.
YHVH Hu HaElohim! YHVH He is Elohim!
YHVH Hu HaElohim! YHVH He is Elohiim!
YHVH Hu HaElohim! YHVH He is Elohim!
YHVH Hu HaElohim! YHVH He is Elohim!
YHVH reigns, YHVH reigned, YHVH will reign forever and ever. Create in me a clean heart, O Elohim, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Set-apart Spirit from me. I cry with my whole heart, ANSWER ME! YHVH, I will keep your statutes and commandments, for your Right Hand is outstretched to receive those who Repent.
May the expressions of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart always find favour before you, YHVH, my Rock and my Redeemer.
The Orot Sephardic Selichot
El Melech / GOD KING
El, King, who sits in judgment on a throne of mercy and acts with kindness, Who forgives the iniquities of His people, removes sins one by one, abundantly grants forgiveness to transgressors and pardon to sinners, Who performs righteous deeds with all those of flesh and spirit:
not according to their wickedness does He exact retribution. EL, you taught us to recite the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, therefore, recall for us today the covenant of the Thirteen Attributes, as you made known to the humble one in ancient times. Such is it written in Your Torah: āYHVH descended in the cloud and stood there with him, and called out with the Name: YHVH and there it was stated:YHVH passed by before him and called out:
YHVH, YHVH 1. Elohim 2. Compassionate One 3. Gracious One, 4. Who is slow 5. to anger 6. and abounding in kindness 7. and Truth 8. He keeps kindness 9. for thousands of generations, 10. bears iniquity 11. sin 12. and transgression, 13 and absolves those who repent.
May you forgive our iniquity and our transgression, and take us as your inheritance. and YHVH said to Moshe: I will cause My entire Goodness to pass before you. and I will call in the Name of YHVH before you, I will show grace to whomever I will be gracious, and I will show compassion to whomever I will show compassion.
Ata Ha Melech / You are King
Hear Heavens turn your attention; turn your ear to me. Now, falling to my face, I am returning from my sin and embezzlement, O My Eli (YHVH) you are my King. I will bow my head and go down on my knees the one who makes life good, show me the way So I wonāt be like a wanderer, when the days passed, when the strange dark days has passed by. PLEASE, show mercy O King, King, King of Kings
ASHREI ā Contentment Awaits (Psalm 145)
Ashrei Psalm 145
Contentment awaits those who dwell in Your house; may they always praise You, Selah. Contentment awaits the people for whom this is so, contentment awaits the people whose God is the LORD.
I will exalt you, my God the King, and I will bless Your Name forever and ever. Every day I will bless You and I will laud Your Name forever and ever. The LORD is great and exceedingly lauded, and His greatness is beyond investigation. Each generation will praise Your deeds to the next and of Your mighty deeds they will tell; The splendorous glory of Your power and Your wondrous deeds I shall discuss. And of Your awesome power they will speak, and Your greatness I shall relate. A recollection of Your abundant goodness they will utter, and of Your righteousness they will sing exultantly.
Gracious and merciful is the LORD, slow to anger, and great in kindness. The LORD is good to all; His mercies are on all His works. All Your works shall thank You, O LORD, and your devout ones will bless You. Of the glory of Your kingdom they will speak, and of Your power they will tell; To inform human beings of His mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of His kingdom. Your kingdom is a kingdom spanning all eternities, and Your dominion is throughout every generation.
The LORD supports all those who are fallen and straightens all those who are bent. The eyes of all look to You with hope, and You give them their food in its proper time; You open Your hand, and satisfy the desire of every living thing. Righteous is the LORD in all His ways, and magnanimous in all His deeds. The LORD is close to all who call upon Himā to all who call upon Him sincerely. The will of those who fear Him He will do, and their cry He will hear and save them. The LORD protects all who love Him; but all the wicked He will destroy.
Half-Kaddish
1 May His great name be exalted and sanctifiedb is Godās great name.a
2 in the world which He created according to His will!
3 May He establish His kingdom
4 and may His salvation blossom and His anointed be near.
5 during your lifetime and during your days
6 and during the lifetimes of all the House of Israel,
7 speedily and very soon! And say, Amen.a
1 Yitgaddal veyitqaddash shmeh rabba
2 Be?alma di vra khirāuteh
3 veyamlikh malkhuteh be?ayekhon uvyomekhon
4 [veyatzma? purqaneh viqarev (qetz) meshi?eh]
5 be?ayekhon uvyomekhon
6 uv?aye dekhol bet yisrael
7 be?agalauvizmanqariv ve?imru amen
The next two lines are recited by the congregation and then the leader:
8 May His great name be blessed
9 for ever, and to all eternity!
10 Blessed and praised, glorified and exalted,
11 extolled and honoured, adored and lauded
12 be the name of the Holy One, blessed be He,
13 above and beyond all the blessings,
14 hymns, praises and consolations
15 that are uttered in the world! And say, Amen.
The half kaddish ends here.
8 yehe shmeh rabba mevarakh
9 le?alam ul?alme ?almaya
10 Yitbarakh veyishtabba? veyitpaar veyitromam
11 veyitnasse veyithaddar veyit?alleh veyithallal
12 shmeh dequdsha, brikh hu.
13 e?ella (l?ella mikkol) min kol birkhata
14 veshirata tushbe?ata vene?emata
15 daamiran be?alma ve?imru amen
Nehemiah 1:5 and I said, āI pray, YHVH Elohim of the heavens, O great and awesome ?l, guarding the covenant and kindness with those who love You, and with those guarding Your commands, 6 please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, for the children of Yisraā?l Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Yisraā?l which we have sinned against You. Both my fatherās house and I have sinned. 7 āWe have acted very corruptly against You, and have not guarded the commands, nor the laws, nor the right-rulings which You commanded Your servant Mosheh. 8 āPlease remember the word that You commanded Your servant Mosheh, saying, āIf you trespass, I shall scatter you among the peoples, 9 but if you shall turn back to Me, and guard My commands and do them, though you were cast out to the end of the heavens, I shall gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen, to make My Name dwell there.ā10 āAnd they are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand. 11 āO YHVH, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who delight to fear Your Name. And let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him compassion in the presence of this man.ā For I was cupbearer to the sovereign.
Ben Adam
Son of Man! Why do you slumber? Arise and call out in supplication; pour out words of prayer; seek forgiveness from the Master of Masters. Wash and purify yourself; do not delay before the days depart.?And hurriedly run for Help before He who dwells on high.
From transgression and also evil flee and be dreadful of tragedy.?O please pay heed to those who know your Nameāthe loyal ones of Israel. For your, Adonai, is righteousness and ours is nothing but shame.
Stand up like a man and be courageous, to confess your sins. Seek God (YHVH), Almighty, in earnest to atone for your sins, for never are hidden secrets from Him.?And every utterance that is spoken is read before him.
May He who is merciful have mercy upon us, as a father has mercy for his children. For your, Adonai, is righteousness and ours is nothing but shame.
Lemaāanchah, Elohai (done during Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur)
Lemaāanchah, Elohai /English Words:
For your sake, my Elohai, favor this people who seek you in the morning, to implore your presence in the morning ma-amad.?Adonai, hearken! Act! do not delay!
For your sake, my Elohai,?draw up from the depths of the sea those sated with gall and wormwood?in the places of the their wandering and captivity.?Gaze upon their oppression and their suffering: do not turn to their rebelliousness! Incline your ear to their petition in the morning prayer!?Adonai, hearken! Act! Do not delay!
For your sake, my Elohai, demonstrate a sign of goodness:?Bestow grace upon sorrowful souls thirsting for waters of salvation! Gather those cast off and dispersed to all corners:?From the severity of their hardship, their skin has become so blackened! Adonai, Hearken! Act! Do not delay!
For your sake, My Elohai, may your compassion be stirred! From the abode of your heavens, heed the voice of your people who bear the yoke of your fury, anger and rage.?From bearing the dread of you, their heart is beset by grief! Adonai, hearken! Act! Do not delay!
For your sake, my Elohai, be compassionate to your impoverished ones!?Gladden them from their grief. In your counsel lead them: make wondrous your acts of kindness! O please take pity on them and be compassionate, on those who are borne from the womb, LO! from the very inception of dawn!?Adonai, hearken! Act! do not delay!
Adonai, hear! Adonai, Fogive! Adonai, listen and do! do not delay.?Do so for Your own sake, my Eloha, for your name is invoked upon your city and upon your people. Bring us back to you, Adonai, and we shall return, renew our days as of old.
O king who is extolled in the encampments of holy ark, cleanse us of transgression and of all culpability! O forgive us though our sins be manifold: Answer us for the sake of the hewn rocks (forefathers)!
Let the gates of repentance never be shut closed; let our outcries be brought near before you! We have come near to you, and may we find favor as burnt offerings of bulls and sheep!
We have returned in repentance to you, our youth and our aged! supported and secure in your abundant mercies! Surely be compassionately merciful upon us, O Rock, Who dwells in the Heights!?Elohim, KING, Who sits in judgment on a Throne of Mercyā¦ā¦.
Viduy (Confession)
Daniel 9:3 So I set my face toward YHVH the Elohim to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.4 And I prayed to YHVH my Elohim, and made confession, and said, āO YHVH, great and awesome ?l, guarding the covenant and the kindness to those who love Him, and to those who guard His commands.5 āWe have sinned and did crookedness, and did wrong and rebelled, to turn aside from Your commands and from Your right-rulings.6 āAnd we have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your Name to our sovereigns, our heads, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.7 āO YHVH, to You is the righteousness, and to us the shame of face, as it is this day ā to the men of Yehudah, to the inhabitants of Yerushalayim and all Yisraā?l, those near and those far off in all the lands to which You have driven them, because of their trespass which they have trespassed against You.8 āO Master, to us is the shame of face, to our sovereigns, to our heads, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against You.9 āTo YHVH our Elohim are the compassions and forgivenesses, for we have rebelled against Him.10 āAnd we have not obeyed the voice of YHVH our Elohim, to walk in His Torah, which He set before us through His servants the prophets.11 āAnd all Yisraā?l have transgressed Your Torah, and turned aside, so as not to obey Your voice. So the curse and the oath written in the Torah of Mosheh the servant of Elohim have been poured out on us, for we have sinned against Him.12 āAnd He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our rulers who judged us, by bringing upon us great evil. For under all the heavens there has not been done like what was done to Yerushalayim.13 āAs it is written in the Torah of Mosheh, all this evil has come upon us, and we have not entreated the face of YHVH our Elohim, to turn back from our crookednesses, and to study Your truth.14 āHence YHVH has watched over the evil and has brought it upon us. For YHVH our Elohim is righteous in all the works which He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice.15 āAnd now, O YHVH our Elohim, who brought Your people out of the land of Mitsrayim with a strong hand, and made Yourself a Name, as it is this day ā we have sinned, we have done wrong!16 āO YHVH, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your displeasure and Your wrath be turned away from Your city Yerushalayim, Your set-apart mountain. For, because of our sins, and because of the crookednesses of our fathers, Yerushalayim and Your people have become a reproach to all those around us.17 āAnd now, our Elohim, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the sake of YHVH cause Your face to shine on Your set-apart place, which is laid waste.18 āO my Elohim, incline Your ear and hear. Open Your eyes and see our wastes, and the city which is called by Your Name. For we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great compassions.19 āO YHVH, hear! O YHVH, forgive! O YHVH, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my Elohim, for Your city and Your people are called by Your Name.ā
Eloheynu Shebbashamayim
Our Elohim in heaven, hear our voice and accept our prayer with favor. amen Eloheynu in heaven. do not allow us to be destroyed in our long exile. amen. Eloheynu in heaven, recall Your covenant and do not forget us. amen?Bless your bread and our water; amen Herald for us good tidings; amen Eradicate from us all harsh and evil decrees; amen.
Eloheynu in heaven, decree for us good decrees. amen?Reveal the glory of your kingdom over us speedily. amen?Eloheynu in heaven, we have sought you, make yourself available to us. amen?Eloheynu in heaven, be receptive to us today and each and every day in our prayers. amen
Cause us to return with perfect repentance before You. amen Eloheynu in heaven, do not embarrass us from our hope. amen We shall call out and you will answer us. amen?Eloheynu in heaven, remember us favorably before you. amen Exonerate us in our judgment. amen
Our GOD in heaven, have mercy on us, and on our children and on our infants. amen (have pity and have compassion for us. amen)?Eloheynu in heaven, purify us from our iniquities. amen?Eloheynu in heaven, may your mercies be stirred for us. amen.
Eloheynu in heaven, perform for us a sign for good.?Perform for us a sign of salvation.?Perform for us a sign for compassion.?Let those who hate us see and be shamed; let our foes see and be disgraced; For you, YHVH have helped us and consoled us.
In times of anger, recall your love.?In times of anger, recall you mercy.?In times of anger, recall the binding of Isaac. (Yeshua) Look at the Covenant; do not nullify your covenant with us. Answer us at this exact time.
Elohim Ata Yadaāata
O Elohim, you know of my foolishness and my sins; all my transgressions are not concealed from you. When I think of the enormity of my wrongdoing, I feel like water that has been spilled and as if all my bones have come asunder; heed the sound of my supplications.
At times of anger recall your mercy for he who knocks at the gates of your compassion; who stands as supplicant servant asking for your forgiveness. My eyes opened before the night watches to tell of your greatness. I shall proclaim your might to the generation, Your power, to all who are yet to come.
Uncover my eyes so that I may see wonders from your Torah. (heart) They shall sing out your name those who yearn for the hidden end; return to their dwellings the exiles who are spread out in all the corners of the earth. For you are YHVH, Elohim, YHVH of Host. Elohim, of host bring us back. With wondrous things may you respond to us in righteousness. Gaze upon the face of your anointed one and see our protector. And all who trust in you shall rejoice; forever shall they joyously sing.
Anenu, (answer us) our Father, Anenu!
Answer us, our creator, answer us!?Answer us, our Redeemer, answer us!?Answer us, Elohai Abraham, Answer us!?Answer us, the One feared by Isaac, Answer us!?Answer us, Mighty One of Yaāacob, Answer us!?Answer, Shield of David, Answer us!?Answer us, who answers in time of favor, Answer us!?Answer us, You who answer in time of distress, Answer us!?Answer us, you who answers in time of mercy, Answer us!?Answer us, Elohim of Heaven, Answer us!?Answer us, Elohim of Yeshu, Answer us!?Answer us, in the merit of your Messiah, Answer us!?Answer us, Compassionate and Gracious One, Answer us!?Compassionate and Gracious One we have sinned before you; have Mercy on us!
Adon Hasselihot
Master of Forgiveness, examiner of hearts, the revealer of depths, speaker of justice. We have sinned before You; have mercy upon us!
He who is magnificent in wonders, who is expert in comforting, who recalls the covenant with the Patriarchs, who investigates the emotions.?We have sinned before You; have mercy upon us!
He who is good and does good for his creations, who knows all hidden things, who overlooks iniquities, who is clothed in righteousness.?We have sinned before You; have mercy upon us!
He who is full of merits, who is awesome in praises, who pardons iniquities, who answers in times of distress. We have sinned before You; have mercy upon us!
He who performs salvations, who sees future events, who calls the future generation, who rides in the highest heavens, who hears prayers, who is perfect in knowledge.?We have sinned before You; have mercy upon us!
Compassionate Elohim is your name; Elohim who is Gracious is your name; Elohim who is slow to anger is your name; Full of Compassion is your name.
Your Name is called upon us; O YHVH, act for the sake of your great Name.
El Rahum Shemach
Compassionate Elohim is your name; Gracious Elohim is your name;?see the oppression of your people; have mercy on your world.?Splendorous Elohim is your name; Blessed Elohim is your name; Great Elohim is your name;?Preeminent Elohim is your name; see the oppression of your people;?Magnificent Elohim is your name; Modest Elohim is your name;?Meritorious Elohim is your name; Gracious Elohim is your Name;?See the oppression of your people; have mercy on your world; (compassionate Elohim)?Pure Elohim is your name; Unique Elohim is your name; Mighty Elohim is your name;?Elohim for eternity is your name; see the oppression of your world. (Compassionate Elohim)?Elohim, who is King is your Name; Awesome Elohim is your name; Elohim who Sustains is your name; Elohim who helps is your name; see the oppression of your people;?have mercy on your world. (Compassionate Elohim)?O Adonai, act for the sake of your name; and have pity upon Israel, Your people.?O Adonai, act for the sake of Yeshua your anointed, Your Son; and have pity upon Israel, Your people.?O Adonai, act for the sake of Abraham, whom you counted his faith as righteousness;?and have pity upon Israel, your people.?O Adonai, act for the sake of Isaac, who was bound in your mountain; and have pity upon Israel, your people. O Adonai, act for the sake of Yaāacob, who was answered upon a ladder from your high places;?and have pity upon Israel your people.?Act for the sake of your name. Act for the sake of your truth.?Act for the sake of your covenant. Act for the sake of your Torah.?Act for the sake of your Magnificence. Act for the sake of your meeting Place.?Act for the sake of your kindness. Act for the sake of your Goodness.?Act for the sake of your honor. Act for the sake of those who study your Torah.?Act for the Sake of your kingdom. Act for the sake of your Eternal name.?Act for the sake of your glory.
Yah, Shema / Yah Hear
O Yah, hearken to your poor who plead before you, Our Father, to your children do not close your ear.
O Yah, a nation from the depths called from an abundance of troubles: please do not turn them away empty-handed today from before you.
Their treachery and their iniquity erase, along with their abundant blatant sins, and if you will not act for their sake, act, my Rock, for your sake.
Erase their offense today and favor their speech like a gift: guide their heart to You, and let Your ear be attentive.
Turn to the tears on their faces and gather the straying flock: appoint for Yourself a shepherd, and tent in a goodly fashion to your sheep.
Those who walk on a straight path herald to them forgiveness today: and with the morning prayer, grant then Your grace.
Psa 25:1 A Psalm of David. To You, O Jehovah, I lift up my soul. 2 O my God, I trust in You; do not let me be ashamed, let not my enemies triumph over me. 3 Yea, let none who wait on You be ashamed; let them be ashamed who sin without cause. 4 Make me know Your ways, O Jehovah; teach me Your paths. 5 Lead me in Your truth, and teach me; for You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day long. 6 Remember, O Jehovah, Your tender mercies and Your loving-kindnesses; for they are from eternity. 7 Do not remember the sins of my youth, or my rebellings; according to Your mercy remember me for Your goodnessā sake, O Jehovah. 8 Good and upright is Jehovah; therefore He will teach sinners in the way. 9 The meek He will guide in judgment; and the meek He will teach His way. 10 All the paths of Jehovah are mercy and truth to those who keep His covenant and His testimonies. 11 For Your nameās sake, O Jehovah, pardon my iniquity; for it is great. 12 What man is he who fears Jehovah? He shall teach him in the way that he shall choose. 13 His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth. 14 The secret of Jehovah is with those who fear Him; and He will show them His covenant. 15 My eyes are ever toward Jehovah; for He shall pluck my feet out of the net. 16 Turn to me, and have mercy on me, for I am wasted and afflicted. 17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses. 18 Look on my affliction and my pain, and forgive all my sins. 19 Look on my enemies; for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred. 20 Keep my soul, and deliver me; let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You. 21 Let purity and uprightness keep me; for I wait on You. 22 Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.
Elecha YHVH
Toward You, Adonai, I have raised up my eyes; hear the sound of my pleas as befits Your great kindness. I have trusted in your Name and have spread out my palms; I have taken words and have come unto You. My sorrows have been overpowering and my groans have increased, for all of my sins have set before you. My delicate soul dissipates from grief; release from anxiety the soul of your servant. Remove my sin, O Elohim of my salvation; also my tears may you place in Your flask.
In times of anger, Your mercy may you recall and reconsider, and gladden and console the soul of your servant. Recall my poverty and my sadness, my bitterness from my earliest existence; until when, against me will You renew your witnesses?
My oppressors have humiliated me as have my enemies and my adversaries; please hear my statements when I approach in fear of you. The haughty people have set for me snares and traps, in them are trapped the legs of Your loved ones. They set traps for me and they testify falsely against me; strangers have engulfed me, O Rock-other than You. O Rock, reveal Your glory to a people who are led and helped and Your hidden good grant to your remnants.
Those oppressed under much pressure do not distance yourself from them; recall Abraham, Isaac and Yisrael, Your servants. O compassionate One, be a support to a people sated with bitter herbs; and act, please, for the sake of our forefathers. Shaddai, You have been powerful in all that you have done, for your are righteous and righteousness is your cloak. May You forgive my sin, for my hope is in You, my King; and set straight my path, my Elohim, to serve you. May you turn to my prayer and to my expression of song, for You are my hope and who will not testify about You? Toward you, Adonai, I have raised up my eyes; hear the sound of my please as befits Your great kindness.
Out Father, the merciful Father, save us for the sake of Your Name. Our Elohim, Elohim of our forefathers, save us for the sake of Your Name. When we are in distress we call on You; save us for the sake of your Name. Bestow upon us Your stirring Mercies, and save us for the sake of your Name. We have sought You, so make Yourself available to us; Respond to us today, and each and every day, in our prayer; and save us for the sake of Your name. Do not embarrass us from our hope; and save us for the sake of your name. Remember, us favorably before you; and save us for sake of Your name. Purify us from the defilement of our iniquities; and save us for the sake of Your Name.
Our Father our King, You are our Father; Our Father, our King, we have none but You; our Father, our King, have mercy on us. If we have done good deeds, You are our Father, and if we have evil deeds, we have none but You, Our Father, our King, have mercy on us. If our sins are many, You are our Father, you are the Rock of our salvation, we have none but You; Our Father, our King have mercy on us. If we have spoken much You are our Father. Remember that we are merely physical substance, we have none but you.
Our Father, our King have mercy on us. If we have sinned to you, You are our Father, our Master! Forgive us, we have none but You; our Father, our King, have mercy on us. To You, Adonai, we have hoped You are our Father; for you are our Father; for You are our Father, we have none but You; Our Father, our King have mercy on us. To You we spread our hands in prayer, You are our Father; make to us a healing, we have none but You; Deal with us with righteousness and kindness for the sake of Your great Name, and save us.
Hon Tahon
Be merciful to Your children who are returning to You, and who stand before You with trepidation, fearful of the time they will be called to judgment; it is for that reason that they come in distress. Recall compassion, on the Day of Judgment; do away with anger and wrath at the time You will judge those who fear You and those who are engrossed in Your Name they who are sitting in judgment. Bring near to me the year of the Redeemer and redeem me; upon restful waters, O Elohim, lead me. And recall for me the merit of the perfect man, place like a seal upon Your heart. If you were to keep an accounting of sins for me to create for me a burden, see, my Rock and my Redeemer, how can I carry them? I cannot carry them upon myself; rather, the evil of my actions may You carry, O Elohim be merciful on with us.
Psalm 130:1 A Song of degrees. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O YHVH. 2 Adonia, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. 3 If thou, YHVH, shouldest mark iniquities, O Adonai, who shall stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. 5 I wait for the YHVH, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. 6 My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.7 Let Israel hope in the YHVH: for with the YHVH there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. 8 And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
Psalm 133:1 O YHVH, my heart has not been proud, Nor have my eyes been haughty. Neither have I concerned myself with great matters, Nor with those too wondrous for me.2 Have I not calmed, and kept my being silent, Like one weaned by its mother? My being is like one weaned. 3 O Yisra?āl, wait for YHVH, Now and forever.
May the expressions of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart always find favor before you, YHVH, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Deleavening Your Home
Here is a reminder from Chabad.org about how to go about cleaning your house of leaven. In the comments, some have said they only have to remove the bread on the 14th of Aviv. The more you put into the cleansing of your home the more you learn about the cleansing of your soul. It is about you learning a real-life lesson by doing a commandment. I have been cleaning out my sins for some time now and I will not leave it until the last minute on the 14th.
Cleaning the House
Simply stated (though not so easily done) ā give your home a thorough, top-to-bottom, cleaning. Vacuum the carpets and floors, wipe clean the cupboards and bookshelves. Make sure you get into all those hard-to-reach places: under the sofa cushions, the spaces between the floorboards. Move aside furniture and kitchen appliances to get behind and underneath. Bottom line: if that proverbial cookie crumb could be hiding there, go after it!
As each area of the home gets cleaned, make sure that everyone knows that it’s “kosherĀ forĀ Passover” and absolutely off-limits for any food to be brought in there. Practical advice: start with the bedrooms, then proceed with the living room and other common rooms, leaving the dining room and kitchen for last, so that you can use these spaces for eatingĀ chametzĀ as close as possible to the “deadline.”
Other places that need to be cleaned: office, car, pocketbook ā any space that is yours by ownership, lease, or right of use.
Places you don’t have to clean: a) Rooms and areas where you’re absolutely certain that no food was ever brought. b) Rooms and areas that will be sold (see step 5).
Cleaning Checklist
The following is a checklist of all areas that should be searched well and thoroughly cleaned from all traces ofĀ chametz.
Room-by-Room Checklist
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Alphabetical Listing
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ClickĀ hereĀ for a PDF print version of this list.
Deleavening Your Home
It is now just past the full moon. In two months time we will begin to celebrate Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread. We read in Mt 24:45 āWho then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?
So with the Passover season approaching and with many new people learning the Torah and wanting to keep the Holy Days we shall begin now to teach on these.
Once again I am telling you to turn off Oprah and Dr. Phil and to start to read you bible. There is nothing on TV worth watching. Many of you are sharing this News letter and encouraging others to read it and to prove those things said here true or false. I do thank you. But in reality it is those who have come here and learnt the truth that are thanking you. You have saved their lives.
But once you have been turned on to the truth, do not just read what is written here. Search other sites and other groups and learn also from them, what is true and what is not true.
I keep telling you how little time is left and so I am trying to give you as much information as I can without you being over whelmed. Turn off the TV and this will help.
We now have just two months to Passover.
Immediately after the Passover comes a festival that shows us the next step in the plan of Yahweh. After Yahshua is sacrificed as the Passover Lamb, and we have been forgiven for our sins, how do we continue to avoid sin, since we must go on living in newness of life? How do we live as Yahwehās redeemed people? We find the remarkable answer in the symbolism of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
When Yahweh freed Israel from slavery in Egypt, He told His people that for āseven days you shall eat unleavened breadā (Exodus 12:15). Verse 39 further explains: āAnd they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they had brought out of Egypt; for it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves.ā
The leavening process, which makes bread rise, takes time. The Israelites had no time to spare when they left Egypt, so they baked and ate flat bread. What started out as a necessity continued for a week. Yahweh appropriately named this time the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:6), or Days of Unleavened Bread (Acts 12:3).
When Yeshua came to earth as a human, He observed this seven-day festivalā sometimes called the Feast of Passover by the Jews because of the proximity of the Passover to the Days of Unleavened Bread. Yeshua kept it as a child and later as an adult (Luke 2:41; Matthew 26:17). The early Church, kept it as well.
Yahweh gave His earliest instructions concerning this festival to the Israelites as they prepared to leave Egypt. āThis is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORDā a lasting ordinance. For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat-that is all you may doā (Exodus 12:14-16, New International Version).
This is where we get the expression of spring cleaning from De leavening our homes.
Each year as the Israelites observed this feast, it reminded them of Yahwehās deliverance of their forefathers from Egypt. The Creator instructed, āCelebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egyptā (verse 17, NIV). The exodus from Egypt remains as a foundational reason for observing this feast today. Just as Yahweh delivered ancient Israel, He delivers us from our sins and difficulties.
Now notice Yeshuaās teaching about leaven, which expands the meaning of this feast.
During Yahshuaās ministry He performed two miracles in which a few fish and loaves of bread fed thousands of people. After one of these incidents, when His disciples had gone around the Sea of Galilee, they forgot to bring bread with them. So Yeshua told them, āWatch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.ā
The disciples thought Yeshua was referring to their lack of bread. However, He was using the occasion to teach them by calling on the symbolism of leaven. Yeshua asked them, āHow is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.ā Then the disciples āunderstood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadduceesā (Matthew 16:5-12, NASB).
Some of the members of the religious establishment of Yeshuaās day appeared to be righteous, yet they secretly practiced sinful behavior. Yeshua let them know He knew their hearts. They may have appeared righteous to other people, ābut inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessnessā (Matthew 23:28).
The Days of Unleavened Bread remind us that with Yahwehās help we must remove and avoid all types of sin āsymbolized by leavenā in all areas of our life.
Symbolically we do this by cleaning our homes and our places of business and our cars and removing any bread or bread products that contain leaven or yeast from them.
During the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the apostle Paul taught the same spiritual lessons as Yeshua, invoking the comparison of sin to leaven. In the context of reprimanding the Corinthian congregation for its divisions, jealousies and tolerance of sexual misconduct, Paul wrote: āYour glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Yeshua, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truthā (1 Corinthians 5:6-8).
The church at Corinth was obviously and unmistakably keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread, to which Paul repeatedly alluded. However, Paul used the Corinthiansā faithful obedience in keeping the feast physically (removing leaven from their homes) as a basis to encourage them to celebrate this feast with proper understanding of its spiritual intent.
Today removing leaven from our homes for seven days reminds us that we, too, through prayer and Yahwehās help and understanding, must recognize, expel and avoid sin. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is thus a time of personal reflection. We should meditate on our attitudes and conduct and ask Yahweh to help us recognize and overcome our shortcomings.
Paul spoke of this much-needed self-reflection in 2 Corinthians 13:5 when he told the Corinthian church: āExamine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Yeshua the Messiah is in you, unless indeed you are disqualified.ā
Paul explained the significance of the phrase āYeshua the Messiah is in youā in Galatians 2:20: āI have been crucified with Yeshua; it is no longer I who live, but Yeshua lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of Yahweh, who loved me and gave Himself for me.ā
These seven days of self-examination prove invaluable in helping us to devote our lives to Yahweh and Yeshua. This week-long period also pictures our eventual triumph over sin. As Yahweh delivered the ancient Israelites from enslavement to Egypt, so He delivers us from our enslavement to sin (Romans 6:12-18).
We learn by doing. We learn spiritual lessons by doing physical things. Performing the task of deleavening our homes reminds us to vigilantly watch for sinful thoughts and actions so we can avoid them. Yahweh knows that, in spite of our good intentions, we all sin.
Many years after his conversion, Paul described the powerful human tendency to sin. āI find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of Yahweh according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank Yahweh-through Yeshua the Messiah! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of Yahweh, but with the flesh the law of sinā (Romans 7:21-25).
Paul knew life itself is a battle with sin. The Bible speaks of āthe sin which so easily ensnares usā (Hebrews 12:1). We have our own part to play in struggling to overcome sin. Yet, paradoxically, we must rely on Yahweh to help us. Paul explained this to the Philippians by telling them to āwork out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is Yahweh who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasureā (Philippians 2:12-13, King James Version).
Our observance of the Days of Unleavened Bread helps us realize our need for Yeshuaās help in overcoming our weaknesses. Yet this feast is certainly a time for rejoicing because Yeshua freely gives us the help we need. Yeshua, the Lamb of Yahweh, was sacrificed for the forgiveness of our sins, thus unleavening, or cleansing, our lives. He continues to help us live obediently through Yahwehās Spirit dwelling in us.
Paul tells us in Ro 2:13 (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified;
James tells us it is the doers of the law who will be justified. Jas 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Letās read what James also has to say about doing things.
James 2:14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, āDepart in peace, be warmed and filled,ā but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, āYou have faith, and I have works.ā Show me your faith without your F6 works, and I will show you my faith by my F7 works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believeāand tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? F8 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, āAbraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.ā F9 And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. 25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? 26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
Some brethren do not believe we should keep the days of Unleaveded bread. Some do but they say you do not have to remove the leaven from your homes.
The bible says we do have to keep this time for ever, and that you do have to remove the leaven, and that by doing so you are acting out your faith by your works.
I am sharing this message now with you, so that you have time to begin to clean one room or two a week before the Days arrive in about two months time. You will see as you move your frig and stove how the crud has piled up over time and how hard it is to remove. This is the same as sin sneaking in to your lives and you not knowing it until one day it is exposed. Then you see how hard it is to remove or correct that sin. It is not easy.
You will learn by doing. Please consider doing the necessary work in cleaning your home so that you will be ready for the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread.
Always remember that as you move closer to Yahweh, He moves closer to you. When you stop so does He and he waits for you to make the next move.
The more you learn and practice the more that will be revealed to you. But if you do nothing you learn nothing.
So may your spring cleaning be bountiful in teaching you many lessons from the scriptures.
Fast of the First Born
The Redeemer
I hadĀ almost completed this weekāsĀ News Letter when my friend Donald McGrew began to write me on facebook wanting to talk about Passover being on the 13th instead of the 14th. I was busy packing books and DVDs for overseas and for the prisons that had requested them and answering otherĀ emails at the same time. So I was in truth not paying much attention to the discussion Donald was trying to have with me. It is aĀ big subject and one that I have devoted many newsletters to and really did not want to have at this time.
Now Donald has come to my first teaching in Eastern Kentucky when I was there in I think 2010. He later came to our teaching a year or so later in Missouri. And he also attended our Sukkot in 2013 where we made the videos of the Sabbatical and Jubilee years teachings, which was the first time I was able to explain in detail the whole matter over the course of 8 days.
This Donald with his granddaughter in Jericho on tour with me in 2016 for Sukkot.
In 2013 after each of my presentations all the people would rush out and head back to the campsite. I had felt they were eager to leave these long teachings and go and have fun. There were over 100 people there and few stuck around to ask questions. So at night when I would walk around the camp, I would see Donald and about 6-10 others sitting around the campfire all studying their bibles. When they saw me they would shout out a question and wait for me to answer then go back to studying.
When I joined them to ask what they were doing they all said they had to prove the astounding things I had taught them that day whether it was true or not. They had never heard such things before. And they were proving what I said was indeed true and they were dumbfounded they had never seen it before. And as I walked around the camp to other groups most of them were doing the same or discussing the dayās lessons. It was pretty awesome for me to see this. But it was Donald and his group that I have never forgotten and one other lady sitting under theĀ Succah alone going over everything as well. Those are some my sweetest memories of that Sukkot. Until I saw Donaldās group studying, I was under the impression no one was interested in what I had to say.
What I am telling you is, that Donald is a true Berrean.
Back to our facebook conversation. After a bit, Donald wrote me somethingĀ in the conversation he was mostly having and the same one I was not paying much attention to. And it was like Yehovah had hit me across the side of the head with a 2 x 4 and said wake up and look at this. Donald had switched his position about the time of the Passover meal and was now agreeing with me that it was at the end of the 14th, the start of the 15th. But how he arrived at that was stunning. It was the very thing I was writing about in this News Letter and was about to wrap up.
Now thanks to Donald I have to rewrite this weekās News Letter and share these juicy truths with you all.
InĀ Christian theology,Ā JesusĀ is sometimes referred to as aĀ Redeemer. This refers to theĀ salvationĀ he is believed to have accomplished, and is based on the metaphor ofĀ redemption, or ābuying backā. Although theĀ GospelsĀ do not use the title āRedeemerā, the word āredemptionā is used in several ofĀ Paulās letters.Ā Leon MorrisĀ says that āPaul uses the concept of redemption primarily to speak of the saving significance of the death of Christ.ā[1]Ā TheĀ EnglishĀ word redemption means ārepurchaseā or ābuy backā, and in theĀ Old TestamentĀ referred to theĀ ransomĀ of slaves (ExodusĀ 21:8).[2]Ā In the New Testament, the redemption word group is used to refer both to deliverance from sin and freedom from captivity.[3]
When I searched the wordĀ Redeem I found the following;
40 verses found, 56 matches
Exodus | 4 verses found | 8 matches |
Leviticus | 12 verses found | 17 matches |
Numbers | 3 verses found | 4 matches |
Ruth | 2 verses found | 8 matches |
2 Samuel | 1 verse found | 1 match |
1 Chronicles | 1 verse found | 1 match |
Nehemiah | 1 verse found | 1 match |
Job | 2 verses found | 2 matches |
Psalms | 8 verses found | 8 matches |
Isaiah | 1 verse found | 1 match |
Jeremiah | 1 verse found | 1 match |
Hosea | 1 verse found | 1 match |
Micah | 1 verse found | 1 match |
Galatians | 1 verse found | 1 match |
Titus | 1 verse found | 1 match |
The word Redeemer
18 verses found, 18 matches
Job | 1 verse found | 1 match |
Psalms | 2 verses found | 2 matches |
Proverbs | 1 verse found | 1 match |
Isaiah | 13 verses found | 13 matches |
Jeremiah | 1 verse found | 1 match |
The word Redeemed
61 verses found, 62 matches
Genesis | 1 verse found | 1 match |
Exodus | 2 verses found | 2 matches |
Leviticus | 10 verses found | 10 matches |
Numbers | 5 verses found | 5 matches |
Deuteronomy | 6 verses found | 6 matches |
2 Samuel | 1 verse found | 1 match |
1 Kings | 1 verse found | 1 match |
1 Chronicles | 1 verse found | 1 match |
Nehemiah | 2 verses found | 2 matches |
Psalms | 7 verses found | 8 matches |
Isaiah | 13 verses found | 13 matches |
Jeremiah | 1 verse found | 1 match |
Lamentations | 1 verse found | 1 match |
Hosea | 1 verse found | 1 match |
Micah | 1 verse found | 1 match |
Zechariah | 1 verse found | 1 match |
Luke | 2 verses found | 2 matches |
Galatians | 1 verse found | 1 match |
1 Peter | 1 verse found | 1 match |
Revelation | 3 verses found | 3 matches |
I can only see 9 times the word redeem or one related to it is used in the New Testament. All the rest are found in the Old Testament.
According to Talmudic tradition, the first-born acted as officiating priests in the wilderness, until the erection of the Tabernacle, when the office was given to the tribe of Levi (Num. iii. 12, 13, 45-51; Zeb. 112b; compare Onelos to Ex. xxiv. 5). In consequence of the deliverance from the tenth plague, when āthe Lord slew all the first-born in the land of Egyptā but spared the first-born of the Israelites, the following commandment was given: āSanctify unto me all the first-born, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mineā (Ex. xiii. 2), which is explained in greater detail in verses 12-15. The first-born of clean beasts were thus made holy and were unredeemable, while the first-born of unclean beasts and of man had to be redeemed from the priests (Num. xviii. 15-18; Deut. xv. 19-22; compare Neh. x. 37).
The concept of the redeemer is used in theĀ Book of RuthĀ to refer to theĀ kinsman-redeemer, and in theĀ Book of IsaiahĀ to refer to God, the āRedeemer of Israelā.
InĀ JobĀ 19:25,Ā JobĀ makes the statement, āI know that my Redeemer liveth.ā
This passage mentionsĀ an unnamed man who was the guardian-redeemer for Naomi and Ruth. Other Bible translations call him a family guardian or kinsman-redeemer. This description comes from the Hebrew word goāel, meaning āredeemer.ā A goāel was a male relative who was responsible for caring for a deceased relativeās possessions, including land, houses,
livestock, and even the widow. If the deceased had debts, the goāel would pay them. If the deceased was childless, the goāel would marry the widow and produce offspring who would carry on the name and family lineage of the deceased man. When they came of age, those children would inherit the deceased manās property. The possessions and people who were cared for by a goāel were said to be āredeemed.ā The goāelās responsibility, then, was supremely sacrificial: He invested much in supporting his deceased relativeās estate and family but
received little to nothing in return. Israelās social system and survival as a people depended on men who performed their duty as a goāel. So important was this role that Isaiah 43:14 describes God as Israelās goāel or redeemer, a concept that carries over to the New Testament understanding of Jesusā life and ministry.Ruth 4:1-12
1 Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate and sat down there just as the guardian-redeemer he had mentioned came along. Boaz said, āCome over here, my friend, and sit down.ā So he went over and sat down. 2 Boaz took ten of the elders of the town and said, āSit here,ā and they did so. 3 Then he said to the guardian-redeemer, āNaomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelek. 4 I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do so. But if you will not, tell me, so I will know. For no one has the right to do it except you, and I am next in line.ā āI will redeem it,ā he said. 5 Then Boaz said, āOn the day you buy the land from Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the dead manās widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property.ā 6 At this, the guardian-redeemer said, āThen I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it.ā
7 (Now in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption and transfer of property to become final, one party took off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the method of legalizing transactions in Israel.) 8 So the guardian-redeemer said to Boaz, āBuy it yourself.ā And he removed his sandal. 9 Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, āToday you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelek, Kilion and Mahlon. 10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlonās widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from his hometown. Today you are witnesses!ā 11 Then the elders and all the people at the gate said, āWe are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. 12 Through the offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah. Boaz was a well-to-do farmer who owned land and crops and had numerous employees. Why would he be interested in a poor Moabite widow such as Ruth, despite Jewish law forbidding intermarriage with Moabites? It so happens that Boaz was a fifth generation descendant of Perez, who was the son of a Canaanite widow named Tamar. Tamarās first two husbands died. They were both sons of Judah, one of the great-grandsons of Abraham himself, the father of the Jewish people. Judah promised to give her his third son, but he neglected to fulfill that promise. So Tamar used some loopholes in the law, plus a little trickery, to get Judah to father twin sons, one of whom was named Perez. (Genesis 38 has the full details.) Thus, Tamar provided for her future security and family line. Perhaps this was why Boaz was sensitive to the plight of disadvantaged foreign widows such as Ruth. And he was brave enough to ignore social stigma to follow through on his promises to care for her.The Hebrew word for redeem is used 22 times in Ruth and 104 times throughout the Old Testament. It means to restore, repair, or avenge. God is the ultimate redeemer (Isaiah 49:26).
In the Old Testament, God redeemed people from slavery (Exodus 6:6), disobedience (Isaiah 44:22), harm (Genesis 48:16), enemies (Psalm 107:2), captivity (Isaiah 43:14), and death (Hosea 13:14). In the New Testament, God sent Jesus to provide redemption for all people: āAll have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesusā (Romans 3:23-24).
Ā
The Pidyon Haābon
Why did Yehovah have to pay a redemption price and to whom?
To redeem the firstborn is called The Pidyon Haābon
The source for anĀ Israeliteās obligation to redeem his firstborn son through giving theĀ kohenĀ (priest) specifically five shekels is the Book ofĀ Numbers (18:15-16): āYou shall redeem the firstborn of man . . .the redemption [shall be performed] from the age of a month, according to the valuation, five shekels of silver.ā
Several explanations are given for the specific amount of silver shekels used for theĀ pidyon haben. The followingĀ is from theĀ Talmud:
JosephĀ āĀ Rachelās firstborn son ā was sold by his brothers for twenty silver pieces, the equivalent of five shekels. This established that the standard āpriceā for a (firstborn) human is five shekels, which are given to the kohen,Ā Godās representative, to redeem the child.
Genesis 37:26Ā Judah said to his brothers, āWhat will we gain by killing our brother? Weād have to cover up the crime.Ā Instead of hurting him, letās sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all, he is our brotherāour own flesh and blood!ā And his brothers agreed.Ā Ā So when the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders, came by, Josephās brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for twenty piecesĀ of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt.
AĀ pidyon haben, or āredemption of the [firstborn] son,ā is a ceremony wherein the father of a firstborn male redeems his son by giving five silver coins to aĀ kohen(a priestly descendant ofĀ Aaron), thirty days after the babyās birth.
What is the reason for this procedure?
ExodusĀ 13Ā TheĀ LordĀ said to Moses,Ā 2Ā āConsecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.ā
:13 And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break its neck: and all the first-born of man among thy sons shalt thou redeem.
And it shall be, when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand Jehovah brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage: and it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that Jehovah slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both the first-born of man, and the first-born of beast: therefore I sacrifice to Jehovah all that openeth the womb, being males; but all the first-born of my sons I redeem. And it shall be for a sign upon thy hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: for by strength of hand Jehovah brought us forth out of Egypt.
The first place we see the word redeem is in Exodus 6:6
Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am Jehovah, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments: and I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah your God, who bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
Originally, the Israelite firstborn were the sanctified priestly class. They were inducted intoĀ Godās service when they were spared from the Plague of the Firstborn that struck Egypt. However, when Israelāfirstborn includedāserved theĀ Golden Calf, the firstborn forfeited their status. The priesthood was transferred to the tribe that did not participate in the Golden Calf hooplaātheĀ Levites, and particularly the children of Aaron.
Now we have 20 pieces of silver being the price for Joseph being redeemed from the cistern. That amount equalling 5 shekels as we were just told. Joseph represents the northern 12 tribes. It is upon his children that the name of Israel is given. Let my name Israel be carried on in them.
Gen 48:15Ā āThe God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day,
the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys;
and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.ā
We have another interesting story that we can also connect to this and to the redemption of Israel. That is the story of Hosea. Hosea represents Yehovah seeking His wayward bride who has gone a whoring after other men. Hosea, Yehovah is redeeming Israel.
Hosea Brings His Wife Back to Himself
3Ā TheĀ LordĀ said to me, āGo. Show your love to your wife again. She is loved by another man. And she has committed adultery. But I want you to love her just as I love the people of Israel. They turn to other gods. And they love to offer raisin cakes to Baal and eat them. In spite of that, I love my people.ā
2Ā So I bought Gomer for six ounces of silver and 430 pounds of barley.Ā 3Ā Then I told her, āYou must wait for me for a long time. You must not be a prostitute. You must not have sex with any man. And I will be faithful to you too.ā
4Ā So the people of Israel will live for a long time without a king or prince. They wonāt have sacrifices or sacred stones. They wonāt have sacred linen aprons or statues of family gods.Ā 5Ā After that, the people of Israel will return to theĀ LordĀ their God. They will look to him and to a king from the family line of David. In the last days, they will tremble with fear as they come to theĀ Lord. And they will receive his full blessing.
Now 6 ounces is equal to 170.1 Grams of Silver.Ā And 1 shekel is equal to 100 grams. So gomer is being bought or redeemed for aboutĀ 10 shekels of silver. And Gomer represents Israel (Ephraim and Manasseh) who have gone a whoring after other gods.
The question we are addressing this week is Why did Yehovah have to pay a redemption price? And to whom did He pay it?
We are told in Exodus 4:22-23
Then you shall say to Pharaoh, āThus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, āLet my son go that he may serve me.ā If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.āā
InĀ The Prophecies of Abraham,we have shown you many times how Egypt represents the end time whore.
When Abraham and Sarah go down to Egypt Pharaoh takes Sarah for his wife. This is similar to Egypt taking the children of Israel for slaves and in the end time how the Great end time Whore will take the remnant of Israel for captives. You are this very day witnessing the same events of the children of Israel living in Egypt and the tables being turned to make them slaves. Today the UN and the EU whores are fighting everything the US is doing under Trump. And now Trump is cutting off funding to the UN and so is the State of Isreal and the UK is pulling out of the EU agreement. The BREXIT divorce. The USA has pulled out the Paris Agreement.
When you step back from the banter of the headline news you should be able to see that in each of these cases, the EU and the UN stand to lose billions of potential income that the USA and the UK were providing to these various causes.
The EU and the UN will soon turn theirĀ forces upon the USA and the UK and turn what is left of them after the wars, (The remnant) into slaves.
It is during this time that the two witnesses will act and cause all sorts of plagues to fall upon this great whore in the same way Moses and Aaron did in the Exodus story.
Now again I ask you āWhy does Yehovah have to pay anything at all.ā I can see Hosea paying for Gomer who is owned by her new lover.
Oops, I think I just learned something Gomer was owned by the one she had given herself to, the other lover. Gomer represents Israel, who has gone after all sorts of other lovers who do not love her. Hosea or Yehovah loves Israel, who is His first born. Meaning Yehovah will have others nations as HIs children at some point in time.
Paul has this to say in Romans 6:12:
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
Slaves to Righteousness
What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
When we give into sin then we submit ourselves to Satan. We submit ourselves to the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The very same tree Adam and Eve submitted themselves too and the rest of mankind. Just imagine if you can, that each time you sin, all of yourĀ descendant that come from you from that point on will be enslaved by Satan for your sins.
And yet we have sinned and we have submitted ourselves to our new lord Satan.
In Matthew, we read how he has authority to give kingdoms to whomever he chooses.
Mat 4:8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, āAll these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.ā
We also read in the letters from both John and Paul how Yehshua Himself admits that there is one who rules this earth now and it is not Yehshua.
John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.
John 14:30Ā I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.
John 16: 7-11Ā Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment because the ruler of this world is judged.
1 Corithians 10:18-22 Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
Eph 2:1-3 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedienceā among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
Eph 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
1 John 5:19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
Rev 9:11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon..
Rev 20:1-3 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
Now getting back to the Exodus story we can need to understand that Yehovah did not destroy the firstborn of Egypt. But Yehovah protected Israel from the destroyer who was at this time killing all the firstborn in Egypt.
Exodus 12:23 says that when God passed over the doors of the houses which had been marked with the blood of the Passover lamb, He would not allow the destroyer to enter into the house to kill the firstborn of that house.
SoĀ it was notĀ Yehovah who struck down the firstborn sons of Egypt, but a being referred to as āthe destroyer.ā
Yehovahās primary activity in the tenth plague was not in killing the firstborn sons of Egypt, but in protecting people from the destroyer that had come to kill all things.
Yehovah paid a price to this destroyer and that price was Egypt.
Isa 43:3Ā For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
The Seāudat-Siyum
We now need to take another look at what took place on the night Yehshua was betrayed and relookĀ at the events of this night. I have not seen this until Donald tipped me off whether or not he realized it.
Nisan13Ā was Tuesday. Do not forget the day begins with sunset. Tuesday is the day before the preparation day for Passover.Ā At the end of this the 13thĀ of Nisan, and the start of the 14th, which is the start of the preparation day, that the disciples had the special meal that we call The Last Supper.
There was a traditionĀ which in Hebrew is called,Ā seudah maphsehket; this translates essentially to ālast supperā. This last supper was about remembering that it was indeed not ALL Hebrews who were in danger from death at Godās hand in Egypt, but ONLY the firstborn sons. So a special nighttime meal was adopted whereby this meal would be eaten and then there would be a 24 hour fast that followedā¦ā¦thus the name ālast supperā. The next meal to be eaten was the Passover meal after theĀ 14th had passed and the start of the 15th of Nisan was just beginning.
It isĀ at the start of theĀ 14th day of Nisan at thisĀ seudah maphsehket that Yeshua says to commemorate this day by drinking wine that symbolizes His blood that establishes the New Covenant, and by eating unleavened bread that symbolizes His body.
After having the last supper, the next event is that Judas betrays Him and shortly after midnightĀ Yehshua is arrested. It is stillĀ The Preparation day. In the wee hours a little before sunrise, He is tried and convicted of blasphemy by the Sanhedrin. It is stillĀ Preparation Day. After the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, confirms his death sentenceĀ Yehshua is scourged and then nailed toĀ the tree by Roman soldiers. It is stillĀ The Preparation Day, Wednesday, Nisan 14, 31 C.E.
When Yehshua dies at 3 pm in the afternoon on this Preparation Day, it is the exact same time the slaughter of the Passover Lambs begins in the Temple grounds. Somewhere around Ā¼ million sheep will be killed and their blood collected between the hours of 3 pm and 6 pm. It is stillĀ Preparation Day because the sun has not yet set and after sunset then the Passover meals are eaten with these lambs which have just been killed and roasted in the Temple area.
The Fast of the First Born
Letās understandĀ one thing very clearly: The final meal Yeshua had with his disciples was NOT THE PASSOVER! The Passover was very plainly not yet come. John, in describing this final meal Yeshua had with his disciples, said, āNow BEFORE the feast of the Passoverā (John 13:1). He plainly shows this meal or banquet was BEFORE the true Passover, which was scheduled to be eaten and observed the next night, Nisan 15 (John 18:18). The next day the Jews would still be āpreparingā for the Passover (John 19:14, 31). Therefore, what exactly WAS this ālast mealā?
What few have realized, not being familiar with Jewish customs of the time of Yeshua, is that this meal could not have been the Passover, since Passover lambs would not be slain until the following afternoon, and then eaten in the homes of the Jews on the night of the actual āPassoverā ā when YEHOVAH God slew the firstborn in the land of Egypt and āpassed overā the Israelites ā Nisan 15. Yet obviously, this final meal was very important ā a meal of close fellowship and spiritual significance.
A Jewish Look at the Last Supper
Says David H. Stern, in theĀ Jewish New Testament Commentary:
āThe Last Supper is considered by most scholars to have been a Passover meal or Seder. Many Pesach themes are deepened, reinforced and given new levels of meaning by events in the life of Yeshua the Messiah and by his words on this night. However, Joseph Shulam has suggested that it may not have been the Seder but aĀ seāudat-mitzvah, the CELEBRATORY āBANQUET accompanying performance of a commandmentā such as a wedding orĀ bā rit-milah.
āHere is the background for his argument. When a rabbi and his students finish studying a tractate of the Talmud, they celebrate with aĀ seāudat-mitzvahĀ (also called aĀ seāudat-siyum, ābanquet of completion,ā i.e., graduation). The Fast of the Firstborn, expressing gratitude for the saving of Israelās firstborn sons from the tenth plague, has been prescribed for the day before Pesach, Nisan 14, at least since Mishnaic times. When it is necessary to eat aĀ seāudat-mitzvah, this takes precedence over a fast. With a modicum of foresight a rabbi can plan to complete a tractate on Nisan 14 and thus avoid having to fast; doing so is not construed as cheating, and in fact it has become the custom. āThe tradition of the Fast of the Firstborn dates at least from Mishanic times. But, Shulam reasons, if it goes back a couple of centuries more to the time of Yeshua, and if theĀ siāudat siyumĀ custom applied in the first century to the completing of any course of study, then Yeshua might have arranged to have himself and his talmidim [students, disciples] finish reading a book of the Tanakh on Nisan 14. Or, since Yeshua knew he was going to die, he may have regarded it as appropriate to complete his disciplesā earthly ācourse of studyā with a BANQUET. This solution would also resolve the perceived conflict between Yochanan [John] and the Synoptic Gospels over the timing of the Last SupperāĀ JNT, p. 77).
In other words, there is much more to this passage in I Corinthians 11, and its meaning, than we have supposed. Although there is no doubt that Yeshua the Messiah presented the new meanings of the bread and the wine as representing his broken body and shed blood, given on our behalf, at the last supper, and that these symbols are directly involved in the Passover Seder, held on Nisan 15, it is also a fact that this final meal was ONE DAY before the Passover. It is also a fact that Yeshua did not tell his disciples that they should institute a NEW COMMANDMENT, or a new āholy day,ā and begin observing Nisan 14, at the eve, as a memorial of this ālast supper.ā However, he was having a āfinal banquetā with them ā a special and unique āfellowship mealā with them, where all were relaxed, reclining, at ease, and experiencing a very close oneness with each other. This was similar to a Passover Seder in some respects ā but yet different.
The Greek Word āArtosā
Interestingly, when Yeshua held this final dinner with his disciples, the word John used to describe it wasĀ diepnon, which means āsupper, the principal meal, dinner.ā It is used of the last supper Yeshua held with his disciples, and other main meals of the day (see Mark 6:21; Luke 14:12, 16, 17, 24; 22:20; John 12:2; 13:21, 4; I Cor. 11:20-21; Rev. 19:9, 17). This word is NEVER used of an annual Festival, or of the Passover. However, it simply refers to the MAIN MEAL of the day, usually at evening.
Furthermore, at this final dinner or banquet, there is no mention of a lamb being eaten ā which would have been necessary if this were the Passover. The gospel accounts would hardly have neglected to mention such an important feature.
But even more interesting is the fact that Jewish custom of that time, and always, has dictated that UNLEAVENED BREAD was not to be eaten during the days before the FEAST of Unleavened Bread, so that the Feast would be set apart as distinct and real. For unleavened bread to have been eaten BEFORE the Festival would have diminished its importance during the Feast itself! Therefore, if Yeshua and his disciples had eaten āunleavened breadā on the night of Nisan 14, they would have violated Jewish custom and practice. It is very interesting, therefore, to notice that when Yeshua sat down at dinner, at that final meal with his disciples, āas they were eating, Yeshua took bread, and blessed it [many Greek copies have, āgave thanksā], and brake it, and gave to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my bodyā (Matt. 26:26). The word for ābreadā here isĀ artos, and means, ābread (as raised), a loaf.ā This same word is used in Matthew 4:3-4, āman does not live by bread alone,ā in Matthew 6:11, āour daily bread,ā and Matthew 16:12,āthe leaven of bread,ā etc. This word is often used of LEAVENED BREAD!
Generally, whenever UNLEAVENED bread is meant, this word is preceded by the Greek word for āunleavened,ā which isĀ azumos, meaning āunleavened, uncorrupted.ā But in the three synoptic gospel accounts of the last supper of Yeshua and his disciples, Matthew 26:26, Mark 14:22, Luke 22:19, the writers always use ONLY THE WORDĀ ARTOS, meaning BREAD ā without the modifying wordĀ azumosĀ to designate āunleavened.ā Therefore, the clear indication is that AT THE LAST SUPPER YESHUA USED NORMAL LEAVENED BREAD, when he blessed and broke it, and said, āTake, eat; this is my bodyā!
Here is further proof that this dinner was not and could not have been the PASSOVER!
The Real Bread at the āLast Supperā
Further proof that Yeshua and his disciples did NOT and could not have eaten the āPassover,ā with its unleavened bread, at the ālast supperā on the eve or beginning of Nisan 14, is plain and simple Jewish law (halakha) of the time. It is a historical fact that when the Scriptures use the expression ākept the Passoverā (Ezra 6:19) it refers strictly to the slaying of the Passover lamb, on the 14th of Nisan, whereas the expression āeat the Passoverā was fulfilled the coming evening of Nisan 15 which was the beginning of the eating of unleavened bread on āthe night to be much observed.ā The reason why this evening was called āthe night to be much observedā was because the Passover meal was always eaten as the first meal in the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Also, according to Jewish law of the times (halakha), it was absolutely forbidden to eat unleavened bread during the 24-hour period prior to the first night of Unleavened Bread! This was a distinction made by law to sanctify (set apart) the sacred meaning of the Feast from whatever they may have eaten for bread on the previous days. This means that Yeshua and the disciples could not have eaten unleavened bread the evening prior to the ānight to be much observedā!
Also, the gospels indicate that Yeshua was keeping the Fast of the Firstborn during the daylight hours of the crucifixion day ā this was a daytime fast observed by all firstborn Jews on the Preparation Day in remembrance of YEHOVAH God protecting the firstborn of Israel while killing the firstborn of Egypt; this also explains Yeshuaās remark in Matthew 26:29, āI will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Fatherās kingdom.ā Obviously, Yeshua did not drink any wine the following day. Furthermore, this explains why he refused to accept the vinegar mixed with gall mentioned in Matthew 27:34. The Hebrew text of Matthewās gospel written by the Spanish Jewish scholar Shem-Tov ben-Shaprut (c. 1380 A.D.) reads: āand gave him wine mixed with gall. But when he began to drink it he perceived and would not drink it.ā Yeshua must have remembered he was observing the Fast of the Firstborn. The Greek word for ātasteā used in this verse produced a false impression. Yeshua remembered before he drank and swallowed.
Clearly, then, the ābreadā which Yeshua broke and gave to his disciples during the beginning portion of Nisan 14, in the evening, at his final āsupperā with them, must have been and indeed was LEAVENED BREAD!
But can this be? Can leavened bread, as well as unleavened bread, represent the body of Yeshua the Messiah?
The answer is a resounding YES!
In Leviticus 23:17, regarding the feast of Pentecost, we read: āYe shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be BAKEN WITH LEAVEN; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.ā Leaven, in this case, certainly does not represent SIN, as nothing ācontaminatedā or āsinfulā could ever be offered to YEHOVAH God. To offer āsinsā to YEHOVAH would be sacrilegious ā blasphemy ā like offering swineās flesh (Isa. 66:3, 17).
Notice, therefore, what theĀ Jamieson, Faussett and Brown CommentaryĀ has to say on this passage in Leviticus 23:
āThese loaves were made of āfineā or wheaten flour, the quantity contained in them being somewhat more than ten pounds weight. As the wave-sheaf gave the signal for the commencement, the two loaves solemnized the termination of the harvest season. They were the first-fruits of that season, being offered unto the Lord by the priest in name of the whole nation (see on Exo. 34:22). The loaves used at the Passover were UNLEAVENED, those presented at Pentecost were LEAVENED ā a difference which is thus accounted for, ā that the one was a memorial of the bread hastily prepared at their departure, while the other was a TRIBUTE OF GRATITUDE TO GOD for their daily food, which was leavenedā¦ā (vol. 1, p.498).
However, even āleavened breadā is a TYPE of the body of the Messiah, and represents āhis fleshā which he gave for the sins of the world. To the Jews, unleavened or flat bread represented affliction and poverty, as when the Israelites came out of Egypt; but leavened loaves of bread, as were sacrificed at Pentecost to the Lord (Leviticus 23:17), typify ABUNDANCE, richness, wealth. The typology should be clear. The Messiah crucified was in affliction, flatness, abject, beaten, bruised, pierced, pummeled ā the perfect type being unleavened bread. The Messiah as the richness of the abundance of life, life-giving bread, is pictured by the leaves of beautiful, sweet-smelling leavened bread! Donāt all of us enjoy a beautiful loaf of home-made leavened whole wheat bread straight out of the oven steaming? Therefore, the richness of leavened bread also symbolizes Yeshua the Messiah, the ābread of life.ā Notice!
āThe BREAD of Lifeā
In John chapter 6, when Yeshua fed the multitude from a few loaves of bread and a few fishes, he declared,
āFor the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the worldā¦.I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believth on me shall never thirstā¦.
āI am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
āI am the LIVING BREAD which came down from heaven: if any man eat of THIS BREAD, he shall live forever: and the bread which I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the worldā¦.
āVerily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
āThis is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live foreverā (John 6:33-58).
Yeshua, then, is the ābread of life.ā This is a reality. This is not just Passover. Throughout the year, every day, day in and day out, Yeshua the Messiah remains and IS the ābread of lifeā which came down from heaven! We should be eating of this ābreadā DAILY as we study the Scriptures! Yeshua went on to declare:
āIt is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are lifeā (John 6:63).
Thus even regular bread is a type of the richness of the life-giving bread of Yeshua the Messiah! In this sense, the leaven represents fullness and abundance. True Christians, as members of the body of the Messiah, also are āone breadā IN the Messiah!
30 Pieces of Silver
Now with everything you have been shown thus far consider the following.
Zech 11:10-14Ā And I took my staff Favor, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples. So it was annulled on that day, and the sheep traders, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord. Then I said to them, āIf it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.ā And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. Then the Lord said to me, āThrow it to the potterāāthe lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter. Then I broke my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
In Mathew, we learn how Judas has agreed to betray Yehshua.
Mat 26:14-16Ā Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, āWhat will you give me if I deliver him over to you?ā And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.
Next, we read about the betrayal of Yehshua in John 13:21-30
After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, āTruly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.ā The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesusā side, so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, āLord, who is it?ā Jesus answered, āIt is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.ā So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, āWhat you are going to do, do quickly.ā Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, āBuy what we need for the feast,ā or that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.
We then read the rest of what Judus has done in Mat 27:3-10
Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, āI have sinned by betraying innocent blood.ā They said, āWhat is that to us? See to it yourself.ā And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself. But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, āIt is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.ā So they took counsel and bought with them the potterās field as a burial place for strangers. Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, āAnd they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, and they gave them for the potterās field, as the Lord directed me.ā
I will share next what is commonly said about this transaction and then share my thoughts on it.
InĀ ZechariahĀ 11:12ā13, 30 pieces of silverĀ is the priceĀ ZechariahĀ receives for his labour. He takes the coins and throws them āto the potterā.Ā Klaas SchilderĀ notes that Zechariahās payment indicates an assessment of his worth, as well as his dismissal.[18]Ā InĀ ExodusĀ 21:32, 30 pieces of silver was the price of a slave, so while Zechariah calls the amount a āhandsome priceā (Zechariah 11:13), this could beĀ sarcasm.Ā Barry Webb, however, regards it as a āconsiderable sum of money.ā[19]
Schilder suggests that these 30 pieces of silver then get ābandied back and forth by the Spirit of Prophecy.ā[20] When the chief priests decide to buy a field with the returned money, Matthew says that this fulfilled āwhat was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet.ā Namely, āThey took the thirty silver coins, the price set on him by the people of Israel, and they used them to buy the potterās field, as the Lord commanded meā (Matthew 27:9ā10). Although many scholars see Jeremiahās name as included in error,[21] Jeremiahās purchase of a field in Jeremiah 32 may indicate that both prophets are in mind.[22] Craig Blomberg argues that Matthew is using typology in his quotation, rather than āany kind of single or double fulfillment of actual predictive prophecy.ā According to Blomberg, Matthew is telling his readers that, ālike Jeremiah and Zechariah, Jesus attempts to lead his people with a prophetic and pastoral ministry, but instead he ends up suffering innocently at their hands.ā[23] William Hendriksen argues that Matthew is referring to Jeremiah 19.[24]
Blomberg also suggests that Matthew may also be saying that āJesusā death is a ransom, the price paid to secure a slaveās freedom,ā and that the use of theĀ blood moneyĀ to buy aĀ burial ground for foreignersĀ (Matthew 27:7) may hint at the idea that āJesusā death makes salvation possible for all the peoples of the world, including theĀ Gentiles.ā[25]
The 1877 Handy Book for Bible Readers states that āArgurion, argenteus, denarius. This word occurs in two passagesā(A) the account of the betrayal of our Lord for āthirty pieces of silverā (Matt. xxvi. 15; xxvii. 3, 5, 6, 9). These have usually been considered to be denarii, but on no sufficient ground. The parallel passage in Zechariah (xi. 12, 13), is translated āthirty [pieces] of silverā; but which should doubtless be read, āthirty shekels of silverā, whilst it is observable that āthirty shekels of silverā was the price of blood to be paid in the case of a servant accidentally killed (Exod. xxi. 32). The passage may therefore be explained as āthirty shekels of silverā, not surrent shekels, but tetradrachms of the Attic standard of the Greek cities of Syria and Phoencia. These tetradrachms were common at the time of our Lord, and of them the stater was a specimen.ā
Slave-Captives-Death-Redemption
There is something very special about this Fast of the First Born and the moneyĀ paid to redeem the firstborn. And then when we actually see it played out in real time at the crucifixion we should be able to draw understanding from it. But we do not because of so much confusion about the events and because we have not obeyed for over 2700 years. So we have lost much understanding.
Yehovah had to pay the ruler of this world, Satan the destroyer, for those whom Yehovah was redeeming the same as Hosea did forĀ 33-34 his adulterous wife whom he bought back.
The price of redeeming the firstborn was set at 5 shekels. The price for Gomer was equivalentĀ to about 10 shekels. The 30 Silver coins ā¦
The word used in Matthew 26:15Ā (???????,Ā argyria) simply means āsilver coins,ā[9]Ā and scholars disagree on the type of coins that would have been used.Ā Donald WisemanĀ suggests two possibilities. They could have beenĀ tetradrachmsĀ ofĀ Tyre, usually referred to asĀ Tyrian shekelsĀ (14 grams of 94% silver), orĀ statersĀ fromĀ AntiochĀ (15 grams of 75% silver), which bore the head ofĀ Augustus.[10]Ā Alternatively, they could have beenĀ PtolemaicĀ tetradrachms (13.5 Ā± 1 g of 25% silver).[11]There are 31.1035 grams per troy ounce. AtĀ spot valuationĀ of $17.06/oz (the closing price on Monday, December 12, 2016), 30 āpieces of silverā would be worth between $185 and $216 in present-day value (USD).
The Tyrian shekel weighed four AthenianĀ drachmas, about 14Ā grams, more than earlier 11-gram Israeli shekels, but was regarded as the equivalent for religious duties at that time.[12]Ā Because Roman coinage was only 80%Ā silver, the purer (94% or more) Tyrian shekels were required to pay theĀ temple taxĀ in Jerusalem. The money changers referenced in the New Testament Gospels (Matt. 21:12 and parallels) exchanged Tyrian shekels for common Roman currency.[13][14]
I am trying to say that the redemption price is connected to the 30 pieces of Silver. Exactly how I will leave for you to ponder.
This day called theĀ Fast of the firstborn is directly connected to the Fast of the Day of Atonement. As we showed you last week, the goat that represented Yehovah was killed on the Day of Atonement. This is the sacrifice that shows us we will be killing Yehovah. We were to kill the goat that representedĀ Him, the same as we were to take the other goat, that looks just like the one that represents Yehovah, and cast it into the wilderness with all the guilt from our sins placed upon it. This Goat represented Satan the destroyer.
So because of these two Holy Days are connected in that the lamb that is killed also represents Yehovah at Atonement, so we are to fast at this time. It is the Fast of the Firstborn.
But although we have the symbolism here in the redemption of the firstborn, and we have it already stated that the 30 pieces of silver were to be used to buy the potters field as graves for the strangers. It has been stated that this field represents the rest of the gentile world.
Now let us go back once again to Genesis 15.
Gen 15:17-21 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, āTo your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.ā
Yehovah made this blood covenant by Himself. He swore by His own life. There is no higher authorityĀ than He.
Then at Mount Sinai Yehovah again reaffirms this covenant with all of Israel whom He had just bought with the lives of the Egyptians from the destroyer. In ExodusĀ starting in chapterĀ 19 and going all the way toĀ 34 is the covenant with all of Israel and we all agreed to obey it. Now, this too was a blood covenant which means that if eitherĀ partyĀ breaks those things they have agreed to in it then they would pay with their lives.
Israel did break this agreement and is guilty of sin and thus must pay for this with theirĀ lives.
But Yehovah has shown us just how much He loved Israel and not just Israel, but all of mankind, by giving His own life as payment for us breaking the covenant of Mount Sinai.
He has redeemed us with His own blood. The redemption price of the firstborn as shown to us each time we keep theĀ Pidyon Haābon and again each year we keep the last supper not as the
Passover meal which is the next night but as this special night in which He paid for us on this day by His own blood.
We know this is what He did because of the fact that the dead who were held prisoners by Satan up until that time had not and had never come back to life from the grave until Yehshua came out of the grave at the end of the Sabbath.
This is the first time other than Lazarus, that anyone has come out of the grave.
Mat 27:50-53 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.
And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
This was the first chag of Unleavened Bread. It is the first wave offering and it is the first time any of the Saints were brought back to life.
Paul tells us how Yehshua led the captives.
Eph 4:8 Therefore it says,
āWhen he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.ā
1 Cor 15:20-26 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
This event that took place after the payment had been executed is the redemption of mankind from the grave. It took place on the wave sheaf day. It is what the wave sheaf represents. Those Saints who obeyed were brought back to life on wave sheaf day. All of those from the time of Adam until this day in 31 C.E. were brought back to life and then ascended to heaven at 9 AM that Sunday morning with Yehshua.
Those captives were those who were held by Satan in death. They are now free and ascended with Yehshua to heaven.
The next wave offering to take place happens at the end of the tribulation on Shavuot when the next wave offering of two loafs of bread are waved. This is the one that all those since 31 C.E. until that time who have died and even those who are alive will be brought back to life and or changed in the twinkling of an eye and rise to meet Him in the air.
1 Cor 15:50-57 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
āDeath is swallowed up in victory.ā
āO death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?ā
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Again death is captivity and captivity means to be a captive of Satan. What is to be thrown into the lake of fire in the end?
Rev 20:11-15Ā Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyoneās name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Rev 20:4-6 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
I do hope I have been able to convey this new to me and some of you, understanding. I hope you can see the Great and mightiness of Yehovah in everything He is doing. Yehovah is our redeemer and Yehovah is the one who paid the redemption price with His own blood for us and for all mankind.
Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.
Isaiah 41:14 āDo not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel; I will help you,ā declares the LORD, āand your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
Jeremiah 50:34 āTheir Redeemer is strong, the LORD of hosts is His name; He will vigorously plead their case So that He may bring rest to the earth, But turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.
Amos 4:13 For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind And declares to man what are His thoughts, He who makes dawn into darkness And treads on the high places of the earth, The LORD God of hosts is His name.
Isa 43:14-15 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: āFor your sake I send to Babylon and bring them all down as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.
I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.āIsa 44:6 Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: āI am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.
Isa 49:26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine. Then all flesh shall know that I am the Lord your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.ā
Look at this verse above again and note what it is saying to you. āI am Yehovah Yehshua and your Redeemer, the mighty one of Jacobā.
Isa 54:5 For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called.
Isa 43:3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
Let me show you this scripture in the Hebrew. And I want you to think on it some over this coming week.
Isa 43:3 For I am Yehovah, the Holy One of Israel, your Yehshua. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you..
Jer 31:10-11 āHear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, āHe who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.ā
For the Lord has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
Jer 50:33-34 āThus says the Lord of hosts: The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah with them. All who took them captive have held them fast; they refuse to let them go. Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is his name. He will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon..
The First and Second Trumpet
The First and Second Trumpet
I wanted to update you all as to what it is I am watching for and why. I am including the scriptures again so you can read them as well.
Rev 6:9Ā And when He had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony which they held.
Rev 6:10Ā And they cried with a loud voice, saying, Until when, Master, holy and true, do You not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?
Rev 6:11Ā And white robes were given to each one of them. And it was said to them that they should rest yet for a little time, until both their fellow servants and their brothers (those about to be killed as they were ) should have their number made complete.
This 5th seal, I believe, is also spoken of in Matthew 24, starting in verse 9. Everything Yehshua said up to the point is happening right now all around us. Wars and rumours of wars. Again, these are the first four horsemen of Revelation 6. But then the 5th seal and Matthew 24:9 talk about the Saints being delivered up to be afflicted and killed. You are witnessing this in the massive pro-Palestinian protests around the world in support of Hamas.
They are soon going to turn upon us, and then you will see brethren turn against brethren.
Signs of the End of the Age
Mat 24:3Ā And as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the world?
Mat 24:4Ā And Jesus answered and said to them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
Mat 24:5Ā For many will come in My name, saying, I am Christ, and will deceive many.
Mat 24:6Ā And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled, for all these things must occur; but the end is not yet.
Mat 24:7Ā For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in different places.
Mat 24:8Ā All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Mat 24:9Ā Then they will deliver you up to be afflicted and will kill you. And you will be hated of all nations for My name’s sake.
Mat 24:10Ā And then many will be offended, and will betray one another, and will hate one another.
Mat 24:11Ā And many false prophets will rise and deceive many.
Mat 24:12Ā And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many will become cold.
Mat 24:13Ā But he who endures to the end, the same shall be kept safe.
Mat 24:14Ā And this gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the world as a witness to all nations. And then the end shall come.
The Abomination of Desolation
Mat 24:15Ā Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand).
Mat 24:16Ā Then let those in Judea flee into the mountains.
Mat 24:17Ā Let him on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house;
Mat 24:18Ā nor let him in the field turn back to take his clothes.
Mat 24:19Ā And woe to those who are with child, and to those who give suck in those days!
Mat 24:20Ā But pray that your flight is not in the winter, nor on the sabbath day;
Mat 24:21Ā for then shall be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world to this time; no, nor ever shall be.
Mat 24:22Ā And unless those days should be shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the elect’s sake, those days shall be shortened.
Mat 24:23Ā Then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ! Or, There! Do not believe it.
Mat 24:24Ā For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders; so much so that, if it were possible, they would deceive even the elect.
Mat 24:25Ā Behold, I have told you beforehand.
Mat 24:26Ā Therefore if they shall say to you, Behold, He is in the desert! Do not go out. Behold, He is in the secret rooms! Do not believe it.
Mat 24:27Ā For as the lightning comes out of the east and shines even to the west, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man.
Mat 24:28Ā For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered.
We have seen the first abomination take place on Oct 7, 2023. We are expecting three more on March 31, April 8 and July 9, 2024.
2024 is also the first year of the final 10 Days of Awe or 10 year of Awe. 2024 is also when the 10 Virgins are to wake up at about the same time. What is that major event that is going to cause them all to sit and take notice? I feel it is told to us in Revelation 6:12-17. When this event happens then the world is praying for the rocks to fall on them and hide them from the Son of Man who comes in the Feast of Trumpets. Then the 5 foolish realize they are lacking in knowing who Yehovah is.
To me, verse 12 sounds like a nuclear explosion. Iran is about to have this type of armament ready to use. Verse 13 would take place before the figs are ripe at the fall feast days so sometime in the summer. A mighty wind is again an effect caused by the nuclear device.
Rev 6:12Ā And when He had opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake. And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood.
Rev 6:13Ā And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, even as a fig tree casts her untimely figs when she is shaken by a mighty wind.
Rev 6:14Ā And the heaven departed like a scroll when it is rolled together. And every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Rev 6:15Ā And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains.
Rev 6:16Ā And they said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him sitting on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;
Rev 6:17Ā for the great day of His wrath has come, and who will be able to stand?
I expect this nuclear explosion to take place before the Trumpets are sounded.
The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer
Rev 8:1Ā And when He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in Heaven for about half an hour.
Rev 8:2Ā And I saw the seven angels who stood before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
Rev 8:3Ā And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer. And many incenses were given to him, so that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints on the golden altar before the throne.
Rev 8:4Ā And the smoke of the incense which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God from the angel’s hand.
Rev 8:5Ā And the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar, and cast it into the earth. And voices and thunderings and lightnings and an earthquake occurred.
The Seven Trumpets
Rev 8:6Ā And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
Rev 8:7Ā The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mixed with blood, and they were cast on the earth. And the third part of trees was burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
I also believe the 7 trumpets go in each of the years during this Sabbatical Cycle from 2024 to 2030, with the final 7 vials or bowls during the final 3 1/2 years from 2030 to Atonement 2033.
We all need to be praying and repenting which is the purpose of the Selichot prayers we have shown you this week.Ā Revelation 8:7 tells us about the earth burning up. 1/3 of the trees and all the grass along with hail and lightning.
But with these 7 Trumpets, we must also remember the first 7 plagues in Egypt. Yehovah destroyed one of the gods of Egypt with each plague. The first god was the god of the Nile and it was turned to blood. What would that look like today? I believe it is the rivers of this earth, or 1/3 of this earth’s rivers drying up from the excessive heat and becoming stagnant or as thick as blood.
World temperatures are already higher than in 2023, which shattered all previous records. Snowpack in western Canada is down, with many ski slopes closing down in February with no snowpack. British Columbia is already declaring drought conditions in some areas. South America is suffering from wildfires and drought as well as Australia. This is playing directly towards the first trumpet plague of severe heat.
Even as these things are happening, things are gearing up for the 2nd trumpet plague, which I believe takes place or starts to take place in 2025, which is just 9 months from now. Who is that Great Mountain?
Rev 8:8Ā And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea. And the third part of the sea became blood.
Rev 8:9Ā And the third part of the creatures in the sea, those having souls, died; and the third part of the ships was destroyed.
Israel is the Mountain of Yehovah and is above all other nations.
The Mountain of the Lord
Isa 2:1Ā The Word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
Isa 2:2Ā And it shall be, in the last days the mountain of Jehovah’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow into it.
Isa 2:3Ā And many people shall go and say, Come, and let us go to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob. And He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths. For out of Zion shall go out the Law, and the Word of Jehovah from Jerusalem.
Isa 2:4Ā And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Isa 2:5Ā O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of Jehovah.
Israel, this great Mountain, is about to be cast into the sea. The Sea in prophecy are people.
Rev 17:15Ā And he says to me, The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues,
The USA is Israel, and they are electing a president in the fall of 2024, and he will take office in January 2025. Burning with fire tells me it is consumed in fighting. Either civil war or war from outside. But it does go down into the sea.
This week we are telling you to pray and repent before Yehovah while you have time. Revelation 8:4 tells us the censor from the altar and the incense are thrown onto the earth. We wrote of this a few weeks ago. We are watching…are you also watching? We were watching for something big in 2020 and then again in the fall of 2023. We informed you of these things long before they came to be. Are you watching now? May Your name be found in the Book of Life. This was the expression spoken between the Saints during the final 10 Days of Awe. May your Name be found in the Book of Life.
Gāmar hatima tova
Blessed are you Yehovah our Elohim, King of the universe, who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to hear the sound of the Shofar.
Rev 2:7Ā He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat of the Tree of Life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Rev 2:11Ā He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.
Rev 2:17Ā He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give to him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knows except he who receives it.
Rev 2:29Ā He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Rev 3:6Ā He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Rev 3:13Ā He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Rev 3:22Ā He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Are you listening? Are you watching? Will your name be found in the Book of Life?
Rev 20:12Ā And I saw the dead, the small and the great, stand before God. And books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
The River of Life
Rev 22:1Ā And he showed me a pure river of Water of Life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Rev 22:2Ā In the midst of its street, and of the river, from here and from there, was the Tree of Life, which bore twelve fruits, each yielding its fruit according to one month. And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Rev 22:3Ā And every curse will no longer be; but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will serve Him.
Rev 22:4Ā And they will see His face, and His name will be in their foreheads.
Rev 22:5Ā And there will be no night there. And they need no lamp, or light of the sun; for the Lord God gives them light. And they will reign forever and ever.
Jesus Is Coming
Rev 22:6Ā And he said to me, These sayings are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show to His servants the things which must shortly be done.
Rev 22:7Ā Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the Words of the prophecy of this Book.
Rev 22:8Ā And I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel showing me these things.
Rev 22:9Ā Then he said to me, Behold! See, do not do it! For I am your fellow-servant, and of your brothers the prophets, and of those who keep the Words of this Book. Do worship to God.
Rev 22:10Ā And he said to me, Do not seal the Words of the prophecy of this Book; for the time is at hand.
Rev 22:11Ā He acting unjustly, let him still act unjustly. And the filthy, let him be filthy still. And the righteous, let him be righteous still. And the holy, let him be holy still.
Rev 22:12Ā And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to each according as his work is.
Rev 22:13Ā I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, the First and the Last.
Rev 22:14Ā Blessed are they who do His commandments, that their authority will be over the Tree of Life, and they may enter in by the gates into the city.
Rev 22:15Ā But outside are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and makes a lie.
Rev 22:16Ā I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify these things to you over the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright and Morning Star.
Rev 22:17Ā And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let the one hearing say, Come! And let the one who is thirsty come. And he willing, let him take of the Water of Life freely.
Rev 22:18Ā For I testify together to everyone who hears the Words of the prophecy of this Book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add on him the plagues that have been written in this Book.
Rev 22:19Ā And if anyone takes away from the Words of the Book of this prophecy, God will take away his part out of the Book of Life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which have been written in this Book.
Rev 22:20Ā He who testifies these things says, Yes, I am coming quickly, Amen. Yes, come, Lord Jesus.
Rev 22:21Ā The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you. Amen.
Thank You Joseph for another NewsLetter full of insights and information. We are all waiting for the Barley report.
I have been giving WARNINGS TO THE PEOPLE TO PREPARE FOR THE COMING YEARS
But nobody is listening to my WARNINGS – And there is a reason for this.
Jesus Christ gives us the answer to this, as written by John 8:43 Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. John 12:38 that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT? AND TO WHOM HAS THE ARM OF THE LORD BEEN REVEALED?” John 12:39 Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:
John 12:40 “HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND HARDENED THEIR HEARTS, LEST THEY SHOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, LEST THEY SHOULD UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEARTS AND TURN, SO THAT I SHOULD HEAL THEM.”
I will keep WARNING YOU, THAT IN THE COMING FEW YEARS – Out of each 100 people, only 10 people out of the 100, will stay alive, from what it is prophesied to happen, as written by the prophet Isaiah, as I will explain to you. Please consider, that the mouth of God is warning you, to prepare yourselves, to what you are going to experience shortly. I don’t like to see all the billions of the present population, to disappear from this earth.
Isaiah was chosen to give the same WARNING, that I am passing on to you at this present time. as written in, Isaiah 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” Isaiah 6:9 And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Isaiah 6:10 “Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed.” Isaiah 6:11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered: “Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, The houses are without a man, The land is utterly desolate, Isaiah 6:12 The LORD has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. Isaiah 6:13 But yet a tenth will be in it, And will return and be for consuming, As a terebinth tree or as an oak, Whose stump remains when it is cut down. So the holy seed shall be its stump.”
Imagine a large tree being cut down, with only a stump left, in the ground. This is showing how, VERY FEW PEOPLE are going to be left alive, in the coming years. And from this we learn that this WARNING MESSAGE, will keep thundering, Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, The houses are without a man, The land is utterly desolate.
Dear Joseph, I am puzzled that you say we need to pray our name is in the book of life.
When Yeshua said, he who believes in me is not condemned. To be condemned, your name is not in the book of life!
Repentance starts at that first meeting with Father and placing your trust in Yeshua. From that time forth it is keeping the commandments and producing good fruit.
I was completely broken in seeing my sin the night I came to God and unbeknown to me at the time, he completely cleansed my filthy swearing mouth. It was my teenaged daughter that told me I no longer swore.
Abba gave me that night the gift of the Ruach and I constantly seek his correction in my life.
So, as I said, your statement is very puzzling, needing to pray to be in the book of life?
Moses, was guaranteed his place in the book, because he pleaded for the rebellion of Israel and asked his name be blotted out.
Shalom brethren
Well, I was hoping to see an end to the wait-and-see game of whether to do Feasts this lunar cycle or next All I can do is laugh it off. I don’t think Abba wants to take pressure off us. He is molding a people to turn on His command.
Doesn’t matter really because we watching. If we make a mistake the land will witness to us that we erred and no matter how the year begins there sure be those who disagree with us
So be it Father YeHoVaH
My love out to the brethren from NS Canada
Fasting from Sleep
(Pre-Passover Vigil:
Watch and Pray)
Exodus 12:42
It was a night of vigil in honor of the LORD, because he would bring them out of the land of Egypt. This same night is in honor of the LORD, a night vigil for all the Israelites throughout their generations. CSB (JPS is similar, Koren uses watchfulness and watchnight in place of vigil and night vigil)
Matthew 26:36,38,40-41,43,45,53-54,56
Mark 14:32,34,37-38,40-41
Luke 21:40,43-44,45-46
John 18:1,6
Our Redeemer draws nigh!
King James in the 1800s changed the word Torah to Law, so by reading ,right there is a window for error of understanding and yet the bash religion. Pastors do not teach a personal relationship with Abba, Father. The connotation of words are there meanings are frequently miss used in English. The roots to Hebrew,Greek,bronze, copper and phoenosion albhabets linked to enochian. People read through scripture and seemed to be satisfied in church they make it feel like it’s on one accord. When it couldn’t be further,God help me,from the truth.
For example ,most don’t show gratitude or fortitude. They can’t see what someone else needs,only to there own time about there Business. I know what Yehovah has shown me on my journey and it led me to mourn for them. Abba has shown me the simple things he has given and His Love are sufficient. I Love him for taking the time to teach me,his Patience and Kind Loving Heart. Grace is forgiveness which he abudantly has given. The Lord Yehovah is calling,he’s standing at the door he’s waiting to fill all the seats on this journey. We’re all in it together. It’s so Sad so very Difficult to understand why,how,people can be so cruel. It’s a terrible place mentally at times but I know it was never meant to be easy.
Thank you for everything you do for Us. Blessings to you and your team. God be with you!!!
I just wanted to comment, that I appreciate these comments. I love the sheep. Thank you, on behalf of those who enjoy but don’t say so exactly — your lives, your seeking.
I don’t know if this is an appropriate thing to say, but I’m just celebrating all of your lives. I’m praying all that are sincerely seeking, find the answers you seek. Yehovah bless you and keep you, in Yeshua’s Name. Amen!
This time of year always has great newsletters. This might be one of the most timely and most informative. I had to go back and reread it
A few interviews back Mark Webb mentioned a study where it was revealed to him the 3 most common references to Abomination in the Bible refer to:
1. idolatry
2. homosexuality
3. non-kosher (animals)
To make āDesolateā can be understood as to āAbandonā or āFleeā
The above listed Abominations cause YHVH to Abandon or Flee the Temple (see Dan 11:31). We are understanding the temple to be the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19)
These things cause Yehovah to flee the temple:
1. idolatry
2. homosexuality
3. non-kosher (animals)
Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19)
Joe mentioned,
āWe have seen the first abomination take place on Oct 7, 2023.
We are expecting three more on:
March 31, April 8 and July 9, 2024.ā
October 7 was a Shemini Atzeret but keep in mind it was Hillel calendar*
This Prophecy was relevant to the location of Israel.
Going back to Oct. 7, 2023
1. Idolatry was present, a Buddha idol was at the center of the party that took place on Yehovahās wedding anniversary 8th Day Sukkot
2. LGBT: The Shemini Atzeret rave was not the Tel Aviv Pride parade but it would be statistically impossible that there were no LGBT community there
3. non-kosher. Yeah some of that (and not just food)
April 8
1. Idolatry. Nisan 1 is the forgotten Rosh Hashanah of the Jewish calendar. The massive celebration in Israel at Tishri 1 should be happening at Nisan 1. Nisan 1 is not a moedim but letās remember that this Spring in particular marks the start of the Day of the Lord 5860 to 6860 (spring 2024 to 3024) āa day is as 1000 yearsā¦ ā Iām looking for some sort of pagan Easter idolatry event around this time.
2. the biggest gay pride parade happening around that time is the Miami Beach Pride Week. Celebrate gay pride on the start of the day of the Lord. Letās see how that turns out
3.
Hillel Dates
April 8, 2024 to October 11, 2024
Nisan 1 to Yom Kippur is 186 days.
There are 365 days in a year.
Half a year is 182.5 days
*At this point I believe that the half an hour in Heaven is half a year on earth.* Beginning around the head of the biblical year & ending around Yom Kippur Hillel
In between that time itās gonna be hitting the fan.
If we are saying 6th seal begins around April 8 than the first 2 trumpets begin after Yom Kippur. If we are saying the 6th Seal is a nuke, Silence in heaven might mean war on earth. If we are saying 6th seal is nuclear, the first 2 trumpets could be volcanic activity.
The prayers of the saints in the form of incense on the coals at the altar take place at the Yom Kippur ritual (Rev 8:3-4).
The reason why the saints pray is probably because of the war going on leading up to that time
The 144,000 most loyal followers of Yah will probably be sealed this year before āharm is done to the earthā
July 9
first thing that comes to mind is Tisha Bāav
1. Inconclusive. Chabad website mentions Joshua stopping the sun on this day
2. one of the biggest pride parades in Europe 1.2 million spectators takes place in Cologne Germany from July 6-21 according to colognepride website.
Both July 9 and Tisha Bāav fit into this time frame according to torahcalendar website
3. Probably a good time to skip the pork schnitzel
*Israelās national calendar is Hillel, the global elites follow Hillel. We all expect future prophecy to line up with moedim, I believe it will be sometimes lined up with Aviv & sometimes Hillel.
But yes I do believe if we are to follow YHVH as closely as possible we are to observe the month of Aviv (Deu 16:1) I follow Aviv calendar for the moedim
Letās be reminded to completely avoid pagan activities ESPECIALLY if they line up with Yehovahās Moedim. You will not be spared if you commit adultery on Yehovahās anniversary as we learned on October 7, 2023. Stay away from them Catholic fiestas, gay parades, and quit eating pork bacon