News Letter 5847-011
24th day of the 2nd month 5847 years after the creation of Adam
The 35st day of the Counting of the Omer
The 2nd Month in the Second year of the third Sabbatical Cycle
The Third Sabbatical Cycle of the 119th Jubilee Cycle
The Sabbatical Cycle of Earthquakes Famines, and Pestilences.

May 21, 2011

Shabbat Shalom Brethren,

Over the past year I have had a few lively discussions with a person on FB. Recently she sent me a video of a fund raising project she is involved in and I would like to share it with you all and mostly to the many readers in Britain to whom this would mostly apply to.

Julie Brooks was in need of being rescued last November and it was captured on film which you can watch at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDUOeadgVWc

Julie is now going to run in this fundraising project and you can make a donation at this link to support her cause and the RNLI. http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=tenbylifeboatrunners

I do not share fund raisings on this News Letter, but for some reason I found this one of importance. Perhaps my Newfy Background which is from a long line of fishermen from Newfoundland. Anyway this one touched a nerve and I am sharing it.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/devastating-pictures-of-the-joplin-missouri-torna
Here are some of the devastating pictures from Joplin Missouri this past Monday. You should read the comments at the bottom too. So many do not think God would send such a disaster and kill so many. These are all good people everyone thinks.

Here also is a recording of some people in a store when the tornado hit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cQnvxJZucds#at=203 You will hear one woman call repeatedly on the name of Jesus to save her.

Brethren we all have a job to do. We must tell people that if they do not return to Yehovah and begin to keep His Torah which includes the Sabbath, the Holy Days as found in Lev 23 and the Sabbatical years, then they too will have a time when they will be in great trouble and terror and no matter what name they call on or what prayers they say, the Creator of all things who has made the rules and the punishments for not obeying them, is going to say to them, I never knew you.

If you want to be found doing the will of the Father then you must keep the commandments. It is that plain and that simple. Don’t keep them and you will see more disasters like Joplin and worst to come. Read Lev 26 and understand what He has promised to send on those who will not keep His Torah. Then look at Joplin, and Texas, and the flooding of the Mississippi and in Quebec and Manitoba and the wild fires of Slave Lake. Look at the severe drought in China and the severe weather in Australia last year and then think about what it says in Lev 26. Consider what Yehovah says in Amos 4; it is He whos ends these things.

Last week on May 21 was to be the rapture according to Harold Camping of http://www.familyradio.com/ which on last Shabbat was off the air. At least I could not get it online. You can read Harold’s declaration at http://www.familyradio.com/graphical/literature/judgment/judgment.html

It was while I was poking fun at this group last week that a light went off inside of me. You can read how much Harold spent and how he was able to get his message out to the entire world this past week at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/20/eveningnews/main20064856.shtml

When I compare that to the message I am teaching about the Sabbatical years and The Prophecies of Abraham which anyone can learn by reading the bible I am greatly saddened. Here is a guy who does not keep the Sabbath or the Holy Days or the Sabbatical years. Who does not keep the law and yet has a million dollar radio station with millions to spend on this false notion of the end of the world based on a grossly miscalculated time from Noah to the present. He has millions of dollars to promote this false teaching and has done so around the world.

Even though The Prophecies of Abraham is still in the top five of book sales at Author house http://www.authorhouse.co.uk/ah_Templates/Bookstore-home.aspx?id=2682&LangType=2057 and the DVD about the Chronological Order of Prophecy in the Jubilee is still in the top six sellers at The Prophecy Club http://www9.mailordercentral.com/tpcbookstore/ we have only reached thousands at the most and nowhere close to the millions that need to hear this teaching.

The News Letter does go out to just under 10,000 each week and is reposted to many other sites which I have lost count of. We have had over 1,089,138 hits to the web site since July of 2006 and still this is not enough.

Harold Camping says the rapture was to happen last Shabbat on May 21, 2011. To learn more about the rapture you can read this:

• Newsletter 5846-017    The Rapture and Left Behind Lie Unveiled

I tried to contact Mr. Camping many times but to no avail. If any of you are able to contact Harold, please tell him about The Prophecies of Abraham and have him contact me so I can share this message with the many thousands of his bewildered follows.

I am frustrated Brethren. I know this message of the Sabbatical and Jubilee years is true and those of you who have read it also think so. This message of the Sabbatical years and how history repeats itself according to the Sabbatical cycles and the curses of Lev 26 has been shown to you and you have seen it come true in just the short few years we have been teaching this.

For those who are new you can order the video at sightedmoon.com or watch it online at: “The Prophesies of Abraham” and you can order The Prophecies of Abraham at http://www.authorhouse.com/BookStore/BookDetail.aspx?Book=286642

We have been asking for donations for the Farm project in Israel based on the Sabbatical cycles and the coming food shortage. Yet we do not have enough yet to bid on a farm. I have needed help to finance the many books I have given away and have received very little for this cause. I have asked for help so we could advertise the book and DVD on the radio. I have spent thousands of my own money on advertising campaigns. But very few have stepped up to help and to do so on a consistent basis.

I have been reaching people one at a time on FB and showing them the importance of keeping the Sabbath and Holy Days and Sabbatical years. We need to reach thousands and to have orders for thousand of DVD’s and books every day. Not for the sake of sales but for the sake of the message of the Sabbatical and Jubilee years and how they show you the end time chronology in great detail using your own bible.

I do not know how to make this happen. I do not know how to market this so that it is spoken of in the newspapers and on the nightly news as Harold Camping has done with his erroneous message. Look at what people are doing with Harold’s message. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1363837/Doomsday-campers-Project-Caravan-say-world-end-May-21.html

There are people on FB who are telling others about The Prophecies of Abraham and doing so every chance they get. Thank you. And there are others who have proven the Sabbatical cycles and they too are teaching others one at a time. Again thank you.
But we need to be reaching the millions just as Harold has done only not so that they can mock us, but right now we are only reaching one at a time and not hundreds or thousands. Time is running out and we all need to consider this. We need to reach the millions and we need to do it soon. Yes I know this is all Yehovah’s work and His timing. I know this. But it says in Ezekiel that when we see danger we have to warn the people of the coming danger? Have we done all we could do to warn them? I ask each of you to pray about this and not to stop until everyone is talking about the Sabbatical and Jubilee year and the Holy Days of Lev 23. Please pray about this.

So what is the importance of what Harold is speaking about? The rapture of May 21 did not happen but the day of Noah’s flood, he did get that right; it was the 17th day of the second month which was May 21. But did you notice the October 21st date? In the article from England http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1363837/Doomsday-campers-Project-Caravan-say-world-end-May-21.html they said that ‘Those who believe in Jesus will be carried into heaven, while the rest of humanity will endure 153 days of ‘death and horror’ before the world ends on October 21.’

Are you aware that October 21 comes at the end of The Feast of Tabernacles this year? Why is any of this of interest?

In The Prophecies of Abraham on page 160 you are shown how Satan is going to deceive the whole world and if possible even the elect. Somehow Satan must make the end of this age look like it is happening in order for this deception to have any legitimacy.

2Th 2:9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power and signs and wonders of falsehood, 10 and with all deceit of unrighteousness in those perishing, because they did not receive the love of the truth, in order for them to be saved. 11 And for this reason Elohim sends them a working of delusion, for them to believe the falsehood,1 Footnote: 1Eze. 20:25, John 9:39, John 12:40, Acts 7:42, Rom. 1:24-28. 12 in order that all should be judged who did not believe the truth, but have delighted in the unrighteousness.

In most cases, Christianity believes that in the end the Jews will get a big time whipping because they did not believe in Jesus.

The Christians believe the Jews are Israel.

When we look at the Sabbatical cycles we see that in history Judah fell in 586 BC which was the third year of the second Sabbatical cycle. It was in the fourth year of this same third sabbatical cycle when the King of the North in Abraham’s day came and captured Sodom which is another name for Jerusalem. We are in the third Sabbatical cycle now. The third year which matches the year when Judah fell is 2012 CE, and the year that matches when the king of the north comes is in our time 2013 CE.

In the News all this winter we have watch Arab nation one after another stand up and march on mass against the ruling governments of each nation. Some toppled and others were massacred as they are today in Syria. Then on Nabka day on the Lebanese border and Syrian Border and Gaza border the Palestinians tried to have a mass march on Israel. There were also riots in East Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. They were prevented from approaching the border in Jordan by the Jordanian police forces.

Many of those who keep the Torah, the Messianics, believe that the end comes in 2017 and they have based this on the erroneous teachings of Daniel’s timeline. So they go back in time by 3 ½ years to come to the spring of 2013.

So do you see what is happening? The Harold Camping group believes the end is in October 21 2011. The world will see Jerusalem surrounded by Arabs in 2012 and then by Armies from the North in 2013. Many will then think this is the beginning of the last 3 ½ years and watch as Judah gets abused and taken over by NATO forces. To make peace in the area the Pope will make Jerusalem an international city and he will set up shop, there at some point during this time.

Now add to this the blood moons that are to come on high Days of Passover and Sukkot in 2014 and 2015 and we have a super hyped up crowd who will be looking for the messiah at the end of this Sabbatical cycle in around 2017. They will know about Joel’s blood moons in Joel 2:30 “And I shall give signs in the heavens and upon the earth: blood and fire and columns of smoke, 31 the sun is turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of ????.

They will not understand all of the bible, but they will know just enough to be dangerous. And they like the camping group will believe with their whole hearts that they are very close.

But the deception is like being in a boxing match. You are completely focused on the annoying and repetitive jabs that keep coming directly to your face, that you are completely caught off guard when the clubhouse comes around. That clubhouse is when the USA is attacked and destroyed in 2020. That club house is when the Christian world is caught off guard in a terrorizing war when they expected to be raptured while the Jews were being persecuted.

Order The Prophecies of Abraham and read about this great deception that is being played out in front of you. It is on page 160-175 and 63-112 of the book. And please someone tell Mr Camping to read these things and talk to me.

Peter said in Act 3:22 “For Moshe truly said to the fathers, ‘???? your Elohim shall raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brothers. Him you shall hear according to all matters, whatever He says to you. 23 ‘And it shall be that every being who does not hear that Prophet1 shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ Footnote: 1Deut. 18:18-20.

Peter was speaking of Yehshua; but this also speaks of Malachi.

Mal 4:5 “See, I am sending you ?liyah1 the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of ????. Footnote: 1Lk. 1:17. 6 “And he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with utter destruction1.” Footnote: 1Zech. 14:11.

Look at this verse closer.
The word turn here is H7725 ????? shu?b shoob (In other words repent and return to what we used to do; that is keeping Torah)

A primitive root; to turn back (hence, away) transitively or intransitively, literally or figuratively (not necessarily with the idea of return to the starting point); generally to retreat; often adverbially again: – ([break, build, circumcise, dig, do anything, do evil, feed, lay down, lie down, lodge, make, rejoice, send, take, weep]) X again, (cause to) answer (+ again), X in any case (wise), X at all, averse, bring (again, back, home again), call [to mind], carry again (back), cease, X certainly, come again (back) X consider, + continually, convert, deliver (again), + deny, draw back, fetch home again, X fro, get [oneself] (back) again, X give (again), go again (back, home), [go] out, hinder, let, [see] more, X needs, be past, X pay, pervert, pull in again, put (again, up again), recall, recompense, recover, refresh, relieve, render (again), X repent, requite, rescue, restore, retrieve, (cause to, make to) return, reverse, reward, + say nay, send back, set again, slide back, still, X surely, take back (off), (cause to, make to) turn (again, self again, away, back, back again, backward, from, off), withdraw.

The word for heart is H3820 ?? le?b labe
A form of H3824; the heart; also used (figuratively) very widely for the feelings, the will and even the intellect; likewise for the centre of anything: – + care for, comfortably, consent, X considered, courag [-eous], friend [-ly], ([broken-], [hard-], [merry-], [stiff-], [stout-], double) heart ([-ed]), X heed, X I, kindly, midst, mind (-ed), X regard ([-ed)], X themselves, X unawares, understanding, X well, willingly, wisdom.

Deu 6:5 “And you shall love ???? your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your being, and with all your might. 6 “And these Words which I am commanding you today shall be in your heart, 7 and you shall impress them upon your children, and shall speak of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up, 8 and shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 “And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Mat 22:36 “Teacher, which is the great command in the Torah?” 37 And ????? said to him, “ ‘You shall love ???? your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your being, and with all your mind.’ 38 “This is the first and great command.

The word for Father also sounds like Avi H1 ?? ‘a?b awb
A primitive word; father in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote application: – chief, (fore-) father ([-less]), X patrimony, principal. Compare names in “Abi-”

And then when we come to the children we have H1121 ??? be?n bane
From H1129; a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like H1, H251, etc.): – + afflicted, age, [Ahoh-] [Ammon-] [Hachmon-] [Lev-]ite, [anoint-]ed one, appointed to, (+) arrow, [Assyr-] [Babylon-] [Egypt-] [Grec-]ian, one born, bough, branch, breed, + (young) bullock, + (young) calf, X came up in, child, colt, X common, X corn, daughter, X of first, + firstborn, foal, + very fruitful, + postage, X in, + kid, + lamb, (+) man, meet, + mighty, + nephew, old, (+) people, + rebel, + robber, X servant born, X soldier, son, + spark, + steward, + stranger, X surely, them of, + tumultuous one, + valiant[-est], whelp, worthy, young (one), youth.

Mat 17:10 And His taught ones asked Him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that ?liyahu has to come first?” 11 And ????? answering, said to them, “?liyahu is indeed coming first, and shall restore all matters.1 Footnote:1See Mark 9:12 and Acts 3:21.

Elijah is going to turn the Children, us back to our Father in heaven. How? How is this to be done? He is going to teach us to keep the Sabbath, he is going to teach us to keep the Holy Days at the right time, He is going to teach us His name and he is going to teach us the Sabbatical years at the right time.

This restoration of all things spoken of in Mathew by Yehshua is taking place right now. Look at how many truths have come to our knowledge in the past few years. We are near the time of the end, as these truths we are now keeping, draw us closer to our Father than we have been for thousands of years.

This week I want to share with you the proof’s you need in order to know when the Sabbatical years were in the past and how to figure them out using Josephus and 1st and 2nd Maccabees.

What we have shared above is the perfect reason why you need to prove the Sabbatical years so that no one can come along and cause you to be unsure of the things you will learn by keeping them. And you need to prove them to yourself beyond all doubts so that you can keep the third year tithe next year and again in year 6; and then you will also in the 6th year, be able to stock up on food for the Sabbatical year in 2016-2017. You will also have to forgive any debts owed to you and to read the entire law to your group or family. But if you are not sure of the Sabbatical year you will not do any of these things.

I am unable to copy and paste the articles I want to share with you, but you can go to the web site and print the chapters I am telling you about. If you go to the introduction at http://www.yahweh.org/yahweh2.html it will give you an explanation as to how they are comparing the teachings of 4 different systems. I quote them here;

There are four possible sabbath cycle systems we must consider. For simplification purposes, this study shall utilize the following labels for these four systems. Our “key” or “example” date will be the sabbath year in each system which is either on or nearest to the year that Jerusalem and Herod’s Temple (the second Temple) were destroyed (the summer of 70 C.E.).

System “A”: Abib (March/April) 1, 70 C.E. until Abib 1, 71 C.E. The month of Abib was also called Nisan. System “A” is advocated by this study.

System “B”: Tishri (Sept./Oct.) 1, 68 C.E. until Tishri 1, 69 C.E. The Zuckermann-Schürer system.

System “C”: Tishri 1, 69 C.E. until Tishri 1, 70 C.E. The Marcus-Wacholder theory.

System “D”: Abib 1, 69 C.E. until Abib 1, 70 C.E. A possibility based upon the evidence of an Abib 1 beginning for the year coupled with the claim of Rabbi Jose and other Talmudic writers that the year before the fall of Jerusalem was a sabbath year.

Today the most popular of these theories is system “B.” This system has been advocated since the time of the Mishnah (formed at the end of the second century C.E.). It only differs from system “D” in that system “D” would start the sabbath year in the spring rather than in the fall. System “C” has also been advocated since the Gemara portion of written Talmudic times, but it has been the lesser sister to system “B.” It has again gained some popularity in recent years due to the work of Ralph Marcus and Zion Wacholder. System “A,” on the other hand, is the conclusion based upon the in-depth research into the ancient evidence provided in this study. In reality, system “A” has merely allowed the evidence to present its own case.

The reason we are going to look at this time period is because it is the misinformation about this period that is used to justify the Shmittah year of 2007-2008 used by Judah for the last Sabbatical year of rest and according to them will also be the way they calculate the next one in 2014-2015. As we just read they have based this on the system B.

I am saying the last year of the Sabbatical rest was 2009-2010 which is a year and half difference. This is based on System “A”
2007-2008 was the Jewish year of 5768 and the Sabbatical year of 2009-2010 was 5845 based on system A.

The problems arise from two key points in history. One was the changing of the first of the year from Nisan to Tishri, a change of six months. The other was the misdating of a year by Marcus-Wacholder (system “C”) and Zuckermann-Schürer (system “B”) forcing history to match up to what they were forcing it to be, according to their own theory. In order to do this they had to say that Josephus was incorrect, when in fact historical sources prove Josephus was very accurate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_calendar#cite_note-0
The Hebrew calendar has evolved over time. For example, until the Tannaitic period, the months were set by observation of a new crescent moon, with an additional month added every two or three years to keep Passover in the spring, again based on observation of natural events, namely the ripening of barley to reach the stage of “aviv” (nearly ripened crop).

The Tannaim (Hebrew: ?????, singular ???, Tanna) were the Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 70-200 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 130 years.

The Tannaim, as teachers of the Oral Law, were direct transmitters of an oral tradition passed from teacher to student that was written and codified as the basis for the Mishnah, Tosefta, and tannaitic teachings of the Talmud. According to tradition, the Tannaim were the last generation in a long sequence of oral teachers that began with Moses.

As we get closer to the end of this age, we will see many like Harold Camping teach millions false truths and they do so in all sincerity. But we are warned of the strong delusion they would swallow in 2Th 2:9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power and signs and wonders of falsehood, 10 and with all deceit of unrighteousness in those perishing, because they did not receive the love of the truth, in order for them to be saved. 11 And for this reason Elohim sends them a working of delusion, for them to believe the falsehood,1 Footnote: 1Eze. 20:25, John 9:39, John 12:40, Acts 7:42, Rom. 1:24-28. 12 in order that all should be judged who did not believe the truth, but have delighted in the unrighteousness.

Now in recent years the truth of the Sabbatical years and the curses for not keeping them has been shared. And now many others are coming out with similar but different teachings on it. And they do not use the scriptures we have used to prove the years we go by. So it behooves you to know how to prove them and where to find the information to back yourself up. Do not believe me, but prove it to yourself so you too can teach others this simple truth.

As you are about to read in the two chapters I have posted here this battle for control of the Temple began much earlier than Tannaim period and it also shows you that the year began in Nisan. But by forcing what happened during the Mishnaic period on earlier historical events you can change when the Sabbatical years would be in years to come afterwards. It is only when you go directly to the historical source as we are this week, that you can know for sure when the Years of rest occur. History and your bible support it. Common misconceptions do not.

http://www.yahweh.org/publications/sjc/sj12Chap.pdf The Seleucid Era in Judaea

http://www.yahweh.org/publications/sjc/sj13Chap.pdf The Siege of Bethzura and Jerusalem

These are parts one (11 Pages) and two (24 Pages) of the Sabbath year of 162/161 BC

We will now continue with the Omer count for Shabbat May 28, 2011.

Today is day 35th of counting the Omer and it represents the year 2030 which is the year of Shabbat Shuva or the year of return.

Day 35: Psalms 93:1-5
Today Shabbat May 28 is Thirty-five days, which is five weeks of the Omer.
This year represents the first year of the great tribulation when we flee into the wilderness

Psa 93:1 ???? shall reign, He shall put on excellency; ???? shall put on strength; He shall gird Himself. Indeed, the world is established, immovable.
Psa 93:2 Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting.
Psa 93:3 Rivers shall lift up, O ????, Rivers shall lift up their voice; Rivers lift up their breakers.
Psa 93:4 ???? on high is mightier Than the noise of many waters, The mighty breakers of the sea.
Psa 93:5 Your witnesses have been very trustworthy. Set-apartness befits Your house, O ????, forever.
Notice that this year of 2030 is also the end of the two witnesses. They are to be executed at the second Passover.

Day 36: Psalms 94:12-23
Sunday May 29 is thirty-six days, which is five weeks and one day of the Omer.
This year represents the second year of the great tribulation when we are in the wilderness

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

Day 37: Psalms 95:1-7
Monday May 30 is thirty-seven days, which is five weeks and two days of the Omer.
This year represents the third year of the great tribulation when we are in the wilderness

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

Day 38: Psalms 96:1-13
Tuesday May 31 is thirty-eight days, which is five weeks and three days of the Omer.
This year represents the third and 1/2 year of the great tribulation when Satan is to be locked away.

Psa 96:1 Sing to ???? a new song, Sing to ????, all the earth!
Psa 96:2 Sing to ????, bless His Name, Proclaim His deliverance from day to day.
Psa 96:3 Declare His esteem among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.
Psa 96:4 For great is ???? and greatly to be praised, He is to be feared above all mighty ones.
Psa 96:5 For all the mighty ones of the peoples are matters of naught, But ???? made the heavens.
Psa 96:6 Excellency and splendour are before Him, Strength and comeliness are in His set-apart place.
Psa 96:7 Ascribe to ????, O clans of the peoples, Ascribe to ???? esteem and strength.
Psa 96:8 Ascribe to ???? the esteem of His Name; Bring an offering, and come into His courts.
Psa 96:9 Bow yourselves to ????, In the splendour of set-apartness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.
Psa 96:10 Say among nations, “???? shall reign. The world also is established, immovable. He judges the peoples in straightness.”
Psa 96:11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
Psa 96:12 Let the field exult, and all that is in it. Let all the trees of the forest then shout for joy,
Psa 96:13 At the presence of ????. For He shall come, For He shall come to judge the earth. He judges the world in righteousness1, And the peoples with His truth. Footnote: 1See also 98:9, Acts 17:31, Rev. 19:11.

Day 39: Psalms 98:1-9
Wednesday June 1 is thirty-nine days, which is five weeks and four days of the Omer.

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

Day 40: Psalms 99:1-9
Thursday June 2 is forty days, which is five weeks and five days of the Omer.

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

Day 41: Psalms 103:1-22
Friday June 3 is forty-one days, which is five weeks and six days of the Omer.

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

Triennial Torah Cycle

We now return to our 3 1/2 year Torah studies

Ex 16      Isaiah 9-11     Ps 122     John 5:30 – 6:27

Ex 16

Here now in Exodus 16 we have the second time that the nation of Israel complained at being hungry against Yehovah. It says Moses and Aaron but it was against Yehovah as shown to you in verse 7 & 8 & 9 & 12.

Each year many of you do the same thing on the Day of Atonement. You complain about going without food and water. You describe the meat dishes you are going to have after the day is over and you count the minutes until the day is done and you can go and eat.

In verse 4 we are told that Yehovah is going to test the people by using the weekly Sabbath to test them to see if they will obey Him or not. The Sabbath brethren is the test each week, each time the high day comes 7 times a year and the Sabbatical years when they come. These are our tests to see if we are going to obey Him.

I want you to notice that they were to gather twice as much manna on the sixth day and it would not go bad during the 7th day. In Lev 25:3 ‘Six years you sow your field, and six years you prune your vineyard, and gather in its fruit, 4 but in the seventh year the land is to have a Sabbath of rest, a Sabbath to ????. Do not sow your field and do not prune your vineyard.

Lev 25:20 ‘And since you might say, “What do we eat in the seventh year, since we do not sow nor gather in our crops?” 21 ‘Therefore I have commanded My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth the crop for three years. 22 ‘And you shall sow in the eighth year, and eat of the old crop until the ninth year. Eat of the old until its crop comes in.

We have the weekly Sabbath of the manna to help us understand the Sabbatical years.

In 2008 I bought food enough for the coming Sabbatical year. I bought cans of fruit and Vegetables. I bought frozen fruit and vegetables. And I bought dry goods. I calculated how much I would need for the year and I stocked up. It is now 2011, and I am still eating canned goods and frozen products that we had put down in 2008. Myself and some others I know of were able to do this. It is possible. I even planned to take dry good food with me for the three times I went to Israel that year. Even the Matzo bread I bought extra in 2008 to last me for 2009 and 2010. We never ate anything that was harvested in the Sabbatical year.

This teaching of the manna is to show us how to keep the Sabbatical year as well as the weekly Sabbath. It is a test commandment to see who will obey Yehovah and who will not.

It is also the commandment that shows who has the mark of the beast and who has the mark of Yehovah. You can read this at:

• Newsletter 5843-029    The Mark of the Beast and the Mark of Yahweh.

Isaiah 9-11

CHAPTER 9
http://bible.ucg.org/bible-commentary/Isaiah/The-coming-Messiah-and-His-rule;-Israel-to-be-punished/default.aspx
Verse 1 makes it clear that this is a continuation of chapter 8, the “gloom” having been brought up in 8:22. Chapter 9 begins with the prophecy of a “great light” upon the lands mentioned, which even Jewish teaching has acknowledged as being a messianic reference. Matthew cited it as being fulfilled by Jesus (Matthew 4:13-16). When the prophecy was written, the northern kingdom territories of Galilee and Naphtali were about to be enslaved and taken captive: “The ancient tribal allotments of Zebulun and Naphtali (Josh. 19:10-16, 32-39), which included Galilee, were the first to feel the brunt of the Assyrian invasions (2 Kin. 15:29).

The three phrases at the end of the verse—the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles or ‘nations’—indicate administrative districts of the Assyrian conqueror Tiglath-Pileser III as a result of the three campaigns he waged in the west around 733 B.C.” (Nelson Study Bible, note on Isaiah 9:1). The oppression of these lands changed hands over time, in Jesus’ day being under the dominion of the Edomite Herods, who themselves were subject to Rome.

A few verses later, it is explained that the reason light will shine upon these lands is the birth of a Child, a Son (verse 6)—seemingly the same Son mentioned in Isaiah 7:14. Yet this is clearly no child of Isaiah the prophet or of anyone else of his day, for this Son is called Mighty God. This, then, is a reference to Jesus Christ alone. Yet some may find the term “Everlasting Father” confusing. Jesus is not God the Father, even though Trinitarians mistakenly argue that they constitute one and the same being while somehow existing as distinct persons. The Father and Son are indeed divine members of the same one God—that is, the one God family—albeit two distinct Beings (see our free booklet Who Is God? for a fuller explanation). And some may be surprised to learn that like God the Father, Jesus is the Father of all creation—for God the Father created all things through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:9). This is how Jesus, as God and Creator, was the Father of Adam and thus mankind (compare Luke 3:38). And it is why He is called the Everlasting Father.

In the same passage, that is, Isaiah 9:6-7, we have a perfect example of how a prophecy can skip ahead in time with no obvious indication. For the reference to the Child being born is to Jesus’ first coming in human flesh 2,000 years ago, while His rule of a government is a reference to His second coming, which has not yet occurred.

This wonderful promise of the future, however, is followed by a series of four chastisements of Israel for their present disobedience—each ending with the same statement about God’s anger we first encountered in Isaiah 5:25: “But His hand is stretched out still.” While the unwary people contemplated aggrandizements of their buildings (9:9-10), God had already set events in motion that would carry the people away. The Syrian king Rezin’s adversaries (verse 11), the Assyrians, would soon swoop into Israel, with the subjugated Syrians then pressed into Assyrian service (verse 12).

The Israelites would be taken as prisoners of the enemy (10:4). In siege and then captivity, with little food to go around, the Israelites would be set against one another in a fight for survival (9:18-21). The end of verse 21 seems to indicate that Judah is part of this infighting in captivity—though it is possibly a reference to Israel’s former attacks on Judah, for which Israel is being judged. It should be noted that the Assyrians, under a later ruler Sennacherib, did deport vast numbers from Judah 20 years after the fall of Samaria—so that many Jews then joined the northern tribes in captivity. Yet the ancient invasion and captivity of Israel and Judah by Assyria, it should be mentioned, was a mere forerunner of end-time events yet to come. That this prophecy has a dual application to the last days appears likely from the description of the emergence from captivity at the time of Christ’s return (see 11:1-12:6). The ancient captivity of Israel came to an end more than 2,000 years ago—but this was not accompanied by the coming of the Messiah or even a return to dwell and remain in the Promised Land. In fact, the descendants of Israel have never returned en masse to the Holy Land. Thus, a captivity ending with the Messiah’s coming and a resettlement of the Promised Land must be yet future.

(It should also be noted that only a small percentage of Jews returned from the later Babylonian captivity. The majority remained in Babylon and their descendants later migrated to other lands. Of the small number who did return from Babylon, their descendants were later expelled by the Romans. Thus, for the most part, the Jews of the world have remained scattered. The minority who have returned to the land of Israel in the past century certainly does not fulfill the prophecy of Israel and Judah returning as a whole from captivity at the coming of the Messiah.)

Thus, there is a future captivity coming. Let us, therefore, take warning. For as it was in Isaiah’s day, God’s hand is stretched out still.

ISAIAH CHAPTER 10
Again, there is indication that the prophecy is a continuation of the one begun in chapter 7 to Ahaz. Remember that Isaiah was accompanied by his son Shear-Jashub, meaning “Remnant Shall Return.” And here we find these very words in 10:21. Similarly, verse 6 contains the phrase “to seize the spoil, to take the prey,” which is reminiscent of the name of Isaiah’s second son Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz” (“Quick to the Plunder, Swift to the Spoil”), introduced in chapter 8.

Assyria is used by God to punish Israel. Verse 11 states the Assyrian leader’s intention to attack and plunder Jerusalem as well as Samaria. As mentioned in the comments on our previous reading, the Assyrians under the later king Sennacherib invaded Judah around 20 years after the fall of Samaria. We will soon go through this episode in detail when we come to it in our regular reading. Sennacherib is successful in destroying and plundering a major portion of Judah. He actually besieges Jerusalem, but in the end God miraculously devastates his army. Isaiah 10 certainly appears to apply to these events.

But there is a broader picture here we should also consider. This chapter seems to flow right into the next one, Isaiah 11, which clearly concerns the end-time return of Christ and the establishment of His Kingdom over all nations. Indeed, as already explained, Isaiah 7-12 seems to be one long, related section of prophecy. Throughout it, we find a number of messianic references, building to a crescendo in the clearly millennial prophecies at the end. All of this provides a basis for looking on much of the prophetic material in these chapters as dual in interpretation—applying to the events of Isaiah’s day, but as a forerunner of even greater events that will transpire in the end time. Thus, while God speaks in Isaiah 10 of bringing Assyria against Israel and Judah, he may well have been referring both to the ancient invasions that took place in Isaiah’s time and to another Assyrian invasion of the end time. Indeed, the next chapter shows Israel returning from Assyrian captivity at Christ’s second coming (11:11), so this seems rather likely.

We might ask, then, who are the Assyrians today? The ancient Israelites who were taken into Assyrian captivity eventually migrated into northwest Europe (see our booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy to learn more). Likewise, the Assyrians, after their empire fell in 612 B.C., migrated into Europe behind them. The Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder located the Assyrians north of the Black Sea in his day, the first century A.D. (Natural History, Book 4, sec. 12). A few hundred years later, Jerome, one of the post-Nicene Catholic fathers, applied Psalm 83:8 to the Germanic tribes invading western Europe along the Rhine: “For Assur [the Assyrian] also is joined with them” (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Letter 123, sec. 16). And of the Germanic peoples, Smith’s Classical Dictionary states: “There can be no doubt that they…migrated into Europe from the Caucasus and the countries around the Black and Caspian seas” (“Germania,” p. 361). Indeed, a significant portion of the Germanic people of Central Europe today appear to be descended from the Assyrians of old. (See http://www.originofnations.org/Great_German_Nation/index.html for an exhaustive work on this subject.)

To bring divine punishment on the Israelites from a foreign power in Isaiah’s day, Assyria was the logical choice. Ancient Assyria, as we’ve seen, was the preeminent empire of the day. It was also one of the most warlike and imperialistic nations in history. “Its imperialistic ethic was embodied in the Middle Assyrian coronation ritual, in which the officiating priest solemnly charged the king: ‘Expand your land!'” (“Assyria,” The Oxford Companion to the Bible, 1993, p. 63). And lest we think such national motivation is just ancient history, we should remember Adolf Hitler’s more recent cries for lebensraum (“living space”). Of course, many nations have engaged in imperialism and territorial expansion in modern times. Nevertheless, it is significant that this thread is still found in the modern history of the Assyrian people along with other Europeans. In fact, in the years ahead, a resurgence of imperialism is prophesied to grip the European continent.

Various biblical prophecies show that a European-centered revival of the Roman Empire—called “the Beast” and Babylon—will be the dominant power in the world just prior to the return of Jesus Christ (see Daniel 2, 7, 11; Revelation 13, 17-18). From Isaiah 10 and other prophecies that seem to indicate the Assyrian ruler and people as important players on the end-time scene and as the principal agents of wrath against Israel, it appears that these Central European people will constitute the leading force in the coming power bloc—as was the case in a number of past revivals of the Roman “Beast” system. Indeed, it makes even more sense when we realize that they make up around one third of the population of Europe—clearly a dominating force. Yet there certainly will be other national groups making up the coming European empire as well.

Europe’s subjugation of the Israelite nations of the end time will be fierce—as a look back at ancient times reveals. Panels from Assyrian archaeological sites depict graphic scenes of the gruesome savagery with which these ancient conquerors treated their subjugated peoples. Even so, God indicates here in Isaiah 10 and in other prophecies, such as Nahum, that the Assyrians of the end time will go overboard in their harsh treatment of the modern Israelites. Indeed, this must be the case since the time of trouble yet to come on the peoples of Israel will be worse than anything that has ever happened before (Jeremiah 30:7; Daniel 12:1; Matthew 24:21).

Failing to see themselves as tools in God’s hands, His rod of punishment on Israel, the Assyrians arrogantly view their subjugation of Israel as a mere conquest of their own doing in their struggle to take over the world (Isaiah 10:5, 7, 15)—and so it will also be in the end time. The same basic attitude is shown in Habakkuk 1 to be shared by the Babylonian Chaldeans. And, as we will see when we later consider a prophecy of Babylon in Isaiah 13, the Babylonian Chaldeans will make up another significant portion of the latter-day European alliance.

But in considering the problems of the Assyrians and Babylonians, let us not lose the focus that God is severely displeased here with His own people Israel, calling them “an ungodly nation…the people of My wrath” (10:6). Despite the blessings He has showered on them, they flagrantly sin and rebel against Him. That is why God sends these other peoples to deal with them. Afterward, God will punish the Assyrians and Babylonians as well for their arrogance and cruelty—and Israel will at last go free. (Later in Isaiah, we will see Assyria and Israel dwelling happily with one another under the rule of Jesus Christ, 19:24-25.)
The slaughter of Midian in Isaiah 10:26 is a reference to the defeat of the Midianites by Gideon and Israel’s release from Midianite oppression (Judges 7:25). The same story was alluded to in Isaiah 9:4. We also see mention of the Red Sea crossing and Israel’s release from Egyptian oppression. These are used as types of the release from Assyrian oppression (10:27).

Verses 28-32 are describing a journey from Aiath, or Ai, about 10 miles north of Jerusalem, to Nob, which overlooks Jerusalem. Indeed, each city listed is one step closer to the Jewish capital. This describes the terror of the inhabitants of those areas as the Assyrian forces inexorably march on Jerusalem. Though disputed, this could be the route Sennacherib’s invasion would take. (We do know that he plundered a large part of Judah.) But it could also describe the final advance of a future Assyrian commander on Jerusalem from the gathering place at Megiddo in the north of Israel (compare Revelation 16:14-16; 19:19; Zechariah 14:12). In either case, God will destroy the enemy (Isaiah 10:33-34).

CHAPTER 11
This wonderful section concludes the prophecies begun in chapter 7 relating to the Messiah. With the power of God’s Spirit, He will judge the earth, establish righteousness and bring to reality the dream of ages, world peace—even throughout the whole of nature, transforming the world into an Edenic paradise (compare Isaiah 51:3; Ezekiel 36:35).

Indeed, Isaiah 11:6-9 explains that the very nature and perhaps even physiology of many animals will be changed, thus requiring, it would seem, a restructuring of the global ecosystem. Isaiah repeats this amazing prophecy in Isaiah 65:25. But, it should be noted, the animals here may well also be symbolic of the nations of the world, with their peacefully dwelling together representing an end of war between people. The lamb, kid, calf, fatling, ox and cow are often used in Scripture to symbolize the generally peace-loving Israelite peoples. The wolf (the wild dog-kind) may be a reference to the descendants of Esau or to certain other Arabs (the Edomite Herod was referred to as a fox by Christ in Luke 13:32). And the great cats (leopard and lion) and the bear are used in Daniel 7 to symbolize great gentile kingdoms. These parallels are perhaps most clearly seen in Jeremiah 5:6, where the lion, wolf and leopard are widely understood to represent Israel’s enemies. In God’s millennial reign the wild nature of the “beasts” among men will be changed, as was figuratively portrayed by Nebuchadnezzar when he (the Babylonian lion, compare Daniel 2 and 7) was made to eat grass with the oxen (4:33).

Isaiah 11:9 dramatically foretells the time when the knowledge of God will be universal. Just as there are no gaps in the oceans where water doesn’t flow, not a single individual will be missed by Jesus Christ and His glorified saints as they educate and evangelize the world. Paul loosely paraphrases verse 10 in his letter to the gentile Romans to show their inclusion in God’s Kingdom (Romans 15:12).

Isaiah 11:11 describes the wonderful second Exodus that will follow the end-time captivity of Israel and Judah. The people are shown returning from these locations: Assyria (designating Central Europe in the end-time context of this prophecy); Egypt; Pathros (southern Egypt); Cush (Sudan and Ethiopia or perhaps greater parts of Africa); Elam (which could denote Iran or perhaps, based on end-time settlement, Eastern Europe); Shinar (Mesopotamia and, therefore, Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey); Hamath (in northwestern Syria); and “the islands of the sea.” This last location could also be translated “coastlands of the sea” (NRSV). It is understood to mean from all around the world. When we compare this prophecy with others showing the end-time Israelites dwelling in the “isles afar off” (Jeremiah 31:10; see 41:1, 8-9) and that God will bring them back “from the coasts of the earth” (31:7-9), this last location in Isaiah 11:11 must denote their latter-day homelands—the British Isles, Northwest Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and the United States.

Putting this account together with other passages, it is evident that most of the Israelites who are still alive when their countries are conquered and invaded will be carried away captive to other lands soon before Christ’s return. Notice again that those returning from their homelands are listed last—evidently the minority. Assyria is mentioned first—as the place of captivity. So why are other lands mentioned? As was noted in the Bible Reading Program comments on Hosea 9, two major factors will likely contribute to the scattering of captive Israelites throughout what appear to be Muslim territories. First, Revelation 18:11-13 shows that end-time Babylon, of which modern Assyria will be a leading player, will engage in slave trade, no doubt of the captive Israelites and perhaps other peoples. Second, since the end-time European ruler, known in Daniel 11 as the “king of the North,” will sweep down and occupy a number of Muslim territories (verses 40-43), it seems likely that the Europeans will set up military bases and labor camps in these areas and then ship down Israelite slave labor from Europe to work at them. Of course, it could also be that some Israelites and Jews will be taken captive by Muslim powers even before the final European invasion.

Isaiah 11:12-14 shows the Israelites returning to take back the Holy Land. Verses 15-16 describe the return as a miraculous one, guided by God with great power as He led the Israelites out of Egypt of old. Again, God will smite the Red Sea but this time also “the River”—commonly understood to mean the Euphrates—as His people will be returning to the Promised Land from both the south and the north. Thus, there will be a highway—an unimpeded path—for those coming from both directions.

Ps 122

Psalm 122, the third song of ascents in the first set of three, centers on blessing and peace in Zion. “This poem describes the joy of the pilgrim on arriving at Jerusalem to worship God” ( Nelson Study Bible, note on Psalm 122). It is the first of four psalms of David among the songs of ascents.

David was “glad”-the Hebrew connotes laughter and cheerful delight-when companions encouraged him to accompany them into “the house of the Lord ” at Jerusalem (verses 1-2). As David lived prior to his son Solomon’s construction of the temple, this would immediately refer to the tabernacle that David erected in Jerusalem for the Ark of the Covenant, a place of public worship (2 Samuel 6:17-18). Yet David may have intended this psalm to be used in later temple worship. In a greater sense, it prefigures people coming into the spiritual temple of God-His Church-and ultimately God’s Kingdom.

Because he lived in Jerusalem, David himself did not have to go far to worship in God’s house. But he does mention others coming from afar-stating that the tribes of God (all His people) “go up” (ascend in their journey) to Jerusalem to give Him thanks (verse 4). Packed with throngs of pilgrims, the city is “compact together” (verse 3)-with all the tribes pressed together and blended. They come to the “Testimony of Israel” (verse 4). This likely referred to the tablets of the Testimony bearing the Ten Commandments within the Ark of the Covenant (compare Exodus 31:18; 25:21-22; 16:34). It also may entail coming to God’s festivals to learn His laws generally. Indeed, the entire law was to be read every seventh Feast of Tabernacles (Deuteronomy 31:9-13).

Besides God’s law being housed and taught in Jerusalem, it was also administratively applied here in civil judgment-providing the blessing of the rule of law and resultant civil order to God’s nation (Psalm 122:5). The leading judges in the land were Israel’s kings. When David speaks of “thrones of the house of David” in the plural, he may be referring to the seats of himself and Solomon after he had Solomon crowned king prior to his own death. There may also be a prophetic foreshadowing here of the future thrones of judgment in God’s Kingdom, when Jesus Christ sits on the throne of David and His faithful followers reign with Him (see Luke 1:31-33; Revelation 3:21; 20:4, Matthew 19:28).

David calls on worshippers to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6). Actually, the name Jerusalem means “Possession of Peace” or “Foundation of Peace.” And there is wordplay centered on this fact in the psalm. For a feel of the poetic construction, notice the alliteration (repeated consonant sounds) in the following list of Hebrew words and phrases in the song:
Verses Hebrew words English translation
2-3 Yerushalem Yerushalem Jerusalem. Jerusalem
4 shesham alu shebetim shebeti-Yah…le-shem where go up tribes, tribes of Yah…to name
5 shammah…le-mishpat there…of judgment
6 sha’alu shalom Yerushalem yeshaleyu Pray peace Jerusalem; shall prosper
7 shalom…shaluah peace…prosperity
8 shalom peace

David’s prayer-“May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls, prosperity within your palaces” (verse 6)-may have been looking ahead to the divinely promised peaceful and blessed reign of his son Solomon, whose name meant “Peaceful.” No doubt it was also David’s desire for his ongoing dynasty-that the city would be a place of peace and harmony for God’s people always, especially as they came together for worship at the annual feasts.

Sadly, Jerusalem has too often failed to live up to its name as the City of Peace. In the nearly 3,000 years since Solomon’s death, it has seen numerous wars and conflicts-and today it sits as a geopolitical powder keg. Thus, the psalm looks forward to the time of the Kingdom of the Messiah, the Prince of Peace, for its complete fulfillment-a time of which Solomon’s peaceful reign was only a small foretaste. The Feast of Tabernacles also provides such a foretaste.

Yet though the peace sought in the psalm was ultimately far off, because the house of the Lord was in Jerusalem, David was committed to praying for peace in his day and seeking to rule righteously for the good of the city (verse 9). As before, besides the application of the words of this psalm to David’s immediate situation, we should also understand them as applying to the people of spiritual Zion who constitute the spiritual temple of God today-the Church-the peace and good of which we should all continually pray and strive for even as we look forward to ultimate peace in the Kingdom of God.

John 5:30 – 6:27

Joh 5:38 “And you do not have His Word staying in you, because you do not believe Him whom He sent. 39 “You search the Scriptures, because you think you possess everlasting life in them. And these are the ones that bear witness of Me. 40 “But you do not desire to come to Me in order to possess life. 41 “I do not receive esteem from men, 42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of Elohim in you. 43 “I have come in My Father’s Name and you do not receive Me, if another comes in his own name, him you would receive.1 Footnote: 1“Another,” another one, was indeed a prophecy by ????? of another one, probably the same one we read of in 2 Thess. 2:4. See Anti-Messiah in Explanatory Notes. 44 “How are you able to believe, when you are receiving esteem from one another, and the esteem that is from the only Elohim you do not seek? 45 “Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Mosheh, in whom you have set your expectation. 46 “For if you believed Mosheh, you would have believed Me, since he wrote about Me. 47 “But if you do not believe his writings,1 how shall you believe My words?” Footnote: 1Lk. 9:33, Lk. 16:31, Mal. 4:4-5.

Did you catch the profoundness of what Yehshua was saying here? If people will not believe what Moses wrote in the first 5 books of the bible; The Torah, then they will not believe Yehshua. Most Christians will not believe the first five books; they are done away with according to their theology.

Luk 16:30 “And he said, ‘No, father Ab?raham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they shall repent.’ 31 “But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Mosheh and the prophets, neither would they be persuaded even if one should rise from the dead.’ ”

Christianity will not listen to the words of Moses or the prophets unless it soots their own doctrines. But when these same sources command them to repent from breaking the Sabbath and Holy Days and Sabbatical year they have a million and one excuses why they will not or do not have to keep them. Even if someone comes back from the dead they will not listen and obey.

Mal 4:4 “Remember the Torah of Mosheh, My servant, which I commanded him in H?or?b? for all Yisra’?l – laws and right-rulings. 5 “See, I am sending you ?liyah1 the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of ????. Footnote: 1Lk. 1:17.

Moses wrote the Torah as instructed to him by Yehovah. Why are we to keep the Torah? All of Christianity says all we have to do is love one another, but they have no clue. Last week I got an angry email from one lady. She wrote me to say;

Please take me off your list. I have no desire to listen to your rantings and ravings. Your misinformation or your nasty remarks. I could list you hundreds of scripture about love that you would probably ignore so I won’t waste my time. But if you are going to teach you should do so with love not rudeness.

Sincerely,
Samantha

So what is the purpose of torah?

1Ti 1:5 Now the goal of this command is love from a clean heart, from a good conscience and a sincere belief, 6 which some, having missed the goal, turned aside to senseless talk, 7 wishing to be teachers of Torah, understanding neither what they say nor concerning what they strongly affirm. 8 And we know that the Torah is good if one uses it legitimately, 9 knowing this: that Torah is not laid down for a righteous being, but for the lawless and unruly, for the wicked and for sinners, for the wrong-doers and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers,

2Jn 1:5 And now I ask you, Kuria, not as though I wrote a fresh command to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another.6 And this is the love, that we walk according to His commands.1 This is the command, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it. Footnote: 1See 1 John 5:3, and John 14:15.

If we are to love Yehshua then we are to keep the commandments. All ten of them.

1Jn 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of Elohim, when we love Elohim and guard His commands. 3 For this is the love for Elohim, that we guard His commands,1 and His commands are not heavy, Footnote: 1See 5:2, 2 John v. 6, John 14:15. 4 because everyone having been born of Elohim overcomes the world. And this is the overcoming that has overcome the world: our belief.

Joh 14:15 “If you love Me, you shall guard My commands.1 Footnote: 1See Ex. 20:6, vv. 21&23, 1 John 5:2-3, 2 John v. 6.

Joh 15:9 “As the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you. Stay in My love. 10 “If you guard My commands, you shall stay in My love,1 even as I have guarded My Father’s commands and stay in His love. Footnote: 1See 14:15.

Exo 20:1 And Elohim spoke all these Words, saying, 2 “I am ???? your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You have no other mighty ones against My face. 4 “You do not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of that which is in the heavens above, or which is in the earth beneath, or which is in the waters under the earth, 5 you do not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, ???? your Elohim am a jealous ?l, visiting the crookedness of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing kindness to thousands, to those who love Me and guard My commands.

Christianity says they love god but in their actions they show they do not because they will not keep the commandments. Oh but they do keep the commandments they say just not the fourth one. Therefore they do not keep the Sabbath and do not love Yehovah and guard His Torah.

Joh 5:47 “But if you do not believe his writings,1 how shall you believe My words?”

Many of the Christians will say they do not have to keep the Sabbath they are saved by faith and grace. Again Yehshua said Joh 14:15 “If you love Me, you shall guard My commands.

And James also has some advice for those Christians not willing to obey.

Jas 2:14 My brothers, what use is it for anyone to say he has belief but does not have works? This belief is unable to save him. 15 And if a brother or sister is naked and in need of daily food, 16 but one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” but you do not give them the bodily needs, what use is it?

17 So also belief, if it does not have works, is in itself dead. 18 But someone might say, “You have belief, and I have works.” Show me your belief without your works, and I shall show you my belief by my works. 19 You believe that Elohim is one. You do well. The demons also believe – and shudder! 20 But do you wish to know, O foolish man, that the belief without the works is dead? 21 Was not Ab?raham our father declared right by works when he offered Yitsh?aq his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that the belief was working with his works, and by the works the belief was perfected? 23 And the Scripture was filled which says, “Ab?raham believed Elohim, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness.” And he was called, “Elohim’s friend.” 24 You see, then, that a man is declared right by works, and not by belief alone. 25 In the same way, was not Rah?ab? the whore also declared right by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? 26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so also the belief is dead without the works.

We are now into our second year of this 3 ½ year study. I do hope you are reading each of these chapters as we come to them and not just my own comments on them. Read it yourself and let Yehovah inspire you. If you go to https://sightedmoon.com/sightedmoon_2015/?page_id=619 you can find each of the studies we have done so far since 1st of Aviv/March 20 of this past year 5846. To read each of the studies in this second year you can go to https://sightedmoon.com/sightedmoon_2015/?page_id=719

The 613 Mitzvot

We now continue to study the 613 laws of Torah which we can read at http://www.jewfaq.org/613.htm
We are doing 7 laws each week. We shall study laws 437-443 We also have commentary, with editing from me, again from http://theownersmanual.net/The_Owners_Manual_02_The_Law_of_Love.Torah

(437) Do not compound oil for lay use after the formula of the anointing oil. “And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil to Me throughout your generations. It shall not be poured on man’s flesh; nor shall you make any other like it, according to its composition. It is holy, and it shall be holy to you. Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it on an outsider, shall be cut off from his people.’” (Exodus 30:31-33) For an anointing oil to be “holy,” it’s use and formula would have been strictly exclusive to the purposes Yahweh had outlined in His Word. First, the recipe for the anointing oil itself was not to be duplicated or simulated. Because the oil spoke of the true Messiah and His mission, anything made to be “like it” would by definition describe a “false Messiah,” another path to God—all the more deadly because of its similarity to the real thing. The better the counterfeit, the more damage it can do. Satan’s most destructive fakes blend ninety percent truth with ten percent lies. His most deceptive counterfeit? Religion. Search the scriptures: Yahweh never speaks of religion in a positive light. He’s after a personal relationship with us, but religion is an unholy anointing oil—a deceptive substitute for the genuine familial relationship God seeks to have with us.

(438) Do not anoint a stranger with the anointing oil. “This shall be a holy anointing oil to Me throughout your generations. It shall not be poured on man’s flesh…. Whoever puts any of it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people.” (Exodus 30:31-33) By the same token, the real Messiah cannot be comprehended by an “outsider,” someone who has no relationship with Yahweh. Well meaning “strangers” can talk about “the historical Jesus” all they want, but they won’t begin to understand what He’s really about, because they don’t have His Spirit living within them. That last phrase, “Whoever puts any of it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people,” should give us pause. Yahweh is warning us against suggesting secular solutions for problems only God can solve—anointing “outsiders” with Messianic status. Don’t follow men; don’t trust in programs; don’t rely on law, tradition, or religion. Yahshua alone is the Messiah, the anointed one.

(439) Do not compound anything after the formula of the incense. “And Yahweh said to Moses: “Take sweet spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum, and pure frankincense with these sweet spices; there shall be equal amounts of each. You shall make of these an incense, a compound according to the art of the perfumer, salted, pure, and holy. And you shall beat some of it very fine, and put some of it before the Testimony in the tabernacle of meeting where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you. But as for the incense which you shall make, you shall not make any for yourselves, according to its composition. It shall be to you holy for Yahweh. Whoever makes any like it, to smell it, he shall be cut off from his people.” (Exodus 30:34-38) The prescribed incense was much like the anointing oil in that a specific formula was to be followed, one used exclusively by the priesthood in the sanctuary service. In Mitzvot #433 and 434, we examined the altar on which this incense was to be burned, and the significance of the incense—primarily a metaphor for prayer. Here we see the recipe for the incense itself.

Stacte is a resin or gum, but the Hebrew word (natap) stresses the form: a drop of this ingredient. We should be immediately reminded of Dr. Luke’s account of Yahshua’s intense prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. He reports, “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. And His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” (Luke 22:44) Stacte, then, implores us to pray passionately. Galbanum is an aromatic bitter gum resin from the Ferula plant family. We are thus reminded to take our bitterness and sorrow to God, for He understands our grief. Frankincense we have seen before (Mitzvah #430): it’s name is related to being white—in other words, moral purity or imputed righteousness. As James reminds, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” (James 5:16) Salt added flavor and acted as a preservative, which is why Yahshua called believers “the salt of the earth.”

And finally, the most surprising ingredient (to my mind) is “onycha,” the Hebrew shacheleth. This is the “processed claw-shaped closing flap of certain types of mollusks (such as strombus) of the genus Mollusca with a pungent odor when burned.” (Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains) This ingredient is not only fauna—not flora—in origin, the animal from which it comes is unclean. It’s as if Yahweh is telling us, “I know you’re not perfect. I know you’re defiled. Let’s talk anyway. My Spirit, living within you, knows what to say.” Paul informs us, “The Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (Romans 8:26)

(440) He who, in error, makes unlawful use of sacred things, shall make restitution of the value of his trespass and add a fifth. “If a person commits a trespass, and sins unintentionally in regard to the holy things of Yahweh, then he shall bring to Yahweh as his trespass offering a ram without blemish from the flocks, with your valuation in shekels of silver according to the shekel of the sanctuary, as a trespass offering. And he shall make restitution for the harm that he has done in regard to the holy thing, and shall add one-fifth to it and give it to the priest. So the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him.” (Leviticus 5:15-16) This whole passage is about making atonement for unintentional sins—mistakes, lapses, or omissions—things we all do every day. When Moses talks about “doing harm to the holy things,” he probably wasn’t thinking about things like backing your chariot into the altar and putting a big dent in it. The word “things” isn’t really there in the original. I believe the thought is more like, “inadvertently treating as common what has been set apart to Yahweh.”

Let’s cut to the chase, shall we? That means you and me. We have been bought with a price. We have been made holy—sanctified and set apart to Yahweh—by the sacrifice of our Messiah. Why then do we treat our bodies as profane things? Why do we ignore the Spirit dwelling within us six days a week; and when we do pay attention to God’s word, why do we set aside a different day of the week from the one He declared holy? We mean no harm, it’s true. But an unintentional sin is still sin.

(441) Remove the ashes from the altar. “This is the law of the burnt offering: The burnt offering shall be on the hearth upon the altar all night until morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it. And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen trousers he shall put on his body, and take up the ashes of the burnt offering which the fire has consumed on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar. Then he shall take off his garments, put on other garments, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it; and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.” (Leviticus 6:9-13) It’s obvious that the ashes would have to be cleaned out of the altar periodically. We need to be asking ourselves why the procedure was to be done as outlined here. This had to be a dirty job: why was the priest instructed to put on his special priestly garments for taking the ashes out of the altar, and then don ordinary clothes for transporting them out of the camp?

Once again, it’s a prophetic insight into the role of the Messiah. The ashes weren’t just burned wood. They also contained the remains of the previous day’s sacrifices. Thus although consumed, they were still holy and significant to Yahweh. That’s the reason for the linen garments, symbolizing the imputed righteousness of the saints, righteousness that had been made possible by the sacrifice, now reduced to ash.

But what happens next is where we should all sit up and take notice. The priest isn’t just taking out the trash, for the ashes are holy. Now he puts on “profane” garments and removes the ashes from the altar to a “clean” place outside the camp. (“Clean” is the Hebrew word tahowr, meaning ritually or physically clean, pure (as in “pure gold”), or flawless—free from defect or impurity.) For the Messiah’s sacrifice to be complete, He had to endure separation from the Father; He had to be sent “outside the camp,” and this at the hands of profane and defiled men. Sacrifice goes beyond the pain of Passover—the Feast of Unleavened Bread is also necessary—the separation of us from our sin as Yahshua was parted from the Father.

(442) Keep fire always burning on the altar of the burnt-offering. “The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it; and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.” (Leviticus 6:12-13) If the temple sacrifices were mere rituals designed to appease an angry God, then it wouldn’t matter if the fire was put out and then started up again when we figured He needed some more appeasing. But they’re nothing of the sort. They’re symbols of Yahweh’s plan for our redemption. The fire is not to go out because it symbolizes Yahweh’s eternal presence, purity, and power. Fire speaks of judgment—not so much wrath as separation: It is fire that removes the dross from gold and fire that will separate the blessed from the cursed (see Matthew 25:41). This is very important to Yahweh. In these five verses, He tells us to keep the altar’s fire going no fewer than six different times.

(443) Do not extinguish the fire on the altar. “The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it; and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.” (Leviticus 6:12-13) The priests were not only cautioned not to let the fire die from neglect, but they were also specifically warned not to put it out intentionally. As far as Maimonides was concerned, this was merely a negative re-statement of the previous affirmative mitzvah—padding the list to come up with the requisite 613 laws. But it’s worth noting Paul’s parallel admonition in I Thessalonians 5:19: “Do not quench the Spirit.” How do we do that? He goes on to explain: “Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast to what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” By scoffing at or ignoring prophetic scripture, by being too lazy or apathetic to check the truth of what we’re being told by the media, our politicians, and even our preachers against the standard of the Word of God, by letting go of what is good, pure, and right, and compromising instead with the world’s evil agenda, we quench the influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives—we extinguish the fire on the altar.