Torah Portions

Join Our Sabbath Meetings

There are many people in need of fellowship and who are sitting at home on the Sabbath with no one to talk to or debate with. I want to encourage all of you to join us on Shabbat, and to invite others to come and join us as well. If the time is not convenient then you can listen to the teaching and the midrash after on our YouTube channel.

What are we doing and why do we teach this way?

We are going to discuss both sides of an issue and then let you choose. It is the work of the Ruach (Spirit) to direct and to teach you.

The medieval commentator Rashi wrote that the Hebrew word for wrestle (avek) implies that Jacob was “tied”, for the same word is used to describe knotted fringes in a Jewish prayer shawl, the tzitzityot. Rashi says, “thus is the manner of two people who struggle to overthrow each other, that one embraces the other and knots him with his arms”.

Our intellectual wrestling has been replaced by a different kind of struggle. We are Wrestling with Yehovah as we grapple with His Word. It is an intimate act, symbolizing a relationship in which Yehovah and I and you are bound together. My wrestling is a struggle to discover what Yehovah expects of us, and we are “tied” to the One who assists us in that struggle.

Today, many say Israel means “Champion of God”, or better — the “Wrestler of God”.

Our Torah sessions each Shabbat teaches you and encourages you to constantly challenge, question, argue against, as well as view alternative views and explanations of the Word. In other words, we are to “wrestle with the Word” to get to the truth. Jews worldwide believe that you need to wrestle with the Word and constantly challenge Dogma, Theology, and views or else you will never get to the Truth.

We are not like most churches where “The preacher talks and everyone listens.” We encourage everyone to participate, to question and to contribute what they know on the subject being discussed. We want you to be a champion wrestler of the Word of Yehovah. We want you to wear the title of Israel, knowing that you not only know but are capable of explaining why you know the Torah to be true with logic and facts.

We have a few rules though. Let others talk and listen. There is no discussion about UFO’s Nephilim, Vaccines or conspiracy-type subjects. We have people from around the world with different world views. Not everyone cares who is the President of any particular country. Treat each other with respect as Fellow wrestlers of the word. Some of our subjects are hard to understand and require you to be mature and if you do not know, then listen to gain knowledge and understanding and hopefully wisdom. The very things you are commanded to ask Yehovah for and He gives to those who ask.

Jas 1:5  But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and with no reproach, and it shall be given to him.

We hope you can invite those who want to keep Torah to come and join us by hitting the link below. It is almost like a Torah teaching fellowship talk show with people from around the world taking part and sharing their insights and understandings.

We start off with some music and then some prayers and it’s as though you were sitting around the kitchen back in Newfoundland having a cup of coffee and all of us enjoying each other’s company. I hope you will grace us with your company someday.

Sabbath services begin at 12:30 PM EDT where we will be doing prayers songs and teaching from this hour.

Shabbat Services will begin at about 1:15 pm Eastern.

On the Holy Day, Passover Monday February 26, 2024, we will be having two meetings. One at 10 AM Eastern and the afternoon will be 2 PM Eastern. Look forward to seeing you all there.

We look forward to you joining our family and getting to know us as we get to know you.

Joseph Dumond is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Joseph Dumond’s Personal Meeting Room

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3505855877

Meeting ID: 350 585 5877
One tap mobile
+13017158592,,3505855877# US (Germantown)
+13126266799,,3505855877# US (Chicago)

Dial by your location
+1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 929 436 2866 US (New York)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)

Meeting ID: 350 585 5877
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kctjNqPYv0

The Barley Report Shabbat March 2, 2024

I have once again run out of both time and gas to get this report done in time for you to judge. I am sorry. I am getting old and the time needed to search this awesome country has consumed me. I will post a video I posted earlier this week which is our first video. The one Randy and I did to confirm the barley is indeed Aviv, is not yet ready. And I need more time to get it ready. But we must go back on Shabbat to do one more look and another video teaching from one our sites. I am sorry it is taking so long. I have now got our most recent video online and attached below.

We have been working 8-10 hour days searching and driving and then coming back the 2-hour drive from wherever we are, to then prepare to eat or go out to eat.

Let me say that I have completed the Sabbatical Year of 2023, which goes from Aviv 2023 to Aviv 2024. hint hint….We have Aviv barley. and now many others are commenting on what we are about to announce. By faith you have kept Passover last week. Again by faith you are keeping the 7th day this Sunday. Faith is the hope for things unseen.

So here is our video. I have the others on Telegram but I have not had time to put them together. I am sorry. I am getting old and just run out of gas faster. On Shabbat, we have to get this final check done and then upload the video. then race back to Tel Aviv and do our Shabbat teaching and try to get the videos linked together. Just not enough time to do everything. Forgive me. I have asked Devorah if she would meet with me as well as Yoel. We await their replies.

I will try to upload the second video here later tonight if I can get it done before I fall asleep.

Becca, who has already declared an Adar Beit this month, came on to report about our time together. I will add our report as soon as I can get it done below. We are not declaring an Adar Beit. We most asuredly declaring this the month of Aviv and that if we wait for until March 31 as our next WaveSheaf Day all the barley will be shattered. But you get to decide.

Devorah also came out with a report last night. But this is her 11th month and she said she is now going to go out and check the barley. Her next Passover is not until April. So this is a clear statement she has errored last year by adding an Adar Beit when she should not have. Otherwise, there is no need for her to go out now. Just stating the obvious. But I am glad to have others searching the fields right now and await their witnessing.

This is our most recent report. It was late in getting processed so I am just now adding it here.

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.

The 7th Day of Unleavened Bread

Why do we keep the 7th Day of Unleavened Bread? What does it signify?

We read in Numbers

Number 33:3 They set out from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the day after the Passover, the people of Israel went out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians, while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the Lord had struck down among them. On their gods also the Lord executed judgments.

The Passover meal was eaten on the 15th at sunset.

Exodus 12:1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.
“Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.
“This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you. And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever. In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.”

The lambs were killed at the going down of the sun, on the 14th day. And then roasted and prepared to be eaten after sunset of the 15th day. The first day of Unleavened Bread. You are to eat Unleavened Bread for 7 days, not 8 days. And you are to eat the Passover with unleavened bread.

That same night of the 15th the Death Angel Passed Over those with the blood on the door. And that same night Pharaoh told Israel to leave and they left on the 15th day. The same day they first born had been slain.

So, I went to google maps and clicked on the place of about where Avaris was where they lived in Goshen and then I clicked on about where Sukkot was where they gathered on the 15th day.

Numbers 33:5 So the people of Israel set out from Rameses and camped at Succoth. And they set out from Succoth and camped at Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness. And they set out from Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, which is east of Baal-zephon, and they camped before Migdol. And they set out from before Hahiroth and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness,

When I look at Torah Calendar and check the year of the exodus in 1379 BC.

One the Sunday which was also the 1st day of Unleavened Bread and was the morning after the Passover, Israel left and gathered at Succoth where they camped that first night. A distance of about 119  kilometers or a 24-hour walk according to google. I do not have exact locations for google maps so I am approximating. From there they then walked to Etham which is west of Eilat Israel today. A distance of about 297 kilometers or 60 hours of walking. 2 and half days journey.

They did walk day and night at this time.

Exodus 13:20 And they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.

This now brings us to about Wednesday when they camped at Etham. And from Etham they turned and went to Pi-hahiroth, which is east of Baal-zephon, and they camped before Migdol. Today this is called Nuweiba. This shows you that the Red Sea Crossing took place on the 7th day of Unleavened Bread.

Exodus 14:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.

When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly. The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And in the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

One of the greatest miracles that Yehovah did for Israel was the parting of the Red Sea so they could escape. We have been told to eat the Passover meal with our coats and shoes on ready to flee and to eat the meal in haste.

Exodus 12:11 In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.

It is a rehearsal of what we can expect in the Greater Exodus to come. We read of it in Revelation.

Rev 12:13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth.

In the same fashion as Pharaoh going after the Israelites and then being destroyed in the Red Sea, Satan is again going to be pursuing the remnant of Israel at the end of this age and this time the earth will open up and swallow them all. Each year we are to remember these things and eat the Meal as if ready to flee.

The Parting of the Red Sea

Have you ever read something many times and still not grasped the meaning in the words you have read?  Read on then for a surprise! Once you have read this explanation of the Exodus, I encourage you to then go to:  Nefertiti and Akhenaten: Now You know the rest of the story.

I love reading about and studying the Exodus. It has so much meaning and is so powerful. I love to watch Cecil B. De Mille’s™s The Ten Commandments. I first saw it in the movies theaters with my Nan in Newfoundland around 1962 and was amazed by the colors and the amazing story. I was 5 or so at the time and colored TV was not yet a reality. The movie has yet to bore me still; even after all these years.

But do you realize how much a movie like this can influence your thoughts? Even though it is not quite right when compared with Scripture.

All through high school I tried to prove how the waters could be divided by natural causes. I read how others had theorized on earthquakes or tidal flows and many other methods being the cause, but none explained the events with any clarity. But the answer has always been in the Bible. It is so amazing!

In recent years I have learned that the actual crossing site was a total of 82 meters (approximately 269 feet) deep at one point. To learn more on this I suggest the reader go online and order The Exodus Case by Lennart Moller at Amazon .com. http://www.amazon.com/Exodus-Case-3rd-Extended/dp/8772477083 which is a most intriguing read. You can also watch the trailers of The Exodus Conspiracy at http://www.exodusconspiracy.com/

I would point out to you Exodus 15:8 where Mariam, Moses sister, sings:

“And with the blast of Your nostrils the waters were gathered together; The floods stood upright like a heap, the depths congealed in the heart of the sea.”  (The New King James Version)

How many times I have read right over this one verse? How many times have you done the same?

Now let’s look at the different translations and see what they say:

Young’s Literal Translation 
Exodus 15:8 And by the spirit of Thine anger Have waters been heaped together; Stood as a heap have flowings; Congealed have been depths In the heart of a sea.

The Complete Jewish Bible 
With a blast from your nostrils the waters piled up -the waters stood up like a wall, the depths of the sea became firm ground.

The New American Standard Bible
At the blast of Your nostrils the waters were piled up, The flowing waters stood up like a heap; The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea.

The Holman Christian Standard Bible
Psalms 78:13 He split the sea and brought them across; the water stood firm like a wall

The Holman Christian Standard Bible 
Exodus 15:8 The waters heaped up at the blast of Your nostrils; the currents stood firm like a dam. The watery depths congealed in the heart of the sea.

Now, if we dissect this verse, we can see the following:

The waters gathered together comes from the (Strong’s Concordance) Hebrew word H- 6192 pronounced A’RAM and it means – (Niphal) to heap up, pile, be heaped up and this expression is used just this one time in all the Bible.

the flood comes from the Hebrew word lzn  and is Strongs H-5140, pronounced Nazal and it means to drip, or shed by trickling, to flow, distil, flow forth or down, trickle, drop

(Qal)
to flow , gush out, melt, pour down, running water, stream
1a streams, floods (participle) to distil

(Hiphil)
to cause to flow

This same word is translated as follows in other places in the Bible:

King James word usage – A total of 16 times:
flood- 3; flow- 3; stream- 2; pour out- 1; distil- 1; melted- 1; drop- 1; running waters- 1; flow out- 1; pour down1 and gush out- 1.

stood upright comes from the word bcn Strongs H-5324 pronounced Natsab and it means to stand, take one’s stand, stand upright, be set (over), establish
(Niphal):

to station oneself, take one’s stand, to stand, be stationed, to stand, take an upright position, to be stationed, be appointed, deputy, prefect, appointed, deputed (subst), to stand firm, (Hiphil), to station, set, to set up, erect, to cause to stand erect, to fix, establish, (Hophal) to be fixed, be determined, be stationary

King James Word Usage – Total: 75 stand 34, set 12, officers 6, set up 7, upright 2, appointed 1, deputy 1, erected 1, establish 1, Huzzab 1, miscellaneous 9

as an heap comes from the word dn Strongs # 5067 pronounced Ned and has just this meaning – heap , piling up; a mound ; ie a wave
and is always meant as “heap.”

King James Word Usage – Total: 6 heap 6

and the depths comes from the word ~whtStrongs # 8415 pronounced T@howm and has the following meaning – deep, depths, deep places, abyss, the deep, sea
deep (of subterranean waters), deep, sea, abysses (of sea), primeval ocean, deep, deep, depth (of river), abyss, the grave

King James Word Usage – Total: 36 deep 20, depth 15, deep places 1

were congealed comes from the word apq Strongs # 7087 pronounced Qapha’ and means – to shrink, to thicken, ( as unracked wine, curdled milk, clouded sky, frozen water), condense, congeal, settle, become dense, (Qal) to be condensed, thickening (participle), (Hiphil) to cause to curdle, congelation

King James Word Usage – Total: 5 congeal 1, settled 1, curdle 1, variant 1, dark 1

Job 10:10 Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?
Zep 1:12 And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.
Zec 14:6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:

What I am seeing after I have dissected this one verse is a very different and unimaginable view.

I live in Canada and we have real winters here. I have been to the Georgian Bay and seen the waters in the middle of winter push the ice flows into shore and the strength of the wind has caused the ice to pile up on the shoreline in a heap. It is a beautiful wonderland when this happens. I have also been to Niagara Falls in February and seen the mountains of ice around the falls and seen pictures thereof when the ice was 50 feet high. And just this year I saw (January 2005) on the news from Massachusetts, a winter storm blowing from the Atlantic covered houses and trees in 6? of solid ice. It looked again like a wonderland of beauty.

One last thing; I work with heavy equipment in construction. In the spring and in the fall the conditions change in the ground from day to day. In the early morning, the frost can make the ground very hard. We can walk across the mud no problem. But after the heavy equipment goes over the same ground a number of times the ground breaks up and you have the mud and jagged pieces of frozen ground sticking up. By this time everything is sticking to the mud and it is very hard to walk around and by mid-morning it is very hard to walk anywhere without getting all muddy and stuck in the mud or even to fall.

Now I would like you to stretch your imaginations with me and re-read this Exodus crossing; keeping the other translations and this understanding of what happens on the construction site in mind.

Here is what the Bible says in the NEW KING JAMES untouched:

Exodus 14:21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23 And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24 Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, that the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians. 25 And He took off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.” 26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.” 27 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 28 Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained. 29 But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 30 So the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt; so the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and His servant Moses.

Exodus 15:8. And with the blast of Your nostrils the waters were gathered together; the floods stood upright like a heap; the depths congealed in the heart of the sea.

So that I may help you to better comprehend the events of this miraculous event, please allow me to say the following:

Now, with this new understanding in mind, let’s read from the book of Josephus, the 2nd chapter, vs. 15-16

NEW KING JAMES and my interpretation:
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. An east wind is always an ill wind or cold wind. This wind was so cold the salt water foam looked like white clouds, or curdling white milk. And they were frozen and piled up in heaps on top of itself, piled high. In fact the deepest part of the crossing was 82 meters or over 250 feet high in the middle. Frozen walls of ice with melting ice turning into water trickling down into streams. The ground was frozen so hard Israel could walk across on dry ground. Their wagons and animals and all others on foot. 22 So Moses led the way and commanded the Israelites to follow him because the people feared it was so dangerous looking. And so foreign. A winter wonderland. The children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry frozen ground, and the waters were frozen also, as if into a wall in piles on their right hand and on their left. 23 And the Egyptians when the darkness was lifted were surprised to see the Israelites crossing in the midst of this frozen wonderland and were scared to pursue in such a dangerous condition. But they remembered each and every one of them having lost a first born from each family and they recalled their land was destroyed by plagues and down into this winter wonderland they pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. Six hundred chariots, with fifty thousand horsemen, and two hundred thousand footmen. All Armed for war. A fighting force of 50 brigades. 24 Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, before dawn, as the Egyptian Army closed in on Israel, that the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and gave a glance back at them and He panicked the army of the Egyptians. 25 And He took off their chariot wheels as they became clogged in the mud, so that they drove them with difficulty; with the horses hooves breaking through the frost and sticking to the mud, and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.” And they sounded the retreat. 26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.” 27 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, just as the first rays of the sun rising from the east over the mountains hit the frozen heaps of ice on the western shore, the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. With thunder and lightening and a whirl wind and pouring rain. (Psalm 77:16-20)The walls of ice crashed down on the Egyptians smashing the chariots and wagons and men and horses to pieces. 28 Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained. Approximately 251,200 men were destroyed. All of Pharaoh’s army and Pharaoh as well. 29 But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall of frozen heaps to them on their right hand and on their left. 30 So the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt; so the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and His servant Moses.

This Passover season, put some life into the real story of the Exodus. Make it real as you read it. Make it personal!

Joe Dumond

The continual spray coats everything around the Falls, producing fantastic ice shapes.  People walking through the ice covered Niagara River looking at the heaps of ice.

When Israel walked through the Red Sea I would imagine it looked like this.

But by the time the Egyptians were turning to go back it would look alot like this.

I would imagine it looked a lot like this with the frozen sea bed going down then up the other side and melting trickling water, that looked like a cloudy sky or curdling milk, thickening. Remember none of the Israelites had ever seen a glacier let alone snow of any real amount. And it was night time, and one of the words can mean dark.

Now imagine walking through this. Having been a slave in Egypt all your life. Never having seen snow.

It’s dark, the Egyptian army is very close and the only thing separating you from them is the cloud of Yahweh which is now become very dark over the Egyptians to the West. There is no place to flee. The Red Sea is 20 miles across to the east. You have no boats. The Egyptian garrison is, to the north, Migdol. The mountains are impassable as they go right into the sea to the south. The wind is blowing and cold. Then, in the dim of torches, you see the sea disappear and the sea bed become hard. You also see the white frozen mounds of ice piled up on the side in heaps and are in wonder, having never seen snow or known of ice. You don’t know what to make of it.

Then, after a bit, this Moses guy walks to the front and says: “Come on and follow me” And then he starts to walk down into this chasm onto the hard sea bottom, going further out and down. With the torches flickering you wonder what to do. With the army only steps away and no place else to go, you start to go down after Moses. You are terrified! How can all this be happening? Where did the water go? What is all this white stuff? Then slowly, in a moment, the others start to follow.  Then suddenly they all begin to rush forward! They bring their animals and their wagons and all of the gold they had been given by the Egyptians.

Quickly and quietly they walk down deeper and deeper into the bottom of the sea until they get to the half-way point and begin to ascend. But the torches reflect off the blue, white and green ice; as high as their necks could see in the dark. 250 feet up at the deepest part. They could hear the odd crashes and would then became frightened again. They could see in the torchlight that the ice was melting and trickles of water were running down into streams. They could hear over the wind the water gushing in from streams behind the ice wall.

Two million Israelites and an unknown number of foreigners crossed that night in silence, and in awe. Trembling from the cold but also from the fear of the danger their lives were in. In constant danger of these walls crashing in on them. After all, they were a sea yesterday- and now, mountains of ice. They were in constant fear of the Egyptians still on the opposite shore. But, as they came out on the shores of Arabia, relief was in sight! They had survived this awesome and fearsome night but there were many still struggling to cross behind you. And as you looked back in the night, all you can hear is silence except for the shuffling of feet and carts, being pulled by animals making little noise. You can see hundreds of thousands of torches swaying with each step as your people walk out. And you see the awesome walls of blue and green and white ice reflecting in the shimmering torch lights. Beautiful and terrifying at the same time. And now you have just walked through this.

On the other side, the Egyptians had made camp in the darkness. Knowing that the Israelites only way out was through this wadi where the 250,000-strong Army of Egypt was now camped. And with smugness, they knew they would have their revenge on this unarmed mob as soon as daylight broke. The only thing on their minds was getting revenge for the first born that every family in Egypt lost- at least one in each household. Revenge for the animals that also died that night as well as the ones that died during the hail and the crops that were eaten and destroyed by insects and hail. Revenge for all that these slaves had cost them.

Their other goal? To get back all of the gold, clothes and jewelry that they had given to these people they now pursued; intent on destroying. As they sat in the dark darkness, they pondered… “What were we thinking in giving away everything?”

It was still dark but the severe darkness was just now beginning to break forth into daylight. They could see and were stunned to learn the Israelites were no longer there. Pharaoh yells out for search teams to look for them and then he is told they went into the sea on dry ground, Pharaoh is beyond mad that, once again, he has been made a fool. He orders his army to go into the sea after them! His captains look at each other, thinking he was crazy. Look at the white stuff. And before they had time to reason their way out of the pursuit, Pharaoh reminds them of what they have lost; Fathers, sons, wives and animals. And again he gives the order to charge and to kill any who resisted.

The 600 Charioteers mounted up with an archer and spear man each to a chariot, and so did the 50,000 horsemen- and down the incline they went in hot pursuit. The 200,000 footmen in quick march also joined; torches in one hand, spears in the other and swords ready at their sides. Each and every one ignoring their fear as they charged down the slope in obedience. All the priests of the temple in their golden chariots and even Pharaoh in all his gold and splendor, went in to this strange phenomena; the frozen white mountains of ice on both sides getting higher and higher as they went down further. Their rage and thoughts of revenge over-riding their common sense to be fearful in such a surreal event.

From the East, the Israelites suddenly hear the echo of hooves and the rhythmic clatter of soldiers marching fast across the same frozen ground they had just passed over. As the Israelites ascend out they can look back and see the torches of Pharaoh’s army coming down the opposite slope. It is 20 miles back, but it looks like a stream of fire as it descends down the far slope. A flowing stream of fire moving fast towards them! There are still hundreds of thousands of their people who had still not yet made it out and those who had made it out begin to sound a warning: ˜Run! RUN! RUUUNNNNN!! They’re coming after us!!

Panic begins to go through Israel! People on the other side start to look for cover and those still in the sea begin to run now, despite being tired.

As the thunder of the chariots gets louder and gets closer many begin to tell Moses “We could just give up and go back. Why die out here for nothing?”

As the chariots grew closer, the frost in the ground begins to give out. The wheels were so thin and the chariot with the men so heavy, they break through the frost and become stuck in the mud. The horses, too, were stepping through the frost and no longer able to gallop. The footmen also found it difficult to quick-march with so much mud. Then, as dawn was about to break, the cloud of fire that was in front of Israel and leading them turned to the rear just as Pharaoh was closing in on the last of the stragglers coming out of the sea. And the cloud gave a glance so fearsome to Pharaoh and his chariots and his horsemen, who were just about upon the Israelites, that it scared the rebelliousness out of them. Pharaoh had finally realized he had been fighting God and he sounded the retreat. But his wheels had already come off and the horses found it hard to drag the wheel-less chariots around. And they, all in a panic, tried to retreat with great difficulty due to the mud but to no avail.

Moses then stretched out his hand as God had told him too. And as the sun broke over the horizon and began to shine on the far Westerly shore, it began to melt the ice. The last of the Israelite came up out of the sea and were safe on the shore. They were all looking at the once mighty Pharoah’s Army in retreat, and wondered what was going to happen next.

Suddenly, from the far side, they could see the ice crashing down; like dominoes, the mounds of ice piled-high began to crash down all along both sides of the chasm they had just walked through. At the same time, there was lightning and thunder and heavy rain and a whirlwind and in an instant 251,200 men and horses were crushed, to death. Pharaohs army was no more. Not one person survived. No, not one.

Shalom,
Joe Dumond

Akhenaten, Nefertiti and Tutankhamun

Nefertiti and Akhenaten: Now You know the rest of the story

Recently I have been blessed to have Yahweh reveal the Sabbatical and Jubilee Years throughout history. This can be read in our Charts Archives, or purchased in the Online Store

Once this was understood I was able to learn that the exodus took place During Passover in 1379 B.C. It was only now in 2010  that I was doing some research on who the Pharaoh was at this time of the Exodus.

I found that Akhenaten (1379-1362 BC) became the Pharaoh in 1379 BC and found this to be a most fortunate coincidence. Akhenaten is sometimes credited with the invention of monotheism — that is, the belief in one god above all others. Why would this one Pharaoh become a follower of just one god when the whole history shows that the Egyptians have always followed many gods.

Read more at Suite101: Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten: The World’s First Monotheist? http://egyptian-history.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_pharaoh_akhenaten#ixzz0eRJtEyk8

I found it a great coincidence that the year of the Exodus according to my Jubilee cycles matches the year that the New Pharaoh of Egypt begins his reign and is also known as being a Monotheist. I guess the Elohim of Moses had a great effect on the next Pharaoh after the army was destroyed in the spring of 1379 BC.

What I found most amazing about this connection was the following statement at
http://www.umm.edu/news/releases/akhenaten_deformities.htm

Akhenaten, a pharaoh during Egypt’s 18th Dynasty – best known for transforming Egypt’s religious system from worship of multiple gods to the worship of one god – may have had two medical abnormalities that could explain his portrayal in sculpture and carvings with an exaggerated female appearance and elongated head. Questions about Akhenaten abound. Were his artisans following his orders to employ an artistic style for some religious purpose? Or did he really look this bizarre, and if so, why?

While the bodies of many pharaohs and members of their families have been preserved as mummies, no mummy of Akhenaten has been found. But statuary and carvings from the time show Akhenaten alone as well as in affectionate family settings that included his main consort, Nefertiti, and their children. Such settings were never employed in artwork of pharaohs before or after Akhenaten.

I cannot help but wonder if Nefertiti and Akhenaten are not the same person. That is she dressed as a Pharaoh when she had to appear before the people, so that the world would think that Egypt still had a ruler and would not be invaded by others once they found out she had no army. This is just my speculations of this. I have no way to know. But this Pharaoh is the only one to promote the family. That is something a woman would do. In the picture above of Akhenaten you can see the shape of a woman.

We read about Nefertiti From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nefertiti She was made famous by her bust, now in Berlin’s Neues Museum, shown below. The bust is one of the most copied works of ancient Egypt. It was attributed to the sculptor Thutmose, and it was found in his workshop. The bust itself is notable for exemplifying the understanding Ancient Egyptians had regarding realistic facial proportions. Some scholars believe that Nefertiti ruled briefly after her husband’s death and before the accession of Tutankhamun as Smenkhkare, although this identification is a matter of ongoing debate.

It is rather convenient if Nefertiti is in fact impersonating Akhenaten that he should die first so that she can have her life back to normal. But this is only speculating on who took over after the Pharaoh who went after Moses and died in the Red Sea.

? Nefertiti meant “the beautiful (or perfect) woman has come”
? The famous bust of Nefertiti has lead to her being described as ‘The Most Beautiful Woman in the World.’ Nefertiti was the Chief Wife of Akhenaten and the mother-in-law and stepmother of Tutankhamun, a beautiful woman forever captured in her portrait bust found at Tell el-Amarna.

Armana is the place where the Tribes of Israel worked as slaves. Nefertiti only had daughters. King Tut was born from another wife of the then Pharaoh. His first born son. Nefertiti was trying to arrange the marriage of one her daughters to Tut when he died.

King Tut was found to have one of the richest Tombs of Gold ever found. Yet he was just a young man. All of this sounds a great deal like the story of the Exodus. With the tomb of Nefertiti’s husband not being found. Causes you to scratch your head……

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipuwer_papyrus
The Ipuwer Papyrus is a single surviving papyrus holding an ancient Egyptian poem, called The Admonitions of Ipuwer[1] or The Dialogue of Ipuwer and the Lord of All.[2] Its official designation is Papyrus Leiden I 344 recto[3]. It is housed in the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Netherlands, after being purchased from Giovanni Anastasi, the Swedish consul to Egypt, in 1828.

The sole surviving manuscript dates to the later 13th century BCE (no earlier than the 19th dynasty in the New Kingdom). Egyptologist Dr Halpern believed that the papyrus was a copy of an earlier Middle kingdom copy. The dating of the original composition of the poem is disputed, but several scholars, have suggested a date between the late 6th dynasty and the Second Intermediate Period (ca. 1850 BCE – 1600 BCE).[4] The theme of this work has previously been taken either as a lament inspired by the supposed chaos of the First Intermediate Period, or as historical fiction depicting the fall of the Old Kingdom several centuries earlier, or possibly a combination of these.

Ipuwer describes Egypt as afflicted by natural disasters and in a state of chaos, a topsy-turvy world where the poor have become rich, and the rich poor, and warfare, famine and death are everywhere. One symptom of this collapse of order is the lament that servants are leaving their servitude and acting rebelliously. Because of this, and such statements as “the River is blood”, some have interpreted the document as an Egyptian account of the Plagues of Egypt and the Exodus in the Old Testament of the Bible, and it is often cited as proof for the Biblical account by various religious organizations[5][6].

David Rohl recently proposed a revised chronology, dating the Exodus to the Second Intermediate Period, in which case Ipuwer might refer to that event. However, Rohl’s chronology has been rejected by Kenneth Kitchen.[7]. Moreover, the association of Ipuwer with the Exodus is generally rejected by Egyptologists.

In a recent post on David Rohl’s yahoo group David said the following which in light of all that is said here is just an additional bit of information to the type of man Pharaoh was. We are cutting into a discussion on the DNA of king Tut.

I’m no expert when it comes to DNA, but I did say that the parents of Tut were likely to be Amenhotep III and Sitamun (his daughter), NOT Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye. In which case Tut would get a 23 from A III and a 23 from A III’s daughter Sitamun = KV35 Younger Lady. Your argument, as far as I can see, depends on Tiye not having 23, but I do not claim her to be Tut’s mother. Sitamun gets her 23 from her father A III, she then becomes A III’s Great Royal Wife and gives birth to Tut who in turn inherits A III’s 23 from his father and Sitamun’s (KV35YL’s) 23 from his mother.

With the Pharaoh of Egypt now dead and not one survivor of the entire Army, the citizens of Armana and Karnak and indeed much of Egypt began to wonder what happened.

Pharaoh’s most beautiful Queen Nefertiti orders some of the older men to go and look for the army of her husband. What has happened to them? Surely they should have been able to wipe out a ragtag bunch of slaves.

After some time the men report back that they followed the tracks of the army and that they went into the Red Sea. There is not a trace of them after that.

Nefertiti waits another couple of days then again another and sends out scouts to look again for the army. Her Husband’s son by another wife is still not buried. Tutankhamun lies in wait for his father to return. But the days turn into weeks and not a single word about the army.

Then traders from Midian come to Egypt telling a story about the Hebrew Slaves from Egypt crossing the Red Sea and how the entire Egyptian Army and Pharaoh were drowned in that very sea.

Nefertiti orders the traders to be killed and then to close the borders and let no one in or leave. She then consults with her advisors. If the rest of the world knows we have no Pharaoh and no army they will invade us and we will be carried away as slaves and concubines.

So she dresses up as Pharaoh and presents herself to the people as Akhenaton. The statutes of Pharaoh are strange, for they now look like a man but with the feminine qualities of a woman. It is hard to dress the most beautiful woman in Egypt in men’s clothing so that she looks like a man. You simply can’t hide beauty.

Nefertiti sends word to the Hitites to send a suitable Prince to marry into the line of Pharaoh. But the Hitites suspect a trap. Nefertiti carries on the charade for years pretending to be both Pharaoh and queen. But Egypt will not recover from such calamities as was brought on by the God of the Israelites for a very long time.

As to who was the Pharaoh of Egypt that died in the Red Sea, the debate continues. But now you have some more interesting information to share when you sit around the table on Passover and eat your lamb.

But some of you may not know what happened to the Egyptian army. If you want to learn more about this event which Nefertiti never completely understood, go to Exodus Another Study of the Facts to read how it all happened. Just as this article may have surprised you the next one will also give you a great deal to think about.

Have an inspiring Passover.

I have just found this article which I would like to share with you and I will add my own comments as we read it.

Akhenaten: Egyptian Pharaoh, Nefertiti’s Husband, Tut’s Father

By Owen Jarus, Live Science Contributor | August 30, 2013 04:56pm ET

Akhenaten was a pharaoh of Egypt who reigned over the country for about 17 years between roughly 1353 B.C. and 1335 B.C.

A religious reformer he made the Aten, the sun disc, the center of Egypt’s religious life and carried out an iconoclasm that saw the names of Amun, a pre-eminent Egyptian god, and his consort Mut, be erased from monuments and documents throughout Egypt’s empire.

When he ascended the throne his name was Amenhotep IV, but in his sixth year of rule he changed it to “Akhenaten” a name that the late Egyptologist Dominic Montserrat translated roughly as the “Benevolent one of (or for) the Aten.”

In honor of the Aten, he constructed an entirely new capital at an uninhabited place, which we now call Amarna, out in the desert. Its location was chosen so that its sunrise conveyed a symbolic meaning. “East of Amarna the sun rises in a break in the surrounding cliffs. In this landscape the sunrise could be literally ‘read’ as if it were the hieroglyph spelling Akhet-aten or ‘Horizon of the Aten’ — the name of the new city,” wrote Montserrat in his book “Akhenaten: History, Fantasy and Ancient Egypt” (Routledge, 2000).

He notes that this capital would quickly grow to become about 4.6 square miles (roughly 12 square kilometers) in size. After his death, the pharaoh’s religious reforms quickly collapsed, his new capital became abandoned and his successors denounced him.

Akhenaten, either before or shortly after he became pharaoh, would marry Nefertiti, who in some works of art is shown standing equal next to her husband. Some have even speculated that she may have become a co-, or even sole, ruler of Egypt.

I am suggesting that Nefertiti impersonated Akhenaten as Pharoah after his death.

Heir to an empire
Akhenaten was the son of Amenhotep III and his wife Queen Tiye. During their rule, Egypt ruled an empire that stretched from Syria, in west Asia, to the fourth cataract of the Nile River in modern-day Sudan.

At the site of Akhenaten’s new capital about 350 tablets known as the “Amarna letters” were uncovered in 1887, showing the diplomatic correspondence between Akhenaten, his fellow kings in west Asia, as well as those of vassals who owed the Egyptian king allegiance.

The letters indicate that an empire called the Hittites, based in modern-day Turkey, became increasingly assertive during Akhenaten’s rule, going to war against the Mitanni, a people who had been an Egyptian ally. “In addition to their conflicts with the Mitanni, the Hittites were also stirring up instability in the vassal states of Syria, and a nomadic group, the Apiru, was creating unrest in Syro-Palestine,” writes Egyptologists David Silverman, Josef Wegner and Jennifer House Wegner write in their book “Akhenaten and Tutankhamun: Revolution and Restoration” (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 2006).

They note that while previous Egyptian kings would likely have launched a military expedition into west Asia as a result of these acts, Akhenaten appears to have done nothing. “Some modern scholars criticize Akhenaten, noting that he focused all of his efforts on his religious ideas and thereby allowed Egypt’s international prestige to deteriorate.”

I would suggest that Akhenaten did nothing because he and the entire Egyptian Army were destroyed. They were destroyed on top of all the 1st born that died before them. Egypt was in no way possible able to take on any other nation at this time.

Turning to the Aten
While the Aten, the sun-disc, was nothing new in Egyptian religion, Akhenaten’s decision to make it the focus of religious life, to the point where he desecrated the names of Amun and Mut, was something entirely new.

Montserrat notes that at Karnak, a temple complex near Luxor that was devoted to Amun-Ra, the king would have a series of Aten temples built, their construction beginning perhaps in his very first year of rule.

Even at this early stage, he appeared to have a dim view of the god Amun, whom Karnak was dedicated to. Montserrat notes that the axis of the new Aten complex was built facing to the east, toward the rising sun, whereas the rest of Karnak is oriented towards the west, where ancient Egyptians believed the underworld to be. “So Akhenaten’s first major building project turns its back on the temple of Amun, perhaps anticipating the events later in his reign,” Montserrat wrote.

Egyptologist James Allen notes in his book “Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphics” (Cambridge University Press, 2010) that sometime between the ninth and 11th years of Akhenaten’s reign, he changed the long form of the god’s name so that, in essence, the Aten became “not just the supreme god but the only god.”

I would suggest this is not Akhenaten that is doing this but it is, in fact, Nefertiti acting as Akhenaten, who is desecrating the gods Aten and Mut and changing the worship to reflect the victory of the One True God Yehovah who had just wiped out the entire Egyptian army.

With this date of the 9th or the 11th year when this took place I can also say that this change came about after the Exodus in 1379 B.C. Therefor Akhenaten came to power in 1388 BC. or 1390 BC.

This coincided with the start of a campaign aimed at desecrating the names of the gods Amun and Mut, among other deities. “Akhenaten’s minions began to erase the names of Amun and his consort, Mut, and to change the plural… ‘gods’ to the singular ‘god.’ To judge from later inscriptions, the temples of the older gods may have been closed as well, and their priesthoods disbanded,” Allen writes.

This extraordinary event occurred throughout Egypt’s empire. “Care was taken to erase the name of Amun even from the letters in the diplomatic archive, commemorative scarabs, and the tips of obelisks and pyramids; the distant regions of Nubia were also affected, as far as Gebel Barkal at the Fourth Cataract of the Nile,” writes Egyptologist Erik Hornung in his book “Akhenaten and the Religion of Light” (Cornell University Press, 1999).

“In some instances Akhenaten even had his own original personal name [Amenhotep, the name when he first assumed power] mutilated in his effort to do harm to the hated Amun.”

Still Akhenaten appears not to have been able to convince all Egyptians to put their sole spiritual hopes in the Aten. Archaeologist Barry Kemp, who leads modern-day excavations at the site of Amarna, notes in his book “The City of Akhenaten and Nefertiti” (Thames and Hudson, 2012) that researchers have found figures depicting other deities, such as Bes and Thoth, at Amarna.

He also notes that few Egyptians appear to have added the word “Aten” to their name in honor of the god. In fact the sculptor Thutmose, who created an iconic bust of Nefertiti that’s now in a museum in Berlin, left his name in such a form that it honored the god Thoth.

Grotesque art
In addition to his radical religious changes, Akhenaten also unleashed a revolution in the way art was drawn. Before his time Egyptian art, especially those portraying royalty, tended to show a stiff, structured, formal style.

This changed radically in Akhenaten’s time, with people being drawn with cone shaped heads and thin spindly limbs. The royal family was even drawn in a way that conveyed intimate moments. One depiction, reproduced in Hornung’s book, shows Akhenaten and Nefertiti riding a horse-drawn chariot, the two appear to be kissing each other with the rays of the Aten shining down on them.

And I would suggest that this new art form is a result of Nefertiti influence and longing for her husband and son Tutankhamun who was also dead on Passover night. Her desire and her continual portrayal that her husband was in charge although being dead now since 1379 BC.

This radical departure in art, particularly the distorted body shapes, has long left Egyptologists mystified. Hornung writes that in 1931 the German Egyptologist Heinrich Schäfer commented, “anyone who steps in front of certain of these representations for the first time recoils from this epitome of physical repulsiveness. His [Akhenaten’s] head seems to float atop his long, thin neck. His chest is sunken, yet there is something feminine about its form. Below his bloated paunch and his fat thighs, his skinny calves are a match for his spindly arms …” observed Schäfer.

This is not a man but it is that of Nefertiti acting as Pharoah.

Why Akhenaten chose to depict himself and others this way is a mystery. It’s been hypothesized that he suffered from a severe physical deformity that made him change the Egyptian style of art. However recent study of a mummy found in KV 55, in the Valley of the Kings, which some believe is Akhenaten, show no signs of serious physical deformities.

Kemp writes in his book that if it is true Akhenaten was not deformed then we have to look into the psyche of the man to find the answers to this mystery. “The images are a wake-up call that here is someone not in the mainstream of humanity. He is one of a kind, on the edge. He wants you to feel uncomfortable and yet – as conveyed through the relaxed poses and overt affection for his family (as found in some of the art) to love him at the same time.”

The dark side of Amarna
Regardless of whether or not Akhenaten wanted people to love him, recent research shows that the people who built his new city, out in the desert, paid a steep price.

Recent research published in the journal Antiquity shows that the common people at Amarna suffered from nutritional deficiencies and a high juvenile mortality rate, even by the standards of the time.

The children had stunted growth, and many of the bones were porous due to nutritional deficiency, probably because the commoners lived on a diet of mostly bread and beer, archaeologist Anna Stevens told Live Science in an interview at the time the research was published.

Researchers also found that more than three-quarters of the adults had degenerative joint disease, likely from hauling heavy loads, and about two-thirds of these adults had at least one broken bone as reported in the Live Science story.

Akhenaten’s death
Akhenaten’s final years are shrouded in mystery. Until recently, Egyptologists had noted that Nefertiti’s name appears to disappear around year 12 of his reign, the time the last of his major monuments were built.

If Akhenaten dies in the Red Sea during the Exodus and his son Tutankhamun died on the Passover evening, along with the first born of Egypt and the entire army then I would suspect that all major projects would grind to halt, and Nefertiti would also need to disappear and now become the feminized Akhenaten.

It has been speculated that she may have fallen out of favor with Akhenaten, or that her name was changed so that she became a co-ruler of Egypt. However, a recent discovery challenges all of this. In December of last year, Egyptologists with the Dayr-al-Barsha project announced that they had found an inscription, dated to year 16 of Akhenaten’s reign (shortly before his death), that mentions Nefertiti and shows that she was still Akhenaten’s “chief wife” (in the researchers words).

Whatever happened in Akhenaten’s final years his religious changes, and new capital, would not survive his death. Within a few years of his death (which occurred around 1335 B.C.) a new king named Tutankhamun, whom many researchers now believe to have been Akhenaten’s son, ascended the throne.

A boy king, he had originally been named Tutankhaten, in honor of the Aten, but his name was changed to honor Amun, the god whom his father had tried to have wiped out. During Tut’s reign, Egypt would return to its original religious beliefs, Amun and Mut assuming their places on top of the Egyptian pantheon of gods.

Tutankhamun was named after these gods by his father and died when his father still ruled. He did not change things back at all. And he never did get to rule. Tutankhamun was placed in his fathers tomb because the body of Akhenaten was never to be found or recovered from the Red Sea.

The capital that Akhenaten built would become abandoned within a few decades of his death, and the “heretic king” would fall into disgrace, not even being included on some king lists of Egypt.

Furthermore, Tutankhamun would condemn Akhenaten’s actions in a stela found at Karnak. Part of it reads “the temples and the cities of the gods and the goddesses, starting from Elephantine [as far] as the Delta marshes… were fallen into decay and their shrines were fallen into ruin, having become mere mounds overgrown with grass… The gods were ignoring this land…”

[From “The City of Akhenaten and Nefertiti,” by Barry Kemp]

The message was clear, Akhenaten, through his radical religious changes, had turned his back on the gods and so offended them. Tutankhamun and his successors would restore things to how they had been before.

Tutankhamun was dead but the successors of Egypt would restore things to the way they once were.

Why do we Need Barley? Where is it Commanded?

The Wave Offering

There was a ritual connected with the feast of weeks or Pentecost season as some call it today, that the priests of Israel were to perform in the Temple or Tabernacle of the Lord. It is recorded for us in Lev.23:9-14.

“Say to the people of Israel, when you come into the land which I give you and REAP its harvest, you shall bring the SHEAF OF THE FIRST FRUITS OF YOUR HARVEST to the priest; and he shall WAVE the sheaf BEFORE the Lord, that you may find acceptance; ON THE MORROW AFTER THE SABBATH the priest shall wave it……And you shall eat neither bread nor grain parched or fresh until this same day…..”

This ceremony was to do with the FIRSTFRUITS. It was a WAVING of the FIRST OF the firstfruits by the priest before the Lord. It was to be fulfilled before any of the NEW harvests could be gathered in, or used for bread, or eaten in any way.

Samuele Bacchiocchi has correctly observed that:

“The countdown to Pentecost began with the offering of the first barley sheaf (known as the omer)…….The purpose of the wave-sheaf offering was to consecrate and inaugurate the Spring grain harvest which lasted about seven weeks until Pentecost…….The cutting of the first barley sheaf entailed a lively ceremony. The sheaf was cut in the evening, put into baskets, and held until the next day, when it was brought to the temple….to be ceremonially waved by the priest. The Talmud states that a priest would meet a group of pilgrims on the edge of the city and from there lead them to the Temple mount singing and praising God. Together with a priest, they proclaimed: ‘A wandering Aramean was my father; and he went down into Egypt……and the Lord brought us out of Egypt…..into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O Lord, have given me’ (Deut.26:5, 8, 9, 10).

When they arrived at the Temple, the priest would take the sheaves, lift some in the air and wave them in every direction to acknowledge God’s sovereignty over the whole earth. Before the offering of the sheaves, no reaping of the harvest for personal use could be done (Lev.23:14). A portion of the wave-sheaf was placed on the altar and the rest was eaten by the priest. A male lamb was sacrificed as a burnt offering (Lev.23:12)”
(God’s Festivals, pages 170,171).

Let us back up a little to the time when these first sheaves were to be cut. This particular happening is interesting in its ceremony and also shows the time as to when it was done by the teaching of the Pharisees. The Sadducees disagreed with the Pharisees as to the DAY this cutting and waving of the sheaf was to be performed. The Pharisees taught the sheaf was cut the evening of the 15th of the first month, at the very beginning of the first Sabbath of the feast of Unleavened Bread. The Sadducees taught it was to be cut and presented to the Lord on the first day of the week DURING the feast of Unleavened Bread, a Sunday wave sheaf day. It was to be cut right after sunset at the end of the weekly Sabbath.

Because among the religious sects of Judah the common people were in the main, followers of the Pharisees, it was their teaching of the cutting and waving of the sheaf that got center stage and the largest spot light.

Actually and technically, it was the Sadducees that held the correct understanding as to WHAT DAY the first sheaf of the spring harvest was to be waved before the Lord. It is not the purpose of this study to answer that question. I have done this in another in-depth, technical study paper that the reader can request from me.

In this typology study, I want to focus on the RITES of the cutting for a moment, and not so much on the calendar day, it was performed on.

This “reaping” of the Omer Barley offering was a special ceremony performed BY a select group of individuals, who performed the “cutting” and “bringing” of the Omer “on behalf of” all the people of God. This SPECIAL offering was NOT brought by each and every man in Israel.

Reading from THE TEMPLE AND ITS MINISTRY AND SERVICES, by Dr.Alfred Edersheim, page 258, we find exactly how this Barley Omer Offering was first “cut-reaped” and how it was then “brought” to the priest in the Temple.

Quote:

” Already, on the 14th of Nisan, the spot where the FIRST SHEAF was to be REAPED had been MARKED OUT by delegates from THE SANHEDRIN, by tying together in bundles, while still standing, the BARLEY THAT WAS TO BE CUT DOWN. Though, for obvious reasons, it was customary to choose for this purpose the sheltered Ashes-valley across Kidron, there was no restriction on that point, provided the barley had grown in an ordinary field – of course in Palestine itself – and not in garden or orchard land, and that the soil had not been manured nor yet artificially watered. When the time for CUTTING THE SHEAF (Omer) had arrived, that is on the evening of the 15th of Nisan (even though it were a Sabbath), just as the SUN WENT DOWN, THREE MEN, each with a SICKLE AND BASKET, formally set to work.

But in order clearly, to bring out all that was distinctive in the ceremony, they first asked of the bystanders THREE times each of these questions: ‘ Has the sun gone down?’ ‘With this sickle?’ ‘ Into this basket?’ ‘ On this Sabbath (or first Passover day)?’ and lastly, ‘ Shall I reap?’

Having each time been answered in the affirmative, they CUT DOWN THE BARLEY to the amount of ONE EPHAH, or TEN OMERS, or THREE SEAHS, which is equal to about THREE PECKS AND THREE PINTS of our English measure.

The ears were BROUGHT INTO THE COURT OF THE TEMPLE, and thrashed out with canes or stalks, so as not to injure the corn (barley grain); then ‘parched’ on a pan perforated with holes, so that each grain might be touched with by the fire, and finally exposed to the wind. The corn (barley grain) thus prepared was ground in a barely-mill, which left the hulls whole.

According to some, the flour was always successively passed through thirteen sieves, each closer than the other. The statement of a rival authority, however, seems more rational – that it was only done till the flour was sufficiently fine, which was ascertained by one of the ‘Gizbarim’ (treasurers) plunging his hands into it, the sifting process being continued as long as any of the flour adhered to the hands.

Though ONE EPHAH, or TEN OMERS, of BARLEY was CUT DOWN, only ONE omer of flour, or about 5.1 pints of our measure, was OFFERED in the Temple………”

In corroboration of these facts, the SONCINO TALMUD, a special limited anniversary edition of the Babylonian Talmud in English, published by The Soncino Press, tells about these procedures followed by these three men from the Beth Din (House of Judgment-Sanhedrin), to REAP this same Omer Barley Offering, which say:

“MISHNAH. What was the procedure? The messengers of the Beth Din used to go out on the day before the Festival and tie the unreaped corn in bunches to make it easier to reap. All the inhabitants of the towns near by assembled there. AS SOON AS IT BECAME DARK he called out ‘ Has the sun set?’ And they answered ‘Yes.’ ‘ Has the sun set?’ And they answered ‘Yes.’ ‘With this sickle?’ And they answered ‘Yes.’ ‘ With this sickle?’ And they answered ‘Yes.’ ‘ Into this basket?’ And they answered ‘Yes.’ ‘ Into this basket?’ And they answered ‘Yes.’ On the Sabbath he called out further, ‘On this Sabbath?’ And they answered ‘Yes.’ ‘ On this Sabbath?’ And they answered ‘Yes.’ ‘ Shall I reap?’ And they answered ‘Yes.’ ‘ Shall I reap?’ And they answered ‘Yes.’ He repeated every matter three times, and they answered, ‘Yes’ – ‘Yes’ – ‘Yes.’ ”

Again, let me remind you that what you have read above was the PHARISEE teaching and practice of the CUTTING and PREPARING the FIRST SHEAF for offering in the Temple by the priest.

They did it after the sun set on the beginning of the 15th of the first month, the annual Sabbath of the beginning of the feast of Unleavened Bread, and it was waved by the priest in the Temple on the day after this annual Sabbath, or the 16th of the first month.

This was the common practice of the Pharisees, and as the largest segment of the “religious” population belonged to the sect of the Pharisees, this practice was carried out and performed by the Temple administration, who in the main were Sadducees. Yet the Sadducees themselves in “theology” teaching DID NOT AGREE with this interpretation of WHEN this first barley sheaf should be cut and waved before the Lord in the Temple.

They said the waving of the FIRST SHEAF of the FIRST HARVEST, before the Lord in the Temple should be on the MORROW after the weekly Sabbath, which came during the feast of Unleavened Bread.

We have seen in past studies on the typology of this Pentecost feast, and especially concerning the typology of the WAVE SHEAF, or FIRST FRUIT cutting of the barley grain, that this FIRST SHEAF of grain REPRESENTED the FIRST of the FIRST- FRUITS of the SPIRITUAL HARVEST RESURRECTION to the heavenly Father, which was typical and was fulfilled by CHRIST JESUS, as the first of the firstfruits – see again 1 Cor.15:20-23; James 1:18.

The FIRST SHEAF of the FIRST harvest to the Lord, was offered or WAVED BEFORE THE LORD, on a certain morning of a certain day, which was also connected to the feast of Unleavened Bread. As this sheaf REPRESENTED the Messiah Christ, being waved or accepted by the Father in heaven, as the FIRST of the FIRST harvest of souls for His family, can we find anywhere in the Gospels where this typology was fulfilled by Jesus and heaven?

YES, INDEED WE CAN!!

In John chapter twenty and verse 17, we read that on the day that Jesus appeared to Mary (verses 11-16) and was about to touch Him, He told NOT TO DO SO, for He was not yet ASCENDED UNTO THE FATHER!

Jesus was not talking about His permanent ascension to the Father for two thousand years or so, until His return to earth, BECAUSE later that SAME DAY, He appeared to his disciples and they DID touch Him – see Matthew 28:8-10.

These two accounts in the Gospels make it very clear that Jesus DID for a short while, ascend to the Father in heaven and return. He allowed no one to touch Him until He had presented Himself to the Father, and then after that on His return to earth that SAME DAY, He allowed Himself to be touched.

WHAT DAY did all this take place? A reading of the last chapters of the Gospels show quite plainly and without contradiction, that this ascending of Jesus to present
Himself as the FIRST OF THE FIRSTFRUIT HARVEST, THE WAVE SHEAF OF THE FIRST HARVEST TO THE HEAVENLY FATHER, WAS ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK FOLLOWING THE WEEKLY SABBATH, DURING THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD!

The WAVE SHEAF DID NOT REPRESENT THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST!

IT REPRESENTED THE CHRIST ALREADY RISEN, BEING WAVED OR ACCEPTED BY THE FATHER IN THE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN, AS THE FIRST OF THE FIRSTFRUITS, THE FIRST OF THE SPIRITUAL HARVEST TO BE MADE IMMORTAL FROM FLESH AND BLOOD. THE REST OF THIS HARVEST OF SOULS TO BE ALSO SO MADE IMMORTAL WHEN JESUS COMES AGAIN (1 Cor.15:23; 1 Thes.4:13-18).

THIS TOOK PLACE ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, AFTER THE WEEKLY SABBATH, DURING THE UNLEAVENED BREAD FEAST.

(And here is a clue as to the meaning of the 8th Day Feast. It will be on the 8th Day when all these harvests in total will be with Yehovah)

IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE THE SADDUCEES HAD THE CORRECT DAY AS TO WHEN THE WAVE SHEAF WAS TO BE OFFERED TO GOD IN THE TEMPLE!
TYPOLOGY AND PROPHECY WAS FULFILLED. THAT WHICH HAD BEEN FORETOLD IN SYMBOLISM AND TYPE HAD COME TO PASS EXACTLY AS THE TYPOLOGY HAD PICTURED, ON THE EXACT DAY IT HAD BEEN PRACTICED AND PERFORMED FROM THE BEGINNING UNDER MOSES AND IN THE WILDERNESS TABERNACLE.

THIS SHOULD STRENGTHEN OUR FAITH BRETHREN. ALL THAT GOD HAS PROMISED AND FORETOLD IN PROPHECY AND TYPOLOGY, EITHER HAS ALREADY COME TO PASS, OR YET WILL COME TO PASS. WE CAN COUNT ON IT, WE CAN LOOK TO IT AS UNTO A LIGHT THAT SHINES IN A DARK PLACE, UNTIL THE DAY DAWN, AND THE DAY STAR ARISE IN YOUR HEARTS (2 Pet.1:19).

SO IT IS WRITTEN, SO IT WILL COME TO PASS!

That was written by Samuele Bacchiocchi.

I hope you too can see the awesome picture this day now gives us.

It is on the wave Sheaf day that Yehshua went to Heaven at 9 AM at the very same time of the morning sacrifices. Sunday morning.

Do you grasp the importance of this event?

New International Version (©1984)
This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.”

New Living Translation (©2007)?That is why the Scriptures say, “When he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people.”
English Standard Version (©2001)?Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”
New American Standard Bible (©1995)?Therefore it says, “WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.”
Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)?For it says: When He ascended on high, He took prisoners into captivity; He gave gifts to people.
International Standard Version (©2012)?That is why God says, “When he went up to the highest place, he led captives into captivity and gave gifts to people.”

David wrote about this event back in Psalms;

Psalm 68:18 When you ascended on high, you led captives in your train; you received gifts from men, even from the rebellious–that you, O LORD God, might dwell there.

Proverbs 30:4 Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hands? Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and the name of his son? Tell me if you know!

Yehshua led a host of captives from the grave when He went to Heaven that day. That Sunday morning at 9 AM the time of the morning offerings. The very same time the wave offers of Barley were presented. Never before had any man gone to heaven until this time. This is such a huge event I am beside myself why others do not or cannot see just how big a deal this was.

Now in all of this there is something to keep in mind. Before Yehshua went up to Heaven on this wave Sheaf Day, NO ONE, NOT ONE PERSON HAD EVER GONE TO HEAVEN.

Joh 3:13 And no one has ascended up to Heaven except He who came down from Heaven, the Son of Man who is in Heaven.

But what about Elijah the prophet. The Bible states that “Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (2 Kings 2:11)
And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

“Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (verse 11). Elijah was now gone. The former followers and students of Elijah were now to look to Elisha as their new leader. “Now when the sons of the prophets who were from Jericho saw him, they said, ‘The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha’” (2 Kings 2:15).

Many readers assume that Elijah at that point was made immortal and taken to the heaven where God resides. This was not the case. The sons of the prophets knew otherwise. They knew the whirlwind had simply removed Elijah to another location on earth. They exclaimed to Elisha:

“Look now, there are fifty strong men with your servants. Please let them go and search for your master, lest perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has taken him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley” (2 Kings 2:16).

The disciples were concerned for Elijah’s safety, so they sent out a party of 50 men to search for him. The 50 searched for three days but did not find him (2 Kings 2:17)

Another passage proves conclusively that Elijah was not taken up to live in heaven. The Bible records that Elijah wrote a letter to Jehoram, the king of Judah, several years after he was removed in the whirlwind.

Notice the sequence of events recorded for us in the Bible. Elijah’s last recorded and dated act occurred during the reign of the Israelite king Ahaziah when Elijah told the king he would die for his sins (2 Kings 1:3, 17). Ahaziah’s reign lasted only about a year, ca. 850 B.C.

Elijah’s removal and replacement by Elisha is then recorded in the next chapter, 2 Kings 2. The story continues with incidents from Elisha’s life, including an encounter with Jehoshaphat, king of Judah (2 Kings 3:11-14). Several years later Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, succeeded his father as king of Judah, ca. 845 B.C. (2 Kings 8:16).

Jehoram proved to be a wicked king, leading the nation of Judah in rebellion against God’s commandments. A few years into Jehoram’s reign, and several years after Elijah’s removal, Jehoram received a letter from Elijah warning the king of dire consequences because of his sins. This letter is recorded in 2 Chronicles 21:12-15

[12] And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah,
[13] But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father’s house, which were better than thyself:
[14] Behold, with a great plague will the LORD smite thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy goods:
[15] And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day.

This letter proves that the prophet was still alive and on earth some years after he was removed by the whirlwind and replaced by Elisha. God had chosen Elisha to succeed Elijah as His prophet, so He bodily removed Elijah to another place, where he continued to live for at least several more years—as his letter to Jehoram demonstrates.

Another scripture people use to teach that we go to heaven is about Enoch. Lets look at this.

Genesis 5:24 tells us that “Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.”

Hebrews 11:5 adds: “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, ‘and was not found, because God had taken him’; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”

Some erroneously jump to the conclusion that Enoch was taken up into heaven, but notice the Bible nowhere says this. It simply says that God “took him.” It does not specify where he was taken.

Yehshua later states in the Gospel of John that

“Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35).

One of the points He makes is that one passage of the Bible cannot contradict another passage.

This same Gospel of John reveals a startling fact very pertinent to this matter:

“No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven” (John 3:13).

Clearly, Yehshua was the only human being who had ascended into heaven. The phrase “who is in heaven” lets us know that this was written by the apostle John after Christ’s return to heaven. So even as late as this statement, no human being—and that includes Enoch—had ascended into heaven.

We later read about Enoch’s fate in Hebrews 11:5: “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, ‘and was not found, because God had taken him’; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” The word rendered “taken” can also mean “transferred elsewhere.” And the New American Standard Bible says this was done “so that he would not see death”—a better translation than “did not,” as we know from the same chapter of Hebrews that he died.

Notice in verse 13 the summary given of all of the men and women of faith listed here, including Enoch:

“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13).

So Enoch definitely died as well as all the rest.

I was not going to do this but I may as well as some of you will no doubt bring up this point next. What about Lazarus and the Rich Man???

This section of Scripture has been more misunderstood by students of the Bible than many other parts of the divine revelation. There is a definite reason for it! It is the assumption that Christ is relating a story of literal occurrences, rather than an account rehearsed in parable form. The truth is, however, the narrative is a parable from beginning to end. Once this important point is understood, the meaning becomes clear and significant.

A sure and quick way to inflame the wrath of some preachers and Christian laity is to say the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man is a parable. They will not have it! The mere suggestion that the account is symbolic is enough to bring on the charge of “theological liberalism.” To many people today the normal bedrock of teaching concerning Christ’s judgment upon sinners rests with the literality of this story. And one must admit, it shows a judgment of severest consequences! It seems to state, in vivid and graphic detail, the condition of wicked sinners after death. They appear to be conscious, in extreme torment, engulfed in flames that will never be extinguished and that they will remain in such excruciating pain for all eternity. And true enough, if the account of Lazarus and the Rich Man is not a parable of thoroughly symbolic meaning, this would be their fate!

Such a scene is so horrendous to imagine that it is no wonder vast numbers of fearful people walk down the aisle to accept Christ after hearing a sermon on the literality of the story. It never seems to occur to such preachers that this consignment by Christ to a never-ending judgment for sins committed in this short life, makes Him to be the most unjust and unreasonable person in the universe. Simply because someone in China or the Soviet Union (to pick two atheistic countries) never had a chance to hear of Jesus Christ and His redemptive message, and confine him to a never-ending HELL is beyond belief for a merciful and loving God who sent His only begotten son to save and redeem this world (John 3:16). However, this interpretation is part of the exact scenario being preached in many churches and revivals today. And let’s face it, that is precisely what ought to be taught if lazarus and the rich man is a literal narrative.

Thankfully, there cannot be the slightest doubt that the whole account is a parable from start to finish. What many people conveniently fail to realize is the proclivity of teachers, speaking in early Semitic languages like Hebrew (or even in Greek when speaking in a Semitic environment), to constantly use the symbolic or parable form of teaching to the people they taught. Christ was no exception!

“All these things spoke Jesus unto the multitudes IN PARABLES and without a parable spoke he not unto them. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, ‘I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.’” • Matthew 13:34–35

Parables are a form of storytelling in which the physical features of some well-known subjects are exemplified to relate an essential spiritual teaching. On many occasions the incidents are greatly exaggerated to heighten the teaching. One famous example is that of Christ when he said the mustard seed was the smallest of seeds (when everyone knew it was not) and it becomes the greatest of trees (which again was not literally true). See Matthew 13:32. No one in the first century would have thought that Christ was stretching the facts. Of course he was! But it was a simple form of teaching that all people were using in that time. 1

Since we are told dogmatically that Christ was always in the habit of speaking to the people in parables (as a common mode of instruction in the Semitic world of the first century), why do people today insist on the literality of symbolic language, while people in Christ’s day normally did not? Note one thing that the apostle Paul said which has to do with the fire of judgment, yet no one in ancient times (or even today) takes literally. Paul said: “If your enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing you shall heap COALS OF FIRE on his head” (Rom.12:20, from Proverbs 25:22). This mention of the fires of judgment on a person was only intended in a figurative sense. It shows that a person’s conscience would be “singed.” No literal fire was meant!

And so it is with the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man! No one with common sense could possibly believe that Christ was giving literal teaching. The whole thing is figurative from start to finish, and anyone who says differently should examine the matter closer.

Let us now look at the subject carefully. In no way should a person believe that literal acts were being discussed by Christ. Practically every detail of the story has a symbolic meaning to it, and this can be shown so clearly. When a person adopts an erroneous literality to the account, the message that Christ was trying to convey is destroyed and its true symbolic meaning is tarnished!

 

A Parable Throughout

The first thing to notice is the fact that Lazarus ate of the crumbs that fell from the Rich Man’s table. Now, are the crumbs literal or symbolic? If literal, then tell me how Lazarus would have had enough to eat? A few measly crumbs could hardly feed any grown man. Obviously, Christ meant that the man ate the scraps (intended for dogs or other animals). However, the literalists would demand real crumbs so they can get the Rich Man into a real burning hell!

Then it says that Lazarus died and was carried by the angels into the bosom of Abraham. Where was Abraham’s bosom? Some people say it signifies the heavenly abode, heaven. In fact, the bosom of Abraham actually means the breast part of his body. Can they get Lazarus and ten million other redeemed Christians in that one bosom of Abraham? There would not be any room to breathe, let alone stretch ones arms. All people, however, rightly recognize that Christ is here giving a symbol. True! That is just the point that we wish to make! If one part is figurative, all can be!

We then find that Abraham is able to carry on a conversation with the Rich Man and that Lazarus could be seen with Abraham, though the text says that Abraham was “afar off.” How were they able to talk with one another? If Abraham and Lazarus were in heaven (as many preachers claim today), it shows that the redeemed would still be in constant contact with the rebellious sinners in hell and that the redeemed would be seeing their tortured and agonized faces as they writhed in unrelenting pain. Indeed, they are close enough to be in conversation with them! Can you imagine the joy and happiness the saints would have while viewing the agony of all the wicked in hell for all eternity? But if this story of Christ were to be taken literally, that would be the outcome. What glory would it be to see your unredeemed father, your unconverted mother, sister, brother, son, daughter, wife or husband having to experience the rigors of an eternally burning hell without any relief ever in sight, while you bask in the sunshine and happiness of Abraham’s bosom? And remember Abraham was close enough to carry on a conversation with the Rich Man. And the Rich Man was close enough to Lazarus to recognize him.

Another thing that is highly irregular of our experience is the fact that the Rich Man was able to speak at all. Would he not more likely be screaming his head off at the terrible excruciating pain that he was being subjected to? Again, if the account is literal, we find a most impossible situation in the story. Even more than that, what does the Rich Man seek from Lazarus? It is not to drag him out of the fire, but simply to take a drop of cold water and put on his tongue. Why, the Rich Man ought to know that such a thing would not relieve his pain in the slightest! How can a drop of physical water give benefit to a spirit being (as the Rich Man would be)? The water, if literal, would turn into steam before it could do any good. And why did not the man ask Abraham to bring the drop of water to his tongue to cool it? Abraham was far closer to the Rich Man, or at least it looks this way because there was no conversation with Lazarus. What was so special about Lazarus that his drop of water would cool his tongue, but Abraham was not asked for any help?

The point is, the whole scene (though instructive and significant in what our Lord was trying to teach) is impossible to explain sensibly if Christ was teaching fact. However, make it a parable (as it truly is, remembering that Christ would not teach without a parable), then the message becomes beautiful and understandable. Again, everyone knows Paul did not mean literal “coals of fire on one’s head” in Romans 12:20.

 

The True Story in Detail

The story of Lazarus and the Rich Man is a parable (Matthew 13:34). Once this is recognized the interpretation behind the narrative can become quite meaningful. It is also very important to note the context in which the parable is found. There was a reason why Christ spoke this parable at that time. Christ had just given His teaching about the unjust steward who had mishandled his master’s money (Luke 16:1–13). This parable was told to further illustrate what proper stewardship is.

Let us first consider the identification of Lazarus. This is the only time in Christ’s parables that a person’s name is used. Some have imagined that this use of a personal name precludes the story being a parable. But this is hardly true. The name “Lazarus” is a transliteration of the Hebrew “Eleazar” (which means “God has helped”). The name was a common Hebrew word used for eleven different persons in the Old Testament.

When one analyzes the parable, this Eleazar can be identified. He was one who must have had some kind of affinity with Abraham (or the Abrahamic covenant), for the parable places him in Abraham’s bosom after death. But he was probably a Gentile. The phrase “desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table” was typical of Gentile identification (see Matthew 15:22–28). Even the phrase “laid at his gate” is reminiscent of the normal one used by Jews to denote the Gentile proselyte “Proselyte of the Gate.” This Eleazar must also have been associated with stewardship because Christ gave the parable precisely for the reason of explaining what represents the true steward.

There was only one Eleazar in the historical part of the Bible that fits the description. He was a person associated with Abraham, he was a Gentile (not an ethnic part of the Abrahamic family), and a steward. He was Eleazar of Damascus, the chief steward of Abraham.

“And Abram said, ‘Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eleazar [Lazarus] of Damascus and lo, one born in my house is mine heir.’” • Genesis 15:2–3

Long ago it was suggested that the Lazarus of the parable represented the Eleazar associated with Abraham (Geiger, JuJ Zejtschr., 1868, p. 196 sq.), but for some reason very few modern commentators have taken up the identification. But once this simple connection is made, a flood of light emerges on the scene which can interpret the parable with real meaning.

The Lazarus of the parable represented Abraham’s faithful steward Eleazar. And faithful he was! Though he had been the legal heir to receive all of Abraham’s possessions (Genesis 15:3), Abraham gave him an assignment which was to result in his own disinheritance. But the Bible shows he carried out the orders of Abraham in a precise (and faithful) way.

“And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house [Eleazar], that ruled over all that he had, ‘Put, I pray thee, your hand under my thigh: and I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that you shall not take a wife unto my son [Isaac] of the daughters of the Canaanites.’” • Genesis 24:2–3

Eleazar agreed to do what Abraham desired, although the fulfillment of his task meant the complete abandonment of Eleazar’s claim to any of Abraham’s inheritance—both present and future! Each step that Eleazar took northward to procure a wife for Isaac was a step towards his own disqualification. Eleazar recognized this, for he admitted to Laban, Rebecca’s brother, that “unto him [Isaac] hath he [Abraham] given all that he hath” (Genesis 24:36). There was nothing left for him! Thus, Eleazar’s faithfulness to Abraham resulted in his own disinheritance from all the promises of blessing which God had given to Abraham. They were now given to Isaac and his future family. That inheritance included wealth, prestige, power, kingship, priesthood, and the land of Canaan as an “everlasting” possession. But now Eleazar was “cast out.” He and his seed would inherit nothing. Thus, the parable calls Lazarus a “beggar” who possessed nothing of earthly worth.

 

Who Was the Rich Man?

The Rich Man was an actual son of Abraham. Christ had him calling Abraham his “father” (Luke 16:24) and Abraham acknowledged him as “son” (verse 25). Such sonship made the Rich Man a legal possessor of Abraham’s inheritance. Indeed, the Rich Man had all the physical blessings promised to Abraham’s seed. He wore purple, the symbol of kingship, a sign that the Davidic or Messianic Kingdom was his. He wore linen, the symbol of priesthood, showing that God’s ordained priests and the Temple were his. Who was this Rich Man who possessed these blessings while living on the earth?

The Israelite tribe that finally assumed possession of both the kingdom and priesthood, and the tribe which became the representative one of all the promises given to Abraham, was Judah. There can not be the slightest doubt of this when the whole parable is analyzed. Remember that Judah had “five brothers.” The Rich Man also had the same (verse 28).

“The sons of Leah; [1] Reuben; Jacob’s firstborn, and [2] Simeon, and [3] Levi, and Judah, and [4] Issachar, and [5] Zebulun.” • Genesis 35:23

“And Leah said … ‘now will my husband be pleased to dwell with me; for I have born him six sons.’” • Genesis 30:20

Judah and the Rich Man each had “five brethren.” Not only that, the five brothers of the parable had in their midst “Moses and the prophets” (verse 29). The people of Judah possessed the “oracles of God” (Romans 3:1–2). Though the Rich Man (Judah) had been given the actual inheritance of Abraham’s blessings (both spiritual and physical), Christ was showing that he had been unfaithful with his responsibilities. When the true inheritance was to be given, Judah was in “hades” and “in torment” while Lazarus (Eleazar, the faithful steward) was now in Abraham’s bosom. He was finally received into the “everlasting habitations” (verse 9).

 

“A Great Gulf Fixed”

The parable says that a “great gulf” [Greek: chasm] was fixed between the position of Abraham and Eleazar and that of the Rich Man [Judah]. What was this chasm? The Greek word means a deep ravine or valley — a great canyon with cliffs on each side. Its two sides were also “afar off” from each other (verse 23). It was “a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence” (verse 26). Note the italicized word “pass.” In all other occasions of its grammatical use in the New Testament, the word was used to denote a passage over water. And in Greek imagery of the abodes of the dead, there was usually some kind of water barrier between the righteous dead and the wicked — either a river or ocean. This is also represented in Jewish conceptions of the compartments for the dead — “by a chasm, by water, and by light above it” (Enoch, ch. 22).

It was also common for many chasms (those described in Greek literature) to have water in their regions of deepest declivity. Let us now look at such a chasm from a Palestinian point of view. In that environment there is only one possible identification for the “great gulf” of the parable if it is to fit the meaning of the Greek chasm precisely. This would be the great rift valley between the highlands of Trans-Jordan and the hill country of Ephraim in which the River Jordan flows. This fault line is the greatest and longest visible chasm on earth. And what a spectacular sight it is! As one looks over the chasm he sees impressive cliffs on each side, a desert in its wastelands, and the River Jordan meandering in the center.

Identifying the chasm of the parable with the Jordan rift unfolds a beautiful symbolic story well recognized in contemporary Jewish allegorical narratives of the time. In the center of this “gulf” was the River Jordan. It divided the original land of promise given to Abraham from ordinary Gentile lands. The west side of Jordan represented the area that the Bible considered the original Holy Land. As the angel said to Joshua: “Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon stand is holy. And Joshua did so” (Joshua 5:15). When the Israelites finally entered the chasm of the Jordan and crossed the river, they then considered themselves in the Holy Land the land promised to Abraham and his seed!

Entering the land of Canaan (west of Jordan) was also a symbol of final spiritual salvation. The author of Hebrews recognized that Israel’s crossing of the River Jordan under Joshua (and the taking of the land of Canaan) was typical of Christians obtaining their true “rest” in the future Kingdom of God (Hebrews 3:1–4:11). Even American Negro spirituals with which so many of us are familiar (“crossing into Canaan’s land”) are reflective of this early symbolic theme.

Recall also that the Rich Man was depicted as being in flames of judgment (verse 24). In this same rift valley were formerly located the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah which were “set forth for an example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire” (Jude 7).

“Turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those who should after live ungodly.” • 2 Peter 2:6

When the allegorical applications are understood, the teaching of the parable becomes simple and instructive. The theme of Christ’s narrative was true stewardship. Though Eleazar [Lazarus], Abraham’s trusted steward, had disinherited himself from earthly rewards by his faithful obedience to Abraham’s wishes, he was later to find himself (after death, when true inheritance comes) in Abraham’s bosom. But the chief representative of Abraham’s actual sons (Judah, the spiritual leader of all the Israelite tribes) remained East of Canaan as far as true inheritance was concerned. He had inherited all the physical blessings while in the flesh, but at death he was not allowed to pass the spiritual Jordan into the final Abrahamic inheritance.

Like Moses, because of rebellion, he was not allowed to pass the “great gulf” to enjoy the land of milk and honey. True enough, Judah had been blessed with the kingship, priesthood, the divine scriptures, the prophets, and other untold blessings, but he was not allowed to enjoy the true spiritual blessings of the future because he was unfaithful with his sonship and was refusing the true message of salvation offered by God’s own Son. Christ said: “Neither will they he persuaded, though one rose from the dead” (Luke 16:31).

 

The Final Appraisal

The only Gospel to carry the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man was Luke who was the companion of Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. It showed a specific message that Gentiles could now inherit the promises to Abraham provided they were faithful as Eleazar had been. Yet Paul did not want the Gentiles to be conceited in their new relationship with God.

“What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeks for … God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, ears that they should not hear; unto this day.” • Romans 11:8

But “Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid” (verse 11). “Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles [like Lazarus-Eleazar]; how much more their fullness” (verse 12). One of these days, according to Paul, “all Israel shall be saved” (verse 26). God will show mercy on the natural sons of Abraham as He has on faithful Gentile stewards. This shows that the hades, the purple, the linen, the torment, Abraham’s bosom, the great gulf, and even the persons of Lazarus and the Rich Man were all symbolic and not literal. After all, the narrative was a parable.

 

Summary of the Symbols

1. The Lazarus of the parable was Eleazar, Abraham’s steward (Genesis 15:2).?
2. He was a Gentile “of Damascus” (“a proselyte of the gate”) who “ate the crumbs.” ?
3. He was disinherited (to become a beggar) but he remained faithful to Abraham and God. ?
4. When this earthly life was over, he received Abraham’s inheritance after all (he was in Abraham’s bosom) — in “everlasting habitations.”?
5. The Rich Man of the Parable was Judah. This son of Jacob had five literal brothers as did the Rich Man. ?
6. He was also a literal son of Abraham, while Eleazar (Lazarus) was not! ?
7. The Rich Man (Judah) also had the kingship (purple) and the priesthood (linen). ?
8. Yet Judah (representing God on this earth) was not the true steward of the Abrahamic blessings.?
9. Though he and his literal brothers had been graced with the “oracles of God” (the Old Testament) they would not respond to the One resurrected from the dead (Christ). ?
10. The “great gulf” was the Jordan rift valley the dividing line between Gentile lands and the Holy Land of promise (Abraham’s inheritance). Crossing the Jordan was a typical figure recognized by the Jews as a symbol of salvation.

Once these factors are recognized, all the points in the parable (with its context) fit perfectly to give us some simple but profound teachings of Christ. It shows that the physical promises of God (though excellent) are very inferior to the spiritual redemption that anyone (Jew or Gentile) can have in Christ.

 

Concluding Remarks about Hell

What are the consequences of sin? We are told by many people who view the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man literally, plus some scriptures in the book of Revelation, that it means to be in hell fire for all eternity. Let us also understand the book of Revelation is very symbolic! Though it speaks of the rebellious being tormented with fire and brimstone for ever and ever (for the ages of the ages), it is also the same book that speaks of Jesus Christ, equally in symbolic form, of looking like a Lamb with seven horns and seven eyes in his face (Revelation 6:6 with 14:10–11). This section is, of course, symbolic as anyone can see.

This does not mean that figurative teaching has an unpractical meaning. Far from it! What must be discovered is the real teaching. Take, for example, the punishments God gives for sins. There are hundreds of scriptures that show God’s retribution upon individuals and the world for their rebellion to Him and their harm to mankind. But the punishments of judgment are not to burn literally in a hell fire forever! Indeed, judgment is now on the house of God.

“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God; and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” • 1 Peter 4:17

No sinning saint is now in the fires of judgment. All people sin — alas, even Christians from time to time (1 John 1:8), but all are promised eternal life — yet they suffer the loss of certain wonderful rewards for the millennial period if they persist in sin,

“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. … Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he has built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” • 1 Corinthians 3:11–15

The Bible says it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of God when people rebel against Him (Hebrews 10:31), even though Christian people are sanctified and their salvation is secure in Christ (Hebrews 10:14).

When the whole of the Bible is studied on the matter, it is seen that the judgment of hell after death is symbolic. People who have had some “near death” experiences and thought they were going to a burning hell, were having hallucinations inspired by their imaginations. 2 After all, people who have been taught all their lives about a literal hell fire to be experienced for all eternity, have difficulty in eradicating such things from their minds at the point of death — and this is more so if they think they are dying as sinners. However, Christ came to save the world, and He will do it!

The geographical area that was a symbol of fiery judgment was the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna) at the southeast corner of Jerusalem. It was the city dump. Normally, fires were set in the region to burn up the refuse. If dead bodies were placed there in time of war (or sometimes in pagan rituals), worms would emerge to destroy the carcasses. This is what Isaiah 66:24 and Mark 9:44–48 are talking about. Of course, the fires were in a separate area from the worms because worms cannot live in flames.

The whole thing was intended to be figurative in the first place. Gehenna (hell) was known as Tophet (Isaiah 30:33 with Jeremiah 7:31) and remarkably the entire area will one day become holy to the Lord (Jeremiah 31:38–40). There will certainly not be any eternal fires in Gehenna. (The “unquenchable fires” of Matthew 3:12 are fires that cannot be put out with water or soil until they have consumed all the combustible material.)

The truth is, it can be shown conclusively that the consequences of doing sin are NOT to be placed in a hell fire forever and ever. The Bible makes the issue plain for all to see if only people will believe its simple teaching. Many do not want to do this, and they insist on making literal what the Scripture allows only to be symbolic.

Look at this closely. It is simple and plain. All Christians know that the Bible emphatically states that Jesus paid for all our sins (even the sins of the world) when He died on the cross. If anyone disputes this fact, then the very essence of the theological teaching of the New Testament is thwarted.

“And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” • 1 John 2:2

This is abundantly true! But now note this! If the consequences of sin were to be placed in a hell fire to be burned forever, then for Christ to have paid the penalty of our sins (so we do not have to suffer it), then Christ would have to be in that hell fire forever — always suffering the consequences of our sins. After all, the Bible says that Christ took our punishment. But Christ was alive from the dead some three days later, and is presently in heaven with the Father. He is not in an eternal hell fire undergoing the consequences of our sins! All of the scriptures speaking about the punishment of fire are symbolic. If they are not, then they would violate this fundamental theological fact of the New Testament that Christ paid the punishment for our sins without being burnt in any flames.

Indeed, what did Christ do for us? The Bible says “He died” (Romans 3:34). And what are the wages of sin? — the consequences of sin?

“For the wages of sin is death: but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” • Romans 6:23

The result of sin is death — not life in hell fire or anywhere else! What Jesus did was to be crucified for us on the cross. He did not go into hell fire to burn forever — or else He would still be there!

One other point needs to be made. Some denominations say that the wages of sin are eternal death (nonexistence). But this cannot be true. If it were, then Christ (in order to pay the penalty for our sins) would have had to remain dead for all eternity! Yet He was dead for only three days! He is now with the Father in heaven and getting ready to return to this earth to redeem His saints at the resurrection of the just. Others have said that since all humans have to die the first (physical) death (Hebrews 9:27), it is the second death that Christ died for us. But how can that be? The second death is the Lake of Fire in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 20:14), and it is obvious that Christ did not go into any literal Lake of Fire while He died on the cross. His death was for us!

What Christ did do for you, me and all mankind was to make it possible for all death to be abolished (1 Corinthians 15:26) which He will accomplish in His own good time. Only “life” will then exist!

The fact is, the Bible makes perfectly good sense on the matter of the punishments for sin. It is when well-intentioned, but erroneous, interpreters begin to make symbolic scriptures to be literal, that all of the problems emerge. All becomes confusing and contradictory when this type of procedure is used. The story of Lazarus and the Rich Man is a pure parable from beginning to end. It makes perfectly good sense and tells a wonderful and significant story that any student of the Bible can relate to. Let us learn to leave the parables as parables! The Bible will become plain if we do.

“All these things spoke Jesus unto the multitudes in parables; and without a parable spoke he not unto them.” • Matthew 13:34
Ernest L. Martin, 1984 Edited by David Sielaff, June 2003

1 In case someone wants to be silly enough to dispute the accuracy of Christ’s symbolic language, would people today correct you if you said: “I am so hungry I could eat a horse”? Anyone with sense knows it is not literally possible for one to consume a horse in one meal! Everyone would know you were using figurative language and accept it.

2 It is also heightened by their bodily stress and oxygen to the brain. Usually, near death experiences reflect the beliefs, wishes and life experience of those experiencing the trauma. The apostle Paul died three times and did not indicate that any of the revelations from God occurred during those incidents. DWS

I have included these three proofs to show you that no one has gone to heaven. And that Yehshua came out of the grave at the end of the Sabbath and on the wave Sheaf day as the monring wave offerings were taking place at 9 AM, as Paul said He led a host of captives with him.

Look at what Mathew records about the death of Yehshua.

Mat 27:50 And crying again with a loud voice, Jesus released His spirit. 51 And, behold! The veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And the earth quaked, and the rocks were sheared, 52 and the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep arose, 53 and coming out of the tomb after His resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

When Yehshua died the grave were marked. They were raised just like the Barley being marked out before it was cut.

Then after the Resurrection of Yehshua, then these saints came back to life and went into the City of Jerusalem. This is at the exact same time when the Barley is prepared in Jerusalem at the Temple.

And the next morning when Yehsua ascended to Heaven these saints also went with him as the first fruits. They were part of the wave offering.

Now some of you will say what about the thief on the tree.

Luk 23:42 And he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom. 43 And Jesus said to him, Truly I say to you, Today you shall be with Me in Paradise.

You can move the comma as some say so that it says I say to you today, Or you can understand that the millennial day did not end until the year 85 CE. So the thief did go up with those first fruits on that millennial day. In fact I would say the thief ascended with the rest of the wave offering, that is all of those Saints who were resurrected when Yehsua came back to life.

So this is the meaning of the wave sheaf and why it was so awesome; Because until that moment no one had gone to heaven.

And now you should be able to understand the meaning behind the second wave offering at Pentecost. It is then that all of those in the faith since this first wave offering will be able to rise up and meet him in the air and as Paul says. In a twinkling of an eye.

1Th 4:15 For we say this to you by the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall not go before those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall ever be with the Lord.

This is the next wave offering of Pentecost and this is the one that all the apostles and all the saints that lived and died since this wave offering in 31 CE, now wait for. That is correct, since this time in 31 C.E. no one else has ascended to Heaven. They all sleep and wait until the next wave offering takes place at Pentecost in one of the years during the Tribulation. I strongly suspect in 2033 C.E.

This is the importance of the wave offering and this why we need to have barley to begin the year. Now you can look forward to Pentecost with even more joy, because then we all want to be apart of this second wave offering when all of those who died in the faith and those of us alive at that time will then be raised up and meet Him in the clouds.

This is why we look for the barley to be Aviv, or to be ripe so that we can make the wave offering which represents the first time the Saints were raised from teh grave and ascended to heaven with Yehshua as a sampling of the rest of the Saints to come later. The next wave offering will be the one of Wheat at Pentecost and is the one we are striving to be part of so that when it is waved, we will be raised up or changed to meet Him in the clouds.

Counting the Omer

Counting WEEK ONE | 1 שבוע Day One | The Law of Yehovah | Psalm 119:1-8

This first day will begin on the Sunday during the Days of Unleavened Bread. Today is the first day of the first week of seven weeks. Today is the first day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath.

1 Elohim does favor us and bless us. Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah. (Psalm 67:1)

2 For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations. (Psalm 67:2)

3 Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, let all the peoples praise You. (Psalm 67:3)

4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, and lead the nations on earth. Selah. (Psalm 67:4)

5 Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; let all the peoples praise You. (Psalm 67:5)

6 The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us! (Psalm 67:6)

7 Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him! (Psalm 67:7)

1 Blessed are the perfect in the way, who walk in the Torah of יהוה) !Psalm 119:1)

2 Blessed are those who observe His witnesses, who seek Him with all their heart! (Psalm 119:2)

3 Yea, they shall do no unrighteousness; they shall walk in His ways. (Psalm 119:3)

4 You have commanded us to guard Your orders diligently. (Psalm 119:4)

5 Oh, that my ways were established to guard Your laws! (Psalm 119:5)

6 Then I would not be ashamed, when I look into all Your commands. (Psalm 119:6)

7 I thank You with uprightness of heart, when I learn the right-rulings of Your righteousness. (Psalm 119:7)

8 I guard Your laws; oh, do not leave me entirely! (Psalm 119:8)

Day Two | Obedience To the Law of Yehovah | Psalm 119:9-16

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

1 Elohim does favor us and bless us. Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah. (Psalm 67:1)

2 For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations. (Psalm 67:2)

3 Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, let all the peoples praise You. (Psalm 67:3)

4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, and lead the nations on earth. Selah. (Psalm 67:4)

5 Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; let all the peoples praise You. (Psalm 67:5)

6 The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us! (Psalm 67:6)

7 Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him! (Psalm 67:7)

9 How would a young man cleanse his path? To guard it according to Your Word? (Psalm 119:9) 10 I have sought You with all my heart; let me not stray from Your commands! (Psalm 119:10) 11 I have treasured up Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against You. (Psalm 119:11) 12 Blessed are You, O יהוה !Teach me Your laws. (Psalm 119:12)

13 With my lips I have recounted all the right-rulings of Your mouth. (Psalm 119:13)

14 I have rejoiced in the way of Your witnesses, as over all riches. (Psalm 119:14)

15 I meditate on Your orders, and regard Your ways. (Psalm 119:15)

16 I delight myself in Your laws; I do not forget Your Word. (Psalm 119:16 | Footnote: 1 See also vv. 119:24, 119:35, 119:47, 119:70, 119:77, 119:92, 119:143, 119:174; Romans 7:22)

Day Three | Happiness In the Law of Yehovah | Psalm 119:17-24

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

1 Elohim does favor us and bless us. Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah. (Psalm 67:1)

2 For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations. (Psalm 67:2)

3 Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, let all the peoples praise You. (Psalm 67:3)

4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, and lead the nations on earth. Selah. (Psalm 67:4)

5 Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; let all the peoples praise You. (Psalm 67:5)

6 The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us! (Psalm 67:6)

7 Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him! (Psalm 67:7)

17 Do good to Your servant, let me live and I guard Your Word. (Psalm 119:17)

18 Open my eyes, that I might see wonders from Your Torah. (Psalm 119:18)

19 I am a sojourner in the earth. Do not hide Your commands from me. (Psalm 119:19)

20 My being is crushed with longing for Your right-rulings at all times. (Psalm 119:20)

21 You rebuked the proud, cursed ones, who are straying from Your commands. (Psalm 119:21) 22 Remove from me reproach and scorn, for I have observed Your witnesses. (Psalm 119:22)

23 Though princes sat, speaking against me, Your servant meditates on Your laws. (Psalm 119:23)

24 Your witnesses also are my delight, my counselors. (Psalm 119:24)

Day Four | Determination To Obey the Law of Yehovah | Psalm 119:25-32

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

1 Elohim does favor us and bless us. Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah. (Psalm 67:1)

2 For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations. (Psalm 67:2)

3 Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, let all the peoples praise You. (Psalm 67:3)

4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, and lead the nations on earth. Selah. (Psalm 67:4)

5 Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; let all the peoples praise You. (Psalm 67:5)

6 The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us! (Psalm 67:6)

7 Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him! (Psalm 67:7)

25 My being has been clinging to the dust; revive me according to Your Word. (Psalm 119:25) 26 I have recounted my ways and You answered me; teach me Your laws. (Psalm 119:26)

27 Make me understand the way of Your orders; that I might meditate on Your wonders. (Psalm 119:27)

28 My being has wept from grief; strengthen me according to Your Word. (Psalm 119:28)

29 Remove from me the way of falsehood, and favor me with Your Torah. (Psalm 119:29)

30 I have chosen the way of truth; Your right-rulings I have held level. (Psalm 119:30)

31 I have clung to Your witnesses; O יהוה, do not put me to shame! (Psalm 119:31)

32 I run the way of Your commands, for You enlarge my heart. (Psalm 119:32)

Day Five | A Prayer For Understanding | Psalm 119:33-40

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

1 Elohim does favor us and bless us. Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah. (Psalm 67:1)

2 For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations. (Psalm 67:2)

3 Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, let all the peoples praise You. (Psalm 67:3)

4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, and lead the nations on earth. Selah. (Psalm 67:4)

5 Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; let all the peoples praise You. (Psalm 67:5)

6 The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us! (Psalm 67:6)

7 Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him! (Psalm 67:7)

33 Teach me, O יהוה, the way of Your laws, and I observe it to the end. (Psalm 119:33)

34 Make me understand, that I might observe Your Torah, and guard it with all my heart. (Psalm 119:34)

35 Make me walk in the path of Your commands, for I have delighted in it. (Psalm 119:35)

36 Incline my heart to Your witnesses, and not to own gain. (Psalm 119:36)

37 Turn away my eyes from looking at falsehood, and revive me in Your way. (Psalm 119:37)

38 Establish Your Word to Your servant, which leads to the fear of You. (Psalm 119:38)

39 Turn away my reproach which I dread, for Your right-rulings are good. (Psalm 119:39)

40 See, I have longed for Your orders; revive me in Your righteousness. (Psalm 119:40)

Day Six | Trusting the Law of Yehovah | Psalm 119:41-48

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

1 Elohim does favor us and bless us. Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah. (Psalm 67:1)

2 For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations. (Psalm 67:2)

3 Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, let all the peoples praise You. (Psalm 67:3)

4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, and lead the nations on earth. Selah. (Psalm 67:4)

5 Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; let all the peoples praise You. (Psalm 67:5)

6 The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us! (Psalm 67:6)

7 Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him! (Psalm 67:7)

41 And let Your kindnesses come to me, O יהוה ;Your deliverance, according to Your Word. (Psalm 119:41)

42 So that I answer my reprover, for I have trusted in Your Word. (Psalm 119:42)

43 And do not take away from my mouth the word of truth entirely, for I have waited for Your right-rulings. (Psalm 119:43)

44 That I might guard Your Torah continually, forever and ever. (Psalm 119:44)

45 That I might walk in a broad place, for I have sought Your orders. (Psalm 119:45)

46 That I might speak of Your witnesses before sovereigns, and not be ashamed. (Psalm 119:46)

47 That I might delight myself in Your commands, which I have loved. (Psalm 119:47)

48 That I might lift up my hands to Your commands, which I have loved; while I meditate on Your laws. (Psalm 119:48)

Day Seven | Is the 1st Shabbat | Confidence In the Law of Yehovah | Psalm 119:49-56

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

1 Elohim does favor us and bless us. Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah. (Psalm 67:1)

2 For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations. (Psalm 67:2)

3 Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, let all the peoples praise You. (Psalm 67:3)

4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, and lead the nations on earth. Selah. (Psalm 67:4)

5 Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; let all the peoples praise You. (Psalm 67:5)

6 The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us! (Psalm 67:6)

7 Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him! (Psalm 67:7)

49 Remember the word to Your servant, on which You have caused me to wait. (Psalm 119:49)

50 This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life. (Psalm 119:50)

51 The proud have utterly scorned me, I did not turn aside from Your Torah. (Psalm 119:51)

52 I remembered Your right-rulings of old, O יהוה, and I comfort myself. (Psalm 119:52)

53 Rage has seized me because of the wrong who forsake Your Torah. (Psalm 119:53)

54 Your laws have been my songs in the place of my sojournings. (Psalm 119:54)

55 I have remembered Your Name in the night, O יהוה, and I guard Your Torah. (Psalm 119:55)

56 This has become mine, because I have observed Your orders. (Psalm 119:56)