The Little Red Hen – Exodus 23 and Forgiveness

Joseph F. Dumond

Isa 6:9-12 And He said, Go, and tell this people, You hear indeed, but do not understand; and seeing you see, but do not know. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn back, and be healed. Then I said, Lord, how long? And He answered, Until the cities are wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land laid waste, a desolation, and until Jehovah has moved men far away, and the desolation in the midst of the land is great.
Published: Sep 11, 2014

News Letter 5850-025
17th day of the 6th month 5850 years after the creation of Adam
The 6th Month in the Fifth year of the Third Sabbatical Cycle
The Third Sabbatical Cycle of the 119th Jubilee Cycle
The Sabbatical Cycle of Earthquakes, Famines and Pestilence

September 13, 2014

Shabbat Shalom Family,

Anyone who is going to be in Israel for Sukkot please read this notice. It is a great opportunity for all of us to show Judah that Ephraim is here and is keeping the Torah.

Shalom Friends,

“For there shall be a day when the watchmen will cry on Mount Ephraim, ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to YHVH our Elohim.’ “

Friends, “watchmen,” the day has come for the cry “arise and let us go up to Zion,” to be echoing all around, especially on the streets of Zion/Jerusalem!

When the rest of the world is turning its back on Israel and lashes out with verbiage of animosity and slander, Joseph must be heard and seen to be doing the opposite. Joseph must also begin to reveal himself to his brothers.

We are sure that many of you have opportunities to meet ‘brother’ Judah in the places where you reside at the moment, and we would encourage you to do so in order to become familiarized with him and he with you, and perhaps to also inspire him to look at his roots and recall to mind his destiny and the land that awaits for him. With that said, we would like to find out who among you is planning to be in Israel during Succot, as a group of us will be marching in the annual Jerusalem Parade (October 14th) as an Ephraimite-Judahite group, making the statement of our brotherhood with each other and with the people of Israel.

If you plan to be here, please let us know by no later than September 14th (shevet@netvision.net.il) as there are the issues of registration, costs and logistics, and we will furnish you with all the details!!! By the way, registration does not entail giving your name and/or passport number. We hope to see many of you in this event. We will send more information and instructions to those who inform us of their coming.

Ephraim and Rimona

 


The New Moon

The New Moon is possibly going to be sighted on Thursday evening September 25 Making Thursday Evening and Friday September 26 the Feast of Yom Teruah.  Check this link for a calendar of the 7th month Holy Days.  When you go to the potential visibility to see just how easily visible it will be on Thursday evening, we see at this chart that it is going to be very hard to see. I am told there will be only about a 40 minute window to view the crescent moon if it is visible. I ran my computer program to simulate just how visible the moon will be. It will be the slimmest of crescents and depending on the atmosphere conditions it will be very hard to see with the naked eye.

A telescope is being used to track the moon in order to know precisely where the moon is after sunset. So…if the moon is not seen then Friday Evening and Saturday would be the Feast of Trumpets and Yom Teruah. Thus all the fall days would be moved by one day. Yehovah determines the Appointments we are to keep, not men. Yehovah allows us to see the moon to begin the month or He prevents us from seeing it. It is always up to His discretion.  Are you ready to comply with whatever He decides?


“Mail Call”

Last week I told you about my adventure at the Orangeville Fair, working in my booth and promoting the Sabbatical and Jubilee years, the Ten Tribes of Israel and the coming Blood moons. I received the following comments about this work in spreading the word.
One brother wrote to tell me to be careful and that I had inspired him.

Keep your chin up. What you did on Sabbath made me cry.

Another sister wrote in to say how she admired what I had done spreading the word.

Hey Joseph, I was totally impressed, and really enjoyed your newsletter this week. Thank you so much. Thank you for being faithful and doing the market stall thing, and I was so impressed that you gave away all those books. I would love to contribute to help you. I’ll see what I can do when the Internet comes right again. Thanks and bless you!

Then an email that was a highlight from someone we met at the Fair that Sabbath.

Hi Joseph!
My son and I are watching your videos again this morning and I have to say WOW or slap my bridges!
These are amazing and I can just see your passion for history – by the way I did do some research previously on the altar of Pergamum imported and rebuilt by Hitler – fascinating that you captured this vein…. And the interrelation of Islam/German connection.
I’m totally blown away about the USA and others – being new Israel   – this makes sense in my gut but I need you to go over it with me.
The lady from the Fair.

Brethren, I am encouraging you all to get out there and share this word. People are looking but know not where to find the truth. Too many of us hide our faith so as not to be hurt by the insults and slurs others will sling at us. Too many of us are trying to just blend in to the world. It is time to show your true colours and let them know before the evil times that are coming do arrive. Then there are the many of you who attend the Church of God and have been told to shut your mouths about the Sighted moon and the Name and the Sabbatical years or you will be kicked out. And many of you do exactly that. You shut up and sit down and let them continue to tell you what you are allowed to believe. When are you going to get the courage to stand up to them and tell your brethren the truth, even if it means you get kicked out? Believe me or do not believe me, but the Churches of God are the Laodicean church spoken of in Revelation. Have you considered the very words spoken to the church of Philadelphia? The church you suppose yourselves to be.

Rev 3:7  And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts; and shuts and no one opens, says these things: 8  I know your works. Behold, I have given before you an open door, and no one can shut it. For you have a little strength and have kept My Word and have not denied My name.

All the Churches of God deny the name of God whether it is Yehovah or Yahweh or another version. People are kicked out for saying His name. Something to think about. Do not let the door hit you as you run out to begin to do His work with those that are actually doing it. It is time to spread the message and to stop being afraid of your leadership.
I also received this cute little story in the mail this week.

The Story of The Little Red Hen

Once upon a time, a lamb, a cat, a pig, and a little red hen lived on an old farm on a flowery hill surrounded by fields of golden wheat. One day, the Little Red Hen found some grains of wheat scattered in the barnyard. “Look what I’ve found!” she said to the other animals. “Who will help me plant these grains of wheat?”
“Not I!” said the lamb.
“Not I!” said the cat.
“Not I!” said the pig.
“Then I’ll do it myself,” said the Little Red Hen. And so she did. She knew that seeds need water to grow tall and strong. “Who will help me water these seeds?” asked the Little Red Hen.
“Not I!” said the lamb.
“Not I!” said the cat.
“Not I!” said the pig.
“Then I’ll do it myself,” said the Little Red Hen. And so she did. The Little Red Hen watered the soil and waited patiently for the wheat to grow. When the wheat was tall and golden, she knew it was ready to be cut. “Who will help me harvest the wheat?” asked the Little Red Hen.
“Not I!” said the lamb.
“Not I!” said the cat.
“Not I!” said the pig.
“Then I’ll do it myself,” said the Little Red Hen. And so she did. The Little Red Hen’s basket was soon filled with wheat. “Who will help me take the wheat to the mill to be ground into flour?” asked the Little Red Hen.
“Not I!” said the lamb
“Not I!” said the cat.
“Not I!” said the pig.
“Then I’ll do it myself,” said the Little Red Hen. And so she did. The kind miller ground the wheat into powdery, velvety flour, and the Little Red Hen carried it home in a rough brown sack. “Who will help me make this flour into bread?” asked the Little Red Hen.
“Not I!” said the lamb.
“Not I!” said the cat.
“Not I!” said the pig.
“Then I’ll do it myself,” said the Little Red Hen. And so she did. The Little Red Hen mixed the flour into sticky dough and kneaded it into a smooth loaf. “Who will help me put this bread into the oven to bake?” asked the Little Red Hen.
“Not I!” said the lamb.
“Not I!” said the cat.
“Not I!” said the pig.
“Then I’ll do it myself,” said the Little Red Hen. And so she did. The kitchen filled with the delicious scent of baking bread, and the other animals came to see what was happening. The Little Red Hen took the warm, crusty loaf out of the oven, and set it on the table. “Who will help me eat this fresh, tasty bread?” asked the Little Red Hen.
“I will!” said the lamb.
“I will!” said the cat.
“I will!” said the pig.
“No, you will not,” said the Little Red Hen. “You didn’t help me plant it, or water it, or harvest it, or mill it, or bake it. I shall eat it myself!” And so she did.
“Oh me!” said the lamb.
“Oh my!” said the cat.
“Oh me, oh my!” said the pig.
The next time the Little Red Hen found some grains of wheat, the lamb planted it in the rich, brown soil, the cat watered it carefully every day, and the pig harvested the wheat when it had grown tall and strong. When the dough was baked, together the animals made hot chocolate and ate the fresh, warm bread. It was delicious! The animals lived happily ever after, cooperating and helping every day.

Brethren, week after week I have shared with you all that I am learning. I have repeated it many times for you and I have answered all of your questions. I have asked for your help many times in the past and shared with you what we have done with the money that we were able to raise: The Vineyard in Israel and the DVD series we now have available on line for free. 155,000 have now watched those videos. Over 3 million have come to the web sites and most have been blessed by the things they have gained here. I have traveled to some of your cities to present these truths in person and I have now begun to go to the public at their fairs they host. This too has cost us thousands in preparing the booth and we need to do more already for our next fair we plan to attend. And this does not take into consideration the number of books and DVDs we have given away. All of which has cost us the money that some have sent in.

Our News Letter goes out to thousands each week. The things we could do with a $20 donation each week from each person would be unbelievable. The things we could do if we had help; unfathomable. I have had many tell me they will do this or that only to find out when I tell them to go ahead and do it that they fade away like the setting sun. There have been a few who have helped to edit this work. Others who have helped in research of certain subjects for future articles. Some who encourage me when I need it.

Brethren, right now the world and Judah are about to keep the Shmita starting this Feast of Yom Teruah in 2014. I need your help. We need to get the book Remembering the Sabbatical year of 2016 out there with advertising and in front of the shakers and movers in the Christian world. I am in need of finances to pay for the editing of the blood moon video teaching and the book that is also now ready to be edited. I need your prayers for The 2300 Days of Hell to finally be released and published from Xlibris which continues to say I have too many biblical quotes in order for them to publish the book. I am about to lose it on them come this week. I am in need of financing to help publish the blood moon book and to create more booth backdrops for the various teachings we want to present at these fairs. And we need your financial support to be able to give away those books, bookmarks and DVDs to those who show interest, like the lady at the fair last week. I need your help to set up others who would want to do this in their cities and states.

Brethren, I need your help. Plain and simple. I just need your help to get this job done. Some of you have given and some of you have given a lot and I thank you. Some of you will be able to share with the Little Red Chicken the bread at the end. Without the help that some of you have provided, almost all that we have been able to do since we began to prepare for Sukkot last year, with camera equipment and videoing and editing of the teachings we did at Sukkot in 2013, would never have been made available. Imagine, the understandings that you now have because someone gave us enough funds to record and edit and publish those teachings; what if we could not have afforded them? I am grateful, but there is more to do, there are more to reach and there are more expenses to be taken care of. The vineyard must be maintained. We have this Sukkot planned to set up a booth in Jerusalem with 8,000 Christians attending the ICEJ festivals. Again, there are many costs involved in setting this up and supplying the books needed. Right now, we are unable to bring many books to this event due to the cost involved.

Many of you are asking me to do a weekly radio show and some to do a TV show and others are asking me to set up a Sabbath group here and video-stream it to the world. I would love to do this, but there is only one of me and very few are helping. It would mean I have to do this full time, and there are not enough people to support this effort either. So we do without. Others want to work with me on some of these teachings, but again time and money are holding us back.

Brethren, I am sure many of you know, as I do, that we are on the final run. You see the same things I see now. You know that we must tell others so they too can see. If you will not support me then support those who are warning the brethren, not those putting on entertainment for you.

Mat 25:14  For it is as if a man going abroad called his own servants and gave them his goods. 15  And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to each according to his ability. And he went abroad at once. 16  And going he who had received the five talents traded with them, and made another five talents. 17  And likewise he who had received two, he also gained another two. 18  But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the earth and hid his lord’s silver. 19  After a long time the lord of those servants came and took account with them. 20  And so he who had received five talents came and brought another five talents, saying, Lord, you delivered five talents to me. Behold, I have gained five talents above them. 21  His lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful over a few things; I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord. 22  He also who had received two talents came and said, Lord, you delivered two talents to me. Behold, I have gained two other talents above them. 23  His lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord. 24  And he who had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew that you were a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter. 25  And I was afraid and went and hid your talent in the earth. Lo, you have yours. 26  His lord answered and said to him, Evil and slothful servant! You knew that I reaped where I did not sow, and gathered where I did not scatter, 27  then you should have put my money to the exchangers, and coming I would have received my own with interest. 28  Therefore take the talent from him and give it to him who has ten talents. 29  For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will abound. But from him who has not, even that which he has shall be taken away from him. 30  And throw the unprofitable servant into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 31  But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He shall sit on the throne of His glory. 32  And all nations shall be gathered before Him. And He shall separate them from one another, as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats. 33  And indeed He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats off the left. 34  Then the King shall say to those on His right hand, Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35  For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me in; 36  I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me. 37  Then the righteous shall answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry, and fed You? Or thirsty, and gave You drink? 38  When did we see You a stranger, and took You in? Or naked, and clothed You39  Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and came to You? 40  And the King shall answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you have done it to Me. 41  Then He also shall say to those on the left hand, Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. 42  For I was hungry, and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me no drink; 43  I was a stranger and you did not take Me in; I was naked, and you did not clothe Me; I was sick, and in prison, and you did not visit me. 44  Then they will also answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to You? 45  Then He shall answer them, saying, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me. 46  And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into everlasting life.

The application of this parable must be understood within the context of the message of Matthew 24-25. It is first a message to the people of Israel that will live in the last days before the Lord returns. The statement, in Matthew 24:13, “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” is a key statement. This is the believing remnant that will receive the promise of the kingdom. In Matthew 24:32-34, the Lord states, “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” These will be alive when He returns and will have understood and believed their Lord. The application to the people of Israel is graphic and relevant. Those that believe Him will be rewarded in His kingdom. The basis of the reward will be their stewardship of His resources entrusted to them. Those who fear and do not believe will be rejected and judged.
Another lady wrote me the following;

We’re excited to share these revelations with others. We are extremely thankful to you and your dedication!!! My husband has spent hours going over your books (we have 2 online Prophecies of Abraham & 2300 Days and 1 hard copy of 2016) and newsletters to verify about the Sabbatical year. We are going up against some opposition, as you have spoken about in your videos. We’re not afraid!!! We have shared with some friends we met at Passover in Charlotte ( from Ottawa and several others from America as well as many as read my posts). We are thankful to you and I want you to know that after reading your newsletter last night/this am – my husband said that we are going to begin supporting your ministry on a regular basis – that’s how much you have impacted our lives and want to ensure that the word continues to go forth!! Blessings and Shalom to you too, Joseph!!

Brethren, I need your help. You all know your talents and how best to utilize them. If it is in prayer then pray always, if you know key people who can help share this message then contact them. If you can post and tell others in your social media circles, then do it often and keep doing it until the end. If your talent has blessed you financially then we ask that you think of this work and help us to further it along. If you have a talent that could help us further this message and want to help us do so then contact us. Keep in mind there is only one of me and I have no staff.


This week two emails enriched me. I was told by one man that my research into the Sabbatical years was being used by archaeologists to determine the dates of certain finds in North America with Paleo Hebrew dating. He said that my Sabbatical year dating and the Golden rule which I teach ( Phi which is 6.18) are unraveling key dates in the findings they are discovering. I am now going over some of his writings to see if I can help them some more. This is simply unbelievable. Had it not been for someone passing along this information they would never have known the secrets of the Sabbatical years and how they reveal even things in archaeology.

We also had another person share with us this finding from Wikipedia. And when we check our records 749 C.E. was indeed a Sabbatical year, but the Sabbatical year would have started at Aviv 749 and ended at Aviv 750 C.E. It was after the Bar Kochbah revolt that the confusion of the Sabbatical year began to come into play. Rabbi Yose in the Seder Olam changed the dates of the destruction of the two temples.

The present Hebrew calendar is the product of evolution, including a Babylonian influence. Until the Tannaitic period (approximately 10–220 CE) the calendar employed a new crescent moon, with an additional month normally added every two or three years to correct for the difference between twelve lunar months and the solar year. When to add it was based on observation of natural agriculture-related events.[1] Through the Amoraic period (200–500 CE) and into the Geonic period, this system was gradually displaced by the mathematical rules used today. The principles and rules were fully codified by Maimonides in the Mishneh Torah in the 12th century. Maimonides’ work also replaced counting “years since the destruction of the Temple” with the modern creation-era Anno Mundi.

According to the Mishnah and Tosefta, in the Maccabean, Herodian, and Mishnaic periods, new months were determined by the sighting of a new crescent, with two eyewitnesses required to testify to the Sanhedrin to having seen the new lunar crescent at sunset.[16] The practice in the time of Gamaliel II (c. 100 CE) was for witnesses to select the appearance of the moon from a collection of drawings that depicted the crescent in a variety of orientations, only a few of which could be valid in any given month.[17] These observations were compared against calculations.[18]

At first the beginning of each Jewish month was signaled to the communities of Israel and beyond by fires lit on mountaintops, but after the Samaritans began to light false fires, messengers were sent.[19] The inability of the messengers to reach communities outside Israel before mid-month High Holy Days (Succot and Passover) led outlying communities to celebrate scriptural festivals for two days rather than one, observing the second feast-day of the Jewish diaspora because of uncertainty of whether the previous month ended after 29 or 30 days.[20]

The Maccabees also record that the year began in the spring at Aviv. Although I am having trouble ascertaining exactly when the beginning of the year was changed from Aviv to Tishri, it was after the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. With Rabbi Yose stating the Temple was destroyed in 69 and then the year beginning at Rosh Hashanah in 68. We can move this forward to see how the current Shmita year is thought to begin at Rosh Hashanah 2014, clearly 1 1/2 years out of the true Shmita year. I hope this will also help you to understand why the Jews would claim that 749 C.E. was thought to be a Shmita when in fact it had occurred a few months before the true Shmita began.

749 Galilee earthquake

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Seventh Earthquake (Hebrew: ??? ???????), Ra’ash Shvi’it, also known as the Earthquake of 749, was a devastating earthquake that struckPalestine and eastern Transjordan on January 18, 749.[1][2] The cities of TiberiasBeit She’anHippos and Pella were largely destroyed while many other cities across the Levant were heavily damaged. In addition, the earthquake reportedly claimed tens of thousands of victims.

Damage and casualties

According to historical sources, Scythopolis (Beit She’an), TiberiasCapernaumHippos (Sussita),[3] Pella, suffered widespread damage. A Coptic priest from Alexandria reported that support beams had shifted in houses in Egypt and a Syrian priest wrote that a village near Mount Tabor had “moved a distance of four miles.” Other sources reported tidal waves in the Mediterranean Sea, several days of aftershocks in Damascus, and towns swallowed up in the earth.[1] The death toll in Jerusalem numbered in the thousands. Many buildings, among them the Al-Aqsa Mosque, were severely damaged. The town of Umm el Kanatir and its ancient synagogue were destroyed.[4]

Religious significance

“Ra’ash shvi’it” is mentioned in piyyutim (Jewish liturgical poems). Some rabbis believe the earthquake struck in a Sabbatical year, in which case, the translation of the term would be “earthquake of the seventh year”.
When we were researching for The 2300 Days of Hell, one of those people who blessed me with her research skills was Cathi Allen. She then disappeared for a while but has come back with a short study that helps us to understand and to stand against the argument that the Sabbatical years are for only in the land of Israel. It is with great pleasure that I share her study and research this week.
Again Brethren I need your help. We dedicate ourselves to answering all questions in relation to the Sabbatical and Jubilee years. And we make it all available on our web site for free. We have DVD’s now available because many of you requested them. We have the books available to help you to understand this subject. We have prepared the booth for Sukkot and we have prepared the video on the blood moons and the book on this same subject. But all of this costs me money to make it available to you. We have had to extend ourselves in order to prepare for all that we are doing. We have currently, $15,000 in expenses to meet and another $10,000 for cost to complete the projects we have on hand. Some of this has been in promoting the 2016 book at various fairs in North American and Europe. Very soon all of that will have to stop until the books are balanced once again.
We are causing many to look and talk about the Sabbatical years. Please help us to continue to do this. Thank you to those of you who have and are helping us now.


When You Enter the Land:

A Comparison of Ex 23.10-11 & Lev 25 – 26

By Cathi Allen

Is the sabbatical land rest just for when we are in the land? To find out the answer to this question, let’s take a look at the first mention of this rule in Exodus 23:

10 “For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, 11 but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove. Ex 23:10-11

When this instruction was given here in Exodus for the first time, these were the words that YHVH told Moses to tell the people after He had spoken the Ten Commandments and what is extremely important to notice is that there is no mention of “when you enter the land”. This phrase was added when YHVH tells Moses to tell the people this rule again for the second time in Lev 25.1-7:

1The Lord said to Moses at Mount Sinai, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the Lord. 3 For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. 4 But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. 5 Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. 6 Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year will be food for you—for yourself, your male and female servants, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you, 7 as well as for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.

If you will notice, the addition of “when you enter the land” is not the only difference in the rule between these two occurrences. Another difference is that not only the poor and wild animals may eat of what the land produces on its own but also the Israelites, their livestock, their servants, hired workers, as well as temporary residents. The fact that the land rest is also a sabbath is another addition to this rule.
Now, let’s look at the entire passage of Lev 25 – 26 and see what YHVH told Moses to tell the people so that we may understand everything in its proper context. Here is a brief synopsis of what He said that was predicated by the phrase, “when you enter the land”:

25.1-7: the sabbatical year is a sabbath; the sabbatical rules
25.8-12: rules for observing the Jubilee including how to count it and the people returning to their ancestral property; the Jubilee is another sabbatical land rest
25.13: everyone returns to their own property in the Jubilee
25.14-17: when buying and selling land, the price is determined by the amount of crops which can be produced during the time remaining as it approaches the Jubilee year
25.18-22: blessings for following YHVH’s decrees and laws; blessing of abundance during the sixth year of sabbatical count
25.23-24: the land is YHVH’s and can’t be permanently sold – redemption must  be provided for it
25.25-28: the rules for redeeming the land; return of property ownership at Jubilee
25.29-31: homes in walled cities can be sold permanently but those in unwalled villages may be redeemed or returned at the Jubilee
25.32-34: the homes of the Levites within the cities are redeemable but their pasture land belonging to their towns cannot be sold
25.35-38: money cannot be loaned with interest charges to poor Israelites and food may not be sold to them for profit
25.39-43: fellow Israelites cannot be treated as slaves but only as hired workers or temporary residents and they and their children return to their clans and ancestral property at the Jubilee; they cannot be ruthlessly ruled over
25.44-46: slaves are to come from the surrounding nations or temporary residents and they can be owned as property and bequeathed as inheritance
25.47-53: foreigners residing in the land can buy Israelites but they are redeemable and redemption price is based on the years remaining until the Jubilee; purchased Israelites must be treated as hired workers and not ruled over ruthlessly by their owners
25.54-55: irregardless of redemption, all Israelites are to be released during the Jubilee
26.1: do not make idols and set them up in your land and worship them
26.2: observe the sabbaths and reverence YHVH’s sanctuary
26.3-13: blessings for obedience
26.14-39: curses for disobedience
26.40-45: YHVH promises not to completely destroy them if they confess their sins and those of their ancestors and pay for them as He will remember His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and He will also remember the land for it will enjoy it’s sabbaths without them
25.46: It is stated that what is included in this section are the decrees, laws and regulations established between YHVH and the Israelites through Moses at Mount Sinai.

If you look over this list, it becomes pretty clear that the main theme of the passage is the observance of the Jubilee and since the majority of the Jubilee rulings have to do with property ownership that would only begin after the Israelites entered the land, I believe that is why YHVH predicated these instructions with the phrase, “when you enter into the land”. I also believe that He opens with discussing the sabbatical year because it is a ruling that the people have already received and it will now serve as the building block from which to count the Jubilee which He is now instituting. Also, as the last three decrees found in Lev 26.1-2 are applicable everywhere and not just in the land, I believe that finding them here supports my claim.

In conclusion, I’d just like to say that since the first mention of this rule occurs without the phrase, “when you enter the land”, I believe that the rule as stated in Ex 23.10-11 is to be applied wherever we live, and only those things which YHVH added along with this phrase in Lev 25.1-7 may be the rulings that are only applicable “when you enter the land” – namely that the Israelites, their livestock and servants, hired workers, as well as temporary residents may eat of the food which the land produces on it’s own “in the land” during the sabbatical year.

If you’d like more info about the sabbatical year, Joseph Dumond’s SightedMoon ministry is the prophetic voice on this subject and his website has links to many excellent teachings that I highly recommend. Please visit his website and learn what is needed so that you can help spread the word.

Why Keep the 40 days of Repentance?

We are almost at the 20th day of this month. It is time for us all to get on our knees.
First of all lets note that the number 40 is very special in the bible. There are at least ten instances in the Old Testament and New Testament where 40 occurs, either in years or days. Example;. it rained for 40 days and 40 nights, Moses was on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights, the Israelites wandered 40 years, Yehshua fasted in the wilderness for 40 days and was seen on the earth for 40 days after His crucifixion.
We have shown you from The Prophecies of Abraham how by looking at other Jubilee cycles of Abraham, Noah, Jacob and Joseph we can in fact see prophetic messages that are to be applied to us now in this last Jubilee cycle.

The fact that Yehshua fasted for 40 days BEFORE He began His ministry is telling us we can glean some more truths from these other events or that this event helps to explain things in them.

Last week we quoted this to you:
According to tradition, the month of Elul is the time that Moses spent on Mount Sinai preparing the second set of tablets after the incident of the golden calf (Ex. 32; 34:27-28). He ascended on Rosh Chodesh Elul and descended on the 10th of Tishri, at the end of Yom Kippur, when repentance was complete. Other sources say that Elul is the beginning of a period of 40 days that Moses prayed for G-d to forgive the people after the Golden Calf incident, after which the commandment to prepare the second set of tablets was given.

We read of what John the Baptist was doing in Mat 3:5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea went out to him, and all the region round about Jordan. 6 And they were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.
They were confessing their sins is a clue as to the time of year.

We then read in Matthew again about what Yehshua does after this baptism John does with Him.

Mat 4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit up into the wilderness, to be tempted by the Devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterwards hungry.

And also notice that Satan does not show up until the end of the 40 days. This is also a huge clue as to when this 40-day fast of Yehshua took place.

We also have in John 2:13 Yehshua going to Jerusalem to keep Passover but this was after many other things had taken place. After the 40-day fast, after Yehshua had gathered up the Apostles in Matthew and spoke to them and after John had been arrested and beheaded.
Almost everyone acknowledges that Yehshua began His ministry in the fall and preached for 3 ½ years being killed at Passover. It is not my intention to have to prove this to you at this time. But 3 ½ years before Passover 31 C.E. is Trumpets 27 C.E.
You all can go and read about these events in your own bible. For times sake I am going to get to the points I want to make.
Matthew and Luke do not follow Mark’s testimony, but follow the ‘Q’ document in which the allusion to Elijah differs in a subtle way, taking the angel out of the gospel story and instead having Yehshua fast for forty days, just as Elijah did after the angel ministered to him. In this version, the further allusion to Exodus 34:28 is more readily recognized, and there is no longer any doubt that Yehshua fasted.
Lets first look at the events of Elijah, who is said to be the spirit in whom John the Baptist came and in whose spirit, someone at the end time is going to come again just before the end.

Those are the two witnesses of Revelation 11.

1Ki 19:1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and all that he killed, all the prophets with the sword. 2 And Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.
Jezebel and Ahaz are likened to Satan in this story and they, like Satan, seek to kill and destroy those who are following Yehovah. Elijah is like us, destroying and exposing as false those doctrines which are not found in Torah. Many of the Christians would be horrified to know they would be counted as the Priest of Baal in this example.

1Ki 19:3 And he saw, he rose and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba of Judah, and left his servant there. 4 And he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he begged for his life, that he might die. And he said, It is enough. O Jehovah, take away my life. For I am no better than my fathers.

Here too, is another clue to our future. I have been telling you over and over and over again how bad things are about to get. It begins in 2020 and goes until 2033. That is 13 years of pure hell for those who are obeying Yehovah and worse for those who do not. During this time we all will want to give up and just die, it is going to be that bad.

1Ki 19:5 And as he lay and slept under a broom tree, behold, then an angel touched him and said to him, Arise, eat. 6 And he looked, and, behold, a cake was baked on the coals, and a jug of water at his head. And he ate and drank, and lay down again. 7 And the angel of Jehovah came to him the second time and touched him, and said, Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you. 8 And he arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.

Elijah is now fasting for 40 days at the Mountain of Yehovah in the Arabian Peninsula Jabal Al Lawz. Elijah is in the wilderness and it is when he is in this wilderness that Yehovah comes and talks to him.
This is the exact same thing that we see in Revelation.

Rev 12:13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who bore the man child. 14 And two wings of a great eagle were given to the woman, so that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the serpent’s face. 15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water like a flood after the woman, so that he might cause her to be carried away by the river. 16 And the earth helped the woman. And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was enraged over the woman, and went to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

And again Yehovah told us this is what He was going to do in Hosea.

Hos 2:13 And I will visit on her the days of the Baals, in which she burned incense to them, and she adorned herself with her nose-rings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers and forgot Me, says Jehovah. 14 Therefore, behold, I will lure her and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably to her. 15 And I will give her vineyards to her from there, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope. And she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. 16 And it shall be at that day, says Jehovah, you shall call Me, My Husband, and shall no more call Me, My Baal. 17 For I will take away the names of the Baals out of her mouth, and they will no more be remembered by their name.

It is in the wilderness that Yehovah is going to speak directly to us. It is during this time of great tribulation. Elijah was afraid for his life and wanted to just give up. This women that is Israel will flee for her life for a number of years and will want to just give up. Then Yehovah will speak to us during the last 3 ½ years of the Great Tribulation.

1Ki 19:9 And he came there to a cave and stayed there. And behold, the Word of Jehovah came to him, and He said to him, What are you doing here, Elijah? 10 And he said, I have been very zealous for Jehovah the God of Hosts. For the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and have slain Your prophets with the sword. And I, I alone, am left. And they seek to take my life away. 11 And He said, Go forth and stand on the mountain before Jehovah. And, behold, Jehovah passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains, and broke the rocks in pieces before Jehovah. But Jehovah was not in the wind. And after the wind was an earthquake, but Jehovah was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake was a fire, but Jehovah was not in the fire. And after the fire was a still, small voice. 13 And it happened when Elijah heard, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out, and stood at the cave entrance. And behold, a voice came to him and said, What are you doing here, Elijah? 14 And he said, I have been very zealous for Jehovah, the God of Hosts, because the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, have thrown down Your altars, and have slain Your prophets with the sword. And I, I alone, am left. And they seek to take my life away. 15 And Jehovah said to him, Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you come, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. 16 And you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi to be king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. 17 And it will be, whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill. And whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. 18 Yet I have left seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth which has not kissed him. 19 And he left there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, and he was plowing; twelve pairs of oxen were before him, and he was with the twelfth. And Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. 20 And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, Please, let me kiss my father and my mother, and I will follow you. And he said to him, Go back again, for what have I done to you? 21 And he turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and killed them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave it to the people, and they ate. And he arose and went after Elijah, and ministered to him.

When Israel fled Egypt they were tested at the waters of Marah. Between Egypt and the entrance into the Promised Land there was a stretch of time in the wilderness wandering which lasted 42 years. 2 years at Jabel Al Lawz and 40 year in the wilderness. The New Testament teaches us that these historic episodes are for our instruction.

1Co 10:11 And all these things happened to them as examples; and it is written for our warning on whom the ends of the world have come. 12 So let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has taken you but what is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but with the temptation also will make a way to escape, so that you may be able to bear it.
After this episode at Marah, the children of Israel are led to a beautiful oasis called Elim. This is a picture of the bountiful provisions for Yehovah’s people when they take up their cross – twelve springs and seventy palms trees. (Notice 12 and 70. Jacob’s descendants that went into Egypt and 12 disciples).

Not only were the children of Israel tested by a lack of accessible water in the wilderness, but also a lack of food. How do you feed so great a multitude (over 2 million people) where there is no food at hand? ?A miracle of food production takes place. Yehshua refers to this after He miraculously multiplies the fish and the loaves to feed the multitudes that followed him to a secluded place.

Joh 6:32 Then Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Moses did not give you that bread from Heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from Heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from Heaven and gives life to the world. 34 Then they said to him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35 And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes on Me shall never thirst.

Yehshua takes the picture of the manna from heaven and applies it to Himself. As those who have been crossed from death to life by virtue of our being identified with Yehshua in His death, burial and resurrection, we are to learn to live feeding on Him every day. This is our work – to believe on Him; to affirm and appropriate what He has given to us in terms of His provisions and His promises.

Joh 6:48 I am the Bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and died. 50 This is the Bread which comes down from Heaven, so that a man may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the Living Bread which came down from Heaven. If anyone eats of this Bread, he shall live forever. And truly the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. 52 Then the Jews argued with one another, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 53 Then Jesus says to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, you do not have life in yourselves. 54 Whoever partakes of My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 He who partakes of My flesh and drinks My blood dwells in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father has sent Me, and I live through the Father, so he who partakes of Me, even he shall live by Me. 58 This is the Bread which came down from Heaven, not as your fathers ate the manna, and died; he who partakes of this Bread shall live forever.

The third test in the wilderness was not believing Yehovah.? Once again the children of Israel are thirsty. They even have the pillar of cloud leading them by day and by night. Instead they quarrel with Moses.
Paul tells us that the Rock at Horeb represents Yehshua.

1Co 10:2 And all were baptized to Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank of the spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with many of them God was not well pleased, for they were scattered in the wilderness.

Moses strikes the rock once and water comes out for the people to drink. This picture is of the rock being struck once by death. This event took place after the Israelites had refused to go into the Promised Land and were now beginning the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.
When Yehshua was tempted in the wilderness at the end of His 40 days He responds to Satan by quoting these three specific passages.

Deu 8:3 And He humbled you and allowed you to hunger, and then He fed you with manna, which you did not know, neither did your fathers know it, so that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of Jehovah man shall live.
Deu 6:13 You shall fear Jehovah your God and serve Him, and shall swear by His name.
Deu 6:16 You shall not tempt Jehovah your God as you tempted in Massah.

Where is this place called Massah?
You just read about it.

Exo 17:6 Behold, I will stand before you there upon the rock in Horeb. And you shall smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, so that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the wrangling of the sons of Israel, and because they tempted Jehovah, saying, Is Jehovah among us or not?

Fasting traditionally presaged a great spiritual struggle as we have now just showed you in both Elijah’s and Moses’ life; Elijah with Jezebel and Moses with the rebellious Israelites. And this as we have just seen was the very answers Yehshua gave when He was tempted by Satan at the end of His 40 days.

The temptation of making bread out of stones occurs in the same desert setting where Yehshua had been fasting. Alexander Jones reports that the wilderness mentioned here has, since the fifth century, been believed to be the rocky and uninhabited area between Jerusalem and Jericho, with a spot on Mount Quarantania traditionally being considered the exact location. The desert was seen as outside the bounds of society and as the home of demons such as Azazel (Leviticus 16:10). Keep this in mind as we continue with this line of thinking.

You and I are the product of Israel who rebelled after the incident between Jeroboam and Rehoboam. Israel left and right away began to worship at Tel Dan with a golden calf. We have from that day to this rebelled against the Torah of Yehovah. By doing this we were kicked out of the land of Israel, the land promised to Abraham and his heirs if they would obey. We did not and here we are wanting to come back, but for most of those wanting to go back, they do so without obeying Yehovah or changing one iota.
Yehovah is not going to allow this. You once again need to read Ezekiel.

Eze 12:1 And the Word of Jehovah came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see and see not. They have ears to hear and hear not, for they are a rebellious house.

Israel had already gone into captivity when this prophecy was given to Ezekiel. You need to read all of Ezekiel 12.
Then once you do, go and read this.

Eze 20:34 And I will bring you out from the people, and I will gather you out of the lands in which you are scattered among them, with a mighty hand and with a stretched out arm and with fury poured out. 35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. 36 Just as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, says the Lord Jehovah. 37 And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. 38 And I will purge out from among you the rebels and those who sin against Me. I will bring them out from the land where they reside, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am Jehovah.

This fury poured out is the same one in Lev 26 and also in Matthew 22.

Lev 26:27 And if you will not for all of this listen to Me, but will walk contrary to Me,
28 then I will walk contrary to you also in fury. And I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.
Mat 22:7 But when the king heard, he was angry. And he sent out his armies and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
That word Angry is wroth, as in Furious.

Yehovah also makes you to pass under the rod, which is what the sheep do. Every tenth one is saved as being Holy. The rest are sent to be butchered.

Isaiah tells us that Rod is Assyria who are today known as the nation of Germany.
During the last ten days of these 40 days of repentance a common phrase is said as you greet people. “May your name be found in the Book of Life.”

This same book is mentioned a number of times in Revelation. Those who are rebellious will be purged out and their names not found in that book.

We want to repent of our sins. We want to have our name found in this book.

No, the command to keep these 40 days of Repentance is not found in Lev 23. But we have clear examples of this in the Exodus Story and we have it again in the story of Elijah and both of these stories are referred to in Yehshua’s 40 day fast when He was tempted by Satan at the end of his 40 days.

And Satan is not revealed to men until the end of the Great Tribulation, which climaxes the 40 days of repentance. It is during this time that He is revealed and defeated.

When we look at the year of 2033 when Satan is to be locked away according to the Sabbatical and Jubilee years, we see the 10 years and the 10 days of Awe line up. If we count back to the start of those 40 years in relation to the 40 days they begin in the year 1994 2 years before the Jubilee year of this the 120th Jubilee cycle. We have had the 7 years of Terror, which I explain in the DVD. We have had the 7 years of severe weather, or extreme weather in the 2nd Sabbatical cycle. And we are now in the third one and watching as these curses grow towards the 4th one to start in 2017.

No, we are not to keep any holidays like Chanukah or Purim, which are not found in Lev 23. But we do have ample examples of why we need to mourn and repent for our sins, as they are an example of the days and years we are in that lead up to the final victory over Satan and sin.
Two more notes as you repent and turn from your sins.

Luk 7:36  And one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And going into the Pharisee’s house, He reclined. 37  And behold, a woman, a sinner in the city, knowing that He reclined in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster vial of ointment. 38  And she stood behind Him, weeping at His feet, and she began to wash His feet with tears and wipe them with the hair of her head. And she ardently kissed His feet and anointed them with the ointment. 39  But seeing this, the Pharisee who had invited Him, spoke within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what kind of woman this is who touches him, for she is a sinner. 40  And answering, Jesus said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. And he said, Teacher, speak. 41  There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. The one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42  And they having nothing to pay, he freely forgave both. Then which of them do you say will love him most? 43  And answering, Simon said, I suppose that one to whom he forgave most. And He said to him, You have judged rightly. 44  And He turned to the woman and said to Simon, Do you see this woman? I entered into your house, yet you gave Me no water for My feet. But she has washed My feet with tears, and has wiped them with the hair of her head. 45  You gave Me no kiss, but this woman, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. 46  You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with ointment. 47  Therefore I say to you, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, he loves little. 48  And He said to her, Your sins are forgiven. 49  And those reclining with Him began to say within themselves, Who is this who even forgives sins? 50  And He said to the woman, Your faith has saved you, go in peace.
Col 3:12  Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender feelings of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, 13  forbearing one another and forgiving yourselves, if anyone has a complaint against any. As Christ forgave you, so also you do14  And above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness. 15  And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which you also are called in one body, and be thankful.
Mat 18:1  At that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, Who is the greater in the kingdom of Heaven? 2  And Jesus called a little child to Him and set him in their midst, 3  and said, Truly I say to you, Unless you are converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven. 4  Therefore whoever shall humble himself like this little child, this one is the greater in the kingdom of Heaven. 5  And whoever shall receive one such little child in My name receives Me. 6  But whoever shall offend one of these little ones who believes in Me, it would be better for him that an ass’s millstone were hung around his neck, and he be sunk in the depth of the sea. 7  Woe to the world because of offenses! For it is necessary that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! 8  And if your hand or your foot causes you to offend, cut them off and throw them from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. 9  And if your eye offends you, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire. 10  Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I say to you that in Heaven their angels always behold the face of My Father in Heaven. 11  For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. 12  What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them strays, does he not leave the ninety and nine and go into the mountains and seek the straying one? 13  And if it happens that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety and nine which did not stray. 14  Even so it is not the will of your Father in Heaven that one of these little ones should perish. 15  But if your brother shall trespass against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16  But if he will not hear you, take one or two more with you, so that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 17  And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he neglects to hear the church, let him be to you as a heathen and a tax-collector. 18  Truly I say to you, Whatever you shall bind on earth shall occur, having been bound in Heaven; and whatever you shall loose on earth shall occur, having been loosed in Heaven. 19  Again I say to you that if two of you shall agree on earth as regarding anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them by My Father in Heaven. 20  For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst. 21  Then Peter came to Him and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Until seven times? 22  Jesus said to him, I do not say to you, Until seven times; but, Until seventy times seven. 23  Therefore the kingdom of Heaven has been compared to a certain king who desired to make an accounting with his servants. 24  And when he had begun to count, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25  But as he had nothing to pay, his lord commanded that he, and his wife and children, and all that he had, be sold, and payment be made. 26  Then the servant fell down and worshiped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me and I will pay you all. 27  Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. 28  But the same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. And he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me what you owe. 29  And his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, Have patience with me and I will pay you all. 30  And he would not, but went and cast him into prison until he should pay the debt. 31  So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry. And they came and told their lord all that was done. 32  Then his lord, after he had called him, said to him, O wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33  Should you not also have pitied your fellow servant, even as I had pity on you? 34  And his lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors until he should pay all that was due to him. 35  So likewise shall My heavenly Father do also to you, unless each one of you from your hearts forgive his brother their trespasses.

How many of you have ever screwed up? How many of you have been forgiven for screwing up?
How many of you have been deeply hurt by divorce or incest or betrayed by a friend? How many of you are that servant who has been forgiven my Yehovah your many sins, but you will not forgive those who have hurt you? Each time you sin you hurt the feelings of our Father.

If you cannot find it in yourself to forgive your parents, your mother or father for their faults in raising you; if you cannot forgive your spouse who cheated on you or hurt you in some way; if you cannot forgive those who you work with then remember the fate that awaits you because you cannot forgive like a little child can forgive and forget. You will be like that person taken and tormented. Read the last 3 verses again and think about these days of repentance. You seek to be forgiven. Also know others need you to forgive them for their short comings.

Last point, Yehovah has forgiven you if you repent and turn from continuing in that sin. You have been forgiven. Now you must learn to forgive yourself. You must stop beating yourself up for your past. You have been forgiven. Forgive yourself and lets move on, helping others to better themselves. This year, forgive yourself.


Triennial Torah Reading

We continue this weekend with our regular Triennial Torah Reading

Ex 5    1 Kings 9-10   Ps 109   Luke 20

Bricks Without Straw—But God Is Faithful (Exodus 5:1—6:27)

Sometimes situations get worse before they get better. How do we react before God when we pray? Do we ever feel that we are not only not receiving an answer but also that things seem to be getting worse? Pharaoh’s response to Moses was that the Israelites were getting too much “free time” and that it was allowing them the opportunity to get distracted from their work. When the Israelites received Pharaoh’s harsh response to Moses’ request that they be allowed to hold a celebration to worship God, it was certainly a test for Moses. For all of the details that God had told him, God did not reveal this as being part of the plan. Part of being a good leader is the ability to “turn the other cheek.” God allowed Moses to be subject to the anger and bewilderment of the Israelites. But it was all with a purpose in mind.

God wants to make certain that His people understand clearly that He IS God. So we read references to Himself such as “I AM WHO I AM” (the literal Hebrew has no definite tense—”I Be Who I Be”—denoting past, present and future). God has always existed and will always exist. Here we read of God introducing a new name that He had not revealed earlier to Abraham, Isaac or Jacob. (It is used in the book of Genesis, but this is apparently because Moses, who wrote the book, was inspired by God to use it in relating the stories of the patriarchs). The newly revealed name is Yahweh (the exact pronunciation of which is unknown). It is essentially the name “I Be Who I Be” in the third person—that is, “He Be Who He Be”—and has been variously translated as “the Eternal,”the Ever-living” or even “the Self-Existent One.” (Yeshua later revealed that He was the one the Israelites worshiped as the great “I AM”—see John 8:58 and supplementary reading.)

God was preparing His people to understand that He was not some passing fad. The miracles that they were going to experience were a demonstration of His power and supremacy. Most biblical scholars today, if they accept that the events of the Exodus took place at all, approach it rather skeptically, claiming the plagues that came upon Egypt, for instance, were not miraculous in nature. They claim that these were merely natural phenomena exaggerated in the scriptural account. Biblical historian Eugene Merrill counters: “They [the plagues] must be understood for what they were—unique but genuinely historical outpourings of the wrath of a sovereign God who wished to show not only Egypt but his own people that he is the Lord of all of heaven and earth, one well able to redeem his people from the onerous slavery they knew under Pharaoh and to make them, by covenant, his own servant people” (Kingdom of Priests: A History of Old Testament Israel, 1987, p. 65). The Israelites were so encompassed with the “gods” of Egypt that they needed to understand that His ultimate intervention would exceed anything that man could do through sorcery, magic or false worship. Most of the plagues would be a direct attack on the “gods” of Egypt. Indeed, Jethro will afterward remark, “Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods; for in the very thing in which they behaved proudly, He was above them” (Exodus 18:11).
If only mankind would simply believe God! The things of man are temporary. The things of God are eternal. So while mankind may let us down, God has been, is and will always be our loving God!

Solomon’s Wisdom and Wealth (1 Kings 10; 2 Chronicles 9:1-28; 2 Chronicles 1:14-17)

Here we have the famous visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon’s court. Sheba was located in what is today the southwestern corner of Saudi Arabia, roughly in the region occupied by Yemen, but also possibly occupying territory on the adjacent African coast in Ethiopia as reported in Ethiopian tradition. The ancients called the area of Yemen Arabia Felix, “Happy Arabia,” because of its healthful climate and its riches in gold, incense, precious stones and spices. That the Queen of Sheba would hear of Solomon is evidence of the briskness of trade between Sheba and Israel, much of which was doubtless carried on through Solomon’s southern fleet. Mention of the “ships of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir” (1 Kings 10:11), has been taken to indicate that the fabled land was located on Africa’s eastern coast. There is a phonetic similarity between Ophir and Africa. Others have speculated that it was further south—in southern Africa—while still others have identified it with India or even the Americas (in the latter case noting a similarity between the words Ophir and Pirua, the first Incan dynasty from which the country of Peru ultimately derives its name).

The vast wealth of Solomon is attributed to his far-flung trading empire. Not only did wealth pour in from the eastern desert traders, the Arabian traders and the governors of subject satellite nations, but on top of that Solomon’s annual inflow of gold bullion was 666 talents (more than 125,000 pounds, with a current value of more than U.S.$500 million). Where did Solomon get all this gold? Ophir was a major source, but so was Tarshish, a Phoenician port in southern Spain. It was to this western port that Jonah was trying to escape when he set sail on a ship from Joppa.
This section of Scripture also notes that Solomon obtained horses and chariots from Egypt and other places. Again, this fact points to an amicable if not military alliance between Egypt and Israel, for chariots were the high-tech weaponry of the day. No doubt the alliance with Israel provided Egypt with a strong and secure ally to the north, well able to prevent incursions into Egypt from Syria and Mesopotamia. But militarizing Israel in this way was contrary to God’s will—for, as He decreed through Moses in Deuteronomy 17:16-17, Israel’s king was not to multiply horses (i.e., an army) nor wives (i.e., a harem, the tokens of alliances with foreign nations), nor silver and gold to himself. Though Solomon did all three, God was patient and gave him space to repent. The repentance, however, never came—unless the book of Ecclesiastes was written after a very late repentance, as many speculate.

“Save With Your Right Hand”

In Psalm 109, often referred to as an imprecatory (cursing) psalm of lament, David calls on God to judge and punish his wicked enemies who have attacked him with lies and hateful accusations (verses 1-4). Their fabrications are baseless, “without a cause” (verse 3), and they have betrayed David, returning, he says, “evil for good, and hatred for my love” (verse 5).

In its opening and closing, David refers to his enemies in the plural. Yet in verses 6-19, the psalm refers to a singular individual. Some take these verses to be David’s quoting of his enemies regarding himself, yet it more likely seems that David is the one speaking here-referring to a primary antagonist, evidently one holding an office of responsibility (see verse 8).

In very strong language, David calls on God to settle accounts (verses 6-20). The Nelson Study Bible states: “Here the psalm takes a decidedly negative tone. The description of the wife of the enemy becoming an impoverished widow and the children becoming beggars [verses 9-12] seems particularly harsh. However, the psalmist directs these strong requests to the Lord; he does not actually take the sword into his own hand. He may feel compelled to vent his anger in words, but the psalmist understands that vengeance itself belongs to the Lord” (note on verses 6-8).
Still, we might wonder why David would pray for calamity on innocent family members. Of course, they may not have been innocent at all. We do not know the exact circumstances here. It may be that the children mentioned were older-and that David understood them and the wife to be fully supportive of the wicked man’s attacks on him. They may even have been participants in slandering him. The enemy’s parents may also have been involved (see verse 14).

Moreover we should consider, as the Zondervan NIV Study Bible says, that “the close identity of a man with his children and of children with their parents, resulting from the tightly bonded unity of the three- or four-generation households of that ancient society, is alien to the modern reader, whose sense of self is highly individualistic…. That deep, profoundly human bond accounts [along with passed down behavior and consequences] for the ancient legal principle of ‘punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation’ (see Ex 20:5…)” (note on Psalm 109:12). Furthermore, since it was considered that “a man lived on in his children…the focus of judgment [when mentioning the cutting off of descendants] remains on the false accuser (see 21:10; 37:28)” (note on 109:13).

It also seems that the curses David calls for are ones his accusers have pronounced against him-that he is merely praying for their curses against him to be turned back on themselves (compare verses 17-20). The psalm thus forms an “appeal for judicial redress-that the Lord will deal with them in accordance with their malicious intent against him, matching punishment with crime” (Zondervan, note on verses 6-15).
Indeed, we must also remember that David was Israel’s king and judge as well as an inspired prophet of God. His song here, though no doubt personally heartfelt, was more importantly a declaration of God’s judgment rather than a model for us on how to pray about enemies. This is what God’s law decreed concerning false accusers: “If the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother, then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from among you. And those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you. Your eye shall not pity: life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot” (Deuteronomy 19:18-21).

As for how we are to pray about our enemies, Yeshua gave us this instruction: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you” (Luke 6:27-28). Of course, this does not preclude asking God to deal with them with “tough love” if they persist in harm-as this would ultimately be for their own good.

Demonstrating Psalm 109’s prophetic aspect, the apostle Peter later cited the end of verse 8, “Let another take his office,” in regard to selecting a replacement for Judas Iscariot among the 12 apostles after his betrayal of Yeshua (Acts 1:20). This does not necessarily mean that all of Psalm 109 is applicable to Judas. For instance, we have no other evidence that he had a wife and children-though it is possible that he did. The important point is that the judgment decreed on a betrayer of God’s anointed king would, in an even greater sense, fit Judas. Judas betrayed Yeshua, the King of Kings, returning evil for the love that Christ had shown him.

Psalm 109:14-15 should not be understood as a prayer for removing all possibility of repentance and forgiveness for David’s enemy and the enemy’s family. Rather, David is asking that God not forget what they did to him so as to ensure their punishment. Yet David himself would have accepted an enemy’s repentance-just as God accepted David’s own repentance. Some, it should be noted, see the verses here as indicating that Judas cannot be forgiven for his sin upon repentance in the second resurrection. These verses indicate no such thing.

Finally, David describes the effect of the enemies’ attacks on him (verses 22-25)-foreshadowing what Yeshua Himself would experience. And he prays for God to powerfully intervene in a way that would make it clear to the enemies that God was doing so (verses 26-27). David closes with praise, confident in God’s coming intervention on his behalf (verse 31)-just as God will intervene for all of His people suffering such assaults and persecution from others.

Luke 20

In our portion in the Messianic writings we are now into the Passover week and Yeshua is teaching in the Set apart place and bringing the Good News. The chief priests, scribes, and elders begin questioning Him and testing Him. This is the beginning of the inspection of ‘The Lamb’. They want to know who gave Him the authority to do what He is doing. Yeshua answers them with a question because He knew their wicked hearts. He asks them about John (Yohanan the Immerser), whether the immersion people submitted themselves to was from men or from heaven. After much discussion and weighing the benefits of anything they could answer, eventually they said they did not know.
To that, Yeshua let them know that neither would He tell them by what authority He was doing the things He did. For what would it matter? They did not believe.

Then Yeshua tells the people a parable about the man who planted a vineyard (YHWH and Israel) and then leased it to the farmers (the priests) and then went away. At a certain times, the owner sent servants (prophets) to the farmers to bring back some of the fruit of the vineyard. Each time, the farmers beat, cast out, and maltreated each of the sent servants. Until the owner sends His own son, thinking they would not do the same but in fact they did worse to Him knowing He was the heir.

What should the owner do to these farmers? “He shall come and destroy those farmers and give the vineyard to others.”
They continued to try and catch Him and sent experts and lawyers to try and catch Him. Next, the attempt was in the matter of allegiance to rulership for they asked Him about paying taxes to Caesar. They were unable to catch Him and marveled at His words. Next, they sent Sadducees to ask Him about the resurrection for they did not believe in the resurrection. He again, spoke well and spoke such truth they were unable to question Him anymore and they left off from there. Yeshua then warns the people of the scribes and their ways.

0 Comments