News Letter 5849-056
5th day of the 13th month 5849 years after the creation of Adam
The 13th Month in the Fourth year of the Third Sabbatical Cycle
The Third Sabbatical Cycle of the 119th Jubilee Cycle
The Sabbatical Cycle of Earthquakes Famines, and Pestilences

March 8, 2014

Shalom Brethren,

For all those die hard Conjunction Moon people, we encourage you to watch this video from Rabbi Chiam Richman of the Temple Mount Society and Dr. Roy Hoffman of the New Moon Society.

Listen carefully to what they say here. We are going to go back to the ORIGINAL method of beginning the month, as it was done before the diaspora. It is time to admit your error, repent and begin the month and the count to each Holy Day in the proper manner – before Hillel authorized the change in 356 CE. and before Rambam gave the command to change in the 11th century.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxA0R8i4BY8#t=1195

Every year, about this time, I get an earful from those people claiming the conjunction moon and the equinox is how the year is to be determined. Here is one example:

March is way to early for the beginning of months, so I do not believe the new year started with the new moon of March 2013. I believe this year ends with a 12th month not a 13th. The 13th month was last March-April (2013).

My salvation is not dependent on you. You are an Ex- Worldwide Church of God member, who still feels, possibly, that church was exclusively the Body of Messiah- and that you have a ministry that is head and shoulders above any other ministry- and that every believer must have you as their teacher and learn from you or they are lost and will perish. You are extremely arrogant. TAKE HEED, LEST YOU FALL!!!!!!! ‘NUFF SAID!!!!

Alan

So, when I get a chance to share something from the Temple Mount Institute telling us that the Sighted Moon method was the original method of beginning the month, thus confirming what we have been saying here since we began back in 2005, I am going to shout it out! I hope you all do the same with this article, sharing it with those who speak with the authority of men but not of Yehovah. Dr. Roy Hoffman is also looking at the Barley for the other commandment that the barley be ripe to begin the year. When Rabbi Richman of the Temple Institute makes a video of this, I will share that with you also – as they begin to prepare the Sanhedrin to return to the original methods of keeping time.

We have quoted Mark Twain before and do so now again: “Those who do not read are no better off than those who cannot read.”  Which means you all need to prove all things. PROVE THEM, not  just the position you want to prove. But prove the TRUTH, before you start sounding off at the mouth like a fool or dumbass. “NUFF SAID!!!!”

We have also had quite a few people write to express their thanks and sentiments about our article on Ba’al Peor and Homosexuality.

Wow!  Just wow!  Thank you for leaving no topic untouched.  We have learned tremendously from this teaching on Baal Peor.  Thanks a million…
Eilleen, CO

Once again, I am asking you for your prayers as we begin to market our book Remembering the Sabbatical Years of 2016 and, once we have that one working, then we will begin to market The 2300 Days of Hell. We are developing Christian audiences to introduce them to Yehovah’s method of keeping time and prophecy. We are hoping they will learn from reading the books, and begin to question some of the things they currently hold on to. So, your prayers are needed.

Because I have been sick for the past three weeks, we have had no energy to get the videos on DVD and The 2300 days of Hell published as a printed book. I apologize for the delay. We also have no money for any of this marketing or publishing at present and hope the sales will increase to cover the cost associated with this phase of this work. Your prayers are appreciated and you, too, can share the video and the book message with your groups and assemblies and social media groups. I thank you for your help in doing so.

This past week I was again interviewed on LAMB radio about The 2300 Days of Hell. After the show the host Gene Porter wrote the following about our one hour talk:

I just finished one of the most intriguing interviews that I have ever conducted. Joseph Dumond was my guest on The Wall Watchmen. Spending an hour with Joe is an exercise in frustration, because that’s nowhere near enough time to dig into the depths of even one item of those that he has explored in Scripture. Do you want your appetite for knowing what is prophetically just around the corner whetted? Then listen to this hour, then go to YouTube and search out his name. THEN, start asking YHWH what YOU can do to get Ephraim to wake up before it’s too late. The podcast should be up by this Thursday (3/6) at http://www.messianiclambradio.com/wallwatchmen.html.

It was great fun. We tried to cram as much as we could into an hour. He has SOOO much to say.

As we are about to begin our study this week in preparation for Passover I want you all to stop and write down on paper:  what exactly is the Gospel of the Kingdom.  You are commanded to go and preach this to the world, so what is it?

The Gospel of the Kingdom

What is the Gospel? by Craig and Lori Zulaff

Traditionally we have been taught that the Gospel is:

– The death, burial and resurrection of the Messiah.

– You just have to “invite Jesus into your heart” and you will be saved because He died for your sins.

– If you accept Jesus as Lord and Savior your sins are forgiven and you will live eternally in Heaven after you die.

But is this the Gospel or the Good News that Yeshua taught?

Yeshua spoke of the Gospel of the Kingdom.

Mat 4:23  And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

Mat 9:35  And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

Mat 24:14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Mar 1:14  Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15  And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

Not only did Yeshua preach the gospel of the kingdom, but He taught His disciples to do the same.

John the Baptist preached the gospel of the kingdom.

Mat 3:2  And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Yeshua sent out His disciples and told them to preach this same Gospel.

Mat 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

To understand what the gospel of the kingdom is, we must go back to the beginning. The Patriarch Abraham is the beginning of Yehovah’s called out people.

Gen 12:1  Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

-Yah calls Abram out of a pagan nation.

-Yah promises to bring forth a great nation from Abram.

-Yah will bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him.

-All the families of the earth will be blessed through Abram.

Abraham was an uncircumcised Gentile and the first of Yah’s people to be called out. When Abraham crossed over, he became the first Hebrew.

Yehovah called Abraham and set him apart, that He might create, through him, a people who would bring the nations of the world out of darkness and into Yah’s light.

Isa 49:6  And he said, it is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

Act 13:47  For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.

Now Yah shows Abraham the land and promises it to him and his descendants forever. Why would Yehovah do this for Abraham? Gen 26:5- because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My Laws.

This land is the Kingdom of Israel. The land and the nation of Yehovah, which He gives to His people. This is our inheritance. Yah’s people, in Yah’s land, operating under Yah’s principles.

Every kingdom must have a King, land and subjects.

Gen 13:15  For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. 16  And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. 17  Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.

Eventually Israel achieved this goal; but because of disobedience to the Covenant they were expelled from the promised land; also known as “The Kingdom.”

What was Israel’s disobedience?

She played the harlot with other gods and committed spiritual adultery through their King Jeroboam. 1Kings 12:25-33, 1Kings 13:33-34

Therefore Yehovah divorced His bride, Israel, the Northern ten tribes.

Isa 50:1  Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

Jer 3:8  And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.

This is a difficult situation as Yah has stated (in His Torah) that a man is not allowed to re-marry his wife if she has gone to be another man’s wife, which is what Israel did in going after other gods.

Deu 24:1  When a man hath taken a wife and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favor in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. 2  And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife. 3  And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife; 4  Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

This defiles the land or, more specifically, The Kingdom.

Jer 3:1  They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.

Israel is unable to return to her husband, Yehovah, unless He dies. This leaves Israel with no hope to return to the Kingdom of Yehovah. It is Yehovah who spoke these words and His word is forever established in the Heavens and no one, not even Yehovah Himself, can change it. He said it, He must do it. Unless you understand the Torah/Law, you cannot understand the Re-Newed Covenant. You will also not understand, but will, instead, misinterpret what Paul is saying to the Romans in 2 Peter 3:15, 16.

Rom 7:1  Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? 2  For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. 3  So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

Therefore the Gospel or the Good News to Israel is this: Yehovah is Yeshua in the flesh and He had to die to release her from that law of divorce. She can now be restored to the Kingdom when she repents and returns to the Kingdom principles.

Israel is observed in the Scriptures as playing a central role in Yehovah’s redemptive plan. This is why Yeshua was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.

Mat 10:5  These twelve Yeshua sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 6  But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7  And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Mat 15:24  But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Have you ever wondered why the people were so excited to hear Yeshua preach? They knew now that they could be restored to the Kingdom!

Mat 21:9  And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. 10  And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? 11  And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.

Yahovah is getting His people, otherwise known as “His house” in order – as an example to the world. If the world does not see a difference with the people of Yah, they will not see what it is that they need to repent from.

1Pe 4:17  For the time has come for the judgment to begin from the house of God. And if it first begins from us, what will be the end of those disobeying the gospel of God? 

Those of us who have decided to go back to the roots of our faith, turning from man-made doctrines, are being awakened to the fact that when we follow Yeshua, we are following Yehovah, and we are grafted into His people and the commonwealth of Israel.

Exo 12:49  One law shall be to him that is home-born, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.

Lev 19:34  But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

Deu 29:9  Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do. 10  Ye stand this day all of you before the LORD your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel, 11  Your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water: 12  That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the LORD thy God, and into his oath, which the LORD thy God maketh with thee this day: 13  That he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 14  Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath; 15  But with him that standeth here with us this day before the LORD our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day:

If you are a believer, you are Israel. There are only two kinds of people in the world: those in Covenant with Him and those who are not in Covenant with Him.

Rom 11:17  And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; 18  Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.

Eph 2:11  Wherefore remember, that ye being in times past, Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “uncircumcision” by that which is called the “circumcision” in the flesh made by hands; 12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

Joh 11:51  And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; 52  And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.

Isa 56:1  Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. 2  Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. 3  Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. 4  For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; 5  Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. 6  Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;

Therefore, we see that through our repentance of pagan practices and returning to Yehovah and all His ways, we are promised that we can be accepted again into the Kingdom because Yeshua died and paid the penalty of our spiritual adultery, thus freeing us to return to our first Husband.

If the Gospel is only the death, burial and resurrection of Messiah, then why were all the disciples shocked at His death and burial?

Mat 26:56  But all this was done, that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.

After spending 3 ½ years with the Messiah, wouldn’t His disciples have been joyous to see His death and wouldn’t they have known that He would be raised up if this was the “gospel” that He was preaching?

This is the Gospel of the Kingdom that Yeshua preached. Repent, return, and restore.

Deu 30:1  And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, 2  And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; 3  That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. 4 If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: 5  And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. 6 And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. 7 And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee. 8 And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day. 9 And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers: 10 If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.

We were scattered because of disobedience and we will be re-gathered because of our repentance, obedience and trust in Yeshua.

This is the Good News!

Repent:

Repent from sin, which is the transgression of the law. (1John 3:4) With true repentance comes action. Repentance is not merely turning away from sin, but to return to the Father and His ways. If we just turn away from our sin, we may just turn to another sin. We must turn back to The Way that was set out by our Father.

Return:

Teshuvah, which means to return to Yehovah’s, teachings, instructions and direction (Torah) and stop going your own way and doing what is right in your own eyes.

Isa 1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, says Yehovah; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool. 19  If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; 20  but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of Yahovah has spoken.

Jer 6:16  So says Yehovah, Stand in The Ways and seek, and ask for the old paths where the good way is, and walk in it, and you shall find rest for your souls. But they said, “We will not walk in it.”

Restore:

Once we have been granted repentance through the vehicle of the death, burial and resurrection of Yeshua and we have repented from our sin, then Yehovah will restore us into His Kingdom and return us to His land. We are not to “down play” the death, burial and resurrection of the Messiah. It is a critical part of the gospel of the Kingdom and the means by which Yehovah fulfills His plan of redemption of mankind.

The Gospel of the Kingdom, (Repent, Return, Restore) pattern can be found throughout the Scriptures. It is the message of all the true prophets, and it is important to note that the messages of the prophets were never very well received.

Why should the message be any different today?

During the second and third centuries, the church fathers compromised the message/gospel for the pagans, to more easily gain converts into the church.

The true Gospel of the Kingdom was never meant to be an easy message; it will scare off potential converts because there is the element of dying to your own ways. It is designed to be this way, because the Truth of the Gospel keeps the body (assembly or congregation) pure, holy/set apart. Obedience to the Gospel of the Kingdom keeps us from being conformed to this world.

Rom 12:2  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, in order to prove by you what is that good and pleasing and perfect will of God.

When we preach the Gospel of the Kingdom, we need to also explain that you must count the cost.

Luk 14:26 If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me, he cannot be My disciple. 28  For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he may have enough to finish it;

The path is narrow and few will find it.

Mat 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it

Isa 10:22 For though Your people Israel are like the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return; the full end which is decreed shall overflow with righteousness.

Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

 

(The following article had no author nor contact address included with it.)

We see that the Father states He was a husband to the House of Israel.

Jer 31:31 Behold, the days come, says YAHWEH, that I will cut a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not according to the covenant that I cut with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt (which covenant of Mine they broke, although I was to be a husband to them, says YAHWEH).

We also know that, because of Israel’s disobedience in following other gods, YHWH divorced Israel.  Remember folks, this is the House of Israel.

Jer 3:6 YAHWEH also said to me in the days of Josiah the king, Have you seen what the apostate Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every green tree, and has fornicated there. 7 And after she had done all these, I said, She will return to Me; but she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 And I watched. When for all the causes for which the apostate Israel committed adultery, I sent her away and I gave the writ of her divorce to her. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she also went and fornicated.

We also see in the verses following that Judah went astray also…

Jer 3:9 And it happened, from the wantonness of her harlotry she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with pieces of wood. 10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me with her whole heart, but with falsehood, says YAHWEH. 11 And YAHWEH said to me, The apostate Israel has justified herself more than treacherous Judah.

We have a merciful Father who will not hold His anger toward Israel forever!  Praise Abba Yah!!

Jer 3:12 Go and cry these words toward the north, and say, Return, O apostate Israel, says YAHWEH. I will not cause My face to fall on you, for I am merciful, says YAHWEH; I will not keep anger forever. 13 Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have rebelled against YAHWEH your Elohim and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed My voice, says YAHWEH.

In Hosea we see a beautiful story of the love the Father has for the House of Israel and the mercy He extends!

Hos 2:1 Say to your brothers, A people; and to your sisters, Mercy. 2 Strive! Strive with your mother, for she is not My wife, and I am not her husband. Therefore, let her put away her harlotries from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts, 3 that I not strip her naked and set her out as in the day that she was born, and make her as the wilderness, and place her like a dry land, and kill her with thirst. 4 And I will not have pity for her sons, for they are the sons of harlotries. 5 For their mother has committed adultery; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, I will go after my lovers who give my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink. 6 Therefore, behold, I will hedge your way with thorns, and I will wall up her wall, that she shall not find her paths. 7 And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them. And she shall look for them, but she shall not find them. Then she shall say, I will go and return to my first husband, for then it was better with me than now. 8 For she did not know that I gave her grain and wine and oil, and I multiplied her silver and the gold they made for Baal. 9 So I will return and take My grain in its time, and My wine in its season. And I will take back My wool and My flax she uses to cover her nakedness. 10 And now I will reveal her shamefulness to the eyes of her lovers, and not a man shall deliver her out of My hand. 11 I will also cause all her joy to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her Sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts. 12 And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, of which she has said, They are my rewards that my lovers have given me. And I will set them for a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them. 13 And I will visit on her the days of the Baals in which she burned incense to them. Yea, she adorned herself with her nose rings, and her jewels, and she went after her lovers and forgot Me, says YAHWEH. 14 Therefore, behold, I will lure her and bring her to the wilderness, and speak to her heart. 15 And from there I will give her vineyards to her, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope. And she shall answer 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 at that day, says YAHWEH, you shall call Me, My husband; and you shall no more call Me, My Baal (Lord). 17 For I will take away the names of the Baals out of her mouth; and they shall no more be remembered by their name. 18 And in that day I will cut a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the birds of the heavens, and the creepers of the ground. And I will break the bow and the sword, and the battle out of the earth, and I will make them to lie down securely. 19 And I will betroth you to Me forever. Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in mercy, and in compassions. 20 I will even betroth you to Me in faithfulness. And you shall know (Aleph/Tav) YAHWEH. 21 And it shall be in that day, I will answer, says YAHWEH. I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth. 22 And the earth shall hear the grain, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall answer Jezreel. 23 And I will sow her to Me in the earth. And I will have mercy on No Mercy. And I will say to Not My People, You are My people! And they shall say, My Elohim!

In YHWH’s instructions He states the following for a writ of divorce.

Deu 24:1 When a man has taken a wife and married her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found a thing of uncleanness in her, and he writes her a bill of divorce and puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; 2 and if she goes out from his house and goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3 and the latter husband hates her, and writes her a bill of divorce, and puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house or if the latter husband who took her to be his wife dies; 4 her former husband who sent her away is not to take her again to be his wife, after she is defiled. For it is an abomination before YAHWEH, and you shall not cause the land to sin which YAHWEH your Elohim is giving to you as an inheritance.

We see that if a husband writes his wife a bill of divorcement, presents her with it and sends her out of his house; if she marries another, and he divorces her or he dies, her first husband cannot re-marry her.  It states IT IS AN ABOMINATION before YAHWEH and causes the land to sin.

We also see the following states that a covenant is only in force as long as the person(s) is living.  After the person dies, the covenant is no longer in effect.

Rom 7:1 Do you not know, brethren, (for I speak to them who know the Torah), that the Torah has authority over a person for as long as he lives? 2 Just as the married woman is bound by the Torah to the living husband; but if the husband dies, she is set free from the Law of her husband. 3 So then, if the husband is living, she will be called an adulteress if she should be married to another man. But if the husband dies, she is free from the Law, so as for her not to be an adulteress by becoming another man’s wife.

Yeshua (unified with the Father) died in the flesh which will allow the Father to re-marry the House of Israel who went astray and played the harlot.  Although Israel didn’t actually marry a second time, she played the harlot with many different lovers.  This makes sense that the Father made a way to be able to forgive and re-marry the House of Israel after her repentance and returning to Him.

We also find it very interesting that Revelation speaks of a future prophecy of water becoming bitter.

Rev 8:10 And the third cherub trumpeted. And a great burning star, like a lamp, fell out of the heaven. And it fell onto the third part of the rivers, and onto the springs of waters. 11 And the name of the star is said to be Wormwood. And the third part of the waters became changed into wormwood. And many men died from the waters, because they were bitter.

This reminds us of the instructions given in the laws regarding the “law of jealousy”.

Num 5:11  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 12  Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man’s wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him, 13  And a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the manner; 14  And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled: 15  Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance. 16  And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD: 17  And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water: 18  And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and uncover the woman’s head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy offering: and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse: 19  And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse: 20  But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee beside thine husband: 21  Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The LORD make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell; 22  And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thybelly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen. 23  And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water: 24  And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter. 25  Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman’s hand, and shall wave the offering before the LORD, and offer it upon the altar: 26  And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water. 27  And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass,that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people. 28  And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed. 29  This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled; 30  Or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law. 31  Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.

Although the woman did not die, she was judged with a curse that seems to be of infertility, this seems to fit with Wormword making the waters bitter and many men dying…judgment from a jealous husband.  Has not Yehovah Himself said, “I am a jealous God.”

Triennial Tanach Cycle

Torah Reading Cycle

Gen 28   1 Sam 12-13    Ps 59-62          Mark 5:35-6:32

Jacob’s Vision at Bethel (Genesis 28:6-22)

In sending Jacob away, Isaac had sternly forbidden him to marry a Canaanite woman. Overhearing this, Esau resolved to find a wife more pleasing to his father—apparently still desiring to somehow get into the good favor of his father that he might thereby receive a better blessing. So Esau took a third wife from the daughters of Ishmael. But, as Esau was to learn, there was no way for Isaac to change his mind about the blessing (Hebrews 12:17)—Isaac knew the events had been allowed by God and he had to live in submission to God’s sovereign choice.

Journeying to Haran, Jacob stopped in the place called Luz, later renamed Bethel. There Jacob slept on the ground with a stone at his head (Genesis 28:11). In his sleep he dreamed, and in his dream God assured Jacob that He would be with him and return him to Canaan. The Abrahamic Covenant, moreover, was confirmed to Jacob. When Jacob awoke, he took the stone at which his head rested and anointed it, setting it up for a “pillar” or sacred stone. It appears that Jacob took this stone with him on his journeys, especially since he mentions the stone in the context of returning to Isaac (verses 20-22), apparently set it up and anointed it again in Bethel later (35:14-15), and still later, at the end of his life, he seems to have prophesied that it would be with the descendants of Joseph in the end time (49:24). If Jacob did take the stone with him, as would be likely, there would have been a physical, typical stone going with Jacob, paralleling the spiritual, antitypical Stone (i.e., God) who had promised that He would be with Jacob and not leave him (28:15).

Jacob also promised that if God would return him to his father Isaac, then God would be Jacob’s God and Jacob would faithfully tithe. These statements appear perplexing, but a careful attention to the development of Jacob’s character would seem to resolve the apparent difficulty. Jacob surely knew of God. Isaac had never worshiped any other but God, and he had learned this from Abraham. But it appears that Jacob, although certainly worshiping God, likely did so mainly because he believed it to be materially advantageous. Jacob , as we’ve seen, had a grasping personality; he was someone who used others to further his own ends, and perhaps God was no different to him. Jacob, it appears, served God for selfish advantage. The story of Jacob will show that over time Jacob was transformed from being a manipulator into being one who sought righteousness through his actions, and finally into one who became wholly submissive to God and served God out of love and devotion. Jacob’s statement that God would be his God is another way of saying that Jacob would rely on Him alone; his promise to tithe is another way of honoring God by recognizing His sovereign lordship. Thus, the promises essentially boil down to exclusive devotion to God.

In many ways, Jacob is every man. Or, to be more precise, every man is like Jacob. We all start out grasping, self-oriented, concerned with our needs. As we grow, we become less self-centered and more motivated by principle. But as we become mature, we learn to love God and act out of devotion to Him. We must learn to live with God, and along the way our character is changed, shaped and molded, going through various phases as we become more and more like God Himself. For this reason, the character development of Jacob is one of the most interesting studies of the book of Genesis.

Samuel’s Address to the People (1 Samuel 12)

Samuel reiterates to the people that asking for a human king was not a good thing. To reinforce his statements, he calls on God to bring about an unseasonal and sudden thunderstorm. In great fear, the people realize that God was not pleased with their demands, and they ask Samuel to intercede for them. Samuel makes it clear that whether they are ruled by a human king or not, the important thing is to obey God. A human king would not save them from God’s anger if they behaved wickedly. Faithfully obeying God would bring blessings, and failure to do so would destroy the nation and its physical ruler.

Samuel’s statement that he will continue to pray for Israel demonstrates his spiritual character. If he had been a man given to pettiness, he might have held a grudge against Israel for their request to have a king. But he did not. Indeed, Samuel recognizes failure to constantly pray for others as a sin against God (verse 23). We should remember this as we go about our daily lives.

War With the Philistines (1 Samuel 13)

Saul creates a small standing army. The thousand under his son Jonathan’s leadership (a bold and courageous fellow, as we will see further in the next chapter) attacks a garrison of the occupying Philistine forces. This incites the Philistines to gather against Israel to put down the rebellion, and Saul assembles his worried forces at Gilgal, while others in the threatened region hide themselves in the caves and thickets. As Samuel had instructed (10:8), Saul waits seven days for Samuel to arrive to make the offerings. But Samuel does not arrive right on time. Perhaps his slight delay was a test for Saul. Whatever the case, Saul becomes impatient and, just before Samuel arrives, he presumptuously makes the offering himself. This sin of not following God’s explicit instructions is enough to lose the kingdom for Saul’s descendants (verse 14). But greater offenses follow.

It is interesting to consider that verse 13 says Saul’s dynasty would have continued forever if he had followed God’s commands—when God had earlier prophesied that the kingly line to the Messiah would come from Judah and not from Benjamin (Genesis 49:10; see 1 Chronicles 5:1-2). Yet, this would actually have been a rather simple matter. Probably, God would have had Saul’s lineage merge with the Judahite lineage through intermarriage. Indeed, Saul’s daughter will later marry David. But there will be no children from their marriage.

An insight into the dominance of the Philistines over the Israelites at this time is shown by the fact that no smiths were allowed to work in the land. As a result, only Saul and his son Jonathan had swords.

Psalm 59

Psalm 59 is the fourth in the sequence of five Davidic miktams here. We earlier read it in the Bible Reading Program in conjunction with the event mentioned in the superscription-when Saul sent assassins to stake out David’s house and kill him (see the Bible Reading Program comments on 1 Samuel 19; Psalm 59). Yet the request in verse 5 to “punish all the nations” does not appear related to that episode (see also verse 8). The Zondervan NIV Study Bible suggests: “If originally composed by David under the circumstances noted in the superscription, it must have been revised for use by one of David’s royal sons [i.e., descendants] when Jerusalem was under siege by a hostile force [compare verses 6, 14] made up of troops from many nations-as when Hezekiah was besieged by the Assyrians (see 2Ki 18:19). (Some, however, ascribe it to Nehemiah; see Ne 4.)” (note on Psalm 59).

There appear to be four stanzas in the song (verses 1-5, 6-10, 11-13, 14-17). The first and third are related thematically-asking for God to punish and how to punish and each ending with selah. The second and fourth both begin with an identical characterization of the prowling enemy (verses 6, 14) and end with a similar refrain about God as the source of strength, defense and mercy (see verses 9b-10a, 16b-17).

The request at the end of verse 5 that God not be merciful to wicked transgressors should not be understood as a prayer that God would never grant them repentance so as to show them mercy, but that He would not leave them unpunished for their sins so long as they persisted in them.

The wicked blasphemously think they are getting away with something (see verse 7), but God will have the last laugh (verse 8). Starting with this verse, the song moves from a plea for help to assurance that God will intervene.

Verse 11 asks that the enemy not be instantly slain but scattered and abased. This was so the Israelites would not forget the punitive humbling of the enemy. Great men may fall on the battlefield and still be remembered as heroes. But if they are brought down to destitution and vagrancy, people would more readily deem them cursed. Moreover, if they were simply wiped out, people might soon forget them and what had happened to them, whereas if they were alive but shamed and disgraced, they would be around for some time as an object lesson.

Yet what are we to make of verse 13’s request that the enemy be consumed in wrath till they are no more? Does this contradict verse 11? No, it is simply a matter of timing. The prayer is that the enemy would undergo a period of humiliation and scattering and only then, after the lesson had sunk in among God’s people, be destroyed. And note that this is not for personal vengeance but as a witness of God’s ultimate rule (verse 13)-and of His protection and care for those who trust Him (verses 9-10, 16-17).

Other scriptures explain that God will resurrect the wicked, giving those who previously lacked adequate understanding the opportunity for repentance and salvation. “The Lord is not…willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). For a more complete picture of what lies ahead in the afterlife, see our booklets What Happens After Death? and Heaven and Hell: What Does the Bible Really Teach?

Singing of God’s mercy “in the morning” (Psalm 59:16) could mean every morning, but it seems more likely that morning here is figurative-meaning the end of this dark “day of my trouble” (same verse).

Psalm 60

Psalm 60 is the last miktam in the series of five here as well as the last in the sequence of seven prayers for help against enemies at the center of Book II of the Psalter. The superscription notes that it is “for teaching.”

The setting of the psalm is not entirely clear. The superscription says that David “fought against Mesopotamia and Syria of Zobah.” This would seem to be the war described in 1 Chronicles 19, where Syrian and Mesopotamian forces assisted the Ammonites against Israel (see especially verse 6), which in the end became a long Israelite siege against the Ammonite capital of Rabbah. The parallel account of this episode is in 2 Samuel 10, though the Mesopotamian forces are not mentioned there. It was with these chapters that we earlier read Psalm 60 (see the Bible Reading Program comments on 2 Samuel 10; 1 Chronicles 19; Psalm 60; Psalm 108; Psalm 83).

However, the superscription’s further note about Joab killing 12,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt (likely the desert south of the Dead Sea) seems more closely related to events in 1 Chronicles 18 and 2 Samuel 8, concerning an earlier conflict with Syria that ended with David killing 18,000 Syrians in the Valley of Salt (2 Samuel 8:13) and Joab’s brother Abishai killing 18,000 Edomites there (1 Chronicles 18:12)-Joab being over the army (verse 15).

In fact, these earlier chapters concern Israel’s campaigns against and subjugation of the Philistines, the Moabites, the Syrians and the Edomites. With that in mind, consider that the enemy nations mentioned in Psalm 60 are Moab, Edom and Philistia (verses 8-9). There is no mention of Syria, Ammon or Mesopotamia-though Ammon could be indirectly indicated in stating that Gilead (the area the Israelites took from Ammon) belongs to God (verse 7). Nevertheless, considering that formerly subjugated Syria rebelled against David in the later conflict, it could well be that these other nations also rebelled at this time, given the powerful assistance of the forces of Mesopotamia (and that this could also be the setting for the international coalition of Psalm 83). Psalm 60:10 indicates that Israel initially suffered a period of defeat-the occasion for the psalm-which is new information, as such defeat is not recorded in the accounts of either of the two conflicts mentioned above.

Many question the scriptural validity of the superscriptions of the psalms, often deeming them later midrashic additions. Yet we need not ignore the superscriptions to explain apparent discrepancies. A number of possibilities exist for the current one. Perhaps Psalm 60 concerns the earlier conflict mentioned above and, though unrecorded in the account of that conflict, Mesopotamian forces were then involved as well. The differences in numbers killed in the Valley of Salt is reconcilable given that different numbers are attributed to different commanders-David, Abishai and Joab. Alternatively, Psalm 60 could exclusively concern the later conflict, meaning that Moab, Edom and Philistia revolted and that Joab conducted a new campaign against the Edomites in the Valley of Salt. A further possibility is that the superscription is referring to the later conflict occurring after Joab’s return from the earlier conflict. In the overall picture, these could be viewed as two phases in the same war.

Perhaps most likely, given that neither Ammon, Syria nor Mesopotamia are mentioned in the text of Psalm 60 itself-and that Mesopotamia and Syria are solely mentioned in the superscription-is that the psalm was initially composed during the earlier conflict but then used as a rallying or marching song during the later conflict (perhaps at a point when things did not seem to be going so well). It seems highly unlikely that a forger would have read this psalm about fighting against Moab, Edom and Philistia and then written Mesopotamia and Syria into a fake title. A forger would rather have attempted to undo any confusion. Once again, what appears to be a contradiction is instead a mark of genuineness.

As mentioned, things did not seem to be going well for David’s army for a time. Perhaps in the case of the later conflict it was because the nations where David had garrisoned forces were nevertheless able to stage an international rebellion. David complains to God: “You have rejected us…and burst forth upon us…. You have shown your people desperate times; you have given us wine that makes us stagger” (verses 1-3, NIV). The Israelites were reeling, wondering how this could be happening.

But David encourages his troops, confident in victory through God. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary states in its note on verse 4: “The Lord has raised a ‘banner’ (nes; cf. Isa 5:26; 13:2; Jer 4:6 [and Exodus 17:15]) designating a place where the godly may find refuge under the protection of the Divine Warrior. The godly, those who ‘fear’ (cf. [Psalm] 34:7, 9) him, will find protection from the attacks of the enemy.”

The section of Psalm 60 that follows the selah ending verse 4 (i.e., verses 5-12), is later reused as the latter half of Psalm 108 (verses 6-13)-the first part of Psalm 108 coming from Psalm 57:7-11.

In Psalm 60:6, the phrase “in His holiness” can also be translated “in His holy place”-probably designating Israel as the land of His sanctuary. Dividing Shechem and measuring out the Valley of Succoth represent God apportioning and parceling out the inheritance of the Promised Land to His people. “Shechem and the Valley of Succoth represent regions west and east of the Jordan River in the central parts of the land. Gilead and Manasseh are also regions east and west of the Jordan; Ephraim and Judah are regions in the north and south. The Lord was asserting His sovereignty over the entire land of Israel” (Nelson Study Bible, note on verses 6-8).

Moab being God’s “washpot” (verse 8) or “washbasin” (NIV) refers to that used for washing the feet, which became rather dirty in a time of wearing sandals. The meaning? “Moab was doomed to the most abject and degrading servitude” (Barbara Bowen, Strange Scriptures That Perplex the Western Mind: Clarified in the Light of Customs and Conditions in Bible Lands, 1944, p. 25).

God next says He will cast His shoe over Edom (same verse). It could be that Edom is likened in this metaphor to the threshold of a house where shoes, considered dirty and defiling, were removed and left (Bowen, Strange Scriptures, pp. 67-68). Recall God demanding the removal of shoes in His presence (Exodus 3:5; Joshua 5:15). Yet it might refer “to the conventional symbolic act by which one claimed possession of land (cf. Ru 4:7)” (Zondervan NIV Study Bible, note on Psalm 60:8).

The final line of verse 8 is literally “Over me, Philistia, shout in triumph” (Green’s Literal Translation). Perhaps the meaning is “Over me, Philistia, [is a] shout in triumph”-meaning by God’s people. Yet the Jewish Tanakh renders the verse, “Acclaim me, O Philistia!”

David further proclaims that God, who for a time seemed to have abandoned Israel, would now lead them to victory (verses 9-10). And as we face enemies today, especially those spiritual forces that seek to destroy us, let us remember, as David said in the concluding verses, that only God can help us win the battle and grant us ultimate victory.

Lead Me to the Rock That Is Higher Than I” (Psalms 61-64)

Psalms 61-64, all psalms of David according to their superscriptions, form a cluster of four royal prayers linked together by interweaving themes, especially “the common theme of strong reliance on God for deliverance in the face of great-perhaps mortal-danger” (Zondervan NIV Study Bible, Psalms introduction, “Significant Arrangement of the Psalter”; and note on Psalms 61-64).

Neginah in the superscription of Psalm 61, which may be part of a postscript to Psalm 60, is probably correctly translated in the NKJV as “stringed instrument.”

Overwhelmed at his circumstances (verse 2), the details of which we are not given except that it involves some enemy (verse 3), David feels cut off from God: “From the ends of the earth I call to You” (verse 2, NIV). He seeks to be led to the “rock that is higher than I” (verse 1). By “rock” he means God Himself, as he did earlier in Psalm 18 (verses 2, 31, 46). The imagery of God as a Rock of protection occurs early in Scripture in the Song of Moses (see Deuteronomy 32:4). David uses it again in the next Psalm (62:2, 6-7) and in other psalms (71:3; 144:1). “This is a particularly apt image [of God] for David, who many times had to hide in the mountains for security (see 1 Sam. 26:1, 20)” (Nelson Study Bible, note on Psalm 18:2).

Indeed, it seems that David is now led to the Rock as he has asked-for the rest of his psalm exudes confidence in God’s protection and blessing.

David likens the shelter of God’s tabernacle to the shelter of a mother bird’s wings (verse 4). David will repeat this imagery of finding refuge under God’s wings in Psalm 63:7 (see also 17:8; 36:7; 57:1; 91:4). There is probably also a figurative tie-in here to the wings or hem of a garment-symbolism employed in the book of Ruth for taking in marriage (as Christ takes His people in marriage). God’s people thus become part of His household and family-the primary idea behind abiding in His tabernacle (His dwelling) forever.

The vows David had made to God (verse 5)-his promises to remain devoted and faithful to God, to obey and serve Him-were genuine. And for that God would reward him with the heritage of all who fear and honor God’s name (same verse)-not just long life (verse 6) but eternal life in God’s presence (verse 7). The King of Israel living forever here is understood in Jewish interpretation as a prophecy of the Messiah, as it likely is, but it also applies to David himself. God’s “mercy and truth” would preserve King David as well as the future messianic King (verse 7; see also 25:10; 85:10, 15; 89:14; Proverbs 20:28; Isaiah 16:5). Consider that Yeshua Messiah came “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14; see also verse 17)-fulfilling the messianic expectation of these passages.

David closes his prayer by saying that he will use the eternity God is giving him to forever extol and obey God (Psalm 61:8). What remarkable devotion!

Jeduthun, in the superscription of Psalm 62, was, as noted in the Bible Reading Program comments on Psalm 39, one of David’s three choir leaders (1 Chronicles 15:41-42; 25:1, 6; 2 Chronicles 5:12) who was also known as a seer or prophet (35:15)-often thought to be synonymous with Ethan (1 Chronicles 6:44; 15:19), representing the Levitical family of Merari. The name Jeduthun also appears in the superscription of Psalm 77.

Psalm 62 has three stanzas (verses 1-4, 5-8, 9-12)-the first two of which begin almost the same (verses 1-2, 5-6). David here says that he will silently wait for God’s deliverance and refers to God, as in the previous psalm, as his rock of protection and source of salvation. As the end of verses 2 and 6 declare, he will “not be greatly moved”-that is, “shaken” (NIV).

David’s need here is urgent. Arrogant foes conspire to “cast him down from his high position” (verse 4)-to topple him from the throne-through deceit and intrigue. He asks them how long they will attack him (verse 3a). The meaning of the second part of verse 3 is not clear however. Either he is announcing to the conspirators what will befall them as in the NKJV: “You shall be slain, all of you, like a leaning wall and a tottering fence.” Or he is further lamenting their attack on him, referring to himself as the vulnerable one: “Would all of you throw him down-this leaning wall, this tottering fence?” (NIV; see also NRSV; Tanakh).

In any case, David is confident of God’s protection and ultimate deliverance. He gives others the advice he himself follows: to trust God at all times and pour out one’s heart to Him (verse 8)-for God is an unfailing refuge. Men, no matter what their position, are inconstant and unreliable-and not the place to put one’s trust (verse 9). It is futile to hope in their evil way of doing things or to trust in the wealth they pursue as a source of help in all of life’s circumstances (verse 10). Real power belongs to God (verse 11)-along with mercy to those who serve Him and the means to compensate each person according to the choices they make in life (verse 12; compare Matthew 16:27).

That God has spoken once and David heard it twice (Psalm 62:11) is explained as a form of expression in Old Testament times. As The Nelson Study Bible notes on verse 11: “It is a convention of wisdom literature to use a number and then raise it by one (Prov. 30:11-33). The point here is that David has heard the message with certainty.”

Mark 5:35-6:32

This portion opens with a continuation of the last portion concerning the ruler’s daughter who was sick and near death. Yeshua tarried in her regard to go and heal her. As He tarried, they received word that the ruler’s daughter was dead. At that time, Yeshua reassured the ruler that He was not to worry and to only have faith and believe.

Yeshua then went to the ruler’s house and He only allowed Peter, James, and John to go with Him. As they approached the place there was great lamenting there by the people… for the girl was dead, BUT Yeshua says, “Why make this commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is sleeping.”

They mocked Him in this comment. He cleared the house except for His three taught ones and the girl’s mother and father and He commanded her to rise and she rose up. She was twelve years old. He said not to tell what He had in fact done and to give the girl some food to eat.

After this they traveled to Galil and it was the Sabbath. Yeshua was teaching in the synagogue and people were amazed at His Wisdom and Authority and wondered about Him for His great healings as well. This was the place in which He grew up, and the people there knew Him only as the carpenter’s son and because they knew Him as a child, boy, and young man… it caused them to stumble in Him and not believe. Because of this He was unable to do any miracles there except lay hands on a few and heal their sickness.

He sent His taught ones out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts, only to wear sandals, and not to wear two undergarments. They were to stay where they were invited, and in cities where they were not believed they were to leave that city and shake the dust off their sandals… and woe to that city!

They went out and proclaimed… that men should repent.

Herod the King heard of the Name of Yeshua and all He was doing in the land and thought He was perhaps John the Immerser having come back from the dead. Herod had beheaded John the Immerser against his better judgment on behalf of his wife. Her daughter had danced for the King and he promised her anything she desired. She asked her mother what it was that she should ask for and she told her, “the head of John the Baptist.” She had been imbittered because John told both Herod and her that their marriage was against the Torah of Elohim.

When Yeshua and His disciples received this news that John was dead they were greatly grieved and went off by themselves to be alone from the great crowds.