What the Samaritans Forgot

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: Dec 31, 2021

News Letter 5857-045
The 5th Year of the 4th Sabbatical Cycle
The 26th year of the 120th Jubilee Cycle
The 27th day of the 11th month 5857 years after the creation of Adam
The 4th Sabbatical Cycle after the 119th Jubilee Cycle
The Sabbatical Cycle of Sword, Famines, and Pestilence
1716 Days until the Two Witnesses
583 Days into the 2300 Days Started May 31st, 2020

January 1, 2022

Shabbat Shalom Royal Family of Yehovah,


 

Shabbat Zoom Meeting

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

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

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

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

Our intellectual wrestling has been replaced by a different kind of struggle.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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sabbath January 1,  2022, the room will be open at 12:30 PM Eastern with singing and prayers until about 1:15 PM. You are all welcome to join and watch. It is not recorded. We will have our afternoon service after this. You are welcome to come and join us before during and after we are off the air.

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

Joseph Dumond is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Joseph Dumond’s Personal Meeting Room

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Septennial Torah Portion

If you go to Torah Portion at our archived section, you can then go to the 5th year which is the 5th year of the Sabbatical Cycle, the one we are in now, as we state at the top of every News Letter. There you can scroll down to December 25, 2021, and see that this Shabbat we could very well be midrashing about

Exodus 21

Isaiah 24-27

Ps 135

John 9

If you missed last week’s exciting discoveries as we studied that section you can go and watch past Shabbats on our media section.


Sightedmoon.com

As we come to the end of the 11th month on January 4, 2022, we need to bring to your attention the many things you have learned here at Sightedmoon.com. I will try to list them for you.

You have learned here:

  1. When the Jubilee years are.
  2. When the Sabbatical Years are.
  3. The many things that Abraham prophesied.
  4. How to prove when the Sabbatical and Jubilee years are just from 2 Kings 19:29 alone.
  5. That there are now 89 Sabbatical and Jubilee years to confirm exactly when they are to be kept.
  6. How the Jubilee Cycles reveal end-time prophecy
  7. How Daniel 9:24-27 is only understood by understanding the Jubilee Cycles.
  8. Exactly what year the Exodus took place in, which is another key to understanding Daniel 9.
  9. The deeper meaning of Passover in how it fits the plan of Yehovah.
  10. The deeper meaning of Shavuot in how it fits the plan of Yehovah
  11. The deeper meaning of the Feast of Trumpets which even the Karaites do not understand.
  12. The deeper meaning of the 8th Day Feast which again the Karaites do not know the meaning of.
  13. How the Ten Days of Awe are connected to the Book of Revelation
  14. How Shabbat Shuva is connected to end-time prophecy
  15. What the plagues of Egypt look like today in our time now.
  16. Why Wave Sheaf day is so important to know.
  17. How the birth of Yeshua is on the Feast of Trumpets
  18. How the Feast of Trumpets proves you are to use the Crescent moon
  19. How to determine the first fruits of the barley to begin the year.
  20. That you must have barley for wave sheaf day.
  21. When the Two Witnesses will be here.
  22. BREXIT took place at the end of one Shabua since the start of the UK in the common market.
  23. The Paris Accord ended after one Shbua since the start of the UNEP
  24. What the 2300 Day Count means
  25. When to expect and look for the Abomination that makes desolate.
  26. And where to look for this abomination.

There are many other things you have learned at Sightedmoon.com but you could also have learned them at other ministries. But the above list are the things you can only learn here. Or others first learned here to teach on their own sites. Before we taught the list above, you did not know about them nor could you learn about them anywhere else until we explained them to you. Yehovah did not reveal them to anyone else.

If it is true that Sightedmoon.com is the only source of this information or that it was the first to provide it to you for free, then why are so many of you now no longer willing to support this work? Why are so many of you willing to sit there and not support this work in any way?

Is it really because I will not syncretize your views about the things you think are from God with Torah? Or was it that you truly did not really believe in the first place? You tell me you want the meatier parts and when you get them you get upset and leave to go after places that will tickle your ears. That is hypocrisy.

We are doing an end-time work.  We are despised and hated for doing it by “Brethren” and those who are not brethren.

We will receive a reward for doing this work. All those who are found working with us at the end will also receive of that reward. Those who hold back or those who withdraw will not be partakers of our reward from Yehovah. It is that plane and that simple.

We have never asked for tithes. We never felt we were worthy of them for building up this work. The vast majority of what has been donated to us has gone to build up the work in the Philippines, which is doing well. It has also gone to do the work in East Africa which is struggling. Recently we have begun to use some of your donations in Pakistan and India which is only just beginning.

I still do not take a wage from you for all my time in researching and writing the Newsletters which have gone out since 2006 nonstop except for a few rare occasions. This past month James has had to work countless hours to keep the site up and running as he dealt with plug-ins that caused the site to crash. For a couple of days, sightedmoon.com was not there while James alone tried to figure out what was causing the problem. There was also a malware issue that took down the Acubene PBC and Helping Hands sites. James has spent countless hours this month just to keep the site online. There are now further upgrades we must do to protect the site from still more malicious attacks that are coming.

As we end 2021, as we approach the start of the 12th month and prepare for the 6th year of the Sabbatical cycle, again something else you only learned here at sightedmoon.com, we are in a financial shortfall. I have had to stop all support to the Philippines, Pakistan and East Africa. We have suspended all our advertising campaigns for our books. These ad campaigns are done to try and win more people over to learn about Torah. We cannot help the brethren who just suffered the Typhoon that went through their homes. We cannot help those wanting to learn more about the Jubilee. We have had to cut back hard until such time as we can afford to bless all these others around the world with our support.

I am asking you all to look inside and take a gut check. It only took one Aichan for Israel to lose the battle of Ai. Are your sins holding back your prayers so Yehovah does not hear you? This work goes forward because of those prayers that you offer on our behalf. Or we also suffer because you no longer pray for us and this work to move forward.

I am at this time also asking each of you to consider helping us financially. I am not asking those who are already supporting this work for anymore. I am asking those who have been blessed by this work and have freely been given the understandings that they can only gain here at sightedmoon.com to step up and support this work each and every month from now until the Messiah comes.

You might be thinking that you cannot give enough to make a difference. Let me show you something.

1000 people giving just $5 a month is $5000 dollars altogether. That same 1000 people giving just $10 or $25 a month is again $10,000 or $25,000 per month for this work. If we had just 1000 brethren doing that each month, I would not have to write to you now asking you to do that. If we had just 1000 Brethren doing this each month, then all of our Pastors would have an income and they would not have to worry about whether they spend their time doing this work or going out and finding a job to pay for their mortgages and food for their families.

I am not telling you to tithe to this work. No, I am just asking for 1000 people to donate $10, $25, or $50 each month to this work, and every month from now until Messiah comes.

There are some who have tried to bribe me by telling me to say this or to say that. Others want me not to talk about certain subjects or to expose the sin that they are OK doing. When I do that they get upset and withhold sending us the donations they wanted to send us when they were so excited about all that they are learning here. You may not always agree but you do learn many things here. Paul and Barnabus argued and split to teach on their own. But they were still part of the same team and worked together in other years.

I am asking you all to be mature and know that we have more in common than the few things we do not agree about. I am asking you to be mature and understand that our enemy is seeking to kill each of us and that we all need to be supporting this work that is out in front of you blazing the way. We are not out there seeking to be people pleasers. We do and we will make mistakes along the way. That is because we are still human the last time I checked.  I am not a superman nor am I perfect, but whether I do this work or not the end is still coming. Yehovah has shown us when the end will be. He then charges us in Ezekiel to warn everyone else or He will require their blood from us.

Yehovah called me and gave me this message. I have shared it with you. But Yehovah did not bless me with the finances and the know-how to get this message out there to the world. He chose me, a ditch digger with limited skills to do this work. Why did He do that? Yehovah did this so that I could not take the glory for going out and sharing this message. I may get to be the face, but I could never do this alone.

This is where all of you come in. Each and every one of you gets to be part of this work by your prayers, monthly financial support and actually volunteering to do certain things I have no skills at. James, Pauline, Sombra, LoriDawn, Eileen all know I am technically challenged and that I cannot spell. They also know I am overwhelmed at the things I am trying to do and at the same shocked at the number of things we do get done.

I am asking all of you to be mature now as we go into the final phase before the tribulation comes. I am asking for all hands on deck. I am asking you to be there promoting this work, encouraging those doing this work, volunteering to do parts of this work, directing others back to sightedmoon so they can learn more, to make a monthly donation so we can hire professionals to promote this work and for you to come back and help this work to grow.

I have a work to do and I am going to be found doing it when the Messiah comes. Will He find you doing the same when He comes?

I have not charged a monthly subscription in order for you to get special information from us. We have always made all of our information available to you for free. We do charge for our books to help support this work but we have also given them away to those who are in need. Everything in those books can be found on the website in various places.

This month we are severely under budget, which is why we are slashing most of the projects we have been supporting.

I am asking each of you to pray to Yehovah to send more people who will help us do this work and support our efforts with regular monthly donations. Ask Yehovah to send those with a zeal to get this work done and a heart to obey. Ask Yehovah to send those who are more than just talk, but are full of action and when they find a gem will help to make it known to all. Remind Yehovah that He has said He will do nothing unless He first warns the people. Ask Him to bless us so we can warn the people about what He is doing.

I have just received this note from Henry Mate in Kenya. This is just one of the things that you have made possible through your donations.

I have painted the Torah school, only a few things here and there. Only Some things needs be put in like furniture. I glorify Elohim for helping us. You have done wonders to us and may the Almighty bless you and whole sightedmoon family. We will be opening now after furnishings. Please note you are cordially requested to grace us with your opening address. I’d wish our friends to participate. When you meet, please let them know. Thank you Joe.

Our videos are being translated into Urdu for the people of Pakistan because of your donations.

We have this message going out on three radio stations in the Philippines because of your donations.

We have helped the people of Mindanao after the earthquake because of your donations.

We have helped build another Torah Center in the Manila area again because of your donations.

We have all these teachings on our website and youtube site that have been accessed by millions because of your donations.

James has told me the cost to upgrade our package for the website to help prevent future attacks. It is going to be close to $3000 for the next 3 years. What will you do if sightedmoon.com does not have the funds to maintain our online presence? What will all those other groups do who use our zoom access for their meetings each week which is paid for by your donations? Imagine what it would be like for your understanding of Torah if Sightedmoon.com was no longer here. Leave a comment in the chat and let us know.

If you say Yehovah must send and tell His prophet before He sends the tribulation then I would agree, What if sightedmoon.com was that messenger that Yehovah chose with all these imperfections, and you did not support him. Although I do see very few who are teaching the calendar and holy Days by using the crescent moon and the barley, I do not see any teaching about the Sabbatical and Jubilee years and the curses for not keeping them.

What would your understanding of the Torah be like without sightedmoon.com? You would not have those 26 things listed above. And you would not have the things that we are studying now and soon going to release. Imagine being stuck at the same level you were before you found us.

But you have found us and Yehovah has chosen us to reveal these things to you and the rest of the world. We are worthy of your support and help. Help us to finish this work at the greatest time in the history of mankind to be called.

All of you are here because someone in the past invested the time and or money to make the information available to you. You are here because they invested in you long before you even knew this work. Please now take the time and invest in this work and in those who have yet to be called. Help us to make this work and this warning available to them. You do not have to agree with me on every single point. You just have to agree that we are in front doing this work and you are going to help us keep going each and every month.

You can send a monthly donation through Paypal or your own Visa or MasterCard or you can send us 12 cheques for the year and mail them to Joseph Dumond at

P.O. Box # 21007 RPO
150 First St. Orangeville
Ontario Canada L9W 4S7


Breaking News

Hundreds of homes have been destroyed and tens of thousands of people were evacuated in Colorado, United States after wildfires driven by high winds engulfed two towns near the state capital, Denver.

“We know that approximately 370 homes in the Sagamore subdivision … have been lost. There’s a potential of 210 homes lost in Old Town Superior,” Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle told a news conference on Thursday.

This week’s Newsletter is presented by Mike who wrote us to let us know he was OK.

Hey guys,

You probably have heard about the fires in my area here from national news (even Aljazeera’s reporting on it, but it’s all over local news such as kdvr.com).  Superior, one of the newest suburbs here between Denver and Boulder, Colorado is gone.  The 100 mile per hour hurricane strength winds last night were pushing the fire 100 yards (football field) every 30 seconds.  Since this is an urban area with subdivisions and such, hundreds and hundreds of homes were burnt down, as well as shopping centers.  Shelters are everywhere, as tens of thousands of people are displaced and homeless.

 

I know it’s judgement and all, but I have still prayed for mercy and understanding for those involved.  And… I’m glad that my heart has been one of compassion, as though I don’t live up in Superior, I do live just a couple miles south of where the second fire (at the bottom of the map) that I did not know about is (which is most likely contained now that the wind has stopped) and a previous fire (not showing on the map as an active fire, but was in the bottom left where the word “Ken” is) was recently put out.  I do not test God in anyway (as I have not intentionally placed my home in harm’s way), and am thankful that my home is safe.

Brethren, we all need to be praying. Judgment is here. Pray your flight not be on the Sabbath nor in winter. The word Sabbath is Sabbaton. and can also mean Sabbatical Year. This wildfire comes the day before we begin the month of January. Not the normal time of year for wildfires.


The Sanhedrin 2021

January 4, 2022, will be the 30th day of this 11th month starting the night before. It will be the start of the 12th month.

Ever since I began to keep the Holy Days according to the Barley being Aviv and the crescent moon to begin the month, I have been accused of all sorts of things. One of them was a moon worshiper like the Arabs.

Like many of you, we have all been looked at as nut cases and ostracized for our desire to obey Yehovan and to be there when He said to come and meet Him. in 2016 we split from the Karaite groups and yet we were justified by Nehemia who went out on wave sheaf day and confirmed the barley was indeed ripe and very mature. In the last couple of years of 2020 and 2021, we again were on separate calendars from the Karaites. It has bothered me, and I have been told I was no longer welcomed in certain circles because of the use of the very first fruits to begin the year.

I know exactly how hard it is and how disappointing it is not to be able to keep the Feasts at the same time as everyone else. I get it.

Let me now bring some more information which at first is going to sound like GREAT NEWS. But then I want you all to pause and think about what is about to happen. This is from Israel 365 News. Although Becc did a post about this same event on December 5, I did not see it until past Sabbath, December 25.

And just so you know, the New Crescent moon was sighted on Sunday, December 5, 2021, to begin the 11th month.

All emphasis is mine throughout the article.

BIBLICAL SYSTEM OF WITNESSING THE NEW MOON RECREATED IN JERUSALEM, AS IN TIME OF SANHEDRIN

BY ADAM ELIYAHU BERKOWITZ | DEC 6, 2021 | BIBLICAL NEWS

And on your joyous occasions—your fixed festivals and new moon days—you shall sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and your sacrifices of well-being. They shall be a reminder of you before your God: I, Hashem, am your God. Numbers 10:10 (The Israel BibleTM)

On Monday night, a remarkable event took place, recreating the declaration of the new month as performed by the Sanhedrin in Temple times.

FIRES ON THE MOUNTAIN

On Monday night, torches, referred to as masuot, were set up in a chain from the Mount of Olives, recreating the system that was used in the times of the Temple to announce the sighting of the new moon. The mausuot were lit at the time that it was possible to witness the new moon however no actual sighting was made or reported to the Sanhedrin. Three torches were displayed in approximately ten locations, spreading out from Jerusalem to places as distant as Amona and Mount Tabor.

Rabbi Hillel Weiss, the spokesman for the Sanhedrin, emphasized that reestablishing the Biblical system of witnessing the new moon is important to modern Israel.

“Knowing exactly when the month begins has always been important in Jewish practice because the Torah schedules the Jewish festivals according to the days of the month,” Rabbi Weiss explained. “Since the creation of the world, every seven days has been Shabbat. But God gave us the authority, actually the responsibility, of establishing time by setting the months.”

Setting the new month by witnesses is considered by Rashi, a prominent commentator on the Bible, to be the first mitzvah (Biblical commandment) the Nation of Israel received after leaving Egypt. With great spiritual meaning, establishing the calendar is far more than a convenience. It is so important that it takes precedence over the Sabbath. In Biblical times, witnesses were permitted to break the Sabbath in order to arrive in Jerusalem and stand before the Sanhedrin.

“This was one of the aspects of the Sanhedrin and, therefore, the basis of justice,” Rabbi Weiss said. “It is not arbitrary or treated lightly by simply printing a calendar and forgetting it. Commanding the Sanhedrin to set the month is as if they have the power to move the moon. Justice is to establish reality. Of course, God created the world. But we are required to establish justice in the world, making us a partner in creation.”

“In the secular world, science establishes reality. By setting the month, the Sanhedrin is acknowledging that there is a higher power above science. It is not enough to calculate the month.”

THE CALENDAR SYSTEM

The lunar cycle lasts approximately 29½ days. Since a Hebrew month needs to consist of complete days, a month is sometimes twenty-nine days long (such a month is known as chaser, “missing”), and sometimes thirty (malei, “full”). The first day of the month, as well as the thirtieth day of a malei month, is called Rosh Chodesh. In the Temples, the new month was a festival, marked by the blowing of the shofar and special sacrifices.

In the times of the Temple, the new month would be established by both calculations and by witnesses appearing before the Sanhedrin. On the 30th day of every month, the Sanhedrin would gather in a large courtyard in Jerusalem called Beit Ya’azek. Pairs of witnesses who claimed to have seen the new moon on the previous night would come to give their testimony and be cross-examined.  If the two accounts were corroborated, the evidence was accepted.

The Sanhedrin would then declare the new month to be sanctified (mekudash).

The following night, messengers were sent out and a series of mountaintop pyres were lit to spread the word to outlying communities. Though it was incredibly efficient for its time, this system caused a delay for the outlying communities outside of Israel. It is for this reason that Jewish communities outside of Israel observe holidays for two days. 

When the Temple was destroyed and the Sanhedrin disbanded, the Hebrew calendar was figured solely according to the astrological calculations and the template established by Hillel II. It is remarkable that Hillel II’s calculations stood for as long as they did. However, 1,700 years later, there are discrepancies between his calendar and the astronomical reality. As a result, the true date of the appearance of the moon no longer synchronizes with the beginning of the month as it appears on the calendar. 

On a technical level, the event was a step in the process of correcting the Hebrew calendar. By Biblical law, the new month for the Hebrew calendar was established by reliable witnessesappearing before the Sanhedrin. Hillel II, president of the Sanhedrin in the fourth century, established a written calendar based on astronomical calculations.This calendar, still in use, standardized the length of months and the addition of months in leap years over the course of a 19-year cycle, so that the lunar calendar realigns with the solar years.

“The main obstacle to reestablishing the system of the new month is having a Sanhedrin that is accepted as the authority by the nation of Israel,” Rabbi Weiss said. “This will be a major step towards establishing the true return of the Jews to Israel.”

Brethren, you have a clear admission, from the Sanhedrin that the proper way to begin each month was and is still today through the sighting of the crescent moon to begin the month. You have the Sanhedrin clearly stating the current Hillel calendar is out of sync with Yehovah’s true Holy Days.  That should blow all the calculated calendar people out of the water. WOWZERS.

And if you are not keeping the Holy Days on the proper days then you ARE SINNING! They just said as much.

But even with this clear admission, they will not yet change back to the sighting of the moon. And there is no mention about them looking for and examining the barley to begin the year.

Now if you will, I would like you to read this follow story from the Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 25a.

מַתְנִי׳ מַעֲשֶׂה שֶׁבָּאוּ שְׁנַיִם וְאָמְרוּ: רְאִינוּהוּ שַׁחֲרִית בַּמִּזְרָח,

MISHNA: There was an incident in which two witnesses came to testify about the new moon, and they said: We saw the waning moon in the morning in the east,
25a
וְעַרְבִית בַּמַּעֲרָב. אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן בֶּן נוּרִי: עֵדֵי שֶׁקֶר הֵם. כְּשֶׁבָּאוּ לְיַבְנֶה קִיבְּלָן רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל.

and that same day we saw the new moon in the evening in the west. Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Nuri said: They are false witnesses, as it is impossible to see the new moon so soon after the last sighting of the waning moon. However, when they arrived in Yavne, Rabban Gamliel accepted them as witnesses without concern.

וְעוֹד, בָּאוּ שְׁנַיִם וְאָמְרוּ: רְאִינוּהוּ בִּזְמַנּוֹ, וּבְלֵיל עִיבּוּרוֹ לֹא נִרְאָה, וְקִיבְּלָן רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל.

And there was another incident in which two witnesses came and said: We saw the new moon at its anticipated time, i.e., on the night of the thirtieth day of the previous month; however, on the following night, i.e., the start of the thirty-first, which is often the determinant of a full, thirty-day month, it was not seen. And nevertheless Rabban Gamliel accepted their testimony and established the New Moon on the thirtieth day.

אָמַר רַבִּי דּוֹסָא בֶּן הוֹרְכִּינָס: עֵדֵי שֶׁקֶר הֵן, הֵיאַךְ מְעִידִים עַל הָאִשָּׁה שֶׁיָּלְדָה וּלְמָחָר כְּרֵיסָהּ בֵּין שִׁינֶּיהָ? אָמַר לוֹ רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ: רוֹאֶה אֲנִי אֶת דְּבָרֶיךָ. שָׁלַח לוֹ רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל: גּוֹזְרַנִי עָלֶיךָ שֶׁתָּבֹא אֶצְלִי בְּמַקֶּלְךָ וּבִמְעוֹתֶיךָ בְּיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים שֶׁחָל לִהְיוֹת בְּחֶשְׁבּוֹנֶךָ.

Rabbi Dosa ben Horkinas disagreed and said: They are false witnesses; how can witnesses testify that a woman gave birth and the next day her belly is between her teeth, i.e., she is obviously still pregnant? If the new moon was already visible at its anticipated time, how could it not be seen a day later? Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: I seethe logic of your statement; the New Moon must be established a day later. Upon hearing that Rabbi Yehoshua had challenged his ruling, Rabban Gamliel sent a message to him: I decree against you that you must appear before me with your staff and with your money on the day on which Yom Kippur occurs according to your calculation; according to my calculation, that day is the eleventh of Tishrei, the day after Yom Kippur.

הָלַךְ וּמְצָאוֹ רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא מֵיצֵר, אָמַר לוֹ: יֵשׁ לִי לִלְמוֹד שֶׁכׇּל מַה שֶּׁעָשָׂה רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל עָשׂוּי, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״אֵלֶּה מוֹעֲדֵי ה׳ מִקְרָאֵי קֹדֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר תִּקְרְאוּ אֹתָם״, בֵּין בִּזְמַנָּן בֵּין שֶׁלֹּא בִּזְמַנָּן — אֵין לִי מוֹעֲדוֹת אֶלָּא אֵלּוּ.

Rabbi Akiva went and found Rabbi Yehoshua distressed that the head of the Great Sanhedrin was forcing him to desecrate the day that he maintained was Yom Kippur. In an attempt to console him, Rabbi Akiva said to Rabbi Yehoshua: I can learn from a verse that everything that Rabban Gamliel did in sanctifying the month is done, i.e., it is valid. As it is stated: “These are the appointed seasons of the Lord, sacred convocations, which you shall proclaim in their season” (Leviticus 23:4). This verse indicates that whether you have proclaimed them at their proper time or whether you have declared them not at their proper time, I have only these Festivals as established by the representatives of the Jewish people.

בָּא לוֹ אֵצֶל רַבִּי דּוֹסָא בֶּן הוֹרְכִּינָס, אָמַר לוֹ: אִם בָּאִין אָנוּ לָדוּן אַחַר בֵּית דִּינוֹ שֶׁל רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל, צְרִיכִין אָנוּ לָדוּן אַחַר כׇּל בֵּית דִּין וּבֵית דִּין שֶׁעָמַד מִימוֹת מֹשֶׁה וְעַד עַכְשָׁיו. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וַיַּעַל מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן נָדָב וַאֲבִיהוּא וְשִׁבְעִים מִזִּקְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל״, וְלָמָּה לֹא נִתְפָּרְשׁוּ שְׁמוֹתָן שֶׁל זְקֵנִים? אֶלָּא לְלַמֵּד שֶׁכׇּל שְׁלֹשָׁה וּשְׁלֹשָׁה שֶׁעָמְדוּ בֵּית דִּין עַל יִשְׂרָאֵל — הֲרֵי הוּא כְּבֵית דִּינוֹ שֶׁל מֹשֶׁה.

Rabbi Yehoshua then came to Rabbi Dosa ben Horkinas, who said to him: If we come to debate and question the rulings of the court of Rabban Gamliel, we must debate and question the rulings of every court that has stood from the days of Moses until now. As it is stated: “Then Moses went up, and Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, and seventy of the Elders of Israel” (Exodus 24:9). But why were the names of these seventy Elders not specified? Rather, this comes to teach that every set of three judges that stands as a court over the Jewish people has the same status as the court of Moses. Since it is not revealed who sat on that court, apparently it is enough that they were official judges in a Jewish court.

נָטַל מַקְלוֹ וּמְעוֹתָיו בְּיָדוֹ, וְהָלַךְ לְיַבְנֶה אֵצֶל רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל בַּיּוֹם שֶׁחָל יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים לִהְיוֹת בְּחֶשְׁבּוֹנוֹ. עָמַד רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל וּנְשָׁקוֹ עַל רֹאשׁוֹ, אָמַר לוֹ: בּוֹא בְּשָׁלוֹם רַבִּי וְתַלְמִידִי! רַבִּי — בְּחׇכְמָה, וְתַלְמִידִי — שֶׁקִּבַּלְתָּ אֶת דְּבָרַי.

When Rabbi Yehoshua heard that even Rabbi Dosa ben Horkinas maintained that they must submit to Rabban Gamliel’s decision, he took his staff and his money in his hand, and went to Yavne to Rabban Gamliel on the day on which Yom Kippur occurred according to his own calculation. Upon seeing him, Rabban Gamliel stood up and kissed him on his head. He said to him: Come in peace, my teacher and my student. You are my teacher in wisdom, as Rabbi Yehoshua was wiser than anyone else in his generation, and you are my student, as you accepted my statement, despite your disagreement.

Here is what I want you to think about and prepare in your mind what you will do. Will you do as Rabbi Yehoshua did and submit to the decision of the Sanhedrin if it is apparent that they are making the wrong decision and going to keep the Holy Days on the wrong day? Will you submit for unities sake and just get along?

Let me now add to your decision-making process. Here is the 175th law of the 613 Mitsvah.

The 175th mitzvah is that we are commanded to follow majority rule when the Sages disagree about a particular law of the Torah. The same applies to a particular case: if, for example, the judges of the city disagree regarding a case between Reuven and Shimon as to which one owes money, they must follow majority rule.

The source of this mitzvah is G‑d’s statement1 (exalted be He), “A case must be decided based on majority rule.”

Our Sages said explicitly,2 “Majority rule is mid’oraisa.3

The details of this mitzvah are explained in many passages of tractate Sanhedrin.

This Mitsvah is based on

Exo 23:2  You shall not follow a multitude to do evil. Neither shall you speak in a cause in order to follow many in order to wrest judgment.

You are called to be judges.

1Co 6:2  Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world? And if the world shall be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?

1Co 6:3  Do you not know that we shall judge angels, not to mention the things of this life?

1Co 6:4  If, then, you truly have judgments of the thingsof this life, set those who are least esteemed in the church to judge.

1Co 6:5  For I speak to your shame. Is it so that there is not a wise one among you, not even one in your midst who shall be able to judge between his brother?

I look forward to reading your judgments in the comments section below.

  1. Should Rabbi Yehoshua have submitted to Rabbi Gamliel?
  2. Should we submit to the Sanhedrin today?

Anti-Semitic comments will not be welcomed. I am looking for thought-out judgements worthy of presenting before Yehovah of judicial reasoning for doing as you do.


Don’t Look Up

After Shabbat last week, I decided to watch something on TV. I was thinking just before this about one of our talks with Cyrus and Mark about Adolphus, the giant rock that is going to pass close to earth in 2029. The crisis about this rock led to the launch by NASA this past November 24 of a rocket to move an asteroid. They are checking to see if they can do this.

NASA’s DART mission (Double Asteroid Redirect Test) launched successfully from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base on November 24, 2021. It went up aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. DART is NASA’s first planetary defense test mission. Its goal is to strike a small asteroid and minutely change its orbit.

When I turned on Netflix this movie popped up titled Don’t Look Up. It was just released on Netflix on Dec 24. Out of boredom, I decided to watch it. I knew it was a satire and I was not expecting to watch very much of it. But as I watched I began to see the very things we are dealing with in trying to get our message out to the world.

Our message is that the Messiah is about to come. We know the year because of the Jubilee Cycles. We know the day because of the Holy Days. We know the day He comes, the day we are changed to spirit beings, and the day Satan is locked away as well as the day the 7th Millennium begins. All these things and more you have learned here at sightedmoon.com. And only here. Others may have taken what they learned here and reworked it to fit what they were teaching, but we are the source for the dates because no one else teaches the Jubilee cycles. We are the only ones doing so.

We have been speaking about it publicly since 2005. We warned you about 2020. We were the only ones warning you about 2020 and how it was Daniels’s 70th week. Although we expected war, we did not emphasize plagues and famines enough, which are now here as you already know. We did show you in The Prophecies of Abraham published in 2010 and on our speaking tour with The Prophecy Club in 2008 when to expect a major plague starting in about 2010. We gave you many historical Jubilee Cycles to demonstrate this event.

We have had to battle against deniers and those who twisted the climatic disasters into manmade conspiracies created by HAARP or Chem Trails. We had to do the same thing battling against those who said COVID was fake or a red flag, and that the deaths or numbers were being fixed. We fought against those who could not believe that an all-loving God would do such terrible things to us. We continue to battle against those who call us a false prophet for setting dates or if we get one small detail wrong or that does not match their own theories. And we have had to battle against those who had their own political agenda and their own self-interests.

Like this movie, I find it very strange how no one cares about what you’re saying, and they will vilify you on social media or mock you. On the other hand, if you have sex with the right people you can get your message promoted. Or if I shove my nose far enough up someone’s butt, I can get in front of the cameras.

The sheer ambivalence that so many show towards what we are trying to say is disheartening. Like the characters in the movie, so many times I just want to throw in the towel and go behind the locale 7/11 store and get drunk and let them all die. No one cares.

The constant attacks, the constant insults, the lack of help, the lack of encouragement or support, the hatred by the very ones I love, all causes me to wonder why I even bother. Besides me, who cares!

I said to Yehovah I would teach these truths to the Brethren if He showed me His truths, Not conspiracy lies. He has done this and so I keep on doing my part. Although much of the time I do feel as if no one else cares nor helps.

The movie is vulgar and raunchy which will lead to its success. I am just warning you. I feel this movie portrays the attitude of the world right now towards our warning of what is about to happen. We are here for their entertainment and they will not sit up and take notice until it is way too late.

‘Don’t Look Up’ delivers a scathing satire

10:43 AM EST December 25, 2021

In a grand science fiction tradition, “Don’t Look Up” uses a disaster-movie framework as a metaphor for a reality-based crisis, with a huge comet hurtling toward Earth as a surrogate for indifference to addressing climate change. Yet this star-studded, extremely provocative satire at times veers off course itself, partially undermining its admirable qualities with the broadness of its tone.

At its core, writer-director Adam McKay (who wrote the script with journalist/activist David Sirota) delivers a very pointed treatise on the dysfunctional state of current politics and media, in which everyone is so myopic as to be unable to focus on an existential threat. The title reflects the inevitable endpoint of that, with a bury-your-head-in-the-sand approach to impending doom.

The window into that absurdity comes when astronomy professor Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his PhD. student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) discover the comet, whose trajectory will lead to a direct collision with Earth in a little over six months.

Understandably alarmed, their findings quickly reach the White House, where the president (Meryl Streep, poorly served by the ridiculousness of her character) is too preoccupied with her endangered Supreme Court pick to focus on what Randall describes as an extinction-level event. After fruitless back and forth, she concludes that they’ll “sit tight and assess” the situation.

From there, “Don’t Look Up” is off to the races with a scathing indictment of everything about our media and political ecosystem, from the happy-talk news show (anchored by Tyler Perry and Cate Blanchett, standing out as especially self-absorbed TV anchors) to websites preoccupied with traffic and social-media memes.

McKay and Sirota deliver a spot-on attack on how easily distracted people (especially in media) are, fixating on Kate’s hair and clothes and ignoring the substance of her message.

The attempts to make that point, however, careen wildly in different directions, from a tech billionaire (Mark Rylance, adopting a not-of-this-world accent) who sees opportunities to cash in on the comet’s natural resources to the president’s chief of staff (Jonah Hill), who can only see the threat in terms of how it might impact the midterm elections.

Still, “Don’t Look Up” keeps getting sidetracked, thanks in part to piling up celebrities in minor roles (witness Timothée Chalamet’s belated entrance for no particular reason) and pursuing subplots that drag out the tension on whether these flawed leaders will find the fortitude and sobriety to take action.

DiCaprio (whose climate-change activism included producing the documentary “Ice on Fire”) and Lawrence are both very good, but many of the other bold-faced names basically serve as flashy and somewhat unnecessary window dressing.

McKay’s “The Big Short” and “Vice” represent his most obvious antecedents in tackling major institutions in a darkly satiric way, but the film owes a debt to “Dr. Strangelove” as well, casting its net wider with higher (indeed, the highest) stakes. The title certainly does a lot of heavy lifting, capturing the prevailing response to inconvenient news.

As was clearly its intention, “Don’t Look Up” uses satire to spur a conversation about potentially ignoring a crisis until it’s too late. It’s a sobering message, but one that comes barreling toward us through the lens of an uneven movie.

“Don’t Look Up” premieres Dec. 10 in select theaters and Dec. 24 on Netflix. It’s rated R.


What the Samaritans Forgot

By Mike J

A less common look at the Samaritan peoples described in the Scriptures

You may enjoy this teaching even more, if you take some time now to study these few Scripture passages concerning the Samaritans:

  • 2 Kings 17:24-41, The settling of the Samaritans into the land of Israel
  • Luke 10:25-37, The parable of the good Samaritan
  • John 4:7-44, The Samaritan woman at the well
  • Luke 9:51-56, The Samaritans reject the Savior before He must go to Jerusalem

 

Why a good “Samaritan”?

  • In Luke 10:25-37, Christ tells the parable of the good Samaritan as an example of loving one’s neighbor.  It is a good parable, a very familiar parable, and a lesson to us all.
  • Why did Christ choose a “Samaritan” to be the protagonist of the parable?
  • This presentation will explore the actual experiences Christ had with the Samaritans and where the Samaritans came from.

I believe that this is because the Samaritans were despised by the Jews in that day because the Samaritans mixed blatantly incorrect teachings in with the Scriptures.  He was making a point that actions were stronger than words.  One might consider also that he may have also been prophesying.

However, imagine if the Samaritans were like incredibly patriot immigrants who knew the history of the land and practiced the Torah (which teaches our Heavenly Father’s commands, statutes and ordinances) even better than the Jews?  The Jews would have been provoked to Jealousy, rather than despising the Samaritans because of their incorrect beliefs.  I believe that this could be part of what Paul was alluding to in Romans Chapter 11.

 

The Samaritan Woman at the Well

  • She was a Samaritan, and the Jews avoided the Samaritans.

John 4:9

Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

  • When the woman does not understand His words, the following is spoken:

John 4:15-18

Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.

The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:

For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.

Often the word “Samaritan” is left out… folks often speak of just “The woman at the well” when speaking of the events written about in John chapter 4.  The following is a short summary of one of the Scripture passages mentioned at the beginning of this presentation.

Christ asks a Samaritan Woman for water (note that the Jews avoided the Samaritans). (Read 1st scripture)

His response is that He then speaks of living water – which she does not understand, so he then asks her to recollect he husband.

She immediately calls him a prophet in verse 19 and then asks about an error in Samaritan understanding about not worshiping in Jerusalem (in verse 20).  The Samaritans had a personal belief that caused them separation.

Before going on, take a moment to contemplate the following question:  Why did he ask her to recollect her “five” husbands and say that he whom she now has is not her husband?  We’ll return to this in a moment.

 

  • The Samaritans no longer knew what they worshiped

John 4:22

Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

  • They that worship the Father MUST worship him in spirit and in truth

John 4:23-24

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

The Samaritans may have thought themselves to be in the correct “spirit” (if you will allow me to word it that way), but they were definitely not worshiping in truth.

 

The Samaritans forgot the truth that is in the five books of the Torah

After refusing Saul’s armor, when David went to confront Goliath, he chose to take five stones (1st Samuel 17:40).  What 5 things did David have that the Samaritan Woman no longer had?  Let’s look at some symbolism:

  • When David went to confront Goliath, he chose to take five stones (1st Samuel 17:40).
  • The Samaritan Woman at the well had lost 5 husbands and had replaced them with another.
  • The Five Books of the Torah:
    1. Genesis
    2. Exodus
    3. Leviticus
    4. Numbers
    5. Deuteronomy

 

 

More of Christ’s words

Speaking of stones and rocks, here are a few more of Christ’s words:

Matthew 7:20-29

Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

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. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

In Matthew 16:18, Peter is referred to a rock… is it no surprise that in 1st Peter 2:4-6, Peter refers to Christ as the cornerstone?  Christ, our Salvation, is the key to understanding the Torah.  As many know, Christ is simply the word for “Annointed”.  His name is Yeshua which means Yehovah is Salvation.  Yehovah came in the flesh as our Salvation.  His Torah is how we grow close to him.

 

The Settling of the Samaritans

Let’s take a moment to go back in time now to discover who were the Samaritans and discover when did the Samaritans have the 5 husbands of the Torah, and how did they leave them?

They were settled by Babylon into northern Israel (Samaria is the capital of Northern Israel).  The account of this can be found in 2nd Kings 17:24-41.   Highlights are listed below:

  • A vast mixture of people were settled into Samaria (2nd Kings 17:24)
  • A priest was sent to teach them the manner of the God of the land (2nd Kings 17:27)
  • And that priest did teach them how they should fear the LORD (2nd Kings 17:28)
  • However, this mixture of people also made gods of their own (2nd Kings 17:29-31)
  • Then they did both good and bad: “They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.” (2nd Kings 17:33)
  • In time, they no longer feared the LORD or kept his statutes, ordinances, laws and commandments:

2nd Kings 17:34-35

Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the LORD, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel; With whom the LORD had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them:

The Samaritans were taught the truth, but they mixed it with non-truths.  The word wick (that thread in a candle that is made from twisting threads together) is where we get the word wicked.  Mixing truth and lies is wicked indeed.

 

…Back to our story of the Samaritan Woman at the well…

  • He reveals himself as the Messiah

John 4:25-26

The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

  • Our Messiah spends two days with the Samaritans.

John 4:40

So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.

Personally, I believe that there is a prophecy in those two days.  Consider the following two verses:

2 Peter 3:8

But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Psalms 90:4

For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.

These two days (or millennia) remind me of Luke 21:24 that has the phrase…until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.  As you know, it has been nearly two millennia since these words were spoken.

Returning to 2nd Kings 17:34-35 concerning how the settling of the Samaritans eventually ended up, I am going to make a parallel to the state of Christianity today: many Christians (and I quote from the verse above) “fear not the LORD, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the LORD commanded”

If you have not guessed this already, the Samaritans may very well represent modern-day Christians.

Have you ever heard a Christian say, (and I paraphrase here) that “The Law” (The Torah) is not what’s important, but rather being a “Good Samaritan” is what it’s all about?  Indeed, being a good neighbor like the Good Samaritan in the story is half of what Christ spoke about when He said to love Yehovah and your neighbor.  Christians have in fact done a wonderful job of loving their neighbor (consider the many Christian based hospitals, organizations, and various charities).  But, they have forgotten what “The Law” (The Torah) teaches on how to love their God.

 

More than just loving your neighbor

However, being a good neighbor is one half of what is spoken of when Christ summarized the 10 commandments in the following verse:

Mark 12:30-31

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

Note:  For further study, this verse above is also repeated in Matthew 22:37-40 and Luke 10:25.  The 10 Commandments can be found in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5.  Additional teachings on how to treat (and how not to treat) one’s neighbors can be found in, but not limited to, Leviticus 19:9-17, Proverbs 1:10-19, Proverbs 6:16-28.

I could continue on and explain that there is much reward in treating one’s neighbor well, and much disdain in murder, adultery, stealing, bearing false witness, and coveting (nobody wants a neighbor like that!).  But, that is a study in and of itself.

I will say, however, that in Exodus Chapter 20, the first eleven verses also include commandments regarding…

  • Do not have other gods before יהוה (the LORD)
  • Do not have graven images [as part of religious practice]
  • Do not take the name of יהוה (the LORD) thy God in vain
  • Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy

With the half of the commandments that regard our Heavenly Father, there’s just not that same visible and immediate reward (we serve an unseen god, and our reward comes at the end of the age).  So, ask yourself this honest question:  Have these commandments been guarded as closely by modern Christianity?

I am convinced that the 10 virgins in the parable in Matthew 25 all knew how to treat their neighbor… but, I believe half of them did not know how to love their bridegroom.

 

Learn not the way of the heathen.

Like the Samaritans, Western Gentile Christians have also mixed in various beliefs of the cultures of the lands in which they have been settled.  Western Gentile Christians are often referred to as the Lost Tribes of Northern Israel (of which the symbolism can be found in many places) – Samaria was the capital city of Northern Israel.    Also on the flip side, there is symbolism in the diversity of the mix of peoples that were settled into Northern Israel that became to be known as “the Samaritans” could hence possibly be a parallel to the mixture of backgrounds of Christians all over the world today.

Concerning heathen ways and similar issues that Christians may have that mirror the issues that the Samaritans had, the Scriptures tell us the following:

Jeremiah 10:2

Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.

 

Remember the ways of our God.

Have you been taught to forget the Torah and the teachings within? “Oh, that was a long time ago” or another excuse to forget? We are told to remember these “old things”!

Isaiah 43:26

Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.

Isaiah 46:9

Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,

 

An example of learning the way of the heathen

We just read together Jeremiah 10:2 about not learning the way of the heathen.  A modern day Christian may not think that they have ANYTHING to do with other gods or heathen paganism in any way, but let’s keep on reading a few more verses in Jeremiah chapter 10:

Jeremiah 10:3-4

For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.

One has to be in complete utter denial not to recognize the Christmas Tree in this example of a heathen belief presented by, not be, but the Scriptures themselves. Please know that this presentation is not a specific attack on Christmas.  Winter Solstice (what many celebrate as Christmas or Hanukkah), like Halloween, Easter, and other various holidays are holidays that have pagan/heathen roots.  Indeed, they are about other gods, from other Cultures… just like the Samaritans dealt with.  Carry-overs from their father’s culture before them.

If you have not studied the Torah (if you have not remembered the former things of old about our God)… well, then, it’s hard to remember what you have never learned… especially if you are a later generation that may have grown up a heathen or inherited heathen beliefs.  This presentation is meant to be a wake-up call to set oneself apart (that is what the word holy / Kadosh means:  set apart).

Once again, this presentation is not an attack on Christmas or other gentile holidays –  Western Gentile Protestant Christianity is based on Catholicism which is a system that mixed Sun Worship and other paganism in with beliefs associated with the Holy One of Israel.  The process was pretty much the same as we read about with the Samaritans in 2 Kings Chapter 17.  But, that topic is well beyond the scope of this teaching (and easily researched elsewhere).  However, I will just state that Idolatry does exist in our Christian culture (Idolatry is not about how one spends their time on favorite hobbies and such, as is often taught in the churches, but rather the integration of pagan beliefs into one’s life).

This may be hard for some to admit.  However…

In the coming days, Gentiles will admit that they have inherited lies

Jeremiah 16:19

O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction,
the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say,
Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.

Zechariah 8:23

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.

Remember Christ’s words to the Samaritan woman at the well…

John 4:23-24

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

This teaching should remind you of what your mothers and fathers before have forgotten (The truths in the Torah), rather than focus on the new pagan “husband” (if you will allow me to use that phrase) that they have taken up.  Many have forgotten truth, and that they have inherited lies in their place.

 

The Samaritans reject Christ, the Messiah

Remember the Samaritan woman at the well bringing up that outside belief that the Samaritans had?  Bringing it into modern terms, it was a bit like arguing over keeping Easter Ham versus Passover Lamb.

  • The Samaritan woman at the well explained that the Samaritans had their own set of beliefs…

John 4:20

Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

  • Because the Samaritans held on to their own set of beliefs, they later rejected Christ, even after having spent two days with him previously accepting him as their Messiah

Luke 9:51-56

And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.

And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?  But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.  For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.

Sadly, their disagreements literally separated the Samaritans from their Messiah.

I don’t think that anyone would deny that the Crucifixion was a major event, if not the major event, in the Scriptures.  Christ went to them on His way to Jerusalem to be crucified, and they rejected him because they had learned errors/lies from their fathers.

Nonetheless, Christ reminds us that he did not “come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”

Likewise, remember Exodus 20:6 which states “And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.”  If you are reading this and have strayed away from keeping his commandments, or did not know what they were to begin with… know that Yehovah our Salvation did not come in the flesh as Yeshua to destroy men’s lives, but to show mercy to those that love him by keeping His commandments (see also Psalm 136:1-9).

Sadly though, returning to the account of the New Testament Samaritans above, Christ and his disciples “went to another village.”  I sometimes think of the Parable of the Wedding Feast (see Matthew 22) and consider, how much of this is prophetic to the state of Christianity today?  As a side note, for those of us reading this that have the knowledge of the Torah and have for the most part rooted paganism out of our lives, but still have minor disagreements with Yehovah or this or that, this “Going to another village” does remind me of Mordecai’s warning to Esther in Esther 4:14.

 

Accept Our Messiah for who He is

Matthew 11:6

And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

Don’t like that Christ was Jewish?  Well, salvation is of the Jews; accept it.  Don’t like those odd-sounding “Holy Days”.  Leviticus 23 explains the proper holy days.  Just accept it.  Don’t like those things “of old” written about in the first five books of the Bible – or even think the word “Torah” sounds funny?  Just accept it.  We should obey the commandments.  Accept it.  Our Messiah practiced these things!  Do not be offended by Him because of things taught to you by your fathers before you.  Don’t make the same mistake as the Samaritans because you think the bible sounds “Jewish” or Hebraic – your “bible” was written mostly by Jews and other Hebraic people.

Did you get offended, and maybe are you offended that I mentioned a holiday outside of the Torah that you enjoy and called it “pagan”?  Consider this… who began the practice of keeping Holy Days that are not in the Scriptures as Holidays rather than the true Holy Days that are in the Scriptures?  Heathens.   Do not learn the way of the Heathen.   And once again, do not be offended by our Messiah.  (or, I might humbly add, His servants that suffer quite a bit of rejection for delivering the truth.)

 

So, why remember what the Samaritans forgot?

Well, here’s a few good reasons…

1st Peter 1:16

Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

Leviticus 19:2

Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.

Leviticus 20:7-8

Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God.
And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the LORD which sanctify you.

Leviticus 20:26

And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.

 

Recommended Follow-up Reading:

If you learned from this teaching, I recommend a follow-up study of the life of King Hezekiah.  Listed below are a few places in the Scriptures where his account can be found.

 

The Scriptural account of the life of King Hezekiah in the historical writings:

  • 2 Kings, chapters 18 through 20
  • 2 Chronicles, chapters 29 through 32

In 2nd Kings, King Hezekiah’s account is told immediately after the account of the Samaritans.  The telling is quite a contrast.  He is a contemporary of Isaiah (see also Isaiah chapters 38 & 39).

In short, King Hezekiah becomes king at the early age of 25 (an age much like one in our modern day age of beginning life and career for ourselves) and he decides to do things right, EVEN THOUGH HIS FATHER DID NOT.  He removes pagan nonsense and abominations from the land and “He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.” (that’s actually a quote of 2nd Kings 18:5).  He does many things right and overcomes adversity, and his life is even extended. When he reads the Torah, he decides to DO what’s in the Torah as best as he can (at one point, he just could not get Passover together as fast as needed, but kept it faithfully in the 2nd month as the scriptures allow as an exception), and God accepts his efforts.   He prospers and is remembered well.

A study of Hezekiah’s life is a study that maybe I (or, better yet, maybe one of you) may someday make into a future teaching, however I wanted to make mention of Hezekiah in this teaching, as not only is his story recorded in the very next chapter of Scripture after the settling of the Samaritans, but Hezekiah’s life is the example of the way to do it RIGHT.  Thus, ending this teaching on a more positive note.

יהוה  bless thee, and keep thee:

יהוה  make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

יהוה  lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

11 Comments

  1. Robert Barth

    Never ceases to amaze me the depth of these newsletters! I also experience in a much smaller way the feelings of exasperation and sadness in folks responses to this message as we try to get it out. Although some are interested, the business of “life” somehow keeps them from looking into the word to prove or disprove. I have to remind myself almost daily I was in the same place. I was comfortable in my own beliefs as I really didnt “have to” invest so much time into scripture as I already thought I had a half descent grasp of it. How so very wrong I was! I humbly praise Yehovah for His pricking my conscience to press on for truth. Was also getting pretty complacent as there is a church on every corner all having the “truth”. Figured I knew what I needed as confusion was just another way to say “all I need is faith”. Wow, the depth of deceit. Thank you for standing in the midst as Yehova has opened your and alot of others eyes through you to the depth of truth through obedience!

    Reply
  2. Robert Marr

    Should Rabbi Yehoshua have submitted to Rabbi Gamliel?
    Should we submit to the Sanhedrin today?

    No he shouldn’t have submitted if he truly believed it to be Yom Kippur. He should have honored the day according to the commandment. He could have made up afterwards and sincerely explained his position afterwards.

    I dont feel inclined to follow the current Sanhedrein based on the simple truth that they don’t acknowledge Yehshua our Lord therefore their authority and perspective is not from Yehovah. I do understand they are very knowledgeable in the Hebrew however to me they are uncircumcised in heart and will lead others down this path of heresy. The other reason I would not submit to their Jewish Sanhedrein is Yehovah has said He will unite Joseph and Judah as one and then once together they will appoint themselves a leader to guide. This is appropriate as it comes from Yehovah. So until now, we are like the days of Judges when every man does what is right – good and lawful – in their own eyes because our King is not here ruling tangibly for all the people.

    I hope I covered every question asked. Shalom.

    Reply
  3. Ella H Morgan

    My belief and understanding is the Sandedrin was given the responsibility to CORRECTLY establish the new month by what Father ordained in its sighting. I don’t see any reason given that gave them permission to change or to establish a fixed calendar for the convenience of all. I would not follow the Sanhedrin for the sake of unity but for the sake of Scriptural accuracy.

    Reply
  4. Jayson

    We are living in the book of Acts and about to be in the book of the Revelation! I worked all summer/fall at our family’s ranch where I was isolated from people and had plenty of time to think and pray. I prayed daily for a five specific things which I shared with our group at Sukkot:

    1) Reveal any sins in my life so that I can repent (no sins means no direct judgment, even though consequences still apply)

    2) Ask for deliverance from this world that is oppressing us. (Same pattern as the Hebrews in Egypt who cried out for help)

    3) For protection for me and my family in the midst of Yah’s judgment (the current judgment and the one coming).

    4) To show me His way of escape through all of this (present and future).

    5) For understanding and direction concerning the Greater Exodus and that my family be part of the group mentioned in Revelation that escapes, survives, and endures to the end.

    Reply
    • Niel de Villiers

      Shalom – a friend referred me to your ministry .
      Interesting to see that you refer to Yahusha – as Yahuah that came in the flesh , to effect salvation .
      Maybe i don’t understand the Hebrew term ” Echad ”
      In Genesis 2 : 25 the husband and wife become one ” Echad ”
      So in the Torah they would be named ” you ”
      Satan could not killed Job’s wife – because Yahuah told him , he may not kill Job .
      In the Shema …. Yahuah is one ” echad ”
      Now please follow – exodus 24 : 10 and 11 . They beheld the God of Israel …. but He did not reach out His hand against them – surely this is Yahusha as God – because in exodus 33 : 20 Yahuah tells Moses clearly – no man shall see My face .
      So in John 15 : 10 Yahusha tells Phillip – don’t you believe I am in the Father and the Father in Me – echad .
      Maybe you could research this and understand why the first words in the Bible starts with ” Bereshit …. Elohim ( plural as in echad )
      Shalom and be blessed

      Reply
  5. Glenn Caron

    Adding to Torah or taking away from it , seems to be done by Ignorance or by what seems right in ones own eyes today . Same thing with the new Sanhedrin practicing what the Unity of the group decides (albeit I am sure with the pressure and manipulation from the Upper echelon as is rampant in any group today.)
    Something I noticed over the course of my studies in many areas but especially in Torah , Words have meanings, All words , some to certain segregated groups and others as the common definition dictates, but all words have meanings . The Word Holy , means “set apart” . So if we set apart our lives for Yahs will in Torah as Yehshua followed to the letter and sprirt as our example , then we become Holy too. So when scripture says NOT to worship or make Holy a day to another or one that is not set HOLY by the most high ,and do so , we are sinning . If we take a day or several like this season now and set it apart, making it HOLY ,then we are sinning . Same applies to the Sanhedrin who actually ignore one of the major commands that show the greater Light as ruler of the day , in determining the new year of AVIV by the Barley readiness as the first feast of the year , then they are sinning too and getting their followers to do the same . If they should choose a wrong day or skip a pertinent command in the determination of any of God’s commands then THEY ARE SINNING TOO! EvEn if they get all of the practices right and do not do anything to restore The WAY , then they are sinning too!
    No we should not follow them or anyone who does that for “unity’s sake” , for then we go down with them …..
    Exo 23:2 You shall not follow a multitude to do evil. Neither shall you speak in a cause in order to follow many in order to wrest judgment.
    If you do anything because one or many says its OK , then these verses apply …..
    Jer_4:22  For My people are foolish; they have not known Me; they are stupid sons, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
    Jer_9:3  And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies. But they are not mighty for the truth on the earth; for they go from evil to evil, and they do not know Me, says Jehovah.!
    HE calls it EVIL!
    This is not saying that these acts are done on purpose but ARE out of ignorance , so it is still evil to do them .
    Remember ALL Words have meanings , ……
    Mat_4:4  But He answered and said, It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”
    And every word meant something that HE wanted done or not done specifically . We need to learn what those words are defined by HIM and HIM alone and not by being in unity with ANY ERROR !
    May Yehovah Bless you and Keep you and grant you peace!

    Reply
  6. Mike

    All wildfires in Colorado have been extinguished by the hand of Yehovah. As the Sabbath started last evening, so did the snow. We woke this morning to over a half a foot (>15cm) of snow covering everything.

    For a clip of what it looked like yesterday here in Colorado, watch this national news which shows not only the devastation, but also a family escaping from Chuck-E-Cheese’s (a family pizza restaurant with children’s games) and the snow beginning to fall:

    Nightly News Full Broadcast – Dec. 31, 2021
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0-WPf_7ijY

    ————————————-

    As for Joe’s question above, I’m not one for going along with the group for church unity. The first religious disagreement can be found in Genesis chapter 3. Adam, Eve, and Satan were all in unity about disobeying the rules, but that unity did not make it right.

    Reply
  7. Ron Ward

    Joe, I am not in a position to judge anyone, nonetheless, I find in my own life when things do not appear to be going right, I have learned that I need to perform some self reflection. You have been given a gift from Yehovah, however when you have to start brow beating people to support your ministry, I wonder if some self reflection in your own life might be needed. Solomon was given a great gift and served Yehovah with all of his heart right up until the time that he no longer was doing God’s will. I believe he became too big for his own britches and maybe his wisdom went to his head. He turned his heart from God. His actions were the cause of Israel’s divorce from Judah which eventually led to all of Israel’s captivity. If your ministry is God ordained then Yehovah will supply all of your needs.
    Shalom

    Reply
    • Joseph F Dumond

      I will not judge you Ron the same way you have not judged me. Most people who will never donate nor support a work but always want it for free always say “If your ministry is God ordained then Yehovah will supply all of your needs.”

      I do not want to judge you and assume you are like that. I am not very good at asking for help, I admit. So I will look forward to your $50 a month subscription every month, so I do not have to ask for more funds in the future and risk browbeating people by asking them for help.

      I wonder if you also think the Apostle Paul was browbeating the Macedonians when he asked them for help for the Jerusalemites. I never read anyone tell him that God would provide for them if they were truly doing God’s work.

      1Co 16:1 And concerning the collection for the saints, as I charged the churches of Galatia, so also you do.
      1Co 16:2 On the first of the sabbaths let each of you put by himself, storing up what ever he is prospered, so that there may be no collections when I come.

      2Co 8:1 And, brothers, we make known to you the grace of God which has been given among the churches of Macedonia;
      2Co 8:2 that in much testing of trouble, the overflowing of their joy, and the depth of their poverty, abounded to the riches of their generosity.
      2Co 8:3 For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability; they gave willingly;
      2Co 8:4 with much beseeching, begging us that they might receive of us the grace and the fellowship of the ministry to the saints.

      2Co 9:1 For indeed regarding the ministry to the saints, it is not necessary for me to write to you.
      2Co 9:2 For I know your eagerness, of which I boast to Macedonia on your behalf, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal has aroused the greater number.
      2Co 9:3 Yet I sent the brothers, lest our boasting (which is on your behalf) should not be in vain, that, as I said, you may be ready.
      2Co 9:4 I say this lest perhaps Macedonians should come with me and find you unprepared. We (not to say you) would then be put to shame in this confident boasting.
      2Co 9:5 Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brothers that they would go forward to you, and make up beforehand your blessing, it having been promised that this would be ready, thus as a matter of blessing, and not as of covetousness.
      The Cheerful Giver

      2Co 9:6 But I say this, He who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully.
      2Co 9:7 Each one, as he purposes in his heart, let him give; not of grief, or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver.
      2Co 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that in everything, always having all self-sufficiency, you may abound to every good work;
      2Co 9:9 As it is written, “He scattered; he has given to the poor; his righteousness remains forever.”
      2Co 9:10 Now He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for eating, may He supply and multiply your seed, and increase the fruits of your righteousness
      2Co 9:11 you being enriched in everything to all generosity, which works out thanksgiving to God through us.
      2Co 9:12 For the ministry of this service not only supplies the things lacking of the saints, but also multiplying through many thanksgivings to God,
      2Co 9:13 through the proof of this ministry they glorify God for your freely expressed submission to the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of the fellowship toward them and toward all,
      2Co 9:14 and in their prayer for you, who long after you, because of the exceeding grace of God on you.
      2Co 9:15 Thanks be to God for His unspeakable free gift

      Or maybe Paul was asking them so they could be blessed by Yehovah for giving exceedingly.

      Paul was also commanded to remember the poor.

      Gal 2:10 Only they asked that we remember the poor, which very thing I was eager to do.
      Those groups we are helping in the Philippines and East Africa cannot afford the books and charts we send them for free. To send a case of books to the Philippines cost $2000 for the books and shipping and handling. We have been constantly remembering the poor in all we do as Paul did.

      Paul also said that we are to minister in the flesh and not just in spirit alone. It was the DUTY of the Saints of Macedonia to do this. A DUTY.

      Rom 15:25 But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints.
      Rom 15:26 For it has pleased those of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints in Jerusalem.
      Rom 15:27 Truly it has pleased them, and they are their debtors. For if the nations have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in fleshly things.
      Rom 15:28 Therefore when I have completed this, and have sealed this fruit to them, I will come by you into Spain.

      Yes Ron I do not have the gift of asking people for money. I admit that. I really just want to teach the Torah. Unfortunately, the website costs money to upkeep and upgrade. It cost money to pay for ad campaigns and to hire professionals when they are needed. It cost money to translate into other languages and to ship books to these poorer nations who also want to learn. Most people who work full-time want to get paid a full-time wage. I have never asked for that even though I do work 16 hour days during the week researching and writing the newsletter books and teach from about 12:30 to 6 PM each Sabbath.
      No one pays me for this.

      Would you work for free week in and week out all the time? I doubt it.

      We do not have a Paul here who can write and ask you to give to his cause. But I am here and doing this work, and I am asking for people like you who have not helped in the past as far as I can tell to step up now and help now. This work is going to go forward. It go fast if a lot of people help or it can go slowly if we rely on the few that now support this work.
      Please do not feel I am browbeating you now by responding to your words. We have a need and I have made it known to those reading the newsletter. Help if you want to help. But do not accuse me of being of little faith for asking you to share in our reward.
      As Paul said, there are also FLeshly things that need to be tended to as well as spiritual ones. I look forward to you blessing us and this work with your support.

      Reply
  8. Jim H.

    Joe,

    I apologize if the following is a mess in its editing. I’ve spent a lot of time typing it in Word but transferring it to your Comment section app is always a crap-shoot. I’m not going to spend anymore time on it.

    Thank you for bringing this subject up. I’ve been meditating on how to best present a defense of my position to those who are in positions to make decisions concerning others and their observance of the appointed times. It seems many in leadership want to follow the “official” Jewish calendar or follow their traditions which often, usually, follow the same. This is an opportunity to present what I believe Scripture has to say on the subject and perhaps get some feedback.

    Rather than starting with the Sanhedrin that existed during and after the time of Messiah, let’s go back to what appears to be the foundation of the development of such a body from the Scriptures, shall we?
    The background and the actual event of the anointing of the 70 elders with the Spirit that Moses had is given to us in Numbers 11:2-30. Moses complained to Elohim about the fact he did not birth these people, the 600,000 men +, but now had to care for them, alone, in their complaining. This was after they had left Sinai! The culmination of the event was the plague that ensued as the people were slaughtering quail for food and were themselves slaughtered.

    The 70 were anointed to serve as Elohim’s representatives just before this judgment fell on others. The story following this anointing of the 70 and judgment concerning the desire for meat is that of Miriam becoming leprous after she and Aaron were speaking against Moses.

    But was Moses alone in caring for the children of Israel?

    Hadn’t he just empowered about 80,000 of the 600,000 men to be captains over 1,000’s, 100’s, 50’s and 10’s on the advice of his father-in-law? (Ex.18)

    We need to understand there is probably a connection between Moses’ empowerment of 80,000 leaders among the people and YHVH’s anointing of 70 elders to carry out His Word among the people. The flesh will never fulfill the purposes, the will, of Elohim. Abraham and Sarah tried to do the same!
    Many may question the assertion of a connection between these events but recall that in order to properly divide the Word of Truth we must gather all the pertinent facts before making a judgment as is required of a priest, which you attest to in your letter.

    The relevant passages of Scripture to connect the empowerment of these 80,000 by Moses to the 70 elders YHVH put His Spirit on, as referenced in Numbers 11:2-30, are Exodus 18:1-27 and 19:1-11, Numbers 10:29-32, and Deuteronomy 1:6-18 and 34-38.

    When we put these passages together we come up with the following facts:
    1. Jethro came to meet Moses after the children of Israel arrived at Mt. Sinai and had established their camp (18:5).
    2. The children of Israel had arrived at Sinai no earlier than the 1st of the third month and possibly on the 3rd of the month (19:1).
    3. Did Moses have the time, after their arrival at Sinai, to engage in the Exodus 18 activities prior to the giving of the giving of the 10 commandments which all Israel heard as recorded in Exodus 19?
    – When they arrived at Sinai, “Moses went up to Elohim and YHVH called him from the mountain saying…tell the sons of Israel”… if you obey Me, you will be My possession and I will make you a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Moses delivered the message and the people responded, “All that YHVH has spoken we will do.” Moses deliver their response to YHVH and was told to consecrate the people for on the 3rd day YHVH would come down on the mountain in the sight of all the people. This would be either the 3rd or the 6th of the 3rd month. Tradition claims YHVH came to meet them on the 6th.
    – What is the point of including this passage in the discussion of the 70, the Sanhedrin of Yeshua’s day, Exodus 18:1 – 19:11?
    A. The Jethro event, and empowerment of the 80,000, could not have occurred prior to the giving of the 10 commandments as Moses had no time to sit and judge the people as is presented to us in Exodus 18. He was up and down the mountain about 7 times in this short period, between arriving at the Mount and the giving of the 10 commandments.
    B. He could not be teaching the “statutes of Elohim and His Torah” to the people as he stated to Jethro. In Exodus 18:16 the Covenant had not yet been given.
    C. Exodus 18:24-27 says Moses listened to his father-in-law and did as he said and then his father-in-law returned to his own land.
    4. Deuteronomy 1:6-18 recounts how YHVH told the children of Israel to go up and possess the Land He had given them and of how Moses, by his own testimony, empowered the 80,000 or so at that time and gave instructions to the elders. This was BEFORE they left Mt. Sinai! None of these had the “anointing” as the anointing of the 70 occurred later, after they had left Sinai per Numbers 11:16-17!
    5. When we look at Numbers 10:29-31, the setting of which is immediately before the children of Israel leave Egypt, we find Moses imploring Hobab, the son of Reuel his father-in-law, to come with them (the children of Israel) to be “as eyes for us” (v. 31).
    A side note on this: It appears there is some controversy as to whether this actually refers to Reuel or to his son. No other mention of a son of Reuel is mentioned in scripture. Some think Hobab is just another reference to Reuel.
    – What do we need to keep in mind as we examine, analyze, this passage?
    A. Moses has already empowered the 80,000 or so men as counseled by his father-in-law. There is no scripture provided that indicates Moses ever asked YHVH about doing this. Events seem to support he did not!
    B. Moses is seemingly acknowledging Hobab’s importance to how the children of Israel will traverse their way to the Promised Land even though the pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day has been with them since they departed Egypt. Again, trust in man!
    Let’s take a step back and summarize what has been presented now that we have drawn the various Scriptures together surrounding the events leading up to the anointing of the 70 elders. The events of which seem to be the foundation of authority for the modern Sanhedrin.
    1. Moses listened to a man, his father-in-law, a man he respected and he did what that man advised him concerning the leading of the children of Israel.
    2. The advice of the man Moses respected and esteemed did not solve the problems Moses faced in leading YHVH’s people.
    3. Moses eventually, in short order, faced issues the men whom he had called alongside himself were not equipped to face.
    4. Moses had to acknowledge his limitation and go to YHVH for a solution.
    5. YHVH provided a solution by anointing 70 men with the same Spirit Moses had so they could come alongside him and share the burden of guiding the children of Elohim.
    6. It is important to consider the following: When two men (a representation of Joshua and Caleb??), who were among the selected 70 but did not go to the “tent of meeting”, prophesied as did the other 68, Joshua implored Moses to restrain them. Yet Moses responded, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all YHVH’s people were prophets, that YHVH would put His Spirit upon them!” (Num. 11:29)
    I draw from this Mosaic expression the desire of YHVH to have a personal relationship with EACH ONE of his people. Not just a corporate relationship! What do you think?

    Once all this has been laid out, what is the result? YHVH tells us we are to judge, “Measure for measure”. Messiah said that whatever judgment we make, we will be judged by the same standard. (Mt. 7:2) Many do not understand the very first judgment made in Scripture exemplifies this principle. It is an Elohim principle. See if you can see this principle at work in Genesis 3:1-19. The measure for measure principle is there! It is a foundational principle for how YHVH deals with His people!! No exceptions!!

    We should always ask ourselves, “Is YHVH lying when He makes a statement?”

    When we examine the Scriptures, there is an item that many pass over and never consider.
    In Deuteronomy 1:34 – 38 we are told of YHVH’s response to the children of Israel’s refusal to go into the Promised Land. What many miss is that in this passage YHVH also pronounced a judgment on Moses! What did He say?
    “YHVH was angry with me on your account, saying, ‘Not even you shall enter there. Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter there: encourage him for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.” (Deut. 1: 37-38) Moses tells us here that he has been told by YHVH he will not enter the Land! This is about 38 years prior to his smiting of the rock as opposed to speaking to it!

    Isn’t it interesting that it is during the event of the recounting the names of the men sent to spy out the Land (Num. 13:4-16) Scripture notes Moses called Hoshea, the son of Nun, the Son of the Eternal, Joshua? Coincidence?
    Understand, this statement about what YHVH said to Moses was about 38 years before Moses smote the rock contrary to YHVH’s instructions. Moses tells us here that 38 years earlier, prior to his smiting of the rock the second time, he had already been told he would NOT lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land but that Joshua would. The event he is recounting in Deuteronomy 1 is how the children of Israel refused to go into the Promised Land. However, it is the measure for measure principle that resulted in His not being allowed to enter the Promised Land. We should take diligent heed to the lesson!
    The Numbers 20:8-12 event was the PUBLIC disqualification of Moses leading the children of Israel into the Promised Land. “The secret things belong to YHVH our Elohim, but the things revealed belong to us and our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this Torah.” (Deut. 29:29) The private disqualification occurred much earlier! Why? Was it because Moses put his trust in man?
    Is today’s Sanhedrin the same?
    Summary: If we understand all these things, we should be asking ourselves if there was a measure for measure judgment applied to Moses that prevented him from entering to the Promised Land.
    It appears that at one point Moses turned to the flesh, his father-in-law, and put his trust in him. He removed that trust from YHVH and put it in a physical person whom he knew and trusted. It appears the result was he was prevented from entering the Promised Land. Just to clarify, I have no doubt Moses will be with us in the Kingdom!! However, his life and outcome are a warning to us!
    Is looking to a physical Sanhedrin any different? Do the men who make this body up know the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Do they know the Messiah YHVH sent to fulfill the covenant on their behalf? Do they even know of the need for one to fulfill the terms of the covenant for them due to their deficiencies, iniquities, as portrayed in the events of the covenant of the pieces as exemplified in Genesis 15:8-21? Do they understand Yeshua fulfilled it for them as the “smoking oven and the burning torch” that it was He who passed between the pieces? Do they understand He was the One, the Holy One of Israel who by Himself paid the price, through death, of their and our breaking of the Covenant, the 10 commandments (Deut. 4:13)?
    I believe these 70 representatives represent the 70 nations spoken of in Deuteronomy 32:8. We see this number of 70 first referenced in Genesis 46:27. However, we are not able to come up with the exact number of 70 from this passage but rather of 69. Should Jacob be included?
    Now that we have pretty much understood the background of the anointing of the 70 elders, which is the foundation of the Sanhedrin of Yeshua’s time and beyond, let’s deal specifically with the question concerning the issue of whom we should obey.
    1. We are all well aware of the instruction that we are to do whatever the priest determines concerning disputes, right?
    2. Was the Sanhedrin of His day those who should have been respected and followed?
    3. If you answered “Yes”, how do you explain Peter and John deliberately choosing to disregard the Sanhedrin’s instruction concerning the prohibition to speak no more in the name of Yeshua? (Acts 5:40)
    4. What do you do with Jacob’s prophesy concerning Judah in Genesis 49:10-11? “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to Him shall be the obedience of the peoples. He [Shiloh] ties His foal to the vine, and His donkey’s colt to the choice vine; He washes His garments in wine, and His robes in the blood of grapes.”

    A lot of discussion is generated from this passage concerning the issue of the Sanhedrin and whom we should accept as our authority.

    Don’t you find it interesting Matthew quotes Zechariah 9:9 regarding Yeshua coming on a foal (Mt. 21:5), Yeshua’s first coming as the Passover lamb of Elohim, and John refers to his second coming by referencing Isaiah 63:1-6, concerning His garments stained with blood (Rev. 19:11-16)? Both are referenced in Jacob’s prophesy!

    It would seem Jacob is stating the people are to obey the ruler-ship of Judah until the One comes who fulfills these prophesies, would it not? Are these fulfilled in the Sanhedrin, or a person or ruling body, apart from these?

    Note that Peter and John plainly declared to the Sanhedrin of their day (Acts 4:19-20), “Whether it is right in in the sight of Elohim to give heed to you rather than to Elohim, you be the judge: for we cannot stop speaking what we have seen and we have heard.” They had no intention to comply!

    Jeremiah 17; 5. “Thus says YHVH, ‘Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from YHVH.”

    Hosea 5:11. “Ephraim [the northern 10 tribes] is oppressed, crushed in judgment, because he was DETERMINED to follow man’s command.”
    Mark 7:6-7. “6 But He [Yeshua) said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS,
    BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.
    7 AND IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME,
    TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE COMMANDMENTS OF MEN.’
    Conclusion: As for me and my house, we will pass on the Takanot and Ma’asim of the Jewish religious leaders, i.e. the Sanhedrin. But each one go ahead and do you!!
    I do not believe we are to subject ourselves to the Jews and their Sanhedrin. Shiloh has come and we are to obey Him, as did Peter and John and many of the priests (Acts 6:7). Elohim did not give the authority to proclaim the religious holy days to the Pharisees/Rabbis. These are not even seen in Scripture until the N.T.
    There are two other items I am concerned about related to this subject. Please let me know what you think about these.
    Let’s take this first item to the next level since it was brought up in the letter! The penchant of deferring one’s own submission to authority does not only extend to spiritual things, but also to the physical world.
    Years ago I sat in a Masters of Finance class where the instructor, a holder of a CFA designation, stated to the ignorant class, most of which were far younger than I, that a research study done testing the hypothesis of Howard Marksman’s “Efficient Market” theory showed there was no advantage for those who received inside information with regard to those received information first concerning future economy activity.
    Now I am, at times, somewhat gullible. I am, at times, naive. However, at the age of 35, much older than many in my class, there was no way I’d ever believe trading in insider information would ever NOT result in gains for those with such information not exceeding gains for those who did not have such information. To claim otherwise is ludicrous! It concerned me no one called him out on the subject!
    Yet he stood in front of the class of 35-40 people and made a ridiculous claim! Studies since then have shown there is a definite advantage to those who trade on inside information!
    This example shows how the powers that be (TPTB) can manipulate the minds of people for a period of time and take advantage of the ignorance. I felt the misinformation was deliberate for a gullible people!

    Reply
  9. Jayson

    New Moon sighted in central New Mexico at 5:34 pm MST!

    Reply

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