We are now half way through our 5th month of the Sabbatical year. How does it feel? Excited? You are now almost 1/2 way through the Sabbatical year.  You are allowed to eat some of the food you have stored away. LOL. I know looking at it each day, wondering if it was enough, still plays on your mind. So eat some of it and let the Sabbatical year be a blessing to you and your family.

Brethren find a way to obey. Stop finding excuses why you can’t do this or that.

If you just discovered this was the Shmita year, then stock up now for the remainder of the year. Don’t plant or harvest this year. Obey Yehovah.

The Shmita Year of 2023

Aviv 1 on February 21/22, 2023 began the 7th Year of Rest. You can prove this by understanding that 2 King 19:29 spoke about a 49th and 50th-year land rest. Knowing this was 701 and 700 BC, you can then count by 7 or 49 and land on every Sabbatical year or every Jubilee in history. All of our proof’s line up with this understanding.

We want to encourage you to watch and share this video of our teaching at GLC about the Sabbatical Year.

In this Sabbatical year, you are:

1. Not to Plant
2. Not to Harvest
3. Stock up on Food in the 6th year
4. Forgive Debts
5. Read the Torah Out Loud on the 1st day of Sukkot.

These are the basic rules that you are to keep in order to be blessed by Yehovah. As of this writing, it is not too late to stock up for the year.

There are 365 days in the year. Let’s just say there are 400 days, in case there is an Adar Bet next year. You can buy 400 Cans of Soup to have one meal of soup each day during the year. One can of soup costs about $2, so for $800 you have a year’s supply of soup. But if you are not going to eat soup every day then take out half and buy canned beans, vegetables and fruits.

You can do this. Do not say you can’t do this. Find the will to find a way to get this done. Find excuses as to why you will obey. We are coming into the 5th curse over the next 7 years. That curse is famine and it will be so bad that people will eat their own children. So stock up on food now so you can obey Yehovah. And extra food will be a welcome blessing later.

Brethren, this is not that hard to do. What it takes is the willpower to do it: that and a little planning. You can buy meat throughout the year. It is not a ban on meat. You can also eat anything that grows of itself during the year. But do not plan on living off of those things that come from the ground. It they fail then you have no food. Stock up now, and if something grows, they are a bonus, but they are also free game for the neighbours and the animals. So they might eat it before you do. Plan ahead and stock up now. You still have time to get it done.

I received this email this week and want to share it and answer it with you all.

Message: Hello Joseph

I was wondering – are we allowed to still buy “old stock” from the store up to 22 Feb 2023? Most products have Production dates and Sell by dates on them. I am staying away from fresh vegetables and fruit but if I can see on a canned item or on frozen vegetables that the Production date in well outside of the beginning of the Shmita year, I am allowed to buy it?

As you might know, we (South Africa) are sometimes without power for up to 8 hours, sometimes more, a day. I therefore did not invest in an extra freezer or fridge for we are expecting the collapse of the grid any day and all those frozen things will have to be thrown away. I have stocked up for the Shmita year, but still have this impression on my spirit that I have to keep doing it for as long as I can – especially canned goods.

Personally I do not see why I can’t, because it is old stock. Nowhere do I read in the Torah that you are not allowed to buy the old stock in the Shmita year (provided of course that you can find a Production date on the can/container that is well outside the beginning of our Shmita year. But, my understanding of it may be wrong, so I would really appreciate your input.

Shalom

Melanie

South Africa

As I always do here is my standard answer as to what you are to do during the Sabbatical year.

1. Not to Plant
2. Not to Harvest
3. Stock up on Food in the 6th year
4. Forgive Debts
5. Read the Torah Out Loud on the 1st day of Sukkot.

Each person is different. Each person has a different culture they live in. Some do not have electric power. Some are called and discover this information and the sabbatical year has already begun. Yehovah has called each of us from the walk we are in. Different races, different problems. But He HAS called you to begin NOW to obey. So, start to obey from that point on with all your might and all your ability. But Start!!!

Joe Dumond Rules

In answer to Melanie, these are now what I do. They are not written in Torah. This would come under Joe Dumond rules, which must be changed when found to be out of alignment with Yehovah’s Laws. Each of you will develop you own rules for you and your family. I might not agree with them but so long as we are all keeping the 5 rules of the Shmita year then do not judge others who are trying to obey. Let Yehovah judge them. Let Yehovah bless them according to what they do right and what they do wrong. But do not let us go around attacking each other, and especially those who are trying.

I have stocked up my food for the upcoming year. Here in Ontario, Canada, I will use Shavuot as another one of my benchmarks. I will explain in a moment.

Here in Ontario, I will continue to buy and eat apples that were grown in Ontario up until about Shavuot 2023. This means any apples marked as product of Ontario would have been grown and harvested in 2022. New Apples will not be available from Ontario until some time in the summer of 2023. So my cut off date will be Shavuot 2023. Potatoes grown here in Canada either from Ontario or Prince Edward Island, the main place potatoes are grown in Canada will not come on the market until about August. Again, I can use last years stocks up until my cut off date of Shavuot 2023.

Here in Ontario, our lettuce and most fresh fruit and vegetables comes from around the world and take about 7 days to go from being picked to the store. So for me, as of Passover 2023, I will not be eating any fresh greens from the stores. I will eat only what I have already bought before that date which is now passed. Most canned fruits and vegetables are from last years harvest. So canned goods I will continue to stock up on. I believe I will finish this the week after the Days of Unleavened Bread. I know there is no yeast in them, but I have had many problems to resolve with my wife about storing food here in the apartment, which is forcing me to be very precise in all I do.

Now if I am going to use Shavuot as my cut off date for those things grown here in Ontario, then next year when the Sabbatical Year ends at Aviv in 2024, then I also will continue to not eat those things grown in Ontario, until they come into season here locally. For example, I will wait until August before eating Apples again. I will wait until August before I eat new potatoes.

After Aviv 1 in 2024, when fresh strawberries begin to arrive on the store shelves in Ontario I will wait until around the 1st of the second month before I eat them. I am doing this because the shelve life is about a week or two. So if I wait until the 1st of the 2nd month, then those fresh products will have been harvested in 2024 after Aviv, when we can then again harvest. In the past I have waited and to set the date at Shavuot.

Here is an example from the Bible you need to understand and once you do then can decide what to do for yourself. It is upon this understanding that I set the date for myself of Shavuot.

Lev 25:20 And if you shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow nor gather in our increase!

Lev 25:21 Then I will command My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.

Lev 25:22 And you shall sow the eighth year, and eat of old fruit until the ninth year; until its fruits come in, you shall eat the old fruit.

The Barley was sown around Sukkot in the fall. It is harvested after Passover. In a Sabbatical year you could not harvest the barley in the Sabbatical Year. You would not be able to plant in the Sabbatical year in the fall. This then meant you would not have a barley crop the year after the Sabbatical year at Passover. This is now the 8th year. In the fall around Sukkkot in the 8th year, you could plant but would not be able to harvest until Passover in the 9th year.

What ever the crop or food you are desiring to plant or harvest, in what ever part of the world you you live in, you must plant and harvest according to the Sabbatical Year rules from Aviv to Aviv.

So each person must figure out when Strawberries are planted and harvested according to this understanding. When Potatoes are planted according to this understanding. Our society does not obey Yehovah. So each of us must read the labels and decide if this is kosher or not. To this day, I do not drink any wine harvested in the year 2016 or 2009 both Sabbatical years I have kept.

We all must obey. Do the best you can and pray Yehovah helps you to understand and to be able to obey.

If you want to use aquaponics or soilless planting then you must decide if this is kosher or not. I am not going to come up with an entire Targum or set of Tamudic do’s and don’ts. Read the rules or read Lev 25 and then you decide. You are called to be a King and Priest in the Kingdom of Yehovah. As a King and Preist you must uphold the Law of Yehovah and enforce it. As a King or Priest in the Kingdom, is what you are going to do, upholding those laws? Is what you are going to do pleasing to Yehovah? You must decide. I am not your judge.

Php 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, cultivate your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Php 2:13 For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.

Php 2:14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings,

Php 2:15 so that you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. Among these you shine as lights in the world,

Php 2:16 holding forth the Word of Life, so that I may rejoice with you in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain nor labored in vain.

Some are asking how to do you travel? When you go to someones home what do you do? YOU can assume that those people are obeying Yehovah and you eat. Or you can pull out your own food from your purse and eat it in front of them. Again I am not your judge. You must decide what to do.

Joshua crossed the Jordan in the 50th year.  He did not plant anything the year before or this year. And yet he ate everything they captured from the cities of the Caananites. They did not obey Yehovah. Joshua ate their food.

There is not commandment telling you you cannot eat. I have given you Joe Dumond rules above. They are not Yehovah’s rules. You must decide what you are going to do.

Philippines Update

We made our first presentation on Shabbat at a Christian Church with many pastors from other churches listening in.

After the teaching many of the brethren came up on the stage to see up close all 120 Jubilee Cycles.

After speaking from about 10 AM until 2 PM we then headed over to a Messianic Group who were counting this Sabbath as day 42 in counting the Omer. So I changed my teaching and explained the meaning of the wave sheaf day and the 8th day. I did this because a man had recently lost family members and was wondering when they would be raised up.

In Whiterock Hotel Subic Bay

While we are here we are pointing out the role of the Filipinos in the end days. Here is part of what we are presenting.

We also have three video promotions you can use and share. Please do share them and help us to spread the message. These videos should also give you some idea at all we have been up to since we arrived here.

This next video will show you all the places we have traveled to and if you look on a map you can see that the travel time between each place is quite long due to traffic and mountains and construction.

We  have been in Manila this past week and have had some very important high level meetings that are producing fruit. That is all I can say about them for now. But I am excited at all that is happening and the momentum that is still growing. We are on the verge of some big things here. Just watch and pray for our efforts.

Torah Portions

We read through the entire Torah along with the Prophets and the New Testament, once over the course of 3 1/2 years. Or according to the Sabbatical Cycle which means we read it all twice over a 7 year period. This allows us to cover more in-depth rather than being rushed to cover as much as is covered on an annual basis. We allow all to comment and take part in the discussions.

Septennial Torah Portion

If you go to Torah Portion at our archived section, you can then go to the 7th year which is the 7th 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 the proper date, and see that this Shabbat we could very well be midrashing about:

Numbers 33

Ezra 1-2

1 Corinthians 15

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

Many of the fonts do not transfer over well, so I will give you the link to the manual and you can read it on the original site. https://www.hwalibrary.com/cgi-bin/get/hwa.cgi?action=getacmanuals&InfoID=1397922400&page=&return=bklets

Sabbath Meetings

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Keeping Shabbat Holy

In Exodus 19 and 20 we read about Yehovah coming down on Mount Sinai in spectacular form on the 49th day of counting the Omer. He then begins to speak so that the entire nation heard His voice. Once Yehovah had spoken the ten commandments, then the people feared and Moses says the following:

Exo 20:18  And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. And when the people saw, they trembled, and stood afar off.

Exo 20:19  And they said to Moses, You speak with us, and we will hear. But let not God speak with us, lest we die.

Exo 20:20  And Moses said to the people, Do not fear, for God has come to test you, and so that His fear may be before your faces, so that you may not sin.

Exo 20:21  And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

The Sabbath is a TEST!

The Sabbath is a test? How is it a test?

We have been sharing this scripture in all of our presentations here in the Philippines. Yehshua spoke these words to the Pharisees who were looking for and expecting the Messiah. Today we can say the same thing. All Christians are looking for and expecting the Messiah. But….

Joh 5:46  For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed Me, for he wrote of Me.

Joh 5:47  But if you do not believe his writings, how shall you believe My Words?

Everyone claims to love Jesus and believes in Him, but all Christians do not know the books of Moses and as such they do not know Yehshua, because Moses wrote about Yehshua. He did so in the Holy Days of Leviticus 23. And having done away with the “Old Testament” they have thrown out the information that tells them how to know and love Yehshua.

In Matthew 25, five of the foolish virgins are about to be told I never knew you. He does not know them because they do not know Yehshua. Where do you stand in this scenario? Do you know Him? Do you DO the Holy Days which show you all about Him? Or do you not keep any of the Holy Days at all? Just by answering these three questions, you will know what Yehshua is going to say to you very soon. He will let those who know Him enter into the wedding or tell many I never knew you.

The Sabbath and Holy Days are a test.

Eze 20:1  And it happened in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth of the month, some of the elders of Israel came to ask of Jehovah, and sat before me.

Eze 20:2  And came the Word of Jehovah to me, saying,

Eze 20:3  Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, So says the Lord Jehovah: Have you come to ask of Me? As I live, says the Lord Jehovah, I will not be inquired of by you.

Eze 20:4  Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers.

Eze 20:5  And say to them, So says the Lord Jehovah: In the day that I chose Israel, and lifted up My hand to the seed of the house of Jacob, and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt; when I lifted up My hand to them, saying, I am Jehovah your God;

Eze 20:6  in the day that I lifted up My hand to them, to bring them out from the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;

Eze 20:7  then I said to them, Let each man throw away the abominations of his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am Jehovah your God.

Eze 20:8  But they rebelled against Me and would not listen to Me. They did not each man throw away the abominations of their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. And I said, I will pour out My fury against them to fulfill My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

Eze 20:9  But I worked for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned before the nations among whom they were, for I made Myself known to them in their eyes, by bringing them out of the land of Egypt.

Eze 20:10  And I caused them to go out from the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.

Eze 20:11  And I gave them My statutes and showed them My judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them.

Eze 20:12  And also I gave them My sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am Jehovah who sets them apart.

Eze 20:13  But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes, and they despised My judgments, which if a man does, he shall even live in them. And they greatly profaned My sabbaths. And I said, I will pour out My fury on them in the wilderness to destroy them.

Eze 20:14  But I worked for My name’s sake, so that it should not be profaned before the nations in whose sight I brought them out.

Eze 20:15  And also I lifted up My hand to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey; it is the glory of all lands;

Eze 20:16  because they despised My judgments and walked not in My sabbaths; and they profaned My sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols.

Eze 20:17  But My eye spared them from destroying them, nor did I make an end of them in the wilderness.

Eze 20:18  But I said to their sons in the wilderness, Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols.

Eze 20:19  I am Jehovah your God. Walk in My statutes, and keep My judgments, and do them,

Eze 20:20  and keep My sabbaths holy; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am Jehovah your God.

Eze 20:21  But the sons rebelled against Me. They did not walk in My statutes, nor kept My judgments to do them; the judgments which, if a man do, he shall even live in them; they profaned My sabbaths and I said I would pour out My fury on them, to fulfill My anger against them in the wilderness.

Eze 20:22  But I withdrew My hand and worked for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the eyes of the nations, from whom I brought them out in their eyes.

Eze 20:23  I also lifted up My hand to them in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the nations and scatter them through the lands,

Eze 20:24  because they had not done My judgments, but had despised My sabbaths and had profaned My sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols.

The Sabbath is a test and it is also a sign between us and Yehovah. We are told that judgment begins at the house of Yehovah (1 Peter 4:17). Many times people think of this judgment as condemnation. But it’s a process of evaluation, of learning, of growing, of learning how to walk with Yehovah. We are His people and He is showing us through His Holy Days and His laws how we can be part of His family.

“I will test them …”

Before Isreal even arrived at Mount Sinai, and right after they crossed the Red Sea, Yehovah said something we all need to be aware of.

Exo 16:1  And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel came into the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.

Exo 16:2  And the whole congregation of the sons of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.

Exo 16:3  And the sons of Israel said to them, O that we had died by the hand of Jehovah in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots, when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us forth into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

Exo 16:4  Then Jehovah said to Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from the heavens for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain amount every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My Law or not.

Exo 16:5  And on the sixth day it shall happen, they shall prepare what they bring in. And it shall be twice as much as they gather day by day.

Yehovah was going to put Israel to a test! On what? “Whether they will walk in My law or not.” The fact that Yehovah here announced that He would test whether the Israelites would obey His laws—several weeks before He inscribed the Ten Commandments in stone at Mount Sinai—tells us that His divine laws already existed (compare Exodus 16:28; Genesis 26:5). He would soon reveal them anew at Mount Sinai.

Exo 16:13  And it happened at evening, the quails came up and covered the camp. And in the morning the dew lay all around the host.

Exo 16:14  And when the layer of dew had gone up, behold, there was a small round thing upon the face of the wilderness, small as the hoar-frost upon the ground.

Exo 16:15  And when the sons of Israel saw, they said each one to his brother, What is that? For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, This is the bread which Jehovah has given you to eat.

Exo 16:16  This is the thing which Jehovah has commanded: Each man gather of it according to his eating, an omer for a head, according to the number of your souls. Each one shall take for those who are in his camp.

Exo 16:17  And the sons of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, and some less.

Exo 16:18  And when they measured with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little lacked nothing. They gathered each one according to his eating.

Exo 16:19  And Moses said, Let no man leave of it until the morning.

Exo 16:20  But they did not listen to Moses, but some of them left of it until the morning. And it became rotten with maggots, and stank. And Moses was angry with them.

Exo 16:21  And they gathered it every morning, each man according to his eating. And when the sun became hot, it melted.

Exo 16:22  And it happened, on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.

Exo 16:23  And he said to them, This is that which Jehovah has said, Tomorrow is the rest of the holy sabbath to Jehovah. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil. And that which remains over, lay up for you to be kept until the morning.

Exo 16:24  And they laid it up until the morning, as Moses said. And it did not stink, neither was there any worm in it.

Exo 16:25  And Moses said, Eat that today. For today is a sabbath to Jehovah. Today you shall not find it in the field.

Exo 16:26  Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the sabbath, in it there shall be none.

Exo 16:27  And it happened some of the people went out on the seventh day in order to gather. And they did not find any.

Exo 16:28  And Jehovah said to Moses, How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My Laws?

Exo 16:29  See, because Jehovah has given you the sabbath, therefore He gives you the bread of two days on the sixth day. Each one stay in his place. Let not any one go out of his place on the seventh day.

Exo 16:30  So the people rested on the seventh day.

Yehovah chose which day was the Sabbath. Not the people. He did this for 40 years by having no Manna on the weekly Sabbath. 40 years x 52 weeks in a year is 2080 times in which they got to see exactly when the Sabbath was. Manna was provided every day but one, which was the 7th day, or Saturday.

If they gathered too much manna on each of the other days of the week it would stink. But they were allowed to gather twice as much only the 6th day, Friday in preparation for the weekly Sabbath. We are to prepare our meals on Friday. What ever we want to eat on the Sabbath, we are to make and have ready on the Friday, the day before. It is called the preparation day.

Exo 20:8  Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Exo 20:9  Six days you shall labor and do all your work.

Exo 20:10  But the seventh day is the Sabbath of Jehovah your God. You shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger within your gates.

Exo 20:11  For in six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore Jehovah blessed the Sabbath day, and sanctified it.

No one is to work for you on the Sabbath. Let me say this loud and clear.

NO ONE IS TO WORK FOR YOU ON THE SABBATH!!!

NO ONE! You do not hire staff to serve or cook your food on the Sabbath. You do not use non-believers on the Sabbath because they don’t believe. You do not go out to a restaurant on the Sabbath to eat. You do not go shopping on the Sabbath. You do not buy gas on the Sabbath. You get everything ready the day before. Fill your tanks before you have to drive to services.

If you have to clean your assembly, then do it on the preparation day. Let everyone, including your wife, your husband, your children, and your staff, have the day off. They should not have to work for you because you’re wealthy or because they are not believers. Yehovah said for everyone, including the animals, to rest.

Here in the Philippines, I have seen it many times—those claiming to have the truth use those of lower status to work for them on the Sabbath. You want the blessings. You want to be blessed by Yehovah, but because you are continuing to sin in this manner, He is not going to bless you. Still, unless you repent and do so immediately, you will reap the curses and are no different than anyone else. Yet, you are different because you do know, and in knowing, you still sin. Be very careful; Yehovah is not going to be mocked.

Let’s notice several important points in these verses:

“Remember the Sabbath day …” The Sabbath is something to remember. Many assume this is the first time Yehovah expected anyone to observe the Sabbath day. But the fact that He commanded the Sabbath to be remembered should help us to realize that it already existed before the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. Indeed, He had revealed it to the Israelites earlier, in Exodus 16. But its origins go much further back, as we will see. It is in that regard that the Sabbath was to be observed as a remembrance—a memorial of something of great importance.

“… To keep it holy.” The Sabbath is to be kept holy. Holy means set apart for Yehovah‘s use and purpose rather than our own.

“… The seventh day is the Sabbath …” The Sabbath day is the seventh day of the week (observed from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, as the Bible counts time; compare Leviticus 23:32). Most people go to church on Sunday—which is the first day of the week, as shown by most calendars and almost any encyclopedia.

“… of Jehovah your God. “ The Sabbath belongs to Yehovah, not to the Jewish people, as many people assume.

“In it you shall do no work …” One aspect of keeping the Sabbath holy is to do no regular work on that day.

“… You, nor your son, nor your daughter …” The Sabbath is to be kept by all members of the household, as well as employees and guests. Even animals were given the day to rest.

“… For in six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.” Here is what the Sabbath memorializes. It is linked to Yehovah’s creative acts in Genesis 1, thus pointing to Him as the true God, the Creator, as distinct from the false gods of human invention. After creating Adam and Eve on the sixth day, Yehovah rested on the seventh day (Genesis 1:27-2:3). He instituted the Sabbath at that time in the presence of the first two human beings—long before there was a nation of Israel or a people known as the Jews. And, in resting on that first Sabbath, Yehovah set us an example to emulate.

” Therefore Jehovah blessed the Sabbath day, and sanctified it.” Again we see that God established the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Hallow means to make holy. By definition, God alone can make things holy, dedicating them for His use. Man cannot make anything holy, nor can he make unholy anything God has made holy—an important consideration when we examine whether we should still observe the Sabbath and, if so, on which day.

A Test of Faith

Every week, year in and year out, Yehovah is testing mankind, and He is testing you. Will you pass His test? Will you do everything in your power to make the Sabbath a rest for you and all those around you? Will your staff have the Sabbath off? Will the food and anything else be prepared on the Friday?

You claim to be followers of Yehshua, will you be the light, will  you be the example this world needs and keep Holy The Sabbath? Or are you going to fail this weekly test and suffer the curses along with the rest of the world?

Immediately after giving them the Ten Commandments, Yehovah said:

“Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!”

Deu 5:23  And it happened when you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, for the mountain burned with fire, you came near me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders,

Deu 5:24  and you said, Behold! Jehovah our God has revealed His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice out of the midst of the fire. We have seen today that God talks with man yet he still lives.

Deu 5:25  Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of Jehovah our God any more, then we shall die.

Deu 5:26  For who of all flesh has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?

Deu 5:27  You go near and hear all that Jehovah our God shall say. And you speak to us all that Jehovah our God shall speak to you, and we will hear and act.

Deu 5:28  And Jehovah heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me. And Jehovah said to me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They have well said all that they have spoken.

Deu 5:29  Oh that there were such a heart in them that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always, so that it might be well with them and with their sons forever!

Deu 4:5  Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as Jehovah my God commanded me, so that you should do so in the land where you go to possess it.

Deu 4:6  And you shall keep and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.

Deu 4:7  For who is a great nation whose God is coming near to them, as Jehovah our God is, in all our calling on Him?

Deu 4:8  And who is a great nation whose statutes and judgments are so righteous as all this Law which I set before you today?

Deu 7:12  And it shall be, because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them, Jehovah your God shall keep to you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers.

Deu 7:13  And He will love you and bless you and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb, and the fruit of your land, your grain, and your wine, and your oil, the increase of your cattle, and the flocks of your sheep, in the land which He swore to your fathers to give you.

Deu 7:14  You shall be blessed above all people. There shall not be male or female barren among you or among your cattle.

Deu 7:15  And Jehovah will take away from you all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt which you know upon you. But He will lay them upon all who hate you.

Deu 28:1  And it will be, if you shall listen carefully to the voice of Jehovah your God, to observe and to do all His commandments which I command you today, Jehovah your God will set you on high above all nations of the earth.

Deu 28:2  And all these blessings shall come on you and overtake you, if you will listen to the voice of Jehovah your God.

Deu 28:3  You shall be blessed in the city, and be blessed in the field.

Deu 28:4  The fruit of your body shall be blessed, and the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your cows, and the flocks of your sheep.

Deu 28:5  Your basket and your store shall be blessed.

Deu 28:6  You shall be blessed when you come in, and blessed when you go out.

Deu 28:7  Jehovah shall cause your enemies that rise up against you to be stricken before your face. They shall come out against you one way, and flee before you seven ways.

Deu 28:8  Jehovah shall command the blessing on you in your storehouses, and all that you set your hand to. And He shall bless you in the land which Jehovah your God gives you.

Deu 28:9  Jehovah shall establish you a holy people to Himself, as He has sworn to you, if you shall keep the commandments of Jehovah your God and walk in His ways.

Deu 28:10  And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of Jehovah, and they shall be afraid of you.

Deu 28:11  And Jehovah shall prosper you in goods, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which Jehovah swore to your fathers to give you.

Deu 28:12  Jehovah shall open to you His good treasure, the heaven to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. And you shall loan to many nations, and you shall not borrow.

Deu 28:13  And Jehovah shall make you the head, and not the tail. And you shall be always above, and you shall not be beneath, if you listen to the commandments of Jehovah your God, which I command you today, to observe and to do them.

Deu 28:14  And you shall not go aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right hand or the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

Yehovah wanted Israel and all of mankind to have a heart of obedience, to recognize that His laws are an expression of His holy, righteous, loving character

1Jn 4:7  Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves has been born of God, and knows God.

1Jn 4:8  The one who does not love has not known God. For God is love.

1Jn 4:16  And we have known and believed the love that God has in us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

He wants us to recognize that His laws reveal a way of life based on love (Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9-10; Galatians 5:14; 2 John 1:6) and that by living that law they would develop character like His.

Lev 19:16  You shall not go as a slanderer among your people;  (Lashon Harah)

Rom 13:8  Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves another has fulfilled the Law.

Rom 13:9  For: “Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not bear false witness; do not lust;” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Rom 13:10  Love works no ill to its neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the Law.

Gal 5:14  For all the Law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

2Jn 1:5  And now I beseech you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.

2Jn 1:6  And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, as you heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.

The Sabbath would be a sign that those who kept it would be Yehovah’s people. Those who want to be grafted into Isreal must also keep this sign and pass this test to remain in His grace.

Exo 31:12  And Jehovah spoke to Moses saying,

Exo 31:13  Speak also to the sons of Israel, saying, Truly you shall keep My sabbaths. For it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, to know that I am Jehovah who sanctifies you.

Exo 31:14  You shall keep the Sabbath therefore, for it isholy to you. Everyone that defiles it shall surely be put to death. For whoever does any work in it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

Exo 31:15  Six days may work be done, but on the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to Jehovah. Whoever does any work in the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

Exo 31:16  Therefore the sons of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant.

Exo 31:17  It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever. For in six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed.

Failing the Test

We have already quoted Ezekiel showing you how Israel failed the Sabbath test over and over again until finally Yehovah removed them from the land. We are right now on the cusp of the second greater Exodus. One in which the Philippines plays a major role. Are we going to be recorded as those who would not keep the Sabbath and after seeing the mighty miracles of Yehovah not obey Him?

Is the Sabbath important to Yehovah? He specifically stated that one of the Israelites’ most flagrant sins that led to their national downfall and captivity was profaning the Sabbath.

Eze 22:26  Her priests have broken My Law and have defiled My holy things. They have put no difference between the holy and the common, and have not taught between the unclean and the clean, and have hidden their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am defiled among them.

Jer 17:21  So says Jehovah, Take heed to yourselves, and carry no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem.

Jer 17:22  Nor carry out a burden from your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers.

Jer 17:23  But they did not obey, nor bowed down their ear, but made their neck stiff, so that they might not hear nor receive instruction.

Jer 17:24  And it shall be, if you carefully listen to Me, says Jehovah, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy, to do no work in it;

Jer 17:25  then kings and rulers sitting on the throne of David shall enter into the gates of this city, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their rulers, the men of Judah, and the people of Jerusalem. And this city shall remain forever.

Jer 17:26  And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and grain offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise to the house of Jehovah.

Jer 17:27  But if you will not listen to me to keep the Sabbath day holy, and not to carry a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it will not be put out.

Why Are the Sabbaths So Important to Yehovah?

As we have already quoted, Yehshua tells us in John 5:46 that if you want to know Him, then you must also understand the five books of Moses. But because Christianity refuses to read those books or obey them, they do not and cannot know Yehshua, because wrote about or explained the heart of Yehovah.

Here is the one verse which the Jews have no idea what it means nor do Christians and yet it is the one verse that explains the heart of Yehovah.

Lev 23:36  Seven days you shall offer a fire offering to Jehovah. On the eighth day shall be a holy convocation to you. And you shall offer a fire offering to Jehovah. It is a solemn assembly. And you shall do no work of labor.

Once you understand that all the Holy Days, the moedim, the sacred times of appointments all point to the 8th Day, Shemini Atzeret, and Yehovah’s overwhelming desire to dwell with mankind here on earth, then you will understand how all the Holy Days explain His plan of salvation. By keeping them, we express to Him our desire to learn His plan and be part of it.

Heb 3:7  Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you will hear His voice,

Heb 3:8  do not harden your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness,

Heb 3:9  when your fathers tempted Me, proved Me, and saw My works forty years.

Heb 3:10  Therefore I was grieved with that generation and said, They always err in their heart, and they have not known My ways.

Heb 3:11  So I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter into My rest.”

Heb 3:12  Take heed, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

Heb 3:13  But exhort one another daily, while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through thedeceitfulness of sin.

Heb 3:14  For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end,

Heb 3:15  while it is said, “Today if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.”

Heb 3:16  For some, when they had heard, did provoke; however, not all who came out of Egypt by Moses.

Heb 3:17  But with whom was He grieved forty years? Was it not with those who had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness?

Heb 3:18  And to whom did He swear that they shouldnot enter into His rest, but to those who did not believe?

Heb 3:19  So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

Heb 4:1  Therefore, a promise being left to enter into His rest, let us fear lest any of you should seem to come short of it.

Heb 4:2  For also we have had the gospel preached, as well as them. But the Word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.

Heb 4:3  For we who have believed do enter into the rest, as He said, “I have sworn in My wrath that they should not enter into My rest;” although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

Heb 4:4  For He spoke in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested the seventh day from all His works.”

Heb 4:5  And in this place again, “They shall not enter into My rest.”

Heb 4:6  Since then it remains that some must enter into it, and since they to whom it was first preached did not enter in because of unbelief,

Heb 4:7  He again marks out a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” (after so long a time). Even as it is said, “Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.”

Heb 4:8  For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day.

Heb 4:9  So then there remains a rest to the people of God.

Heb 4:10  For he who has entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from His.

Heb 4:11  Therefore let us labor to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of unbelief.

This rest is shown to us every week by the Saturday Sabbath. It is a weekly example of the rest Yehovah wants all of us to enter into. That is the 7th millennium which begins in 2045. He wants us to enter that rest by practicing weekly the Sabbath and the Holy Days.

Israel failed this test. Are you also going to fail this test now that you have been told these truths?

In Isaiah, Yehovah tells us that our sins have separated us from Him.

Isa 59:2  But your iniquities have come between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, from hearing.

Notice what Yehovah says about us in Chapter 58. If we will humble ourselves before Him.

Isa 58:1  Cry aloud, do not spare, lift up your voice like a ram’s horn, and show My people their rebellion, and the house of Jacob their sins.

Isa 58:2  Yet they seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and one who did not forget the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in drawing near to God.

Isa 58:3  They say, Why have we fasted, and You do not see? Why have we afflicted our soul, and You take no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and crush all your laborers.

Isa 58:4  Behold, you fast for strife and debate, and to strike with the fist of wickedness; you shall not fast as you do today, to make your voice to be heard on high.

Isa 58:5  Is it such a fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast and a day pleasing to Jehovah?

Isa 58:6  Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed ones go free, and that you break every yoke?

Isa 58:7  Is it not to break your bread to the hungry, and that you should bring home the wandering poor? When will you see the naked and cover him; and you will not hide yourself from your own flesh?

Isa 58:8  Then shall your light break out as the dawn, and your health shall spring out quickly; and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of Jehovah shall gather you.

Isa 58:9  Then you shall call, and Jehovah shall answer; you shall cry, and He shall say, Here I am. If you take the yoke away from among you, the pointing of the finger, and speaking vanity;

Isa 58:10  and if you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall your light rise in darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday.

Isa 58:11  And Jehovah shall always guide you and satisfy your soul in dry places, and make your bones fat; and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters fail not.

Isa 58:12  And those who come of you shall build the old ruins; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

Pay close attention to the last two verse in this chapter. Does this sound like the Sabbath is done away?

Isa 58:13  If you turn your foot because of the Sabbath, from doing what you please on My holy days, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of Jehovah, honorable; and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words,

Isa 58:14  then you shall delight yourself in Jehovah; and I will cause you to ride on the high places of the earth, and feed yourself with the inheritance of Jacob your father. For the mouth of Jehovah has spoken.

Why is the Sabbath important to Yehovah? Because He wants us to have a proper, loving relationship with Him. To do that we must spend time with Him. He wants us to surrender one of our most precious possessions—our time—so He can teach us through His Word, the Bible, the Torah. He wants the Sabbath to be a time and a way to ”  then you shall delight yourself in Jehovah”

These Are Divine Appointments

Lev 23:2  Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, The feasts of Jehovah, which you shall proclaim, holy convocations, even these are My appointed feasts.

These are His feasts, His “sacred assemblies.” Most people would not miss a doctor’s appointment, but think nothing of missing a divine appointment with the creator of the universe.

The Hebrew word moed, the plural form here translated “appointed feasts,” means “appointed time” or “meeting” (Lawrence Richards, Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, 1985, “Feast/Festival”). The word assemblies is translated from the plural form of miqra, denoting a summoned gathering. In other words, Yehovah says His Sabbath is a divine appointment that He commands His people to keep through their gathering before Him to build their relationship with Him and other believers.

Heb 10:24  and let us consider one another to provoke to love and to good works,

Heb 10:25  not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

Notice that He is the one who sets the appointment, not us. He is the one who determines the time—His weekly Sabbath and annual festivals.

That raises an interesting question: If we don’t come before Him at the time He commands, either by not coming at all or coming on a different day, are we really keeping an appointment with Him?

If someone makes arrangements to meet with you next Wednesday but decides to show up on Thursday instead, would you think he had kept the appointment? Of course not. So why should we think Yehovah would find it acceptable if we decide to assemble on a day different from the one He commands?

Will you pass the test? Are you willing to surrender a portion of your time to build the kind of relationship God wants to enjoy with you?

There are many churches today who say the commandments are done away. Yet in the very last book of the Bible, it says something different to what the churches are saying.

Rev 22:12  And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to each according as his work is.

Rev 22:13  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, the First and the Last.

Rev 22:14  Blessed are they who do His commandments, that their authority will be over the Tree of Life, and they may enter in by the gates into the city.

Rev 22:15  But outside are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and makes a lie.

Rev 22:16  I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify these things to you over the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright and Morning Star.

Rev 22:17  And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let the one hearing say, Come! And let the one who is thirsty come. And he willing, let him take of the Water of Life freely.

Rev 22:18  For I testify together to everyone who hears the Words of the prophecy of this Book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add on him the plagues that have been written in this Book.

Rev 22:19  And if anyone takes away from the Words of the Book of this prophecy, God will take away his part out of the Book of Life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which have been written in this Book.

Rev 22:20  He who testifies these things says, Yes, I am coming quickly, Amen. Yes, come, Lord Jesus.

Rev 22:21  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you. Amen.

Will you now pass the Test?

What is Food and What Is Not Food?

There’s an interesting passage that concerns God’s food laws. Someone asked me about this just the other day. It’s in 1 Timothy 4, and in verse 4, it says something that could sound a little confusing at first. It says, “Every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it’s received with thanksgiving.” So this person was asking, “Well, does that mean that I can eat anything I want? And as long as I pray about it, and I’m thankful for it, that it’s okay. So I can eat pork or shrimp or whatever it may be. And as long as I’m thankful, it’s good.”

Now, when you deal with passages like 1 Timothy 4:4, what we have to keep in mind is look at the context. Read around that particular verse to find out what exactly is it talking about?

Well, it’s interesting, before this, not a word about God’s food laws… In fact, it’s not even talking about food. Then it’s interesting if you read the very next verse. The very next verse says this, “It is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer.” Well, food is sanctified by the Word of God. Well, what does that mean? Sanctify means set apart, set apart from other things, and set apart for a purpose. So from something and for something.

Well, what is food that’s sanctified set apart by the Word of God? Well, God’s very clear on that. That’s where we’d have to look to Leviticus 11 and you look at Deuteronomy 14. That’s where the Word of God sets apart food that’s good to eat.

So don’t let these tricky passages fool you. Remember the context. Remember we explain unclear passages by the clear ones. And it is very clear, God has sanctified certain foods that are good for us to eat, and we can find them in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14.

Diseases.

You’ve heard the names like SARS, and Ebola, swine flu, MERS, and coronavirus. These could have been prevented by obedience to God’s food laws.

Clean eating, boy that idea has become very popular these days especially for people who are concerned about their health. Eating clean speaks to good nutrition. I mean choosing those foods that really give you the best benefits. And what do you think of? Well, you probably think of eat more fruits. How about those good vegetables, proteins that are lean? But snacks, too many sweets, processed foods, no, you got to get rid of those. Yet what about eating clean when it comes to the Bible? Have you ever thought about that? What about clean eating and the Bible itself?

Now we’re not talking about food being free of dirt and that sort of thing. But did you know that the Bible has a clean eating plan? In fact there’s even a spiritual perspective when you choose to become, what you could say a biblical foodie. So let’s talk about eating biblically clean. Now does that mean I eat manna like the Israelites did? Or maybe eating fish and bread like that miracle that Jesus did? Well wait a second. Does God even care? Does God even care about what you eat? Now you might be surprised to learn that a biblical diet instructs all Christians not to eat bats, buzzards, and bacon, or cats, and coyotes, and camels, hare. Not hair that you eat, but hare like the rabbit kind of a hare. Hares, ham. Or what about hawks? Should we eat that? The Bible says, “No, don’t eat pigs or pepperoni or pork.” But you might say, “Wait a second, does that apply to me today?” I mean, I thought that was just for the Jews, that old law that was done away with.

Well stay with me for a second because I hope you’ll accept the challenge to let the Bible, let the word of God transform how you see food because scripture describes animals whose flesh is good and acceptable to eat. And you know the term that it uses? It calls that food clean. And then there’s food that’s not suitable to eat. And the Bible calls that unclean. So scripture describes the flesh of those unclean animals. It says, “It’s an abomination.” It says, “It’s detestable.” It doesn’t sound real appetizing does it?

So what’s the big deal though? What’s the big deal? Well from cover to cover, from Genesis all the way to Revelation, nowhere in the Bible will you find an example of a servant of God, nowhere in the Bible will you find a follower of Jesus Christ eating the flesh of an unclean animal. You’ll find that God does give food laws for clean eating. So that way, we can be a biblical foodie. In fact we’ll find that there’s even a connection between God’s food laws and true worship.

I mean have you ever considered that the Bible actually begins with an issue about food? Adam and Eve, we know the story. Remember their first choice? It was about eating, breaking God’s command of what to eat. You could say that’s a food law. It caused Adam and Eve to sin. And you know the story. They were in the garden and there was plenty, plenty of clean eating. But God told them, “Don’t eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” So God was clear. He showed them that certain foods were acceptable and this other unacceptable. And they were to eat clean by obeying God and following His instructions. Yet we know what happened.

But here’s the question, would you allow God to tell you what you should and shouldn’t eat? I mean they decided for themselves. It was a disaster. Adam and Eve would not let God tell them what to eat. So what about us? You see God made a distinction between what was good food and what was not. And yes there was even a spiritual connection. There was a lesson to learn. And when we consider that story we also have to realize that was thousands of years before the Old Covenant. That was thousands of years before Moses, before the Jews, before Mount Sinai. And that story clearly shows that it was at creation, right at the very beginning, that God gave guidance when it comes to food. In fact it was part of God’s law for all time, something that you should really learn more about.

In fact we want to help you to do just that. And so we’ve put together a study guide. And in this biblical guide, it’s called, “What Does the Bible Teach About Clean and Unclean Meats?” Because you want to know what God has to say about it? Does the Word of God actually make a distinction? Does it really matter that much? Something you need to find out about for yourself. So go to our website beyondtoday.tv. There on the website you can read this study guide for yourself or you can download it to your phone, or your tablet, or to your computer, and you can read it there. If not we’ll send you a free copy right to your door. So call us at the number on your screen. And when you do that, absolutely free, this will come to your door. So you can check out what the Bible actually says when it comes to clean eating. So go to our website beyondtoday.tv because you’ll want to know, what does God have to say about it?

So one of the things that you’ll find in Scripture is that there is a consistency. In fact when we move forward from the time of Adam and Eve to Cain and Abel, we find that Abel gave a pleasing sacrifice that God respected. It was, imagine this, a clean animal. It was a lamb. He offered a lamb to God. Now his brother Cain, his offering was not respected. In fact Cain became so upset he killed his brother. Now it’s important that we recognize there was already a command against murder. But you think you can find that before this time in Scripture? It’s not mentioned. But murder was a sin.

And in the same way there were already commands about sacrifices and about food. There was already a difference between clean and unclean foods and what a proper sacrifice was long before this, long before the Old Covenant. And of course you may say, “Well, wait a second, that’s kind of a stretch, isn’t it?” Well think about that for a moment. I think we can begin to see that God gave food laws for all time, for all mankind, long before the Jewish people. And here’s an interesting story that I think bears that out. I mean we’re all familiar with the story of Noah. We have this wonderful little diorama here to make this point. In fact what did God tell Noah? “Build a giant Ark.” Okay it was a little bigger than this one.

In fact maybe you learned that little song when you were a kid. “The animals go in two by two, hurrah, hurrah. The animals…” Anyone sing that song? Okay, maybe you learned, but wait a second, was that really the case? Did all the animals go in two by two? Not exactly. In fact when we read Scripture, when we read what it actually says in the book of Genesis, you may be surprised what God actually told Noah. This is in chapter seven verse two. God said, “You shall take with you seven each, or seven pairs of every kind of clean animal,” that’s what the NIV says, “a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male, and its mate.”

Now that may sound a little bit surprising that the clean animals, there were seven pairs. But the unclean, like these little piggies, just two of them and yet all these pairs of the clean animals. And that’s surprising I think, in a number of ways. Think of it this way, God told Noah exactly how to build that Ark. He told them, “Here’s how you do it. This is the structure of this thing. Here’s the size of how big it should be. Here are the materials that you should use to build this Ark.” And God explained every single little detail about its design. But there was one thing God didn’t tell Noah. Do you know what you cannot find in Scripture? God did not instruct Noah about which creatures were clean and which ones were unclean. Why didn’t God explain the difference? Does that make sense?

You see Noah already understood which creatures were clean and which ones were not. You could say it was common knowledge. In fact as you consider this, the unclean, just a couple of them each. And yet the clean ones you’ve got all these seven pairs of each one of them. I mean why would God say, “Take seven pairs of these clean ones?” Well these were the animals that Noah’s family could eat. They’re going to be on that ark for a long time. And they’re also the ones that could be sacrificed as well. And so what we find, as this story of Noah shows, that it was an ongoing law of God. And this was long before the time of the Mount Sinai covenant. There was a distinction between the clean and the unclean. Noah knew it already and he didn’t even need an explanation.

And I think this makes an important point. I mean all these examples we’ve looked at are before Old Covenant law, before the Hebrews, before the Jews. The law of clean and unclean foods definitely predates the Old Covenant. Now certainly it was a part of that agreement, part of that contract, but it wasn’t limited to just that contract. They were commands, commands that God gave for all time like the Ten Commandments. They were always expected of God’s people. So when we finally get to Israel at Mount Sinai, now it was time that God codified these different rules and laws. In fact He had to do it for a number of things that had already been in effect.

Now you might say, “Well, why would that be?” Well remember those Israelites? Where were those Israelites? I mean they had been in captivity. They were slaves to the Egyptians for hundreds of years. They had lost so much understanding that God had to give them instruction. And so we find that God gave these instructions in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. They delineate which creatures are set apart as suitable food and which ones are not. And so remember clean eating, that’s those animals whose flesh is acceptable for food, that’s clean. Not suitable, things that you shouldn’t be eating, the Bible says that’s unclean.

And so we see by this chart God gave specific animals. And we can tell the difference then between a chicken, which would be good to eat, and a hawk that we should avoid those types of birds. Or a cow, well that’s good food, but other animals? No we don’t want to eat those cats that shouldn’t be a part of our diet. And so when God doesn’t give the exact name of the animal, He does give specific instructions how to determine if an animal is clean or unclean. In fact you’ll find this chart on our internet site. So go to the web and you can see this chart and download it for yourself. In fact we’ve got a listing in our study guide as well.

Now you might say, “Well why would God do that? What’s the point? Is it still important even today?” Well God says, “Yes. Yes.” It’s important to discern the difference. And in fact it’s very practical. Like His instruction to Adam and Eve, it was this from the beginning to today as well as tomorrow. There’s a powerful object lesson in this whole situation. Because God says, “The point is we should make a difference. There is a distinction. We should choose to eat clean and avoid the unclean.” And in fact in the book of Leviticus He makes that very point. What is it? Well before He gives those instructions in Deuteronomy and right after He gives those instructions, He says something absolutely critical. Here’s what he says, “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for Himself.”

So what’s the reason that you’re to eat clean? Why change your diet and avoid unclean foods? Holiness, it’s about holiness. You see it’s a reminder to choose godliness, godliness in the way we think, in the way we act, choosing right from wrong, clean from unclean. God is calling His people out. And He instructs them to separate themselves from this unclean world. The influence of wrong ways of thinking, why aren’t they everywhere? God’s people have to distinguish what should be on their life’s personal menu. Isn’t that what God wants? That we recognize the difference between the good and the bad, the right from the wrong, and what’s supposed to help us make that connection? Food, food.

So the question is, would you go so far as to allow God to tell you what you should eat? Now to help make that decision, be sure and go to our website beyondtoday.tv. That way you can download your free copy or read right online. What does the Bible teach about clean and unclean meats? You can also call us at the number on your screen because you’ll want to know, what is the purpose for that distinction? Our study aid will help you to determine what the Bible, what God is telling you about food and how it reflects in our actions. So go to our website or call us at the number on your screen. Because there is a key I think you’ll begin to find.

God made us. He made my body. Does He have a right to tell me what He knows what’s best for me to eat? And I think He does. In fact as I studied into this I realized this is not a Jewish thing. This is a Biblical thing. And we’re not talking about kosher law. You know that’s food that’s blessed by a Jewish rabbi. You see the rabbis took some of these ideas, they extrapolated Biblical ideas, things from the Bible, and they added man-made ideas, man-made rules, and man-made regulations. We’re not talking about that. We’re talking about God’s biblical food laws. And I came to understand that even though the Old Covenant had passed away, it didn’t do away with the laws that existed all the way from the very beginning. It was that way from creation.

Now oftentimes the question comes up, “Well what about Jesus? I think there’s a section of scripture where Jesus made everything good to eat.” Have you heard that before? Well in Mark 7 it discusses that very thing and oftentimes this section of scripture is used to try to prove that. Well let’s look at it. Mark 7:18 is where Christ addresses the religious leaders of the day. And this is what He says, “Don’t you perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him because it doesn’t enter his heart, but his stomach, and is eliminating, thus purifying, all foods.” You say, “Aha, there it is. Christ purified everything.” Well, okay. Is that really what He’s saying?

Well context is everything. What is the context of this whole section of scripture? Is it clean and unclean foods? In fact if you look at this there’s nothing here about clean or unclean animals. When we skip back to the beginning of the chapter, we find what Christ is addressing. Here’s what He says in verse 2 to kind of set the stage. It says, “The Pharisees saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, unwashed, hands.” Unwashed hands. The Pharisees and the Jews don’t eat unless they wash their hands in a special way. They held the tradition of the elders. And so when we look at the context this had everything to do with the way they would ceremonially wash their hands all the way up to their elbows. Actually it has nothing to do with God’s food laws.

I mean imagine if Christ was saying, “Eat anything you want,” to this group of Jews before him. Imagine if He would have said that. That would have created one of the biggest controversies of all time. You think the Bible would have recorded that for us? I mean His listeners knew He wasn’t referring in any way to God’s law. If they would have thought that they probably would have picked up stones and killed Him right there.

Christ’s point was those religious leaders and us today as well, yeah we need to keep God’s law but quit worrying about man-made traditions and think about your heart. Think about your holiness. We need to be set aside as God’s people. Now there’s another section of scripture that’s often used to say that, “Well, those old laws were done away with.” And that’s found over at Acts 10. That’s the story of Peter and his vision. He had a vision where a great sheet came down out of heaven and there were all kinds of unclean and common animals, all the creepy crawly stuff was in there.

And then in Acts 10:13, in this vision, in this dream, Peter hears a voice. And that voice said, “Rise, Peter, kill and eat.” What’s Peter’s reaction? Peter says, “Not so, Lord. I’ve never eaten anything common or unclean.” I’m always surprised by that because here we are, we’re 10 years after the crucifixion. If Christ had said, “Eat anything you want,” Peter would have known by now and could have been, you know, snacking on all those creepy-crawly things all along. But he says, “No, I never did that.” Well does this show now that Christ cleaned everything up and now you should eat it, Peter? I mean even Peter wondered about that in verse 17. “Peter wondered within himself what this vision meant,” it says. Now a day later, a day later, God reveals the real meaning to Peter and he comes to understand this.

So in verse 28 Peter says, “God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean.” You see this vision revealed to Peter that God viewed everyone equally and God can offer His spirit to anyone He decides to give it to. This is not discussing food. It has nothing to do with food. Peter’s dream of this sheet coming down with all these exotic animals had nothing to do with God’s law. It had to do with people. And that’s important to recognize. In fact when you think about those creepy-crawly things and all those exotic animals, I think of the news headlines dominated by the coronavirus. The sickness has jumped from animals to humans and it is dangerous, like that infamous Spanish flu back in 1918. That originated in animals and ended up killing millions of people.

COVID-19 is thought to originate in bats. And of course markets, like that one in China that traded in giant salamanders, and snakes, and rats and porcupines, they contribute to the opportunity to share viruses between animals and people. You think it might be a coincidence that these animals are designated unclean by God’s food laws that are found in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14? I mean God’s food laws also prohibit eating blood. Blood is a known source of infectious disease. Keeping sanitary and humane conditions for livestock and for people for that matter, that’s a biblical principle. And today people don’t think much about it, violated all over the world. And what happens, it contributes to viruses that are now plaguing our world.

Diseases. You’ve heard the names like SARS, and Ebola, swine flu, MERS and coronavirus. These could have been prevented by obedience to God’s food laws, and the sanitation laws, and the quarantine standards that the Bible reveals. In fact it’s interesting when we consider how long these food laws are supposed to be in effect. We see they weren’t done away. Well how long are they supposed to last? Well fast forward to the time of Christ’s return. When Christ returns to this earth to establish His kingdom, there’s an interesting section of scripture that speaks to this in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah 66:15 it says, “For behold, the Lord will come with fire.” Talking about the return of Jesus Christ, verse 16. It tells us that, “He will judge all flesh.” Christ is the judge. He’s coming back to this earth. Then in verse 17 He says something interesting. He says, “Those eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse shall be consumed together, says the Lord.”

Now at Christ’s return eating unclean things is condemned. It says, “Don’t do that.” Those that do so, what will happen? Punishment, punishment. It’s even mentioned back in the book of Revelation. Now here’s the question. If it doesn’t matter today why did God inspire this passage for the future? You see you need to understand that so get our study aid, “What Does the Bible teach About Clean and Unclean Meats?” You’ll find there are distinctions between clean and unclean that existed at creation. They were obeyed by the early church and they still apply today and at the time of Christ’s return. So go to our website or call us at the number on your screen. We each have a choice of what we eat.

God is the one who set the table and He says it’s up to you to choose what’s right. God gives us this choice on what you could call this buffet of life. I mean we know that obeying the law doesn’t save us. Our faith is in the sacrifice of Christ. We recognize that. But when we understand the spiritual principles that are the basis for God’s law, all Christians should obey His commandments. And it’s important. Choosing to eat clean identifies who we are and to whom we belong. Our perfect, pure, holy God wants us to choose to be holy people in every aspect of life. In fact the only recipe for success is basing your life on the Word of God, the Bible.

Will you accept that challenge every day? Every day when you choose what to eat, that’s your daily reminder. It’s in a sense what you should do. Your body is a spiritual temple. So choose good food, clean eating, according to God’s biblical food laws. And of course spiritually it reminds us that you have to make a conscious effort to choose holy conduct as your way of life both in attitude and behavior. God’s given us a wonderful object lesson in food. So let’s draw even closer to God and choose to eat clean every day because it’s not only a matter of diet it’s a matter of holiness.

Doctors found hundreds of tapeworms in a man’s brain. Undercooked pork

A 46-year-old Chinese man who was hospitalized for epilepsy had hundreds of tapeworms in his brain — likely caused by eating undercooked pork.

Doctors at the First Affiliated Hospital of College of Medicine at Zhejiang University performed an MRI on the man and found hundreds of tapeworms in his brain — known as neurocysticercosis — according to CNN and Chinese news site Pear Video.

The man, a construction worker who lives in the city of Wuhan but was not identified, was hospitalized for a recurring headache and seizures, according to a report issued in November 2019 by the hospital located in Hangzhou.

The man told doctors that he had eaten hot pot — a boiling broth usually filled with assorted meats and vegetables — with pork and mutton, which may have not been cooked thoroughly.

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In the report, the man told doctors that due to the ruddied color of the spicy broth, he wasn’t able to tell if the meat was fully cooked.

“There are multiple presences of space-occupying lesions in the patient’s brain,” Dr. Wang Jian-rong told Pear Video, according to a translation by Newsweek. The lesions, according to the World Health Organization, occupy parts of the central nervous system, which result in seizures and headaches.

Further scans also found more tapeworms in his lungs and his chest.

The man has since recovered after doctors depressurized his skull and dewormed his brain, per the report, though it is unclear if there are any long-term risks to his health.

Neurocysticerosis comes from undercooked, infected pork, according to the WHO. When pigs get infected with tapeworm eggs — usually passed on by the feces of an individual infected with tapeworms — it can pass on to humans when consumed, causing tapeworm eggs to fester in the brain. Once they hatch, they can stay there for two to three years if untreated, per the WHO.

The organization notes that improved food safety practices and further meat inspection could reduce cases of tapeworm eggs in meat.

Follow Joshua Bote on Twitter: @joshua_bote