News Letter 5846-062
13th day of the 13th month 5846 years after creation
The 13th Month in the first year of the third Sabbatical Year
The Third Sabbatical Year of the 119th Jubilee Cycle

March 19, 2011

Shabbat Shalom Brethren,

I have something to share with you. So many of us still hang on to our Christian false teachings and do not realize it. As I write this I have just found out that an Arab terrorists infiltrated a home in the Jewish community of Itamar in Israel North of Shilo & murdered 5 family members. The 12-year-old daughter who returned home from a friend’s house discovered the bodies. This was written last Friday evening March 11.

The suspect broke into the house armed with a knife and stabbed the mother, father and three children, aged 11, three and a three-month-old baby. Two infants, aged 2 and 4, survived the attack while escaping to their neighbours.

Stinkin Christian thinken would have me forgive these people. Not to judge them and to become completely sympathetic to the Arab cause. On Sunday it was reported that the nearby Arab community were passing out candy to the children in celebration of the massacre.

Now the State of Israel has lifted the building ban and they are once again building homes for the settlers in the west bank area. They need our support.

A similar stinken thinken has been shown to me when I posted the disasters in Japan and Christchurch and Haiti and Chile; that these events are not from Yehovah for He is a god of love and peace and longsuffering. Those people who think this way are worshipping the god with the small g or in other words they are deceived by Satan into a nice platitude of complacency and apathy.

There is a war going on right now and everyone who keeps Torah is the target of Satan’s wrath.

Rev 12:17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to fight with the remnant of her seed, those guarding the commands of Elohim and possessing the witness of ????? Messiah.

All of us who keep Torah are in a constant state of war and we need to never forget it. I wept when I saw the pictures of each of the dead members of the Fogel Family. A 3 month old baby boy….. a three year baby boy…… an eleven year old boy and both the parents. Two other toddlers escaped as the mother fought the attackers.

Many were telling me that we all need to feel sorry when disasters strike. Is this right, or is it stinken Christian thinken?
Psalm 58:10 The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance; He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked,

We all know and understand that the wicked are those who do not keep Torah. Who do not do the Law.

1 John 3:4 whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.

So anyone who is not keeping the law is of their father Satan the lawless one. You all know this.

When I say stinken christian thinken, I am referring to those who are lawless and following Satan. Yehshua was never a Christian. He was a Natzarene, one who guarded the law. Christians do not guard the law; they follow a Jesus who they claim did away with the law. This is a lie. Yehshua was a Jew and never sinned therefore He kept Torah.

Let me share a little about the calamity of the wicked. I am rejoicing in Seeing Yehovah move and He is doing so reluctantly. He could have killed millions in many of the recent world disasters, but did not in the hopes they will repent and begin to keep Torah. Well they or well they do as scripture says.

Rev 9:20 And the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship the demons, and idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood, which are neither able to see, nor to hear, nor to walk.
Rev 9:21 And they did not repent of their murders, nor of their drug sorceries, nor of their whoring, nor of their thefts.

Just look at all the Japanese shrines and things made of stone.

Rev 16:9 And men were burned with great heat, and they blasphemed the Name of Elohim who possesses authority over these plagues. And they did not repent, to give Him esteem.
Rev 16:10 And the fifth messenger poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his reign became darkened. And they gnawed their tongues from pain.
Rev 16:11 And they blasphemed the Elohim of the heaven for their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their works.

When I read this verse in Rev 16:11 for some reason I always think of the sore from radiation burning. I do not know why I assoicate it with radiation but I do. I have nothing to back my position on this one.

He is preparing for the part in Mathew 22 when the invitation to the wedding is to go to the gentiles after Israel rejects it. By this time they will be ready to receive these truths.

Christians think they are all going to heaven because they are already forgiven and they have no responsibility to do anything.
Because the law is done away they have nothing to repent of.

One Christian wrote to challenge me saying; Will god not forgive me if I don’t repent or follow his commandments? And what will happen if I don’t?

You can read the entire article which addresses this question at; http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/sbs777/snotes/note0301.html

Mercy for the Repentant

Even though the Most High is an extremely merciful Being, His mercy is only extended to those who repent of their sins and sincerely request His mercy. It is not indiscriminately poured upon blatant sinners who have no intention of giving up sin.

Exo 33:19 And He said, “I shall cause all My goodness to pass before you, and I shall proclaim the Name of ???? before you. And I shall favour him whom I favour, and shall have compassion on him whom I have compassion.”
Exo 34:6 And ???? passed before him and proclaimed, “????, ????, an ?l compassionate and showing favour, patient, and great in kindness and truth,
Exo 34:7 watching over kindness for thousands, forgiving crookedness and transgression and sin, but by no means leaving unpunished1, visiting the crookedness of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” Footnote: 1This is confirmed in Num. 14:18, and in Jer. 30:11.

King David called on Yehovah to wake up and punish the evil ones. Sometimes it would seem Yehovah is sleeping when He does not act and the wicked seem to get away with their evil ways. Why did He allow such an act to come upon the Fogel family? I do not have an answer.

Psa 59:5 And You, ???? Elohim of hosts, Elohim of Yisra’?l, Awake to punish all the gentiles; Show no favour to any wicked traitors. Selah.
Psa 59:6 They return at evening, They howl like a dog, And go around the city.
Psa 59:7 See, they belch out with their mouth, Swords are in their lips, For who is listening?
Psa 59:8 But You, ????, laughs at them, You mock all the gentiles.

Jer 3:13 ‘Only, acknowledge your crookedness, because you have transgressed against ???? your Elohim, and have scattered your ways to strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares ????.

Mercy for the Ignorant

There are of course times when people do not repent, simply because they do not realise that they are doing wrong. Yahweh is usually merciful in these instances (Acts 17:30), though He does warn and even punish sins of ignorance in an effort to bring the sinner to his senses. In other words, mercy is available, but only to repentant believers who request forgiveness. The enlightened but unrepentant transgressor, however, will not obtain mercy from God.

Heb 10:26 For if we sin purposely after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a slaughter offering for sins,1 Footnote: 1See also 6:6, Heb. 9:7, Num. 15:15-28.
Heb 10:27 but some fearsome anticipation of judgment, and a fierce fire which is about to consume the opponents.
Heb 10:28 Anyone who has disregarded the Torah of Mosheh dies without compassion on the witness of two or three witnesses.
Heb 10:29 How much worse punishment do you think shall he deserve who has trampled the Son of Elohim underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was set apart as common, and insulted the Spirit of favour?
Heb 10:30 For we know Him who has said, “Vengeance is Mine, I shall repay, says ????.” And again, “???? shall judge His people.” Heb 10:31 It is fearsome to fall into the hands of the living Elohim.

Brethren I do not rejoice when I see disaster strike. I know it is coming to our own homes. But I do rejoice to see Yehovah acting knowing that the end draws closer and His prophecies are being fulfilled. And I would gladly pull the trigger on those who killed the Fogels in their sleep on Shabbat. You look at the pictures and you imagine it was your family on the ground with blood all around, what would you do? We are commanded to keep the law and part of that includes the execution of those who will not keep it. We need to think on this as well. Think on it when you look at your infants tonight.

Here is video that should shock you and show you what we are up against. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IENYqMuXVhk

And then you can read this short article about the cycle of death that now seeks to glorify its cause by the slaughter of babies. http://www.radicalislam.org/content/latest-human-sacrifices-islamist-death-cult

I will close this section with this video from Glen Beck about this incident. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bHE-ACyCq0&feature=related

Brethren on Friday the UN declared Libya a no fly zone. Prior to this vote Germany said it did not want to get drawn into a war. Then Today, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany — which abstained from the Security Council vote — said the international community would monitor closely to make sure the cease-fire announcement is not a ruse.

“The international community stands together and there are already encouraging reports that Gadhafi is reacting to the resolution,” Merkel told reporters in Berlin.

It was Britain and France who took the lead in plans to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya on Friday, sending British warplanes to the Mediterranean and announcing a crisis summit in Paris with the U.N. and Arab allies.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said NATO was “completing its planning to be ready to take appropriate action in support of the U.N. resolution as part of the broad international effort.”

So now the King of the North has a laid out plan of attack supported by NATO on how to invade North Africa all for the Freedom of the people and for Peace. But not only this the King of the North has done this from behind the scenes and has made sure to include the Arab countries.

Keep in mind all that we have been sharing with you in The Prophecies of Abraham pages 91-103, that this King will come down and lead the Egyptians away naked and Libya and Ethiopia will follow at their heels. Dan 11:40-43.

The Great thing is that the Arab League has been included in this planning. This is huge as we are also told in Daniel the King of the North will unite with the King of teh South to defeat their current ally the USA and UK. This split will come about when the King of the North also sweeps into the Glorious lands.

Interesting times we are watching. Stay tuned.

We have now just over 4 weeks until Passover. It is now time to go through your home and work place and you car and clean them all looking for and removing leaven from your property. We do this because we are commanded to remove leaven from our homes. And if you eat leaven during the Days of Unleavened Bread you will be cut off or in other words, you will die.

Exo 12:14 ‘And this day shall become to you a remembrance. And you shall observe it as a festival to ???? throughout your generations – observe it as a festival, an everlasting law.
Exo 12:15 ‘Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. Indeed on the first day you cause leaven to cease from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that being shall be cut off from Yisra’?l.

Exo 12:16 ‘And on the first day is a set-apart gathering, and on the seventh day you have a set-apart gathering. No work at all is done on them, only that which is eaten by every being, that alone is prepared by you.
Exo 12:17 ‘And you shall guard the Festival of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I brought your divisions out of the land of Mitsrayim. And you shall guard this day throughout your generations, an everlasting law.
Exo 12:18 ‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month in the evening.
Exo 12:19 ‘For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, that same being shall be cut off from the congregation of Yisra’?l, whether sojourner or native of the land.
Exo 12:20 ‘Do not eat that which is leavened – in all your dwellings you are to eat unleavened bread.’ ”

Exo 13:4 “Today you are going out, in the month Ab?ib?.
Exo 13:5 “And it shall be, when ???? brings you into the land of the Kena?anites, and the H?ittites, and the Amorites, and the H?iwwites, and the Yeb?usites, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month.
Exo 13:6 “Seven days you eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day is a festival to ????.
Exo 13:7 “Unleavened bread is to be eaten the seven days, and whatever is leavened is not to be seen with you, and leaven is not to be seen with you within all your border.
Exo 13:8 “And you shall inform your son in that day, saying, ‘It is because of what ???? did for me when I came up from Mitsrayim.’
Exo 13:9 “And it shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a reminder between your eyes, that the Torah of ???? is to be in your mouth, for with a strong hand ???? has brought you out of Mitsrayim.
Exo 13:10 “And you shall guard this law at its appointed time from year to year.
We who are Natzarene or in other words watchmen, we who are the guardians of the Torah are to guard this law and do this each year. This is also where we get the expression of Spring Cleaning from.

Deu 16:1 “Guard the month of Ab?ib?, and perform the Passover to ???? your Elohim, for in the month of Ab?ib? ???? your Elohim brought you out of Mitsrayim by night.
Deu 16:2 “And you shall slaughter the Passover to ???? your Elohim, from the flock and the herd, in the place where ???? chooses to put His Name.
Deu 16:3 “Eat no leavened bread with it. For seven days you eat unleavened bread with it, bread of affliction, because you came out of the land of Mitsrayim in haste – so that you remember the day in which you came out of the land of Mitsrayim, all the days of your life.

We do this each year physically in our homes and with our cars and at our work stations in effort to learn a spiritual lesson. The leaven represents something. It represents sin and by removing leaven from our homes we come to realize just how hard a job it is to keep sin out.

Mat 16:6 And ????? said to them, “Mind! And beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”
Mat 16:7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “Because we brought no bread!”
Mat 16:8 But ?????, aware of this, said to them, “O you of little belief, why do you reason among yourselves because you brought no bread?
Mat 16:9 “Do you still not understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you picked up?
Mat 16:10 “Or the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you picked up?
Mat 16:11 “How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread, but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees?”
Mat 16:12 Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

Luk 12:1 Meanwhile, when an innumerable crowd of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His taught ones, first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

Far too many Christians use this as an excuse not to keep the Torah. They are wrong. Pharisees and Sadducees were just the ones teaching. Today apply this expression to the Pastors and the Priests and it has the exact same meaning. They teach you things from the bible but they do not teach you all the things you need to learn. They hide some things and then they tell you things but do not do it themselves. They do not teach you the truth.

So here is another example of false Christian stinken thinken. They say Judge not when they are confronted with some teaching in the scriptures which they refuse to do. And they are all puffed up in their own self righteousness believing they have it all correct and the other churches are all wrong. But Paul did judge and stated so.

1Co 5:1 It is commonly reported that there is whoring among you, and such whoring as is not even named among the gentiles, so as one to have his father’s wife!
1Co 5:2 And you have been puffed up, and did not rather mourn, so that he who has done this deed, be removed from among you!
1Co 5:3 For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged the one who did this, as though I were present.
1Co 5:4 In the Name of our Master ????? Messiah, when you are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Master ????? Messiah,
1Co 5:5 deliver such a one to Satan for destruction of the flesh, in order that his spirit be saved in the day of the Master ?????.
1Co 5:6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the entire lump?
1Co 5:7 Therefore cleanse out the old leaven, so that you are a new lump, as you are unleavened. For also Messiah our Passover was offered for us.
1Co 5:8 So then let us observe the festival, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of evil and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
1Co 5:9 I wrote to you in my letter not to keep company with those who whore.
1Co 5:10 And I certainly did not mean with those of this world who whore, or with the greedy of gain, or swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.
1Co 5:11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone called ‘a brother,’ if he is one who whores, or greedy of gain, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler – not even to eat with such a one.
1Co 5:12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are inside?
1Co 5:13 But Elohim judges those who are outside. And put away the wicked one from among you!

By allowing a little bit of sin to dwell with us or in us, it will eventually spread to the whole body. We need to know the Torah well enough to judge what sin is and remove it from ourselves. In order to do this we need to read the Torah on a regular basis.
For those who are new to this way of life here is a teaching about the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It would also be a good review for many of you.

http://www.ucg.org/booklets/HD/leavingsin.asp

The Feast of Unleavened Bread: The Lesson of Leaving Sin

Immediately after the Passover comes a festival that depicts the next step in the fulfillment of God’s master plan. After God, through Christ’s sacrifice, has forgiven us of our sins, how do we continue to avoid sin, since we must go on living in newness of life? How do we live as God’s redeemed people? We find the answer in the remarkable symbolism of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

When God freed Israel from slavery in Egypt, He told His people that for “seven days you shall eat unleavened bread” (Exodus 12:15). Verse 39 further explains, “And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they had brought out of Egypt; for it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves.”
Leavening is an agent such as yeast that causes bread dough to rise. And the leavening process takes time. The Israelites had no time to spare when they left Egypt, so they baked and ate flat bread. What started out as a necessity continued for a week. God appropriately named this time the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:6), or Days of Unleavened Bread (Acts 12:3).

When Jesus came to earth as a human being, He observed this seven-day festival—sometimes called the Feast of Passover by the Jews because the days of Unleavened bread followed immediately after Passover, so that the two adjoining festivals could seem to be one—and in fact Passover themes do carry over into the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Jesus observed this festival as a child and later as an adult (Luke 2:41; Matthew 26:17). The early Church, imitating Christ in His religious practices, observed it as well.

Earliest instructions and Christ’s teachings

God gave His earliest instructions concerning this festival to the Israelites as they prepared to leave Egypt. “For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat—that is all you may do” (Exodus 12:14-16, New International Version). So this was a seven-day festival, with the first and seventh days being annual Sabbaths or Holy Days.

Each year as the Israelites observed this feast, it reminded them of God’s deliverance of their forefathers from Egypt. The Creator instructed, “Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt” (verse 17, NIV). The Exodus from Egypt remains as a foundational reason for observing this feast today. Just as God delivered ancient Israel, He delivers us from our sins and difficulties.

Now notice Jesus Christ’s teaching about leaven, which expands the meaning of this feast.

During Christ’s ministry He performed two miracles in which a few fish and loaves of bread fed thousands of people. After one of these incidents, when His disciples had gone around the Sea of Galilee, they forgot to bring bread with them. So Jesus told them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Matthew 16:5-6, NASB).

The disciples thought Jesus was referring to their lack of bread. However, He was using the occasion to teach them by calling on the symbolism of leaven. Christ asked them: “How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then the disciples “understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (verses 11-12, NASB).

Some of the members of the religious establishment of Christ’s day appeared to be righteous, yet they secretly practiced sinful behavior. Jesus let them know He knew their hearts. They may have appeared righteous to other people, “but inside,” He told them, “you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matthew 23:28).

The Days of Unleavened Bread remind us that with God’s help we must remove and avoid all types of sin—symbolized by leaven—in all areas of our life.

Continued importance of these days

During the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the apostle Paul taught the same spiritual lessons Jesus had, invoking the comparison of sin to leaven. In the context of reprimanding the Corinthian congregation for its divisions, jealousies and tolerance of sexual misconduct, Paul wrote: “Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:6-8).

The church at Corinth was obviously and unmistakably keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread, to which Paul repeatedly alluded. However, Paul used the Corinthians’ faithful obedience in keeping the feast physically (removing leaven from their homes) as a basis to encourage them to celebrate this feast with proper understanding of its spiritual intent.

Today removing leaven from our homes for seven days reminds us that we, too, through prayer and God’s help and understanding, must recognize, expel and avoid sin. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is thus a time of personal reflection. We should meditate on our attitudes and conduct and ask God to help us recognize and overcome our shortcomings.

Paul spoke of this much-needed self-reflection in 2 Corinthians 13:5, when he told the Corinthian church: “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.”

Paul explained the significance of the phrase “Jesus Christ is in you” in a verse quoted earlier—Galatians 2:20: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (KJV).

These seven days of self-examination prove invaluable in helping us to devote our lives to God and Jesus Christ. This week-long period also pictures our eventual triumph over sin. As God delivered the ancient Israelites from enslavement to Egypt, so He delivers us from our enslavement to sin (Romans 6:12-18).

Applying the spiritual lessons

We learn by doing. We learn spiritual lessons by doing physical things. Performing the task of deleavening our homes reminds us to vigilantly watch for sinful thoughts and actions so we can avoid them. God knows that, in spite of our good intentions, we all sin.
Many years after his conversion, Paul described the powerful human tendency to sin: “I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—[deliverance will come] through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin” (Romans 7:21-25).

Paul knew life itself is a battle with sin. The Bible speaks of “the sin which so easily ensnares us” (Hebrews 12:1). We have our own part to play in struggling to overcome sin. Yet paradoxically, we must rely on God to help us. Paul explained this to the Philippians by telling them to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13, KJV).

Indeed, Paul did not end his discussion about struggling with sin in Romans 7 on the seemingly hopeless note of remaining enslaved to sin. He went on in chapter 8 to show that we can be free of the way of sin and death—with Christ’s help through God’s Holy Spirit.

Our observance of the Days of Unleavened Bread helps us realize our crucial need for Jesus’ help in overcoming our weaknesses. And this feast is certainly a time for rejoicing because He freely gives us the help we need. Jesus, the Lamb of God, was sacrificed for the forgiveness of our sins, thus enabling us to be unleavened, cleansed of sin. And He continues to help us put sin out of our lives by dwelling in us through the Holy Spirit, thereby leading us to regular repentance and empowering us to live in obedience to God.

Last week I told you about the opportunity to live in Israel and Learn Hebrew for one year. I signed up for this course but could not sell my house in time to go.

On the back of The Prophecies of Abraham is an endorsement from one Stephen Spykerman. He has spoken at Sukkot with us the past two years and has authored a number of books which I have shared with you in the past. His latest one CHRISTIANS & JEWS – THE TWO FACES OF ISRAEL can be found at Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Stephen+Spykerman&x=12&y=21

Stephen and His lovely wife Virginia have come out with two testimonials having now been at the school for this first year. Please watch and listen to them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3-bWLAb0w8 Stephen Spykerman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31bnvY7J5uU Virginia Spykerman

Triennial Torah Cycle

We now return to our 3 1/2 year Torah studies which you can follow online.

Ex 5     1 Kings 9-10      Ps 109       Luke 20

Ex 5

Here in exodus 5:3 And they said, “The Elohim of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness and slaughter to ???? our Elohim, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”

Pestilence is the main theme of the third curse of the Sabbatical cycle and the fourth curse in the fourth Sabbatical cycle is the sword.

So when I look at the year of the Exodus which was in 1379 BC I see it falls at the very beginning of the Second Sabbatical cycle at Passover, so Moses and Aaron were speaking to Pharaoh before 1379 BC and they knew what was coming in the future Sabbatical cycles.

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

When you read something like this ask yourself why was all of this put here?

You have two men Moses and Aaron who are confronting the mighty Egyptian super power. What you have here is prophetic message to you today.

You have the two witnesses coming before the End time Beast and telling him to let the Israelites who at this time will be in hard labour camps all over the world, to let them go home to Israel. These will be those who have survived the war, the pestilences, the famines, the rapes and executions. These will be the 10% or the remnant of the USA, UK Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other nations of North Western Europe. 10% of what they are today. The USA is 300 million and only 30 million will be left at this time. Think about this; 270 million are about to die over the next 20 years.

We are given an example of what will be the negotiations in this the Second Exodus. The second exodus which we are reading about in this book of Exodus 5 is spoken of in

Jer 23:7 “Therefore, see, the days are coming,” declares ????, “when they shall say no more, ‘As ???? lives who brought up the children of Yisrael out of the land of Mitsrayim,’
Jer 23:8 but, ‘As ???? lives who brought up and led the seed of the house of Israel out of the land of the north and from all the lands where I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell on their own soil.”

Notice you will be brought back from the lands of the North. Germany is North of Israel.

We are also told of this second Exodus in

Eze 39:27 when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of the lands of their enemies. And I shall be set apart in them before the eyes of many gentiles.
Eze 39:28 ‘And they shall know that I am ???? their Elohim, who sent them into exile among the gentiles, and then gathered them back to their own land, and left none of them behind.

When Israel crossed the Red Sea Moses sang a song of deliverance Exodus 15 and we are also told that Moses wrote a second song which we will sing at this second Exodus. We are told this in Rev 15:2 And I saw like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those overcoming the beast and his image and his mark and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of Elohim.

Rev 15:3 And they sing the song of Mosheh the servant of Elohim, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are Your works, ???? ?l Shaddai! Righteous and true are Your ways, O Sovereign of the set-apart ones!

Here are the words so you can begin to practice it.

Deu 32:1 “Give ear, O heavens, and let me speak; And hear, O earth, The words of my mouth.
Deu 32:2 “Let my instruction fall as rain, My speech drop down as dew, As fine rain on the tender plants, And as showers on the grass.
Deu 32:3 “For I proclaim the Name of ????, Ascribe greatness to our Elohim.
Deu 32:4 “The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are right-ruling, An ?l of truth and without unrighteousness, Righteous and straight is He.
Deu 32:5 “A twisted and crooked generation has corrupted itself, Their blemish, they are not His children.
Deu 32:6 “Do you do this to ????, O foolish and unwise people? Is He not your Father, who bought you, Who created you and established you?
Deu 32:7 “Remember the days of old, Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father and let him show you, Your elders, and let them say to you:
Deu 32:8 “When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance When He separated the sons of Ad?am, He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the children of Yisra’?l.
Deu 32:9 “For the portion of ???? is His people, Ya?aqob? His allotted inheritance.
Deu 32:10 “He found him in a wilderness, And in a wasted, howling desert. He encompassed him, He made him understand, He watched over him as the apple of His eye.
Deu 32:11 “As an eagle stirs up its nest, Flutters over its young, Spreading out its wings, taking them up, Bearing them on its wings.
Deu 32:12 “???? alone led him, And there was no strange mighty one with him.
Deu 32:13 “He made him ride in the heights of the earth, And he ate the fruit of the fields, And He made him to draw honey from the rock, And oil from the flinty rock,
Deu 32:14 “Curds from the cattle, And milk of the flock, With fat of lambs, And rams of the breed of Bashan, And goats, with the choicest wheat; And you drank wine, the blood of the grapes.
Deu 32:15 “But Yeshurun grew fat and kicked; You grew fat, you grew thick, You are covered with fat; So he forsook Eloah who made him, And scorned the Rock of his deliverance.
Deu 32:16 “They moved Him to jealousy with foreign matters, With abominations they provoked Him.
Deu 32:17 “They slaughtered to demons – not Eloah – Mighty ones they did not know, New ones who came lately, Which your fathers did not fear.
Deu 32:18 “You neglected the Rock who brought you forth, And forgot the ?l who fathered you.
Deu 32:19 “And ???? saw, and despised, Because of the provocation of His sons and His daughters.
Deu 32:20 “And He said, ‘Let Me hide My face from them, Let Me see what their end is, For they are a perverse generation, Children in whom there is no trusting.
Deu 32:21 “They made Me jealous by what is not ?l, They provoked Me with their worthless matters. But I make them jealous by those who are no people, I provoke them with a foolish nation.
Deu 32:22 “For a fire was kindled in My wrath And burns to the bottom of She’ol, And consumes the earth and its increase, And sets on fire the foundations of mountains.
Deu 32:23 “I gather evils upon them, I use up My arrows upon them –
Deu 32:24 “Wasted by scarcity of food, And consumed by heat and bitter destruction, And the teeth of beasts I send upon them, With the poison of serpents of the dust.
Deu 32:25 “The sword bereaves from the outside, And fear from within, Both young man and maiden, Nursing child with the man of grey hairs.
Deu 32:26 “I said, ‘I should blow them away, I should make the remembrance of them To cease from among men,
Deu 32:27 ‘If I did not fear the enemy’s taunt, Lest their adversaries misunderstand, Lest they say, “Our hand is high, And ???? has not done all this.” ’
Deu 32:28 “For they are a nation lost to counsel, And there is no understanding in them.
Deu 32:29 “If they were wise, They would understand this, They would consider their latter end!
Deu 32:30 “How would one chase a thousand, And two put ten thousand to flight, Unless their Rock had sold them, And ???? had given them up?
Deu 32:31 “For their rock is not like our Rock – Even our enemies are judges.
Deu 32:32 “Their vine is of the vine of Sed?om And of the fields of Amorah; Their grapes are grapes of gall, Their clusters are bitter.
Deu 32:33 “Their wine is the poison of serpents, And the fierce venom of cobras.
Deu 32:34 ‘Is it not stored up with Me, Sealed up among My treasures?
Deu 32:35 ‘Vengeance is Mine, and repayment, At the time their foot slips; For near is the day of their calamity, And the matters prepared are hastening to them.’
Deu 32:36 “For ???? rightly rules His people And has compassion on His servants, When He sees that their power is gone, And there is no one remaining, Shut up or at large.
Deu 32:37 “And He shall say, ‘Where are their mighty ones, The rock in whom they sought refuge?
Deu 32:38 ‘Who ate the fat of their slaughterings, And drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them arise and help you, Let it be a hiding-place for you!
Deu 32:39 ‘See now that I, I am He, And there is no Elohim besides Me. I put to death and I make alive. I have wounded, and I heal. And from My hand no one delivers!
Deu 32:40 ‘For I lift My hand to the heavens, And shall say: As I live forever,
Deu 32:41 ‘If I have sharpened My flashing sword, And My hand takes hold on judgment, I shall return vengeance to My enemies, And repay those who hate Me.
Deu 32:42 ‘I make My arrows drunk with blood, And My sword devours flesh, With the blood of the slain and the captives, From the long-haired enemy chiefs.’
Deu 32:43 “O nations, acclaim His people! For He avenges the blood of His servants, And returns vengeance to His adversaries, And shall pardon His land, His people.”
Deu 32:44 Then Mosheh came, with Yehoshua son of Nun, and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people.
Deu 32:45 And when Mosheh ended speaking all these words to all Yisra’?l,
Deu 32:46 he said to them, “Set your heart on all the words with which I warn you today, so that you command your children to guard to do all the Words of this Torah.
Deu 32:47 “For it is not a worthless Word for you, because it is your life, and by this Word you prolong your days on the soil which you pass over the Yard?n to possess.”
Deu 32:48 And ???? spoke to Mosheh that same day, saying,
Deu 32:49 “Go up this mountain of the Ab?arim, Mount Neb?o, which is in the land of Mo’ab?, which is opposite Yerih?o, and look at the land of Kena?an, which I give to the children of Yisra’?l as a possession,
Deu 32:50 and die on the mountain which you ascend, and be gathered to your people, as Aharon your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people,
Deu 32:51 because you trespassed against Me in the midst of the children of Yisra’?l at the waters of Merib?ah Qad??sh, in the Wilderness of Tsin, because you did not set Me apart in the midst of the children of Yisra’?l.
Deu 32:52 “For you are to look at the land before you, but not enter there, into the land which I am giving to the children of Yisra’?l.”

I am now going to share with you a previous News Letter which is also in The Prophecies of Abraham. You can read about it here:

• Newsletter 5844-014    Why Israel Returns to the Land in 2030 and Why they Leave Again, and How the Two Witnesses Cause this to Happen

but I have selected the section I wanted to share with you about the Two Witnesses and how they do their work at the end time. Cutting into the middle of the article.

Getting back to the point of this News Letter, we are to learn why they are returned to the land of Israel. Many right now will say they already know. But do they? Once again I am about to show you something you kind of already know but had not connected the dots to, but have assumed a teaching from one or other groups without checking it out.

Please prove me wrong or prove me right, but prove what I say one way or the other by scriptures. Then when the famine of the word happens you will know for sure. Not because I said so, but because you were able to prove it in the scriptures of your own bible.

The question is why do the people of Israel come back to the land in 2030? Once again I ask you to click the link: Sabbatical & Jubilee Charts and take it to the printer and make a colour copy of it for yourself for future reference.

In reviewing this chart you can see how I have matched up the Jubilee year with the Eighth Day of the Feast of Tabernacles. Then by counting backwards I arrive at the Feast of Trumpets taking place in the year of 2024.

As discussed in the preceding two News Letters, the Feast of Trumpets is the beginning of the Judgment on the world. The Days of Awe. This is 2024. Again looking at the chart you can see also that the captivity also started in 2024. Those years marked before this date would be those taken in battle before the war is finished.

We now count out the 7 years of this curse and come to 2030. Shabbat Shuva or the year of Shuva. This is the year captivity is to be over, but it is also 3 years before the Day of Atonement when Satan is to be locked away. This is what the Day of Atonement teaches us each year as we keep it. It is such a solemn day that on this day we fast. We do not eat or drink anything from sundown the night before until sundown the day of. It is on the 10th day of the seventh month.

But for 3 ½ years before Satan is locked away, he is ruling this world from the Temple in Jerusalem.

Yahshua told us three times in the following verses that the ruler of this world is judged and is to be cast out. This is what the Day of Atonement pictures.

Joh 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.
Joh 14:30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.
Joh 16:11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
And we are again told who the ruler of this world is in
1Jo 5:19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.

Re 12:9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

When you look at the chart and follow the Sabbatical cycle of years you can also see that 2030 is also a Sabbatical year. It also just so happens to fall 3 years before the Year of Atonement is to occur. It strikes me as very interesting how all of this just happens to work out, without any great manipulation on my part to make things fit. They just do.

Once again let’s review. The Day of Atonement takes place in 2033 in the fall on the day that the sins of the world are placed on the ruler of the world. Satan. Just like the ceremony that the High Priest performs on this day, when he places his hands on the goat and lays the sins of the world and Israel on the one responsible for causing the world to go astray. Satan the Azazel goat.
3 ½ years before the Day of Atonement is Passover in the year 2030.

I want to make sure you understand this so lets lay it out for you in detail.

Passover 2030 to Passover 2031 is one year.
Passover 2031 to Passover 2032 is two years.
Passover 2032 to Passover 2033 is three years.

Six months later is the Day of Atonement for a total of three and ½ years.

Chronologically we have said that the Israelites would be brought back to the land in the year of 2030. The year of Shuva. This is at the end of our deep repentance that we have gone through the preceding 7 years. On the Feast of Trumpets the year before (2029) it is announced that all Israelites are to be brought back to the land of Israel.

As we said in last weeks News Letter when this happens those who do bring us back become our slaves. Isaiah 14:2 Then people will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them for servants and maids in the land of the Lord; they will take them captive whose captives they were, and rule over their oppressors.

But why? Why do they do this? What is going on here?

Keep in mind I am talking about the 12 tribes of Israel, not just the Jews as some assume.

Why does the ruler of this world, Satan, want all the Israelites back in the land of Canaan? Why do the Arabs help in this cause? What is Satan up to?

Most Messianic will think they are going home. Most will be very joyful. But those of you who are reading this will know and will have the obligation to warn the others. Warn them of what?

Once again the Messianic teachings teach that the Great Babylon is the USA. The Arabs call the USA the Great Satan. When the USA and England are destroyed as scriptures say Israel is to be destroyed and go into captivity, many of the Messianics will believe and teach that the country which does this, will be the empire or the Messiah.

They will be completely deceived by Satan at this time. As it says that in the last days even the elect may be deceived. Mat 24: Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand.

We have shown you in previous News letters that this empire that will defeat the USA and England is the United European nations, which will be led by the military might of Germany, and the spiritual teachings of Rome.

I have also told you on a number of occasions that the weakness of Europe is its energy supply. Just a few years ago Russia shut off the supply of gas to the Ukraine and in so doing also shut off the supply to Europe. The North Sea oil is dwindling. Once the USA is removed from the scene then the oil reserves of the Middle East come up for grabs.

This winter we studied the how the Beast power of Europe comes together with the Arab nations to form the eighth and final head of the Beast power for a very short time, different than all the rest. You should go back and reread this long study.

Also in the news recently are articles about how Israel and Europe are getting cozy to each other. Here we have an opportunity for Europe to come to the state of Israel’s rescue when the Arabs rise up to attack her. Keep this in mind as you watch the news.

Somehow the Beast power comes to the Middle East and sets up head quarters in Jerusalem. But in Isaiah 19: 2 “I will set Egyptians against Egyptians; Everyone will fight against his brother, And everyone against his neighbor, City against city, kingdom against kingdom. 3 The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst; I will destroy their counsel, And they will consult the idols and the charmers, The mediums and the sorcerers. 4 And the Egyptians I will give Into the hand of a cruel master, And a fierce king will rule over them,” Says the Lord, the Lord of hosts. 5 The waters will fail from the sea, And the river will be wasted and dried up. 6 The rivers will turn foul; The brooks of defense will be emptied and dried up; The reeds and rushes will wither. 7 The papyrus reeds by the River, by the mouth of the River, And everything sown by the River, Will wither, be driven away, and be no more. 8 The fishermen also will mourn; All those will lament who cast hooks into the River, And they will languish who spread nets on the waters. 9 Moreover those who work in fine flax And those who weave fine fabric will be ashamed; 10 And its foundations will be broken. All who make wages will be troubled of soul.

This is an Egyptian civil war and the cruel master will be the Germans.

Once the Germans are there, then by Uniting with the Arabs, Europe gets its needed oil supply.

Do not forget what we are told in Psalm 83:1 A Song. A Psalm of Asaph. Do not keep silent, O God! Do not hold Your peace, And do not be still, O God! 2 For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; And those who hate You have lifted up their head. 3 They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, And consulted together against Your sheltered ones. 4 They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” 5 For they have consulted together with one consent; They form a confederacy against You: 6 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites; 7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; 8 Assyria also has joined with them; They have helped the children of Lot.

Assyria as we have shown you are the German people. These other nations mentioned here are the many different Arab nations. They have formed a league to wipe out the name of Israel, and even those who are sheltered. Who are the shelterred ones. We will get to that in a moment. Again I ask you why do they do this? Keep asking why and look for a real modern day geopolitical answer.

Before Satan can allow them to be wiped out he has to have something happen for him. Satan needs the Temple rebuilt so he can be thought of as god.

2Th 2:1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.
3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin (lawlessness) is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11
And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

In order for Satan to sit in the Temple of God and proclaim to be god, he needs to have the temple built. Can the Chinese build the Temple? What about the Russians or Africans? They can all help, but it is the Israelites who must build it. Once the corner stone is laid then the Altar can be established and then the sacrifice begun. And the rest of the temple can be built later. All that is needed is the altar.

Special note, in the above passage it says 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. I hope to come back to this very interesting subject next week.

But Israel is commanded to go up to Jerusalem three times a year.

Ex 23:14 Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year:
Ex 23:17 Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God.
Ex 34:23 Three times in the year all your men shall appear before the Lord, the Lord God of Israel.
Ex 34:24 For I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither will any man covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.

We are to be there for Passover and for Pentecost and for the Feast of Tabernacles.

Here is the other reason why the Israelites are brought back to Israel.

Keep all these things in mind as we are still talking about Shuva. During the preceding 3 ½ years there will be two witnesses as we are told in Rev 11: Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood,* saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. 2 But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.

3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” 4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. 5 And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. 6 These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire. 7 When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. 8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 9 Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. 10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. 11 Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. 13 In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.

These Two witnesses are killed 3 ½ years, 1260 days is 3 ½ years, after they start their ministry which begins in the fall at the Feast of Trumpets. 3 ½ years later they are killed during Passover. Remember this is the year of shuva, when all Israel is to come to Jerusalem. What is going on?

For 3 and ½ years these two witnesses will wreak havoc on the world with their judgment of drought and turning water to blood and to strike the earth with plagues as often as they want. Many will die. They will be hated by all mankind. But the Israelites will know who they are. Or they should. These two witnesses will be asking that Israel be allowed to go up to Jerusalem to keep the Feasts of Yahweh!

After three and ½ years the world will allow all the Israelites to go free. And is encouraged to do what ever is needed to bring all the Israelites back to the land for Passover in the year 2030. The Year of Shuva. The year of return. The whole world will be sick and tired of all the things these two witnesses will do, that these two witnesses have caused so many bad things to happen.

Just like the first Exodus when Moses told Pharaoh to let my people go, so will the two witnesses tell the world to let the Israelites go back to the Land of Israel so they can keep the Passover. With each denial things get much worse for the people of the world, until finally they have had enough and quickly gather them all and send or bring them back to the land.

And we are brought back under chains and when we arrive, those who brought us will become our slaves. It will be a time of confusion and joy as we think we have made it. But wait there is much, much more that we have missed. More that we have forgotten.

We read in Ps 44:22 Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

And this is what Paul quotes in Rom 8:36 As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

What does this mean and why am I putting this in here?

We read again in Isaiah 53:7He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.

And this too is quoted in Acts 8:32 The place in the Scripture which he read was this: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth.

We are counted as sheep in the sheep fold of Yahshua. See

Mt 26:31 Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

Lu 12:32 Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Joh 10:16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

Ac 20:28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

Ac 20:29 For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

1Pe 5:2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly;

1Pe 5:3 nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock;

Have you figured it out yet? We will be commanded to return to Jerusalem for the Passover season. All of the world will help us get there as shown to you in last weeks News Letter and Isaiah 14:2. Even the Arabs will help us to be there. An altar will be set up and the Temple worship will be ready to start. They will do this as just explained because of the two witnesses curse on the world.

But the Sheep Satan is going to sacrifice are going to be us who are alive. The Remnant of Israel. We are the sheep for the slaughter as it says in Psalms 44. It is at this time that the two witnesses are killed.

These two witnesses will have been causing all kinds of trouble all over the earth by their commands for the rains to stop waters to turn to blood and for plagues to come.

It is for this reason that we are told to eat the Passover in haste with our staff in one hand and our sandals on our feet. Ex 12:11 And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.

Have you ever wondered why you are to eat the Passover in haste? The exodus happened long ago, so why can’t we relax and enjoy the meal?

It is because we are preparing for this future exodus, this future escape. Each Holy Day is an annual rehearsal of those things that are to occur on that day both in the past and in the future. When we keep a Holy Day do we keep this in our mind during that day? Do we think about what is to happen in the future? It is a rehearsal of prophetic future events. Are you ready?
Now, I would like you to go back to the chart page and download the other chart. https://sightedmoon.com/sightedmoon_2015/?page_id=250 and click on file #2

What I have done on this chart was an experiment to check some things and it shocked me as to what happens and at what time they occur.

In this chart I placed the seven Seals of Revelation along each of the years of the tribulation. I then also placed each of the seven trumpets plagues along each of the years of tribulation and I did the same for each one of the seven vials or seven bowls. Just to see what would happen.

In the first year of the tribulation the two witnesses are doing what? Go back to Rev. 11: 6 These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.

Now we compare this to the each of those things on the chart.

The first seal is Rev 6:2 The white horse – And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.

This is false religion and is what the beast will be doing spreading his agenda and propaganda.

The Two witnesses stand in his way. Also at this time is the first of the seven Trumpets Re 8:7 The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

When the two witnesses are shutting up the heavens this is a drought of biblical magnitudes. 1/3 of the trees will be burned up and all grass will be burned up.

Rev 16: 2 So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. 11 They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds.

This sounds similar to Exodus 9:8 So the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a furnace, and let Moses scatter it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh. 9 And it will become fine dust in all the land of Egypt, and it will cause boils that break out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.” 10 Then they took ashes from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses scattered them toward heaven. And they caused boils that break out in sores on man and beast. 11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians.

This first year of the tribulation and these plagues by the first seal and the first trumpet and the first bowl, do not prove such an alignment is correct. But as we go further things seem to match up more precisely.

Look at the 2nd year of the Tribulation. Rev 6:3 When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.”4 Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.

The word peace here which is taken from the earth is that of the truth of the scriptures. Part of Strongs concordance says it means that of the Messiah’s peace, the way that leads to peace (salvation). To gain a good understanding of what peace means you should read the article https://sightedmoon.com/sightedmoon_2015/?page_id=80 Blessed is the Peace Maker.

This red horse is the one taking the truth of the scriptures away. The righteousness of the law, which brings peace to those who keep it. Read the article. This will be when they claim Peace, Peace and there is no peace. Peace is not the absence of war, it is a way of living.

Ezekiel 13:10 Because, indeed, because they have seduced My people, saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace–and one builds a wall, and they plaster it with untempered mortar– 11 say to those who plaster it with untempered mortar, that it will fall. There will be flooding rain, and you, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall tear it down. 12 Surely, when the wall has fallen, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the mortar with which you plastered it?’ ” 13 Therefore thus says the Lord God: “I will cause a stormy wind to break forth in My fury; and there shall be a flooding rain in My anger, and great hailstones in fury to consume it. 14 So I will break down the wall you have plastered with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be uncovered; it will fall, and you shall be consumed in the midst of it. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. 15 Thus will I accomplish My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it with untempered mortar; and I will say to you, ‘The wall is no more, nor those who plastered it, 16 that is, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her when there is no peace,’ ” says the Lord God.

Isa 48:22 “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”
Isa 57:21 “There is no peace,” Says my God, “for the wicked.”
Isa 59:8 The way of peace they have not known, And there is no justice in their ways; They have made themselves crooked paths; Whoever takes that way shall not know peace.

Jer 6:14 They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ When there is no peace.
Jer 8:11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ When there is no peace.
Jer 14:19 Have You utterly rejected Judah? Has Your soul loathed Zion? Why have You stricken us so that there is no healing for us? We looked for peace, but there was no good; And for the time of healing, and there was trouble.

On the chart we can see that the second Trumpet plague is Rev 8:8 Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. 9 And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

Now read the second bowl in Rev 16:3 Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living creature in the sea died.

Now do you remember what the two witnesses were to do? And they have power over waters to turn them to blood.

When we look at the third seal we see the black horse Rev 6: 5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, ( a days wages) and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.”

This goes in hand with the third Trumpet 10 Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.

And when we look at the third bowl we see in Rev 16: 4 Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters saying: “You are righteous, O Lord, The One who is and who was and who is to be, Because You have judged these things. 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, And You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due.” 7 And I heard another from the altar saying, “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.”

Here again the waters are turned to blood. The fresh waters. This too is in line with the ministry of the Two witnesses.
Now we are entering the fourth year of the two witnesses. They are to do their work for 3 ½ years. This is in the fourth year or the first half of the fourth year.

Rev 6:7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” 8 So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.
Rev 8:12 Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night. 13 And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”
Rev 16: 8 Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. 9 And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory.

It is going to get hotter. It is going to get hotter in spite of the fact that the Sun will not give a third of its light nor the moon. This three and ½ years of no rain will cause now major food shortages around the world. Fighting breaks out and from all this 25% of the earth’s population is killed.

After all this of those who are left alive, the Israelites are brought to Jerusalem, where the false Messiah is setting up his ruler ship. The two witnesses have caused much death and destruction. They too are brought to Jerusalem. The whole world is helping in this cause. Arabs searching the Middle East and ships of Tarsish bring them back from around the world.

The answer to the question why is Israel being brought back to the land is because they plan on killing all of Israel in one swoop, and the two witnesses. Just as they said in PSalm 83.

This is where we read in Rev 6: 9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.

Then in the fifth Trumpet we read that the bottomless pit is opened .Rev 9:1 Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. 3 Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them. 7 The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. 8 They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. 10 They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. 11 And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon. 12 One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.

When this happens we read of how the darkness prevails in Rev 16: 10 Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. 11 They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds.

When the fifth seal is about to begin, the two witnesses are killed and the rest of Israel is told to do something in Matt 24:15 Some will delay and they will be killed. Others will heed this warning and see those things coming and flee at Passover and will be ready.

Matthew 24:4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9 Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. 15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. 23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 28 For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together. 29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Zechariah 14:1 Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, And your spoil will be divided in your midst. 2 For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 Then the Lord will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle. 4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south. 5 Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, For the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee As you fled from the earthquake In the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the Lord my God will come, And all the saints with You.* 6 It shall come to pass in that day That there will be no light; The lights will diminish. 7 It shall be one day Which is known to the Lord– Neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen That it will be light.

We are told to flee by this valley and go to where?

Isaiah 15: 5 “My heart will cry out for Moab; His fugitives shall flee to Zoar, Like a three-year-old heifer. For by the Ascent of Luhith They will go up with weeping; For in the way of Horonaim They will raise up a cry of destruction,
6 For the waters of Nimrim will be desolate, For the green grass has withered away; The grass fails, there is nothing green. 7 Therefore the abundance they have gained, And what they have laid up, They will carry away to the Brook of the Willows. 8 For the cry has gone all around the borders of Moab, Its wailing to Eglaim And its wailing to Beer Elim. 9 For the waters of Dimon will be full of blood; Because I will bring more upon Dimon, Lions upon him who escapes from Moab, And on the remnant of the land.”
Isaiah 16:3 “Take counsel, execute judgment; Make your shadow like the night in the middle of the day; Hide the outcasts, Do not betray him who escapes. 4 Let My outcasts dwell with you, O Moab; Be a shelter to them from the face of the spoiler. For the extortioner is at an end, Devastation ceases, The oppressors are consumed out of the land. 5 In mercy the throne will be established; And One will sit on it in truth, in the tabernacle of David, Judging and seeking justice and hastening righteousness.”

Rev 12: 1 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. 2 Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. 5 She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. 6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. 7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” 13 Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. 14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
We are commanded to flee through this valley to Moab and we will hide there for 3 ½ years.

The Jordanians are commanded to hide us the outcast as shadow in the night during the day. That is to make us invisible so we are not caught.

To quickly sum this up. The two witnesses cause the rains to stop. The rivers and seas and streams turn to blood. 25% of the population dies from these disasters. The world then brings the Israelites back to the land in 2030 before Passover. The two witnesses will have accomplished a mighty victory. Then they are killed and come back to life 3 ½ days later. The great martyrdom of the saints takes place at this time of Passover. Those who know, flee to Moab where they are hidden for 3 ½ years from Satan.

We are going to pause here before your brains cramp up. We are going to look at Michael and why he does as he does at this time, next week. Why are we to flee at this time? Then we will come back and finish this study, as we still have three and half more years to look at which Harold in other events.

So once again tell others and share this information.

May Yahweh bless our eyesight and our understanding of His plans and may we all be ready when they take place.

1 Kings 9-10

I have been using Brit am as a commentator on 1 Kings as Yair has a wealth of knowledge you should make yourself aware of. So I will include his teachings on these two chapters so you can go there and also look at the maps he has.
http://www.britam.org/Kings/1Kings9.html
http://www.britam.org/Kings/1Kings10.html

I want to share with you something that is very important and it is just briefly mentioned in 1 Kings 9:27 And H?iram sent his servants with the fleet, seamen who knew the sea, to work with the servants of Shelomoh. 28 And they went to Ophir, and took four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there, and brought it to Sovereign Shelomoh.

http://www.rogerswebsite.com/articles/Israel-History.htm

Anciently they were at their best when Solomon ruled a mighty Israelite empire (971-931 BC) that briefly stretched from Egypt to the Euphrates River. Rick Sherrod makes the following comments on this period of Israel’s history:

Solomon’s reign brought a version of the very things which will come in earnest under Christ’s beneficent worldwide rule: peace (I Kings 4:24-25, Isaiah 2:4, Micah 4:4), happiness and prosperity (I Kings 4:20, 22-23, 10:14-23, 27, Amos 9:13, Micah 4:4), wisdom and the availability of spiritual knowledge and understanding (I Kings 4:29-34, 10:1, 4, 6-9, 2 Chronicles 1:12, the Book of Proverbs, most of which is of Solo uthorship, and Isaiah 11:9), world renown (I Kings 4:21, 10:1, 6, 23-24, Ps. 72:8-11, 19, Isaiah 2:3, Zechariah 9:10), and a massive program of building and construction (I Kings 6:1, 7:1-2, Isaiah 58:12, 61:4, Ezekiel 36:10, 33-36).

Students of the Solomonic period also describe it as an age of intellectual revival and learning (see Lawrence Boadt, Reading the Old Testament, p. 477; James Pritchard, Solomon and Sheba, p. 30; and Andre Lemaire’s essay in Ancient Israel edited by Hershel Shanks, p. 106)–something which will also be a major feature of Christ’s program to re-educate and elevate the newly subjugated populations of the world (Zechariah 8:23, 14:16-19, Revelation 2:27). 35. Indeed, the Solomonin age of glory is a biblical forerunner of even greater fulfillments of the physical, material, and national promise made to the descendants of Abraham (Israel in Prophecy: Where are the Lost Ten Tribes?, p.28).

Stephen Collins in his book “The Lost Ten Tribes of Israel…Found!” has produced evidence that shows that like the British Empire in our time The Empire of Solomon also had colonies in many places around the world such as Carthage and even in North America. He writes:

Earlier Israelite nations and empires also fulfilled many of the birthright promises to Abraham. The Phoenician/Israelite Empire under King Solomon controlled Gibraltar, many land trade routes, the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean and much of the Indian Ocean. Carthage also controlled Gibraltar, the Western Mediterranean, and the Atlantic sea routes to North America.

The Parthians and Scythians [both peoples predominantly Israelite] were land powers, not naval powers, but their strategic location controlled the world’s overland trade routes between the continents of Europe, Africa and Asia, and Parthia controlled the strategic “Caspian Gates” which sat astride the invasion routes of ancient Asia (p. 390).

Evidence is coming forth to show the Israelite and Phoenician sailors may have visited distant places such as Australia (where hieroglyphics have been found – Egypt was allied to Israel in Solomon’s day) and Hawaii (the Hebrew for priest, ‘kohen’, is almost identical to the Hawaiian word for priest – ‘kuhuna’).

In my research I have found in North America evidence and I have actual artefacts I have bought and collected over the years of Israelite and Phoenician remains in North America. You can go to this link to gather books and booklets to support this claim. http://ancientamerican.com/

I have from the Hopewell Indian mound a copy of the Ten Commandment stone. Which you can read about at http://www.unmuseum.org/decalog.htm and from the Burrows cave stone carvings as you can see at this link. http://www.philipcoppens.com/burrowscave.html

With much of the evidence collected about the Michigan Mound builders in the book Mystic Symbols which can still be purchased at http://www.amazon.com/Mystic-Symbol-Michigan-Mound-Builders/dp/0970398549 you can see how they kept the calendar.

There is overwhelming evidence that these colonies sent out by David to collect the resources for the Temple and also by Solomon to bring the rich resources of the world back to him is over whelming in North and South America. They took three years to make the complete trip after stopping at each of their trade ports.

Hebrew inscriptions are found throughout the USA. A port in Main had Hebrew writings. Many of the Indian mounds contain Hebrew writing. Maps of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers have been found showing the trade routes. Copper is excavated from the pure copper mine of Northern Michigan and collected in Ohio and then shipped down the Mississippi through the Gulf back to Israel. But this does not mean that all North Amwrican Indians are Israelites nor are they the lost ten tribes. But some are descended from the Ten Tribes.

Brazil is rich in Iron deposits. The word in Hebrew for Iron is BZL if my memory serves me correctly.

When Israel fell in the north in 723 BC, these valuable trade routes were protected by the Carthaginians. When the Carthaginians fell to the Romans the North American colonies in these far off lands were virtually cut off.

Legends in Ireland speak of King David coming there. This is why the Harp is the symbol of Ireland.

All of this is the result of the allegiance of Hiram and Solomon who sent out the seamen of the Phoenicians who knew the sea routes but did not have enough sailors to cover as vast a territory as they are credited with. But when you add in the many Israelites who could man the ship then you have a surplus of Phoenicians to travel the world.

And when Israel was about to be attacked by the Assyrian armies many of Israel fled to these distant countries in North west Europe, which had for the previous two hundred year been trading with Israel and some of the Israelites no doubt vacationed in some of these distant lands.

Ps 109

http://www.ucg.org/bible-commentary/Psalms/Lamenting-prayer-for-help-against-enemies/default.aspx

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

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

In very strong language, David calls on God to settle accounts (verses 6-20). The Nelson Study Bible states: “Here the psalm takes a decidedly negative tone. The description of the wife of the enemy becoming an impoverished widow and the children becoming beggars [verses 9-12] seems particularly harsh. However, the psalmist directs these strong requests to the Lord; he does not actually take the sword into his own hand. He may feel compelled to vent his anger in words, but the psalmist understands that vengeance itself belongs to the Lord” (note on verses 6-8).

Still, we might wonder why David would pray for calamity on innocent family members. Of course, they may not have been innocent at all. We do not know the exact circumstances here. It may be that the children mentioned were older-and that David understood them and the wife to be fully supportive of the wicked man’s attacks on him. They may even have been participants in slandering him. The enemy’s parents may also have been involved (see verse 14).

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

It also seems that the curses David calls for are ones his accusers have pronounced against him-that he is merely praying for their curses against him to be turned back on themselves (compare verses 17-20). The psalm thus forms an “appeal for judicial redress-that the Lord will deal with them in accordance with their malicious intent against him, matching punishment with crime” (Zondervan, note on verses 6-15).

Indeed, we must also remember that David was Israel’s king and judge as well as an inspired prophet of God. His song here, though no doubt personally heartfelt, was more importantly a declaration of God’s judgment rather than a model for us on how to pray about enemies. This is what God’s law decreed concerning false accusers: “If the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother, then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from among you. And those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you. Your eye shall not pity: life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot” (Deuteronomy 19:18-21).

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

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

Psalm 109:14-15 should not be understood as a prayer for removing all possibility of repentance and forgiveness for David’s enemy and the enemy’s family. Rather, David is asking that God not forget what they did to him so as to ensure their punishment. Yet David himself would have accepted an enemy’s repentance-just as God accepted David’s own repentance. Some, it should be noted, see the verses here as indicating that Judas cannot be forgiven for his sin upon repentance in the second resurrection.

These verses indicate no such thing.
Finally, David describes the effect of the enemies’ attacks on him (verses 22-25)-foreshadowing what Jesus Himself would experience. And he prays for God to powerfully intervene in a way that would make it clear to the enemies that God was doing so (verses 26-27). David closes with praise, confident in God’s coming intervention on his behalf (verse 31)-just as God will intervene for all of His people suffering such assaults and persecution from others.

Luke 20

I am going to leave Luke alone this week as we have already covered much and it is very self explanatory.

We now continue to study the 613 laws of Torah which we can read at http://www.jewfaq.org/613.htm We are doing 7 laws each week. We shall study laws 367-373 We also have commentary, with editing from me, again from http://theownersmanual.net/The_Owners_Manual_02_The_Law_of_Love.Torah

(367)Do not wear garments made of wool and linen mixed together. “You shall not wear a garment of different sorts, such as wool and linen mixed together.” (Deuteronomy 22:11) Remember, Israel was to be the keeper of Yahweh’s signs. What they did in their observance of the Torah was meant to be a witness to the world of Yahweh’s plan of redemption—whether they understood the metaphor or not. Clean, white, linen garments are a common scriptural metaphor for holiness. For instance, we read of the marriage supper of the Lamb in Revelation 19:7-8, “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” Our righteousness is a gift from God, thus these “righteous acts of the saints” with which we are clothed are imputed virtue—the sinlessness of Yahshua covering our transgressions. So this mixture of wool and linen that’s prohibited in the Torah is symbolic of one’s dependence upon both grace and good works. Good works, symbolized here by wool, are fine in their own context, so Yahweh doesn’t prohibit its use. But good works are not germane to the subject of one’s vindication—they aren’t something to be “worn” in addition to the “fine linen, clean and bright” of God’s grace. Yahweh is admonishing us to rely upon Him alone.

THE FIRSTBORN

(368) Redeem the firstborn human male. “All the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. So it shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall say to him, ‘By strength of hand Yahweh brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. And it came to pass, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that Yahweh killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore I sacrifice to Yahweh all males that open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’” (Exodus 13:13-15) “Everything that first opens the womb of all flesh, which they bring to Yahweh, whether man or beast, shall be yours; nevertheless the firstborn of man you shall surely redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. And those redeemed of the devoted things you shall redeem when one month old, according to your valuation, for five shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.” (Numbers 18:15-16) Yahweh declared that all the males in Israel who were first-born, either of people or animals, belonged to Him. The rabbis, careful to avoid any subject that might have Messianic overtones, studiously stuck to the letter of the law on this one: if a male child opens the womb, he is to be “bought back from God”—redeemed—for five silver shekels (about $20). Elsewhere (Leviticus 3:40-51), Yahweh explains that the males of the tribe of Levi are to serve as the substitution for the firstborn males of Israel, and the five shekels are just to cover those for whom there are insufficient numbers of Levites (273 of them when Moses first counted them up).

Redemption is deliverance from some evil circumstance by payment of a price. This evil could be debt, guilt of some crime, slavery, or some other predicament. Since we have all fallen short of Yahweh’s perfect standard, we are all in need of redemption. By paying the token “ransom” for their firstborn male children, Israelites under the Torah were acting out Yahweh’s redemption of the whole human race—the offering up of His perfect “Lamb of God,” Yahshua the Messiah.

(369) Redeem the firstling of an ass. “You shall set apart to Yahweh all that open the womb, that is, every firstborn that comes from an animal which you have; the males shall be Yahweh’s. But every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck.” (Exodus 13:12-13) A donkey was a ceremonially “unclean” animal. A firstborn male donkey, being useful as a beast of burden, was allowed to be redeemed instead of being sacrificed and eaten as a clean animal would have been. The animal specified to take his place? A lamb. Yahweh’s point is that the price of redemption must be innocent, clean, perfect. Sacrificing a clean lamb in place of an unclean donkey is a perfect picture of what Yahshua did for us on Calvary.

(370) Break the neck of the firstling of an ass if it is not redeemed. “But the firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb. And if you will not redeem him, then you shall break his neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And none shall appear before Me empty-handed.” (Exodus 34:20) There is choice involved, however. The donkey doesn’t have to be rescued by the lamb. But if he isn’t, his life is forfeit, and no benefit is derived from his life or his death. He provides no nourishment; he does no labor benefiting mankind; he’s of no use to anyone, not even himself. He has brought pain to his mother and inconvenience to everyone else. This is a picture of our sorry position if the sacrifice of Lamb of God is not invoked on our behalf.

We also read in Gen 16:12 “And he is to be a wild man, his hand against every one and every one’s hand against him, and dwell over against all his brothers.” This is speaking of Ishmael being a wild ass of a man. A donkey.

Job 39:5 Who set the wild donkey free? Who loosed the bonds of the wild donkey,
Job 39:6 whose home I have made the desert, and the salt land his dwelling?
Job 39:7 He laughs at the commotion of the city; he does not hear the shouts of the driver.
Job 39:8 The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searches for all that is green.

Ishmael and Esau are similar in the last days in their hatred of the children of Isaac and Jacob. In the last days the yoke on the wild ass will be loosened and then broken in the last days.

Gen 27:40 And by your sword you are to live, and serve your brother. And it shall be, when you grow restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck.”
Gen 27:41 And ?saw hated Ya?aqob? because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and ?saw said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father draw near, then I am going to kill my brother Ya?aqob?.”

Ishael and Easu could be redeemed but they are not and will be broken.

(371) Do not redeem the firstling of a clean beast. “Everything that first opens the womb of all flesh, which they bring to Yahweh, whether man or beast, shall be yours; nevertheless the firstborn of man you shall surely redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. And those redeemed of the devoted things you shall redeem when one month old, according to your valuation, for five shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. But the firstborn of a cow, the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar, and burn their fat as an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to Yahweh. And their flesh shall be yours, just as the wave breast and the right thigh are yours.” (Numbers 18:15-18) This subject is so important to Yahweh, it’s discussed in detail three separate times in the Torah (as we have seen), and other facets are covered in Leviticus 3:40-51 and 27:26. This mitzvah covers the “clean” animal. It is to be sacrificed when it has reached the requisite age, with its blood (representing its life) being sprinkled on the altar, and its inedible fat parts burned as an offering to Yahweh. The meat, however, remains the property of the animal’s owner.

Several things are going on here. The symbols are rich and varied. First, the animal’s owner has shown faith in Yahweh’s promises of future provision. He has killed an animal that showed promise, whether for breeding purposes, wool, or labor. The “bean-counter” in us may decry the “waste,” but Yahweh says, “If you trust Me, I’ll take care of you.”

Second, Yahweh is using the occasion as an excuse for a party. It’s a pot-luck barbeque: He gets the blood and fat, and the family gets the edible parts. Over and over again in scripture, we get the distinct impression that Yahweh loves nothing more than to get together with His children and have a feast. And by the way, there’s a big one coming soon—it’s going to last a thousand years.

Third, that which is already “clean” needs no redemption. As Moses says, if we are “clean,” we have been made holy, set apart for Yahweh’s purposes. Yes, death of the mortal body is part of the process, but we who are clean are only dying in emulation of our Savior—dying to sin so that we might live through Him.

And fourth, look at which clean animals were singled out as examples. The bullock or ox represents quiet service—one of the recurring metaphors of Messiah’s character. The male lamb, of course, represents Christ in His role as substitutionary sacrifice. As John put it, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” And the goat is symbolic of the sin Yahshua became for us as he bore our shame to the grave.

Priests and Levites

If you consult the Tanach (the Old Covenant scriptures) you’ll read about priests, Levites, judges, kings, and prophets being ordained by Yahweh to lead and serve His people. But if you look at Judaism today, who’s in charge? Rabbis—literally, “masters”—self-appointed teachers and interpreters of the Torah. This unbiblical state of affairs has existed for a couple of thousand years now. We need to examine why the shift was made, how, and by whom.

This study, as you know, is organizationally based on the work of Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, a.k.a. Maimonides, a.k.a. the Rambam (1135-1204 AD). But far from being the one who invented rabbinic Judaism, Maimonides merely collected and codified the opinions of influential rabbis spanning the previous millennium. So what had happened to the Levitical priesthood? From the gospel narratives, we know that during the time of Yahshua’s earthly ministry (28 to 31 AD) the priesthood was still in business—dominated at the time by a liberal, “politically correct” sect called the Sadducees. They were countered by the strict and conservative Pharisee sect (who were far more influential among the people, according to Josephus) from whom arose the rabbis.

Since the chief priests didn’t really believe the word of God they had been tasked to preserve and defend, it fell to these enthusiastic usurpers, the Pharisees, to pick up the slack. Or so they believed.

The key to the rise of rabbinism is the notion that in addition to the written Torah, there was also an “oral Torah”—without which one supposedly couldn’t understand or perform the written version. Passed on by word of mouth from teacher to student without ever being written down (though no one could explain why anyone would want to do this), this “oral law” was, in the eyes of its adherents, of equal weight to the written Torah—the “Mosaic Law.” But the oral law is never mentioned in the Hebrew scriptures, never alluded to, never even hinted at. Why? Because in point of fact, it didn’t exist—not until well after the close of the Old Covenant canon, around 400 BC. Another evidence that an “oral Torah” that had been passed down intact from generation to generation didn’t actually exist was that by the time of Christ, there was a raging controversy about what it supposedly said. The two dominant schools of thought were led by Rabbis Hillel and Shammai—and they agreed on very little. The oral law apparently wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on.

The final defeat of priestly authority was brought about a century or so later, when Rabbi Akiba ben Joseph gained the upper hand, systematized the oral law according to his own views, and precipitated through his disciples the Mishnah (the previously forbidden written form of the oral law) and an impenetrable web of supporting works, including Greek and Aramaic translations of the Tanach that supported his own unique position on the halakah. Akiba instituted a whole new system of eisegesis (that is, reading into a text what you want to see, as opposed to exegesis—drawing out of the passage what is there). Judaic thought has been thoroughly permeated by Akiba’s views ever since, including, of course, the writings of Maimonides that we’ve been reviewing.

If you’re interested in the whole story, read Rabbi Akiba’s Messiah: The Origins of Rabbinic Authority, by Daniel Gruber (Elijah Publishing, 1999). The crowning “achievement” of Rabbi Akiba’s grab for power was his backing of Simeon ben Kosiba—a.k.a. Bar Kochba—as Israel’s messiah. The Jews’ anti-Roman revolt under this arrogant and brutal warlord was what ultimately persuaded Emperor Hadrian (in 135 AD) to evict every Israelite from the land, salt its farmland to make it barren and worthless, and change its name from Judea to Palestina (after the long-extinct Philistines) in an effort to break the Jews’ emotional ties to the land. Remarkably however, Bar Kochba is still regarded as the ideal messianic “type” among orthodox Jews, and Akiba’s disastrously errant theologies are the very foundation of Orthodox Jewish religious thought to this day.

That is why Judaism is a dry well when it comes to insight about God’s word. It’s foundation is a man-made construct. Only Yahweh’s word—His written word—can be trusted. “For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are. Nothing in all creation can hide from him. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes. This is the God to whom we must explain all that we have done.” Neither the “oral Torah” nor any of Akiba’s prevarications can do any of that. And though the rabbis would have you believe that they alone stand between God and man serving as the gatekeepers of truth, Yahweh has something entirely different in mind: a Priesthood of One. “That is why we have a great High Priest who has gone to heaven, Yehshua the Son of God. Let us cling to him and never stop trusting him. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same temptations we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it.” (Hebrews 4:11-16 NLT)

God’s first gift to mankind was choice—the ability to choose whether or not to reciprocate His love through trusting Him. But the assignment of our place of service and responsibility remains Yahweh’s prerogative. It is not up to us to choose to be prophets, priests, or kings—or rabbis, for that matter. Rather, God chooses us for these tasks, based upon the wisdom or foolishness we’ve shown—our stewardship—in more fundamental matters. In the matter of the priesthood of Israel, God chose one family from one specific tribe to be priests: the family of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi. “Now a high priest is a man chosen to represent other human beings in their dealings with God. He presents their gifts to God and offers their sacrifices for sins. And because he is human, he is able to deal gently with the people, though they are ignorant and wayward. For he is subject to the same weaknesses they have. That is why he has to offer sacrifices, both for their sins and for his own sins. And no one can become a high priest simply because he wants such an honor. He has to be called by God for this work, just as Aaron was….” Service to God and man is a calling, not a career path.

In Israel, kings were to come from Judah, and priests from Levi. But Yahweh ordained Yahshua to be both king and priest. His was a unique calling. “That is why Christ did not exalt himself to become High Priest. No, he was chosen by God, who said to him, ‘You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.’ And in another passage God said to him, ‘You are a priest forever in the line of Melchizedek.’” Melchizedek, if you’ll recall, was the priest-king of Salem whom Abram met after the defeat of the “kings” who had raided Sodom and kidnapped his nephew Lot (Genesis 14). This incident predated the ordination of Aaron by half a millennium. “While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could deliver him out of death. And God heard his prayers because of his reverence for God. So even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him. And God designated him to be a High Priest in the line of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 5:1-10 NLT)

The writer goes on to describe Mel’s credentials. “This Melchizedek was king of the city of Salem and also a priest of God Most High. When Abraham was returning home after winning a great battle against many kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him. Then Abraham took a tenth of all he had won in the battle and gave it to Melchizedek. His name means ‘king of justice.’ He is also ‘king of peace’ because Salem means ‘peace.’ There is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors—no beginning or end to his life. He remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God….” It’s possible that Melchizedek was a theophany; at the very least, he was a messianic metaphor.

Remember, Hebrews is a book of comparisons, ultimately comparing the Law of Moses with the finished work of Yahshua the Messiah as a path to salvation—and finding the Law wanting. Here the Aaronic priesthood is compared to that of Melchizedek. “Consider then how great this Melchizedek was. Even Abraham, the great patriarch of Israel, recognized how great Melchizedek was by giving him a tenth of what he had taken in battle. Now the priests, who are descendants of Levi, are commanded in the law of Moses to collect a tithe from all the people, even though they are their own relatives. But Melchizedek, who was also Shem, collected a tenth from Abraham. And Melchizedek placed a blessing upon Abraham, the one who had already received the promises of God. And without question, the person who has the power to bless is always greater than the person who is blessed….” In other words, the priesthood represented by Melchizedek is superior to that of Aaron.

Here’s how. “In the case of Jewish priests, tithes are paid to men who will die. But Melchizedek is greater than they are, because we are told that he lives on. In addition, we might even say that Levi’s descendants, the ones who collect the tithe, paid a tithe to Melchizedek through their ancestor Abraham. For although Levi wasn’t born yet, the seed from which he came was in Abraham’s loins when Melchizedek collected the tithe from him.” All of which is stated to make a point, which is: “And finally, if the priesthood of Levi could have achieved God’s purposes—and it was that priesthood on which the law was based—why did God need to send a different priest from the line of Melchizedek, instead of from the line of Levi and Aaron?…” The answer, so obvious the writer of Hebrews didn’t bother saying it, is that the priesthood of Aaron could not have achieved God’s purposes—it was never intended to. “And when the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it. For the one we are talking about belongs to a different tribe, whose members do not serve at the altar. What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned Judah in connection with the priesthood.” (Hebrews 7:1-14 NLT) Unlike His claims to the throne of Israel through His ancestor King David, Yahshua’s priesthood—His intercessory role between mankind and Yahweh—did not depend on His physical lineage, but on a spiritual lineage going back to Melchizedek. The law hasn’t so much been “changed,” as it has been fulfilled—the metaphor of Aaron’s priesthood has been replaced by the reality of Melchizedek’s.

“The change in God’s law is even more evident from the fact that a different priest, who is like Melchizedek, has now come. He became a priest, not by meeting the old requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed.” Under the Torah, a priest served simply because he was a male born of a certain family who had reached a certain age. But the order of Melchizedek held a slightly stiffer standard: one must have “a life that cannot be destroyed.” “And the psalmist pointed this out when he said of Christ, ‘You are a priest forever in the line of Melchizedek.’ Yes, the old requirement about the priesthood was set aside because it was weak and useless. For the law made nothing perfect, and now a better hope has taken its place. And that is how we draw near to God.” (Hebrews 7:15-19 NLT) Lest there be any confusion, let me reiterate for the umpteenth time: the Torah is not without value, for it speaks eloquently of the coming Messiah and His mission. But it is not in itself Yahweh’s plan for our salvation. It never was.

“God took an oath that Christ would always be a priest, but he never did this for any other priest. Only to Jesus did he say, ‘Yahweh has taken an oath and will not break his vow: You are a priest forever.’ Because of God’s oath, it is Jesus who guarantees the effectiveness of this better covenant….” That makes sense, for if a priest of the order of Melchizedek must have “a life that cannot be destroyed,” it follows that His life would continue “forever.” “Another difference is that there were many priests under the old system. When one priest died, another had to take his place. But Jesus remains a priest forever; his priesthood will never end. Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save everyone who comes to God through him. He lives forever to plead with God on their behalf.” Yahshua, then, is the only high priest we will ever need. Moreover, He is the right kind of intercessor. “He is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has now been set apart from sinners, and he has been given the highest place of honor in heaven. He does not need to offer sacrifices every day like the other high priests. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he sacrificed himself on the cross. Those who were high priests under the law of Moses were limited by human weakness. But after the law was given, God appointed his Son with an oath, and his Son has been made perfect forever.” (Hebrews 7:20-28)
We began this chapter by noting that the rabbis had appointed themselves the keepers of the Torah in place of the priests. After all, the Romans had torn down the temple and scattered the populace, and the duly appointed priesthood had been corrupt and unbelieving anyway. So the Aaronic priesthood was dead three times over. But the rabbis—especially Akiba—failed to factor in that Yahweh wasn’t exactly asleep at the wheel. He knew what had happened to the priesthood. He Himself had replaced the order of Aaron—a shadow of the Messiah’s priestly role—with the order of Melchizedek, the reality that casts the shadow—a priesthood that would never perish. That makes the rabbis nothing but pathetic wannabe usurpers of the Messiah’s mandate. “Here is the main point: Our High Priest sat down in the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. There he ministers in the sacred tent, the true place of worship that was built by the Lord and not by human hands….”

Yes, the earthly Temple was gone, but even this had been nothing but a reflection of the true Temple in heaven. The real High Priest was presiding in the real temple. “And since every high priest is required to offer gifts and sacrifices, our High Priest must make an offering, too. If he were here on earth, he would not even be a priest, since there already are priests who offer the gifts required by the law of Moses. They serve in a place of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven. For when Moses was getting ready to build the Tabernacle, God gave him this warning: ‘Be sure that you make everything according to the design I have shown you here on the mountain.’ But our High Priest has been given a ministry that is far superior to the ministry of those who serve under the old laws, for he is the one who guarantees for us a better covenant with God, based on better promises.” (Hebrews 8:1-6 NLT) No more shadows, no more reflections. The Reality is here. All of which appears to make the mitzvot that follow somewhat beside the point. The Aaronic priesthood they describe no longer exists in the role the Torah specifies, and the Levites alive today don’t perceive who they are. But we can still learn something of the Reality by studying the image, and we can still glean valuable insight from God’s metaphors. As I said, the Torah may have been fulfilled, but that doesn’t mean it’s obsolete.

PRIESTS AND LEVITES

(372) The kohanim shall put on priestly vestments for the service. “Now take Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to Me as priest, Aaron and Aaron’s sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. So you shall speak to all who are gifted artisans, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments, to consecrate him, that he may minister to Me as priest. And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a skillfully woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. So they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, that he may minister to Me as priest. (Exodus 28:1-4) The clothing worn by the priests, and especially the High Priest, set them apart in appearance from the ordinary Israelite. Each article mentioned was subsequently described in detail in Exodus 28, and all of it speaks of the coming Messiah.

The breastplate (verses 15-29) was adorned with twelve gemstones, correlated to the twelve tribes of Israel. The picture is that each individual tribe was always near the heart of the High Priest (v.29). In the book of Revelation, John describes the foundations of the New Jerusalem as being adorned with twelve precious stones, correlated this time to the twelve apostles (Revelation 21:14). I believe the stones are the same. Each stone points out a different facet of Messiah’s character.

The High Priest’s ephod (verses 6-14) was like a skirt that covered the hips and thighs (worn in addition to the thigh-length trousers mentioned in verse 42). It was attached beneath the breastplate with golden rings and a blue cord. It was also equipped with straps that suspended it from the shoulders. Upon the shoulders, like epaulets, were two onyx stones set in gold, each engraved with the names of six of the sons of Israel. Thus the High Priest symbolically bore the weight of Israel upon his shoulders—a picture of service and intercession.

The “robe of the ephod” was apparently built sort of like a poncho, with a single hole for the head, reinforced so it wouldn’t tear (see #373). This robe would have been quite expensive, for it was entirely dyed blue (see Mitzvah #18), the color of the royalty whose sacrifice would someday redeem them—the same color specified for one thread of each Israelite’s tsitzit, or tassel of remembrance.

The tunic (or outer garment), trousers, turban, and sash, were all made of fine white linen, representing (if other hints spread throughout scripture are germane) righteousness, and specifically, imputed righteousness—that which is not maintained through a faultless life, but rather is bestowed upon us through God’s grace. The turban was adorned with a gold plate engraved with the words “Holiness to Yahweh.” Thus the spiritual state of God’s people would literally be on the mind of the High Priest.

(373) Do not tear the High Kohein’s robe. “You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. There shall be an opening for his head in the middle of it; it shall have a woven binding all around its opening, like the opening in a coat of mail, so that it does not tear.” (Exodus 28:31-32) “He who is the high priest among his brethren, on whose head the anointing oil was poured and who is consecrated to wear the garments, shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes.” (Leviticus 21:10) When Ezra the priest saw that some returning exiles had intermarried with gentiles, he tore his robe in dismay. But though he was a leader in Israel, he wasn’t the High Priest at the time, Jeshua was. The only instance recorded in scripture of a High Priest rending his garments was Caiaphas, the High Priest during Christ’s ministry. He tore his clothes in rage when Yahshua—commanded by the priest to reveal whether or not He was the Messiah—answered truthfully in the affirmative. If nothing else, it demonstrates that his observation of the Torah was strictly selective: he was perfectly willing to throw its precepts to the wind if it suited his political purposes.