The Double Wave of Love!

John 13:34 – A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

I AM giving you a new command: that you keep on loving each other. In this same way that I have loved you, you are also to keep on loving each other. ~ John 13:34

Yes! A double-wave of love! From God to us to one another :

[Be] kindly1 affectioned2 one to another with brotherly love3; in honor4 preferring5 one another [KJV] ~ Romans 12:10

Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another. ~ Romans 12:10 [KJV]

1. kindly: #5387 [Greek]: philostorgos: cherishing one’s kindred, especially parents and children; fond of natural relatives philos: dear, a friend; act fondly + storgos: to cherish affectionately
2. affectioned [same] #5387 : philostorgos Implication: double the philostorgos, cherish relatives and ‘strangers’ and ‘foreigners’! Go beyond, pay it forward!
3. How? with brotherly love #5360 philadelphia [Greek] fraternal affection, love of the brethren, from philadelphos: fond of brethren, fraternal
4. in honor #5092 time [tee-may, Greek] a value, i.e. money paid, or valuables; esteem [especially of the highest degree], or the dignity itself– precious, price; from #5099 tio: to pay a price, i.e. as a penalty:–to be punished with.
5. preferring #4285 proegeomai [Greek] : to lead the way for others, to show deference for one another, to consider, esteem the other.
 “proegeomai” comes from “hegeomai“, to lead, to command, to deem, consider, esteem
Message: Cherish one another, even strangers with the love of brethren showing deference for one another, esteeming them as valuable and precious, as Christ the Messiah paid the price for all.
Is His commandment to love of God?
 A “law” is an instruction or rule; it requires certain conduct or activities; it is something considered to be authoritative which must be obeyed!
 A “law” is an enactment binding by the sanction of God

Galatians 6:2 – Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Messiah

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John the Beloved also thought so:

1 John 3:23 – And this is His commandment, That we should believe on the Name of His Son Yeshua Messiah, and love one another, as He gave us commandment.

A parable tells of a young man who loved a girl to folly. One evening he could stand it no more. He knocked at her door and begged, ” Let me come in. I must be with you”. She asked, “But who is it”?
He answered, “It is I, your beloved”, to which she replied,” My room is narrow and my bed is straight. There is no place for you”. He left and wandered for years through the world, not understanding her refusal. He had assumed that she loved him, too.
But the moment of enlightenment came. He knocked at her door again. She asked, “Who is it”? He answered, “It is you”! The door opened for him. He was received with embraces. She said, “For years I have waited for this moment”!
–quote: Richard Wurmbrand, If Prison Walls Could Speak, pg. 52

Reward truly shall come quickly by placing others first and helping others to succeed. Is not this part of “dying to self” or “carrying your cross” and “not I but Messiah in me”?
We should all say, “It is you”!

1 Peter 5:5 – Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all [of you] be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble.

Bible Verses About Prefer One Another

– Love each other devotedly and with brotherly love; and set examples for each other in showing respect. [CJB] Romans 12:10

Use parallel translations; read the original in Hebrew and Greek if you can.

Bible verses related to Prefer One Another from the King James Version (KJV)

Romans 12:10 – [Be] kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another;

Philippians 2:3 – [Let] nothing [be done] through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

1 Peter 5:5 – Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all [of you] be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble.

1 Peter 4:9 – Use hospitality one to another without grudging.

Galatians 6:2 – Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Hebrews 10:25 – Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some [is]; but exhorting [one another]: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 – Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

Ephesians 4:32 – And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

James 5:16 – Confess [your] faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Hebrews 13:17 – Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that [is] unprofitable for you.

Hebrews 10:24 – And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

1 Timothy 5:1-2 – Rebuke not an elder, but entreat [him] as a father; [and] the younger men as brethren; (Read More…)

John 13:34-35 – A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. (Read More…)

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 – Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become [as] sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. (Read More…)

Romans 12:16 – [Be] of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.

Matthew 22:37 – Jesus said unto him, Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

1 John 3:11 – For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

1 Thessalonians 4:18 – Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Colossians 3:16 – Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Ephesians 5:21-33 – Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. (Read More…)

Ephesians 5:21 – Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

Ephesians 4:25 – Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

Ephesians 4:2 – With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;

Romans 14:13 – Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in [his] brother’s way.

1 John 4:12 – No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwells in us, and his love is perfected in us.

1 Peter 5:3 – Neither as being lords over [God’s] heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.

1 Peter 4:8 – And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

1 Peter 3:5-6 – For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: (Read More…)

1 Thessalonians 4:1 – Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort [you] by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, [so] ye would abound more and more.

Colossians 3:13 – Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also [do] ye.

Ephesians 5:24 – Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so [let] the wives [be] to their own husbands in every thing.

Ephesians 5:23 – For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the Savior of the body.

Galatians 6:1 – Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

1 Corinthians 13:4 – Charity suffers long, [and] is kind; charity envies not; charity vaunts not itself, is not puffed up,

1 Corinthians 12:25 – That there should be no schism in the body; but [that] the members should have the same care one for another.

Romans 13:8 – Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

Romans 7:4 – Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, [even] to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

Acts 4:18-20 – And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. (Read More…)

John 15:17 – These things I command you, that ye love one another.

John 15:12 – This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Matthew 28:19 – Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Matthew 18:20 – For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Matthew 1:18-25 – Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. (Read More…)

Genesis 16:5-6 – And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong [be] upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee. (Read More…)

1 John 5:2 – By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

1 John 4:8 – He that loves not knows not God; for God is love.

1 Peter 5:1-2 – The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: (Read More…)

Galatians 5:13 – For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only [use] not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

Romans 15:14 – And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.

Romans 14:19 – Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.

Romans 12:13 – Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.

Acts 2:38 – Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Luke 1:26-38 – And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, (Read More…)

Proverbs 21:9 – [It is] better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house.

1 Samuel 25:17-19 – Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he [is such] a son of Belial, that [a man] cannot speak to him. (Read More…)

1 Samuel 25:4-42 – And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep. (Read More…)

Joshua 6:25 – And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwells in Israel [even] unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

Genesis 21:10-12 – Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, [even] with Isaac. (Read More…)

1 John 5:3 – For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

1 John 4:7 – Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loves is born of God, and knows God.

1 John 4:2 – Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

1 John 3:23 – And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.

1 John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 Peter 4:10 – As every man hath received the gift, [even so] minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

1 Peter 3:8 – Finally, [be ye] all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, [be] pitiful, [be] courteous:

1 Peter 1:16 – Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

James 5:9 – Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge stands before the door.

James 4:11 – Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaks evil of [his] brother, and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law, and judges the law
Hebrews 3:13 – But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

2 Timothy 2:15 – Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:2 – And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

1 Timothy 5:21 – I charge [thee] before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.

1 Timothy 3:13 – For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

1 Timothy 3:10 – And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being [found] blameless.

1 Timothy 3:2 – A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

1 Thessalonians 3:12 – And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all [men], even as we [do] toward you:

1 Thessalonians 3:1 – Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone;

1 Thessalonians 2:2 – But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention.

Colossians 3:9 – Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;

Colossians 3:3 – For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Colossians 1:18 – And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all [things] he might have the preeminence.

Ephesians 5:25 – Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

Ephesians 4:16 – From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Ephesians 2:8-9 – For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: (Read More…)

Galatians 5:26 – Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

Galatians 5:22-23 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, (Read More…)

Galatians 5:22 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Galatians 5:15 – But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.

Galatians 5:13-15 – For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only [use] not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. (Read More…)

2 Corinthians 12:7 – And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

2 Corinthians 8:9 – For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

2 Corinthians 5:20 – Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech [you] by us: we pray [you] in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

1 Corinthians 13:8 – Charity never fails: but whether [there be] prophecies, they shall fail; whether [there be] tongues, they shall cease; whether [there be] knowledge, it shall vanish away.

1 Corinthians 13:7 – Bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things.

1 Corinthians 13:1 – Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become [as] sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

1 Corinthians 12:27 – Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

1 Corinthians 12:1-31 – Now concerning spiritual [gifts], brethren, I would not have you ignorant. (Read More…)

1 Corinthians 9:14 – Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

1 Corinthians 4:6 – And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and [to] Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think [of men] above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.

Prefer one another and be doubly blessed!

Asher, Happiness & the Number 8

Are you “happy”? Are you supposed to be “happy”? What is “happiness”?

“Happy” as 1st seen in the Holy Scriptures is in Genesis 30: 12-13:

 Zilpah Leah’s slave-girl bore Jacob a 2nd son, and Leah said, ‘How happy [in Hebrew, ‘asher] I am! Women will say I am happy!’ and called him Asher.

Asher derives from the primitive Hebrew root ‘asher: to be straight, be level, right, or happy , to go forward, be honest, prosper, as also in Job 29:11, Psalms 72:17, Proverbs 31:28, and Malachi 3:12, 15.

 So, Asher is pronounce ‘ happy’ or call blessed, one who is honest and prosperous in right level way of living! If so, you are happy!

“Asher” or happy is son #8, after Reuben #1 [see, a son]; Simeon #2 [Shi’mon, hearing]; Levi #3 [joining, attaching]; Judah #4 [Y’hudah, praise]; Dan #5 [He judged]; Naphtali #6 [my wrestling]; and Gad #7 [good fortune].

• Message in the  8 sons of Jacob:

See [that God is good]  +Hear [His Word ] +Join or Marry [to God] +Praise [His Name] +Reason [Together with God, Isaiah 1:16] +Contend [fight the good fight of faith]—> Good Fortune and Happiness!                       

•  In Hebrew the number eight is (Sh’moneh), from the root (Shah’meyn), “to make fat,” “cover with fat,” “to super-abound.” “Fatness” symbolizes the blessing of abundance and oils and fats become poured out &  sacrificed by Jacob in chapter 28 and by the Levites later on.
• Of Asher Moses says in Deuteronomy 33:24-25:

May Asher be most blessed of sons [out of Reuben, Judah, Levi, Benjamin, Joseph, Zebulon, Gad, Dan, Naphtali; Simeon (hearing)  and Issachar (reward) not mentioned; ] , May he be the favorite among his brothers and bathe his feet in oil. May your bolts be of iron and bronze and your strength last as long as you live.

• Moses continues to teach “Yeshurun” the beloved one that there is “no one like God, riding through the heavens to help you [v.26]! “

The God of old is a dwelling-place, with everlasting arms beneath. He expelled the enemy before you and He said, “Destroy!” So Israel lives in security…Happy [‘asher, O thy happiness] are you, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by Yehovah, your defender helping you and your sword of triumph. Your enemies will cringe before you, but you will trample down their high places [Dt. 33:27-29].

 

The queen of Sheba was breathless when she saw the wisdom and prosperity of Solomon in 1 Kings 10. In verse 8 she states how “happy your people must be, how happy these servants of yours who are always here attending  you and get to hear your wisdom! 9 Blessed be Yehovah your God, who took pleasure in you to put you on the throne of Israel.” She gave him 4 tons of gold!

How happy [‘asher] are we when we receive the Father’s spirit, the 7 as in Isaiah 11: 1-2: the same spirit  of Yehovah which rested on Yeshua Jesus the Messiah rests on and in us if we believe: with  His Spirit of wisdom, understanding,  counsel, power, knowledge, and fearing [revering] Yehovah!

David sang in a song [Psalms 144:15] :  “How happy the people who live in such conditions [the blessings]! How happy the people whose God is Yehovah!”

Happy is he whose help is Jacob’s God, whose hope is in Yehovah his God [Psalms 146:5]

Happy the person who finds wisdom, the person who acquires understanding, for her [wisdom’s] profit exceeds that of silver, gaining her [wisdom] is better than gold, she is more precious than pearls–nothing you want can compare with her [wisdom] [Proverbs 3:13-15].

How happy is everyone who fears Yehovah, who lives by His ways. You will eat what your hands have produced, you will be happy and prosperous [Psalms 128:1-2].

There was also a prophet named Anna [Hannah] daughter of Penuel of the tribe of Asher [happy] . She was a very old woman [84= 10 x 8  , complete abundance +4 corners of earth]…She never left the Temple grounds but worshipped there night and day, fasting and praying. She came by at that moment [Mary & Joseph brought baby Jesus] and began thanking God and speaking about the child to everyone  who was waiting for Jerusalem to be liberated [Luke 2:36-38].

“Now if I , the Lord and Rabbi, have washed your feet, you also should wash each other’s feet. For I have set an example, so you may do as I have done to you…If you know these things, you will be blessed [happy] if you do them [John 13:14-17]”.

• This ‘happy‘ is in Greek : “makarios“, supremely blest, fortunate, well off, blessed! Blessed is he who obeys and follows as taught.

Look, we regard those who persevered as blessed [happy]. You have heard of the perseverance of Job, and you know what the purpose of Yehovah was, that Yehovah is very compassionate and merciful [James 5:11].

How happy [asher] the person whom God corrects! So don’t despise Shaddai’s   [the Almighty’s] discipline. For He wounds, but he bandages the sore; His hands may strike, but they also heal [Job 5:17-18].

There is power in contentment, to choose to be happy over sad, to “count your blessings one by one and see what God has done” in your life. Look not to others. Choose not to be discontent. We are created to worship Yehovah [Psalm 150]. This journey is “not about us but about Him”. We are here to glorify God:

Romans 11:36″ For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen”.

Once we submit our lives to Him, He fills us with the abundant life, the fatness, the #8, the ‘asher, happiness. Shalom

 

We are Chosen, Sometimes in the Furnace of Affliction!

English: Matzah Bread (unleavened flatbread for Passover/Pesach). Français : Pain Azyme (pain non-levé pour la Pâque juive : Pessah) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“See, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction.  For My own sake…” [Isaiah 48:10-11a]“.

We are called and chosen to be His people, refined in the furnace of affliction, to become His praise and priests of His Royal priesthood!

• Refine: to make fine or pure; free from impurities, from courseness!  Imbue with culture, polish, and delicate sensibilities! We are refined or made free of impurities in the furnace of Affliction, to become pure gold! This is why we become stressed at times, to become more refined or free of impurities, for His sake!
• Silver: soft, lustrous metal, used as catalyst, conductor, and to coat mirrors, to reflect us and GOD in us ;or pale money, keceph; greed!
• Gold:the heaviest but soft lustrous metal,  good conductor, refined only in the furnace!
• Conduct: way of acting; direct or lead; guide; serve as a medium for or transmit such as heat, electricity and sound; from  Latin, to lead to or bring together!  May we act reflecting Y’shua Jesus, directing and leading people to Him, bringing His Bride together, to glorify Him!
• Furnace: an extremely hot place, structure containing a chamber for production of intense heat! In the heat, 7 times hotter, is Y’shua with us, if we believe in Him and His Word!

“…eat unleavenedbread with it, bread of affliction, because you came out of the land of Mitsrayim [Egypt] …remember the day in which you came out of …Egypt, all the days of your life.” [Deuteronomy 16:3]

• Unleavened bread has no leaven [yeast nor baking soda/powder] , is flat, pressed down & baked as is
• No yeast = no rise~no haughtiness; only  humility, submission, abasement;  opposite of self-exalt!
• We are to eat, to chew, to meditate this flat bread
• As we eat, we are to abase self, humble and submit to Yahweh Elohim , Almighty GOD
• This bread is the Bread of Life~ Jesus Y’shua Messiah
• See in this flat bread the One who humbled Himself for us and raises us up to new life in Him and at the last day: He is our rise in Life! Matzah, the flat bread of Passover, has pierced marks and stripes, reflecting the torture of Christ for us!
• So , we are to eat this bread of affliction…and remember our own days of slavery to sin and remember the day we came out, set free by the blood of Jesus Y’shua the Christ Messiah!
• But…what does it mean, ”bread of affliction”?

Affliction: from the Hebrew, “oniy“: depression! from aw-nah: to depress, abase self, afflict self, submit self, humble self. Christ Messiah submitted Himself for us, was afflicted to provide atonement for our sins, as the Lamb of Yahweh GOD of Isaiah 53!

• “Yahweh has heard your affliction…[Genesis 16:11]“!
• “Yahweh has looked upon my affliction…[Genesis 29:32]“!
• “Yahweh has seen my affliction…[31:42]“! See also Exodus 3:7, 17, 4:31, & Deuteronomy 16:3,  26:7; 1 Samuel 1:11 [Hannah’s affliction ] & Nehemiah 9:9!
• Job, ” held in the cords of affliction” [36:8], prayed ” therefore see my affliction” [10:15], as the ” days of affliction have taken hold” [30:16], yet to be ”chosen rather than afflicted” [36:21]!

• Psalmists sang ”…abhorred the affliction of the afflicted…” [22:24] and cried, ” Look upon my affliction and my pain…[25:18]” ! ” …my eye mourns by reason of affliction…[88:9]!

Nevertheless He regarded their affliction or trouble, tsar in Hebrew, a narrow tight place, as in Zechariah 8:10 and Hosea 5:15 !

I shall go, I shall return to My place, until they confess their guilt and seek My face, in their distress diligently search for Me.

There is trouble or anguish, tightness, tribulation or tsa-rah!  And there is tsaw-rar, to cramp , adversary, besiege, or bind , as in Amos 5:12,

For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are great, afflicting the righteous…

Then there is ra’, evil and bad,  from ra’a, to spoil by breaking to pieces and make ‘good for nothing’ ! Ra’ is adversity, calamity, distress, harm, ill mischief, misery, sorrow, trouble, vex, and wickedness!

” [And you should not have ]…nor have entered the gate of My people in the day of their calamity, nor looked down on their evil in the day of their calamity, nor have seized their wealth in the day of their calamity … (Obadiah 12-13)”!

Out of affliction , fracture, or ruin can be birthed a solution! The Hebrew word sheber, for ruin , breach, breaking, crashing comes from shabar, to burst, break down, crush , destroy but also ‘bring to birth’ ! Amos 6:6 had this ‘in mind’ mentioning  Yosef, [Joseph], a shepherd boy thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, who rose to be Prince of Egypt:

Description unavailable (Photo credit: Tom Paton)

“[ You]… who are drinking wine from bowls, and anoint with the finest ointments, yet they have not grieved over the breach [affliction] of Yosef!”

Psalm 102 is ” a prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before Yahweh “!

” O Yahweh, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to You! Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress; incline Your ear to me…”! [v. 1-2]

Psalm 140:12 affirms that Yahweh maintains the cause of the afflicted:

I have known that YaHWeH maintains the cause of the afflicted, the right ruling of the poor.

Yahweh deserves and receives praise in Psalm 66: 1-2,

” Shout with joy to Elohim, All the earth! Sing out the splendor of His Name; Make His praise esteemed”!

Yahweh deserves praise always, even as, in verses 10 & 11, we read, using the Hebrew for affliction,  mu-aqah: pressure, distress, as in ‘packed’ :

“For You, O Elohim, have proved us;    You have refined us as silver is refined. You brought us into the net; You laid affliction on our loins”!

Even in the time of evil and affliction, we give praise, for He is there with us:

“Yahweh said, Did I not direct you for good? Did I not intercede for you in a time of evil and in a time of distress (tsarah) against the enemy? [Jeremiah 15: 11]“

“O Yahweh, my strength and my stronghold and my refuge, in the day of distress…[16:19]“.

So, should we give thanks for affliction? Does it  bring us closer to Him?

“Yahudah (Judah) has gone into exile, because of affliction and because of the harsh labor…[Lamentations 1:3 ] “.

“In the days of her affliction and wandering, Jerusalem remembered all her pleasantries she had in the days of old [v.7]“.

“See, O Yahweh, my affliction, for the enemy has made himself great! [v. 9b]“

Early third century depiction of eucharistic bread and fish, Catacomb of San Callisto, Rome. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“This is why I weep. My eye, my eye is running down with water, because the Comforter, who could bring back my life, has been far from me. [v. 16]“.

“See, O Yahweh, that I am in distress. My inward parts are boiling up, my heart is overturned within me, for I have been very rebellious [v. 20a]“.

“I am a man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath [3:1]“

• darkness and not light [v.2]
• His hand against , His back turned [v.3]
• flesh and bones worn and broken [v.4]
• surrounded by bitterness and hardship
• hedged in, not going out [v. 7]
• cry and shout but prayers ‘not heard’ [v. 8]
• own way blocked, paths crooked [v.9]
• as if a lion or bear lie in wait to attack [v. 10]
• “He has bent His bow and stood me up as a target for the arrow. He made the arrows of His quiver pierce my kidneys. [v. 12-13] “.

Yet, Yahweh indeed ”remembers” and bows down to us! [ Lamentations 3 : 20]

” 21 This I recall to my mind, therefore I wait:   22 The kindnesses of Yahweh!    For we have not been consumed, for His compassions have not ended.   23  They are new every morning, great is Your trustworthiness.  24  ‘Yahweh is my Portion ‘ , says my being, ‘ Therefore I wait for Him! ‘

25 Yahweh is good to those waiting for Him, to the being who seeks Him.”

We can cry out to Yahweh just as Yonah [Jonah] prayed to Yahweh his Elohim from the stomach of the fish!

“And he said, ‘ I called to Yahweh because of my distress, and He answered me…[Jonah 2:2]“!

Affliction is lachats: to press, distress, crush, force, oppress, as used also in Nahum 1:9 & 12, and Isaiah 63: 9:

“In all their distress He was distressed, and the Messenger of His Presence [Y’shua] saved them.  In His love and in His compassion He redeemed them, and He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.”

Yahweh is distressed when we are! If we have no root in the Branch, the root of Jesse, Y’shua,  we are “short-lived” and

” 17 b Then when pressure or persecution arises because of the Word, immediately they stumble.

20 And those sown on good soil, are those who hear the Word and accept it, and bear fruit, some 30fold, and some 60, and some a 100 [Mark 4]“.

Thlipsis is Greek for pressure : affliction, burdened, persecution, tribulation!

“19 For in those days there shall be distress, such as has not been from the beginning of creation which Elohim created until this time , nor ever shall be.

20 And if the Master had not shortened those days, no flesh would have been saved; but because of the chosen ones, whom He chose, He shortened the days. [ Y’shua speaking , Mark 13]

Stephanos, a chosen one of  Y’shua preached about  distress [Acts 7:11] and salvation through Y’shua and  was persecuted and stoned to death [v. 54-60]!

Sha’ul, Paul the Apostle, saw much affliction in his ministry:

“For out of much pressure and distress of heart I wrote to you, with many tears, not that you should be sad, but that you might know the love I so richly have for you [2 Corinthians 2:4]“.

“Some indeed proclaim Messiah even from envy and strife, but some also out of pleasure- the former announce Messiah from selfish ambition, not sincerely, thinking to add distress to my chains…[Philippians 1:15-16]“.

Paul encouraged us to become “imitators” of him and Messiah, having received the Word ”in much pressure“, with joy of the Holy Spirit [1 Thessalonians 1: 6]!

“…therefore, brothers, in all our pressure and distress we were encouraged concerning you by your belief. Because we now live, if you stand fast in the Master [3:7-8]“!

Moshe by belief, became great in Yahweh, refusing to be called the son of the daughter of Pharaoh,

“…choosing rather to be afflicted with the people of Elohim than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a time, deeming the reproach of Messiah greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he was looking for the reward [ Hebrews 11: 24-26]“.

James encouraged his brethren and us to “take the prophets” as an “example of suffering and patience”, “who spoke in the Name of Yahweh” [James 5:10]!

Yahweh does not willingly afflict [Lamentations 3:33] and undoes in time all that does afflict us [Zephaniah 3:19], as we call upon His Name. Then in time we may say, as the Psalmist, in Psalm 116:10, “…good for me to have been afflicted…”! [also Psalms 119: 67, 71, 75, & 107] Shalom….

Person to Person: Help , I’m Losing Control

Produce Good Fruit (Photo credit: Fr. Stephen, MSC)

Person to person  helps both the person asking and the person giving prayer or help. Do not ever be afraid or embarrassed to ask for help!

A young woman asked for prayer with her temper. Her outbursts  “over nothing” were increasing and she was “losing control”. More and more, she was becoming unhappy and feared losing her blessings!

I paced and prayed, asking the LORD first to give me wisdom and understanding, then to show me how to “answer” her. This required more than just a “praying for you” response. She really needed help and direction.

I was lead to check her own personal web sites to get a glimpse of her true heart, and where her “mind” was focused. As we think, we are. Out of our heart comes our words. The LORD Jesus even says it is the things that come out of a person which make a person unclean [Mark 7: 15, 20-23]!

“For from within, out of a person’s heart, come forth wicked thought, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, arrogance, foolishness…All these wicked things come from within, and they make a person unclean [21-23]”.

I saw why I was directed to her sites: derogatory remarks , lusty and sexual mockeries, with flirty looseness of character. In between these remarks were scriptural quotes! I wept and cried out to the LORD, checked my own emotions and went straight to the Scriptures for wisdom.

“To lose temper” is the same as “to lose self-control”! “Temperance” or self-control is “egkrates” in Greek, comes from “strong” or “masterful”!  If you are temperate, you are in control, strong, and exercise self-restraint.

“Sophron“, Greek for “tempered” means “safe, sound in mind, self-controlled, moderate as to opinion and passion, discreet, and sober”!

“Whatever you do…do it all so as to bring glory to God [1 Corinthians 10:31]”!

As a believer, every word out of our mouth should be to His praise! As we lift Him, He draws others to His side! We are ambassadors for Christ!

“…You must strip off your old nature, because your old nature is thoroughly rotted by its deceptive desires [Ephesians 4:22];

And you must let your spirits and minds keep being renewed [v.23],

And clothe yourselves with the new nature created to be godly [v.24]…

Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, violent assertiveness, and slander, along with all spitefulness [v.31].

Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted; and forgive each other, just as in Christ God has forgiven you [Ephesians 4:32]

“For this very reason, try your hardest to furnish your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with perseverance, perseverance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love [2 Peter 1: 5-7]”.

Faith given in Christ—>goodness—->knowledge of God’s laws/ the Way—->SELF-CONTROL—>perseverance—>GODLINESS—>brotherly affection—>Love

Our goal is to be like Christ, have a calm state of mind, an even disposition, focused on the things of God. If we lose our temper, do not let the sun set on it, but apologize, forgive, modify, bend in humility, get in tune! Adjust! Strengthen! Toughen, harden your resolve not to lose it again, knowing you set an example for others.

And it is perfectly evident what the old nature does. It expresses itself in sexual immorality, impurity and indecency….getting angry…[Galatians 5:19-21]

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, SELF-CONTROL [v.22].”

In short messages, I gave the above from my heart to this young woman. She never messaged “thanks” or “amen” to my knowledge. But….I visited again her web site and it was “clean”, no “filth” ! I can “only” pray that it made a difference in her heart and life. I would like to “think” that it did. I am sure of this: if she made any changes toward her relationship with God, she is blessed! Amen.

Seeking Your Portion of Yah : the Gate of Huldah

Yoshiyahu [Josiah] sits on the throne in Jerusalem [Yerushalayim] 31 years .

When the king heard the words [of the scroll of Torah] he tore his clothes.

“And before him there was no melech [king] like him, that made teshuvah [repentance] to YHWH with all his heart, and with all his being, and with all his might, according to all the Torah [instructions, teachings] of Moshe [ from YHWH]; and neither after him arose there any like him [2 Kings 23:25] “.

•  For  years  he is surrounded , with godly advisors such as Hilkiyahu [Hilkiyah= portion of YaH], the High Priest [Kohen HaGadol].
• At age 16, he begins to seek after the Elohim [God Almighty] of David his abba [father; generations earlier] {2 Chronicles 34:3}.
• At age 18, 10 years on the throne, he starts to do that which is right in the sight of Yehovah [2 Kings 22: 1-3].

“[He] had his way in the ways of David his abba, and turned neither to the right nor to the left [2 Chron. 34:1]”.

• At age 20, he begins to purge Yahudah [Judah] and Yerushalayim [Jerusalem] of the idol temples, the Asherim [ vessels to worship goddess of fertility], the carved images, the molten images [2 Chron. 34:3b].
• He has them break down the altars of Ba’alim in his presence, and the images above them he breaks in pieces, “makes dust of them” and scatters the dust upon graves of idol worshipers [v.4].
• He burns the bones of their priests upon their altars [v.5].
• Cleansing begins in Jerusalem and Judah, and reaches to tribes of Israel under Judah’s control: Menashsheh, Efrayim, Shimeon, and Naphtali.
• At age 26, Yoshiyahu orders needed repairs to the Temple and permits Shaphan the scribe to read the words of the scroll, of the Torah [v.8-18].
• Hilkiyahu finds the scroll hidden in the Temple, while searching for silver, to repair the Temple [v.14]
  

  Torah is instructions; His Word is the LIght, to my feet, a Lamp to my way!

•  As Yoshiyahu[=founded of YaH] hears the words of Yehovah, from the scroll found, possibly Deuteronomy 28:36,  he repents , mourns and tears  his clothes [ v.10-11] .
  

  Yoshiyahu repents upon hearing Deuteronomy 28:36. The scroll was found by Hilkiyahu the priest upon searching for silver in the ruined Temple, upon orders to repair.

• He then commands Hilkiyahu the Kohen HaGadol [high priest], and Ahikam the son of Shaphan , and Achvor the son of Michayah, and Shaphan the Sopher [scribe], and Asayah a servant [eved] of the king [melech], saying:

“Go, inquire of YHWH [tetragrammaton for I Am that I Am or EhYeh EhYah] for me, and for the people, and for all Yahudah [Judah], concerning the words of this scroll that is found:

for great is the wrath of YHWH that is lit against us, because our ahvot [fathers] have not listened to the words of this scroll, to do according to all that which is written concerning us [2 Kings 22:13]”.

So the 5 godly men Hilkiyahu, Ahikam, Achvor, Shaphan,  and Asayah go to Huldah the neviyah [prophetess] the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Charhas, keeper of the wardrobe :

“{now she dwelt in Yerushalayim [City of Peace] studying Torah [ the instructions of YaH as given to Moshe, including Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy]}, and they communed with her [v.14b]”.

• Huldah  or Chuldah, [ weasel, from cheled, to glide swiftly, as in fleeting moment of life] is one of 7 female prophets in Scriptures. Jeremiah was  her kinsman, both descended from Joshua and Rahab. She has an academy or schoolhouse, living in the Second Quarter or Mishneh in Jerusalem. The Mishneh is on the hill west of the Temple, by Hezekiah’s south-western wall.
• 5 godly men inquire of the LORD by going to see Huldah, rather than Jeremiah, prophet to 5 kings!
• So “portion of YaH”  [Hilkiyahu the priest] and “brother of rising” [Ahikam], and “mouse, as in nibbling or attacking” [Achvor or Akbor], and “coney, or rock-rabbit, one which hides in the Rock” [Shaphan], and “YaH-made” [Asayah] go to “weasel or fleeting glide of life” [Huldah], the wife of “requital, recompense or reward” [Shallum], the son of “hope” [Tikvah], the son of “shining” [Harhas or Charhas], keeper of the Wardrobe [beged, a covering or clothing, here the priestly robes, garments or vestures ]!
• Message here: Your covering [from sin] and shining reward in this fleeting moment of life is made by YHWH, given to one who hides in Him and eats of His Word, the Son of Rising [Malachi 4:2]; this is your “portion of YaH”! Glory!
• It has been noted that Shallum [reward] her husband was a noble , compassionate man who gave water to passerbys and was so rewarded and  blessed to have such a godly wife.
• Huldah boldly prophesizes doom on Jerusalem “because they have forsaken” YHWH and burned incense to other “elohim”, that they have provoked Him [v.16].
• But to the king, “the man” [v.15], because his heart “is tender” and he “has humbled” himself before YHWH, he would not see the wrath but would “be gathered ” to his ahvot [fathers] in “shalom” [peace] {v.19-20}. He later dies in battle but receives the promise of life eternal in the resurrection prior to the Tribulation and prior to the exile of Yahudah to Babylon.

“…Neither shall your eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of it [v. 2o]”.

• Tender heart, humility come from hearing His Words. As we humble ourselves before Him, and ‘tear our clothes’ and weep, He hears us:

“I have even heard you also, says YHWH [v.19]”!

• Yoshiyahu stands by a pillar [a symbol for strength, foundation] and makes a brit [covenant] before YHWH and all the people of Yahudah and Yerushalayim,

“…To have his way in the ways of YHWH, and to keep His mitzvot and His mishpatim and His chukim [commandments, rulings and ordinances] with all his heart and all his being, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this scroll [23:3]”!

Now Yoshiyahu cleanses his “own house” , the Bayit [House] of YHWH [23:4-20]:

• He orders all the kohenim [priests great and small], including “keepers of the door” or portal opening [to good or evil]:  to remove all things pertaining to Ba’al pagan worship that were actually within the house of Elohim! He burns them outside of the city in the fields of the Kidron [=mourning] and carries the ashes to Beth-El .
• He puts down the priests of Ba’al [sanctioned by former kings] who burnt incense to elohim , brings them out, destroys the idol temples in the gates or openings of the city, of  Yahoshua, governor, made with the “left” hand not in covenant with  YHWH. He also destroys the idol temples built by Shlomo [Solomon] “which were on the right hand of the Mount of Corruption [v.13]!
• He brings out from the Bayit [House] of YHWH  the Asherah, the goddess of fertility, burns her image at the Kidron and casts the dust upon graves of children of the people.
• He breaks down  the Sodomite  “Asherah” weaving- houses that were in the Bayit, and also the  idol-altars in the upper room and 2 courts of the Bayit, casting the dust in the Kidron.
• He destroys Topheth, in the Valley of the Children of Hinnom so a man would never make his child pass through fire again [v.10] .
• At Beth-El, he breaks down the idol altar and temple built there by Yahravam [=people contend with Yah, Jeroboam], king of Yisra’el, son of Nevat [regard] {see 1 Kings 11:26-40; 12:25-33}. Yoshiyahu even opens tombs to burn the bones to pollute the altar, leaving alone the tomb of “the man of Elohim” who had prophesied such event and bones of the prophet ” who came out of Shomron” [13:1-34]!
• He continues to destroy the houses and idol temples in Shomron [Samaria] and kills their priests, burning their bones.
• Back in Yahudah and Yerushalayim, he puts away all workers of “abominations”, the mediums, workers with familiar spirits, and the idols and the images, ” that he might perform the words of the Torah…[2 Kings 23:24]”.
• He commands and “keeps” the Pesach [Passover] held to YHWH in Yerushalayim [v. 21-23], for the first time from the days of the judges  [shophtim]:

 “Surely there was no such Pesach prepared …in all the days of the melechim [kings] of Yisrael, nor of the kings of Yahudah [v.22]”!

Yoshiyahu ‘profits’ well by inquiring of YHWH through Huldah (Heb. חֻלְדָּה; “weasel”) the prophet-in-residence in Yerushalayim!  The prophecies seal the ‘calling’ on Yoshiyahu and authorize him to make right what was ‘evil’, and undo all that was done by Menashsheh [21:9-16], his grandfather & former king.

• The south-eastern and south-western gates, 5 in all, to the Temple were named to honor  the prophetess Huldah, [ sometime after the prophets?], calling these the “Huldah Gates” .  When the Ottoman Empire took over Jerusalem, they built a mosque and in the process they closed off, bricked up, and totally hid most of the old,  Huldah gates. In essence they were hidden [ from Jewish Encyclopedia].
• “The Midrash (Rabbinic commentaries on the Scriptures) says this gate was “never destroyed. Rashi comments that this was the gate where she sat and taught; it is referred to as “Mishneh” [Second Quarter] in the verse (Melachim/ Kings II 22:14). …. [There is a comment added to Rashi’s commentary on that verse in Melachim, suggesting that Chuldah taught… to the sages by that gate….] (http://ohave.tripod.com/chumash/chuldah.htm).”
• Huldah , again,  resided in an area adjacent to the temple, in a western section called the “Second Quarter” [ “college” in some translations].  It seems she was one of a group separated out and called to be loyal to Elohim . The prophets had areas where they worked: some roamed, like Eliyahu,  some were rural, and some were city . Some, like Huldah and later, Anna, were part of the daily working of the temple.

  

  Not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD!

From Wikipedia:

The Huldah Gates (Hebrew: שערי חולדה, Shaarei Chulda) are the two sets of now-blocked gates in the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount, situated in Jerusalem’s Old City. The western set is a double arched gate (the double gate), and the eastern is a triple arched gate (the triple gate). Each arch of the double gate led into an aisle of a passageway leading from the gate into the Mount, and to steps leading to the Mount’s surface; when the al-Aqsa Mosque was built, the old steps were blocked, and the eastern aisle lengthened so that new steps from its end would exit north of the Mosque. The triple gate is similar, though the longer aisle is to the west, and its third aisle, on the east, forms the western boundary of the vaulted area known as Solomon’s Stables.

Conclusion

　In this fleeting moment of life in Yoshiyahu, he enters the portal to Heaven and transforms into a soldier for YHWH, braver, mightier than even his “abba” David. We all have it in us to become this warrior, as His Spirit, the Ruach HaKodesh, moves in us. Only, we must remove the obstruction or blockage, whatever it is, as shown by the Spirit. Then we shine with hope of receiving our reward as we become “made by YaH” and hide in the Rock, ‘nibbling’ with our ‘brother of rising’ as we seek our portion from YaH. Commune with Him! Seek your portion at the gate, Yeshua! Ahmein.

Related articles

• Press on to Your Assigned Portion: the Story of Tamar (kumi07.wordpress.com)
• Named prophetesses in the Bible (womenfromthebook.com)

INCENSE, PRAYER, & THE GOLDEN ALTAR

You have an appointment with the Holy One of Yisra’el! Enter here! You who have believed and called on the Name of the LORD really have a daily  appointment with Him! You are a priest about to enter the Gate, Yeshua, to the brazen altar , to sacrifice self [Yeshua], to immerse in the waters [Yeshua] of the brazen laver. There are some preparations of self,  as burnt offerings, sin offerings [Yeshua] continually, along with grain offerings, drink offerings, offerings made by fire to YHWH–

“…a continual burnt offering for your generations at the door of the Tent ofAppointment before YHWH, where I shall meet with you to speak with you. And there I shall meet with the children of Yisra’el,  and it shall be made qadosh [holy] by My esteem…I shall dwell in the midst …they shall know that I AM YHWH their Elohim…”[ Exodus 29:42-46].

After you have offered yourself a living sacrifice of praise & thanksgiving and washed the world off, sought forgiveness and repentance, and renewed your mind in the Word [Yeshua], you burn incense at the altar of incense, sweet prayers arising as smoke before the very throne, the Seat of Mercy and Righteousness Himself.The altar of incense was put directly before the veil that was before the ark of the Covenant & Mercy Seat: “…before the lid of Atonement that is over the Witness, where I AM to meet with you…” in the Tent of Appointment. {Exodus 30:6]

And Aharon [Moshe’s brother & High Priest]  shall burn on it sweet incense, morning by morning. As he tends the lamps [of the Candlestick or Menorah, also in the Holy Place with the table of the Bread of Presence], he shall burn incense on it.

And when Aharon lights the lamps between the evenings, he shall burn incense on it– a continual incense before YHWH throughout your generations [v. 7 & 8].

Moshe is ordered by Yahweh to take  sweet spices, fragrant gum [resin or sap from tree], cinnamon and  galbanam, and clear frankincense, with these sweet spices, all in equal amounts [30:34]!

1. Fragrant gum may have been stacte , a fatty resinous liquid; an aromatic gum, highly valued; or balsam , a sap with a sweet smell .
2. Onchya, a tree resin, the most viscous or oily of all, with a vanilla-like fragrance, used also to heal wounds. The gum is also called labdanum. In Hebrew, it is called “shecheleth”, to roar as a lion! “Onchya” is Greek, for the red blotch in a finger nail!   Note:        Cinnamon is the 2nd mentioned in the HalleluYah Scriptures;  a reddish brown bark containing eugenol = Yeshua’s love of the glory & honor of Yahweh! [See note, Cinnamon: Red & Hot]
3. Galbanum, another resinous juice, from a plant, having a strong unpleasant smell with a bitter taste, giving off purple smoke, also fights infection, heals wounds, acne, asthma, coughs and indigestion. Trees  & plants are cut and saps or gum resins are collected =blood or life of the tree = by His cuts we are healed!
4. Frankincense is a  sharp tasting,  pungent bitter yellow gum collected peeling the bark boswellia sacra in Saudi Arabia. It is “lebonah” in Hebrew, derived from “laban”,  white in English, for its whiteness of smoke. “Clear” frankincense was purified before use! Frankincense  anointed the ‘remembrance ‘ bread offered by fire by the priest [Leviticus 24:7] just as Yeshua, the Bread, is anointed by it!

It had to be  beaten into an incense, a compound, the work of a perfumer, salted, clean, qodesh [holy] only to Yahweh [v.35, 37].

• Equal [=] amounts in a mixture represents us, a  beaten mixture, all equally loved in the body of Yeshua, cleansed, clean and holy, to be the salt of the earth, all created and made by our Maker!

• When the four ingredients were mixed together, they produced a most fragrant perfume, especially when burned [ Exodus 30:35]
• Later, there is no mention of actual incense; it becomes spiritual, our prayers ascending to Heaven [John 17:1-26, Hebrews 7:25, Yeshua as our Intercessor or High Priest; Ezekiel 41:22, Hebrews 13:15, Revelation 8: 3,4] ! Prayers carry the fragrant aroma of Yeshua!

• These four special ingredients point to Jesus’ perfect righteous- ness.
• Some parts of prayer are about pleasant, sweet experiences. Some parts of prayer are about hard, bitter experiences.  As it is with life, the bitter experience makes the sweet seem richer and sweeter. The scent wasn’t complete without both characteristics. Our lives in Yeshua are not complete without some difficult experiences to teach us how sweet it is to trust in Him.
• Some of the ingredients were beaten into very small pieces
  [Exodus 30:36].

Review of the furniture [ see note, Praying Victoriously Through the Tabernacle also]:

The altar of incense was made of acacia [shittim] wood and was overlaid with pure gold. It was two cubits high [3 feet], and one cubit on each side, thus making it square. [Exodus 30:1-3]

• Wood symbolizes humanity and to be covered with gold symbolizes being covered with Yeshua’s purity, His righteousness.
• The special wood was not common, but choice, excellent and durable, incorruptible! The tree bore thorns!

The top edge had a gold crown all around it. On each corner of the altar was a horn made from acacia wood, overlaid with gold. [Exodus 30:2, 3]

• A crown points to victory. Horns speak of strength and power. Through prayer and by faith Yeshua’s followers take hold of His power and strength. Thus complete victory over all sin may be ours. Also, the crown on top of altar is symbolic of our  King [ Melech, in Hebrew], King of kings, our Master & Majesty ! [Psalm 8, 24:7, Jeremiah 23: 5, Zechariah 9:9, 1 Timothy 6:15, & Revelation 19:16]

Pure gold rings were made and fastened to the altar under the crown. Poles made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold, were put through the gold rings. The altar was carried with these poles. [Exodus 30:4, 5]

• Here again we see wood (humanity) covered with gold (Divinity), and four “pierced” rings (Yeshua’s hands and feet pierced with nails).

Psalms 22:16 ” They pierced my hands and feet“.

In the Holy of Holies, The Ark of the Covenant with the Mercy Seat: the ark contained the 2 tablets of Law, the Manna, The Rod

The altar of incense was in front of this Veil dividing the  Holy of Holies from the Holy Place. This altar was the closest to the Ark  containing the Ten Commandments [ closer than the Candlestick or Table of the Bread of Presence]. (Over the Law of YHWH was the mercy seat–between the two angels was the spot where Yahweh met with His people.) [Exodus 30:6; 25:16-22] As the priest burned  incense at the altar, the fragrance spread throughout the place, as he stood in front of the veil or curtain to the Holy of Holies.There is no part of the religious worship that brings us into a closer relationship with Yeshua than when we are in prayer. Yahweh’s government required sacrifice and death for the wages of sin. The gift of Yahweh is unmerited favor and life eternal through Messiah Yeshua , our LORD, who is the Torah, the Word. [Romans 6:23, John 1:1]

Psalms 85:10  Grace and Truth have met together; Justice and Peace have kissed each other!

[Yeshua is Truth and the Lamb of Yahweh, Grace given at the cross; Yeshua is Sar Shalom, Prince of Peace and our Righteousness, coming again to Judge as the King and Lion of Yahudah]

The fire was never to go out. (The coals were moved in a golden vessel when the camp moved.)

• The fire is Yeshua’s righteousness. [2 Samuel 22:9, Isaiah 66:15, Luke 12:49, Revelation 19:12]

• Also, the fire is the Ruach [ Holy Spirit]. It works continually upon our hearts: calling us to prayer, praying in us, telling us to confess our sins and ask forgiveness, impressing us to give praise and thanksgiving, bringing to our minds those whom we are to pray for, showing us the Father’s will, teaching us right from wrong. It is that still small voice ever present with us.[1 Thessalonians 5:19; Romans 8:26, 27; Philippians 1:4-11; 1 Samuel 3:3,4,10]

Jude 20 & 24  But you dear friends build yourselves up in your most holy faith & pray in union with the Ruach HaQodesh [Holy Spirit]…Now, to the one who can keep you from falling & to set you without defect & full of joy in the presence of His Sh’khinah [Divine Presence, the manifest glory of Adonai present with men]…

The high priest was to burn set incense upon the altar every morning while he was trimming and cleaning the lamps on the candle- stick, and every evening while he was lighting the lamps. [Exodus 30:7, 8]

• Yeshua is our High Priest. [Hebrews 3:1]
  When we pray to God, Yeshua mixes incense (His spotless right- eousness,) with our prayers. When the Father looks at us He sees the perfect goodness of Yeshua [ Revelation 8:3,4].

When the high priest burned the incense, he looked toward the Ark. As the cloud of incense arose the glory of Elohim came down upon the mercy seat and filled the Most Holy Place. It often filled the holy place, also. “So full were both places that the high priest had to retreat to the door of the tent-tabernacle.”

• By faith we can come boldly into the throne room and pray to Elohim [The Almighty]. We direct our prayers to Messiah that He might apply His perfect character to us. He goes before the Father for us. [ Hebrews 4:15, 16; 7:25,26]
  • Ours prayers are to be as incense.

Psalms 141:2  Let my prayer be like incense set before You,    my uplifted hands like an evening sacrifice.

At the time of the burning of incense (both morning and evening) all the people in the camp of Ysra’el were praying. Elohim promised to “meet with” them during that time. The sweet smell of incense reached way out into the camp and surrounding area. [Luke 1:9, 10; Exodus 30:6]

• Here is the example that is given for morning and evening worship.
  His sweet character will not only be felt in the home, but reach out away from the home.
  Again we see the number four [ingredients of incense] point to Yeshua. [See note, The Anointing & the Oil] There were 4 ingredients in the anointing oil too.

• Yeshua suffered everything that any man will ever have to suffer so He could perfectly understand what we go through [ Hebrews 2:10,11].
  Our sufferings lead us to the altar of prayer. There we are strength ened and fitted to help others.

No strange incense was to be offered upon the altar [ Exodus 30:9 ].

• Strange incense represented sin.
• Yeshua was without sin, so only sweet incense could be used.

1 John 3:5  And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.

No burnt sacrifice or meat-(meal-) offering was to be offered upon it, and no drink-offering was to be poured out upon it. Those offerings were to be offered upon the brazen altar in the courtyard [Exodus 30:9].

• In the brazen altar is represented the sacrifice of Yeshua and His work for us while He was on earth. (The courtyard being a symbol of the earth.)
  • In the golden altar of incense,  we see Yeshua in His work in heaven.

Revelation 8:3, 4,5  And another messenger came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer, and much incense was given to him, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the qodeshim [the saints or holy ones] upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the qodeshim, went up before Elohim from the hand of the messenger.

And the messenger took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, and thunders and lightnings and an earthquake.

TABERNACLE PRAYING FOR TRUE VICTORIOUS LIVING

We  can use a pattern to more effectively pray! How? … through the Tabernacle, the pattern set in Heaven! We will see the Glory of the LORD in the Tabernacle!

THE GATE OR ENTRANCE [lower curtains, in the daylight of the    Courtyard]

No man comes to the Father except through Me, said Ye’shua! We enter by the Blood of the Lamb of YHWH the Almighty LORD! We receive Ye’shua as LORD and Savior. There is NONE ELSE!  Shema Yisrael ! Yahweh Ye’shua is Eloheinu, our Elohim; Yahweh echad is ONE! Ye’shua was the perfect sacrifice , one for all, once 2000 years ago; He will return as King, to set up the Messianic Age, Kingdom of Yahweh, with His  Wife , the bride, the body of believers of the Way.

• The Gate~ the Way!
• We pray to receive Ye’shua as LORD & Savior; King of kings, LORD of lords; Prince of Peace; Everlasting Father; Wonderful Counselor; Mighty GOD Elohim is He!

Image via Wikipedia

PRAYER AT THE BRAZEN ALTAR:

• Wood of Shittim or acasia ~ symbolic of man, COVERED WITH PURE GOLD ~ symbolic of the kippur or covering atonement of Yeshua,  WITH FOUR HORNS [~MIGHT OF YHWH] AT THE CORNERS [SEE NOTES ON ” THE FOUR HORNS” AND “CORNERS”]
• BLOOD WAS SPRINKLED ALL OVER THE ALTAR TO SANCTIFY AND MAKE IT HOLY; EVEN POURED AT THE BOTTOM; THE ASHES WERE TAKEN OUTSIDE THE CAMP
• SACRIFICES ACCORDING TO LEVITICAL LAW WERE MADE ON THIS ALTAR; SIN OFFERINGS, BURNT OFFERINGS, AND OFFERINGS FOR PEACE; THE PRIESTS ATE THE REMAINS OF THE SIN OFFERINGS; OFFERED WAS THE INWARDS AND FAT OF THE GOAT OR LAMB; BURNT OFFERINGS WERE TOTALLY BURNT
• in the outer courtyard, in the natural light

 Prayer: Thank you for Your Blood Ye’shua to forgive all my sins.

I confess that I am a sinner and have sinned against You in thought, word and deed.

I confess …..(Specific sins) … ask  Yeshua Jesus to show you areas of your life needing to be confessed and repented .

I crucify myself, my sinful, natural man, my flesh. I place myself on Your cross where You died for me.

I worship You because through Your Blood You have delivered me from the power of Satan and of the world.

Through Your stripes Ye’shua I am healed and I praise you for divine healing through Your Blood.

I praise You for freeing me from the curse of Adam because of his sin. You took that curse to the cross.

Your Word says You have redeemed me from the law and that I am delivered from failure and poverty caused by the fall of Adam.

Through Your Blood I am delivered from death and hell. You conquered death and hell.

By your Blood I am completely delivered from death and hell and am now living in Your Glory and am a member of the Kingdom of Yahweh Almighty Elohim God. Thank You, Ahmein.

TABERNACLE PRAYER AT BRAZEN LAVER:    

• Laver made from mirrors of the women, to reflect and see sin in self and repent from wicked or sinful ways, which are not of Yahweh!
• At the entrance to the Holy Place; must wash  in laver before even  enter into Holy Place ! There the  curtains are higher with no natural light, only lit by the Candlestick~Yeshua.

• Exodus 30:220; Acts 22:16

Prayer:  Oh God, make me righteous through Your grace.

Heavenly Father, cleanse me from all unrighteousness.

Abba Father, put in me a clean heart. A heart that is pleasing to You.

Increase my faithfulness to You.

Make me faithful and loyal to You Father, especially as far as Your 10 Commandments are concerned.

O Adonai Elohim , purify me, sanctify me, and make me holy so I will be pleasing in Your sight.

Sanctify me in Your power.

Father, give me Your grace so that I may forgive ………

Holy Father, You help me to forgive ………….., please also help me to love them.

Father God, I know you cleanse me and forgive me, please help me to have a very soft and loving heart to my brothers, sisters and neighbors.

Heavenly Father, help me to live according to the measure of faith that You give me.

Keep me from pride and from the evil one and help me to live each moment according to the fullness of the faith you have given to me. Thank You, Ahmein.

• Read Psalm 51

TABERNACLE PRAYER AT THE TABLE OF THE SHEWBREAD

• 12 loaves placed in 2 piles of 6, short of the grace ~ 12 tribes —->2 houses , Yahudah & Efrayim;

•  bread baked with fine flour~ from the harvest of the earth; baked~ agony & suffering of Messiah, as punched down, pressed without leavening, no yeast, sinless;
  •  pure, not artificial bread with 2 deals out of 10 of flour per loaf!
  •  lined with a blue cloth~Heaven,
  • a scarlet cloth~blood atonement of Messiah, and
  •  badger skins [unclean] and goat skins [clean] over and under ~sacrifice total covering of Messiah!
  •  The Presence of YHWH~ the LIGHT, Y’shua,  eternal shining;
  •  the Fellowship of priests~ the communion of the body of Messiah, becoming one in Him;
  •  eating the Bread~ eating the Body of Messiah, receiving LIFE everlasting!~eating the WORD, tasting it, it is good! chewing, MEDITATING on the Word! HalleluYah!
  • Read John 1:1 and John 6

  Prayer: Dear Adonai Elohim , your fresh shewbread is placed on the table each day. It is Your fresh Word each day.

  Lord, I admire and love the Word of YHWH. I long after the Word of Elohim.

  Heavenly Father, help me to read, study, believe your fresh Word each day.

  Lord, give me a new, fresh revelation in my heart today from Your Word.

  My heart is panting for the Word of YHWH so open my mind and my heart to your revelation today.

Tabernacle Prayer at the Candlestick Menorah

• Menorah~Candlestick, solid piece of pure gold, beaten and hammered into main branch with 6 smaller branches, all filled with oil and kept lit by the priests continually: the Eternal Light~Messiah is the Light and we His children become children of Light!
•  Messiah beaten for us! The branches all were almond tree design with its bud, blossom and flowers. The Light allowed the priests to fellowship, commune with GOD, eat Bread ,  standing, and pray!

Prayer: Dear Yeshua, I recognize You. I welcome You. I love and adore You.

I Thank You Yeshua for sending me the Holy Spirit  in my life.

He, the Spirit, is the Spirit of YHWH Almighty Elohim.

You are the Spirit of wisdom.

You are the Spirit of understanding.

You are the Spirit of counsel.

You are the Spirit of power.

You are the Spirit of revelation of the Word of God.

You are the Spirit of the fear of Yahweh or of reverence, which gives me the power to reveal Him to others.

Yeshua, I ask you to help me now. I cannot do anything without Your anointing. I depend on You. I worship You. I thank You. I love You. I admire You. I honor You. I can’t handle the situations in my life and I depend upon You, please help me to walk in Your Spirit. Thank You, Ahmein.
Tabernacle Prayer at the Altar of Incense

• Exodus 30: 1-8 overlaid with pure gold, a crown of gold around, placed on the left before the Veil to the Holy of Holies; sweet incense burnt every morning and evening by the priests
• Hebrews 8:5 the pattern has been shown to you
• Sweet incense, a compound mixture ~ symbolic of ‘the bride’, sweet fragrance, a work of the perfumer ~ the Maker, salted, cleansed, made holy & separate by Yeshua!
• Sweet incense of sweet spice: fragrant gum, cinnamon, galbanum, and clear pure frankincense; beaten  very fine, some put in the Holy Place, before entrance to the Holy of Holies; ” before the Witness in the Tent of Appointment where I will meet with you, most holy”!
• Prohibition: “Do not make any for yourself; it is holy”!

Prayer:

I sing praises to You. I pray and sing to you in the special prayer language you gave me. Please accept the praises of Your saint.

I love you and give all praise and glory to You.

You delivered me from sin.

You delivered me from worldliness.

You delivered me from sickness.

You delivered me from the curse.

You delivered me from death.

You are the Almighty Elohim who is the foundation of my life.

You are the value of my life.

I worship You, the Elohim who created the heavens and the earth and all things in them.

I love you with every part of my being and I sing praises to You.

Tabernacle Prayer at the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies

• pure gold inside and out!
• only 3 items inside the ark: 1) pot of manna~ presence of Yahweh~bread of heaven, Y’shua ; 2) Aaron’s rod that bloomed [ see note ” Does your Almond tree bloom?”; 3) 2 stone tablets of Commandments
• Atonement cover of ark was lid and Mercy Seat of YHWH
• cherubim or angels flanked the throne, facing down with wings spread and touching
• Exodus 25:22 ” …I will meet with you there…”.
• 2 Samuel 6:2 ” …the ark called by the Name, who is enthroned between…”.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, when Ye’shua Jesus died on the cross You opened up the Holy of Holies by tearing the curtain from top to bottom so I could come in through the shed Blood of Yeshua Jesus Christ the Messiah.

I see Your Ark of the Covenant Father and know that the three items You had placed there represent Your supernatural presence.

In Your Ark is the rod of Aaron, which supernaturally budded; the tablets of Torah, the law, which You supernaturally engraved; the manna, which You supernaturally provided in the wilderness for Your people.

I enter into the Holy of Holies and run to the Mercy Seat on top of Your Ark of the Covenant and I see Your Shekinah glory. I see the throne of YHWH. I see the Ark of the Covenant.

I join You at Your mercy seat, in the Shekinah glory of Your presence, beneath the wings of the Cherubim.

Dear precious Heavenly Father, I am in awe at Your supernatural presence. I could not be more humbled than I am by Your presence.

I love You. I worship You. I adore You.

Father, I know I am eternally forgiven. I am eternally declared righteous. I am eternally saved. I am eternally blessed by the Blood covenant of Yeshua Jesus Christ.

Thank You Heavenly Father, I know I am in Your Family. I know I am a child of Yours. I know I am living in the Holy of Holies and I desire to spend intimate time with You here in this place. I worship and honor You Lord.

Now Father, I have many requests and I ask You to hear them. I will only ask what is Your will and promises; I will ask only so You will be glorified and neither myself nor anyone else will receive one speck of Your Glory. Thank You, Ahmein.

Review Inside Out:

Ark of the Covenant (In the Holy of Holies) with the Mercy Seat ~ Yah’s Extraordinary Love for You, ~ the presence of Yahweh resides in the Holy of Holies – it is a supernatural place where we meet the LORD. He sits enthroned on the Mercy Seat flanked by the cherubim [angels looking downward with wings spread out]. The altar is solid pure gold from one lump! Inside the ark is Aaron’s rod, a bowl of manna, and the 2 stone tablets of the 10 Commandments. Prayer times here is in the presence of God – be still and listen! From here He will send you to do His work. Have a pen and paper for notes because He speaks to us here.

The Altar of Incense (In the Holy Place) This represents the prayers of the saints, with the pleasing aroma reaching Yah. Prayer times here is offering petitions for others. Personal Prayer Daily Devotional too! The Golden Altar is also overlaid with pure gold and a crown around it, horns at corners signifying the strength of the Almighty! Before the veil of the Holy of Holies, this altar of incense was kept lit and burnt sweet incense every morning!

Golden Candlestick (In the Holy Place) Dark without the LIGHT! Candlestick~ the Light of Messiah, GOD’s presence with us! Lit up the Bread and altar of incense. Allowed the priests to work in the Holy Place. Also represents the light of the Holy Spirit. Prayer times here is being filled with the light of the Holy Spirit. Light Belongs in the Darkness: Find Your Place In Elohim’s End-time Harvest

“Here is how the menorah was made: it was hammered gold from its base to its flowers, hammered work, following the pattern YaHWeH showed Moses… [Numbers 8:4] One piece of gold, for purity in One Holy Messiah, who was beaten, pressed according to specific instructions, into the Lamp, to light the Way to YaH. May we as pressed and beaten become refined, pure gold and light in the Way to YHWeH YeSHUA.

The lechem, the Bread is Ye’shua; His Presence~ the bread of the Face, lechem hap’panim, the shewbread, always present on the table in the temple or tabernacle of Yah! The bread was continual, freshly baked for the Shabbat, and placed on the table; the old was eaten by the Levites! HalleluYah!

The Laver (In the courtyard) [still in the natural light, outside the Light] so before entering the Holy Place and Holy of Holies, must stop at the laver and reflect; laver made from mirrors of the women! ~ reflecting on us, seeing ourselves and sin in us. This represents our cleansing. Prayer times here covers us with the Blood of Ye’shua and cleanses us of all sin. Precious Blood: The Atoning Work of Messiah! [Exodus 30:18, 28; 31:9; 35:16…]

Moshe chose the priests from the tribe of Lewi and had to cleanse them with specific instructions: sprinkle body with purification water, shave their body hair, wash their body & clothes, take a young bull with grain for offering and a bull for sin offering, lay hands on them…all for them to do service before Yehowah YHWH ! NOW…we go through Yeshua Jesus, who offered Himself as the sin offering…[from Numbers 8:5-19]

 

Should We Be Familiar with “Familiar Spirits”?

 G-D Almighty said, You are going to possess…I Myself give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey. I AM YaHWeH your Elohim who has separated you from the peoples. [Leviticus 20:24]

He calls us to make a distinction between clean and unclean, but how are we to know what is unclean?

And you shall be qodesh [holy] to Me, for I YaHWeH am qodesh, and have separated you from the peoples to be Mine. [v.26]

How do we become separate and stay holy and separate to Him?

And a man or a woman in whom there is a medium, or who are spiritists, shall certainly be put to death…Their blood is upon them. [v.27]

When you come into the land…do not learn to do according to the abominate-nations.

Let no one be found among you…pass through fire, practice divination, use magic, interpret omens or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritualist or one who calls up the dead!

For whoever does these are an abomination to YaHWeH…Be perfect…[Deuteronomy 18: 9-13]

“Familiar” spirit: #178 obe or ov from same as av, father! Signs of a familiar spirit are: prattling, mumbling; known as ‘water-skin’, a hollow sound, as from a jar [empty !] Works of the flesh are : adultery, whoring, uncleanness,  indecency, idolatry, drug sorcery, hatred, quarrels, jealousies, fits of rage, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, murders, drunkenness, wild parties, and the like [Galatians 5:19-21]!

In 1 Samuel 28:7 King Saul [Sha’ul] requested a medium at Eyn Dor [Fountain of Dwelling], and disguised himself to visit her by night. The medium even reminded Saul how he outlawed mediums and spiritists. He begged her to bring up Samuel the prophet.  Saul then took a sword and fell on it, and lost his kingdom to David the son of Jesse  [v.16-19]!

The Spirit of YaHWeH is the Ruach, in Hebrew, wind, breath or exhalation!

The Ruach of YaHWeH had turned aside from Saul and an evil spirit from YaHWeH troubled him [1Samuel 16:14]. Even Saul’s servants noted an evil spirit and had him send for David, for YaHWeH was with him. David would take a lyre and sooth and refresh Saul, so that the evil spirit would leave Saul. David had been sent by Jesse with bread, wine and a goat kid, all symbolic of  communion in Messiah, the Passover lamb of YaHWeH. In contrast, the Spirit of YaHWeH  had left Saul, and come upon David the day Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him [v.13].

King Menashsheh [2 Chronicles 33:1-10] reigned 55 years but did much evil in the eyes of YaHWeH: rebuilt high places, raised up altars for the Ba’als ,  made asherim and bowed himself to all the hosts and served them. He even built altars in the Temple of YaHWeH, made his sons pass through fire, practiced magic and used divination and witchcraft and consulted mediums and spiritists! He was captured with hooks, bound with shackles, and taken to Babel. In distress, he cried for deliverance, sought Elohim, and humbled himself greatly and prayed to Him. Elohim was moved, heard his supplication and brought him back to Jerusalem into his reign!

The Spirit of G-D:   demonstrates [1 Corinthians 2:4]; dwells in us [3:16, 6:20]; is holy [7:34]; gives gifts [12:4]; manifestation [12:7]; gives words of wisdom [12:8], knowledge; faith[9], gifts of healing; baptizes [11]; one Spirit [13]; gives life [2 Corinthians 3:6]; of the LORD, liberty [17]; of faith[4:13]; earnest [5:5]; refreshes [7:13]; works [Galatians 3:2]; fruit in goodness [Ephesians 5:9];of promise [1:13]; wisdom [v.17]; fills us [v.18];  access to Him[2:18]; habitation of G-D through it [2:22]; in inner man [3:16]; bond of peace [4:3]; one [4:4]; renews, of our mind[v.23] supply, of Y’shua [Philippians 1:19]; fellowship [2:9]; worship in [3:3]; love in [Colossians 1:8]; Elohim sent [Gal.4:6]; according to [v.29]; wait through it [5:5]; walk in it [v.16]; flesh lusts versus it [v.17]; be led by it [v.18]; fruit of it [v.22: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustworthiness, gentleness, self-control]; live in, walk in it [ v.25]; of meekness [6:1]; sow to it [v.8] ; given to us [1 Thessalonians 4:8]; quench it not![v.19]; sanctifies [2 Thes. 2:13]; justifies [1 Timothy 3:16]; not of fear! [2 Tim. 1:7]; eternal [Hebrews 9:14]; of grace [10:29];  meek, quiet [ 1 Peter 3:4]; quickens [3:18]; know [1John 4:2]; confesses, truth, given us [v.13]; =truth [5:6]; bears witness [v.6,8]; reaps

life everlasting!

These are the ones who cause divisions, not having the Ruach. But you, beloved ones, building yourselves up on your most holy [qodesh] belief, praying in the Ruach ha’Qodesh [Holy Spirit], keep yourselves in the love of Elohim…[Jude/ Yahudah 19-21].

The body without the Spirit [ Ruach] is dead [James /Ya’akov 2:26]!

The Spirit [Ruach] and the Bride say, Come! And he who hears, let him say, Come! And he who thirsts, Come! And he who desires it, take the water of life without paying! [Revelation/ Hazon 22:17]

Beloved ones, do not believe every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of Elohim G-D, because many false prophets have gone out into the world! [1 John/Yohannan 4:1]

The Spirit of Elohim is His breath, so exhale and let Him come in!  Be ye holy! Beware of the games people play, horoscopes, astrology, psychics and charts. Dwell with Him and let Him revolutionize your life so out of it flows the fountain of youth, the living waters of eternal life!

My Talent He Asks?

Moshe said to the whole community…, ‘ Here is what Adonai has ordered [Exodus 35:5-9]…then let all the craftsmen among you come and make everything Adonai has ordered [v.11-20]…and they came, everyone whose heart stirred him and everyone whose spirit made him willing…[v. 21b-29]”.

Bring what you have, your talents* and possessions, to Adonai. Behold what He makes out of them. He has given you your talents** and they do belong to Him [see the parable of the talents, Matthew 25:24, 25]!
*Talent: “Kikkar” from Kaw-rar,to dance or whirl, in a circle, in Hebrew; can be a round loaf, a morsel or round coin; is a circle or circumjacent tract or region; spiritually a talent ~ Messiah Y’shua Jesus, the Bread of Life, given freely to us, in His Spirit; freely given, freely receive and then give again; the more given, the more receive!
**As talents are used for Adonai, territory is bought or claimed or restored, from the enemy! Let us praise and sing in dance to Adonai, as in Moshe’s Song, Exodus 15!

Moshe said to the people of Israel, “SEE, Adonai has singled out B’tzal’el the son of Uri, the son of Hur [Ben Hur!], of the tribe of Y’hudah. HE has filled him with the Spirit of G-D!- with wisdom, understanding AND knowledge concerning every kind of artisanry. He is a master of design in gold, silver, bronze, cutting precious stones to be set, woodcarving and every other craft…[Exodus 35:30-35]!”

Adonai endowed them [gifted them] with wisdom and skill necessary to carry out the work needed, to do exactly according to everything HE ORDERED! HE orders the world and knows the needs…and gives us the talents to fulfill these needs. What an Almighty Elohim G-D we serve!
Moshe summoned the men and gave them from the voluntary offerings of the people what they needed to carry out the work! B’tzal’el made:
– the Tabernacle [v.8-13] of fine linen with yarns of blue, purple, scarlet and threads of hammered gold [fine linen~ purity of G-D; blue~ Heaven ; purple~Royalty of G-D ; scarlet~blood of Y’shua ; hammered gold~ us, hammered & cut/shaped by G-D into pure vessel for HIM!]
– the tent covering [v.14-18] in goat hair
– the tent covering [v.19] in ram skins and one in fine leather
– the planks [20 south & north, 6 in rear west, 8 in corners overlaid with gold, to support the tabernacle [v.23-30]
– the crossbars [v.31-34]5 each N, S, W
– the curtains [East] of blue, purple, scarlet and linen {East ~ eternity}
– the screen also E. of blue, purple, scarlet and finely woven linen for the entrance to tabernacle
– the ark [Ex.37:1-9] overlaid with gold, covered with the k’ruvim [the cherbim or angels of mercy]
– the table overlaid with gold, for gold dishes
– the menorah [lamp] of beaten piece of pure gold
– the altar to burn the incense [v.25-28]~ our prayers to the heavenlies go up as smoke
– the holy anointing oil for anointing the things of the tabernacle, and incense
– the altar for burnt offerings, with four horns

+ the wash basin of bronze “…from the mirrors of the women serving at the entrance of the tent of meeting [v. 8]!”

+ As we wash or immerse in the Name of Y’shua Jesus Christ the Messiah, we reflect on our sinful nature and see what G-D has done, as HE accepts the blood for atonement for our sins!+

– the courtyard, with tapestries of fine linen
– the screen for the Gate-way {Y’shua!} of blue, purple, scarlet and finely woven linen, 30 feet x 7.5 ft. [Ex.38:18]

And so was made all Adonai ordered Moshe to make. May we be so ‘ordered’ and be led by His Spirit to offer our own body to be that “living sacrifice” set apart and used for G-D!

I exhort you, therefore, brothers, in view of G-D’s mercies, to offer yourselves as a sacrifice, living and set apart for G-D. This will please him; it is the logical “Temple worship” for you [Romans 12:1]!

>to be continued:the accounts of the Levites and Nethinim, temple servants
>see other notes : Winds of Direction
The Four Horns

Shalom ! May Adonai bless you and keep you. May Adonai make His face shine on you & show His favor. May Adonai lift up His face toward you & give you peace! [Numbers 6:24-26] May He give you a hunger for His Word and draw you ever closer to His side! Ahmein…

ON Demand GOD

I saw an ad for “CE [Continuing Education] on Demand”, to maintain and build practice competency—> My thoughts were on GOD, at peace…He is our ON DEMAND GOD because when afflicted:

My voice is to Elohim, Almighty GOD, & I cry…& He listened to me! [Psalm 77:1]

1. Quick & easy sign up: repent & be saved! Call on the Name of the LORD, Y’shua Jesus Christ the Messiah & you shall be saved!
2. The LORD manages your life for you and lists His commands, outlines His Expectations and Goals, and gives adequate instruction on the law through His prophets and Spirit inspired letters, all for you, in His Word .
3. He remembers you, your information, and knows your present and future; but He forgets one thing: your sin!
4. He is always ON: after quick sign up, you take His courses, with easy log on! He remembers your password too: JESUS Y’shua!
5. Unlimited relationship with your Savior and LORD, good for eternal life from the date you sign up, if you only believe!
6. Huge selection of topics, take all courses guided by Him and His Spirit, Teacher, and Counselor FREE, qualifying you to live the abundant life!
7. You decide: want the whole offer, of joy, peace and Life everlasting or you can take it per course; of course, you do that at risk, for the enemy is seeking whom he can destroy, prowling like a lion!
8. For more information: go to Revelation 3:20 ” Behold , I stand at the door & knock. If anyone hears My voice & opens the door, I shall come in to him & dine with him & he with Me.” Come & dine with the Master…why buy that which does not taste good? Come…buy & eat…free salvation from the LORD! [See Isaiah 55]

“Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD” – Psalm 27:14