At the Gates of Yerushalayim; A Search for Messiah: May 2021

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Lessons from the Wilderness, Volume 36

…A Study in Revelation… Part Twelve

A Search for Truth at the End of the Age ^{^[i]} ^{^[ii]} ^{^[iii]} ^{^[iv]} ^{^[v]}

Proverbs 29:15-18 (KJV)

¹⁵ The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.

¹⁶ When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increaseth: but the righteous shall see their fall.

¹⁷ Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.

¹⁸ Where there is no vision, the people perish^f: but he that keepeth the law (H8451 תּרה תּורה tôrâh tôrâh to-raw', to-raw'), happy is he. ^{^[vi]}

This post will continue from where we left off in Part Eleven, expounding our understanding of the Feasts and more importantly, the calendar of God. Now, what does this have to do with the Book of Revelation you may ask? Everything – and nothing. To understand Revelation is to understand Messiah. I have said this before – the Revelation gives us the clearest picture of who Messiah is, His character and majesty, and His role as the ultimate regent of YHVH Elohim. Look at verse 18 from above, with a definition included (emphasis mine):

Keil and Delitzsch have this to say on this verse:

¹⁸ Where there is no vision, the people perish^f: but he that keepeth the law

(H8451 תּרה תּורה tôrâh tôrâh to-raw', to-raw'), happy is he.

“…Tôra denotes divine teaching, the word of God; whether that of the Sinaitic or that of the prophetic law (2Ch_15:3, cf. e.g., Isa_1:10). While, on the one hand, a people is in a dissolute condition when the voice of the preacher, speaking from divine revelation, and enlightening their actions and sufferings by God's word, is silent amongst them (Psa_74:9, cf. Amo_8:12); on the other hand, that same people are to be praised as happy when they show due reverence and fidelity to the word of God, both as written and as preached. That the word of God is preached among a people belongs to their condition of life; and they are only truly happy when they earnestly and willingly subordinate themselves to the word of God which they possess and have the opportunity of hearing…” ^{^[vii]}

Are we happy brethren when we hear and obey the Word of YHVH? Do we know our YHVH as He presents Himself to us, or do we fashion a god that does not offend us or require of us the one true test that we fight so hard against, the test of repentance? Repentance in word and deed, in beliefs and doctrines, in our mindset… To be free, we must surrender. We must put ourselves under His Torah, His instructions of righteousness.

To this end, let us look at the points I laid out for our being able to understand the Word of YHVH…

1. We must allow His Word and His Spirit to interpret what we read.

We all know of this rule. What did Peter say again?

2 Peter 1:16-21 (KJV)

¹⁶ For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Messiah, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. ¹⁷ For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. ¹⁸ And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.

¹⁹ We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: ²⁰ Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. ²¹ For the prophecy came not in old time^d by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. ^{^[viii]}

What is a prophet but one that speaks the Word of the Adonai?

Who are they moved by? “…the Holy Ghost…”

What is the sure word of prophecy? “…a light that shineth in a dark place…”

What is this light? Yeshua Ha’Machiach, Jesus the Messiah.

John 1:4-9 (NKJV)

…⁴ ^gIn Him was life, and ^hthe life was the light of men. ⁵ And ⁱthe light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not ¹comprehend it. ⁶ There was a ^jman sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ This man came for a ^kwitness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might ^lbelieve. ⁸ He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that ^mLight. ⁹ ⁿThat ²was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world…]^{^[ix]}.

Now the word used in 2 Pet. 1:20 for “prophecy” is (G4394) προφητεία prophēteia (prof-ay-ti'-ah). Thayer defines it as thus:

[Thayer’s Definition:]

1) prophecy

1a) a discourse emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of God, whether by reproving and admonishing the wicked, or comforting the afflicted, or revealing things hidden; especially by foretelling future events

1b) Used in the NT of the utterance of OT prophets

1b1) of the prediction of events relating to Messiah’s kingdom and its speedy triumph, together with the consolations and admonitions pertaining to it, the spirit of prophecy, the divine mind, to which the prophetic faculty is due

1b2) of the endowment and speech of the Christian teachers called prophets

1b3) the gifts and utterances of these prophets, especially of the predictions of the works of which, set apart to teach the gospel, will accomplish for the kingdom of Messiah

Part of Speech: noun feminine

A Related Word by Thayer’s/Strong’s Number: from G4396 (“prophecy”)” ^{^[i]}

Now one can discourse the word “prophecy” to death. A study on most commentaries, however, reveals a common thread, that “prophecy” emanates from YHVH, and that it is His Word. “prophēteia” comes from the Greek word (G4396) προφήτης prophētēs (prof-ay'-tace), formed from a compound of G4253 and G5346:

G4253 πρό pro (pro): A primary preposition; “fore”, that is, in front of, prior (figuratively superior) to. In compounds it retains the same significations: - above, ago, before, or ever. In compounds it retains the same significations. ^{^[xi]}

G5346 φημί phēmi (fay-mee'): Properly the same as the base of G5457 and G5316; to show or make known one’s thoughts, that is, speak or say: - affirm, say. Compare G3004. ^{^[xii]}

“prophētēs” means a “foreteller” or an “inspired speaker”. All Scripture is the Word of YHVH; therefore the argument can be made that all Scripture is prophecy, and therefore not open to our interpretation, but only that of the Spirit’s. I’m not here to engage in pointless discussions on definitions: I present what I believe that I am led to present – that all things come from YHVH, and must be examined only in His light, not a “churchs’” or a pastor’s or a teacher’s. Let YHVH’s word and His Spirit prove out what is correct, in study and ordinances.

2. We must be on His timetable, His calendar.

While we have touched on this matter previously, we still have not truly answered the simplest question – why? Why does it matter so much? What does it mean to be on YHVH’s timetable and what does His calendar bring to our lives?

Look again at Leviticus 23.

Leviticus 23 (KJV)

¹ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, ² Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts. ³ Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.

⁴ These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. ⁵ In the fourteenth day^† of the first month at even is the LORD’S passover. ⁶ And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. ⁷ In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. ⁸ But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. ⁹ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, ¹⁰ Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf^a of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: ¹¹ And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. ¹² And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD. ¹³ And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin. ¹⁴ And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

¹⁵ And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: ¹⁶ Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD. ¹⁷ Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD. ¹⁸ And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the LORD. ¹⁹ Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings. ²⁰ And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. ²¹ And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be a holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. ²² And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.

²³ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, ²⁴ Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. ²⁵ Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. ²⁶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, ²⁷ Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be a holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. ²⁸ And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God. ²⁹ For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. ³⁰ And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. ³¹ Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. ³² It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate^b your sabbath.

³³ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, ³⁴ Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, the fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD. ³⁵ On the first day shall be a holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. ³⁶ Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be a holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein. ³⁷ These are the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, everything upon his day: ³⁸ Beside the sabbaths of the LORD, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the LORD. ³⁹ Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath. ⁴⁰ And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. ⁴¹ And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month. ⁴² Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: ⁴³ That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. ⁴⁴ And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the LORD.” ^{^[xiii]}

I have included all of Leviticus 23 for a reason. Over sixty times is the word “shall” used in this chapter. The action verbs in Leviticus 23 are different: תִּקְרְא֥וּ “shall proclaim”; תַעֲשׂ֑וּ “shall do or not to do [ an action]”; תֹּאכֵֽלוּ׃ “shall eat”, etc. What is similar in each case is the morphology which is: verb, Qal, yiqtōl (imperfect), second person, masculine, plural.

Noah Webster’s dictionary defines “shall” in this sense:

“…2. In the second and third persons, shall implies a promise, command, or determination. "You shall receive your wages," "he shall receive his wages," imply that you or he ought to receive them; but usage gives these phrases the force of a promise in the person uttering them…” ^{^[xiv]}

There is implied by the Voice of the Adonai Himself in Leviticus 23 (“…¹ And the LORD spake…”) that these holy convocations are not optional; they are commandments. What did the Adonai say about His commandments?

Examples are seen below:

…And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? (Exo 16:28) (Barnes)

Exo 16:28

How long - The reference to Exo_16:4 is obvious. The prohibition involved a trial of faith, in which as usual the people were found wanting. Every miracle formed some part, so to speak, of an educational process.

And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. (Exo 20:6)

Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am the LORD. (Lev 22:31)

If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; (Lev 26:3) (Barnes)

Lev 26:3-45

As “the book of the covenant” Exo. 20:22–23:33 concludes with promises and warnings Exo_23:20-33, so does this collection of laws (which are) contained in the Book of Leviticus. But the former passage relates to the conquest of the land of promise, this one to the subsequent history of the nation. The longer similar passage in Deuteronomy 27–30 is marked by broader and deeper promises and denunciations having immediate reference not only to outward consequences, but to the spiritual death incurred by transgressing the divine will.

Lev_26:4

Rain in due season - The periodical rains, on which the fertility of the holy land so much depends, are here spoken of. There are two wet seasons, called in Scripture the former and the latter rain Deu_11:14; Jer_5:24; Joe_2:23; Hos_6:3; Jam_5:7. The former or Autumn rain falls in heavy showers in November and December. In March the latter or Spring rain comes on, which is precarious in quantity and duration, and rarely lasts more than two days.

Lev_26:5

Compare the margin reference; Joe_2:19; Job_11:18.

Lev_26:8

Five of you shall chase - A proverbial mode of expression for superiority in warlike prowess Deu_32:30; Isa_30:17.

Lev_26:9

Establish my covenant - All material blessings were to be regarded in the light of seals of the “everlasting covenant.” Compare Gen_17:4-8; Neh_9:23.

Lev_26:10

Bring forth the old because of the new - Rather, clear away the old before the new; that is, in order to make room for the latter. Compare the margin reference.

Lev_26:16

The first warning for disobedience is disease. “Terror” (literally trembling) is rendered trouble in Psa_78:33; Isa_65:23. It seems here to denote that terrible affliction, an anxious temperament, the mental state ever at war with Faith and Hope. This might well be placed at the head of the visitations on a backslider who had broken the covenant with his God. Compare Deu_32:25; Jer_15:8; Pro_28:1; Job_24:17; Psa_23:4.

Consumption, and the burning ague - Compare the margin reference. The first of the words in the original comes from a root signifying to waste away; the latter (better, fever), from one signifying to kindle a fire. Consumption is common in Egypt and some parts of Asia Minor, but it is more rare in Syria. Fevers of different kinds are the commonest of all diseases in Syria and all the neighboring countries. The opposite promise to the threat is given in Exo_15:26; Exo_23:25.

Lev_26:18

For all this - i. e. for all the afflictions in Lev_26:16-17.

Seven times - The sabbatical number is here proverbially used to remind the people of the covenant. Compare Gen_4:15, Gen_4:24; Psa_119:164; Pro_24:16; Luk_17:4.

Lev_26:19, Lev_26:20

The second warning is utter sterility of the soil. Compare Deu_11:17; Deu_28:18; Eze_33:28; Eze_36:34-35.

Lev_26:21, Lev_26:22

The third warning is the multiplication of destructive animals, etc. Compare Deu_32:24; Eze_5:17; Eze_14:15; Jdg_5:6-7; Isa_33:8.

Lev_26:23-26

The fourth warning. Yahweh now places Himself as it were in a hostile position toward His people who “will not be reformed” (rather, brought unto God: Jer_2:30). He will avenge the outraged cause of His covenant, by the sword, pestilence, famine, and captivity.

Lev_26:26

Omit “and.” “To break the staff of bread,” was a proverbial expression for cutting off the supply of bread, the staff of life (Psa_105:16; Eze_4:16; Eze_5:16; Eze_14:13; compare Isa_3:1). The supply was to be so reduced that one oven would suffice for baking the bread maple by ten women for ten families, and when made it was to be dealt out in sparing rations by weight. See 2Ki_6:25; Jer_14:18; Lam_4:9; Eze_5:12; Hos_4:10; Mic_6:14; Hag_1:6.

Lev_26:27-33

The fifth warning. For Lev_26:29 see 2Ki_6:28-29; Jer_19:8-9; Lam_2:20; Lam_4:10; Eze_5:10, for Lev_26:30 see 2Ch_34:3; Eze_6:4; Jer_14:19, for Lev_26:31 see 2Ki_25:9; Psa_74:6-7 : for Lev_26:32-33 see Deu_28:37; Psa_44:11; Jer_9:16; Jer_18:16; Ezek. 5:1-17; Jer_4:7; Eze_9:6; Eze_12:15; Zec_7:14.

Lev_26:30

High places - There is no doubt that the word here denotes elevated spots dedicated to false worship (see Deu_12:2), and especially, it would seem, to that of Baal Num_22:41; Jos_13:17. Such spots were, however, employed and approved for the worship of Yahweh, not only before the building of the temple, but afterward (Jdg_6:25-26; Jdg_13:16-23; 1Sa_7:10; 1Sa_16:5; 1Ki_3:2; 1Ki_18:30; 2Ki_12:3; 1Ch_21:26, etc.). The three altars built by Abraham at Shechem, between Bethel and Ai, and at Mamre, appear to have been on heights, and so was the temple.

The high places in the holy land may thus have been divided into those dedicated to the worship of Yahweh, and those which had been dedicated to idols. And it would seem as if there was a constant struggle going on. The high places polluted by idol worship were of course to be wholly condemned. They were probably resorted to only to gratify a degraded superstition. See Lev_19:31; Lev_20:2-5. The others might have been innocently used for prayer and religious teaching. But the temptation appears to have been too great for the temper of the people. They offered sacrifice and burnt incense on them; and hence, thorough reformers of the national religion, such as Hezekiah and Josiah, removed the high places altogether 2Ki_18:4; 2Ki_23:5.

Your images - The original word is rendered in the margin of our Bible sun images (2Ch_14:5; Isa_17:8; Eze_6:4, etc.). Phoenician inscriptions prove that the word was commonly applied to images of Baal and Astarte, the god of the sun and the goddess of the moon. This exactly explains 2Ch_34:4 following.

Idols - The Hebrew word here literally means things which could be rolled about, such as a block of wood or a lump of dirt. It was no doubt a name given in derision. Compare Isa_40:20; Isa_44:19; 2Ki_1:2.

Lev_26:31

Sanctuaries - The holy places in the tabernacle and the temple (Psa_68:35. Compare Psa_74:7).

I will not smell the savor ... - See Lev_1:9.

Lev_26:35

More literally: All the days of its desolation shall it rest that time which it rested not in your Sabbaths while ye dwelt upon it. That is, the periods of rest of which the land had been deprived would be made up to it. Compare 2Ch_36:20-21.

Lev_26:38

The land of your enemies shall eat you up - Compare Num_13:32; Eze_36:13.

Lev_26:39

Iniquity - The meaning here is, in the punishment of their iniquity, and, in the next clause, in the punishment of the iniquity (as in Lev_26:41, Lev_26:43) of their fathers. In the next verse the same Hebrew word is accurately represented by “iniquity.” Our translators have in several places put one of the English words in the text and the other in the margin (Gen_4:13; Gen_19:15; 2Ki_7:9; Psa_69:27, etc.). The language of Scripture does not make that trenchant division between sin and punishment which we are accustomed to do. Sin is its own punishment, having, from its very commencement, the germ of death. “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” Jam_1:15; Rom_2:5; Rom_5:12.

Lev_26:40

trespass - The Hebrew word signifies an injury inflicted on the rights of a person, as distinguished from a sin or iniquity regarded as an outrage of the divine law. Every wrong act is of course both a sin and a trespass against God. In this place Yahweh takes the breach of the covenant as a personal trespass.

Lev_26:41

Uncircumcised hearts - The outward sign of the covenant might be preserved, but the answering grace in the heart would be wanting (Act_7:51; Rom_2:28-29; Jer_6:10; Jer_9:26; compare Col_2:11).

Accept of the punishment of their iniquity - literally, enjoy their iniquity. The word here and in Lev_26:43 rendered “accept” in this phrase, is the same as is rendered “enjoy” in the expression “the land shall enjoy her sabbaths” Lev_26:34. The antithesis in Lev_26:43 is this: The land shall enjoy her sabbaths - and they shall enjoy the punishment of their iniquity. The meaning is, that the land being desolate shall have the blessing of rest, and they are have repented shall have the blessing of chastisement. The feelings of a devout captive Israelite are beautifully expressed in Tobit 13:1-18.

And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. (Deu 5:10)

O that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever! (Deu 5:29)

And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days. (1Ki 3:14) (Barnes)

1Ki 3:14

I will lengthen thy days - The promise here was only conditional. As the condition was not observed 1Ki_11:1-8, the right to the promise was forfeited, and it was not fulfilled. Solomon can scarcely have been more than fifty-nine or sixty at his death.

Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father: (1Ki 6:12) (Barnes)

1Ki 6:12

The meaning is, “So far as this house goes, thou art obedient (2Sa_7:13; 1Ch_17:12, etc.); if thou wilt be obedient in other things also, then will I perform My word,” etc., God’s promises being always conditional. The promises made to David were:

(1) that he should be succeeded by one of his sons 2Sa_7:12; Psa_132:11;

(2) that the kingdom should be established in the line of his descendants forever, if they were faithful Psa_132:12; and

(3) that the Israelites should be no more afflicted as beforetime 2Sa_7:10.

These promises are now confirmed to Solomon, but on the express condition of obedience, and two further promises are added.

But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them: (1Ki 9:6)

(Barnes)

1Ki 9:6

At all turn - Rather, “If ye shall wholly turn from following Me.” (See 2Ch_7:19.) The Israelites were not to be cut off, except for an entire defection.

And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee.

(1Kings 11:38) (Barnes)

1Ki 11:38

See the marginal references. To “build a sure house,” or “give a house,” is to give a continuity of offspring, and so secure the perpetuity of a family. The promise, it will be observed, is conditional; and as the condition was not complied with, it did not take effect (see 1Ki_14:8-14). The entire house of Jeroboam was destroyed by Baasha 1Ki_15:29.

Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, “Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.”

(2Ki 17:13) (Barnes)

2Ki 17:13

God raised up a succession of prophets and seers, who repeated and enforced the warnings of the Law, and breathed into the old words a new life. Among this succession were, in Israel, Ahijah the Shilonite 1Ki_14:2, Jehu the son of Hanani 1Ki_16:1, Elijah, Micaiah the son of Imlah 1Ki_22:8, Elisha, Jonah the son of Amittai 2 Ki_14:25, Oded 2 Ch_28:9, Amos, and Hosea; in Judah, up to this time, Shemaiah 2 Ch_11:2; 2Ch_12:5, Iddo 2 Ch_12:15; 2 Ch_13:22, Azariah the son of Oded 2 Ch_15:1, Hanani 2 Ch_16:7, Jehu his son 2 Ch_19:2, Jahaziel the son of Zechariah 2Ch_20:14, Eliezer the son of Dodavah (2 Ch_20:37), Zechariah the son of Jehoiada 2 Ch_24:20, another Zechariah 2 Ch_26:5, Joel, Micah, and Isaiah, besides several whose names are not known. Some of these persons are called “prophets,” others “seers.” Occasionally, the same person has both titles (as Iddo and Jehu the son of Hanani), which seems to show that there was no particularly important distinction between them.

Probably the conjecture is right that “prophet” נביא nâbı̂y' in strictness designates the official members of the prophetical order only, while “seer” חזה chôzeh is applicable to all, whether members of the order or not, who receive a prophetical revelation.

And give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace, for the which

I have made provision. (1Ch 29:19)

But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there. (Neh 1:9)

If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; (Psa 89:31) (Barnes)

Psa 89:31

If they break my statutes - Margin, “profane.” The Hebrew word means to pollute or defile; and the idea is, If they practically contemn them; if they regard them as things of nought, or treat them with disdain as a polluted or defiled thing. It is in this way that the mass of mankind do regard the commands of God. They treat them with no respect; they practically class them among objects that are polluted, and that are to be avoided as defiled and defiling.

And keep not my commandments - If they do not regulate their conduct by my laws.

Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God. (Psa 119:115)

(Barnes)

Psa 119:115

Depart from me, ye evil-doers - Workers of iniquity, bad men. See the notes at Psa_6:8. This indicates a determined purpose that nothing should deter or allure him from the service of God. A man who wishes to serve God, and lead a religious life, must separate himself from the society, as such, of unprincipled people.

For I will keep the commandments of my God - This is my fixed resolution. It may be remarked here.

(1) that bad people will turn away from the society of one who has formed such a resolution, and who carries it out;

(2) the resolution is a necessary one to be formed and executed, if a man will serve God;

(3) the formation and execution of such a purpose, is the best way to get rid of the society of bad people.

My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: (Pro 3:1)

He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. (Pro 4:4) (Barnes)

Pro 4:4-20 The counsel which has come to him, in substance, from his father. Compare it with 2Sa_23:2 etc.; 1Ch_28:9; 1Ch_29:17; Psa_15:1-5; Psa_24:1-10; Ps. 37.

Pro 4:7 Or, “The beginning of wisdom is - get wisdom.” To seek is to find, to desire is to obtain.

Pro 4:12 The ever-recurring parable of the journey of life. In the way of wisdom, the path is clear and open, obstacles disappear; in the quickest activity (“when thou runnest”) there is no risk of falling.

Pro 4:13 She is thy life - Another parallel between personified Wisdom in this book and the Incarnate Wisdom in Joh_1:4.

A fearful stage of debasement. Sin is the condition without which there can be no repose.

Pro 4:17 i. e., Bread and wine gained by unjust deeds. Compare Amo_2:8. A less probable interpretation is, “They eat wickedness as bread, and drink violence as wine.” Compare Job_15:16; Job_34:7.

Pro 4:18 Shining ... shineth - The two Hebrew words are different; the first having the sense of bright or clear. The beauty of a cloudless sunshine growing on, shining as it goes, to the full and perfect day, is chosen as the fittest figure of the ever-increasing brightness of the good man’s life. Compare the marginal reference.

Pro 4:19 Compare our Lord’s teaching Joh_11:10; Joh_12:35.

Pro 4:20 The teacher speaks again in his own person.

My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee. (Pro 7:1) (Barnes)

Pro 7:1

The harlot adulteress of an Eastern city is contrasted with the true feminine ideal of the Wisdom who is to be the “sister” and “kinswoman” Pro_7:4 of the young man as he goes on his way through life. See Prov. 8 in the introduction.

Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye. (Pro 7:2)

And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said,

O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; (Dan 9:4) (Barnes)

Dan 9:4

And I prayed unto the Lord my God - Evidently a set and formal prayer. It would seem probable that; he offered this prayer, and then recorded the substance of it afterward. We have no reason to suppose that we have the whole of it, but we have doubtless its principal topics.

And made my confession - Not as an individual, or not of his own sins only, but a confession in behalf of the people, and in their name. There is no reason to suppose that what he here says did “not” express their feelings. They had been long in captivity - far away from their desolate city and temple. They could not but be sensible that these calamities had come upon them on account of their sins; and they could not but feel that the calamities could not be expected to be removed but by confession of their sins, and by acknowledging the justice of the Divine dealings toward them. When we have been afflicted - when we are called to pass through severe trials - and when, borne down by trial, we go to God, and pray that the evil may be removed, the first thing that is demanded is, that we should confess our sins, and acknowledge the justice of God in the judgments that have come upon us. If we attempt to vindicate and justify ourselves, we can have no hope that the judgment will be averted. Daniel, therefore, in the name of the people, began his prayer with the humble and penitent acknowledgment that all that they had suffered was deserved.

O Lord, the great and dreadful God - A God great, and to be feared or venerated - הנורא hanôrâ'. This does not mean “dreadful” in the sense that there is anything stern or unamiable in his character, but mainly that he is to be regarded with veneration.

Keeping the covenant and mercy - Keeping his covenant and showing mercy. This is often ascribed to God, that he is faithful to his covenant; that is, that he is faithful to his promises to his people, or to those who sustain a certain relation to him, and who are faithful to “their” covenant vows. If there is alienation and estrangement, and want of faithfulness on either side, it does not begin with him. He is faithful to all his promises, and his fidelity may always be assumed as a basis of calculation in all our intercourse with him. See the word “covenant,” in Cruden’s “Concordance.” The word mercy seems to be added here to denote that mercy enters his dealings with us even in keeping the covenant. We are so sinful and so unfaithful ourselves, that if “he” is faithful to his covenant, it must be by showing mercy to us.

To them that love him ... - The conditions of the covenant extend no farther than this, since, in a compact of any kind, one is bound to be faithful only while the terms are maintained by the other party. So, God binds himself to show favor only while we are obedient, and we can plead his covenant only when we are obedient, when we confess our sins and plead his promises in this sense - that he has assured us that he will restore and receive us if we are penitent. It was this which Daniel pleaded on this occasion. He could not plead that his people had been obedient and had thus any claims to the Divine favor; but he could cast himself and them on the mercy of a covenant-keeping God, who would remember his covenant with them if they were penitent, and who would graciously pardon.

If ye love me, keep my commandments. (Joh 14:15) (Barnes)

Joh 14:15

If ye love me - Do not show your love by grief at my departure merely, or by profession, but by obedience.

Keep my commandments - This is the only proper evidence of love to Jesus, for mere profession is no proof of love; but that love for him which leads us to do all his will, to love each other, to deny ourselves, to take up our cross, and to follow him through evil report and through good report, is true attachment. The evidence which we have that a child loves its parents is when that child is willing, without hesitation, gainsaying, or complaining, to do all that the parent requires him to do. So, the disciples of Messiah are required to show that they are attached to him supremely by yielding to all his requirements, and by patiently doing his will in the face of ridicule and opposition, 1Jo_5:2-3.

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. (Joh 15:10) (Barnes)

Joh 15:10

See Joh_14:23-24…” ^{^[xv]}

I have added these notes and Scriptures to make a point; to disobey YHVH’s commandments brings about many heartaches. To obey brings about favor and blessings. This is the “why” of obeying YHVH. The calendar of YHVH is based upon His Feasts; keeping them is mandatory, not optional. Keeping them is to fulfill and prove what Messiah said to us in John 14:15:

“…If ye love me, keep my commandments…”

Walking in YHVH’s commandments means walking in His Torah, His holy instructions on how we are to live and love not only Him, but one another. It is not being in bondage or trying to earn salvation through works; it is an act of love. Recall what Messiah said when asked about the greatest commandment:

Matthew 22:34-40 (1901 ASV)

But the Pharisees, when they heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, gathered themselves together. ³⁵And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, trying him: ³⁶Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? ³⁷And he said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. ³⁸This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹And a second like unto it is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. ⁴⁰On these two commandments the whole law hangeth, and the prophets. ^{^[xvi]}

Upon this hangs all the law and prophecy and wisdom and knowledge – all hang upon love. What Messiah did here wasn’t new to His listeners: indeed there is precedence in the Jewish Talmud about summarizing the commandments and the Torah:

“… In the Talmud, in Makkot 23b-24a we read of a number of such summarizations from the Bible:

…'Rabbi Simlai said, Six hundred and thirteen Commandments were given to Moses' (a traditional 'count' of the number of Commandments in the Law). 'David came and reduced them to eleven' (Psalm 15). 'Then Isaiah reduced them to six' (Is. 33:15-16), 'Micah to three' (Micah 6:8), 'and Isaiah again to two, as it is said, 'Keep judgment and do righteousness' (Is. 66:1). 'Then Amos reduced them to one, 'Seek Me and live' (Amos 5:4). 'Or one could say Habakkuk: 'the righteous shall live by his faith' (Hab. 2:4)…^{^[xvii]}

Again from the sages;

'A pagan came before Shammai (a famous rabbi), and said to him, 'Make me a proselyte but on condition that you teach me the entire Torah while I am standing on one foot!' Shammai drove him off with the builder's measuring rod which he had in his hand. When he appeared before' (another famous rabbi) 'Hillel,' he 'told him, 'What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah. The rest is commentary.' Now go 'and learn it!' ^{^[xviii]}

Today the church says that we are not “under the law but grace”. This assumption is usually based upon what Messiah said in Matt. 5:17-19:

Matthew 5:17-19 (NKJV)

¹⁷ ^v“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. ¹⁸ For assuredly, I say to you, ^wtill heaven and earth pass away, one ²jot or one ³tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. ¹⁹ ^xWhoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ^{^[xix]}

What is almost universally misunderstood is what Ha’Machiach meant when He said, “I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” This Jewish idiom was understood by those in Messiah’s time, but in the 1980 years since Yeshua’s time its meaning has been lost to the Hellenized-Greek mindset. That is why our roots are important. Our Hebraic roots will tell us what these words meant, so that we can correctly divide the word of Truth. The phrase “…not…to destroy but to fulfill…” meant Messiah had not come to do away with the Torah, the law nor had He come to incorrectly interpret it which is what “to destroy” means. He had come to “fulfill” the law, that is to correctly interpret it, according to the original intent of YHVH.

Another writer of the New Testament who speaks of the Torah is universally misunderstood also, and that is Paul. The Epistle to the Romans gives us a unique glance into the mind of Paul and while it isn’t what modern day scholars regard as systematic theology^{^[xx]}, it is still the closest one can come to in the New Testament. While I will only cite one chapter of Romans here, the first three chapters are the Holy Spirit’s indictment (through Paul) of mankind; this indictment is laid out in the following verses:

Romans 2:1-10 (NKJV)

2 Therefore you are ^ainexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, ^bfor in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. ² But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. ³ And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? ⁴ Or do you despise ^cthe riches of His goodness, ^dforbearance, and ^elongsuffering, ^fnot knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? ⁵ But in accordance with your hardness and your ¹impenitent heart ^gyou are ²treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, ⁶ who ^h“will render to each one according to his deeds”: ⁷ eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; ⁸ but to those who are self-seeking and ⁱdo not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, ⁹ tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew ^jfirst and also of the ³Greek; ¹⁰ ^kbut glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ^{^[xxi]}

And in verse 31 of Romans 3, we see the reason for all things:

Romans 3:31 (NKJV)

Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law. ^{^[xxii]}

This is the reason for the law, or more correctly, the Torah. In its fullest sense, Torah exists for one purpose, to teach us what is hateful to YHVH and to instruct us on a moral course that we are to live by. As stated before, there is in Christianity today the idea that the Torah is done away with, that we are not “under the law” anymore for it is grace which abounds. But what is grace? Is grace license to sin? What is sin if we are not under the law? For Paul tells us:

“…Rom 7:7…Therefore, what are we to say? That the Torah is sinful? Heaven forbid! Rather, the function of the Torah was that without it, I would not have known what sin is. For example, I would not have become conscious of what greed is if the Torah had not said, "Thou shalt not covet." 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, worked in me all kinds of evil desires — for apart from Torah, sin is dead. 9 I was once alive outside the framework of Torah. But when the commandment really encountered me, sin sprang to life, 10 and I died. The commandment that was intended to bring me life was found to be bringing me death! 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me; and through the commandment, sin killed me. 12 So the Torah is holy; that is, the commandment is holy, just and good. 13 Then did something good become for me the source of death? Heaven forbid! Rather, it was sin working death in me through something good, so that sin might be clearly exposed as sin, so that sin through the commandment might come to be experienced as sinful beyond measure. 14 For we know that the Torah is of the Spirit; but as for me, I am bound to the old nature, sold to sin as a slave. 15 I don't understand my own behavior — I don't do what I want to do; instead, I do the very thing I hate! 16 Now if I am doing what I don't want to do, I am agreeing that the Torah is good. 17 But now it is no longer "the real me" doing it, but the sin housed inside me. 18 For I know that there is nothing good housed inside me — that is, inside my old nature. I can want what is good, but I can't do it! 19 For I don't do the good I want; instead, the evil that I don't want is what I do! 20 But if I am doing what "the real me" doesn't want, it is no longer "the real me" doing it but the sin housed inside me. 21 So I find it to be the rule, a kind of perverse "torah," that although I want to do what is good, evil is right there with me! 22 For in my inner self I completely agree with God's Torah; 23 but in my various parts, I see a different "torah," one that battles with the Torah in my mind and makes me a prisoner of sin's "torah," which is operating in my various parts. 24 What a miserable creature I am! Who will rescue me from this body bound for death? 25 Thanks be to God [, he will]! — through Yeshua the Messiah, our Lord! To sum up: with my mind, I am a slave of God's Torah; but with my old nature, I am a slave of sin's "Torah”…”^{^[xxiii]}

No, what Paul is telling us is not that the law dictates to us all that is sinful, but rather is the agency that YHVH has used to awaken within us the knowledge of our depraved souls, the sin nature. If, as Ravi Sha’ul (Rabbi Paul) says “…apart from Torah, sin is dead…”, then what is sin? We are not as some profess free of the law, for these are the commandments of YHVH, and He changes not. What He decreed to the Is’raelites, He decreed to believers today. If all the law (Torah) hangs upon the two greatest commandments:

Matthew 22:36-40 (NKJV)

“³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

³⁷ Jesus said to him, ^x‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ^y‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ ^zOn these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” ^{^[xxiv]}”

How then is Torah put aside, seeing as how Torah is based on love? The bottom line here is, if apart from the law sin is dead, then why does man need a Savior? If there is no law, there is no sin. If no sin, Messiah need not have died. Hell’s best kept secret is in convincing man that we no longer are under Torah. If man has no sin, then for what does he seek salvation for? John the Baptist asked the Pharisees “…who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” ^{^[xxv]} Charles Spurgeon once said:

“…Lower the Law, and you dim the light by which man perceives his guilt. This is a very serious loss to the sinner, rather than a gain; for it lessens the likekihood of his conviction and conversion…I say you have deprived the Gospel of its ablest auxiliary [most powerful weapon] when you have set aside the Law. You have taken away from it the schoolmaster that is to bring men to Messiah…They will never accept grace till they tremble before a just and holy Law. Therefore, the Law serves a most necessary and blessed purpose, and it must not be removed from its place…”^{^[xxvi]}

Torah then represents not the end, but the means by which man’s need for salvation is realized. Much too often, we picture Messiah as pleading with sinners to come, to accept Him as Lord so that He can save them. We approach salvation as “man-centered”, not Messiah centered. Oh, but you say, “Not so!” “We give an altar call by telling them of what Messiah can do for them!” Friends, this is attraction. We try to make Yeshua “appealing”, so that the masses will find Him attractive and want to “try” Him out. This is not salvation! How does the sinner turn himself around? How can a dead man make himself live? For Scripture tells us in Romans 3:10-18 (NKJV):

¹⁰ As it is written: ^l“There is none righteous, no, not one; ¹¹There is none who understands;

There is none who seeks after God.

¹² They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.”

¹³“Their ^mthroat is an open ⁴tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit”;

ⁿ“The poison of asps is under their lips”;

¹⁴“Whose ^omouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”

¹⁵“Their ^pfeet are swift to shed blood;

¹⁶Destruction and misery are in their ways;

¹⁷And the way of peace they have not known.”

^{18 ”}There ^qis no fear of God before their eyes.” ^{^[xxvii]}

The natural man thinks not of the things of God (1 Cor. 2:14); only YHVH through His Spirit makes men live: (Zechariah 4:6 (NKJV) “ ⁶ …So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the Lord to ^fZerubbabel: ^g‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts… ^{^[xxviii]}”) and again in John 1:12-13 (NKJV); “¹² …But ^qas many as received Him, to them He gave the ⁵right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: ¹³ ^rwho were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God…” ^{^[xxix]}

The result is that the common way of “seeking converts” holds no promise of true repentance, no promise of eternal life for we seek dead men to save themselves, instead of allowing YHVH to do His work. We expect dead men to trust their salvation to a decision they have made, instead of relying on the Providence of YHVH to move in their lives. The Spirit must quicken the dead heart, must restore it to life, and then that man would seek to flee the wrath that is to come when he comes face to face with the certain judgment of a Holy YHVH. He must be brought into the knowledge of self before he can be brought to the knowledge of the Savior and salvation. Every hope in the flesh must be cast down before they can be brought to the cross; such is the fallen manner of man.

There must be a reckoning of self; no “invitation” is sufficient for the sinful man; you must break their hearts! Plow the hearts till the Spirit of YHVH brings them to their knees! Forget the invitation – the ground must be worked, must be torn asunder, must be broken by the harrow and the tooth, by the disc and the plow – for if we just talk to them, just give them some “nice” points to ponder – then we have made them into a two-fold son of hell, never to be open to the gospel again because of the damnable easy lies we have told – asking them to pray a “sinner’s prayer” or a prayer of “invitation” to “make a decision” when they are dead and have no life within them to even begin to ask such a thing.

This religious lie is a spewing lukewarm paste in our mouths. When we treat sin as an exercise, as a thing that can be tossed about casually, then we are fighting against the Holy Spirit who has come to convict the world of its sin! Why do preachers today want to give you your best life now when they should be concerned with your eternity! Think about it brethren! When a man or preacher does not preach or mention sin, repentance, daily dying to oneself, or of the daily carrying our cross in his sermons, then I have to say that the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with his ministry, unless it is to work against it. If we do not preach against sin, if we say our ministry isn’t concerned about sin, then we are in contradiction with the Holy Spirit because His ministry is about sin! It is His primary ministry, to convict men of sin, to bring them to the truth, to reveal to them Jesus Messiah! If we do not deal with men in their sin, in their depraved condition with passion, conviction, TRUTH and love – then the Holy Spirit is nowhere near us, and YHVH is not in the house. We are also deceivers if we deal not with the sin of men or treat it lightly [compare with Jeremiah 8]:

Jeremiah 6:8-19 (KJV)

⁸ Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart^c from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.

⁹ Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall throughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets. ¹⁰ To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it. ¹¹ Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days. ¹² And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD. ¹³ For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them everyone is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. ¹⁴ They have healed also the hurt^d of the daughter^† of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. ¹⁵ Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore, they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD. ¹⁶ Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. ¹⁷ Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.

¹⁸ Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them. ¹⁹ Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it. ^{^[xxx]}

Not only are we deceivers, but we are immoral, for we shy away from the truth so that those around us will not be angry with us. “Oh, but they’ll be so mad- they’ll be sad…” And yet how can we justify keeping the one truth from them that will save their lives? Teachers and pastors will say though, “My sheep are weak, they can’t bear the truth! We just must bring them along slowly… Why even Paul tells them in 1 Cor. 3:1-2: “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Messiah. ² I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.” ^{^[xxxi]} Even Jesus told them in John 16:12: “… I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now…”!” ^{^[xxxii]}

In response, let me say this: man has never been able to bear the truth of YHVH’s word. Either he will react to it with anger, reject it with finality, or he’ll be broken by it, crushed by the weight of his iniquity and be saved.

“Oh but,” says the pastor, “it’ll crush what little self-esteem they have!”

I say, what little self-esteem? SELF is all they esteem! More than they esteem YHVH! We are all thieves when we speak not of sin. Look at the morning sky- bright is the sun. The stars have gone (though not really!) but what they are, is dwarfed by the light. In the absence of light, when the sun goes down and the sky darkens, the whole of the visible cosmos shines and we see the stars everywhere. This is how sin is. In the absence of the Son of Man, the darkness takes over and sin abounds, unabashed and unashamed to be seen, standing tall in its pride and in the power of itself.

When we refuse to preach and speak on the utter depravity of man, we refuse to give glory to YHVH, His Son and His Spirit. There can be no glory in self! Found there is only darkness and the revealed sin, unabashed, unashamed. YHVH is only glorified when we see Him in and as the light, when He is the light dwarfing our darkness in Glory, Power and Honor. Only the cross of Messiah and its glory is revealed in the backdrop of our own depravity. It is impossible to bring Glory to YHVH, His Messiah and His Cross if we fail to teach about man’s sin. Consider the following story:

Luke 7:36-48 (1901 ASV)

And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he entered into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat. ³⁷And behold, a woman who was in the city, a sinner; and when she knew that he was sitting at meat in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster cruse of ointment, ³⁸and standing behind at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. ³⁹Now when the Pharisee that had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have perceived who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, that she is a sinner. ⁴⁰And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Teacher, say on. ⁴¹A certain lender had two debtors: the one owed five hundred shillings, and the other fifty. ⁴²When they had not wherewith to pay, he forgave them both. Which of them therefore will love him most? ⁴³Simon answered and said, He, I suppose, to whom he forgave the most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. ⁴⁴And turning to the woman, he said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thy house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath wetted my feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵Thou gavest me no kiss: but she, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. ⁴⁶My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but she hath anointed my feet with ointment. ⁴⁷Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. ⁴⁸And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.^{^[xxxiii]}

She loved much for she was forgiven much and she was forgiven much for she knew how wretched she was…

Man can never know or love YHVH unless we tell him how wicked he really is, by showing him the Torah and all YHVH’s counsel. We have robbed them of the opportunity to put aside self, to not boast of himself by failing to exalt the Adonai and letting them boast of His salvation and grace. One thing is for sure; we need to stop protecting people from their bibles. Only by the heartfelt study of YHVH’s word will the multitudes come to learn of true salvation, for the fluff and milk that is taught today makes more converts to Hell than to the Kingdom of God.

Therefore, I must agree with Avram Yehoshua, Elder and Teacher At The Seed Of Abraham:

“…The Church's interpretation of Matthew 5:17-19 is wrong, as well as their theology that the Law of Moses has been done away with. So, what does 'fulfill' mean?

Here are seven ways in which the word fulfill can and should be interpreted without destroying the English language, or the Law of Moses:

1. Yeshua came to fulfill the Promise of YHVH, to Adam and Eve, that YHVH would send a Redeemer:
Our need for a Redeemer is first mentioned in Gen. 3:15, where God speaks of the hatred between the Seed of the woman and the Snake. That Seed of the woman is Messiah Yeshua. Yeshua's Sacrifice 'accomplished' and 'fulfilled' this.

YHVH promised that He would be the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob AND their descendants. And that Israel would be YHVH's people. Yeshua came to fulfill this part of the Law by bringing Israel closer to her God. Yeshua's Sacrifice 'accomplished' and 'fulfilled' this. It made the way possible for Israel to truly be God's people.
With the giving of the holy Torah (Law) to Israel, we find that Israel was not able to keep God's Way. Israel went more the way of the Snake than the Way of God. It wasn't the fault of the Torah, but of the heart of the Israeli. God speaks of circumcising the Israeli heart, to follow Him, in Deut. 30:6. And in Ezekiel 36:24-27, He speaks of cleansing Israel's heart and giving Israel His Spirit, so that Israel can walk in God's Torah. God speaks of giving Israel a New Covenant (Jer. 31:31-34), so they could walk in His Law. It was the giving of the Spirit and the Blood to transform the nature of the Israeli that allows him to walk in God's holy Torah. This is one major way Yeshua 'fulfills' the Torah and the Prophets. God promised Man and Israel a Savior and Yeshua came in direct response to that need. As part of that fulfillment, the Messiah would suffer and die for the sins of Israel (Is. 52:13-53:12). He would take their place and suffer the just requirements or punishment of all who broke God's Law (Deut. 27:26; Ezk. 18:4, Gen. 2:17, etc.). Yeshua was pierced through and crushed in our place (Is. 53:5). He died for all the times we wanted to be holy and weren't. And all the times in our lives where we have rebelled against God and told Him, either verbally or unconsciously, that we would not follow and submit to Him, that we would do what we wanted. Yeshua was crushed for perverse hearts. And so He fulfilled the righteous requirements of the Law which says that those who sin (grievously against God), must die. And that only the High Priest, once a year, could come into the very Presence of YHVH. Yeshua has made a way for us to be with YHVH eternally, by giving to us the righteousness of YHVH (Jer. 23:5-6). This is His very nature. This too is part of the promise. God has promised Israel a new heart (Ezk. 36:26). The Anointed One would be crucified (Psalm 22), etc. Yeshua has 'fulfilled' all those prophecies about Him and this would have nothing to do with casting away God's holy Law.

The Redeemer would be a prophet like Moses (Deut. 18:18). He would be anointed above his brothers, and so would be called 'the Messiah' or 'the Anointed One'. The Torah speaks of 'one being like Moses' in that Moses not only saw God face to face, but God 'put the words' into Moses' mouth that Moses gave to Israel. In John, many times Yeshua speaks of 'being sent by the Father' and the words that He spoke were not His, but the Father's (John 14:24, etc.). This is a direct reference back to Deut. 18:18 and His coming to fulfill the Law.

The Mosaic Sacrifices, with their substitutionary animals that died in place of the Israeli, were a picture of Messiah taking the punishment of death for all those that sinned in Israel, who would believe. Yeshua's Sacrifice epitomized the essence of all the Mosaic Sacrifices. Yeshua's Sacrifice 'fulfilled' this. As for the sacrifices still being valid among believers, please see Acts 21:20-24, where the whole believing community continues to practice not only the Law of Moses but sacrifice as well.

Yeshua also shows us another meaning of fulfill as He fulfills the Torah by showing us what it means to love God with all our heart and our soul and our strength, and our neighbor as ourselves. He lays His life down, for us, because of His Love for us. He is the Example par excellence of God's Love, found in the Law of Moses.

Yeshua is the ideal Israeli who both is fully devoted to God His Father and is fully devoted to, and identifies, with us. We needed a High Priest, a heavenly intercessor for us, and in this sense, Yeshua fulfills that position as is stated in passages like Psalm 110:4 where God calls Messiah a (High) Priest forever, after the type or order of Melchizedek. And Yeshua also fulfills the concept of the King and High Priest being 'one' in Zechariah 6:12-13 where the High Priest-King builds the Temple or dwelling place of YHVH (the Body of Messiah). Yeshua fulfills our need for an eternal High Priest and King, something that is seen in the Law and the Prophets.

Yeshua explains the deeper foundational meanings of the Torah as the rest of chapter five in Matthew tells us. He states, 'You have heard that you must not murder, but I say to you that you must not hate your brother.' The Rabbis of old said that, 'When Messiah comes, He will tell us the deeper meanings of Torah.' Yeshua reveals the essence of the Commandments but this hardly could do away with the actual Commandment itself. For instance, with the illustration of murder being linked to hatred, Yeshua in no way invalidates the Commandment 'not to murder' anymore, but brings us all under conviction. For who among us has not hated at least once in our lifetime?” ^{^[xxxiv]}

And therefore, “…We need to remember, as Paul said, Yeshua was our final SIN offering, and the only way to obtain eternal life is to believe in His shed blood on the cross. When Torah observant believers talk about "walking in Torah" and keeping the feasts, however, people jump to conclusions and accuse of us doing it to receive eternal life; this is absolutely not true. Man is not "saved" by works! We must keep Torah because YHVH commanded it; and because we want to (once it is written on our hearts); and because God never "did away with" His original divine teaching and instruction!

Matthew 5: 17 "Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. 18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah - not until everything that must happen has happened. 19 So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness is far greater than that of the Torah-teachers and P'rushim, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven!" (Stern's)

Psalm 89:33 But I won't withdraw my grace from him or be false to my faithfulness. 34 I will not profane my covenant or change what my lips have spoken. 35 I have sworn by my holiness once and for all; I will not lie to David... (Stern's)

John 14:15 If you love me, you will keep My Commands; (Stern's)

John 14:21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me, and the one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him." (Stern's)

Jeremiah 31:33 "For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Isra'el after those days," says ADONAI: "I will put my Torah within them and write it on their hearts; I will be their God, and they will be my people. (Stern's)

Ezekiel 11: 19-21 "... I will put a New Spirit in them ... I will give them a heart of flesh, so that they will keep My Laws and respect My Observances and put them into practice. Then shall they be My People ..."

Matthew 5:17 "I tell you solemnly, till heaven and earth disappear, not one little stroke shall disappear from the Law until its purpose is achieved....

Let us also remember Romans 3:31 which says:

"Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law...."

A good question for a doubter to ask himself is: Are there ANY passages in the "Old Testament" or in the New Covenant that suggest Messiah would bring with Him a new religion? He fulfilled YHVH's "New Covenant" that would ensure eternal life for those who believed that Yeshua was the final Sin offering, but NOTHING suggested a new "religion" or the instructions to ignore God's original FOREVER covenant!

The bottom line is: Yeshua's arrival, and ultimate death on the cross did NOT abolish Torah! He said so, Himself. He kept the feasts; He ate only kosher foods; He worshipped and taught in synagogues. Everything He did was completely and thoroughly Jewish and exactly according to Scripture - and He instructed His disciples to do the same…”^{^[xxxv]}

To hear and obey. That is why we follow Torah, and why we keep the Feasts. To know the times and seasons is why we keep to YHVH’s calendar. Next, I ask you bear with me a bit longer as I present to you two articles taken from Gavin Finley MD at endtimepilgrim.org; I hope they will explain to you a bit more about YHVH’s timing and His days that are to be…

BIBLICAL TIME AND THE SEVENTY WEEKS OF DANIEL

360 DEGREES TO A CIRCLE, AND 360 DAYS TO A YEAR.

12 SECTORS OF 30 DEGREES, AND 12 MONTHS OF 30 DAYS.

THE SOLAR CYCLES AND LUNAR CYCLES IN THE MATHEMATICAL AND GEOMETRIC PERFECTION OF GOD.

By Gavin Findley, MD, @ www.endtimepilgrim.org

BIBLICAL TIME, (OR PROPHETIC TIME);

IT IS DISPENSED TO US FROM THE THRONE OF GOD.
SO HOW MANY DAYS ARE IN THOSE MONTHS AND YEARS
WE SEE MENTIONED IN HOLY PROPHETIC SCRIPTURE?

#1 In Daniel 12:7 we read:

7 Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river,
when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever,
that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time;
and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered,
all these things shall be finished."

The holy people, God's Elect, (His covenant people), will be disenfranchised, shattered, and without political power. for a time, times, and half a time; or three and a half years. This is the final half of the 70th Week of Daniel, the final 3.5 years of this age. How many days are in those three and a half or 3.5 years?

#2 In Revelation 11:2 the Apostle John was told that the Gentiles, the heathen or goyim,

.... will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months."

How many days are in those 42 months?

#3 In Revelation 12:14 we are told,

"....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.

How many days are in those three and a half or 3.5 years?

#4 And in Revelation 13:5 the Apostle John was told that the future AntiMessiah

" .... was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies,
and he was given authority to continue[a] for forty-two months."

So how many days are in those 42 months?

The answers to these questions are noticeably clear and very definite. They are to be found in the following connecting scriptures. Because the Holy Spirit has not finished. He still has more to tell us about the final 3.5 years of this age. Indeed, He has two more verses to show us. And in these next two verses He is going to lay out the exact number of days!

#5 In Revelation 11:3 we see the time set forth for the ministry of the two witnesses. This is the first of our two Bible verses that speak of those latter day 3.5 years of trial and our scripture here tells us plainly and accurately that they will last 1260 days.

3 "And I will give power to my two witnesses,
and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth."

#6 In Revelation 12:6 the Apostle John was told what will happen to the "woman", God's covenant people, during the Great Tribulation Period, the final half of the 70th Week of Daniel, those final 7 years of this age before Messiah comes. The 666 economic system of the Beast will be in play during those final 3.5 years. Quite obviously she will be in deadly peril. John saw the woman being threatened by the Dragon, Lucifer. This very drama is laid out in the heavens in the constellations revolving around Polaris, the north star. The lesser sheepfold is being encircled by the constellation of Draco. A similar scene is pictured in the constellation of Andromeda and the story has been told down through time. In the ancient oral legend of Andromeda the woman is threatened by a monster emerging from the sea, even as God's people in the latter days are threatened by a sea of nations raging against them. This is the drama of the Apocalypse. And here we see Hashem, the God of Israel, responding and beginning to come into His end time role as the Deliverer.

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."

It seems that God will be taking care of His covenant people during the Great Tribulation. He will be leading them out "on wings of eagles" just like He did in the former time. The exodus brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, the superpower of that time. Again, He will be taking His chosen on a journey, into an adventure, and away from the destructive systems of this world. They will arrive at a place of mystery, a geographical location the Holy Spirit merely identifies as "Bozrah". There they will be nurtured and fed for those 1260 days.

It seems that once again the God of Israel will be stepping into history. At Jerusalem central and out at the ends of the earth He will be performing His wonders before the angelic host and before the watching world. All this will be happening during the very time-period of the Great Tribulation. Hashem will be carrying His covenant people across a bridal threshold. He will be carrying His beloved saints on "wings of eagles", even on the wings of a "great eagle". This is the Bozrah Exile. This Bozrah Exile and the Bozrah Deliverance at the end of the 70th Week is more than just a Jewish story. All of the 12 tribes of Israel will be there. And a remnant shall return.

These inspiring Apocalyptic scriptures in Rev. 12 and Micah 2 are almost never addressed by our Bible teachers today. The prophet Micah picks up the story. He describes this epic end time gathering in exile of God's Elect as "Jacob". And in this end-time drama the trickster and dodger of covenant matters is going to meet his brother Esau once again as he journeys. The covenant matters he has tried to avoid will be addressed, once and for all. And Jacob the shyster, the deceiver, will become "Israel", "prince with God".

Our Old Testament Bozrah scripture relating to the flight and exile of the woman in Rev. 12 is found in Micah 2:12-13. Here is an article on the subject.

The two verses we see in Revelation 12 up above make up our "Rosetta Stone" for Biblical time.

We shall have more to say on this extraordinary duo of verses further down in this article.

GOD DISPENSES TIME TO US IN BEAUTY AND IN TRUTH

ACCORDING TO THE MATHEMATICS AND THE GEOMETRY OF A CIRCLE.
A 360 DEGREE CIRCLE OF 12 SEGMENTS EACH OF 30 DEGREES
SETS OUT A PERFECT SOLAR SYSTEM AND A PERFECT CALENDAR
ACCORDING TO THE ORDER AND PERFECTION OF A HOLY GOD.

In this article we shall discover that the Holy Spirit in the Bible itself has given us clear and unequivocal answers to all these questions relating to the latter half of the 70th Week of Daniel and indeed the whole of the 70 weeks. The God of Israel, the Ancient of Days, has foreordained the "set times" of Bible prophecy, both past and future. YHVH-God has not left us in the dark or left us with vagaries concerning the chronology of Bible prophecy as important as Daniel's Prophecy of the 70 Weeks. This applies to the future 70th week that will terminate with the second coming of Messiah as well to the past history of the former 69 weeks which terminated with the first coming of Messiah. And the time-periods and chronologies pertaining to past and future events in holy history have been plainly written down for our benefit.

Our first teachings about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob demonstrate for us that God is holy. Accordingly, we must assume that His Holy Word as it comes to us from His throne is laid out for us in perfect order and beauty. So when God sends information to us regarding time-periods related to the unfolding of holy history here on earth we must find out what units of time He is using. As we proceed in this study, we shall come to understand that God issues the time-period into Bible prophecy the years are not years of 365.24219 days or lunar cycles of 29.530589 days. These are the solar and lunar passages of our present-day damaged cosmos. When God issues time to us in terms of years and months He does it according to what the passages of the sun and moon would be in the mechanics of a perfect solar system conforming to the mathematical and geometric perfection of a perfect circle. We serve a Holy God. That is the way He is.

This would be a perfect solar system in which the earth revolved around the sun every 360.000000 (etc.) days and the new moon to new moon lunar cycle of the moon would be 30.0000etc. days. This would then set the sun and moon to describe and mark out a perfect circle and a perfect calendar. This, in fact, is what we see in our two "Rosetta Stones" for Biblical time. We shall describe these a bit further on in this article.

The Seventy Weeks of Daniel is correctly and successfully laid out only when we reckon the years and months of Bible prophecy in this way. This is how Biblical time comes down to us from the Holy Scripture. Indeed, the 360-day year and the 30 day month is the currency of time we see issued to us from the throne of God. Proof of this is given in the books of Genesis, (for the Biblical/prophetic month), and the book of Revelation, (for the Biblical/prophetic year).

SCRIPTURAL PROOF #1, - THE FLOOD ACCOUNT.

A ROSETTA STONE" IN GENESIS 7 IDENTIFIES THE BIBLICAL OR PROPHETIC MONTH AS 30 DAYS.

In Genesis we are told that the flood of Noah began on the 17th day of the 2nd month. -Gen.7:11) On that day the "fountains of the deep were broken up and the windows of heaven were opened". Exactly five months later on the 17th day of the 7th month "the floodwaters receded and the ark came to rest on Mount Ararat". This five-month span of time is stated twice in Genesis to be 150 days. -Gen.7:24 and 8:3):

150 divided by 5 = 30 days.

This is a bit different from what we see in our damaged solar system today. Five of our present months/lunar cycles would be 5 x 29.530 = 147.5 days. But the Genesis account records a span of precisely 150 days. So, we must conclude that edicts coming to us from the throne of God up in the third heaven regarding time involve perfect months containing 30.0000000000 days each.

SCRIPTURAL PROOF #2, - THE EXILE OF THE WOMAN
THIS "ROSETTA STONE" IN REVELATION 12 IDENTIFIES
THE BIBLICAL OR PROPHETIC YEAR AS 360 DAYS.

So much for the Biblical month. How about the Biblical year? We are not left to guess about the biblical year. We have a single passage of scripture that tells us straight out how many days there are in three and a half Biblical years. Here is our scripture.

REVELATION 12
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.

And eight verses later this same message is restated using different time units.

The exile of the woman is stated in terms of of 'times' (or years) rather than days.

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.

The Flight to Bozrah during the Great Tribulation.

This scripture passage above speaks of the end time flight into exile of the Woman, (a Biblical picture of God's covenant people). She flies into exile from the face of the Dragon to a place of safety. This will be the most massive airlift of people this world has ever seen. As we saw in the scriptures above, the Apostle John gives us the time-period of this epic exile in two verses. The time given is during the final 3.5 years of this age, the time-period of the Great Tribulation. See the article on the flight to Bozrah and the Bozrah exile.

John the Beloved in two sentences eight verses apart gives two different descriptions of the flight of the woman and her subsequent exile at a wilderness place of safety and nurturing. In the first instance the time-period is stated in terms of days. Then, eight verses later, in the same chapter the Holy Spirit restates the very same story using 'times' (or years) rather than days.

So, our "Rosetta stone" for the Biblical year in Revelation 12 identifies 3.5 years as being 1260 days. 1260 divided by 3.5 = 360. So, our biblical year is 360 days. This information is essential as we lay out the timeline of the 70 weeks of Daniel.

Surely God did this to inform His people that one 'time' or one year, whenever it is issued to us as a period of years in scripture equals 360 days. A Biblical year is not the 365.24 days we presently observe in our solar system. This 360-day year is the Biblical standard for time which is consistently kept throughout God's Holy Word from Genesis to Revelation.

This is critically important. This understanding of the biblical/perfect year being 360 days and the biblical/perfect cycle of the moon being 12 months of 30 days was the key to Sir Robert Anderson's success in the 19th Century. Sir Isaac Newton, two centuries earlier, had missed this and failed to lay out the timeline of the 69 weeks. Sir Robert Anderson was the first, (that we know of), in our modern era to succeed. Using Biblical years of 360 days he was able to unlock the mystery of Daniel's prophecy of the seventy weeks. He laid out the first 69 weeks of the 70 weeks/sevens. He discovered that there was an amazingly accurate timeline stretching out between the Nisan new moon of Edict of Artaxerxes Longinus in 445 B.C. and Palm Sunday, on the tenth day of the Nisan moon, 5,888 moons later during the Passover moon of 32 A.D..

THE 69 WEEKS (OR SEVENS) OF YEARS

CONNECT THE EDICT OF ARTAXERXES

IN 445 B.C. WITH PALM SUNDAY, 32 A.D.
THE TIMELINE FITS ACCURATELY

FOR 69 x 7 = 483 YEARS RECKONED AS 360 DAYS.

The first 69 weeks of years is a time-period of 69 x 7 x 360 = 173,880 days.

This was the number of days used by Sir Robert Anderson to successfully lay out the timeline between the edict of Nehemiah 2 and the Palm Sunday political appearance of Messiah as "Messiah the Prince". Knowing that we have a God of order and complete integrity we can be certain that He is consistent in all that He does. So the calendar God uses to count the days of the the final half of the 70th week will be precisely the same as the calendar He uses to count out the days of the 69 weeks that preceded it. All of the seventy weeks of Daniel will be reckoned in terms of 360-day years. The biblical timeline will be issued to us using a 360.0000000-day year and a 30.0000000 day month. We serve a God of perfect order. And He is not one to change His mind about how He does things in mid-stream.

It seems that in holy writ one year = 360 days and one month = 30 days.

As the saying goes; God said it. I believe it. That settles it!

THE BIBLICAL WORLD VIEW IS DIFFICULT FOR US TO GRASP.

IT CLASHES WITH OUR NATURAL WORLD VIEW, THE COSMOS WE
SEE AROUND US AND THE THE HUMAN VOICES WE HEAR IN OUR EARS.

Being earthbound creatures, we find it difficult to think this way. That 360 day/30 day reckoning of years and months does not fit what we see of our present solar system. The earthly orbit around the sun and our present lunar cycle is not a circle of 360 days. The orbit takes 365.2422 days, and it is not a circle but rather an ellipse. But the final half of the 70th week as given to us in the Book of Revelation is quite clear. 3.5 years = 42 months = 1260 days. So, we must conclude that as issued from the God's throne the standard is as follows.

One year = 360 days = 12 months.

And each month is a time-period of precisely 30 days.
The biblical or prophetic year is made up of twelve 30 day months.

So, the biblical year does not match our present cosmos. It is not 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 45.51 seconds.

It is not 365.2422 days.
It is precisely 360 days.
This matches perfectly the 360 degrees of a circle.

If the orbit of the earth around the sun were a perfect circle, (actually, it is an ellipse), then the passage of the earth through space would neatly and perfectly mark out exactly one degree each day. Such an ideal would be the perfect holy solar system of God.

HOLY, BIBLICAL, OR PROPHETIC TIME VS. THE TIME WE SEE IN THE NATURAL ORDER.

THINKING BIBLICALLY VS. THINKING IN TERMS OF THE OBSERVED NATURAL ORDER.

With the Bible as our source, we do something very unnatural. We go with what the Holy Scriptures say. We discount the current solar and lunar cycles and go with what the Bible says. The scripture record gives us our foundation. We do not need to wander off into gnostic mystical reveries, allegories, or occultisms or other medieval manipulations. As we have seen we have six direct scriptural references to the final 3.5 years of thois age. They are found in the books of Daniel and Revelation. These six scriptures show us precisely how the final week/heptad/7 years is reckoned by God Himself. All we need to do is to close our eyes to what we see in the present natural order and cosmos and follow along with what God has said. Let us put our hand in His hand and go with the Bible says on the matter.

Is this difficult? For those of us who are of a naturalistic bent and who grew up in the scientific disciplines it is quite difficult. It was difficult for Sir Isaac Newton. But here was a man who not only studied the heavens and laid out the mathematics of the laws of motion and gravity but a man who wrote 1.5 million words about the Bible and Bible prophecy. Evangelical Scotland Yard Inspector Sir Robert Anderson was more successful. Using 360-day years he was able to make the jump to Biblical time. And our inspector was the one who cracked the case of the Seventy Weeks prophecy. See this article.

APPLYING BIBLICAL/PROPHETIC TIME

TO DANIEL'S PROPHECY OF THE 70 WEEKS

So here we are with Daniel's prophecy of the 70 weeks. It is a period of 70 x 7 = 490 years. But 490 years of how many days? Which measuring rod of time do we use? Do we use our current earthly measuring rod of 365.2422 days? The Bible uses a measuring rod of 360 days for the biblical year. So, which one do we go with? Both cannot be true where the seventy weeks is concerned.

This is where we must close our eyes here and go with God. And as we shut off the things of this world and this damaged cosmos, in our minds eye we can begin to see a beautifully choreographed solar system tracing out its cycles in a perfect universe. We would see the earth circle around the sun in a precise orbit of 360.00000000 days. As we would look closer, we would see a moon tracing out a perfect lunar month with a new moon to new moon interval of precisely 30.00000000 days. The moon would trace this out 12 times a year for the perfect number of 12.00000000 months. The full moon would arrive faithfully at the spring equinox every year. Every year that first Hebrew month of Nisan would start the year for a perfect calendar of 12 months each comprising 30 days.

OK. Now we can now open our eyes.

This idealized vision of a perfect solar system is the biblical year. In scripture a year comprises 360 days.

A week or heptade, (like a decade but containing seven years) would be 7 x 360 days = 2520 days.

A "time, times and half a time (Dan.12:7) is half a heptade or half a "week" or 3.5 years.
Half a "week" would be 7/2 = 3.5 years x 360 days = 1260 days
Half a "week" would be 3.5 x 12 = 42 months each of 30 days = 1260 days.

This, dear saints, is not esoteric or arcane. The arithmetic here is quite straightforward and simple.

As we have seen, these well-known numbers, 1260 days, and 42 weeks are found in Daniel 12 and in Revelation 11, 12 and 13. These days have been well marked out for us. We have no excuse for missing the message here as the Pharisees did in 32 A.D. Our God has a precise timeline in which He will wrap up His business for this present age. The age of human gentile government under the four horsemen will come to an end in the Apocalypse.

God is sincere about bringing down tyrants and restoring this creation. This present world and this ecosystem are in a mess. Human government is only making it worse. This mis-ruled, war-torn, sin-sick, starving, polluted world desperately needs the coming of Messiah. During some future fall season of the year the trumpets begin to sound. And the 70th week of Daniel will open. The final seven years of God's determined dealings with His Judeo-Christian people will have just begun.

Having established our yardstick for holy time according to the denominations of time God dispenses from His throne up in the third heaven we can now proceed on to the next article in our study of Daniel's prophecy of the 70 weeks.… [End of Section 4]

LUNAR CYCLES AND THE HEBREW CALENDAR.

[Section 5] For an excellent online resource on the Hebrew calendar Claus Tondering has a website with some highly informative articles on calendars. There is also an excellent Jewish resource giving valuable and helpful details on the Hebrew Calendar at this website.

Like many calendars before Roman times the Hebrew calendar was a lunar calendar. It was based on the moon as well as the sun. It was a wonderful calendar in that the phase of the moon gave an indication of the day of the month. Anyone looking up into the night sky could get some idea of the day of the month. If they had recorded when they first saw the new moon, then they had a celestial calendar they could use with some good accuracy. And amongst the populace at large they knew the month of the year in which the moon above them was shining. The first day of any given month was determined by the first sighting of the new moon.

The key to all this was the sighting of the new moon. The new moon is not usually visible to the naked eye until it is 24 hours old.

The lunar calendar was used by Semitic peoples and many others. It was the Romans who decided that in they would totally ignore the lunar cycles with their calendar. This solar calendar continued with Roman Church. Pope Gregory adjusted Roman calendar which after many centuries had come out of proper synchronization with the solar equinoxes. The Papal Gregorian calendar is the one we have in the west today. It tracks along with the annual orbit of the earth around the sun and is completely independent of the monthly passages of the moon.

In the early days of lunar calendars were agricultural calendars. They were important for planting and harvesting. The Hebrew calendar was set by the priests of Israel every spring. The beginning month of the year was the month of Abib. The word "Abib", meaning "ripe" was the moon which would see the ripening of the barley harvest. This month of Abib was also the month of Nisan. Nisan was determined by a celestial event. The Nisan moon was the first moon that would become a full moon after the passing of the spring equinox. Nisan thereby marked the first month of the year on the Hebrew calendar for the religious year. The Nisan moon, confirmed by the ripening of the barley harvest determined the month in which Passover would be celebrated.

The lunar calendar sets forth years of 12 months and 13 months. Every seven years in every nineteen years the religious authorities would find that after the passage of 12 moons the upcoming moon was going to come to fullness short of the spring equinox. It would therefore fail to qualify for the Nisan moon. In such a situation this moon was reckoned to be a second month of Adar and therefore a 13th month for that year. This extra or embolismal month would "push" the next moon, (which of course was now the moon of Nisan), up across the threshold to be the first full moon after the spring equinox.

So, in an embolismal year with an extra month the Paschal month of Nisan would come later than usual and for that particular year. Passover in such years would be celebrated well into our Roman month of April. The next year Nisan would fall back 11.24 days and the following year back another 11.24 days until the moon after the 12th moon again failed to come to fullness before the spring equinox. Once again, the lunar calendar would have to be adjusted. Another embolismal month would need to be inserted. These extra months would be considered a second month of Adar or "Adar 2" on the Hebrew Calendar. They would push the month of Nisan up into the threshold of the spring equinox and the time when the barley ripened.

The lunar calendar worked well in its time. For agriculturally based societies and for pilgrim travelers this solar-lunar calendar was especially useful. It did not have the accuracy to the day that the Roman solar calendar provided. But their solar-lunar calendar was very practical and handy. It was, in effect, a calendar that God had provided for the people. It was posted up in the sky at night for everyone to see.

In its early days of the Semitic peoples and before the 19-year Metonic cycle was disc overed the lunar calendar needed attention early every spring. The adjustment of adding in another month was called for 7 years out of 19. The early Hebrew priest would make their determination of Nisan in the early springtime. When the new moon on approach to the spring equinox was first seen they would determine if it were going to come to fullness before the spring equinox. If so, then it was going to qualify for the month of Nisan. If it failed to qualify, they would consider it a 13th month and declare it as the month of Adar 2. The next moon following it would be the month of Nisan.

Twelve months of 29.53 days makes for a lunar year of close to 354 days. This is 11.24 days short of the solar year which is 365.24 days. So, a calendar containing 12 lunar months falls back 11.24 days every year. Hence the leap months added seven years out of 19.

THE DISCOVERY OF METON IN 432 B.C.

19 YEARS = 235 LUNAR MONTHS.
AND SO THE LUNAR CYCLE = 29.53 DAYS.
THE 19 YEAR "METONIC CYCLE" IS DISCOVERED
WHICH PREDICTS THE LUNAR-SOLAR CALENDAR.

Meton of Athens (Greek: Μέτων ὁ Ἀθηναῖος) was a Greek mathematician, astronomer, geometer, and engineer. He lived in Athens in the 5th century BCE. This remarkable scholar was doing what the Greeks did well. He was using Greek logic. He was looking for patterns in nature to quantify the natural world. He was deliberately seeking a deeper understanding of the rhyme and reason of things in the universe. When he looked back at what the lunar calendar had been doing down through the years, he made a very important discovery. Meton noticed that 19 solar years was exceedingly close to being exactly 235 moons in length. He saw that 19 solar years and 235 lunar months both add up to 6940 days.

This was a great discovery. And it had a wonderful application in the solar-lunar calendar. 7 extra months could be neatly inserted into the lunar calendar every 19 years. This would make the solar-lunar calendar predictable over 19 years. In 432 BC Meton introduced the 19-year Metonic cycle into the lunisolar Attic calendar.

This was truly a "Eureka" moment in the history of the solar-lunar calendar. The Metonic Cycle had been discovered! The discovery proved to be of great value. The solar-lunar calendar could be determined ahead of time.

THE CADENCE OF THE METONIC CYCLES.

THE METONIC CYCLE

(1) . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 ( PA )

(2) 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . .0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 (OOMP)

(3) . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0. . 0 . . 0 ( PA )

(4) . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 ( PA )

(5) 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 (OOMP)

(6) . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 ( PA )

(7) . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 ( PA )

(8) 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 (OOMP)

(9) . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 ( PA )

(10) . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 ( PA )

(11) 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 (OOMP)

(12) . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 ( PA )

(13) 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 (OOMP)

(14) . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 ( PA )

(15) . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 ( PA )

(16) 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 (OOMP)

(17) . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 ( PA )

(18) . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 ( PA )

(19) 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 (OOMP)

The lunar calendar down through history is observed to have a certain cadence to it. See the chart below. Those 7 extra moons coming into the calendar had a certain pattern of appearance over those 19 years. The extra months of Adar are shown in red. Note how this extra month of Adar 2 pushes the following lunar calendar year up 29.53 - 11.24 = 18.3 days ahead in an embolismal year. This is about two thirds of a month further than the year before it. The first month, (in bold lime color), is the springtime month of Nisan. This is the first full moon to appear after the spring equinox. Five times out of the seven, (as can be seen in the schematic), the embolism lunges that one big step forwards up into the solar year to be followed by two smaller steps backwards in the two years following. Twice in the 19 year cycle the calendar only goes one more year before encountering another embolismal year.

RABBI HILLEL PICKS UP ON THE METONIC CYCLE.
IN 360 B.C. HE INCORPORATES IT INTO THE HEBREW CALENDAR.

The discovery of Meton of Athens was picked up by the great Jewish scholar Rabbi Hillel II around 360 B.C. He incorporated the Metonic cycle into the Hebrew lunar calendar. This saved the authorities of the day from having to reset the month of Nisan every spring based on how they saw the moon come through on approach to the spring equinox.

Here is the math on the Metonic Cycle. The Hebrew calendar year was 12 months of 29 or 30 days. A lunar cycle was close to 29.5 days. So, this made for 12 months averaging 29.5 days or 354 days. But the solar year was 365.24 days. With each 12 month cycle the calendar would fall back 365.25 - 354 = 11.24 days earlier. So, the calendar needed to be adjusted by adding in an extra month of Adar every 3 years or sometimes two years.

The discovery of the Metonic Cycle by Meton was a great boon. It predicted what an observer would see each spring. This 19-year calendar would predict whenever the new moon following Adar was going to fall short of the spring equinox. It would therefore predict the Nisan moon ahead of time and quite accurately from year to year.

THE SOLAR CALENDAR STORMS IN WITH THE ROMANS.
THEY PUSH THE LUNAR CALENDAR ASIDE.

The Romans had some different ideas for their calendar. Julius Caesar established the Julian calendar which was strictly a solar calendar. He wanted to lock in the days of the year based upon the solar cycle, period. The starting time for his Roman calendar would be determined by the equinoxes. Then he would set it off and running.

The Romans were all about forceful even brutish unification. For the Romans rigid establishment of the passage of the year was the main imperative. To them the lunar cycles in the passage of the moon were irrelevant. The Roman Calendar completely divorced the lunar cycles from any consideration whatsoever. Roman calendar months were named for the Caesars. And they were shackled to their place in the solar year. The calendar months were no longer connected to the celestial lunar cycles. 12 "months" were rigidly locked into the year of 365 days. An extra day was added in the leap years, (one in four). And so, during the Roman era the Julian calendar set forth into history. It was a calendar year which averaged 365.25 days.

The solar Julian calendar of the Romans continued in the west through the Byzantine and Medieval eras. The Islamic world and the Jewish communities in the Diaspora continued to use the lunar calendar. But as the centuries wore on in the west the old calendar of the Romans was wearing thin. It was coming seriously out of step with the solar cycles. By the 16th century the Julian calendar of the Romans was off by several weeks. Clearly something had to be done.

A refined solar calendar was first proposed by the Calabrian doctor Aloysius Lilius. This calendar came to the attention of Church authorities in the 16th Century. It was authorized by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom it was named. The new calendar was decreed by papal bull Inter gravissimas on 24 February 1582. This reform of the Julian calendar has not been changed since then. The Gregorian calendar is the most widely used calendar in the world today.

LUNAR CYCLES: USING THE HEBREW CALENDAR AS A TIMEPIECE TO DETERMINE THE EXACT DAY IN WHICH THE EDICT OF ARTAXERXES WAS GIVEN TO NEHEMIAH TO START OFF THE SEVENTY WEEKS OF DANIEL.

The 20th year of Artaxerxes is well established from historical records as being 445 B.C. Nehemiah records that he went before the king "in the month of Nisan". - Neh.chapter 2. Sir Robert Anderson assumed that the edict came forth at the very beginning of the month on the first day of the month and at the time of the new moon. This was traditionally the time when royal edicts were made.

The arrival of the Passover moon for the exiles of Judah in Susa and out in the Persian Empire would have been a sombre time. Each year at this time they would see the Passover moon and remember what it meant to them. Something inside them would be grieving as they pondered just how far away from home they were. The pious among them, like Nehemiah, would have remembered the idolatry their nation had engaged in which had brought them down as a sovereign people and had sent them off into exile.

Using astronomical data, we can know quite accurately when that Nisan moon came up in the 20th year of Ataxerxes. Sir Robert Anderson's data from the Astronomer Royal in 1877 is extremely accurate. The lunar data for 445 B.C. shows us that the true new moon for the Passover month of Nisan, (the first moon to come to fullness after the spring equinox), occurred in Jerusalem on March 13 at 07:09 hrs. 500 miles to the east over in Susa it would have occurred just a half an hour earlier. As we have seen, the new moon is not visible to the naked eye until it is at least 24 hours old. Nehemiah would not have seen the new moon until the following day, the morning of March 14 as the new moon arose with the sun in the eastern sky. Perhaps it was not seen until even the morning of March 15.

The new moon rises and sets with the sun. It is sometimes difficult to see especially in those days when the spring rains come, or clouds obscure the thin crescent of the new moon as it arises in the eastern sky.

Thus the 1st day of Nisan for the year 445 B.C. was probably on March 14th. This is precisely as Sir Robert Anderson had stated. As we shall discover in article 8 the consensus of both the solar and lunar cycles is that the actual edict came a day later on March 15 of 445 B.C. and this was probably on Nisan 2 or 3. This was a day or so later than the March 14 and Nisan 1 date that Sir Robert Anderson had calculated. Is this a big discrepancy? Not at all. Our calculations later in this study will have us hitting near a

bullseye. We shall be hitting the mark within just one or two days after a long passage of 173,880 days or 476 years!

THE LUNAR CYCLES, THE HEBREW MONTH OF NISAN, AND THE DETERMINATION OF THE EXACT DAY IN WHICH JESUS MESSIAH PRESENTED HIMSELF TO HIS OWN PEOPLE IN JERUSALEM AS 'MESSIAH THE PRINCE' TO CONCLUDE THE FIRST 69 WEEKS OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS OF DANIEL.

So much for the beginning date of the 70 weeks/69 weeks. Let us now turn our attention to the terminus of the 69 weeks’ timeline. The new moon of Nisan (the Paschal Moon) of 32 A.D. was March 29 at approx. 8 p.m. UTC or 11 p.m. Jerusalem time according to U.S Naval Observatory data. This is like the 22 hrs 57 min time for the new moon Sir Robert Anderson had received from the Astronomer Royal, Greenwhich Observatory, in 1877. Since the Rabbis in Jerusalem in 32 A.D. (or their observers from wider Israel) would not have seen the new moon with the naked eye until it was at least 24 hour old then there is no way they could have seen the new moon on the following morning of March 30th when it was just 7 hours old nor the following evening when it was 19 hours old and before it set with the sun. The morning of March 31st would have given them their first opportunity to see the new moon. By that time, it would have been 31 hours old. Accordingly, they would have called March 31st the first Day of the Passover month of Nisan. The 10th of Nisan, Palm Sunday and four days before the crucifixion of our Lord, the date of His "Triumphal Entry" into Jerusalem as "Messiah the Prince" or "Messiah the King" would therefore have been 9 days later on April 9th of 32 A.D. This tenth day of Nisan was the day when the Passover lambs began to be presented to the priests. They had to be accepted as spotless and without fault before they could be sacrificed. This was that crucial day for which all of Israel should have been watching.

Their Messiah was the promised Sacrifice Lamb.
He was prophesied to appear on this very day.

Alas, the people of Israel were not watching. They had gone with rabbinical Judaism and taken the road down into religious legalism. They had drifted away from a true devotional faith in YHVH, the God who was, is, and evermore shall be. Faith in God had always been a matter of the heart. They had turned it into a head trip and merely an exercise in legalism. They did not recognize their Suffering Servant when he came amongst them. There He was, teaching, healing the sick, and casting out evil spirits. But they did not recognize Him.

As for diligence in the matter of the prophecy of the 70 weeks the scholars and scribes should have been able to count out 69 weeks (sevens) of years and lay out a timeline from the Nisan month and the year Artaxerxes's edict which Daniel had said came in the 20th year of his reign. This had been given to Nehemiah at the beginning of the Nisan moon of 445 B.C.

Unfortunately, Rabbinical Judaism in the first century A.D. no longer held to a literal interpretation of scripture. They lacked the diligence in devotion and knowledge to recognize their Messiah. He came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey precisely as prophesied. - Zech.9:9 It was on that day, (and that day only), that Jesus/Yeshua entered Jerusalem at the head of a royal procession. He presented Himself to His people as 'Messiah the Prince'. And yet how few there were there to greet Him. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday He lamented,

"If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace -- but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you, and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you. -Luke 19:42

Some, no doubt, were indeed watching. They knew the date of this epic day had arrived. And so, they were waiting for His appearance. These people knew their Messiah. There He was! He was entering the city through the Eastern Gate! They greeted Him with shouts of "Hosanna!" as He came into Jerusalem riding upon a donkey. They laid palm branches out before Him as their victorious coming King. But they were not a quorum. The learned priests, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the High priest himself were not watching. They had access to all the data. They had the very same book of Daniel and chapter nine as we are studying right now. And they could count the years. Had not the Magi, gentile kings from the east, come to bring gifts to Jesus at His birth in Bethlehem years before? But the Pharisees and Sadducees were not inclined to treat God's Word with the reverence which it was due. They had not done their homework.

The Pharisees were to be the watchmen of Israel. And here it was, their own Messiah was at the gate. And they were not keeping watch.

What can be said about us in the church today? Have we taken time to acquaint ourselves with our part of the seventy weeks of Daniel? Do we know something of the the 70th week of Daniel and the final seven years of this age? Have we checked out what the Bible says will happen at its beginning, its midpoint, and at the end? All we need is a rough thumbnail sketch. Shouldn't we get a basic understanding of what will happen? And wouldn't it be wise of us to make the preparations of heart that we are being called to do?…” ^{^[xxxvi]}

Preparations of the heart… We have come a long way on our quest for Truth. You can see that this is no ordinary study for it takes us places that most would not go. That is how the Spirit of YHVH works. He takes us places that we never imagined, challenges us in all our assumptions and then gently guides us to the place of revelation. The Feasts of the Adonai are designed to allow us to make the preparations of the heart. We see that these convocations are rehearsals, shadows, and types of the worship we will do in heaven before the Throne of Grace. The Feasts are where we can put into practice here on earth the honor, we will be giving YHVH in heaven. Messiah fulfilled the Spring Feasts to the day; there are only three feasts left for Him to fulfill. Shouldn’t we be preparing for these times? Shouldn’t our hearts be turned to the timing of the Father in anticipation of the return of the Son? We have looked at several different representations of these appointed times of the Adonai; they are repeated for they bear repeating.

Matthew 24:42-47 (KJV)

⁴² Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. ⁴³ But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. ⁴⁴ Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. ⁴⁵ Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. ⁴⁷ Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. ^{^[xxxvii]}

Are you preparing your heart? Are you doing what the Master has set before you to do? He shall be coming as the conquering King, full of Power and Glory. He has told us if we love Him, keep His commandments. Time to set our watch accordingly.

3. We must get to know Him, His nature and that can only be accomplished by the hearing and doing of the Word, His Torah…

I am convinced a great problem we have in the Ekklesia today is due to An Ignorance of YHVH.

What do you know of YHVH? What are you taught of YHVH? What do you know of the following?

The Solitariness of God
The Decrees of God
The Knowledge of God
The Foreknowledge of God
The Supremacy of God
The Sovereignty of God
The Immutability of God
The Holiness of God
The Power of God
The Faithfulness of God
The Goodness of God
The Patience of God
The Grace of God
The Mercy of God
The Love of God
The Wrath of God
The Contemplation of God ^{^[xxxix]}

I ask this for a reason. If the truth be told, YHVH is controversial. If the truth of the attributes of YHVH were to be taught within most churches today (especially those that concern YHVH’s justice, His wrath, sovereignty, His Supremacy and His Glory), a large part of the church, if I may dare say most of it would likely reject those teachings and most would declare: “That’s not my God! I could never love a God like that!” What a large part of Christianity has grown to love is not the true YHVH or Messiah: they are in love with the image that they have made, with the god that best fits their lifestyle. Most want the easy way, the way of the flow, the way that will have a minimal impact on their ambitions, possessions, and their pleasures.

We as a body suffer from the lack of the knowledge of YHVH, the lack of the understanding of the attributes of YHVH. Instead of a daily diet of repentance, self-sacrifice, carrying our cross and dying to ourselves, instead of a steadfast plan to keep ourselves immersed in the word of YHVH, what do we do? We work, we worry, we stress, we climb the ladder, we exercise our bodies so that we “look good”, we read all the latest “self-help” books to gain an edge; we covet, we strive, we envy, we gossip… Because we do not know YHVH we need all these little tricks of the flesh to fill in the gaps, those deep yawning chasms of emptiness that mark a life that is without the knowledge of YHVH. Worse of all, we mistake grace for license and the result is rampant sinning!

1 Corinthians 15:34 (KJV)

³⁴ Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.^{^[xl]}

The question we must ask is “Why this lack of the knowledge of the one true YHVH?” The answer is simple. We are not taught who YHVH is. We are told in Ecclesiastes:

Ecclesiastes 11:5 (KJV)

⁵ As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all. ^{^[xli]}

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon tells us in Chapter 11, verses 1-6, four times “…thou knowest not…” He says in verse 2 “… Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth…” ^{^[xlii]}; “…knowest not what is the way of the spirit…” and “…thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all…” in verse 5 [ this is also translated in the Greek Septuagint as “…you shall not know the actions of YHVH, as much as He shall do in all things…”^{^[xliii]}]; and finally in verse 6 he says “…In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand; for thou knowest not which shall prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good…”^{^[xliv]}

Shame be upon us brethren! I know we cannot know all about Him, for Scripture tells us that:

(Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith Jehovah. ⁹For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.)^{^[xlv]}

Also we are told:

Psalm 139:1-6

¹O Jehovah, thou hast searched me, and known me. ²Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising; Thou understandest my thought afar off. ³Thou searchest out my path and my lying down, And art acquainted with all my ways. ⁴For there is not a word in my tongue, But, lo, O Jehovah, thou knowest it altogether. ⁵Thou hast beset me behind and before, And laid thy hand upon me. ⁶Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain unto it.^{^[xlvi]}

But we must ask ourselves this: why are not our lives (to the point that we are allowed) so entwined with His that we share in His most intimate secrets? In Amos 3:7 the Word of YHVH states: “…Surely the Lord God does nothing, Unless ^dHe reveals His secret to His servants the prophets…”^{^[xlvii]} Yeshua Ha’Machiach addressed this in John’s Gospel:

John 15:15-16 (NKJV)
¹⁵ No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, ^sfor all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ ^tYou did not choose Me, but I chose you and ^uappointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father ^vin My name He may give you. ^{^[xlviii]}

If this then is the case, if we are truly His friend, why do we then “…knowest not…”? Deuteronomy 29:29 says “…“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law…(emphasis mine)” ^{^[xlix]}

Bear with me now. To understand YHVH’s word, we must define the terms. Let us define “servant”. When looking at the word in Amos 3:7, servant is the Hebrew word (Strong’s #H5650) עבד ‛ebed eh'-bed. While technically defined as “slave” or “servant”, a broader context of the word is “one chosen and beloved by YHVH”.^{^[l]} In the context of John 15:15, the word for “servant” is (G1401) δοῦλος doulos doo'-los, which carries with it the same general connotation, along with the idea that “…Often the service involved is voluntary, in which a person willingly offers obedience, devotion, and loyalty to another, subordinating his will to him…”^{^[li]}

I believe we must look even deeper still to find the more subtle use of the word by Messiah. I deduce this from the new name Messiah uses to describe them with – the word for “friend” (G5384) φίλος philos. Jesus Messiah, by His use of this word, has drawn them into a deeper relationship with Him, from one that is subject or bound to Him (even if willingly), to one He associates with, the bridegroom’s friend who on His behalf, asks for the hand of the bride and then renders to Him various services in closing the marriage and then joining in the celebration of the nuptials.^{^[lii]}

You can see my friends, how we are held in esteem by our Adonai. Think of your friends – who are they to you? Dare I say that there are few if any you hold close enough for you to send them to the one you love to ask them for their hand in marriage to you, yet this is precisely the distinction Messiah holds us in as His “philos.”

O brethren! “…Thou knowest not!...”

O pastors! Why do you not teach who YHVH is!

O teach upon His attributes, His infinite Glory; get to know Him!

This is our eternal life! Eternal life begins not at the gate of heaven: it starts at the regeneration of our heart! It started before the foundation of the world! Look at how He trusts His own - are we included in this trust? We, who by our former natures were at such odds with Him, yet now are held by Him as עבד ‛ebed – one chosen and beloved. O shame I say again Christian! That we know not Him so deeply. O how His heart must ache for our closeness, for the familiarity that He desires, that He craves! Yes, Craves! Our Master longs for our love, our undivided, unfettered love! How can we be so fickle, so hard-hearted as to deny Him this intimacy that He seeks? What holds you away beloved? Why thou knowest not?

Start now! Study the Bible – all of it - get to know Him! It would be better not to have Sunday morning… Sunday morning is the greatest example of idolatry in America today, because most people are not worshipping the one true YHVH. People are worshipping the god they have created out of their own minds, out of their own flesh. The great masses worship satanic devices and worldly intelligence. They made a god just like themselves and he looks more like Santa Claus than YHVH. I tell you this, YHVH Almighty is a Holy YHVH! Infinite in power, absolute Sovereign in all He does, says and is.

Psalm 111:10 (NKJV)

¹⁰ ^kThe fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;

A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.

His praise endures forever.^{^[liii]}

Proverbs 1:7 (KJV)
⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning^d of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. ^{^[liv]}

Proverbs 2:5 (KJV)
⁵ Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. ^{^[lv]}

There is no fear of YHVH before us today because we have no YHVH before us! No knowledge.

...Woe unto us...

What is one of the most quoted Scriptures today?

Hosea 4:6

⁶ …My people are destroyed^c for lack of knowledge…^{^[lvi]}

This is the part of the verse most are familiar with. What the majority do not know is the rest of this verse and the context it should be studied in:

Hosea 4:6-11 (KJV)

⁶ My people are destroyed^c for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law [Torah] of thy God, I will also forget thy children. ⁷ As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore, will I change their glory into shame. ⁸ They eat up the sin of my people, and they set^d their heart on their iniquity. ⁹ And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish^e them for their ways and reward them their doings. ¹⁰ For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD. ¹¹ Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart. ^{^[lvii]}

Let us look at another translation of these verses:

Hos 4:6-11

(6) My people are destroyed for want of knowledge. Because you rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as cohen for me. Because you forgot the Torah of your God, I will also forget your children.

(7) The more they increased in number, the more they sinned against me. I will change their glory into shame.

(8) They feed on the sin of my people and are greedy for their crimes.

(9) But the cohen will fare no better than the people; I will punish him for his ways and pay him back for his deeds.

(10) They will eat but not have enough and consort with whores but have no children, because they stopped listening to Adonai.

(11) Whoring and wine, both old and new, take away my people's wits.^{^[lviii]}

“…Hos 4:6

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge...

This is not to be understood of those who are the Lord's people by special grace; for they cannot he destroyed, at least with everlasting destruction; God's love to them, his choice of them, covenant with them, the redemption of them by Messiah, and the grace of God in them, secure them from such destruction: nor can they perish through want of knowledge; for though they are by nature as ignorant as others, yet it is the determinate will of God to bring them to the knowledge of the truth, in order to salvation; and that same decree which fixes salvation as the end, secures the belief of the truth as the means; and the covenant of grace provides for their knowledge of spiritual things, as well as other spiritual blessings; in consequence of which their minds are enlightened by the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, and they have the knowledge of God and Messiah given them, which is life eternal. But this is to he understood of the people of the ten tribes of Israel, who were nationally and nominally the people of God, were so by profession; they called themselves the people of God; and though they were idolaters, yet they professed to worship God in their idols; and as yet God's "loammi" had not taken place upon them; he still sent his prophets among them, to reprove and reform them, and they were not as yet finally rejected by him, and cast out of their land. These may be said to be "destroyed", because they were threatened with destruction, and it was near at hand, they were just upon the brink of it; and because of the certainty of it, and this "through the lack of knowledge": either in the people, who were ignorant of God, his mind, and will, and worship, and without fear and reverence of him, which was the cause of all the abominations they ran into, for which they were threatened with ruin; or in the priests, whose business it was to teach and instruct the people; but instead of teaching them true doctrine, and the true, manner of worship, taught them false doctrine, and led them into superstition and idolatry; and so they perished through the default of the priests in performing their office; which sense is confirmed by what follows:

because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shall be no priest to me; the priests that Jeroboam made were of the lowest of the people, ignorant and illiterate men, 1Ki_12:31 and they chose to continue such; they rejected with contempt and abhorrence, as the word signifies, the knowledge of God, and of all divine things; of the law of God, concerning what was to be done, or not to be done, by the people; and of all statutes and ordinances relating to divine worship, and the performance of the priestly office: and though there might be some of Aaron's line that continued in the land of Israel, and in their office; yet these affected the same ignorance, and therefore the Lord threatens them with a rejection from the priesthood; or, however, that they should be no priests to him, or in his account, but should be had in the utmost abhorrence and contempt, The word here used has a letter in it more than usual (s), which may signify the utter rejection of them, and the great contempt they were had in by the Lord; this was to take place, and did, at the captivity by Shalmaneser.

Seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God:

which he had given them, who was their God by profession; and which they had forgot as if they never had read or learnt it; and so as not to observe and keep it themselves, nor teach and instruct others in it:

I will also forget thy children;

have no regard to them, take no notice and care of them, as if they were never known by him; meaning either the people in general, their disciples and spiritual children; or else their natural children, who should be cut off, and not succeed them in the priesthood. The words are very emphatic, "I will forget them, even I" (t); which expresses the certainty of it more fully, as well as more clearly points at the justness of the retaliation.

(s) ואמאסאך; the last א is superfluous; the reason of the word being so written. Ben Melech confesses his ignorance of. (t) גם אני "etiam ego", Pagninus, Montanus, Zanchius, Cocceius, Rivet, Schmidt.

(7) The more they increased in number, the more they sinned against me. I will change their glory into shame.

Hos 4:7

As they were increased, so they sinned against me...

As the children of the priests increased and grew up, they sinned against the Lord, imitating their parents; they were as many sinners as they were persons, not one to be excepted: this expresses their universal depravity and corruption. Some understand it of their increase, as in number, so in riches, wealth, honour, dignity, and authority, and yet they sinned more and more, which shows their ingratitude. So, the Targum, “as I have multiplied fruits unto them, &c.''

Therefore will I change their glory into sham...

take away their priesthood from them, so that they shall be no more priests, and as if they never had been; and reduce them to a state of poverty, meanness, and disgrace; and cause them to go into captivity with the meanest of the people; and be in no more honor, but subject to as much scorn and contempt as they.

(8) They feed on the sin of my people and are greedy for their crimes.

Hos 4:8

They eat up the sin of my people...

That is, the priests did so, as the Targum, the priests of Jeroboam; they ate up the sacrifices which the people brought for their sins: and their fault was, either that they ate that which belonged to the true priests of the Lord, so Jarchi; or they did that, and had no concern to instruct the people in the right way; all that they regarded were good eating and drinking, and living voluptuously; and were altogether careless about instructing the people in the nature of sacrifices, and in the way of their duty: or this may regard the Bacchanalian feasts, as some think, which the people made in the temples of idols, and so sinned; and of which the priests greatly partook, and encouraged them in, and so were partakers not only of their banquets, but of their sins.

They set their heart on their iniquity...

either their offerings for their iniquity, or their iniquity itself: or, "lift up their soul" (u) to it; diligently looking after it, not caring how much they committed; since the more sin offerings would be brought which would be to their advantage. Though some think the sin of whoredom, frequently and impudently committed at these idol feasts, is meant, which the priests were much addicted to, and very greedy of; they committed cleanness with greediness, Eph_4:19.

(u) ואל עונם ישאו נפשו "et ad iniquitatem eorum levaverunt animam suam", Montanus, Pagninus, Tigurine version; "attollunt", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "et ad iniquitatem eorum tollunt anumam suam", Schmidt.

(9) But the cohen( priests) will fare no better than the people; I will punish him for his ways and pay him back for his deeds.

Hos 4:9

And there shall be, like people, like priest...

No difference between them in their festivals, the one being as greedy of committing intemperance and uncleanness as the other, and in their common conversation of life; though the priests ought both to have given good instructions, and to have set good examples; but instead of that were equally guilty as the people, and so would be alike in their punishment, as it follows:

and I will punish them for their ways...

their evil ways, as the Targum; their wicked manner of life and conversation, both of the people and the priests; especially the latter are meant or, "I will visit upon him his ways" (w); upon every one of the priests, as well as the people; which visit must be understood in a way of wrath and vengeance:

and reward them their doings; reward them according to their doings, as their sins deserve, and as it is explained in the next verse: or "I will return their doings to them" (x); bring them back again, when they seemed to be past and gone, and set them before them, and charge them with them, and punish for them.

(w) ופקדתי עליו דרכיו "et visitabo super eum vias ejus", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius, Schmidt. (x) ומעלליו אשיב לו "et opera ejus redire faciam", Zanchius.

(10) They will eat but not have enough and consort with whores but have no children, because they stopped listening to Adonai.

Hos 4:10

For they shall eat, and not have enough...

Namely, the priests; for of them the words are continued, who ate of the sacrifices of the people, and of feasts made in honor of idols; and yet, either what they ate did not satisfy or nourish them, or else their appetites were still greedy after more of the same kind: or this may respect a famine, either at the siege of Samaria, or in their captivity; when they who had lived so voluptuously should have so little to eat, that it should not satisfy them: or though, as others, they eat to the honor of their idols, expecting to be blessed with plenty by them, they shall not have it:

they shall commit whoredom and shall not increase...

that is, their offspring; they shall not beget children, so the Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi; or the children they beget shall quickly die; yea, though they commit whoredom in the idol's temple with that view, where the women prostituted themselves for that purpose:

because they have left off to take heed to the Lord...

to his word, and worship, and ordinances, which they formerly had some regard unto, but now had relinquished: or, "the Lord they have forsaken", or "left off to observe" (y); his ways, his word, and worship. R. Saadiah connects this with the following words, they have forsaken the Lord to observe fornication and wine; but wrongly.

(y) את יהוה עזבו לשמר "Jehovam desierunt observare", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Rivetus, Liveleus; "ad observandum", Schmidt; "reliquerunt observare", Cocceius; "deseruerunt observare", so some in Vatablus.

(11) Whoring and wine, both old and new, take away my people's wits. (Gill)

Hos 4:11

Whoredom and wine, and new wine, take away the heart.

Uncleanness and intemperance besot men, deprive them of reason and judgment, and even of common sense, make them downright fools, and so stupid as to do the following things; or they take away the heart from following the Lord, and taking heed to him, and lead to idolatry; or they "occupy" (z) the heart, and fill it up, and cause it to prefer sensual lusts and pleasures to the fear and love of God: their stupidity brought on hereby is exposed in the next verse; though it seems chiefly to respect the priests, who erred in vision through wine and strong drink, and stumbled in judgment, Isa_28:7.

(z) יקח לב "occupant cor", so some in Calvin and Rivet; "occupavit cor", Schmidt…” ^{^[lix]}

The advantage we have in our time is the insights of many learned men throughout the ages. Here John Gill (1697-1771) was a great theologian of his day, yet we have come to know what the phrase “…Whoredom and wine, and new wine, take away the heart …” truly means. Hosea was not just talking about the people being engaged in the sins of chasing prostitutes and getting drunk; no, we must look deeper. The “whoredom” had to do with going after strange gods; the “wine and the new wine” were references to false teachings.

And that is a good place to stop. We will continue this line of thinking in our next study.

Till then, May Adonai richly bless you all, my beloved, Amein.

[i]NOTICE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS: Unless otherwise cited, all material found on this blogsite (original text, opinions, conclusions, and other material not related to cited sources remains the collected intellectual property of the author of this site, David E. Robinson, Elder Teacher, and are owned and controlled by myself and are protected by copyright and trademark laws and various other intellectual property rights and unfair competition laws of the United States, foreign jurisdictions, and international conventions. Any errors found within, rest solely upon me; please do not blame the Father for my mistakes. I am teachable and correctable, not infallible. 😊

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[iii] Author’s note: This site is for education only and is not affiliated with any institution, organization, or religious group. It is the sole production of its editor. Use of information from Jewish-themed websites (or any other source material) should not be construed as these sites endorsing or confirming any thesis introduced by the author of this epistle. I present the information from their respective sites for instructional purposes only and/or to aid in the readers understanding of the subjects discussed.

[iv] Author’s note: Throughout this study I will be using the NET Bible® and the NET Notes®: within the notes you will see symbols like this: ( א B Ψ 892* 2427 sys). These are abbreviations used by the NET Bible® for identifying the principal manuscript evidence that they (authors and translators of the NET Bible®) used in translating the New Testament. Please go to https://bible.org/netbible/ and see their section labeled “NET Bible Principals of Translation” for a more complete explanation on these symbols and other items pertinent to the way the NET Bible uses them.

[v] Author’s Note: In these studies, I have used the notes that come along with the passages I cite from the sources that I cite: these need a bit of a disclaimer though. As in all things, not everything that is footnoted is something that I necessarily agree with, especially if it contradicts what I believe pertains to any matters of the Torah or the commandments of God. I give you the notes as they are written by the authors of the material I cite from, so that you can see the information contained within them. It truly is not my place to edit or correct them; if they state anything that is in opposition to what I teach, then so be it. I will address these issues if requested. That is not to say I should not challenge something I believe, in my humble opinion, might contradict the truth of God’s word; that I will do in the main body of my epistles for that is where my gentle dissent belongs. Most (but not all) of the differences will come when I quote from a source that displays a decidedly Western/Greek mindset, as opposed to a Hebraic perspective. I must be intellectually honest – I am biased toward the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and His son, Yeshua the Messiah. I pray then we all can find common ground as we study the Scriptures.

ⁱ See ch. 1:4, 16

f perish: or, is made naked

[vi] The Holy Bible : King James Version. electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version. Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995.

f perish: or, is made naked

d in old time: or, at any time

[viii] The Holy Bible : King James Version. electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version. Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995.

g [1 John 5:11]

h John 8:12; 9:5; 12:46

i [John 3:19]

1 Or overcome

j Mal. 3:1; Matt. 3:1–17; Mark 1:1–11; Luke 3:1–22

k John 3:25–36; 5:33–35

l [John 3:16]

m Is. 9:2; 49:6

n Is. 49:6

2 Or That was the true Light which, coming into the world, gives light to every man.

[ix] The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.

† A Hebrew word occurs that is not directly translated in the King James Version.
Hebrew Strongs: 6240

a sheaf: or, handful: Heb. omer

b celebrate: Heb. rest

[xiii] The Holy Bible : King James Version. electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version. Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995.

[xv] Scripture verses from King James Version, Red-Letter Bible, by James Strong, ( electronic edition), e-Sword^®, v. 9.5.1, copyright ©2000-2009 by Rick Myers; commentary notes from Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, ( electronic edition), e-Sword^®, ver. 9.5.1, copyright ©2000-2009 by Rick Myers

[xvi] American Standard Version. Electronic edition. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995.

[xvii] Dr. David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary (Clarksville, MD: Jewish New Testament Publications, 1992), p. 96.

[xviii] Ibid. p. 33. From the Talmud, Shabbat 31a.

v Rom. 10:4

w Matt. 24:35; Luke 16:17

2 Gr. iota, Heb. yod, the smallest letter

3 The smallest stroke in a Heb. letter

x [James 2:10]

[xix] The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.

[xx] “…Systematic theology is a discipline of Christian theology that attempts to formulate an orderly, rational, and coherent account of the Christian faith and beliefs. Inherent to a system of theological thought is that a method is developed, one which can be applied both broadly and particularly. Systematic theology draws on the foundations of the sacred texts of Christianity, and also looks to the development of doctrine over the course of history, philosophy, science, and ethics to produce as full a view and as versatile a philosophical approach as possible…” From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systematic_theology

a [Rom. 1:20]

b 2 Sam. 12:5–7; [Matt. 7:1–5; Luke 6:37]; John 8:9; Rom. 14:22

c Rom. 9:23; 11:33; [2 Cor. 8:2; Eph. 1:7, 18; 2:7; Phil. 4:19; Col. 1:27; 2:2; Titus 3:6]

d [Rom. 3:25]

e Ex. 34:6; [Rom. 9:22; 1 Tim. 1:16]; 1 Pet. 3:20

f Is. 30:18; [2 Pet. 3:9, 15]

1 unrepentant

g [Deut. 32:34]; Prov. 1:18; James 5:3

2 storing

h [Job 34:11]; Ps. 62:12; Prov. 24:12; Jer. 17:10; [2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 20:12, 13]

i Job 24:13; [2 Thess. 1:8]

j Amos 3:2; Luke 12:47; Acts 3:26; Rom. 1:16; 1 Pet. 4:17

3 Gentile

k Rom. 2:7; Heb. 2:7; [1 Pet. 1:7]

x Deut. 6:5; 10:12; 30:6

y Lev. 19:18; Matt. 19:19; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; [Rom. 13:9; Gal. 5:14; James 2:8]

z [Matt. 7:12; Rom. 13:10; 1 Tim. 1:5]

[xxiv] The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[xxv] The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

l Ps. 14:1–3; 53:1–3; Eccl. 7:20

m Ps. 5:9

4 grave

n Ps. 140:3

o Ps. 10:7

p Prov. 1:16; Is. 59:7, 8

q Ps. 36:1

[xxvii] The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

f Hag. 1:1

g Is. 30:1; Hos. 1:7; Hag. 2:4, 5

[xxviii] The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

q [John 11:52]; Gal. 3:26

5 authority

r [John 3:5]; James 1:18; [1 Pet. 1:23; 1 John 2:29; 3:9]

[xxix] The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

c depart: Heb. be loosed, or, disjointed

d hurt: Heb. bruise, or, breach

† A Hebrew word occurs that is not directly translated in the King James Version.
Hebrew Strongs: 1323
Stem, Mood: 8676

[xxx] The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[xxxi] The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[xxxii] The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[xxxiii] American Standard Version. 1995 (Electronic edition.). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[xxxiv] From http://www.seedofabraham.net, the article titled “Seven Ways Yeshua Fulfilled the Law” by Avram Yehoshua.)

[xxxv] From the article "But, didn't Jesus abolish the Law and those original 613 commandments?" ;

© http://www.therefinersfire.org/index.htm, all rights reserved; Scriptures taken from The Complete Jewish bible, translated by David H. Stern ©1998 by David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc, Clarksville Maryland

[xxxvi] Devotional/Exhortational Articles on End Time Themes, (Sections 4 &5) by Gavin Finley MD, at http://endtimepilgrim.org

[xxxvii] The Holy Bible : King James Version. electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version. Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995.

[xxxviii] From The Day of Atonement at the Last Day A study by Gavin Finley MD (http://EndTimePilgrim.org - 2003)

[xxxix] Contents from “The Attributes of God”, by A. W. Pink, first published in the booklets “Studies in the Scriptures”, published without interruption from 1922 to 1953; Reprints now available from Chapel Library; they may be contacted at www.mountzion.org

[xlii] Darby, J. N. ©(1996). The Holy Scriptures : A new translation from the original languages. Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems.

[xliv] Darby, J. N. ©(1996). The Holy Scriptures : A new translation from the original languages. Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems.

[xlv] American Standard Version. 1995 (Electronic edition.). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

d Gen. 6:13; 18:17; [Jer. 23:22]; Dan. 9:22; [John 15:15]

s Gen. 18:17

t John 6:70; 13:18; 15:19; 1 John 4:10

u [Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:15; Col. 1:6]

v John 14:13; 16:23, 24

[l] Gesenius’ Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures, translated by Samuel Prideaux Tregelles, LL.D., (first issued 1847) ©1979 Baker Book House Company, Grand Rapids, MI: pp 599.

^{^[li]} Hayford, J. W., & Thomas Nelson Publishers. ©(1995). Hayford's Bible handbook. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

[lii] Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, by Joseph H. Thayer, (published originally 1896), 2007 Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody MA; pp 665.

k Job 28:28; [Prov. 1:7; 9:10]; Eccl. 12:13

[liii] The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

d the beginning: or, the principal part

[liv] The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[lv] The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

c destroyed: Heb. cut off

[lvi] The Holy Bible : King James Version. electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version. Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995.

c destroyed: Heb. cut off

d set...: Heb. lift up their soul to

e punish: Heb. visit upon

[lvii] The Holy Bible : King James Version. electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version. Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995.

At the Gates of Yerushalayim; A Search for Messiah

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Sunday, May 16, 2021

Lessons from the Wilderness, Vol. 36: We continue our Study in Revelation, Part 12

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