Lessons from the Wilderness, Volume 58 [i] [ii]

©2024-2025, David E. Robinson: At the Gates of Yerushalayim Ministries

 …Return to the Light; the Night is not yet Upon us…

John 9: As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. ² And his disciples asked him, ^c“Rabbi, ^dwho sinned, ^ethis man or ^fhis parents, that he was born blind?” ³ Jesus answered,

“It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but ^gthat the works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴ We must ^hwork the works of him who sent me ⁱwhile it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵ As long as I am in the world, ^jI am the light of the world.”

⁶ Having said these things, ^k he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. ^l Then, he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud ⁷ and said to him, “Go, wash in ^mthe pool of Siloam” (which means Sent).

So, he went and washed and ⁿcame back seeing. ^[iii]

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Chuukese: [¹ Iwe, lupwen Jesus a fetalela, a küna eman mwän mi upuchun. ² Nöün kewe chon kaiö ra aisini, “Sense, tipisin iö pwe ei mwän a upuchun? Püsin tipisin ika tipisin saman me inan?” ³ Jesus a pölüeniir, “Esap tipisin ei mwän, esap pwal tipisin saman me inan, nge ei a fis pwe manamanen Kot epwe pwä lon manauan. ⁴ Lupwen a chüen rän, üpwe fokun föri angangen ewe mi tinieito. Pwin epwe war lupwen esap wor eman a tongeni angang lon. ⁵ Lupwen üa nom won fanüfan, ngang saramen fanüfan.” ^✡ 6 Mürin än Jesus apasa ei, a atufetiu lepwül, a ölölü ewe pwül ren atufan o tofätä ewe pwakak won mesen ewe mwän. ⁷ Iwe, a üreni, “Kopwe feila ores lon ewe koluk Siloam.” (Wewen Siloam ‘tinala’) Iei mine ewe mwän a feila o oresi mesan, iwe, a liwinto o küna mwan.][iv]

John 9: ^14 qNow it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. ^15 rSo the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them,

“He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”^[v]

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Chuukese: ¹⁴ Lon ewe rän Jesus a ölölü och pwül o tofätä ewe pwakak won mesen ewe mwän pwe a nenela, iei eu ränin sapat. ¹⁵ Iwe, ekewe Farisi ra aisinisefäli ewe mwän usun an küna mwan. A üreniir, “A tofätä och pwakak won mesei, iwe, üa oresiei, nge iei üa tongeni küna mwei.” 

     It has been over two years since I was able to write. In that time span, my family has laid to rest many members, sisters, brothers, uncles, nephews and nieces.  I just could not find the words; nothing came from me, nothing came from God. Have you ever been in that place, the place of the long dark night of the soul? I did not think it would go on as long as it has, this feeling of emptiness, but we have seen our great country divided, we have lost members of our families, we have felt alone in the dark. The world around us is crumbling under the weight of hate, discontent, anger, shame and lawlessness. I want to include something here, from a post I wrote in 2013; see if you can say anything has changed in the past eleven years:

  “…In many Jewish synagogues, a sign can be found above the ark [cabinet] that holds the Torah scroll. It reads:

Or transliterated: “Da Lifnei mi atah Omed”. It means “Know Before Whom You Stand”.

 The idea for this comes from Moshe’s experience in the wilderness at the burning bush (see Exodus 3:2-15). The concept behind this statement takes its place as a reminder that when we approach God in either prayer or study, it should be with a respectable awe and a focused, reverent attitude.

The truth to this is that we are always in the presence of God as Paul alludes to in Acts 17:22-28 and as Isaiah relates to us in Isa 6:1-8. If we hold this to be true, then shouldn’t we always be aware that everything we say, think and do is in the divine audience of the Living God?

This ought to all believers be a sobering thought. I know it was for me.  How many words have I spoken that I hadn’t considered my true audience? How many idle, vain words, hurtful words, angry words, and blasphemous words have I thought or uttered?  How often have I lashed out in anger or rage, how many great swelling words have I shouted at another in defense of one attitude or another and not regarded who else was in the room – the Presence of the Most High God?

Brethren, the days in which we are in are dark; and the world where we have to live is lawless and wicked. Men do what is right in their own eyes and stand in direct defiance before a Holy God. They stand and say:

“We will not believe!”

“We will not listen!”

“We will not obey!”

 As were the days of Noah, so are the days in which we live.

 What happens when men do this?

(Jeremiah 11:11)

“...Therefore, thus says the Lord, “Behold I am bringing disaster on them which they will not be able to escape; though they will cry to Me, yet I will not listen to them…”[vi]

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(Chuukese: ¹¹ Iei mine ngang ewe Samol mi Lapalap üa üreniir pwe üpwe awarato feiengau wor, nge resap tongeni sü seni. Inamwo ika ra siö ngeniei, üsap aüselingeer.)[vii]

 

(Jeremiah 11:22-23)

²²“..therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, I am about to punish them! The young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters will die by famine;   ²³and a remnant will not be left to them, for I will bring disaster on the men of Anathoth—the year of their punishment.” [viii]

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(Chuukese: ²² Iei mine ewe Samol mi Unusen Manaman a apasa, “Üpwe apwüngüür. Nöür kewe alüal repwe mäla lon maun, nge nöür kewe ät me nengin repwe mäla ren echik, ²³ pwe esap chüen wor eman lusun me leir. Pun ngang üpwe awarato feiengau won ekewe re Anatot lon ewe ier üpwe apwüngüür.”)[ix]

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(Jeremiah 16:10-13)

 ¹⁰ “Now when you tell this people all these words, they will say to you, ‘For what reason has the Lord declared all this great calamity against us? And what is our iniquity, or what is our sin which we have committed against the Lord our God?’ ¹¹ “Then you are to say to them,

‘It is because your forefathers have forsaken Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and have followed other gods and served them and bowed down to them;

but Me they have forsaken and have not kept My law.

¹² ‘You too have done evil, even more than your forefathers; for behold, you are each one walking according to the stubbornness of his own evil heart, without listening to Me.

¹³ ‘So I will hurl you out of this land into the land which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers; and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will grant you no favor.’ [x]

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(Chuukese: “…¹⁰ Iwe, lupwen kopwe üreni ekei aramas ekei kapas meinisin, repwe aisinuk, ‘Pwota ewe Samol mi Lapalap a apwüngala ei sokun feiengau mi watte ngenikem? Met äm föföringau? Met sokun tipis aia föri ngeni ewe Samol mi Lapalap äm we Kot?’, ¹¹ mürin kopwe üreniir, ‘Iei alon ewe Samol mi Lapalap: Ei a fis pokiten ämi kewe lewo ra likitieila, pwe repwe angang ngeni pwal ekoch kot o fel ngeniir. Ra likitieila, nge resap aleasochisi ai kewe allük. ¹² Nge ämi oua fen föri föför mi ngau lap seni ämi kewe lewo. Oua en me chei ülöförean letipan mi ngau, nge ousap fokun aleasochisiei. ¹³ Iei mine üpwe aturukemiiwu seni ei fanü o aturukemiilong lon eu fanü ämi me ämi kewe lewo ousap silei me mwan. Ikenan oupwe angang ngeni pwal ekoch kot lerän me lepwin, pun ngang üsap kirikiröch ngenikemi.’ ”)[xi]

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(Jeremiah 18:5-17)

⁵ Then the word of the Lord came to me saying,

⁶ “Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. ⁷ “At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it;

⁸ if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. ⁹ “Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it;

¹⁰ if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it.

¹¹ “So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying,

‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you.

Oh turn back, each of you from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds.” ’

¹² “But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’ ¹³ “Therefore, thus says the Lord,

‘Ask now among the nations, Whoever heard the like of this? The  virgin of Israel has done a most appalling thing.

¹⁴ ‘Does the snow of Lebanon forsake the rock of the open country? Or is the cold flowing water from a foreign land ever snatched away? ¹⁵ ‘For My people have forgotten Me, they burn incense to worthless gods and they have stumbled from their ways, from the ancient paths, to walk in bypaths, not on a highway, ¹⁶ To make their land a desolation, an object of perpetual hissing; everyone who passes by it will be astonished and shake his head.

¹⁷ ‘Like an east wind I will scatter them before the enemy; I will show them My back and not My face in the day of their calamity.’ ” [xii]

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(Chuukese:

⁵ Mürin ewe Samol mi Lapalap a üreniei,

⁶ “Ämi chon Israel, ifa usun, üsap tongeni föri ngenikemi usun mine ewe chon föri sepi a föri? Nengeni, usun ewe pwülüpar a nom lepöün ewe chon föri sepi, iei usun ämi chon Israel oua nom lepei. ⁷ Fän ekoch üa apasa usun eu mwichen aramas ika chon eu mwü pwe üpwe üttiretä, kupiretiu o aroserela. ⁸ Nge are chon ewe mwü üa kapas usun ra kul seni ar föför mi ngau, ngang üpwe siwili ai ekiekin afeiengaueer. ⁹ Iwe, fän ekoch üa apasa usun eu mwichen aramas ika chon eu mwü, pwe üpwe aüretä o fotukiir. ¹⁰ Nge are chon ewe mwü ra föri föför mi ngau me fän mesei, are resap aleasochis ngeniei, mürin üpwe siwili ai ekiekin afeiöchüür.

¹¹ Iei mine kopwe üreni ekewe re Juta me chon Jerusalem,

‘Iei alon ewe Samol mi Lapalap: Nengeni, üpwe awarato feiengau ngenikemi o ekiekin ü ngenikemi. Ämi meinisin oupwe kul seni ämi föför mi ngau o siwili alemi me ämi kewe föför.’ 

¹² Nge ir ra apasa, ‘Esap wor lomotan. Äm aipwe chök chei püsin äm ekiek me ülöförean lelukem mi ngau.’ ” ¹³ Iei mine ewe Samol mi Lapalap a apasa,

“Oupwe ais me lein chon ekewe mwü ika ra rongorong usun ei sokun föför me mwan. Ekewe chon Israel ra föri och föför mi fokun ngau. ¹⁴ Ifa usun, ewe snow won ewe chuk Lepanon a morola? Ifa usun, ekewe öüwö mi patapat ra puwu seni ewe chuk repwe pwasatä? ¹⁵ Nge nei aramas ra fen manlükieila. Ra keni apach mi pwokus ngeni ekewe uluulun anümwäl. Ra chepetek lon ar kewe al, pun resap chüen fetal won ekewe alen lom, nge ra rikila ngeni pwal ekoch al lükün ewe alelap. ¹⁶ Ra ataela püsin fanüer, pwe aramas repwe turunufasei tori feilfeilachök. Meinisin mi pwerela ünükün ra fokun mairü ren mine ra küna o alefechefechi mökürer. ¹⁷ Üpwe atoropaseer me fän mesen chon oputer usun ewe asepwälin ötiu a atoropasa mettoch. Lon ränin ar feiengau üpwe kulu söküri ngeniir, nge sap mesei.”[xiii]

 

He changes not. If He did this to His people Israel because they turned their backs on Him and “…we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the ^bstubbornness of his evil heart…”; then how can we think He will spare us in our rebellion?

 If you say you know God, then the truth is you must FEAR Him. 

For He is worthy to be praised, to be worshipped:

And to be feared.

He is to be obeyed.

 Do not think you can go your own way without consequence. The opposite is true though, blessings flow when we walk in obedience. Is there sickness in your life? What about your family?

 Turn from your own way and seek Him!

Follow His path and not your own.

 Remember what Rabbi Sha’ul [Paul] told us:

Romans 11:21 (NKJV)

²¹ For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. ^[26][xiv]

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(Chuukese:  ²¹ Pun Kot esap achika ekewe chon Juta, ir wesewesen palen ewe irä, ifa usun, oua ekieki pwe epwe achikakemi? )[xv]

 We must understand the order of things in God’s world: to the Jew first, and then the Greeks; what happens in the natural is what is happening in the supernatural.  There was a blessing for the Jews if they obeyed; there is a blessing for us if we do so.  But we will reap what we sow, for God is not mocked. God will never change.

Do you know Him?” [xvi]

Beloved, do we know Him?

Do you know Whom before it is you stand?

Yes, our world is broken. The young leave home, the old are forgotten. We want the things of this world, yet we forget that we are supposed to leave this world behind and reach for the light, the light of Messiah. Again, I repeat words spoken before:

 “…If your life does not change, if you are only going through the motions of this walk with God - singing songs, saying a few prays, listening to a few sermons, going to church on Sunday or whenever – and your lifestyle has not changed

you are in danger.

If God and His Spirit have not broken your heart by revealing your sins,

you are in danger.

If you can walk out of church and still drink, smoke, cheat, lie, steal, lust or any such thing without remorse,

you are in danger.

Your eternal destination might not be in the presence of God, but in the lake of fire.

 So, we spend a lot of time and effort teaching and preaching the Word of God; those of the congregation go out of their way to come together once or twice a week, maybe more, but they come to hear the Word of God, but this question must again be asked:

                 Do those that teach and preach and those that come to hear the Word of God 

                                                        know the God of the Word?

This should be a sobering thought, one that makes you search deep within your soul for the right answer, for this question determines the reality of your faith. Most of us come to church for fellowship and easy words. These will not be easy words today; they cannot be. The Spirit of God is calling out to His people, and His words are not easy. It is time to come out of your slumber, out of   your sleep church!

 Men and Women of God – Do you know Him?

Do you know Him as He defines Himself or do you only know of Him?

Is your knowledge His knowledge or have you let someone else tell you who He is?

Most of us claim to know God – but the truth is we are still strangers to Him…”[xvii]

Yeshua said:

“We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.”[xviii]

         We either walk in the light of day, or stumble in the darkness. In the light we can see hope, or we can see things that just are not right; all it takes is one miss-step – one wrong word, one wrong attitude, one wrong thing, and darkness rushes in; we lose our sight and then the long dark night of the soul begins. In the dark there is fear, loneliness, frustration. We try to serve God but where is He? Why do things have to be so hard?  It is a long dark night of the soul that sometimes we can still see the consequences of sin, being played out in the lives of those we love or even our own lives. If we are striving, yearning, holding on in that long night, then we know this: trials, troubles and tribulation all of these go hand in hand with love, peace and joy. There is an answer, found by responding by what we truly are, and that is God’s child. The long dark night always has to give way to the dawn of the day, if we hold on to the light. We have to walk the course though brethren. The narrow road, the path less taken, the one overgrown with thistles and thorns. The one that we have to struggle with and wrestle with our thoughts, words and deeds. We have to have , pronounced ‘ka-Va-nah’. “…Loosely translated in a variety of ways, it can mean “intent, focus, direction or understanding”. But KaVaNah is not merely a word that can be defined – it is…a concept. We stand before One who sees us – all the time.  Nothing is secret from Him, nothing is hidden. 

 Yet, consider this: how many of us, in the hopes of landing a job, will spend hours crafting our resume, practice our “spiel” if you will, just to sell ourselves at the job interview with this potential employer? We’ll be willing to spend countless moments thinking of just the right words to say to someone we want to impress; there will even be rehearsed speeches, teachings, the list goes on and on… but, we’ll just drop in any time we feel like it before the King of Glory, with no preparation, no plan, no conscious thought of Who it is we stand before, and we’ll graciously give Him two minutes or five, maybe fifteen minutes of our time, if He is “lucky”; some might be able to stretch it out to 30 minutes or an hour, but truthfully? The most important Presence you or I could ever hope to stand before is neglected or worse, assigned to our minds as an after-thought. We go about our lives, doing our own thing then, off-the-cuff or on the spur of the moment we’ll go “Oh, by the way, did You want me to do this God? I sure hope so, because it’s really what I wanted to do…”[xix]

In the back of our minds, we know God’s KaVaNah; His intent was clear, and the nail-scarred hands, feet, and the wounds of the lash upon His Son proves it. “For God so loved the world…”

1 Chronicles 4:9

               10 Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm that it may not pain me!” And God granted him what he requested. ^[xx]

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(Chuukese: ¹⁰ Nge Japes a iotek ngeni ewe Koten Israel, “Ai Kot, kose mochen afeiöchüei o awatteela kiännin fanüei. Kopwe etiei o tümwünüei pwe üsap feiengauaei.” Iwe, Kot a apwönüetä mine a tüngor.) [xxi]

               Friends, can you live with nothing? If God choose to pull back the knowledge of His presence from you today, could you go on, hang on, waiting on the Lord? Can you go on hoping for more but enduring the emptiness, the nothingness till He chooses to return? Jabez was born in sorrow and pain – yet he held on, and when it was time, he asked God for blessings, and they were granted. Jabez knew Whom it was that he stood before. If we know before Whom we stand, then all we do will finally change, our words, thoughts and deeds.

 It has been said before, if your faith cannot alter your behavior, it cannot change your destiny. KaVaNah will alter your faith; it will change your destiny. From darkness to light. And light dispels the darkness. If we can hold, if we repent and return to the light while there is still time, then the darkness holds no sway, no fear, no doubt over us. We will be as the man whom Yeshua gave sight to; we will see. No darkness can take that away from us.

                Yes. There has been pain in our lives, and we surly miss those who are gone. But the darkness holds them not if they were Messiah’s. We will see them again, in that great bye-and-bye. If you do not know Him, then it is time. Today, while it is still with us, return to the light – for the dark is not yet upon us.

 May He richly bless you all this day, my beloved.

Amein and Amein.

 

[i] Author’s note:

I have a large body of readers from Micronesia (my wife included). Therefore, I will also be including Scripture references from their Bible, the Paipel, found at https://fsm.bible/chk/index.htm in the text. I pray dear brethren, you don’t mind.

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ADDITIONAL AUTHOR’S NOTES:

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 the readers understanding of the subjects discussed. In addition, throughout this study, I will be using the NET Bible® and the NET Notes®. Within these notes, you will see symbols like this: ( א B Ψ 892* 2427 sys). These (and others) 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 Bible, in both Testament, “Old” and “New”.  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.  Also, throughout all my studies, I will include, from various sources, the notes that come along with the passages I cite, but these need a bit of a disclaimer though. As in all things, not everything that is noted is something that I necessarily at this time, agree with. I am not saying the interpretations  that I give in the main body of my epistles, where my gentle dissent belongs, is better, but only my humble opinion. 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 am giving you the notes so that you can see the information contained within them: it truly is not my place to edit them. If they state anything that is in opposition to what I believe to be right, then so be it; I will address these issues or contradictions as needed; You, beloved, are free to draw your own conclusions. I have to be intellectually honest – I am biased toward the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, His nation Israel, and His son, Yeshua the Messiah [מָשִׁיחַ  māšīaḥ or mashiach] or Jesus Christ, if you prefer. I pray then we all can find common ground as we study the Scriptures.

 ^c See ch. 1:38

^d [Luke 13:2, 4]

^e [ver. 34]

^f Ex. 20:5

^g [ch. 11:4]

^h See ch. 4:34

ⁱ ch. 11:9; 12:35; [Rom. 13:12; Gal. 6:10]

^j See ch. 1:4, 5, 9; 8:12

^k Mark 7:33; 8:23

^m Luke 13:4

ⁿ ch. 11:37

^[iii] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jn 9:1–7.

[iv] From https://fsm.bible/chk/index.htm, The Paipel: [Johannes 9:1-7]

 ^q ch. 5:9

^r ver. 10

^[v] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jn 9:14–15.

 [vi] New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. 1995 (Je 11:11). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[vii] https://fsm.bible/chk/JER11.htm The Paipel [Jeremaia 11:11]

[viii]  New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. 1995 (Je 11:22–Je 12). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[ix] https://fsm.bible/chk/JER11.htm The Paipel: [Jeremaia 11:22-23]

[x] New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. 1995 (Je 16:10–13). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[xi] https://fsm.bible/chk/JER16.htm The Paipel: [Jeremaia 16:10-13]

[xii]  New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. 1995 (Je 18:5–17). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[xiii] https://fsm.bible/chk/JER18.htm The Paipel: [Jeremaia 18:5-17]

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

[xv] https://fsm.bible/chk/ROM11.htm The Paipel: [Rom 11:21]

[xvi] Excerpt from the blog “At the Gates of Yerushalayim; A Search for Messiah: Weeping between the Porch and the Altar” https://www.asearchformessiah.net/2013/06/weeping-between-porch-and-altar.html ©David E. Robinson 2024-2025

[xvii] Ibid..

[xviii] John 9:4

[xix] Adapted from “Know before Whom you Stand” https://www.asearchformessiah.net/2013/07/know-before-whom-you-stand.html

^[xx] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), 1 Ch 4:10.

[xxi] https://fsm.bible/chk/1CH04.htm The Paipel: [1.Kronika 4:10]