Between A Rock And A Hard Place?

May 23, 2021April 23, 2022

This may be one of the

most enigmatic accounts in scripture,

that of:

Why did Yeshua/Jesus write on the ground?

and followed quickly by the obvious question:

What did He write in the dust?

There have been many suggestions from many people concerning this scenario.

Was it a list of sins etc.?

This suggestion would account for the reaction of her accusers, who, uncomfortable with their criminal past on display for the crowd to see; one by one they slunk away.

IF that is what Yeshua/Jesus wrote, then His point was obvious: Inferring to them that they were not without sin, and didn’t appreciate their sins on display any more than the woman did. It was true, she may have deserved death according to the Law of Moses, but they probably did too.

Some say that it was not uncommon to write in the dirt being a way to draw directions to a covert meeting for believers, who sometimes made the fish sign which could easily be erased with a quick slide of the foot.

Here it may be helpful if we think with a Torah based Hebrew mindset, taking into account the situation, the accusation, also, those who were accusing and their knowledge of Torah laws and instructions. The law of Moses which Pharisees and Sadducees followed said, the guilty one should be stoned to death.

This was for both the individuals in question, so was He upholding womens’ rights? Yeshua/Jesus seemed to disrupt the laws of His time in every single encounter with women recorded in the four Gospels, turning upside down that which was accepted as wisdom in His day.

His perspective toward women ran opposite to the Middle Eastern cultural norms. Women were often treated as property. Jewish rabbis began every temple meeting with the words, “Blessed art thou, O Lord, for thou has not made me a woman.”

A wife could never divorce her husband. However, a husband could divorce his wife for any reason, and he had no obligation to financially care for her. The husband simply handed her a bill of divorce and she was sent away.

Women were often viewed as inferior to men, excluded from public religious life and rarely taught the Torah, even in private.

Yeshua/Jesus taught both men and women and healed and performed miracles equally for both. Regardless of their lifestyle, including thieves, prostitutes, lepers, women of low social class (e.g. samaritan woman at well). He paid no attention to social standing or religious credentials; interacting in a very welcoming way with both men and women because He loved people. He knew that women had no religious or legal authority as spokespersons, yet Yeshua/Jesus gave them the role of being the very first to inform others of His resurrection.

John tells us something people often miss, that Yeshua /Jesus wrote twice, clearly a gesture that’s meant to call our attention to in emphasizing this point, and yet, at the same time it seems strange.

There is more to this scene than at first meets the eye and we must recall that this was not the first time God wrote with His finger.

When YeHoVeH gave the Law up on the mountain with Moses, in Exodus 31:18.

He wrote the Ten Commandments/10 sayings Himself.

YeHoVeH did not write in sand or dirt which can be wiped away but on tablets of stone. These words were permanent, unchangeable, binding, a covenant; He was marrying Israel to Himself.

And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

Exodus 31:18

Click link below for more:

https://www.minimannamoments.com/sapphire-and-10-sayings/

Truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Matthew 5:18

The second time in Daniel that He wrote with his finger, it was a condemnation of those arrogant peoples for not following his laws. , “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.”

click link below for more of above:

https://www.minimannamoments.com/bones-of-fire-and-graffiti/

In John Chapter 8, this is the third time Gods finger writes – as Messiah, the God-man Yeshua/Jesus; and it appears He was also writing a condemnation or was He writing a pardon for sins?

An interesting point is that Yeshua/Jesus never stands up.

He straightens up but He never stands up.

Is it because He is sitting to judge this woman;

He keeps sitting and writing in the dirt.

Why?

Messiah sat, because Judges sit.

Bema Seat.

Matt.27:19

Even Pontius Pilate was seated on the Bema/Judgment Seat when he condemned Messiah to death.

Yeshua/Jesus will sit at the right hand of God to judge the living and the dead.

They said: such a woman is to be stoned to death; which implied that they had enough evidence. However, it was not clear if they had already put her on trial and/or if they had already questioned the witnesses. In either case, they had not yet pronounced judgment but instead they dragged her out in front of Yeshua/Jesus.

At the end of the story, Yeshua/Jesus tells her to sin no more so it looks like she may have committed adultery.

So in bringing the woman to Yeshua/Jesus, they were testing Him in another way. If He was a prophet, then He should be able to discern if she was guilty or not.

They knew Yeshua/Jesus had forgiven some people of their sins, e.g. the crippled man. However, the sins of the people whom He had forgiven had not been accused of any crime. The woman was accused of adultery, apparently even caught in the very act of adultery so there must have been witnesses willing to testify against her. So would Yeshua/Jesus fulfill the law or would He forgive her sins?

Beginning at Numbers 5:11, specifically verse 23, this gives insight into WHY Messiah wrote in the dirt and further insight into what He may have written.

These verses also talk about adultery; this portion of scripture has been called The Test for An Unfaithful Wife.

The Test for an Unfaithful Wife

In Numbers 5:11, the priest brings the woman accused of adultery and has her stand before the Lord and has her take an oath. He also sweeps up some dust and dirt from the tabernacle floor and puts that dirt into cup of holy water from the tabernacle.

The priest also pronounces a curse that if she is guilty, then when she drinks the dirty water, she will get deathly sick but if she is innocent, then she will not be harmed by drinking that cup of dirty water. But before she drinks that cup, the priest also writes down the curses that he pronounced on a scroll. Then he takes some holy water and rinses the scroll of curses into the cup of dirty water. So now the dirty cup of water has the curses in it as well. Then she is made to drink that cup of dirty water.

Is this why Yeshua/Jesus wrote in the dirt and possibly what He wrote?

Did Yeshua/Jesus write this woman’s name and her sins in the dirt in order to forgive her for her sins!

How is that possible?

In order for Him to forgive/pardon this woman’s sins and to let her go, He had to first write down her sins and put them in a cup of water and then He needed to drink that cup.

Yeshua/Jesus knew that very soon He would have to drink the cup of sin. This cup would contain not only this woman’s sin of adultery, it would contain your sin and my sin, it would contain the sin of Adam, it would and did contain all sin that has been or would ever be committed!

No wonder in the Garden of Gethsemane, He prays to the Father, if it were possible to take away this cup.

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

Has it ever occurred to us what cup Yeshua/Jesus was referring to here while He was praying to His Father?

Was it this bitter cup of sin?

Remember the Last Supper/Pesach Meal, immediately preceded the Garden of Gethsemane, which He and the disciples never finished.

During the meal, Messiah did something radical, something new, He changed the cup of the covenant of the Passover Meal to a new covenant.

There is no mention of them eating the lamb, just bread/sop and that which it was dipped in.

Why?

Because He was THE Pesach/Passover Lamb and why He said you must eat me! And drink my blood/wine/. Symbolic of the blood on the doorposts of the first Passover/Pesach.

Pesach has been covered in previous posts.
From the text, it appears that they left the Passover Meal and went to the Garden to pray; so Messiah and His disciples never finished the Passover Meal in the old tradition drinking the other cups of wine… However, He would finish the New Passover/Covenant as THE Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He would drink that cup of sin and condemnation for us; which has become our cup of redemption.

We drink this new cup of redemption during every Communion meal and someday soon, we will finish the new Pesach/Passover Meal with Yeshua/Jesus in Heaven at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. I will drink new with you in my fathers kingdom confirming and completing the covenant between us. Him the Bridegroom and those believers who make up The Bride of Messiah.

Another possibility as to why did He do such an strange thing?

Again the answer is in the Old Testament/Tenach, where there is a reference to almost all that Messiah said and did.

Why?

Because it was the Old Testament/Covenant that proved His claim to be the Messiah, fulfilling prophecy.

The Prophet Jeremiah gives us the answer to His action:

Jeremiah 17.13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake You shall be ashamed. Those who depart from Me shall be

written in the earth,

because they have forsaken the LORD,

The Fountain of Living Waters.

On the previous day Yeshua/Jesus had made His startling announcement to the crowd on the Temple Mount:

John 7.37-52 On the last day, that great day of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of Living Water.”

Click link for more on Sukkot /Feast of Tabernacles

https://www.minimannamoments.com/in-the-end-its-all-about-yeshua-jesus/

However, His announcement was not received with universal acclaim because:

Many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, “Truly this is the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee?……So there was a division among the people because of Him.

There is no doubt that the ruling group of Scribes and Pharisees had rejected Him, and forsaken the LORD, as the Prophet Jeremiah wrote.

Then the Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him?

Yeshua/Jesus, who was Himself The Fountain of Living Waters had offered the people rivers of Living Water…..but His offer was rejected by the Scribes and Pharisees.

He symbolized their rejection of Him by stooping down and writing on the ground with His finger.

The aggressive response to His confirmation of Himself as Messiah was rooted in their fear and anger that their authority was being challenged. Therefore, Yeshua/Jesus wrote on the ground….as though He did not hear.

John 8:7 4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? 6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.

His action of ignoring them, as though He did not hear, was in fulfillment of Psalm 66.18 and Isaiah 59.2:

Psalm 66.18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the LORD will not hear.

Isaiah 59.2 Your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.

How did they react?

Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last.

They knew what the Scriptures said, and no doubt recognized the reference that Messiah made to Jeremiah 17.13, that those who depart from Me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD.

They would also have recognized why He seemed not to hear, because they were regarding iniquity in their hearts.

They were convicted by their conscience, and there was only one thing for them to do, leave, one by one.

However, there was another option for them. In Jeremiah 17.14, the following verse, is His offer of redemption:

Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for You are my praise.

It is very sad that they rejected every offer that He made.

There is another possible explanation that may be the answer and maybe we should ask why it is that none of the Gospel writers put in their account exactly what was written. Could it be that it was because it was obvious to those whom the account was written to at that time?

Did the onlookers of the day understand without explanation?

As we have seen in previous posts, many of the Hebrew idioms are included in the narrative and we miss it; as we both read and look at it with a Greek Western mindset.

The religious leaders became increasingly irritated by Yeshua/Jesus’ popularity. Thousands of people followed Him, some for His teachings and most because of the miracles He was doing among them, healing their sick.. And so, being jealous, did they come up with a plan?

It is worth noting here that this scene played out following His discourse on the beatitudes…..

and when He said this it was in context of the woman taken in adultery.

Again It is important that we look at this situation with a Hebraic thinking mind otherwise we interpret it with a Greek way of thinking and miss the truth of this account. The Bible is a Jewish book and this is a Jewish story and they understood without an explanation, which is probably why none was given!

They brought her to Yeshua/Jesus, knowing the Law of Moses said she must be stoned and also knowing that if Jesus/Yeshua said stone her, He would be going against the Law of Rome which forbade execution by Jews and if He said not to stone her, He was going against the law of Moses.

Almost between a rock and a hard place!

Were they trying to trap Him between 2 laws?

Remembering Moses law said stone her and also the man!

So He wrote in the dust of the earth,

and to a Jew, with a Hebraic mindset,

it means only one thing;

It’s a claim to be YeHoVeH/God !

to be the very same Who wrote the 10 sayings

with His finger on the stone.

was He in fact saying I wrote that law?

We miss that because we are not Jewish and what He wrote, is not as important as the point He was making by His actions. He was claiming to be responsible for that law.

She found herself between a rock and a hard place.

The rock in her case was the Rock of Ages, Messiah Himself; and the hard place of her impossible situation, was softened; not by the rocks of accusation and judgment falling on her, but of her falling on the hard ground/place at the feet of the Rock of her salvation.

Go and sin no more.

This was not for her alone but for ALL who fall at His feet.

Our accusers have been silenced

by the Blood of the Lamb

and though there is a saying

‘you can’t get blood from a stone’;

in the case of Messiah,

the rock of the ages;

the rosh pinah/corner stone Himself…

it may have TRUTH to it!

His redeeming Blood has flowed forth to pay for our sins and judgment upon us has been passed and withdrawn for ever. As long as we stay humble and repentant at His feet, covered in His blood.

Even as He spoke to His disciples in the sermon on the mount/beatitudes,

Moses said, but I say…. and this is what I meant when I gave that instruction.

He came to correct the perversion of His laws by men. He reminded them of another of Moses laws which says that, no one can become a witness in a criminal charge if they have ever committed the same crime so when He said John 8:7 let him who is without sin.

He wasn’t saying that you have to be perfect before you can punish someone else, which is more or less a Greek way of thinking.

That is impractical for no judge is sinless.

He was referring to: Ex 23:2 You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice.

Thou shalt not follow the multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause, following many, to divert judgment.

Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong and quoting the law which says:

if you have never committed adultery then you can be a witness in this case

and that’s when one by one they walked away John 8:9 beginning with the oldest..

so the witnesses were dismissed based on the law.

Then He asked her where are your accusers?

John 8:12 9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? 11 She said, No man, Lord.

Another point of the law stated in:

Deut. 19:15 15

A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.

Here are the passages they would have had in mind:

If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death. ~ Leviticus 20:10

If a man is caught lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman as well as the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel. – Deuteronomy 22:22

Based on the Scripture above, some would also ask the obvious question: if she was caught in the very act of adultery, that means she wasn’t alone. So where is the man?

The relevant legal question at this juncture is whether the woman is married or not.

Under Torah law, adultery is a question of exclusivity and ownership. A married woman’s sexuality is “owned” by her husband, but not vice versa. This means, if the woman is not married, she has committed adultery and is under the potential sentence of death. If she is married, then both she and the man are under that potential sentence, because the man has violated the sexual “ownership” of another man. However, even if she was married, it is not outside of the realm of possibility that men in a patriarchal system could come to an arrangement on how to proceed, leaving the man out of it, especially given the socio-political maneuverings of the scribes and Pharisees to trap Messiah.

It seems clear that the whole thing is a set up because should Yeshua/Jesus order her to be stoned, He upholds Jewish law, but breaks Roman law!

This was because the Jews who were living under Roman occupation did not have the unilateral rights to capital punishment for adultery.

If Yeshua/Jesus condemns the stoning, He breaks Jewish law and risked being discredited as being a compromiser who is soft on crime.

Jesus/Yeshua knew it was a set up, but He still needed to answer. Which, of course, He did by saying very little. What He wrote may have been just as powerful due to the fact that there had to be 2 or 3 witnesses and as there were no witnesses then the case was voided.

John 8:11. Neither do I condemn you but go and sin no more.

We should remember that mercy is not offered to us to go back into sin.

Was the point He was making simply, that He knew the Law better than her accusers did… and used Moses law to bring justice to the situation. And at this time He says John 8:12 declaring that He was the Light of the world.

You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

I AM the Light of the world.

Matthew 5:14-16

Anochi – I AM that I AM

and

John 8:12. You are the light of the world.

He said of Himself and His disciples,

He did not say He was the salt of the earth!

Light, it’s not so much what we say or do, it’s what we are. If we follow Him we will not fall into sin, tempted and drawn away by our own lusts. James 1:13-14

Follow Him and walk in the light and not be living and walking in darkness.

Matthew 4:16.

He exposed their way and showed

His WAY which is Truth; and truth is love/ love is truth.

Matt 5:14-16 is

showing the higher standard of moral living in a wicked and adulterous generation. Good action is not doing good things, so much as being, and it proceeds to list the WAY, which is impossible for anyone to live up to in the natural but we are supernatural and as we press in personally, that’s what gives the glory to the Lord because its not us, It’s Him IN us. It’s supernatural NOT to worry! Don’t think of what you will eat or wear because our needs are met.

It is worth noting that this woman was likely a victim of entrapment and they were tempting Him, it was a trap, a snare.

Matt 22:15 tells us the Pharisees were always plotting how they could trap Him with a question.

If He gave her mercy, it would mean He was compromising concerning adultery and therefore an enemy of their moral law; but if Yeshua/Jesus stoned her, then all His teaching about mercy and forgiveness was invalidated.

John 8:7 4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.

5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? 6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.

Verses 7, 8. – But when they continued asking him; he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and with his finger was writing on the ground.

another version says:

John 8:7. So when they continued asking him. For observing that he put himself in such a posture, they concluded that they had puzzled and perplexed him, and that he knew not what to say; and therefore they were more urgent for a speedy answer, hoping they should get an advantage of him; and that they should be able to expose him, and that his confusion would appear to all the people:

7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

One by one they walked away, “beginning with the oldest” until it was only Jesus left with the woman. Jesus asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said.
“Neither do I condemn you, ” Jesus declared. “Go and sin no more.”

This was not normal, it never happened.

Imagine her shock!

Not only was she allowed to live but she is free to go.

Surely, He knew very soon, He would be paying the penalty not only for her adultery, but also for the crowd’s hatred, and for the religious leaders’ callous arrogance… on a cross.

The sins of the whole world would fall on Him, as He paid the price for our forgiveness and redemption.

Though He was YeHoVeh/God, the only one with the right to judge her, He was able to honestly tell this woman, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”

At that time, Messiah said He did not come to judge, but came to seek and to save the lost.

He is our Savior.

He changes the lives of those who know Him and when He returns He will be as judge.

At the end of the story, Yeshua/Jesus and the woman are the only ones left. Not even His disciples are present.

Why were only He and the woman left?

Did everyone leave because everyone has been indicted?

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth…. From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. . (John 1:14;16-17)

The Scribes and Pharisees came with the letter of Moses’ law for sneaky, ungodly purposes. Yeshua/Jesus knew all this and responded accordingly, with the spirit of the law, which is full of grace.

When He tells her that He doesn’t condemn her, and that she should stop sinning. Was He saying: I do not condemn you and the truth of the law is what you did was wrong, stop it.

Can we assume He is referring not only to the adultery. She, like all of us, probably has more than one secret shame, as well as patterns of unholiness.

The scribes and the Pharisees weren’t wrong: the woman had sinned; but she was a pawn, merely a means to an end, because their purpose and goal in revealing her sin was condemnation. They debased her more than the man she was caught with and not just her but it was also against Yeshua/Jesus.

As we are continually seeing everything in the Bible is connected, woven together in a unique way. Yeshua/Jesus was purposefully writing in the dirt. Was He writing her sin and not only hers but writing all of our sins? He would not only drink that cup of sin and condemnation, but absorbed it all and eradicated it as if sin had never existed.

He will separate our sins from us.

Psalm 103:12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

The phrase

as far as the east is from the west

is meant to communicate in infinite space.

East is in one direction, and west is in the other.

Implying as if we never sinned.

The bad news is that we are all law-breakers.

No one can keep the law perfectly.

As Paul wrote,

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Rom. 3:23.

But The Good News is

He came not to condemn the world, but to offer salvation.

He came into the world to make dead men live.

Forgiveness for repentant hearts…

Although the Law was written in stone, our sins need not be. Yeshua/Jesus offers forgiveness, and as the Scripture tells us, fulfilling Psalm. 103:12.

Why did Yeshua/Jesus write in the dirt?

The Last Adam wrote in the very dirt that He created the First Adam out of but…

unlike words in stone that cannot be changed, what is written in sand/dirt can be wiped away.

This is why He came and is exactly what He wants to do for us.

All we need to do is accept the grace He offers by repenting of our sins and He will remove those sins forever.

There may be much much more than we know to His final words.

IT IS FINISHED!

May His true Shalom/Peace

rest upon each one in Jesus/Yeshuas’ Name.

‘Mishpachah’ ‘Family’

משפחה

Mish-pa-KHa Mish-pa-KHa

you are greatly loved and prayed for daily..

Happy Shavuot and may every reader be filled to overflowing

with His Ruach!

There may have been some confusion as to the timing of Shavuot 2021 which was a two-day holiday, celebrated from sunset on May 16 until nightfall on May 18. Orthodox Jews state it coincides with the date that God gave the Torah to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai more than 3,300 years ago. It comes after 49 days of counting the Omer.

For Messianic Believers we are also remembering the outpouring of His Spirit of Holiness/Ruach Ha Kodesh recorded in Acts 2:1-13

Pentecost is also dated according to this calendar below.

For more on Shavuot click links below:

https://www.minimannamoments.com/50-days-later-an-earthly-and-spiritual-harvest-pentecost-shavuot/

https://www.minimannamoments.com/2-x-3000-a-marriage-made-in-heaven/

NOT SURE if you are part of His Family?

YOU CAN BE..

Say the following and mean it from your heart…

Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.

I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He came in the flesh and He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life.

Because your word is truth, I say that I am now forgiven and born again in my spirit and by faith I am washed clean with the Blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name. Amen.

Why Was Elisha Digging Ditches To The Sound of Music?

May 16, 2021

The background to the story is that of King Jehoshaphat of Judah, a relatively good, God-fearing King, but he made a critical mistake by making an alliance with the wicked son of Ahab, Jehoram.

2Kings 3:5-24

But after Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. 6 So at that time King Joram….7 sent this message to Jehoshaphat king of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?”

Israel was at war with the Moabites but their king had led them in a roundabout route for 7 days, leaving them with no water and dwindling hope.

Kings 3:9-26, 9 “So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom, and they marched on that roundabout route seven days; and there was no water for the army, nor for the animals that followed them. 10 And the king of Israel said, “Alas!

King Jehoshaphat

המלך יהושפט

Yehoshaphat.

Phonetic Spelling: (yeh-ho-shaw-fawt’)

Definition: the LORD has judged or

Yah Hath Judged/Yahweh Has Judged/The Lord Judges.

The name Jehoshaphat consists of two elements:

1) The name יה(Yah) = יהו(Yahu) = יו(Yu), which in turn are abbreviated forms of the Tetragrammaton; the name of the Lord: YHWH.

2) The verb שפט (shapat), meaning to judge or govern:

King Jehoshaphat plan was to try to take over the land of Moab…but as we know, the end doesn’t justify the means. The plan backfired on him and he found himself with thousands of soldiers and animals and no water.

God never wants us to align ourselves in a common goal with wickedness, those not walking in covenant relationship with Him.

Both old and new testaments remind us

32 Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. Exodus 23:32-33

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 2 Cor. 6:14

Jehoshaphat had not done right in terms of separating himself from unbelievers, and it ended up costing his people because now their very lives were in danger.

Having commanded some 40,000 men to march 7 days over a hot desert with minimal food and water.

When his options had run out, he finally decides to go to the man of God for counseling; this should have been his first action along with seeking the Lord for His direction. He realized he needed to separate from them, and yet there is no water…

What was the answer to his dilemma?

“Let’s consult ELISHA, a prophet and a man of God to inquire of him. He knows about water. He poured water on the hands of Elijah.”

And Jehoshaphat said, Whether any prophet of the Lord is here, (so) that we (can) beseech the Lord by him? And one of the servants of the king of Israel answered, Elisha, the son of Shaphat, is here, that poured water upon the hands of Elijah (Elisha, the son of Shaphat, is here, who poured water upon Elijah’s hands). 2Kings 3:11

Elisha

אלישע

Modern: ʼElīšaʻ, My God is salvation or

God is salvation

Greek: Ἐλισ[σ]αῖος, Elis[s]aîos or Ἐλισαιέ, Elisaié)

So they did, however, the answer was probably not what they were expecting because…..

Sometimes He asks us to be a part of His solutions….

and sometimes in rather strange and unusual ways.

Elisha says:

2Kings 3:15-17

15 But now bring me a musician.”. Then it happened, when the musician played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him. 16 And he said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Make this valley full of [ a]ditches.’ 17 For thus says the Lord: ‘You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you, your cattle, and your animals may drink.’.

This word “valley” in the Hebrew is

ואדי

“wadi“,

which is a “dry riverbed

More Hebrew words for wadi.

noun וָאדִי.

gully, ravine.

noun נַחַל. s

tream, river, brook, valley, ravine.

“Cherith, Kerith (Hebrew: נַחַל כְּרִית ‎ Naḥal Kərīṯ), or sometimes Chorath (/ ˈ k ɔːr ɑː θ /; from the Septuagint’s Greek: Χειμάῤῥους Χοῤῥάθ cheimárrhous Chorrháth), is the name of a wadi, or intermittent seasonal stream mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.

Now bring me a minstrel/musician… One that can sing and play well upon an instrument of music.

He sent for a minstrel, possibly to calm his mind from the impressions of the physical problem and having been disturbed at the sight of idolatrous Jehoram,

the soft tones of the lyre/harp brought composure to his mind and soul so that he might be inspired to more fervent prayer, and thereby be prepared to receive the prophetic inspiration.

When the musician played, the hand of the Lord came on him and his spirit gave instructions to work the miracle.

minstrel

2 Kings 3:15
HEB: קְחוּ־ לִ֣י מְנַגֵּ֑ן וְהָיָה֙ כְּנַגֵּ֣ן
NAS: bring me a minstrel. And it came
KJV: But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel

also

נָגַן Nagan

Phonetic Spelling: naw-gan’

Definition. to touch or play a stringed instrument. NASB Translation. minstrel (1), minstrel played (1), musician

Strongs #5059

2 Kings 3:16-18
“This is what the Lord says: I will fill this valley with pools of water. For this is what the Lord says: You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle and your other animals will drink. This is an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord; he will also deliver Moab into your hands.“

God lays it on Elisha’s heart what

He,

the Lord,

will do to rescue them:

All they have to do is dig some ditches!

Why?

It sounds completely crazy!

So Why? ….

Because God said to.

Even though He said in v. 17 there won’t be storms or rain!

…but

there’ll be water…

God has spoken.

Dig ditches…..

תְעָלָה

ditch, channel, canal, gutter, culvert, water course

They needed

to act

on their faith,

regardless of how illogical it sounded!

Imagine what passers-by must have thought….

an army digging ditches???

Digging a valley full of ditches,

for water,

to win a battle with no sign of rain!

He didn’t need human logic,

no rain was required,

no river,

just

His power and

simple faith, trusting in Him.

if He says it, He does it!

From the irrational display of desperation to the next morning

….they find that…

Water has flowed uphill and across this ancient plain

that was once a stream bed.

In verse 20, the valley is full of water for the troops

Then a further miracle happens:

the Moabites mistake the water for blood and through this they are defeated.

Nothing is impossible for God, and He achieves it through

His plans,

no matter how illogical and unexplainable they are to us.

He even provides in abundance,

far more than we would expect, for them

AND their animals.

But they had to trust God,

His plan

and what He asked them to do.

So should we.

We think often that God will give us faith to change or to persevere and stand until the situation changes.

However, true faith comes when we walk into the valley, often situations that are opposite to mountain top experiences; and instead of trying to fill the valley, we instead dig until they are filled with ditches.

The Lord requires places/ containers for His waters to collect, so that it won’t run off and dissipate into another stream.

He wants to fill our valleys.

biqah: a valley, plain

בִּקְעָה

Phonetic Spelling: bik-aw’

Strongs#1237

Not only so we can drink, but to have enough for everyone around us who needs it, including crops and animals/ livestock.

Faith is not looking up and seeing rain clouds and seeing the rain fall.

Faith is looking at a clear sky

but being full of expectancy

that the valley will be filled.

You will not see wind nor rain.

He wants us to do things like, dig ditches, with the promise to fill them and in unexpected unconventional ways.

He wants a faith filled people.

He is looking for people who don’t need rain in order to have rainfall!

Faith people who will dig ditches to collect water that never falls from the sky!!!

People who will believe

He will bring water

in His own way and time

all we have to do is act in obedient response,

that is faith!

The ‘ridiculous’ faith of Elisha!

We must sometimes dig a ditch so God can fill it!

That is a clear lesson from this scripture account.

Our Heavenly Father specializes in

FILLING

things

which are

EMPTY.

We are to empty ourselves of the cares of this world, and that makes room for God to fill us!

As we remember, the cares of the world choke the Word of God.

When we empty ourselves of the flesh

and then the Spirit comes flowing in like a rushing river,

filling the valley of our souls!

Our Heavenly Father gets all the glory when He uses our provision of emptiness to fulfill His will in and through us in overflowing ways!

His OUTPOURING into our need!

In the following chapter we see the familiar story of the widow and her empty vessels which God filled for her. Elisha, who challenged the widow woman to create more emptiness for the Lord to fill, had just seen it happen himself as he dug ditches so God could fill them.

Have faith…trust…

lay aside all self-sufficiency,

and instead,

find some emptiness!

The widow of 2Kings 4 brought all the jars she had faith to bring!

How many would we bring?

Sometimes we are called to create some emptiness so God can fill it.

… Dig a ditch,

or God won’t fill it!

A mind occupied with planning

pays homage to the idol of control.

Planning takes little to no faith because it is fore-thought and carefully and deliberately arranged and what is worse, it leaves God completely out of the picture and then we ask Him to bless our way.

Many spend all week planning the weekend, thinking it is Gods’ will when in fact it is just simply what they want to do.

One of the greatest hindrances to living a faith filled life is not making room for God.

In this account, Elisha shows how faith works.

It is echoed in Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Now faith is a well-grounded assurance of that for which we hope, and a conviction of the reality of things which we do not see.

The principle here is

putting

faith

into

action.

Don’t just say you have faith!

Show it by our actions

James said in 2:17…

17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” shew me thy faith without thy works/actions, and I will shew thee my faith by my works/actions.

Fulfillment comes in emptiness of self, and being filled with the Spirit maybe its time to dig some ditches???

May His true Shalom/Peace

rest upon each one in Jesus/Yeshuas’ Name.

‘Mishpachah’ ‘Family’

משפחה

Mish-pa-KHa Mish-pa-KHa

you are greatly loved and prayed for daily..

NOT SURE if you are part of His Family? YOU CAN BE..

Say the following and mean it from your heart…

Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.

I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He came in the flesh and He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life.

Because your word is truth, I say that I am now forgiven and born again in my spirit and by faith I am washed clean with the Blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name. Amen.

When Is A Nun A Noon And It’s Not Midday?

May 9, 2021

From previous posts most readers will recognize that

a nun or noon;

different spellings are used.

is the 14th letter of the Hebrew alef-bet

and that it looks like this in the chart below.

The early paleo picture symbol meaning of this letter is that of a seedling/sprouting seed with the root coming from it

later it developed into

this modern shape below;

with an additional shaped letter for the

called noon sofeet;

and the symbol of a fish was also used.

In the 4 gospels

Yeshua/Jesus repeatedly speaks of the seed

as a picture reference in His parables.

Matt 13:23 Mark 4:1-20 Luke 8:1-15

are well known and popular scriptures, and with the reference Yeshua/ Jesus gives,

it is made clear how the seed grows and how

we have nothing to do with the process

once we sow the seed.

However how does this apply to our lives?

It tells us …

Although the man does not know how it grew

and we are just the same…

Many times we understand the concept. The parable or scene described is a great picture and then we are left to wonder how does this apply to me and how do I do it?

How does it become a reality in my life?

Many times the Sermons we hear are all very encouraging and uplifting and we feel great, only to have the feelings fade once we go home and face daily life.

The application of His Word needs to be evident if we are to mature and bring forth a harvest that is not only a good harvest; but an enduring one with eternal value.

That your fruit may remain. John 15:16

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain:

John 15:16

Your fruit should remain means:

keep up the fruit you are bearing, or

continue with the fruit you are bearing and never stop,

or keep on bearing the fruit you have started bearing.

The phrase: Your fruit should remain, expresses habit.

A habit is something we do so often and regularly that it is very hard to stop.

We should feel like this regarding the work of the Lord.

The word says we are to sow seed.

God is the supplier of all seed (Nun/Noon)

He cannot supply seed to us unless we are first born again by His RuachHaKodesh/His Spirit of Holiness; and then we need to have faith to turn over our hands, so that the seed might fall to the ground and become a great harvest in our lives.

He gives to all the measure of Faith.

After that it doesn’t need our help

it’s not the seed or the one who sows that produces the crop

but the soil by itself

with no help from humans.

The Father gives the increase.

We believe that since something grows where we scattered, that it grew from our seed.

What proof is there that the seed we scattered and planted is the same seed that sprouts and grows?

First the stalk

after that the head

and after that

the full grain in the head.

The truth is that from the moment it leaves our hand and is covered with soil we do not see the seed again. We just trust that the seed we sowed is the same seed that will grow is and is the one that pushes up through the earth.

This evidence is only based on circumstances because the truth is, once the seed leaves our hands and is put in the soil we never see the seed again!

All we can do is simply trust/faith, that what we planted will actually grow.

We wait,

we sleep at night,

awake in the day

but how does it grow?

We just don’t know!

Our work was finished at the sowing.

This parable is a picture of the kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed on the earth.

Meaning the kingdom produces through its’ own power.

Scripture says

BY ITSELF

the soil produces a crop

but the soil by itself

with no help from any person.

For by itself the earth brings forth fruit.

The person’s work has already been done by scattering the seed on the ground.

This is all the individual does and as the days pass the seeds springs up and grows.

Another verse of this parable says the seed is the Word of God and the ground/earth are the individuals who are in the world and their reaction to the word/ seed sown once embedded in its birthing place;

and the type of ground/ is the persons life.

The ground is the world.

The sower is our Heavenly Father.

Yeshua/Jesus explained it clearly.

Life springs forth –that life comes from the soil of the earth which our Father created.

In this parable/example He says:

First, the stalk

this is describing and likening his kingdom to the support structure planted deep in the life giving soil.

There is a Godly order to everything our Heavenly Father created; everything in its time and season. Eccl.3 and Genesis 1

Yeshua/ Jesus was aware of timing and said:

My time has not yet come.

Secondly, after that the head:

which is the housing for the fruit of the crop.

The process continues, with

the third, after that the full grain in the head

Here He is giving the progress of the seed,

both as

how it is received

and then

what is produced.

Meaning, the fruit comes forth in abundance.

Here we see that in perfect time Godly order that

life gives way to fullness

and the seedling grows to maturity.

For the believer maturity is revealed by abundant fruit.

Becoming mature is to become a stable vessel fit for the Masters use.

Why is this important?

It is for Him to flow His power through us to do the works of Jesus/ the Father, the power is to make visible the works of His kingdom in visible demonstration.

This is how to apply it to ourselves we need more of His Spirit of Holiness to cleanse us and prepare us to be suitable vessels.

As it was said of Paul in

Acts 9:22 more and more power flowed through him.

(Acts 9:20) Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.

How do we produce lasting fruit and what is it?

Lasting fruit is in Matt.10:8

Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely you have received, freely give.

And Matt.28:19

AND The making of disciples who endure.

Making disciples is about continuing the cycle of redemption, passing on the faith that was passed to us; it starts with salvation and continues with a lifetime of growth.

The final destiny of the seed is realized from its humble beginning/Genesis, in the sowers hand, it has reached its potential in fullness.

However it has not yet served its ultimate purpose even in its most pristine and grandest state..

Why?

Because it cannot grow anymore… the maturity has been reached….

So what is next?

The crop is ready… the harvest is ripe

The farmer, the man, sends forth the sickle and

life gives birth to death.

The crop is cut down in its prime and

now able to finally fulfill its destiny and purpose.

This is the completion of a disciples life on earth…

as we give

birth to death, our purpose here is completed,

we die physically/ temporarily

in order to live spiritually/ eternally!

It is a transition from natural to supernatural, we are harvested by His hand and translated into His eternal kingdom in the heavens.

At the point we can go no further, when we reach the point of maturity in Him, which is destined by His plan and purpose for us. He calls us to Himself and we are plucked from the earth and gathered unto Him.

Our task complete,

once we have finished our race

He takes us home.

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 2Thess. 2:1

He gathers the wheat into His barn/storehouse.

Matthew 3:12

We, like the farmers seed, have been scattered on the ground; but He is calling us today to sprout and grow.

How… we don’t know!

But by itself… His spirit…

His Ruach HaKodesh

His Spirit of holiness produces a crop!

The Lord is calling us to lay down our lives

for the time is at hand

when the head will be full of grain.

The time of the harvest has come and as soon as it is in full ripeness and ready… He will come with His sickle.

We must yield ourselves and be ready to die in order to live because the time of the harvest has come and the Lord of the harvest is coming.

For He [the Servant of God] grew up before Him like a tender shoot (plant), And like a root out of dry ground; Is 53:2

Surely he has borne our sicknesses and suffered our pain: and we considered him stricken, smitten of God, and cast down.

He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: He fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. – American Standard Version Job 14:2

Just as He grew up to be cut down

so must we grow up to be cut down.

First, we are to mature to the fullest and be taken and used for his purposes.

We are to surrender to Him because

we cannot know how seeds sprout and grow..

Only He can do that in us;

and only as we surrender and yield to His Way of raising and growing us up to maturity; allowing His Ruach/Spirit to do the hidden work in us and then through us.

We must realize we are not here for ourselves, to live a nice life, we are here to be matured into fruit worthy of the kingdom of the Heavens. We’re not to focus on things and people and places of this earth because it will all pass away very soon. We must focus on Him, on fulfilling our place and purpose, to bring Him glory and to bring many sons with us from the seeds sown.

For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. Heb.2:10

Every farmer/ gardener knows, we plant and watch and wait for the fruits and crops to be declared ready and ripe before reaping the harvest.

Wrong timing means a poor harvest;

which is why He waits for the precious fruit of the earth.

In Luke 6:37

But as soon as the crop is ready to yield itself, immediately the man sends forth the sickle because the harvest has come.

The only seed that flourished and produced any fruit

was the seed that fell into

good ground.

If we are not planted in the good ground of His Word – found in His kingdom, then we will neither grow to maturity nor produce any lasting fruit that will endure or bring glory to the Lord.

Our life will be fruitless and as Solomon said, all is Vanity – in vain, without purpose and useless.

Time to ready ourselves and let His Ruach Ha Kodesh

do the work in and through us,

making sure our lives are good ground.

May His true Shalom/Peace

rest upon each one in Jesus/Yeshuas’ Name.

‘Mishpachah’ ‘Family’

משפחה

Mish-pa-KHa Mish-pa-KHa

you are greatly loved and prayed for daily..

It’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.

You are precious in His sight.

NOT SURE?

YOU CAN BE..

SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…

Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.

I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name. Amen.

Is A Gift A Talent or Is A Talent A Gift??

May 2, 2021

mincha or minchah is

GIFT

in Hebrew

מתנה

the letters:

hey chet nun mem

Strong’s Hebrew: 4503.

מִנְחָה

minchah —

a gift, tribute …

gift, oblation, meat offering, present, sacrifice.

From an unused root meaning to apportion,

i.e. Bestow;

gift – מַתָּנָה

Today in Hebrew, this is the most common word for a gift. It is exactly the same word that was used in both in the Old and the New Testaments.

The root of this word is

na•tan,

gave, gift

spelled with the letters:

noon, tav, and noon.

this is actually the name Nathan.

In Hebrew, a gift, can also mean

כִּשָּׁרוֹן

kisharón.

This refers to someone who is gifted, or has a special talent or ability.

In modern Hebrew, there are two different words for

gift:

מתנה. Matana

שי Shai

Generally a gift would be

matana מתנה

in Hebrew however lesser used synonyms are:

shay שי and doron דורון

and are often used as names alongside

מתן to signify someone being a gift to the world or life.

In modern Hebrew the most common word would be

מַתָנָה pronounced ma-ta-nah

and also meaning:

present, offering, donation, largess, or a bribe, depending on the context and the intention you are using the word with.

There are at least a dozen other words in Hebrew with the same meaning of: a thing given willingly to someone, without payment or retribution or as a gratuity.

מתנה; MATANA

is used if it refers to the thing you give people

e.g. on their birthday.

כישרון; KISHARON –

if it refers to a special talent.

Strong’s Hebrew: 3604. כַּכְּרִין

kikkar — a talent

kikkar: a talent

(a measure of weight or money)

noun כִּשָׁרוֹן.

aptitude, competence, capability, gift, ability.

noun כִּשָׁרוֹנוֹת.

Matthew 25:14-30

¹⁴“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.¹⁵And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. ¹⁶Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. ¹⁷And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. ¹⁸But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. ¹⁹After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

²⁰“So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ ²¹His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ ²²He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’²³His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

²⁴“Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’

²⁶“But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. ²⁷So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. ²⁸So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.

²⁹‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. ³⁰And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

This parable has more than one message within it and all have relevance to our life and times.

First it’s a warning, telling us to stay alert, because we do not know the day nor the hour of His return. Then He likens it to the situation described in the parable:

“Therefore stay alert, because you do not know the day or the hour. 14 For it is like a man going on a journey, who summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them.

Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. – Matthew 25:13 (NKJV)

So the foundation of the parable of the talents really begins with verse 13. That’s why this parable is one of preparedness – because eventually, Yeshua/Jesus is coming back and sooner than most realize or want Him to!

In the Parable of the Talents Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus/Yeshua again used a story to encourage His followers to be ready for His return at all times.

“Be on the alert,”

He said,

“for you do not know which day your Lord is coming” Matthew 24:42.

In the parable, He describes a man who goes on a journey, entrusting his servants with his wealth and possessions in his absence.

The man traveling is Yeshua/Jesus and we are the servants.

From this understanding, let’s look at the various meanings people have pointed out.

First the talents referred to here are coins, money.

In the chart above we see that a talent or mina is worth a lot of money!

We often picture it as a few coins; as in the picture below:

This is an incorrect image and alters our visual understanding of what Yeshua /Jesus was trying to illustrate.

Just one talent could be valued at around

$400,000 in today’s U.S.dollars!

Or approx.. 300,000 UK pounds or Euros.

1 drachma = 1 days wages

1 mena = 100 drachma which = 100 days wages

60 minas = 1 talent which was = to about 19 years wages!!

So it would have been according to that which was given of

5, 2 and 1 talents.

5x 400,000 = 2,000,0000

2x 400,000 = 800,000 and 1 = 400,000

This could not have been put in a little bag under a stone!

It also says how much the Lord values us and how much He values what He gives us. More than most people will see in a lifetime.

However it is not really talking about money.

More importantly, it is talking about:

stewardship,

responsibility,

obedience

and preparedness.

Looking at this parable, it really is one of self-examination; and a good one to meditate on during the season prior to Shavuot/Pentecost.

We often say of someone they are very talented or they have talent! This does not mean money it means they have an ability or are gifted in some area either musically, artistically, creatively, usually in regard to making something that others admire. Many times it is above what is considered the normal or average ability.

So we interchange the word

gift for talent

and don’t think of it as money or currency.

Here it may surprise us to discover that this parable may have nothing to do with natural gifts and abilities

but what rather relates to

THE GIFT of His Holy Spirit.

Mincha Ruach HaKo’desh

Here we must point out that the Hebrew reads

רוח הקודש

ruach hako’desh

the spirit of the holy one

also transliterated

ruacḥ ha-qodesh and

literally spirit of holiness/holy spirit

YHWH – hwhy (Yahoveh)’s Spirit.

His Spirit of Holiness is Jesus/Yeshua

because He said in John 14:23

Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in

15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 18I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. John 14:18

His spirit of Holiness is not an it or a thing and it seems strange that we always seem to refer to Him as ‘the’? when it should be His Holy Sprit, or, Gods’/Fathers’ Holy Spirit or Yeshua/Jesus’Spirit of Holiness. We lessen the purity and reverence that is due to the essence of our Heavenly Fathers presence.

He is with us always even to the end of the age.

He is the same Spirit of Holiness that created the universe and hovered/ brooded over the face of the deep. We need a fresh and deeper revelation of the gift/mincha we have been given. His power has been given in a measure that will not harm or destroy us but will enable us to walk as Yeshua walked while on this earth.

Every power source needs a stable container, uncontaminated with certain parameters to maintain its correct operation and function. This is why we are to be cleansed, purified and prepared; the very essence of the OMER and a special reason they were to count the OMER that particular year. 50 days to Pentecost/Shavuot and the time of receiving the promise; His impartation and the promise of His being with us always. Literally living, residing, within us.

A portion of the kingdom of the heavens – the gift/mincha of eternal life; followed by the flowing out in physical manifestation of: preaching the good news of the kingdom of the heavens, healings and casting out unclean spirits raising the dead, performing miracles and working the works of Jesus/Yeshua.

It is the Father doing the works through us, just the same as through Jesus/ Yeshua. Heal the sick, the lame, give sight to the blind, cleanse the lepers set the captives free.

We know that Shavuot/Pentecost is the time of the

giving of His gift/mincha,

of His Spirit of Holiness.

It is important that we must never measure our spiritual capacity on the basis of our education or intellect; but rather our capacity in spiritual things is measured on the basis of the promises of God.

2 Cor. 1:20

All the promises of God in Him are yes and in Him Amen.

If we receive less than God wants for us to have, we are in danger of falsely accusing Him; just as the servant in the parable did because he did not know his master.

The giver of the gift.

Which in essence, still belonged to the master who received it back upon his return.

So that puts another angle on it also. Was the servant was saying: You expect more of me than you equipped me or gave me the power to do. Your demands are too much on me my time and my life and I cant do what you want me to in what you have chosen for me??!

Here’s your talent back….

We need to remember that when it’s a question of our Fathers Spirit, we never say, I Cant; that is simply turning the responsibility on ourselves and we are to be dead to self. If we are still trying to figure out everything and organize our time and schedule our lives, we are not submitted to His spirit working in us. We are still in control and we must never allow the limitations of our own natural ability to enter into any given situation. If we received His Spirit of Holiness He expects the work of His Spirit to be exhibited in us just as He did with Jesus/Yeshua.

In the parable the servant justified himself and at the same time was condemning his lord /master on every point; as if to say, your demand on me is way out of proportion to what you gave me.

Have we been falsely accusing God? By daring to worry after what He has promised in Matt 6:33? Worrying means exactly what was implied by the servant.

I know your intent to leave me alone and vulnerable.

We must be careful to remember that our lives will only reflect that which is from within and that our capacity and capability in spiritual matters is measured by, and based on the the promises of God who alone is able to fulfill them.

Do we believe that?

Our answer to that question will depend on whether or not we have received His Mincha/His Spirit of Holiness.

Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift.

First He came in the flesh and now is present with us always.

If we are still only come as far as asking God for things, we have never come to the point of understanding the least bit of what surrender really means; and we have instead become a Christian based on our own terms. Jer. 45:5.

As we continue to count through the days from the Omer lets surrender all, and prepare ourselves to receive afresh His Mincha the gift of His Spirit of Holiness; and re evaluate what the parable of the talents is saying to us. The lateness of the hour is evident and to whom much is given much is required and we have ALL been given the gift of the measure of faith.

Another view of The Parable of the Talents is, that Yeshua/Jesus uses it to help us understand our calling as Christians and our responsibility to use what God has given us to bring Him glory and honor! We can only do that when we invest our time, talents and treasure into His Kingdom and not one of our own making, based on us and making a life for ourselves!

We have the most valuable gift/mincha of all,

the Word of God and the

saving Gospel

of Jesus Christ/Yeshua haMashiach.

Reading the verses it’s also clearly a HEAVEN and HELL parable! The servants who used their talents entered into heaven,

“the joy of the Lord”.

The servant who didn’t use his talent was cast into hell.

Some say the only thing the talents could represent is – saving faith!

That view says that salvation, which is entering the Kingdom, is only by grace though faith. It is a gift from God. Everyone is given the opportunity to have faith.

It is up to us what we do with it.

Do we use it

or

do we bury it?

Are those who put their talents to work are simply those who have genuine faith? “Faith without corresponding actions is dead” i.e. not genuine.

These servants would seem to represent the Jewish “sinners” of Messiah’s day, and the humble poor, who were believing in the grace of God and receiving Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah.

Will they enter into the Kingdom?

Are they are the good and faithful servants simply because they have faith?

The lazy servant represents the self righteous religious people of His day and the prideful rich. This wicked servant buried his talent, hid his faith, because he didn’t believe in the goodness and grace of God. Instead he believed that God was a hard task master who demands we give to Him and also what we are not able to give. This is a mindset of law based thinking, which Yeshua/Jesus came to correct. This evil unbelieving servant represents those who trust in their works or their riches to save them, Pharisees’ rules and laws, those who ultimately reject Messiah and God’s grace.

The parable is given to contrast:

faith vs works,

grace vs law,

the gift of righteousness vs self righteousness

and humility vs pride.

The talents were given according to ability, 5, 2 and 1.

Remembering what a talent is = to in todays money.

It is all referring to that which God knew He had imparted into them and what they were able to do.

Its also about obedience.

Using our talents for the kingdom of the heavens, not for our own success fame and fortune. It’s a test of our allegiance and to whom we are in submitted. If we are truly dead to self then we have no goal, no personal agenda other than to serve our Father in His Kingdom; no vision other than the heavenly one.

We need to stop making excuses and go, make disciples!

Just as He told us to.

We are all too often working the wrong works.

Ultimately is wasn’t about the amount given or the ability to use it, it was about –

did they use it?

Did they use their faith or did they bury it?

Did they believe in the goodness of their master or did they believe wrongly about him?

Those who receive the grace of God by faith, will enter into the Kingdom and receive grace upon grace, those who reject His grace through unbelief will have everything taken away from them and will be cast into outer darkness.

Jesus/Yeshua uses a number of parables to communicate essential principles about His return.

We have seen that a talent in the first-century was a unit of currency and 1 talent represented a large sum of money. A lot of older translations used to use the word talent, so the parable came to be known as The Parable of the Talents. The value of the money entrusted to the servants isn’t that important. Obviously the master was extremely rich and was entrusting a tremendous amount to them.

In the beginning, we see the master making the disciples responsible for managing a portion of his estate. Even though the servants are given different sums to take care of, it all still belongs to the master. They’re merely administrators who will answer for how they invested the master’s belongings.

This fact reinforces the principle of stewardship.

As believers, we are all given resources according to our skills and abilities, but those resources ultimately belong to God. We will eventually answer for how we invest and reminding us that we really own nothing it is on loan to us from the Father.

When the master returns and hears the reports of the first two servants, he’s pleased.

His response is to invite them to share in his happiness.

This seems a strange suggestion…

why?

In place of only the wrath of God that people associate with His judgment, Jesus/Yeshua shows that upon His return, the faithful will be entering into His happiness and will experience His joy. He made a similar statement in

Luke 12:32. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.

The unfaithful servant who doesn’t give the master a return on his investment is thrown out where he will never experience the master’s happiness.

When the unfaithful servant returns the exact amount he received, the master is infuriated. Where is the return on the servant’s investment? To excuse himself, the servant reveals to the master that he was scared. Knowing the master to be a merciless boss, he was afraid to invest and lose the master’s money. This is the reason he just buried it in the yard.

The master responds in anger. Is he saying that if that servant were truly afraid of him, he would have responded differently, and would have done anything to have something to offer?

Too often we allow our misunderstood views about God to justify or excuse poor stewardship or disobedience.

As servants of Messiah/Christ, we are called to be productive. All of our health, money, time, and abilities have come from Him, and we are tasked with putting them to use to benefit the kingdom. A time is coming when the Master will return to settle accounts, and then it will be too late.

It’s not enough to say, I didn’t waste what you gave me, Lord. We want to demonstrate how we have used the gifts and abilities we have been given to benefit the kingdom. God desires that we be those who step out in faith, who share His commitment. That’s how we’ll enter into the happiness of the Master.

Consider what Yeshua/Jesus said in Matt. 25:14-15.

A man traveled to a far country, called his own servants, delivered his goods to them, and immediately went on a journey.

We must see the parallels….Yeshua/Jesus came to earth, called His disciples, entrusted them with the message of the gospel, and departed when He ascended back to heaven, and

Matthew 25;19 completes this picture.

After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. (NKJV)

This verse is a reminder that not only did Messiah leave this earth, but one day He will come back and we will have to give account. This is one of the most important points.

The parable of the talents is a reminder that Jesus/Yeshua is coming back and we have some work to do.

While we are still counting from Omer, below are some things to prayerfully consider.

One of the phrases we read this story is

to each according to his own ability;

leading to simple questions:

What is our role in the kingdom,

what has God given us to do?

and what is His expectation of us?

Remember, He began the parable by saying

the kingdom of heaven is like.

God has given each of us a responsibility, according to our abilities. So often we leave the work of preaching the gospel and making disciples to those who are called to do it.

The reality is that calling is for all of us.

Some may have more responsibility if God has called them to do that in a full-time capacity, but we are all called to this purpose. These are the talents/goods God has delivered to each of us.

It does not matter if God has positioned us to do this full-time or not, it is critical to recognize what God has given each of us as individuals. The message of the gospel, which is the talents/goods/gifts are alive in us if we know Yeshua/Jesus as our Savior.

What has God given us?

The responsibility, applies to everyone,

and now that we are aware of it we are accountable, so we must ask ourselves,

what are we doing with it?

Looking at this in a very practical way; recall one had 5 talents, one had 2 talents, and one had 1 talent. We need to see that our mindset needs an adjustment and understand that in Gods eyes, everyone is in full-time ministry. The difference is what is the primary focus of our ministry.

It could be described as this:

Some people’s ministry is only focused on the gospel and disciples all the time (5 talents). Some people work full-time outside of a church or ministry setting and may volunteer to serve in church. For this person the majority of their ministry happens in their jobs and communities (2 talents or 1 talent). So being a teacher, business person, an accountant (or whatever your occupation) is really full-time ministry.

The difference is that the primary focus of an individuals ministry is not just preaching the gospel; but it is still ministry. In the course of working, we can shine His light and share the truth of the gospel when the opportunities arise.

The bottom line is we may not be able to do as much as someone with 5 talents, but we still can and should contribute with the talents God has given us.

To whom much given much is required.

“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:48).

Again reminding us that we are not alone in the quest for doing good and that we have to be responsible in using His gifts.

One of the most important thing to remember from this parable of the talents, is the suddenness of the master’s return.

This takes us back to Matt. 25;19

After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. (NKJV)

There are two points of emphasis here:

First, the master (Yeshua/Jesus) will return one day,

and second,

we will have to give account.

The master didn’t announce his coming, he just came back after a long time!!

It will be the same with Yeshua/Jesus.

After a while, He will come back.

The question is,

are we ready for His return?

Another way of looking at it is—what would we want to be found doing when Messiah returns? Hopefully, the answer is to be taking what He has entrusted us with and sharing it with those around us. After all, this is the only way possible He can get a return on what He has entrusted you with.

Are we ready for His return?

Why is this a recurring theme in the posts? Because it is the message coming from His Spirit of Holiness at this hour, and the hour is very, very late……

When we read the whole story, there were two different responses given to the servants. Two of them heard well done and one heard you wicked, lazy servant. That is why it is so important to focus on what we do with the task/responsibility God has given us and not the amount of responsibility God has given us.

The point made in this situation is the servant with the smallest amount of responsibility was the one who was declared wicked and lazy. This confirms that it is not how much God has given us but what are we doing with it. In other words, there are no excuses.

This is a challenging word, but it is part of the calling and what Yeshua/Jesus has entrusted us to do. What God has given us is real and very valuable and we have a responsibility to share it, even if all we have is 1 talent. That can make a very big difference in the kingdom of God, and it can also make a difference in what God will say to us on that day.

What will Yesua/Jesus say to us on that day and

where do we go from here?

Each reader be encouraged to consider what God has entrusted and placed in us. Consider what He is asking us to do. Remember everyone is not going to be full-time (5 talents). Most of us will only have 2 talents or 1 talent.

Whatever God has asked us to do, we are to work at it with all our might, being the best we can be and doing all we can for the kingdom of God.

Whatever your hands find to do, do with all your strength. Ecc. 9:10

Gifts can be talents placed within us, given by our Father to use for and in furthering His Kingdom; talents are also gifts/goods that we are entrusted with, to put to His use and increase their volume; so we can present them to Him upon His return and show that we have been good stewards.

Paul makes it clear that faithfulness in that calling was not an option; it was a requirement.

1 Corinthians 4:1-2
Let a man so consider us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.

1Peter 4:10

There’s a purpose why God has given us what we have right now. Let’s not waste what God has given us. Make sure we do our best to increase what God has given us. As good stewards, we have the responsibility to manage and handle our resources so we can earn an increase.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

1 Cor. 15:58

Family, His truth is what we need in this hour and not having our ears tickled… like the people said in Isaiah 30:10

who tell the seers, “Don’t see!” and to the prophets, “Don’t prophesy to us right things. Tell us pleasant things. Prophesy deceits.

Oh prophesy to us of pleasant things

…they did not want to hear the voice of their Lord through His prophets …He was calling them telling them to repent/teshuvah, to turn back to Him and His ways ..He is speaking the same today; and above all let us be found faithful doing that which we have been called to do.

Days are quickly coming when an unshakable faith in the Way the Truth and The Life is going to be critical. We must not be moved by what we see or hear, but stand fast in who and what we know.. He will strengthen our hearts…

The kingdom of the heavens is this parable, and it exists right this moment, each minute of the day we have a choice to use our gifts wisely; to go forward into growth and maturity, or retreat back to safety.

Just what is it we are supposed to do with these talents?

We are to serve with all our hearts and then we will experience the true joy of the Lord that always accompanies the blossoming and thriving of life/chaim. Let us us not fail to use our gifts/mincha by burying and hiding them….

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.

Isaiah 55:6-9

Seek the Lord while He may be found don’t wait one more day…today is the day of salvation.

The greatest mincha was and is Himself – Jesus/Yeshua

John 3:16

God GAVE

and salvation is

His GIFT/mincha

to us.

“God recommends his own love to us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8.

Are you sure of your salvation?

May His true Shalom/Peace

rest upon each one in Jesus/Yeshuas’ Name.

‘Mishpachah’ ‘Family’

משפחה

Mish-pa-KHa Mish-pa-KHa

you are greatly loved and prayed for daily..

NOT SURE? YOU CAN BE..

please make certain you are secure in the knowledge that you are saved….

SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…

Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past. I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name. Amen.