From sameach; blithesomeness or glee, (religious or festival) exceeding (-ly), gladness, joy (-fulness), mirth, pleasure, rejoice delight (1), exceeding joy (1), extremely* (1), festival (1), gladness (34), happiness (1), joy (38), mirth (1), pleasure (6), rejoice (1), rejoiced (1), rejoicing (6).
At that moment …
He was filled with JOY – שִׂמְחָה
שִׂמְתָה שָׂשׂן
Transliteration: sim•cha, sa•son
Simcha, Joy, is one of the most used words in the Scriptures; it appears over 400 times, together with its synonym, sa•son. Interestingly, the English word ‘sassy’ came from sa•son.
Both words together form a beautiful expression that is said in every Jewish wedding, as weddings themselves and other events such as a child birth are called by the general name ‘sim•cha’.(The word is spelled both with and without an h at the end.)
This expression, used by the prophet, Jeremiah, says:
‘kol sa•son ve•kol sim•cha, kol cha•tan ve•kol ka•la’.
“The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride” Jeremiah 33:11
We can also see this as prophetic concerning Messiah returning for His Bride/Challah/.
From the references to joy, the first time it is mentioned in the Brit Chadashah/New Testament it is noted with the birth of Jesus, Yeshua:
“When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy”
Matthew 2:10
We may be most familiar with joy being listed among the fruit of the spirit which are qualities noted in Galatians 5:22-23.
The second fruit of the Spirit is joy, ‘sim•cha.
Sim•cha is connected to the name of an important Jewish Holiday – Sim•chat To•rah – the Rejoicing of the Torah.
This holiday is celebrated on She•mi•ni A•tze•ret, which is the first day following the seventh day of Sukkot also called
Feast of Booths, Feast of Tabernacles.
The holiday commemorates the completion of reading portions of the Torah during the year; there are 52; each portion is read each week of the year all over the world.
This custom is biblical because it was first done by Ezra the Scribe.
Luke 10:21-25
when we hold someone dear and love them in truth we want to know what makes them happy ….happiness is an emotion of the soul and often does not outlast the occasion or reason for its declared feeling. We are in a flesh body but we are spirit first and foremost; and we must learn to NOT be led by our feelings but by His Spirit of Holiness within us, guiding and leading our spirit not our flesh.
The scripture does not say Yeshua/Jesus was happy,
it says
He was filled with joy. Luke 10:21
The scripture says in
Nehemiah 8:10This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the lord is our strength.
Nehemiah 8:10, Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the LORD is your strength!
We may assume that our strength comes from the joy our Heavenly Father gives to us.
Have we ever thought to ask, where does that joy really come from?
The word joy that is used in Nehemiah is the word chadoth which is really the word for pleasure.
The pleasure of God is our strength.
But what does that mean?
Psalms 105 may give us an answer.
He called down famine on the land, broke off all their food supply, 17 but sent a man ahead of them — Yosef, who was sold as a slave. 18 They shackled his feet with chains, and they bound him in irons; 19 until the time when his word proved true, God’s utterance kept testing him. 20 The king sent and had him released, the ruler of peoples set him free; 21 he made him lord of his household, in charge of all he owned, 22 correcting his officers as he saw fit and teaching his counselors wisdom.
This Psalm vs. 16-22 holds a very interesting reference to Joseph. Most scholars agree that this reference means; that until the time came for Joseph to fulfill his purpose or mission in life, which was to become a prime minister of Egypt and thus bring his family into safety from a famine; he first had to go through various trials to be tested by Adonai. This testing/trial proves faithfulness and obedience, vs.19.
Joseph learned to be joyful in every situation because
thejoy of the Lord was his strength.
His pleasure is our strength …a verse in Philippians also helps us understand:
For it is [not your strength, but it is] God who is effectively at work in you, both to will and to work [that is, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose] for His good pleasure. Phil. 2:13. Amp. and again in Rev. 4:11. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Here is confirmation of two things that believers in Messiah understand to be true; and that is,
we are all created for a specific purpose in life
and
that our Heavenly Father puts us through times of trial/testing or as it’s often referred to as spiritual boot camp.
This is for the purpose of developing our
obedience and faithfulness
and to bring us to the place where we fulfill the mission /calling He has placed on our lives.
These verses are important for us.
Why?
Because it gives us a scriptural basis, revealing that we are not put on this earth haphazardly, or by chance or mistake; rather that our Heavenly Father has placed us here at this specific time to fulfill a specific role.
It also gives us an understanding of the reason why we all go through trials in life; that it is to provide a training ground which helps prepare us to fulfill the role chosen for us in His plan.
Concerning
the joy of the Lord is your strength;
it’s not the joy you feel,
but the joy our Heavenly Father has in us
and reveals it to you through devar.
The Hebrew word
devar:
Strong’s Hebrew: 1697.
דָּבָר dabar/devar – speech, word.
Davar or dabar means word and it also means thing.
This fact reflects a deep facet of a Jewish world view.
Words are the creative energy of the world. God spoke, and through words brought the universe into being.
It directly correlates to Yeshua for it is the Hebrew equivalent to “Logos” found in John chapter 1.
In Hebrew John 1: 1 reads,
“Bereishit hayah hadavar. V’davar haya et haElohim, vElohim hayah hadavar.”
In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Yeshua is Hadavar Elohim, “The Word of God.”
The Fifth book of the Bible, Deuteronomy is called “Davarim” (Words) in Hebrew. It was written at the end of 40 years of the Children of Israel’s wandering in the wilderness.
There is something interesting to be seen here.
The Hebrew word for “wilderness” is Midvar. Davar is the root word for Midvar. Notice that the last three consonants of Midvar are the same as the three consonants of Davar.
Davar is spoken by Moses (a type of Yeshua) at the end of the 40 years of testing in the wilderness. After Moses’ death, Yehoshua (Joshua, another type of Yeshua) leads the children of Israel to the Promised Land (yet another picture of Yeshua).
Yeshua at the end of the 40 days of testing in the Midvar (wilderness) is confronted by Satan. Three times Satan tries to tempt Yeshua. Yeshua responds only one way. He uses Hadavar Elohim (the Word of God).
Which book does Yeshua quote from all three times?
Davarim.
Interesting Note:
Davar HaChaim (The Living Word)
is in the Midvar using the Hadavar Elohim,
specifically the book of Davarim to defeat the adversary!!
We all know that as God, Jesus/Yeshua could have just simply performed a miracle and thrown Satan out of the desert, but He didn’t. So why did He
The Living Word
Davar HaChaim
use the Word of God to defeat the adversary?
because He is our example.
Jesus/Yeshua,
the Living Word/Davar HaChaim
had to show that Satan/adversary can be defeated by the
Hadavar Elohim/the Word of God
and in the power of His Spirit of Holiness/Ruach HaKodesh. Had Messiah done something to the adversary/devil that only God can do, He would not have been much of an example for us, as that option would not have be available to us.
The word/devar that is
spoken from the heart of God.
Devar represents a
word of power
and could also be
a word of prophecy or inspiration.
Devar – DBR – is spelled with a
Daleth
which is a doorway
to the
Beth (b and/or v)
or the heart
of the Resh or Spirit of God.
So Devar is:
a doorway to the heart of God.
It’s the heart of God that gives us strength!
When we enter His heart, we find it is
filled with JOY over us and our faithfulness
and when we see the JOY of the Lord…
that becomes our strength to overcome!
So Yeshua/Jesus was filled with strength also ..
this joy is a spiritual force that helps us in our halak/walk;
this too is to be our joy – our strength!
For Yeshua/Jesus too, the joy that filled Him, came by way of His Fathers’ Spirit of Holiness/Ruach HaKodesh; as He saw what JOY was in His Fathers’ Heart as His will and plan was being fulfilled.
21 At that moment he was filled with joy by the Ruach HaKodeshand said, “Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I thank you because you concealed these things from the sophisticated and educated, yet revealed them to ordinary people. Yes, Father, I thank you that it pleased you to do this.
22 “My Father has handed over everything to me. Indeed, no one fully knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”
He continued to speak
23 Then, turning to the talmidim, he said, privately, “How blessed are the eyes that see what you are seeing! 24 Indeed, I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see the things you are seeing but did not see them, and to hear the things you are hearing but did not hear them.”
Just before that moment He had told His talmidim/disciples in
verse 20, don’t be glad that the spirits submit to you be glad that your names have been recorded in heaven.
His Joy/Simchah/chedvah, was at the declaration of His Fathers will being literally fulfilled!
He and His disciples and anyone at that time who saw what was happening were seeing what the prophets had desired to see!
“Blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For truly I say to you, that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it; and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it” (Matthew 13:16-17).
In other words, to experience something that marvelous, was that which many wise and holy people had longed to experience but couldn’t …this should make us aware that we are truly blessed, and should cause us to be very thankful.
In 1 Peter 1:10-12. he is encouraging us to express a more grateful attitude and respect for our salvation because the old testament prophets and the angels of heaven longed to see what we have now experienced through the gospel of Messiah.
This salvation referred to in vers. 5 & 9, reveals that 10 The prophets, who prophesied about this gift of deliverance that was meant for you, pondered and inquired diligently about it. 11 They were trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of the Messiah in them was referring in predicting the Messiah’s sufferings and the glorious things to follow. 12 It was revealed to them that their service when they spoke about these things was not for their own benefit, but for yours. And these same things have now been proclaimed to you by those who communicated the Good News to you through the Ruach HaKodesh sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things!
If this is true then the days we are living in should also fill us with that same JOY!!?…
again this JOY is not an emotion or a feeling from our soul based on a carnal based reaction to our physical body’s 5 senses. It is rather a definitive condition of our spirit based on truth and rooted in His devar/Word; both the written and Word made flesh in Messiah.
It was the fulfilling of His Fathers will that filled Yeshua/Jesus with Joy/simcha/chedvah.
As we see prophecy being fulfilled at an almost alarming pace, we too should be filled with His joy/simcha/chedvah;
as His and our Heavenly Fathers will is being literally fulfilled today!
The hour is at hand!
Matt 26:45 behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners
He also said in Luke 22:53
When the authorities come to take Jesus/Yeshua away, He tells them in verse 53
this is your hour — when darkness reigns.
It could be translated as
this the hour of the authority of darkness.
The physical darkness is a representation of something deeper that happens.
Then Jesus/Yeshua said to the chief priests, temple officers, and elders who had come for Him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as you would against an outlaw? 53
And we all face those because, there is a power in darkness. It’s the power of uncertainty, and anxiety and fear. However He tells us to fear not
WHY?
Because…
He has overcome the world and all things are in the Fathers hand. He is in control whatever our 5 physical senses try to tell us…
Knowing what His Word says regarding these things we experience in our flesh, will dispel ALL fears; and when we resist them in the name of Jesus/Yeshua; and keep ourselves under His protective, redeeming blood, by being obedient to what He has told us to do and be… then…. no weapon formed against us can prosper.
Yeshua/Jesus called the adversary, the prince of this world, who indeed did offer Him all the kingdoms of the world. Messiah did not choose the easy way but chose instead to complete His Fathers’ plan for His life
because this is why He came.
Likewise we must fulfill that for which we are here.
There are times that the darkness seems to be winning but it’s only for a designated hour!
The hour is at hand for us …as the end of the age presses in and
all things must be fulfilled Luke 24:44
That day and that hour Luke 21 36
We are called to set a watch in the night time.
This is both physical night and times/days of spiritual darkness. When Yeshua/Jesus said,
the hour has come…
darkness had its designated but short reign.
This manifested presence, although dark, was still the will of His Father however, it was restricted within the boundaries and restraints of our Fathers’ perfect plan of the ages.
Even the wicked in Prov. 16:4
Adonai made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of disaster.
and
Isaiah 45:7 I form light, I create darkness; I make well-being, I create woe; I, Adonai, do all these things.
Are we distracted by lifes’ events?
Are we pressured by conforming to the ever increasing dates for activities and celebrations on mens’ calendars?
Should we not be more concerned with our Heavenly Fathers’ timeline and calendar?
What is the word watch for?
It is to rise and pray..
WHY?
So that the hour does not come on us unaware
and
that we do not fall into temptation.
The time is short –
Final salvation, days of His glory, are nearer to us now, than when we first believed – It is continually advancing, flying forward upon the swiftest wings of time.
“And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed” Romans 13:11.
Even so, the events that Yeshua/Jesus mentions in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 lead to the end of this worlds age; and because of this, we know that
the hour is at hand
and our final salvation is indeed
nearer to us than when we first believed.
Yeshua/Jesus went on to say,
No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. Mark 13:32-33.
The storm is gathering fast and He calls us to discern the events that are currently forming in the affairs of men. We are to be observant of their warning, that disaster and and holocaust are in the making and shaping up to be released.
Doom and gloom you say??
NO!
Rather it is prophetic declaration of the Words of our Lord and Savior; and it let’s us know He is soon returning!
It’s a season for every believer to rejoice and be joy filled
and for those looking for Him who are the redeemed bride,
they will say what
Is. 25:9 says…
this is the Lord for whom we have waited.
On that day they will say, “See! This is our God! We waited for him to save us. This is Adonai ; we put our hope in him. We are full of JOY so glad he saved us!”
We are a chosen generation…
chosen to see the culmination of the ages
Yeshua/Jesus said in Matthew 24:21
21 For there will be trouble then worse than there has ever been from the beginning of the world until now, and there will be nothing like it again![b]22 Indeed, if the length of this time had not been limited, no one would survive; but for the sake of those who have been chosen, its length will be limited.
this will be a time like no other and never will be again…
James 5:7 7 So, brothers, be patient until the Lord returns. See how the farmer waits for the precious “fruit of the earth” — he is patient over it until it receives the fall and spring rains.[a]
He waits only for the precious fruit of the earth, until the times of the gentiles (the last 2000+years) be fulfilled Luke 21:24.
He waits for our Heavenly Fathers’ timing…
Matthew 24:36 No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
We must be ready, we must be in the company of the wise virgins. The call has already gone forth, so we must be listening more and more to Him than to what the world around us is saying.
Keep our focus on Him and things above.
We must learn to
be still before Him,
as chaotic disturbances scream for our attention.
Be obedient when He speaks and raise the standard of our personal discipline and dedication to a higher level….NOW…
He has called us to come up higher… Did we move yet?
Or are these just words that we give mental assent to, agreeing and acknowledging, but with no action or response!
Once His face was set like flint towards Yerushalayim/Jerusalem for the hour had come…
It’s time to set our faces towards His will for us!
Setting our face to go to Jerusalem means letting go of home, a sense of security, and a place in society. If we set our face to go to Jerusalem, then we have put ourselves on a path of change and transformation according to His Will plan and purpose for us.
Darkness and all its works have an allocated time for all prophecy to be fulfilled. Again remember…
The LORD has made everything for His purpose–even the wicked for the day of disaster. Proverbs 16:4
If there was no bad, we would not comprehend what good is. Our Heavenly Father has created a perfectly balanced universe, beyond our finite minds can understand. He is infinite.
The day of reckoning and judgment is in His hand. These things Yeshua/Jesus said must take place. Read Matt. 24:34 & Luke 1:20.
He will lift up His voice as the sound of a trumpet.
Isaiah 58:1 and Heb. 12:9 Rev. 3:20.
Those with ears to hear will recognize the clear tone of His call.
As we prepare ourselves, being more with Him, allowing His Ruach/Spirit to fill us to a greater capacity; this will keep us from the influences and deceiving elements of the prince of this world, and all his wiles. We must become like our Lord and when the devil comes be able to say…
he finds nothing in me!
for the prince of the world cometh: and he hath nothing in me.
John 14:30
Hold fast to the profession of your faith. Hebrews 10:23
to that which is good
But examine all things; hold fast to what is good. 1 Thess.5:21
and godly
Hold fast to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. Rev.3:11.
and
occupy till He comes. Luke 19:13.
1 Tim. 5:21; 2 Tim. 1:13. Titus 1:9; Heb 4:14, 10:31; Rev. 2:13; Ps. 11:6; Is. 62:1; Jer. 6:11; Acts 3:11; Rom. 14:4; 1Cor. 14:30.
Hold Fast in Hebrew is:
tamak:
to grasp, support, attain
Original Word: תָּמַךְ Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration:tamak Phonetic Spelling: (taw-mak’) Definition: to grasp, support, attain
NAS: to me, Let your heart hold fastmy words/dabar;
Let us holdfast the confession of our hope without wavering, for
He who promised is faithful….Hebrews 10:23
For the word of the LORD holds true, and we can trust everything he does, Psalm 33:4.
So that we may stand and be found worthy to escape all these things coming upon the earth and to stand before the son of man Luke 21:36,having finished our race. 2Tim. 4:7.
Watch for the signals, the signs of His coming. We will see the sky change and things appear in unfamiliar ways. The veil is torn and dimensions are merging. Read Matt 24:32 , Mark 13:28 and Luke 21:30 and Revelation among other prophets it will give clear details of the events unfolding before our eyes.
The time has come
the hour is upon us
summer is nigh..
lets not cry with those in Jeremiah 8:20
“The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved.”
Not only are we to prepare ourselves, we are to warn others, help and encourage them.
Jude 1:23 says save others snatching them out of the fire.
Ephesians 5:14 So it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
The alarm has sounded in the spirit – no time for apathy or pressing the snooze button... There has never been a time in all His Story that is more crucial than now ..
Stay alert and be ready –
the hour has come and soon and very soon
we are going to see the King –
the one who we have waited for.
Hold fast to that which you have.. Hold and do not let go… whatever we see ….whatever we are told.. do not waver in your faith and trust in Him leaning not to our own understanding. Do not be swayed by science, proof or so called facts and evidence presented by anyone or anything other than the Word of our Heavenly Father and His Messiah. His spirit/ruach leads us to all truth and our very salvation depends on our faith in Him and His promise; which are always yes and amen. He is the author and finisher of the faith within us, (Heb. 12:2); and He will bring all things to completion, Phil 1:6. Stand and having done all stand, Eph.6:13. He is right there with us….always.
What filled Yeshua/Jesus with JOY?
At that moment …
His joy was at the declaration of His Fathers’ will being literally fulfilled…
let’s be a moment of joy to both our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ/Yeshua Hamashiach..
Look up with that same joy family, our redemption draws ever closer.
Shalom shalom mishpachah/family
and cheverim/friends!
You are loved and appreciated and prayed for daily.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read the posts. If they have been a blessing and if you haven’t already, please sign up for free email notification, like, share and subscribe, it all helps to freely spread the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth and reaches others with His Truths.
Meanwhile let’s continue to stay alert and ready, be in prayer and in His Word for in an hour we think not He is coming… and…
it’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.
You are greatly loved and 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.
Messiah Yeshua/Jesus had just washed His disciples’ feet
16 Truly, truly, I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
It was just before the Pesach/Passover Festival and Yeshua/Jesus knew that the hour had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father.
These were some of the final instructions given to HIs Talmidim/Disciples. And as we are also His Talmidim these words are for us too.
He is reminding us that knowledge has to become reality by putting into practice what we have learned.
When we know these things and do them then we are blessed….
IF
conditional
we want to be blessed …but,
what is it that we have to do?
What are these things to which He was referring?
One word for blessed in Hebrew is
Baruch בָּרוּך
The word bless, is used to refer to any action, object, or person that is blessed. The term blessing, is an expression of gratitude and gratefulness to God. Whether it is a family member, a friend, a loved one, or a colleague, the Hebrew word for blessing/baruch is a positive statement of love/ahavah.
The concept of blessing and blessed are foundational in the Hebraic mindset and are directed first and foremost towards our Heavenly Father Himself not towards the individual or for their benefit.They understood the conditions that were required to be blessed by God as listed in Leviticus 26. Here the scriptures also lists the curses that follow when not keeping His commandments.
Yeshua /Jesus reminded His disciples and followers that they were to be mindful that, following being healed from sickness and receiving deliverance from unclean spirits; they were not to sin again – lest a worse thing come upon them. He also listed those He declared blessed in the Beatitudes; which on first inspection appears to be a strange list of those who He considers to be blessed/Baruch. We tend to think first by material and physical things, where Yeshua/Jesus and His Father primarily think spiritually, in higher thoughts and ways.
Rooted in the Hebrew prayers are the blessings towards the Father as in the opening words of most prayers …
Baruch atah adonai elohaynu melech ha’olam
Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe.
Blessing the Father is also the last line of another much used prayer known as the SHEMA.
Pronounced: shuh-MAH or SHMAH,
Alternate Spellings: Sh’ma, Shma,
Origin: Hebrew, the central prayer of Judaism, proclaiming God is one.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָֽד
She-ma yisrael, adonai eloheinu, adonai echad
Hear O’ Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One
בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד
Baruch shem kavod malchuto l’olam va-ed
Blessed is the name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever.
Shema Yisrael שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל Hear, O Israel
are the first two words of a section of the Torah that is the centerpiece of the morning and evening prayer services.
Hear, O Israel: God is our Lord, God is one.
In its entirety, the Shema consists of three paragraphs: Deuteronomy 6:4–9, Deuteronomy 11:13–21 and Numbers 15:37–41.
As Abraham was told
We are blessed to be a blessing and that not for ourselves.
We should not always be looking for blessings and praying for ourselves to be blessed but rather to say with the Psalmist:
BLESS the Lord o my soul
and all that is within me
BLESS His Holy Name.
When we bless God we are thanking Him for all He has done for us and declaring our love for Him acknowledging Who He is in our lives, giving Him the 1st place He deserves and the agreement that He is the Blessed and the One Who imparts the blessings. Many immediately think of things, when we see or hear the word blessing for provision; and in our answered prayers to things we need or desire in the natural physical realm. Sometimes we even ascribe blessings of God to things we just simply made happen for ourselves. We sometimes have a skewed viewpoint on what His blessings actually are.
Often when we ask someone how they are, their reply is
‘I’m blessed.’
It makes us think, do we really know what being blessed means, other than a feel-good response or a positive confession to evade agreeing with our adversary?
Psalm 1:1 HEB:אַ֥שְֽׁרֵי־ הָאִ֗ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֤ר ׀ NAS: How blessed is the man who KJV: Blessed [is] the man that walketh INT:blessed is the man who
HEB: לְדָוִ֗ד מַ֫שְׂכִּ֥יל אַשְׁרֵ֥י נְֽשׂוּי־ פֶּ֗שַׁע NAS: [A Psalm] of David. How blessed is he whose transgression KJV:Blessed [is he whose] transgression
Blessedis the man who trusts in Him. Psalm 34:8
Strong’s Hebrew: 1293. בְּרָכָה (berakah) — a blessing
Genesis 12:2.
HEB: שְׁמֶ֑ךָ וֶהְיֵ֖ה בְּרָכָֽה׃. NAS: great; And so you shall be a blessing;
KJV: great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
INT: your name shall be a blessing.
The primary question posed was
Do you we want to be blessed/baruch?
The answer is obviously …yes
who wouldn’t want to be blessed?
And the next question would no doubt be simply..
How can we be blessed?
In the Word of God Jesus/Yeshua Himself tells us how.
John 13:17 if you know these things blessed are you if you do them
17 If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them
He had just washed their feet showing the servant heart and action.
Our question is twofold
and of course conditional.
The condition is.. IF
And the answer to the first part is
we are to know these things…
know what things?
The things that pertain to life and godliness..
2 Peter 1:3
According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness love.
Notice that the list of things that pertain unto life and godliness begins with faith and ends with love. These are all the things, blessings, that He gives to us.
He shows us the deep things of God.
Deep calls to deep. Ps. 42:7
All our directions and instructions for life, the life here and now, and the life to come; olam haba and olam hazeh.
The word life is always plural in Hebrew – chaim – literally lifes: life here without Yeshua/Jesus worldly and lost; then life here with Jesus/Yeshua saved, born again of His spirit from above and also eternal life in the Fathers’ presence – full redemption in a glorified state like the resurrected ascended Messiah.
Matthew 16:23 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will find it.
What are we to gain by losing?
The opposite of all the world screams at us, and offers us by its ways of temptation and empty promises of riches, and an easy road in life.
This is not the narrow way.
We are to study to show ourselves approved unto God. We are to love His Word, His Torah, His scriptures. We should have our determined purpose as ..to know Him and the power of His resurrection, and we do that by reading His Word and spending quality time in His presence; without any electronic digital devices, including phones.. His spirit of holiness does not need to communicate through those. If we can’t take even one hour without them, we are both addicted and in bondage; and if we reacted defensively in thought or word to that statement …has it not proved the point? Every loving parent will take a toy from their child from time to time as part of process of discipline.
Would we interrupt Jesus/Yeshua while He was talking to answer a call? We do it all the time.. if we believe that His presence is in us for one, and two, is He not present in our midst when we gather together? Family, these devices are leading us into the system set up for the one against Christ, the beast is already building his platform… and we are helping it to learn, grow and control us with our own input into the system. We share everything with it and think it is secure… we should be sharing our everything with Jesus/Yeshua – not our I phones etc. The I being an obvious first letter of this device! We are cautioned not to be ignorant of the devices of our enemy.
The subtleties of the enemy go back to the garden …and these modern elements are becoming firmly established as part of our lives.. Slowly like the frog in water, we get used to them and quite resourceful at making relevant reasons and/or excuses for their necessity. We make statements like …My whole life is in my phone ….when it should be in Messiah Christ. Our life is hid with God in Christ not in some search engine with the same 2 first letters…nor in the cloud! That is definitely NOT the cloud which will accompany Messiah’s return!
We need to check our spiritual temperatures and where we are spending our time.
We should be determined to know His word and know more than others, so we have something worthwhile to ‘share’ or ‘re tweet’! The scripture says we will be accountable for every word we speak, so let’s be holy in all manner of communication …and lets do it face to face, not from some remote secure location. forsaking not the assembling of yourselves together.
But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. (NKJV) Matthew 12:36.
We are not to spend our days in the safe harbors of life, full of joy and tied securely to the dock where the water is calm and undisturbed.
If we truly believe in Jesus/Yeshua we ourselves must cut the ropes that keep us safe in that harbor. If we don’t God will like a good father, sever them and send us out to sea into unfamiliar waters where we will really learn to reach out for His help.
We must experience the great depths of our Heavenly Father and begin to know things for ourselves. We must begin to have greater spiritual discernment; and by putting everything in our lives afloat on Him and launching out onto the oceans of this life, into the swelling tide of His plan and purpose… only then will our spirit eyes and ears be fully opened.
The second part is
doing
when we know to do something and do it…then immediately we know more – more is added..
Mark 4:25, ESV: For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
Mark 4:25, KJV: For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.
“For whoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance. But whoever does not have, from him shall be taken away even that which he has” Matthew 13:12
If we have experienced that season of losing interest spiritually, we may find that it was where we neglected to do something we knew to do.
Maybe because we reasoned there was no immediate need, and now we have little to no discernment and when a time of crisis comes, we’ve become spiritually distracted instead of being spiritually controlled. This means we are not walking by the spirit but by the flesh.
This is disobedience and a door that only leads to apathy and loss of direction. Refusing to continue learning and knowing more, is a dangerous place to find ourselves. Thinking we know it all, is taking pride in ourselves. The more we know, the more we should realize that we know so very little – there is no end to an infinite God and His knowledge.
The most important part of
knowing and hearing is the doing
The shema is – hear and do –
it’s ALWAYS action.
If we will DO these things,
putting the word into practice in our lives and keeping the boundaries of our halak/walk within His precepts, then we will be following Him…
There is a counterfeit to true godly obedience, a subtle and sneaky option offered by a seducing spirit.
It is those suggestive options… just as he did with eve; in which we create our own ideas and opportunities to sacrifice ourselves, and our zeal and enthusiasm are mistaken for discernment.
It may be a good idea, and have great appeal, and even good fruit and notable results; however these counterfeits are good works apart from the spirit and will of the Father.
It’s a fact that it’s easier to sacrifice ourselves in time, talent and treasure; than to fulfill our spiritual sacrifice as detailed in Romans 12:1-2.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Great acts of self-sacrifice don’t impress the Father and Jesus/Yeshua says to those who present that to Him...
depart from me I never knew you. Matthew 7:23 .
So it’s very possible to be busy occupied with many things, as was Martha, and yet not be doing the Fathers’ will for us.
Martha, Martha…you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her. Luke 10:42
Martha was not wrong to want to serve the Lord, But Jesus prefers that she stop and listen to His Word.
We must be about His business, not ours; and it’s much better to do so by discerning His will in our life. Obedience is always better than what we deem as sacrificial. 1Sam. 15:22
And Samuel said, Hath Jehovah as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of Jehovah? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
We must guard our hearts
out of it issues of chaim/life..
everything we do flows from it.
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fixed on the Lord. Prov. 24:3
By paying attention, so we don’t go in reverse, returning to what we once were; when our Father wants us to be something that we have never been… He chooses us and our path – we are to simply follow.
John 7:17 and if anyone wills to do His will he shall know.
(KJV 1900) 17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.
Matt 5:9 Amplified Bible. 9 “Blessed [spiritually calm with life-joy in God’s favor]
Matt 5:6 6 “Blessed [joyful, nourished by God’s goodness]
Matt 5:4 4 “Blessed [forgiven, refreshed by God’s grace]
Blessed in Matthew 5:3-12 Amplified Bible.
3 “Blessed [spiritually prosperous, happy, to be admired]
are the poor in spirit [those devoid of spiritual arrogance, those who regard themselves as insignificant],
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven [both now and forever].
Matt 5:9 9 Blessed (enjoying [a]enviable happiness, [b]spiritually prosperous—[c]with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions).
Reading the words in red … THIS is what it means to be BLESSED according to His Word….
Two more descriptions of those who are
blessed/baruch
Ps 119 :1 Blessed – happy, fortunate, to be envied
KJV: [are] thy men, happy [are] these thy servants,
This is the word blessed as used in Psalm 34:8. The word blessed appears in other scriptures, however, the Strong’s number may be different depending on the way in which that word is used.
אַשְׁרֵ
Blessed is also translated as Happy,
and is more than close to the name of one of the 12 tribes of Israel – Asher, which also means happy.
According to the Hebrew Text, the Tribe of Asher was one of the Tribes of Israel descended from Asher
Hebrew: אָשֵׁר ,
Modern: ʼAšer, Tiberian: ʼĀšēr, “happy one”
Asher is a Hebrew name meaning: happy and blessed, fortunate, and most blessed son.
The meaning of Asher comes from the Hebrew word osher, which means happiness.
Asher is consistently pronounced “ah-shur.” There are no alternative spellings of this name.
In Old English and Germanic, Asher means:
one who lives near an ash tree or grove,
or ash maker.
For those unfamiliar with Hebrew, illuminating the language through the alef-bet helps. Here we will take a moment to recall that Hebrew is unlike any other language and because It’s the one language God chose to use to first communicate with His children we should not be ignorant of why He did so.
Hebrew letters have unusual dynamics.
Each letter has a name!
Where we in the English alphabet say A B C D G H
in Hebrew it is Aleph, Bet, Gimmel, Dallet, Hey, etc.
Each letter also has a numerical value and each number has a meaning. In the beginning, each letter was a pictograph and from the pictograph/pictures, we derive meaning and because of this construction, there are many layers of understanding for each letter when we take the time to study them the deeper meanings of His Word are revealed rather than just the surface ones.
Secondly: the dots around the word, are the vowel markings and were added to let us know which vowels are being used in the word. Hebrew vowels do not have letters like our English vowel letters:–a-e-i-o-u.
אַשְׁרֵ
Hebrew always reads from right to left.
The Hebrew word Asher/Blessed, uses the letters
A – alef, SH – shin and R – resh
It begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet– Aleph.
Aleph is the name of the letter and it has the numerical value of 1. The number 1 stands for God, Unity: as in bringing 2 things together to form 1 object; in this case, Father, Son, His Holy Spirit are 1.
It also stands for unique, one of a kind, like no other.
The original picture letter/pictograph looks like an Ox Head.
Aleph means: strength or power, leader, most important or first, the strength and power of a leader. When the letter Aleph is in a word, Our Heavenly Father is usually involved in the definition of it.
In the word asher – blessed,
we see that:
His strength and power are found.
Shin, pronounced Sheen is the 2nd letter in asher. Shin has a numerical value of 300 and that number stands for the victory of good over evil and Ruach HaKodesh/His Spirit od Holiness. Again reading right to left, the pictograph for Shin/sheen looks like the teeth of a pitchfork and also resembles bottom set of teeth, or flames of fire:
The meaning of Sheen/shin is:
to destroy or consume, the fire of God to destroy His enemies, something sharp.
In this letter, we see that in being blessed: something is being destroyed and victory of good over evil is the result.
The 3rd and final letter in asher/blessed isResh which has a numerical value of 200 and stands for: insufficiency or poverty.
The picture/pictograph of the letter Resh, is the outline of a human head:
The meaning of Resh is: Head, Chief, Beginning, Highest or Most Important person, Human reasoning vs. obedience.
This is significant in meaning for us because when we allow Resh-human reasoning to be in control as the most important source of our lives, then poverty of Spirit is the result.
We could conclude that ASHER/BLESSED means:
We are blessed because our Heavenly Father in Unity, Oneness, Father, Son, and His Spirit; is moving in strength and power to destroy our enemies and overcome our human reasoning and weaknesses.
The first mention of this Strong’s #835 word in scripture is inDeuteronomy 33:29.It speaks of the victory Israel has because they were saved by the LORD. Blessed translated as, and Happy, as it is in other verses of Scripture.
Happy (#835) art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the Shield of thy help, and Who is the Sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places..
In the English language translation the words:
Blessed are You, Lord
falls somewhat short from making clear to the reader of the deep meaning of this key word, blessing.
As some scholars note, Ba-ruch, translated blessed, comes from the infinitive application of the verb to bless, which is an action that can also be done by people towards other individuals. This does suggest that we have the power to give/transfer a blessing to others. If we follow that as a logical premise, does having the power to give, mean we also have the power to take away a blessing from others? This may be true when we bless other people, but completely impossible in relation to our Heavenly Father in the sense that, we cannot take away a blessing from Him, and if that is the case, do we lack the power to bless Him as well? We can praise the Lord but can we bless the Lord? We say this expression on a regular basis yet it seems it raises a question.
This question however, only exists in the English translation because of its lack in fully interpreting the Hebrew term:
ba-ruch/blessed.
In Hebrew there is no question at all because its’ meaning is not giving blessing to
when it is said in relation to God.
The word ba-ruch
is derived from the word be-rech,
which is a knee.
In Hebrew when we say ba-ruch in relation to our Heavenly Father, we’re really saying
I’m kneeling before You, Lord.
Understanding the Hebrew meaning of the very commonly used word bless or blessed
provides us with a very beautiful picture and serves to remind us
of exactly where we are positioned when talking to Him.
It is a constant reminder both to ourselves and toward Him
of the humility we should express
when we are speaking to the King of the universe.
For I tell you, you will not see me from now on, until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Sometimes our boldness in coming before His throne of grace, is more like arrogance, demanding His attention to solve our problems?
Here perhaps, the Hebrew can teach us something about humility?
One other place where our English translation shows a lack in terms of reverence is in Job:
Then said his wife to him, Do you still retain your integrity?
Curse God, and die. Job 2:9.
Although this is what Job’s wife really meant to say to him, in Hebrew, these are not the words she said! Due to the uncompromising reverence toward the Creator of the heavens and the earth being intrinsically embedded within the Hebrew language, (which we do not fully comprehend as a concept), the words “curse” and “God” cannot be written and or dwell side by side!
The Hebrew text says: …bless God, and die.
The reader is expected to understand that the meaning of bless in this context as being exactly the opposite, but the Hebrew language cannot tolerate writing, seeing, speaking or reading the degrading word “curse” attached to the name of God! It seems we grafted in gentiles still have a long way to go….!!!?
Do you want to be blessed?
Then…
Obedience is the key!
If you KNOW these things, you are BLESSED [happy and favored by God] if you put them into practice [and faithfully DO them].
Wesley’s New Testament (1755)
Messiah always insisted that being a true talmidim/disciple, was not in intellectual knowledge of His teaching, (mental assent/head knowledge); but developed and matured out of a real relationship with Him, living and walking in joyful obedience with His will.
You are loved and appreciated and prayed for daily.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read the posts. If they have been ablessing and if you haven’t already, please sign up for free email notification, like, share and subscribe, it all helps to freely spread the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth and reaches others with His Truths.
Meanwhile let’s remember to stay alert and ready, be in prayer and in His Word for in an hour we think not He is coming… and…
it’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.
You are greatly loved and 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.
We have just recently remembered Pentecost/Shavuot/shavuoth/shavos/shevuoth on our Heavenly Fathers calendar. (There are several ways of spelling the Hebrew Appointed Time; however most people know it as Pentecost.)
Our Fathers Appointed Times also reveal His glory in His creation. As the days grow darker in the world, there remains an everlasting light, Jesus/Yeshua said:
I am the light of the world;
and it is the
ServantLight
of our Savior and of His/our Father that will never be extinguished. Recall from previous posts that the center light of menorah is called the Shamash, meaning servant, and this light is also remembered with the observance of Pentecost/Shavu’ot, the 50th day following the waving of the First Fruit harvest sheaf.
The Menorah מְנוֹרָה
was the source of light to enable the priesthood to
SEE
giving light to minister
in the wilderness Mishkan/Tabernacle and later in the Temple in Jerusalem.
His Spirit of Holiness/RuachHaKodesh was the fire/light which descended upon them at Shavuot/Pentecost enabling them as members of the born from above priesthood, to boldly minister the good news of the kingdom.Exodus 25:31-40
The 7 branched menorah is described in the Torah in exquisite detail, however, one detail is not clearly defined: this detail is the actual shape of the 6 branches which extend from the main stem of the menorah. Are the 6 branches straight, or are they curved? While many scholars believe that the 6 branches are rounded, there are a few who think that the 6 branches are straight; both shown below.
The shamash
is the candle used to light the other candles of the Hanukkah menorah.
In Hebrew,
shamash: pronounced shah-MAHSH
literally means helper.
He is the suffering servant
the shamash,
who lights everyone in the world who comes to Him.
He is the center, the supporting trunk for the other branches.
John 15:5 A picture of Jesus/Yeshua, the light of the world, whose arms and legs were hammered for our sins, just as the hammering of the gold shaped the menorah. The light itself came from the burning of pure olive oil; a symbol of anointing and Ruach HaKodesh/His Spirit of Holiness, which was kindled by the hand of a man of peace and humility.
It is a spiritual light and not seen from the outside of the Temple, only from the inside, and only for Holy/Kadosh purposes.
For more detail on Shamash/menorah click link below:
8 candles in a row, and 1 helper candle, known specifically as a shamash,
which is set apart/sits higher, from the others.
It is not counted as one of the candles.
For students of Gods’ Word, this was the day that marked
the birth of the
called out assembly/ecclesia
in Yerushalayim/Jerusalem by the impartation of
His Ruach ha’Qodesh/Spirit of Holiness appearing like cloven tongues of fire
on the Disciples/Talmadiym/Talmidim
who hadwaited together for this serious moment.
(holiness spelled both Kodesh or Qodesh)
The significance of the tongues of fire appearing as cloven was surely a comfort to the talmidim/disciples as their understanding of Torah and the Holy/set apart/clean vs. unclean animals were identified by their cloven feet.
Cloven hooves are hooves that split into two toes. Under these restrictions, camels, which chew cud but do not have cloven hooves, would not be kosher, nor would pigs.
Clean Animals Have Split Hooves.
Of the clean animals that walk on the earth Yehovah said:
You may eat every animal with cloven hooves, having the hoof split into two parts, and chews the cud.
Recalling also that this commemorates another day, when Moses/Moshe brought to the whole of the house of Israel
For those of us who seek to come out of Babylons’ worldly system – to be separate and apart from its ways and to live our lives in harmony with Our Heavenly Father and Jesus/Yeshuas’ instructions, His light remains. It is a powerful light, and like the menorah shining brightly, we are to be glowing brilliantly with Yeshua/Jesus, the light of the world in us!
These Appointed Times are
an annual call to each of us,
not only to dig deeper into His Word and understand all that He wants to reveal to us there, but also to
come up higher…
as John was instructed..
Why?
so He can show us things..
for those with eyes to see and ears to hear
these things will be revealed …
it’s all about timing and preparation.
Revelation 1:10-11
And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this. Rev. 4:1
He was saying to John
I want you to SEE..
far beyond what you see right now…
but you must
Come! Come up higher.
I will show you things to come.
I will open your eyes to see!
“Go up. Come up. Come up higher.”
He wants us to see certain things;
and in order to see more,
we have to go up.
The word
aliYAH,
is a common word among the Jews…
Aliyah in Hebrew means:
elevation or going up
and can refer to two different parts of Jewish life. It either refers to being called up to say the blessing before or after reading the Torah in the synagogue, or it refers to moving to the land of Israel. It is considered a great honor to be given an Aliyah – going up, to recite the blessing over the Torah.
The term aliyah, going up to Israel, is used in Genesis in reference to Jacob’s bones being brought from Egypt to what would be the Land of Israel, Eretz Israel, in Hebrew.
Also defined as
the act of going up that is, towards Jerusalem
making Aliyah by moving to Israel
and is used by those returning to the land of Israel.
Aliyah means to ascend,
literally: go up to YAH.
עליה
Pronounced: a-LEE-yuh for synagogue use,
ah-lee-YAH for immigration to Israel,
Origin: Hebrew, literally, to go up.
When we obey what His instructions are,
we are literally
going up
to see what He has to tell us.
Our obedience brings us into His presence so that He can show us more of Himself,
more about ourselves, and
more insight to the strategies concerning the work of the adversary/enemy.
He will give us the Way to walk forward in the midst of His glory.
He will provide a fearlessness and boldness, courage that will enable us to be over-comers in this life.
We have recently remembered Pesach/Passover, which also celebrates the subsequent exodus out of Egypt, Israel was in the wilderness 40 years.
As the pilgrims
go up – making aliyah to Jerusalem/Yerushalayim
for the shalosh regalim
they sing the Psalms of David and Solomon.These are called the Psalms/Songs of ASCENT..
In Hebrew, the word translated as
ascent is ma’alah (מעלה),
which means:
ascent or degree
and indicates a movement upward.
There are 15 Psalms of Ascent,
Psalms 120-135
שִׁירים הַמַּעֲלוֹת
Shirim haMa’alot,
תהילים של עלייה
psalms of ascent.
Our Heavenly Father wanted them to
aliyah/go up
annually so that they could see that He, who had done mighty things on their behalf, was about to do mighty things again and to bring them into the Promised Land of Israel and fulfill all that had been prophesied.
We too are in a wilderness and He wants us to reflect on
where we are
as we press forward to the promised land in glory.
We have heard His voice:
to come out of Egypt, and
to come out of the world,
to come out of the religious system that is sneakily riddled with traditions of men.
He says, “Come up – come up higher!”
Don’t settle for less
because our Heavenly Father
ALWAYS has more for us..
Now to Him who is able to do
exceedingly abundantly above
all that we ask or think,
according to the power that works in us…
Eph. 3:20.
We should be like Caleb’s daughter Acsah
who asked her father for springs of water.
כָלֵ֑ב Caleb 3612
Acsah or achsah עַכְסָ֥ה aksah 5915
Upper and lower springs.
Digging deeper into wells of salvation/lower springs
and the coming up to higher springs/places; where the springs of living water flow down the mountains. This should remind us of the rivers of living water and His outpouring into our lives of His Ruach HaKodesh/Spirit of Holiness.
…Caleb asked [Acsah], “What can I do for you?” She replied, “Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs. Judges 1:14b-15,
Achsah, was Caleb ben Yefune’s only daughter.
She was offered in marriage to the man who would lead an attack on the city of Debir, also called Kirjath-sepher/Kirjath-sannah.
This was done by Othniel, Caleb’s brother’s son, who accordingly obtained her as his wife.
Achsah in Hebrew: עַכְסָה, also Acsah.
One meaning of her name is: courageous
עַכְסָה
also: Adorned, or Bursting the Veil!
Acsah or achsah. עַכְסָ֥ה aksah 5915
Othniel עָתְנִיאֵ֥ל 6274 Joshua 15:17
כָלֵ֑ב Caleb. 3612
בֶּן־ son – ben 1121
קְנַ֖ז of Kenaz 7073
Achsah was the daughter of Caleb, prince of the tribe of Judah.
She was the only girl in the family, and had three brothers.
Achsah also has the meaning of
ankle-chain, anklet.
Her father promised her in marriage to whoever should take Debir.
And Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher”. Judges 1:12.
Caleb was seeking to award a man who proved himself a fearless warrior, valiant in battle, and more importantly one who had the courage and faith to obey God’s command to conquer.
Acsah’s narrative serves as an example of contrasting between good and evil in order to reveal how far life has degenerated. The Book of Judges can be read as a chronological narrative or as a geographical one, either way, we see the huge contrast between the start and the end: it starts with good leadership and good circumstances in the land; and ends with no leadership and horrific ones.
On the whole in many cultures these days, conditions and practices have improved, however, Acsah’s story is telling us so much more.
In this narrative we see a very critical part of a whole situation which alerts us to the danger imposed upon those who are vulnerable and powerless.. This happens when everybody does what seems right in their own eyes. 21:25.
Proverbs 14:12 warns us, as do many proverbs which describe the consequences of a particular action or character trait; referring to the blinding effects of passion and self-will; which make people think their own way is best and the most desirable as it appears to be right.
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.
Reading Acsah’s story serves as a reminder to do ALL things by the leading and guidance of and in and through the power of His Ruach HaKodesh/Spirit of Holiness. That means we commit to trust and obey, doing only what is right in our Heavenly Father’s eyes. We must never do what merely seems right, leaning on our own understanding. Rather, in all our ways we must acknowledge Him, and He will direct our paths. Prov.3:6.
In this story Acsah’s husband Othniel had already received a gift of land from her father Caleb but then she asks for more…. Give me also…. We should also be eager for all that our Father has for us.She very wisely asks for the water source which in that time and location is the basis of staying alive… The springs she requested would supply water to their inheritance of dry southern land.
If they had only asked for the lower spring, whole sections of the land would have stayed barren and dry and only a portion of the available resource would have been used.
We too need the fresh water of His Spirit/Ruach and as Pentecost/Shavuot was the fulfilling of that prophesied outpouring we are now able to receive His refreshing anytime. Whenever we are feeling weary, tired and overwhelmed, and need a fresh anointing on our lives and ministries; a fresh infilling of His Spirit is waiting for us; we simply have to yield and receive. Our Heavenly Father is one of abundance and we are
not to settle for less
than the fullness and abundant life He has for us…this is why Jesus/Yeshua came.
In Luke 11:13in the Complete Jewish Bible, following instruction on prayer by Jesus/Yeshua to His disciples/talmidim, He says clearly to:keep on asking keep on seeking how much more will the Father
KEEP GIVING
the Ruach HaKodesh/Spirit of Holiness from heaven
to those who keep asking Him..
We need both the upper and lower springs to feed into our lives. Notice in verse 14, she says, do me a special favor.
Acsah knew she had her fathers favor and she had faith in that special relationship …surely we see the analogy for us if we are in that place of abiding/living in His presence. We too should have the knowing, of the security in His lovingkindness towards us and that we can receive ALL that He has for us.
To know Him and the power of His resurrection is
to know His ability to replenish, refresh and refill us.
He is calling us higher…
speaking to us about stepping into
a new level of holy boldness and spiritual authority. Not in our strength, ways or abilities..but in His!
Cheverim, Mishpochah – friends, family; we are called for such a time as this…we are joint heirs with Mashiach/Messiah, King of Kings and Lord of Lords…
When our mindset is stuck in the lower springs we can’t receive the inheritance of those upper springs. We must consider our true identity and calling in Messiah, in Christ, who we truly are in HIM … we are created in His glorious image …
There is a further lesson for us to learn in Acsah’s story. Her father had treated her more like a prize to be won for the one who could gain victory over the city of the giants. Judges 1:12-13
It would have been easy for her to assume a victim mentality…
Her name means: anklet, which is an adornment..
remembering in those days it also referred to the
anklets or leg chains
that held prisoners to the prison stocks.
Acsah/Achsah, did not give in to the temptation of …poor pity me.. she had the attitude of: an heir ready to receive her inheritance. Furthermore the physical inheritance of well watered land was enhanced spiritually, as the faith of her father Caleb and the generation of Joshua lived on and prospered in her husband Othniel.
We are told in Judges 3:9-11, the Spirit of God came upon Othniel. He became Israel’s first judge and deliverer, and because of his leadership, the land had rest for 40 years. True Shalom when we enter into His rest!
The common western definition of peace is — the absence of conflict or war — but in Hebrew it means so much more:
The root word of Shalom is shalam.
One of the first uses of the word shalam in the Torah is in
Exodus 21 and 22…
meaning: peace, harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare and tranquility soundness, health, safety and prosperity, nothing missing and nothing broken.
A higher state of mind and spiritual vision can only be reached through the higher practice of personal character. If we live up to the highest and best we know how, our Father will always
call us to come up higher
and when we do we will be faced with other challenges and temptations to further help in forming our characters.
Staying humble is the key to greatness in the Kingdom of God.
Both the Father and the adversary will use the strategy of elevation… but satan uses it for example: as temptation by lifting up in pride and the effects and results are completely different.
Our growth in grace/chen is not measured by the fact we have not backslidden or turned back from following Messiah but that we have an understanding and insight into where we are spiritually.
As a good wise father He withholds some things from us until the growth of our personal character attains the level He deems we are ready to receive them. As we grow in maturity, we have a higher viewpoint and when He shows us a truth, we are accountable to immediately apply the truth we know and begin to live it, applying it to our lives.
Attentiveness and receptivity will always lead to greater intimacy. Like the disciples/talmidim, who waited on His Spirit to fill and empower them, we must learn to pay attention sometimes by waiting upon Him. He leads us from strength to strength, we simply need to place our trust in Him and not in our own understanding or trying to ‘fix it’ by employing our own ways….
We must be receptive, open, and teachable if we want a deep meaningful relationship; and we must be willing and available, giving time to building that relationship.
Going deep
also requires us
to come up higher
where we are called to be seated in heavenly places
and then we will begin to see all things
from our Fathers perspective
from above and not beneath!
Whatever our calling, our function to His called-apart-ones, our inheritance is assured to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose… Rom.8:28
and we are challenged to remember
both the upper and lower springs offer
continual infilling
for us.
Time to Aliyah – come up higher.
As the disciples waited to
come up higher
counting the days from the omer;
maybe they were finally learning to
count the cost
of being disciples of the Master.
He was seen by so many during those days, still speaking of the kingdom, cultivating the seeds of His Spirit that were to soon spring forth and bear much fruit!
Everything they had trained and waited for came and they were ready…are we?????
May our days of counting lead to a lifetime of bearing good fruit.. May there be fire in our bones that set our tongues aflame to declare the great things of our Heavenly Father and His Kingdom…. as we
Aliyah
COME UP HIGHER!
Please wait 4 seconds for this song to begin…
and tell Him.. Hineni, here I am! Lead me…
Where I am going, you cannot follow Me now,
but you will follow later.
John 13:36
Shalom aleikhem
chaverim/friends and mishpachah/family!
Shavua Tov, Have a blessed week,
you are greatly loved and prayed for daily.
Please don’t leave here without assurance of your salvation
Not sure ..you can be…
Make certain Messiah Jesus/Yeshua is your Redeemer,
Savior, Lord, and soon returning King
and that you have a personal relationship with Him.
It’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.
You are very precious in His sight.
SIMPLY SAY THE FOLLOWING MEANING IT FROM YOUR HEART..don’t delay one more minute, SAY IT 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.
KJV: of my salvation; on thee do I waitall the day.
INT: of my salvation for wait all the day. Psalm 25:21
There are a few words in Hebrew for wait.
InIsaiah 40:31 we learn that those who
waitupon the Lord will renew their strength.
This wait is qavah
which is a twisting or binding.
It is the word used for making rope and the ancient method of making rope is still used today.
Hundreds of thin strands of fabric, each one alone could easily be broken, but when tightly bound together they form a rope that cannot be broken.
We may here recall the scripture:
A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.
Ecclesiastes 4:12.
In some weddings, a three-cord braid is included as part of the ceremony, here the three cords that are not easily broken represent Our Heavenly Father, the bride and the groom.
So in Isaiah 40:31 this waiting is just not sitting back, doing nothing, it is a process of binding/blending/melding/merging ourselves with the Father and the more we bind ourselves to Him, the stronger we become.
In Isaiah 30:18, however, he uses a different word for wait.
which is the word chakah this is a:
patiently waiting,
like someone waiting for a train.
However, this word is in a Piel or imperfect form,
so it has the meaning of:
a continuing process, it is patiently waiting.
יָחַל verb Niph`al – wait;
Pi`el – await (compare Late Hebrew יִחוּל expectation); to Niph`al – Perfect feminine singular – נחֲלָה in Ezekiel 19:5 also Imperfect: וַיִּיָּ֫חֶל in Genesis 8:12 + 1 Samuel 13:18 וַיּחֶל;
and wait: Genesis 8:12 and he waited yet seven days.
WAITING – CHAKAH – the Hebrew letters: חכה – Cheth Kap Hei.
The word chakah is spelled:
Chet, Kap/Kaph, Hei/Hey.
The Chet indicates:
moving to a higher level,
something like:
waiting in line and then moving forward.
Our Father is patiently allowing us to go through our human/carnal ways, trying to satisfy all our needs by ourselves; then all of a sudden He appears next in line.
Here we find the next letter in the word for
waiting – chakah
which is the letter Kap/kaf
this has the picture word for:
the palm of the hand.
This shows us that all this time our Father has been holding out His hands in order to receive us; and finally after years of searching for answers, we ask Him to come into our lives.
The 3rd Hebrew letter in the word
to wait, chakah, is Hei
and is akin to:
the conclusion of His waiting, entering His presence which is filled with all of His graciousness and mercy.
Isaiah 30:18 tell us about it:
blessed are those who chakah (wait) for Him.
Our chakah is not in the sentence construction/parts of speech as a Hebrew Piel or imperfect form, it is a Hebrew Qal participle (a word formed from a verb (e.g., going, gone, being, been) and used as an adjective or noun.
This means in others words:
blessed are those who
have been waiting for God.
Without realizing it we have been waiting for Him all the time; we just did not know or understand it. At least our Father’s waiting has been in the Hebrew (Piel Imperfect sentence construction) as in: He is waiting
Original Word: יָחַל Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: yachal Phonetic Spelling: yaw-chal’
In the following versions of Luke 24:49
English words used are:
remain and tarry
Berean Literal Bible And behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you. But you, remain in the city until that you should be clothed with power from on high.”
King James Bible And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
Amplified Bible Listen carefully: I am sending the Promise of My Father [the Holy Spirit] upon you; but you are to remain in the city [of Jerusalem] until you are clothed (fully equipped) with power from on high.”
Hee•ne ano•chi sho•le•ach et asher hiv•ti•ach la•chem Avi ve•a•tem ho•chi•loo ba•eer Ye•roo•sha•la•yim ad ki-til•be•shoo oz mi•ma•rom.
This must have been an extremely stressful time immediately following the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus/Yeshua. There was much unrest in the city which was filled with 1000’s of people who had travelled there for the Spring Meodim/Appointed Times of Passover/Pesach; which was one of the 3 annual Shalosh Regalim. Passover/Pesach/הַפֶּסַח, Pentecost/Shavuot/שבועות & Tabernacles/Sukkot/סוכות.
Though they are called Feasts by many, the correct Hebrew translation is Rehearsal Pattern because it is a rehearsal. It was/is a practice for the real thing to come, similar to rehearsals prior to a wedding ceremony; and why they were required to be in Jerusalem precisely at those times. We looked at this in previous posts.
This had been a momentous time; unlike any other previous year and the turmoil following those events had made the talmidim/disciples and followers of Messiah further targets for those who had plotted to kill Him.
On the road to Emmaus, one of them, named Cleopas, asked Him, “Are You the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in recent days?”
verse 18.
Luke 24:13-24
In verse 25: Then Jesus said to them, “O foolish ones, how slow are your hearts to believe all that the prophets have spoken!…
This was confirming that HE WAS the fulfillment of Gods’ prophetic plan of redemption.
Luke 3:16 John answered all of them: “I baptize you with water, but One more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
John 1:26 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands One you do not know.
John 1:33 I myself did not know Him, but the One who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is He who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
5For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” 6Sowhen theycame together,they askedHim,“Lord,will You atthistimerestorethekingdomto Israel?”7Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority.… But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”…
Acts 1:4V-PNA GRK: χωρίζεσθαι ἀλλὰ περιμένειν τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν NAS: Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father KJV: but wait for the promise INT: to depart but to await the promise
לחכות ל wait for
לחכות wait
The length of time they were told to wait was not just for a couple of days, it was for the next 49 days until Pentecost/Shavuot.
Yeshua/Jesus had said He had come to fulfill the Torah which has the Moedim/Appointed Times of the Lord as pivotal to the annual cycle of Israeli life.
We miss the full revelation of what Messiah accomplished as we in our western christianity and calendar festivals, jump from Passover/Resurrection Sunday (which we have called easter), to Christmas. There is a very precise sequence of Appointed Times/Moedim, whose meanings were prophetic in nature in their annual rehearsal for fulfillment in Messiahs’ life.
What was the purpose of this waiting?
He told them they would be
endued with power from on high
but why did they have to wait so long?
What does it mean for us?
The purpose of waiting is part of our training as talmidim/disciples.
It is for us to get into the right relationship to meet the requirements of our Heavenly Father and His Will not ours. Once those needs /requirements for being His child /disciple are met then He will open the doors and make the WAY clear for us to GO and DO and fulfill His will, plan and purposes.
One thing we should have learned during our 49 day walk/halak, it is this; we cannot artificially accelerate the growth of our crops and we cannot force them to produce out of season!
We need to see that we are not in control and being impatient will only cause frustration.
It will also choke the seeds and prevent them from bringing forth the harvest; which will result in us being impatient farmers with only barren and unfruitful fields. We must bear the fruit of patience if we are to grow in Messiah, without it we become impatient, impetuous, unsatisfied and are always looking for a future we cannot change. This is sad because it means we are ignoring what we have been blessed with today in the here and now.
Our training is accomplished by the power of His Spirit/Ruach within us, as we are also
endued with power from on high!
and for what?
To be witnesses to Him.
We must allow our lives to be slowly and continually transformed by the indwelling life of His Son; which is the ultimate purpose and goal ..that Jesus/Yeshua be exhibited in us.
This Shavuot/Pentecost, let’s be in an attitude of waiting after our days of preparation, and allow Him to do the necessary work in us and then He can fill us again. Just as we recharge batteries and continually refill our cars’ tanks with fuel, we need to be-being filled with His Spirit – continuously.. to go on being filled not just one time. Meaning to completely surrender our life and give Him full control. Ephesians 5:18 commands that we be filled with the Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:19 the command is given, “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.” Paul gives the simple principle when he says, “Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature” Gal. 5:16. The important experience of becoming a Spirit-filled disciple results in the progressive sanctification of a believer in Messiah. The result will be that the individual will manifest the fruit of the Spirit as stated inGalatians 5:22-23,
The 49 days leading up to Pentecost/Shavuot is a time of looking at our own lives and allowing God to do His work in us so He can work through us.
Hebrews 10:9 Behold I have come to do your will O God.
Jesus/Yeshuas life was one of obedience to His Father and He said Follow Me; so we are to be obedient to His/our Fathers will also.
We must take the time to be continually filled up or we will have nothing to pour out. If all we are doing is seeking to be blessed personally, we are missing the point of servanthood. We are blessed to be a blessing – freely we have received, freely we give. If we are always taking in/receiving, and not giving out, we will stagnate like the waters of a pool with no outflow; then we will become like the Dead sea and not a sea of Galilee. Living waters flow continually, that is what flowed through Messiah and what we are to release to others. Let Him pour into us so we can pour out.
For Them…?
The time of waiting was not a new thing for the disciples as every year the counting of 7 weeks or 49 days from the Omer following Peasch/Passover to Shavuot/Pentecost/Weeks was part of the Spring Feasts/Moedim/Appointed Times of the Lord which they followed every year.
Leviticus 23:1-2 God introduces His Moedim/Appointed Times when He begins by declaring to Moses
My appointed times are these….
This statement makes clear that these Moedim/Appointed Times, originate with our Heavenly Father, they cannot be claimed to have been appointed by any nation, including Israel. While they were initially given to the children of Israel for them to observe as their calendar/way of life, they are just as applicable to the followers of Messiah today.
Many have grown up believing that the Jewish Feasts have nothing to do with the New Testament body of Messiah – the ecclesia, the called apart ones. A few have grown up trying to take back the feasts and celebrate them, while rediscovering Christianity’s Hebrew Heritage. Some have never heard of the Feasts at all, however there are a growing number who are interested in what the Moedim/Appointed Times/Feasts of the Lord, have to impart to us prophetically.
Questions for us are: why are we ignoring what the Father has instructed us to do and why are we only understanding and remembering 2 of the 7?
We have the benefit of the completed Word of God so we can study His plan of redemption; and one of the ways in which He prophetically revealed His big picture plan, is through the Appointed Times/Moedim/Feasts of the Lord. Approximately 4000 years ago, God commanded His people to gather in sacred assembly for very specific celebrations – His Feasts.
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the appointed feasts of the Lord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts.” (Leviticus 23:1-2)
If we are not aware of the Moedim/Appointed Times when we read that verse, we do not understand the whole picture.
God commanded a yearly remembrance of each of His Holy convocations. The Hebrew word for sacred assembly or holy convocation is miqra, which carries the meaning of a dress rehearsal. Every time these festivals are celebrated, it is a visual and spiritual aid to remind humanity of the prophetic plan of God.
Prior to each feast’s fulfillment, it points forwards to Messiah.
During each feast’s fulfillment, it points directly at Messiah.
Subsequent to each feast’s fulfillment, it points backwards to Messiah.
These seven appointed times are collectively called the mo’edim and are detailed inExodus 12-13, Leviticus 23, Numbers 28-29and Deuteronomy 16. Together, they represent the Fathers’ entire redemptive plan from Messiah’s death through His millennial rule.
This is what Yeshua/Jesus was referring to in Matthew 5:17-18 when He said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law/teaching till all is fulfilled.”
Because the common western understanding of fulfill
means done away with,
Christians have believed that Yeshua/Jesus meant the prophetic pictures pointing to Him are now no longer needed. This is not what He meant, because to Jewish rabbis at that time, the word that is translated into English as
fulfilled was understood to mean:
the true or correct interpretation of Scripture,
while the word destroy meant: to give a false or incorrect interpretation.
Yeshua/Jesus was telling them that:
He did not come to do away with the Hebrew Scriptures/or destroy i.e. lead them astray by false teachings
Rather, He was:
the human embodiment of their true meaning and spiritual reality.
Again we can see other reasons for the WAITING…
First it was for their own preparation and
second because Messiah was not yet glorified.
As soon as He was glorified Acts 2:33tells us:
therefore being exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the father the promise of the Holy Spirit/His Spirit of Holiness He poured out this which you now see and hear.
The second reason is in the statement in John where he clearly tells us in 7:39..
for the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified.
This is not the case for us today because His Spirit of Holiness/Ruach haKodesh, has been given and Messiah is glorified; our waiting is not dependent on the promised future outpouring; but rather on our own spiritual condition/preparation, to receive what is readily available.
We know from scripture that the influence and power of His Spirit were at work before Shavout/Pentecost because He was upon individuals, prophets, priests and kings of the Old Testament; and in some instances, He filled them with His Spirit: e.g. both John the Baptists parents. Luke 1:41
However, once Messiah was glorified in His ascension, His Spirit of Holiness/RuachHaKodesh, came into the world in an unrestricted way and has been here for the last 2000+ years. It is critical that we believe and receive this revealed truth that He is indeed here in our midst; and within each believer who welcomes His presence, influence and power. He will not force His presence upon us but patiently waits for us to invite Him in as we yield to His offer.
The attitude of receiving and welcoming His Spirit into our lives is to be the continual attitude of a believer. When we receive His Spirit we receive His life/chaim which revives us, imparting the same resurrection life that raised Him from the dead, which will quicken us and make us alive in Him. Romans 8:11
As our ascended Messiah He is able to give New Life.
It’s not the so termed, baptism of His Holy Spirit, that changes people, but it is the power of the risen Messiah coming in to dwell in our lives that changes us through His Holy Spirit working from the inside out. We sometimes have a tendency to separate things that the New Testament/Brit Chadashah does not separate. The termed, baptism of His spirit of Holiness, is not an experience apart from Jesus/Yeshua – it is the real and living evidence of the risen Messiah. He has given us chaim/life everlasting and full of glory.
John 17:3This is eternal life that they may KNOW You
it’s something that begins at new birth and never ends….
We often speak of types and shadows in the scriptures…
The giving of the Torah (teaching/law) at Sinai was the type/shadow
that was fulfilled at Shavuot/Pentecost.
Sinai marked the birth date of the dispensation of Torah/Teaching/Law, and involved great displays of God’s power through thunderings, lightning, fire and the sound of His reverberating voice.
The fulfillment at Shavuot/Pentecost was the giving of the Spirit of the Law to the followers of the Mashiach/Messiah.
Shavuot/Pentecost, marks the birth date of the ecclesia/church/called apart ones, and what some term as the dispensation of Grace.
This occasion was also accompanied with great displays of God’s power through fire and a sound like a mighty rushing wind. According to Ephesians 4:30, from this point onward, His Ruach HaKodesh/Spirit of Holiness dwells within each follower and seals the Body of Messiah for the day of redemption.
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1-4)
The gift of tongues is simply the Holy Spirit giving us the supernatural ability to speak in a foreign tongue/language that we have no knowledge or ability to speak out on our own.
There are two types of tongues He can give us. One is a tongue of this earth; e.g., if our native language is English, then He can give us the ability to speak in Chinese, Japanese, or Spanish, etc. For the simple reason we may be in that country or with people who speak that language and will understand it.
The other type of tongue that He can give us is a tongue direct from heaven, a heavenly language that is not of this earth. The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 13 that there are tongues of angels.
Whichever it is, it will be a foreign language that we will not be able to speak out on our own, and only His Holy Spirit’s supernatural transmission of this language out of our spirits will give us the ability to be able to speak it using our voice.
Whatever tongue Holy Spirit gives us, we will be able to use it all the time, whenever we want. It will be our own personal, private, prayer language between us and the Lord.
One thing to remember with this gift is that for the most part, we may never know or understand what we are praying about when we operate in this gift, however we can pray to interpret what the Lord has spoken through us.
The Bible tells us that we will be speaking out “mysteries,” and only the Father and His Holy Spirit will know exactly what the prayer is about on any given occasion.“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (Romans 8:26)
Here we are told clearly that they were ALL filled and spoke in other tongues… which was the physical evidence of His Spirit in them, there were no exceptions and so we can expect the same today, and includes all the other gifts of His Spirit as in
The Word of Knowledge
The Word of Wisdom
The Gift of Prophecy
The Gift of Faith
The Gifts of Healings
The Working of Miracles
The Discerning of Spirits
Different Kinds of Tongues
The Interpretation of Tongues
our Father has not changed..
He is the same yesterday today and forever. Heb.13:8
In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14) Here we see the sealing by His Spirit to enable us to continue our walk.
It is interesting that the Father waited 50 days after Messiahs’ resurrection, (10 days after His Ascension) before He sent His Holy Spirit. As our Father is precise in all His details it is without doubt because He was waiting for the Appointed Time/Shavuot/Pentecost. He is never early and He is never late in fulfilling His promises.
The other symbol of His Spirit and presence is FIRE.
From the Ex.3:2burning bush, to the pillar in the wilderness, to the outpouring in Jerusalem …
our God is a consuming FIRE Heb.12:29
and as Malachi states like a refiners fire.
In Malachi 3:1-4, the prophet declares the
imminent return of the Lord
and with it,
His holy judgment of refining fire.
We are all too well aware that being a follower of Messiah does not spare us from experiencing testings, trials, conflict and trouble; and the process of refinement is one that He continually applies to our lives.
This fire is Holy Fire – Esh Kadosh/qadosh. אש קדושה
The Fire that cleanses, refines and purifies; it burns up all that is not acceptable to the Father and also speaks of His power so that like Jesus/Yeshua, we may work the works of Him who sends us.John 9:4, for greater works than these will you do. John 14:12.
BUT as always, there is a condition, an IF …
We have to be willing..
we have to lay down our lives, our plans and allow Him to be sovereign in our lives.
The choice is ours…His offer is there for whosoever will… The events of Acts 2 includes the
empowering
of His spirit
and the imparting of His boldness to proclaim the good news of Messiah’s Kingdom. The boldness of the fire like Jeremiah* had.
Are we truly on fire for God? .. or
are we just barely glowing embers, dying without the breath of His Spirit … we need the mighty rushing wind of Shavuot to blow on and re-ignite the fire.
Holy Spirit of Truth is certainly God, however, He is not the Person of Yeshua/HaMashiach/Jesus Christ. The scriptures seem to indicate that it was the Father who sent the Holy Spirit – “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17) And then Messiah says – “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:18)
The early spring Appointed Times/Moedim: (Pesach/Passover, Chag haMatzot /Unleavened Bread, Bikkurim/Firstfruits); were fulfilled in order, all in the same year, through the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ/Yeshua HaMashiach. When we look at the harvest times, Yeshua/Jesus and the many saints that were resurrected with Him, were the barley harvest. Notably, the ripeness of the barley is what decides if a new year can begin, or if a leap month, called Adar2, needs to be added to the calendar. This is always taken into account when the date of the late spring feast – Pentecost/Shavuot is calculated.
Pentecost/Shavuot experienced at least a partial fulfillment in the same year the three spring feasts were fulfilled. As we already noted, 50 days after Firstfruits/Bikkurim, or 10 days after Yeshua/Jesus’ ascension, His Holy Spirit/Ruach HaKodesh, descended upon the Jewish believers waiting in Jerusalem. Partial fulfillment in that He has been indwelling and sealing believers ever since, until the day of their redemption –
as He said, we are to
look up for your redemption draweth nigh,
so it is not yet completed!
And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. Luke 21:28
Since Holy Spirit is God, He is omnipresent, everywhere at the same time.
Pentecost/Shavuot marks the time of the wheat harvest in Israel.
As we have walked through the springAppointed Times/Moedim, we can see a picture of our own walk with Messiah.
At Pesach/Pasover we are reminded of being set free from the bondage of sin and death, then during the Feast of Unleavened Bread/Matzah week, we have the opportunity to practice our unleavenedness; and rejoice in our saviors Resurrection as Firstfruits from the dead. Then as we count from the Omer we are like the wheat crops growing towards maturity, ultimately designed to become an abundant harvest for Him.
During this season of counting we can focus on certain spiritual themes such as: sowing, growing, increase, being fed and nourished by the Father and being mindful of how we are growing toward maturity in Messiah. By examining our ways we discover if they are truly aligned, submitted and conformed to His.
This is why we are to WAIT on the Lord, for His power to fill us and enable us to be witnesses unto Him; this is how He goes with us, and will always be with us, and will never leave us nor forsake us.
Isaiah 30:18: “And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted that he might be merciful upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment, blessed are all that WAIT for him.”
Like the farmer who waits for the precious fruit of the earth, we too have to wait for God to mature us and grow us. Part of our being mature in Messiah, is knowing when to put our hand to the plough and work hard but also knowing that when we have done all we can do then it is time to WAIT/CHAKAH. We must ask ourselves if we have been listening/hearing to His call and responding by doing that which He has required of us?..We must walk and work in maturity and continue to be patient, stabilize our hearts because the coming of the Master draws near. James 5:7-8
Let’s be mindful of the season we are in…..
on each of us..
For those new to the site previous posts linked below cover more detail on Shavuot/Pentecost..
Shavuot 2022 begins Saturday, June 4 at sunset and ends Monday, June 6 at nightfall.
Shalom aleikhem
chaverim/friends and mishpachah/family!
Shavua Tov, Have a blessed week,
you are greatly loved and prayed for daily.
REMEMBER..
Please don’t leave here without assurance of your salvation
Not sure ..you can be…
Make certain Messiah Jesus/Yeshua is your Redeemer,
Savior, Lord, and soon returning King
and that you have a personal relationship with Him.
It’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.
You are very precious in His sight.
SIMPLY SAY THE FOLLOWING MEANING IT FROM YOUR HEART..don’t delay one more minute, SAY IT 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.
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