Messianic Life

8/9/2019 Messianic Life

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Tekia...TekiaTekia...

I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

Upfront 2

Torah 3

Practical

Torah

5

Common Sense

Torah

6

Mirror Images 8

Following the

Living Torah

10

Sukkot 12

Read on...

M E S S I A N I C L I F E M A G A Z I N EP U B L I S H E D B Y T R E E O FL I F E M E S S I A N I C M I N I S T R I E S

O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

Messianic Lifean ezine on the lifestyle for those who follow Messiah and Torah

If you love me keep My commandments...John 14:15

Welcome to the first issue of Messianic Life: an ezine on the

practical application of Torah for everyday life...


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P A G E 4

And again inIsaiah41:14: Fearnot, O worm

of Jacob, Omen of Is-rael, [for] Ihelp youthe word ofthe Lord andyour Re-deemer, theHoly One ofIsrael.

and Naomi as his ownbecause he would haveto purchase the propertyfrom both Naomi andRuth and Ruths namewould remain attachedto the inheritance. Why

is this important in thecontext of what we arestudying here?

The concept of thekinsman redeemer ap-plies to the Messiah Ye-shua because He is theonly begotten Son of theFather so therefore Heinherits the right to therole of kinsman re-deemer through His Fa-ther God. So how wouldthat affect us? It affects

us because if we graspthe concept of the kins-man redeemer we real-ize that if we were cre-ated by God through HisSon Yeshua then we areALL, each and everyone of us, related byblood to Yeshua. And ifthat were not enough inand of itself each andevery one of us who ac-cept Yeshua as Messiahbecome further en-

twined with Yeshuathrough the Ruach ofGod in that we becomespiritually connected toYeshua. So this extendsthe idea of the kinsmanredeemer right on downfrom Yeshua to you andme and everyone whowill ever be or has been.It is only through therejection of Yeshua asMessiah which causes usto then reject Him as

our kinsman redeemer.When we do this we areacting just like the rela-tive in Ruth who re-

jected the role of kins-man redeemer becausehe did not want to forfeithis own inheritance.

So having laid outthe premise for under-standing the concept ofthe kinsman redeemer

and the role he playslets get on with showinghow this role ties in Ye-shua to God and in do-ing that we can showthat God and Yeshua areentwined and that one

cannot exist without theother and that they are joined at the hip asthey say.Exodus-Shemot 15:13:With Your kindness Youguided this people thatYou redeemed; You ledwith Your might to Yourholy abode.

This passage ofScripture lays out that itis God who redeems. Hehas redeemed His peo-

ple and His people isIsrael. Now what weneed to consider at thispoint is who is Israel? IsIsrael just the Jewishpeople? Many wouldhave you think so be-cause the House of Eph-raim was scattered tothe four corners of theearth and only Judahreturned from their exileintact. But let us look atDeuteronomy 29:13-14.

Not with you alonedo I seal this covenantand this imprecation,but with whoever ishere, standing with ustoday before the Lord,our God, and withwhoever is not herewith us today.

The covenant thatwas established betweenIsrael and God involvedeach and every personthat was standing before

God that day and eachand every person whowas not there that day.What does that mean?The implication is verystrong that all who

joined themselves toIsrael would becomepart of Israel and enti-tled to the covenant thatGod made with Israel.That means you and me!

Job 19:25: But Iknow that my Redeemerlives, and that He will bethe final one remainingupon the earth.

Once again the con-cept of the Redeemer

but in this instance it isreaffirmed that the Re-deemer is a direct refer-ence to God. Why? Be-cause even in the Ortho-dox translation of theTanach the word Re-deemer is capitalizedindicating that the Re-deemer is God.

This idea is re-enforced in Psalm78:35: They would re-member that God was

their Rock, and the MostHigh God their Re-deemer.

And again in Isaiah41:14: Fear not, Oworm of Jacob, O menof Israel, [for] I helpyouthe word of theLord and your Re-deemer, the Holy One ofIsrael.

Isaiah 44:6: Thussaid the Lord, King ofIsrael and its Redeemer,

the Lord, Master of Le-gions: I am the first andI am the last, and asidefrom Me there is no God.

He is the Redeemerand God! This is fromthe mouth of theprophet Isaiah put thereby God Himself. Could itbe made any plainerthan this? God is theRedeemer and He isGod.

Isaiah 49:26: And I

will feed your tormen-tors their own flesh, andthey will become drunkon their own blood as onsweet wine; then allflesh will know that I amthe Lord, your Saviorand your Redeemer, theMighty One of Jacob.

Continued on page 32


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Practical Torah with Hank Ramirez

P A G E 5V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

The Conflict between

being at work andbeing at the

Biblical Festivals

I have a new job that re-quires me to work rotatingshifts and come in at oddhours like 5:30 AM, 1:30 PM,

and 9:30PM. My boss affordsme some leniency in that hetries to ensure I have Fridayevenings free so I can lead theErev Shabbat Torah Class.

With Sukkot coming on theevent horizon at the end ofSeptember I am faced with aconflict. On the one hand I amconfronted with the fact that Ineed to provide for my familyand do my best to ensure that Iam an indispensable asset,

assuring continued employ-ment. On the other hand it ismy hearts desire to participatein the mitzvah of keeping theFeasts of the Lord. Feasts,which are not attendanceoptional according to Scrip-ture [Note 1].

On the one hand, G-d ismore concerned with life thanhe is with ritual [Notes 2].

In that same hand, G-d is moreconcerned with the perfection

of our heart than the perfec-tion of ritual performance[Note 3]. Then, on the otherhand, there is also that need tokeep the bill collectors at bay.Lastly, my wife is so muchmore fun to be around whenshe sees paychecks come in themail.

Being I am a part timeemployee I can request to getthe week off without pay. Or Ican request to be put on the

early shift, which will allowme to go to work AND attendthe Evening (Erev) festivities.

But what about the Sab-baths (Shabbatim) and thecommensurate days of rest? Ifmy boss agrees to assign me tothe morning shift I will stillneed to coordinate to have theShabbatim off. Somehow Ihave the impression that goingthrough all of these adminis-trative gymnastics would put

a bit of a frown on my bossface. So to be a blessing to him[Note 4] I need to make thingsas simple as I can and boilthem down to one of two sim-ple options.

My particular situation hasa small twist in it in that I havebeen asked to teach in themorning at a remote locationan hour and a half away fromwhere I live. So if I request towork just mornings and ask to

have the Shabbatim off, I willhave to also ask for an addi-tional day off on the appointed

day OR I will have to grace-fully decline the invitation tospeak.

The Sages admonish us tokeep the home as peaceful aspossible [Note5] and to do thisI need to consult with my wife.You may find that she cuts

through all of the clouds ofindecision and chooses a

course of action you were in-clining toward anyway. Thenagain she might come up witha third option that again clearsup what should be done. It isto be understood that she is amajor part of our participationin the Feasts and if you want

life to be worth living you willconsult with her [Note 6].

Having done all of the cal-culations concerning the lossof pay for the time off and de-

termining the best work sched-ule I can ask for, it is decisiontime. What do I value themost? Income? Fulfilling andliving out Torah? Doing what Ican to work and participate inthe Feasts? Such is the sharpedge of the Word of God [Note7], which side of the line am I?Am I soulish or spiritual?

The sages tell us thatheaven has accorded us a spe-cific amount of income each

week, nothing more and noth-ing less [Note 8]. This meansthat our decision to work,whatever it is, will not gain orlose us anything. Which couldmean that the money I earnedmight have to pay for the re-pair of a car accident incurredon the way home from work.

On the other hand, G-d

BLESSES us when we partici-pate in His Feasts [Note 9].

My final decision? I will ask

to be taken off the schedule forthe week by explaining to myboss the importance of theFeasts to me. It is a blanketmove for him, simple and ele-gant. It simplifies the week forme so I can actually relax and

REJOICE in the Feast withoutHaving to sweat bullets aboutgetting enough sleep and get-ting to work on time. It will

allow me to rest andfully participate in the

Feast as G-d intendedme to. Lastly, I will beable to be a blessingthrough my teachingcommitment.

[Note 1] Exodus 23:15,Exodus 34:24,Deuteronomy31:11

[Note 2] Luke 10:33[Note 3] 1Samuel

15:22, Isaiah1:11-12, Isaiah29:13

[Note 4] Romans 12:18

[Note 5] Shalom Bayitor ShalomBayis(Hebrew:

; " peace athome") is the

Jewish reli-gious conceptof household

harmony andgood relationsbetween manand wife.Tractate Shab-bat (23b)

[Note 6] 1Samuel 25:2-37

[Note 7] Proverbs21:19, Proverbs 27:15,Hebrews 4:12

[Note 8] Rabbi Pin-

chas, a per-sons suste-nance is meas-ured for himfrom RoshHaShanah

[Note 9] Deuteronomy12:6-7
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language


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P A G E 6

The

Proper

Standard

Common Sense Torah by Ran RicardWhat an honor I havebeen afforded to be apart of such a group ofTorah loving folks. It

shall be my singularprivilege to offer you allwhat I will call a BlueCollar perspective onTorah apologetics, orbetter yet CommonSense Torah.

The restoration ofYHVHs people Israel,reuniting the House ofEphraim and the Houseof Judah (Eze 37:15-28)

has begun. I believethose embracing the Mes-sianic movement todayare indeed the vanguardin that restoration proc-ess. We are the Peace-makers who bear the titleand the blessing of Hischildren. (Matt. 5:9)

More and more folksare being touched by theRuach HaKodesh (Holy

Spirit) and awakenedwith a hunger for theHebraic roots of theirfaith in Messiah Yeshua.But as exciting as that is,for many of us its almostas if weve awakened in aforeign place and thatcan be more than a littledisconcerting, it can bedownright scary. Someawaken angry, some con-fused and bewildered,but all of us have awak-ened hungry for thetruth.

It is my desire andwill be my welcomedtask to bring you yourfirst cup of coffee, ormaybe a refill and thenhand you off to otherswith greater knowledge

than I, so you may bestrengthened and con-tinue your new andcloser walk of obedience

with Messiah Yeshua.Now with that said, letsbegin;

Standard weight;measure, model, quality,etc. to which others mustconform; criterion; polewith a flag; flag esp. ensignof war; royal banner; up-right support; a. serving asestablished rule.(Websters New Encyclo-

pedia of Dictionaries)One of the first thingsI discovered as I began towipe the sleepy bugsfrom my eyes was that tobe obedient to The Fa-thers instructions I hadto change the standardby which I measured andexamined The Word.The Apostle Pauls writ-ings, for the most part,had always been thatstandard to which otherwritings in scripturemust conform. Espe-cially when examiningand understanding thenecessity of obedience tothe law. Pauls wordshave been the standardby which I have weighedand examined The Wordsince my youth. How-ever, now that The Holy

One has nudged meawake, I find that stan-dard stands in contra-diction to my Master,Messiah Yeshua.

So how do I explain mytransition from Pauls stan-dard to The Messiahs? Ireckon the first thing I tryto do is remember that

not long ago, I slept justlike those who mightquestion me now. I canchoose to either throw a

bucket of ice water onthem or gently nudgethem awake. When mybrother and I were chil-dren and he was taskedwith waking me forschool, there were lots ofshoes, socks and otherlaundry items thrown inanger when he used thebucket of ice water ap-proach (and oh how he

relished the ice waterapproach). Ive foundmy sleepy brethren willwake a bit cranky too,when I use the samemethod.

Since most commentsand questions will arisebecause of your new de-sire to be obedient to theTorah, those questionswill most likely center on

the law and whether it isto be obeyed. When thathappens, I tell my friendsthat because I believeexactly what Yeshua saysconcerning the law, that Ihave a choice to make;

Mat 5:17-18,"Do notthink that I have come toabolish the Law or theProphets; I have notcome to abolish them butto fulfill them. For truly,I say to you, until heavenand earth pass away, notan iota, not a dot, willpass from the Law untilall is accomplished.

Either I can believethat the Apostle Paul ismaking the words of Ye-


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shua null and void or I canbelieve that the Apostle Paulloved The Messiah literallyto his death and would neverstand opposed to what He

says and teaches. Then I tellthem that I choose the latter.Paul loved Yeshua and rec-ognized that He was The Sonof the Great I AM; He wouldeventually give his life inservice to Him. He wouldnever, ever contradict whatThe Son of The Living GODsays and teaches. And nei-ther should I.

The fact of the matter is

that Paul was a staunch be-liever in Yeshua. The fact ofthe matter is that Pauls ene-mies had to resort to lie abouthim; Act 21:21,and they havebeen told about you that youteach all the Jews who areamong the Gentiles to forsake

Moses, telling them not to cir-cumcise their children or walkaccording to our customs.

But Paul tells us in hisown words that he has done

nothing to violate Godscommands or contradict any-thing Messiah Yeshua has

said; Act 24:14,But this Iconfess to you, that according tothe Way, which they call a sect,I worship the God of our fathers,believing everything laid downby the Law and written in theProphets

Then I tell my friends Ibelieve every word Yeshua

has spoken to be the truthand know they believe thesame. Then I ask if it ringstrue to their common senseto use the words of Paul, orPeter or James or anyone forthat matter to nullify any-thing The Messiah has al-ready spoken and taught astruth (again referencingMatt. 5:17-18). Then I sug-

gest that perhaps we dontunderstand what those greatmen are really saying and itstime to put on our Bereanrobes and seek GODs glory,

It is the glory of God to concealthings, but the glory of kings isto search things out. (Pro25:2)

And some will clear theirthroats and watch the birdsdevour the seeds you cast.Others will listen and getexcited, but then fall back tosleep as the seed finds onlyrocky soil. A few will thinkhard on what youve said,

but their traditional teachingwill not allow the seedling togrow.

But a few, who have theears to hear, will listen andprotect the seeds you cast.They will nourish them andthey will grow and grow. and grow.

From our house to yoursSHALOM!Ran

P.S. And now a little aboutme.

I was raised and taught ina traditional fundamentalSouthern Baptist manner (yesthat includes heapin helpinsof fried chicken and tatersalad). After graduationfrom High School, I enlistedin the United States Navy,serving two tours of duty inViet Nam in the Brown Wa-

ter portion of that service.After discharge, I chose

the field of law enforcementfor my career, serving 20years with the Riverton,Wyoming Police Depart-ment / Wind River IndianReservation and four yearsas Chief of Police in Buffalo,Wyoming. While serving inthe capacity of Chief, a dear

friend came into my officeone day and dropped a copyof Batya Woottens book,Who Is Israel on my deskand challenged me to read it.

Not being one to ever shyfrom the proverbial throwngauntlet I read it.

Without telling my Brideanything about it, I then chal-lenged her to read it. Aboutthree quarters of the waythrough, she abruptly closedthe book, looked at me andsaid, Well now, this changeseverything. In our livestogether, I dont think there

has ever been a greater un-derstatement.Like many of you, The

Father has led us into a wil-derness experience; into aseason of learning, growingand relying on Him likenever before. It has been atime of transitioning frommilk to meat. Like many ofyou, we have no fellowshipsave that over the internet,the telephone and what peri-odicals we receive in the mailfrom our beloved teachers.

I currentlylive in Clever,Missouri withmy beautifulBride and com-rade in lifeBrenda. Wehave threegrown chil-dren, two

grandchildrenand two littlenoisy fur ballsknown as York-shire Terriers,Boomer andTwink, and agreat motorcy-cle for cruisingthe Missouri back roads.

But a few,

who have

the ears to

hear, will

listen and

protect the

seeds you

cast. They

will nourish

them and

they will

grow...and

grow...and

grow...


8/36

P A G E 8

Mirror

Image

Effect

Mirror Images by David PenningtonI am persuaded that

what has been, will beand that especiallythrough the ministry of

the Messiah this concepthas been carried outmore times than weprobably have perceived.

It is not my pur-pose to just try to per-petuate the message ofthe virgin birth becausemost still believe this tobe actual fact. What Iwant to project into yourthoughts is why the vir-

gin birth, among otherevents that transpired,which should also begreater evidence of thetruth of the virgin birth.Without the birth beingthrough a virgin, therecould not be the birth ofbelievers since the resur-rection.

If we deny the truthof the virgin birth we in

turn deny our faith. Forwe are conceived andborn through a woman

espoused to herfuture husband,Messiah Ye-shua yet sheremains achaste virgin.

Just like Josephand Miriam(Mary).Ecc 1:9 Thething that hathbeen, it is thatwhich shall be;

and that which isdone is that whichshall be done: andthere is no new thingunder the sun.

Ecc 1:10 Is there anything whereof it

may be said, See,this is new? it hathbeen already of oldtime, which was be-

fore us.Ecc 1:11 There is no re-

membrance of for-mer things; neithershall there be anyremembrance ofthings that are tocome with those thatshall come after.The above quote is

one of the major reasons Ihave been guided into

the concept of what I callthe "Mirror Image Ef-fect". The reason of call-ing it mirror image isbecause in the reflectionof the mirror, everythingappears to be exactly thesame, which it isn't.When you face the mir-ror, your right hand be-comes the left hand ofthe reflection you haveprojected.

In the followingverses this projection hasbeen witnessed by thewords of the beings thatappear to the disciplesafter the ascension of Ye-shua. They said that inlike manner, as he went,so he shall come again.The difference, is that inthe ascension, the disci-ples were scattered

amongst the nations andin his return there will bea gathering of his disci-ples from the four cor-ners of the earth.Act 1:9 And when he

had spoken thesethings, while theybeheld, he wastaken up; and acloud received him

out of their sight.Act 1:10 And while they

looked stedfastlytoward heaven as he

went up, behold,two men stood bythem in white ap-parel;

Act 1:11 Which alsosaid, Ye men ofGalilee, why standye gazing up intoheaven? this same

Jesus, which is takenup from you intoheaven, shall socome in like manneras ye have seen himgo into heaven.In the next two

verses the Greek wordtranslates as virgin. Aswe, the body of believers(the body of Messiah) arepresented as a chaste vir-gin, this is mirroring thebirth through Mary(Miriam).

The new believer is

born through the blood(offering of Messiah) andwater (the mikvah thatdesignates our rebirth).Mat 1:23 Behold, a vir-

gin3933 shall bewith child, and shallbring forth a son,and they shall callhis name Em-manuel, which be-ing interpreted is,

God with us.2Co 11:2 For I am jeal-ous over you withgodly jealousy: for Ihave espoused youto one husband, thatI may present youasa chaste virgin3933to Christ.

G3933 ?


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parthenos -par-then'-os -Ofunknown origin; a maiden; byimplication an unmarrieddaughter: - virgin.

Another aspect is thatthe bread of the offeringcould not be partaken ofunless the man had refrainedfrom sexual relations withhis wife. In the case ofMiriam and Joseph, she hadnot only been a virgin butthey refrain from any sexualactivity throughout her preg-nancy. Once again mirroringthe idea of a chaste virgin.Mat 1:25 And knew her not

till she had broughtforth her firstborn son:and he called his name

JESUS.Just as Yeshua entered

into the Holy of Holiesthrough tearing the veil intwo, so He entered into thisworld through a veil whenhe was born. This was one ofthe reasons that Mary(Miriam was to be a virgin)

and the reason that the Torahwas so demanding on theprecepts of the virgin and thesigns of her virginity.Deu 22:13 If any man take a

wife, and go in unto her,and hate her,

Deu 22:14 And give occa-sions of speech againsther, and bring up an evilname upon her, and say,I took this woman, andwhen I came to her, I

found her not a maid:Deu 22:15 Then shall the

father of the damsel,and her mother, takeand bring forth the to-kens ofthe damsel's vir-ginity unto the elders ofthe city in the gate:

Deu 22:16 And the damsel'sfather shall say unto theelders, I gave my daugh-

ter unto this man towife, and he hateth her;

Deu 22:17 And, lo, he hathgiven occasions ofspeech against her, say-ing, I found not thydaughter a maid; andyet these are the tokensofmy daughter's virgin-ity. And they shallspread the cloth beforethe elders of the city.The womb represented

the Holy of Holies and the"hymen" symbolized the cur-tain (veil) that was beforethis Holy place. The onlyway to enter into the Holy of

Holies was with bloodthrough this veil. Yeshua inboth his birth and his death(his descending and ascend-ing) broke through theseveils and the sign of this wasthe water and the blood.

When the soldier tookthe spear and pierced theMessiahs side, out cameblood and water. The sametook place at the birth of Ye-

shua, when he broke throughthe hymen and exited thewomb, he was brought forthin the water and the blood.Mat 27:50 Jesus, when he

had cried again with aloud voice, yielded upthe ghost.

Mat 27:51 And, behold, theveil of the temple wasrent in twain from thetop to the bottom; andthe earth did quake, and

the rocks rent;When Yeshua was born,

the first major event thattranspired after his emerg-ing from the womb (Holiestof Holies) and the tearing intwo of the hymen (veil) washis initial intake of lifegivingbreath. This is the spirit thatmakes the child a living soul.

When he died on Golgotha,he gave up this spirit of lifeand the veil (representing thehymen) was rent in two.Gen 2:7 And the LORD

God formed man ofthedust of the ground, andbreathed into his nos-trils the breath of life;and man became a liv-ing soul.

The first thing to be tornin two when he entered thisworld was the veil (hymen)and the last thing to be tornin two upon leaving thisworld was the veil.

As you may see, it is asEcclesiastes says, What hasbeen, will be. It appears thatnearly every move, everyaction, nuance, and wordthat Yeshua gave us was tofulfill the words of Torah.My first choice to use in thiscolumn was the birth anddeath because it began andended his earthly mission.Following the words of the

angelic beings and sensingthat if he shall return as hewent, isnt it only plausiblethat as he came, he wouldleave?

Another reason for thisthought is because manyhave not grasped the impor-tance of knowing some of theconcepts behind the virginbirth. We may say that it isimportant, but fail to havethe reasons that it is. Hecame forth from an earthlywomb and the veil to bringsalvation but returned to theHeavenly Womb through theveil to give salvation. Afterhis ascension, he gave giftsunto man and the greatestgift of all was our salvation.

Heb 4:16 Let us therefore

come boldlyunto the throneof grace, that wemay obtainmercy, and findgrace to help intime of need.

Eph 4:8 Whereforehe saith, Whenhe ascended upon high, he ledcaptivity cap-tive, and gavegifts unto men.

A hint of thisvery fact is evi-denced in Johns

gospel account. Hereis a question to thosethat read this. Wherein John has the hintof this event beenrecorded?In the next issues Iwant to give moreevidence of this mir-ror image designand how perfectly itis woven throughout

the pages of the Bi-ble.

David Pennington ismarried to wife Ritawith a son Jared anddaughter Jessica(with five grandchil-dren). David hasbeen evolving in theMessianic fold for atleast fifteen years.

He started in thechurch over thirtyyears ago and wasordained into theministry abouttwenty years ago.David can bereached [email protected]


10/36

P A G E 1 0

Rabbi Daniel Klut-

stein leads a Messi-

anic Congregation

in Hawaii and

works with other

groups...

Following the Living Torah Rabbi Daniel KlutsteinPrayer is a key element in

our spiritual walk. Here iswhat Isaiah says: Then

shalt thou call, and the

Lord shall answer; thoushalt cry, and he shall say,

Here I am. 14th verse: Then

shalt thou delight thyself inthe Lord; and I will cause

thee to ride upon the high

places of the earth, and feed

thee with the heritage of

Jacob thy father: for the

mouth of the Lord hath spo-

ken it.-ISA_58:9

Rav Shaul (Paul)

says: 1Th 5:17 Pray with-out ceasing.

What is prayer,

and how can one pray with-

out ceasing?

The Hebrew word

for prayer is Tephilah from

the root Palel . It means

supplication, intercession.Prayer is asking the creator

to answer our cries and de-sires by his grace, even

though we surely do not

deserve it. Prayer is com-

municating with our maker.Therefore what Rav Saul

says is Always communi-

cate with YHWH and 2

Cor 10:7 bring to captivityevery thought unto him

The Lord also pro-

vided His Spirit to help usas he Rav Saul says in Rom

8:26 Likewise the Spirit

also helpeth our infirmities:

for we know not what we

should pray for as we

ought: but the Spirit itselfmaketh intercession for us

with groaning which cannotbe uttered.

Which is the main

function of the gift of

tongues.Yeshua told us that

prayer open the gates of

heaven Mar 11:24 For this

reason I say to you, all

things whatsoever you ask

for in prayer, believe that

you willreceive them, and

they will be yours. And

also Mat 7:8 For everyonewho asks receives, and he

who seeks finds, and to him

who knocks it shall be

opened.

How many bless-ings do we robe ourselves

from by not asking with

belief (Emuna). This He-

brew word is loaded with

meanings, trust, and obedi-ence, trained by the word,

belief. Only an emuna

prayer is effective.

Yaakov (James)

teaches.

Jam 5:13 Is any ofyou suffering evil? Let him

pray. Is anyone in good

spirits? Let him sing

psalms. We need to realize

that 2Co 4:15 for all things

are for your sakes that theabundant grace might

through the thanksgiving of

many redound to the glory

of God.

Jam 5:14 Is anyoneamong you sick? Let him

call for the elders of the

assembly, and let them pray

over him, having anointed

him with oil in the Name of

the Master.Jam 5:15 and the

prayer of faith shall save the

sick, and the Lord shall

raise him up; and if he havecommitted sins, they shall

be forgiven him.

However this isqualified by Yaakov

(James) the righteous Jam

4:3 ye ask, and receive not,

because ye ask amiss, that

ye may consume ituponyour lusts.

He also add the

requirement of righteous-

ness which comes from ourturning away from sin and

accepting the atonement of

Yeshua.

Yeshua also told

us not to use it for religious

show

Mat 6:5 And whenthou prayest, thou shalt not

be as the hypocrites are: for

they love to pray standing

in the synagogues and in the

corners of the streets, thatthey may be seen of men.

Verily I say unto you, they

have their reward (men re-

spect). Mat 6:6 But thou,

when thou prayest, enterinto thy closet, and when

thou hast shut thy door,

pray to thy Father which is

in secret; and thy Father

which seethe in secret shall

reward thee openly.Mat 6:7 but when

ye pray, use not vain repeti-

tions, as the heathen do: for

they think that they shall be

heard for their much speak-

ing. We see this in the us-age of the rosary, which is

common to Catholicism,

Islam, and Buddhism. Un-

fortunately this also influ-

enced the rabbis like repeat-ing a psalm seven times to

forces YHWH to listen to

us and bind Satan.

Yeshua than

teaches us how to pray in

the so called Lords prayer:Mat 6:8 Be not ye therefore

like unto them: for your

Father knoweth what things

ye have need of, before yeask him.

Mat 6:9 after this

manner therefore pray ye:Our Father which art in

heaven, Hallowed be thy

name.

Mat 6:10 Thy

kingdom come. Thy will bedone in earth, as it is in

heaven.

Mat 6:11 Give us

this day our daily bread.Mat 6:12 and for-

give us our debts, as we


11/36

P A G E 1 1V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

forgive our debtors.

Mat 6:13 and lead usnot into temptation, but deliver

us from evil: For thine is thekingdom, and the power, andthe glory, forever. Amen.

Mat 6:14 For if ye for-give men their trespasses, your

heavenly Father will also for-

give you:

Mat 6:15 But if ye for-

give not men their trespasses,

neither will your Father forgiveyour trespasses.

From verse 8 we un-derstand that God does need our

prayers to know our need. We

need the prayer not God.

In a traditional Jewish

way using the Kaddish as amodel, Yeshua tell us to start

with praise. By so doing we

realize before whom we stand,

and gain confidence, so that ourneeds are no longer a mountain

but a small hill.

Only then can we pro-ceed with our petition, and end

with thanksgiving. The subject

of the prayer is also a lesson in

itself. First we should concern

ourselves with Gods kingdom,

and as Yeshua ambassadors

represent our Fathers interest,

not ours. We also reaffirmGods sovereignty.

Our request should be

for our needs not our cravings.We can only receive

Gods blessing when we dealt

with our sins. We need to show

the forgiveness we received

form God to others. We need

YHWH help to pass the test,

realizing what Rav Saul said1Co 10:13 There hath no temp-

tation taken you but such as iscommon to man: but God is

faithful, who will not suffer you

to be tempted above that ye areable; but will with the tempta-

tion also make a way to escape,

that ye may be able to bear it.

Rom 8:28 And we

know that all things work to-

gether for good to them that

love God, to them who are the

called according to his purpose.

Verse 9 tells us that weneed to build relationship with

God as a Father respect lovehim and obey him. Deu 10:12And now, Israel, what doth the

LORD thy God require of thee,but to fear the LORD thy God,

to walk in all his ways, and to

love him, and to serve the

LORD thy God with all thy

heart and with all thy soul.

Verse 10 Speaks of thecentral teaching of Yeshua The

kingdom. God already reignsin heaven. We need to establish

his kingdom on earth by accept-

ing the yoke of heaven. This is

called in Judaism Tikun Olam

(World fixing). We need tobecome a new creation by put-

ting of the old man.

Verse 11 Teaches us

that only when we center uponour Father, can we then attend

to our needs knowing his

loveand care for us, althoughtesting us at time for our sake.

Deu 8:16 Who fed thee

in the wilderness with manna,

which thy fathers knew not, that

he might humble thee, and that

he might prove thee, to do thee

good at thy latter end; Verse 12,

14-15 teaches us the importanceof forgiveness. We need to real-

ize that the Lord will deal with

us as we deal with others, asYeshua parable teaches when

the king throw in prison the

debtor who persecuted his

debtor after being forgiven by

the king Math 18 23-35.

Verse 13 is our prayer

that we will not be tested to thepoint of failure Heb 2:18 For in

that he himself hath sufferedbeing tempted, he is able to suc-

cour them that are tempted.

In conclusion: we need to com-municate with our heavenly

father, and putting him first, and

obedient, we will be blessed as

he seeks to bless his children.

I was borne to a Chas-

sidic family in Paris France

My grandfather of blessed

memory was France Orthodoxchief rabbi.

I grew up with theLove of the God, people andland of Israel.

After the early death ofmy father, we immigrated to

Israel.

I was later trained to

become an orthodox rabbi, but

lost my faith at 16.

In my twenties theLord reached out to me, and

called me to him through Ye-shua on the mount of Olive.

The Father than called me to

lead his people. He provided

free training at London Bible

College followed by Paris Uni-versity Jewish studies.

I was ordained in Paris

as a messianic rabbi, and lead a

congregation.I was then called to

represent Israel and France to a

messianic conference, whichlead to an invitation to become

associate rabbi at one of the

largest messianic congregation

in Maryland, where I also found

my wife.

The Lord led me to

return for a time to Israel, and

than back to the US.I was used in leader-

ship in major congregations in

Maryland, and later to lead myown

I accepted a call from

the messianic congregation in

Hawaii where I serve as their

rabbi.

In Hawaii we aim to

bring all closer to God in theirHebraic understanding.

I also oversee two mes-sianic congregations in Amarillo

Texas, Australia, and India.

I am currently beingused to reach out to the body of

believers, and bring them an

understanding of their roots

I visit different congregation,

and monitor internet discussion

group.

God bless

Prayer is a

key element

in our

spiritual

walk

Rav Shaul

Paul) says:

1Th 5:17

Pray

without

ceasing.


12/36

P A G E 1 2

Gilbert and Sa-

brina Suard live in

Israel and formerly

resided in France...

Meaning and Celebration of the Festival of Sukkot

or the coming back

of the Great King

The angel said to me,"Write: How blessed arethose who have been invitedto the wedding feast of theLamb!" Then he added,"These are Gods verywords. Revelation 19 :9

Sukkot means booth or tent, atemporary dwelling, re-minding us of the wan-derings of the people ofIsrael in the desert. It alsoreminds us that we are sojourners in the earth.

It is during the festival ofbooths that we eat and/or sleep for seven days inour own hand-made

booths. The roof must bemade of tree branches soas to be able to see thesky to remind us that it isG-d who protects us dur-ing our stay on earth.

It is the third festival thathas a solemn convocationand to which the Jewishpeople are to attend bygoing up to the Temple.

It is a rejoicing festivalwith two holidays; thefirst and seventh days. Itis celebrated on the 15thof the month of Tishri.

You are to keep the festivalof Sukkot for seven daysafter you have gathered the

produce of your threshingfloor and winepress.

Rejoice at your festivalyou, your sons and daugh-ters, your male and femaleslaves, the Lviim, and the

foreigners, orphans and

widows living among you.Seven days you are to keepthe festival for ADONAIyour God in the place

ADONAI your God willchoose, because ADONAIyour God will bless you inall your crops and in allyour work, so you are to be

full of joy! Deuteronomy16 :13-15

A particular command-

ment requires us to tietogether four fruits,forming the Lulav, alsothe name of the tallestspecie, the palm. It is tobe shaken in front of theSukkah.

These four fruits are:

The PalmThe Willow

The CitronThe Myrtle

These four species repre-sent the different types of

Jews, both pious and nonpious but all indivisiblein G-ds eyes:The citron (etrog) is deli-cious and smells good; itrepresents the scholarly

Jew in the Torah whopractices what he studies:

But those sown on rich soilhear the message, accept itand bear fruit! thirty,sixty or a hundredfold.

Mark 4:20

The myrtle (hadas) alsosmells good but is notedible; it represents the

person who forgetswhat he was taught:Likewise, those receivingseed on rocky patches are

people who hear the mes-

sage and joyfully accept itat once; but they have noroot in themselves. So theyhold out for a while, but assoon as some trouble or

persecution arises on ac-count of the message, theyimmediately fall away.

Mark4:16-17

The palm (lulav) is ediblebut has no smell; it repre-sents the one who owns

the knowledge but notthe works:

You believe that God isone? Good for you! Thedemons believe it too thethought makes them shud-der with fear! But, foolish

fellow, do you want to beshown that such faithapart from actions is bar-ren?

James 2:19-20 De 6:4

The willow (arava) has notaste nor smell; it repre-sents the one withoutTorah and withoutworks, but who still ispart of the Jewish peopleand needs to become in-tegrated within the com-munity so as to provokein him an awakening that

will bring him back to hisfaith:

My brothers, if one of youwanders from the truth, andsomeone causes him to re-turn, you should know thatwhoever turns a sinner

from his wandering pathwill save him from deathand cover many sins. Prov-

Gilbert andSabrina Suard,Israel

www.soucatdavid.israelinet.org

The RenewedCovenant by thelight of the Torah
http://www.soucatdavid.israelinet.org/http://www.soucatdavid.israelinet.org/http://www.soucatdavid.israelinet.org/http://www.soucatdavid.israelinet.org/


13/36


erbs 10:12 , James 5:19-20Therefore, the festival of Suk-kot is a call to fraternal unity,and it is a duty to invite oneanother under the Sukkahtorejoice together for G-ds

kindness. It is the festival offraternal love!

It is also the festival of waterand rain. Prayers are said tobring the first rains, blessingsfor the dried earth.

For this occasion, during theperiod of the Temple, sev-enty bulls were offered forthe atonement of the seventy

nations of the world!

The portion of the prophetswritings read at this time isthe messianic celebration ofSukkot in Zachariah 14.The eighth day is called Sim-chat Torah, the joy of the To-rah, a convocation to cele-brate the end of the annualreading cycle of the Torah.

What about the body of the

Mashiach, theKehila(assembly) of G-d today?

The good news is we are all in-vited to Jerusalem to celebratethe coming back of the GreatKing and His Reign togetherwith the people of Israel. He isthe source of living water and inHim we find the true fraternalunity, in the shelter of Hiswings. On that day, the earthwill be filled with His knowl-

edge. He will be proclaimedONE.

Then ADONAI will beking over the whole world.On that day ADONAI willbe the only one, and hisname will be the only name.Zachariah 14:9

G-ds plan to gather every-thing in Him will be fulfilled

so that we are one in Him,Jew and Gentile, the TwoHouses reunified under thesame G-d and His Torah. Butbefore anything, He has tocome back to Jerusalem, the

city of the Great King, and toinvite us all to celebrate Suk-kot and to celebrate Him, theLiving Torah!

It was also on that date thatYeshua decided to come inflesh to bring us the Light(see our study on the birth ofYeshua)

Pesach: the deliverance

Shavuot: the gift of the HolySpiritRosh Hashana: His comingbackYom Kippur: our sins havebeen forgivenSukkot: His messianic reignChanukka: He is the Light ofthe worldPurim: the defeat of Amalek

Lets prophetically celebrate

Sukkot while awaiting theglorious celebration to come,with Yeshua!

____________________

Celebration of thefestival

Build a booth keepingthe sky and the stars visible

Make decorations aboutIsrael; add garlands, kids

drawings, symbols of thetwelve tribes of Israel Jeru-salem.

Prepare a festive meal.Sfaradic Jews start the mealwith couscous which re-minds them of the manna inthe desert because of its nu-merous seeds.

Pomegranate is the typi-

cal fruit for Sukkot becauseof the seeds that are a re-minder of the manna andbecause of its crown, remi-niscent of that of the GreatKing.

If you were able to ob-tain Lulav, shake it in front ofthe Sukkah to symbolize fra-ternal unity.Start with the blessing upon

the wine, Kiddush(sanctification) then on thebread motzi (taken out of,dragged).

Blessed are you Hashem,our G-d, King of the uni-verse, Who created thefruit of the vine

Blessed are you Hashem,our G-d, King of the uni-verse, Who brought forththe bread from the earth

May the L-rd bless you inthis day of joy and fraternalunity, while we are awaitingthat day when we can rejoice

together in Jerusalem!

Chag SameachHappy festival!

Unless otherwise noted,Scripture quotations are from

the Complete Jewish BibleCopyright 1998-2004 byDavid.H.Stern. Published by

Jewish New testament Publi-cations.inc.www.messianicjewish.net/

jntp Distributed by Messianic Jewish Resources Interna-tional. All rights reserved.Used by permission.

Sukkot

means booth

or tent, a

temporary

dwelling,

reminding us

of the

wanderings

of the people

of Israel in

the desert. It

also reminds

us that we

are

sojourners in

the earth...


14/36

P A G E 1 4

Yeshuas Birthdate by Gilbert and Sabrina SuardWas YESHUA reallyborn on December 24th ?

The Bible doesnt say

anything about it; insteadmany pagan divinitiesanterior to Yeshua wereworshiped at the wintersolstice, and especiallyon the 24th of December.For example, in the Baby-lonian TAMUZ cult (Ez8: 14), the temple dedi-cated to the divinity hadside windows in the di-rection of the sun. Dur-

ing the three lowest day-light of the solar year ,the sun did not shinethrough the windowsand the divinity wasmourned as for adead .Three days later onthe 24th of December thesun was visible againthrough the windowsand the pagan god wasworshipped as a resur-rected one.

Our L-rd was born onSukkoth

The Bible gives clear in-formation about the L-rdYeshuas birth date in theBook of Luke, the be-loved physician who wasa very accurate chroni-cler; we can see it in theBook of Acts in the narra-

tion of the journeys andtravels of the apostles.Luke was very worriedabout letting the nextgenerations after himuniversal and solid infor-mation. By the time ofLuke there were manycalendars in use in theMediterranean world

and they had few reli-ability. So Luke used, tolocate the events in time,several unmovable signs

like Thora prescriptionsand natural events likepregnancy time etc

Luke starts his letter witha declaration that leavesno place for doubt abouthis intention to write themaximum reality on thefacts:

Dear Theophilos: Concern-

ing the matters that havetaken place among us,many people have under-taken to draw up accountsbased on what was handeddown to us by those who

from the start were eyewit-nesses and proclaimers ofthe message. Therefore,Your Excellency, since Ihave carefully investigatedall these things from thebeginning, it seemed good

to me that I too shouldwrite you an accurate andordered narrative, so thatyou might know how well

founded are the thingsabout which you have beentaught. Luke 1:1

Many commentators saidthat there was no othertrack or historical docu-ment speaking about thisTheophilus. The transla-tion for this Greek nameis the one who loves G-d, so we can think thatLuke addresses his re-port to any present fu-ture reader who loves G-d and seeks His truth.

Text follows immedi-ately, relating the history

of the Johns birth:In the days of Herod,

King of Yhudah, there wasa cohen named Zkharyah

who belonged to the Aviyahdivision. His wife was adescendant of Aharon, andher name was Elisheva.Both of them were righteousbefore God, observing allthe mitzvot and ordinancesof ADONAI blamelessly.But they had no children,because Elisheva was bar-ren; and they were both wellalong in years. One time,when Zkharyah was fulfill-

ing his duties as cohen dur-ing his divisions period ofservice before God, he waschosen by lot (according tothe custom among the co-hanim) to enter the Templeand burn incense.Luke 1:5-9

belonged to the Aviyahdivision (Luke 1:5) and his divisions pe-

riod (Luke 1 : 8), are twotemporal signs that Lukehad chosen to situate hisnarration: sufficientenough and clearlyshowing the time inwhich those events oc-curred. Indeed these twotimely details lead usback to the book ofChronicles, in which thedivisions King Davidestablished to schedulethe work of the priestand the soldiers at the

Jerusalem Temple, areclearly explained.

There were 24 divisionsof priest all divided bylot:

They were assigned (periods


15/36


of service) by lot, the one groupequally with the other, sinceboth the descendants of Elazarand the descendants of Itamarhad officers of the sanctuary andofficers of God. 1 Chronicles24:5the seventh for Hakotz, theeighth for Aviyah, 1 Chronicles24:10

There were also 12 army di-visions also divided coveringall the months the months ofthe year.

The people of Israel, registeredaccording to their clan leaders,

were drafted for army duty un-der captains of thousands and ofhundreds, and officers servingthe king, in divisions of 24,000each, for monthlong terms ofduty covering all the months ofthe year. 1 Chronicles 27:1

This repartition of the divi-sions of service at the Templeestablished by King Davidwas still in use in the time ofHerodius at the second Tem-ple period. This is the reasonLuke uses this chronology tosituate the birth of John theBaptist. Johns father, Zacha-riah, was on duty at the Tem-ple according to his division,on the 2nd part of the 4thmonth, the first month beingthe month of Nissan up tothe biblical calendar .(Ex12 :2) .

During his service, Zachariahis visited by the AngelGabriel, the guardian of Is-rael

But the angel said to him,Dont be afraid, Zkharyah;because your prayer has beenheard. Your wife Elisheva willbear you a son, and you are toname him Yochanan. Luke 1:13

Elizabeth becomes pregnant:.

When the period of his Templeservice was over, he returnedhome. Following this, Elishevahis wife conceived, and she re-

mained five months in seclu-sion, saying, Luke 1:23

This seventh month is themonth of Tishrey; it is a timeof holy convocations, thereare three of them:

First holy convocation:

Tell the people of Israel, Inthe seventh month, the first ofthe month is to be for you a day

of complete rest for remember-ing, a holy convocation an-nounced with blasts on the sho-

far. Leviticus 23:24

This convocation is alsocalled Rosh Hashanah, whichmeans: head of the year,traditionally admitted as thebirthday of the Creation. It isthe traditional Jewish NewYear although the Bible saysthat Nissan is the first month.

Second holy convocation:

The tenth day of this seventhmonth is YomKippur; you are

to have a holy convocation, youare to deny yourselves, and youare to bring an offering made by

fire to ADONAI. You are not todo any kind of work on that day,because it is YomKippur, tomake atonement for you before

ADONAI your God. Anyonewho does not deny himself onthat day is to be cut off from his

people; and anyone who doesany kind of work on that day, Iwill destroy from among his

people. You are not to do anykind of work; it is a permanentregulation through all your gen-erations, no matter where youlive. It will be for you a Shabbatof complete rest, and you are todeny yourselves; you are to reston your Shabbat from eveningthe ninth day of the month untilthe following evening. Leviti-cus 23:27-32

This is Yom Kippur, the Dayof Atonement. It is the holiestday of the year when the L-rd grants forgiveness of thesins. Until today the Jewishpeople had observed thisDay of Atonement with agreat reverence and it is aday of deep silent and devo-tion in Israel.

The Bible

doesnt say

anything

about it:

instead

many pagan

divinities

anterior to

Yeshua were

worshipped

at the

winter

solstice, and

especially

on the 24th

of

December...

1 NISSAN 1st

1st et 2nddivision ofpriest

2 IYAR 3rdet 4th

3 SIVAN 5th et 6th

4 TAMUZ 7th et 8thdivision ofAviyah

10 TEVET Elizabeth 6thmonth of pregnancy

11SHVAT

I

12ADAR

I

1 NIS-SAN

I

2 IYAR I

3SIVAN

I Miryams ninemonth of preg-nancy

4 TA-MUZ

I

5 AV I

6 ELUL I

7TISHRE

Y

I Yeshuas birth


16/36

P A G E 1 6

The third holy convoca-tion:

Tell the people of Israel,On the fifteenth day of thisseventh month is the feast ofSukkot for seven days to

ADONAI. Leviticus 23:34

This Feast of Tabernaclesis Sukkoth; it is part ofthe three feasts calledshalosh regalim, the pil-grimage feasts. Sukkothis one of the three mainconvocations of the yearwith Pesach (Easter) andShavuot (Pentecost).Allthe men adult had to go

to Jerusalem to celebratethe L-rd and offer sacri-fices.

This is why there was nomore room in the inns in

Jerusalem and why theshepherds brought a bigamount of animals forthe sacrifices and had towatch them outside thecity all night long.

The eighth day of Suk-koth is Simchat Torah,the joy of the Torah. Wecelebrate the end of theTorah reading cycle andthe new starts withdances around the Torahscrolls. There is a greatrejoicing in the streets.

Yeshua said about Him-self that He came to fulfilthe Torah and His deedsare fully in synchronismwith the appointed timesof the Torah. He wasborn on the month ofTishrey for the Feast ofSukkoth and was circum-cise the eighth day (Luc 2-21) for Simchat Torah.

If we count back the ninemonths of pregnancy ofMiryam until the concep-tion by the Holy Spirit,starting from the 15th ofTishrey (Sukkoth), weobtained the end ofKislev. It is during thisperiod that the eight daysof Chanukah are cele-brated: Chanukah is theFeast of the Light and theconsecration of the Tem-ple:

He is the light of theworld

The L-rds birthday:

If Pesach has been re-placed by Easter, Sha-vuot by Pentecost andthe Shabbat by Sunday,the Feasts of Tishrey(Yom Kippur, Sukkothand Simchat Torah) re-mained intact and un-changed .Theyare a signfor us:

He is the head of theCreation (Rosh Hasha-nah).

He is the ultimate sacri-fice for all the people(scapegoat of Kippur)

And He invited all thenations of the world torejoice with Him, for theFeast of Sukkoth, in Jeru-salem at the end of thetimes!

Finally, everyone remainingfrom all the nations thatcame to attack Yerusha-layim will go up every yearto worship the king,

ADONAITzvaot, and tokeep the festival of Sukkot.Zechariah 14:16

Gilbert and Sa-brina, French and Israeli,Ephraim and Judah cou-ple, four children, back toIsrael a year now. Westarted a Messianic web-site in France and weteach people Torah andHebraic sources for 7years.

We wrote differentbooks:Messianic PassoverHaggadah; Shavuot: the callof Mount Sinai and the

gifting of the Ruach Hako-desh; Messianic commen-taries of the weekly Parasha.

We started a couple ofyears ago an InternationalDistance Messianic Yeshivaand have French speak-ing students from differ-ent countries. Our Ye-shiva material will soonbe translated into Englishand Hebrew and ourgoal is to reach our peo-ple here in the Land.

www.soucatdavid.israelinet.org

The Renewed Cove-nant by the light ofthe Torah.
http://www.soucatdavid.israelinet.org/http://www.soucatdavid.israelinet.org/http://www.soucatdavid.israelinet.org/http://www.soucatdavid.israelinet.org/http://www.soucatdavid.israelinet.org/


17/36


Killeen 1st Assembly of God

Jewish Roots DepartmentOverall Objectives:

To provide a venue for all those in the county who have a calling and a desire to

explore what it means to be Biblically Jewish as defined by Romans 2:12-29.

To teach and inform Christians that there is much to be gained by understanding

Jewish Biblical teachings as understood in Romans 3:1-2.

To provide a welcoming community for disfranchised Jews and Christians that they can

participate in - without the requirement of membership.

To celebrate the God given Sabbath and Feasts as best we can with a whole heart,

as taught in Exodus 20:10-11 and Leviticus 23:1-44

Friday Nights, 7PM

502 N. 38TH Street,

Killeen, Texas 76543

For more information

Call: (254) 394-1499 or 768-3593

E-mail: [email protected]


18/36

P A G E 1 8

By

Koray

(Cory) J.

Lemmon

Living out Torah and Spirit in my LifeI begin at the

beginning of my faithjourney. I had no reli-gious affiliation when I

entered the Air Force in1959. My dog tags sim-ply read protestant.Since I was born inChristian America andsince I was not Catholic, Iassumed I was protes-tant. I had attended Sun-day school with aneighbor on several occa-sions and Easter Servicesa couple times, but I had

never heard of beingborn again.From the very

beginning I had an inde-pendent relationshipwith YHVH. My conver-sion experience wasunique in that it was notassociated with evangel-istic meetings, pastors,lay ministries, tracts oreven Churches. One eve-ning in 1962 while onmilitary duty in the FarEast and alone in a bar-racks, I came face to facewith myself. I didnt likewhat I had become. All Iknew about Yeshua wasthat if I sincerely ask Hewould forgive my sins. Irepented and experi-enced YHVH forgivenessand His saving grace thatevening in the name of

Yeshua. I didnt evenknow His true name.Yeshua turned my lifearound at that point.

My faith hasnever been bound to aparticular tradition, de-nominational creed orbelief system. Yeshua setme free from the bond-

age of sin and I had ex-

perienced my first newbeginning. All the won-derful ramifications of

the salvation experiencewere years down theroad. I had little knowl-edge of scripture. I hadno road map or instruc-tions. I had no founda-tions and no walls of pro-tection. I had begunbuilding at the roof ofsalvation instead of at thefoundation of knowl-edge. I took many side

roads that led away fromtruth. I got stuck in themuck of layers of tradi-tions. I learned that thesafest place to walk wasright in the center of Hiswill, but it was still amystery to know for cer-tain what His will was.A couple of times Inearly drowned in thewastewater of denomina-tional legalism. But, Hewas faithful to point meback, this is the Waywalk in it. So, I stum-bled along drifting firstto the right and then tothe left like a drunkensailor. Finally my jour-ney led me to investigatethe feasts of YHVH andthe rest is history.

It was not until Isaw Yeshua in the

broader context of thewhole Bible that Hemade the final leap intothe very fabric of my life.Torah shows me sin andwhat I needed to pluckup, tear down and tossfrom my life. The Ruachpersonalizes the Wordand teaches me through

the study of Scripture.YHVH sanctifies us dur-ing this process separat-ing through us to Him-

self through thought,word and deed.

This is what itmeans to be in YeshuahaMashiach. This iswhat it is to have themind of Mashiach. Thisis what it means to walkin Torah and Spirit.Mashiach Yeshua is morethan the principle charac-ter of an interesting

Book. He is the Book.He is Truth and Life andthe Way to it. He is morethan an anointed prophetthat spoke words ofdepth and lasting truth.He is those Words ofTruth. When we take theWords in we are takingHim in to our lives. He ismore than the perfectexample of Torah obser-vant living. He is the life.It seems as though eachdenominational teacherhas discovered some

jewel of truth and thanabandoned the search toosoon. I was never satis-fied with little pieces ofthe truth.Matthew 11:25:At thattime Yeshua answered andsaid, I thank thee, O Father,Lord of heaven and earth,

because thou hast hid thesethings from the wise and

prudent, and hast revealedthem unto babes.

The hardest peo-ple to share Truth withare those who have theirtheology welded in placeby years of scholarlyinstructions. These arethe comfortable and com-


19/36


placent, who have no needfor new understanding ortheir sleep disturbed.

Hebrews 5:12:Forwhen for the time ye ought to be

teachers, ye have need that oneteach you again which be the

first principles of the oracles of

God; and are become such ashave need of milk, and not of

strong meat.

It is hard for me to

understand how so many canteach Replacement Theologyand that the Torah is done awaywith. There are still those who

teach that the Lords Day is

Sunday and Sunday is the

Christian Sabbath. There are somany errors that live on and are

held up only by mens words.

My heart goes out to those who

have closed their minds. Withall the learning tools we mod-

erns have at our disposal, how

will anyone have an excuse forperpetuating these falsehoods.

Matthew 7:22-23:Many will say to me in

that day, Lord, Lord, have we

not prophesied in thy name?

and in thy name have cast outdevils? and in thy name done

many wonderful works? 23And

then will I profess unto them, I

never knew you: depart from

me, ye that work iniquity.During my journey I

served in prayer groups, on

Church boards, in choirs, quar-

tets, as an evangelistic crusade

counselor, a local hospital night

Chaplin and I was a pastor for a

small church for 6 years. I

served in a Baptist Church,

Nazarene Church, BrethrenChurch; I even had a short flir-

tation with Catholicism, all the

Saints and Mary. I even learnedthe rosary mantra. I studied

other Eastern Religions in col-

lege. Even while I served I was

still a babe. I needed the foun-

dation. I was told that the New

Testament was all I needed and

that the Law had been done

away with. I was missing the

foundational words of Moshe,

the teachings of Solomon in

Proverbs, the Psalms of Davidand the writings of the prophets.

1 Peter 2:2:As new-born babes, desire the sincere

milk of the word, that ye may

grow thereby:

After experiencing the

Church System first hand as a

Lay Minister I decided to

walk away from mainstream

Christianity and search for the

old paths. I joined with afaith community that some re-ferred to as Amish, but were

actually Anna Baptist Brethren.

They stated they walked in obe-dience to the entire Bible, liter-

ally where ever possible. They

had uniform dress codes and

fences all over the place. This

was a community of believers

who did many things according

to scripture, but like all the otherdenominations they were yokedto the dictates and traditions setup by man ( Sunday Worship,

Easter, ect.,).

During the course of

my faith journey, I was baptized

7 times, according to differenttradition. One denomination

only recognized their own bap-

tism as valid. Another acceptedall baptisms. I was baptized

twice indoors and once outdoorsin moving waterduring freezingweather. I was dipped back-

wards one time for the Father,

Son and Holy Spirit, which

symbolized death, burial and

resurrection. I was baptized by

two difference denominations

that dipped me frontward onetime forward for each entity of

the Godhead separately. TheKJV bible puts an and be-

tween each.FatherandSon andHoly Ghostand the dipping had

to beforwardbecauseJesus

bowed his headand gave up the

ghost. Each denomination has

developed justification for their

particular traditions.

Finally, after literally

40 years of wandering in the

wilderness of tradition and cir-

cling the mountain of worship-ing on Yom Rishon (Sunday), I

faced it with Truth and it crum-bled before my eyes. Like Is-

rael, I had traveled a long way

to get there, but was home at

last.

Deut. 2:3: Ye have compassed

this mountain long enough: turnyou northward.

YHVH guides us in all

Truth if we search for it.When we live in Truth we livein Yeshua haMashiach for He is

Truth. Im O.K. now I can rest

in Torah. He is Torah. TheRuach is my teacher. He shows

me what to pluck up and pull

down.

When I left worshiping

in Church on Yom Rishon I be-

gan Sabbath worship with To-

rah observant believers. When Igave up eating unclean things Iwas prepared already to eatwhat YHVH declares as clean.

When I backed away from

EasterI replaced it withPass

Overandthe list continues to go

on.Anytime we reject a

pagan falsehood we need to

incorporate the truth into ourlives. Batyas books, Sterns

Complete Jewish Bible and agood Jewish calendar have beenhelpful to my wife and I for

these things. The entire Bible

seems new and exciting when

we read it with a Hebrew per-

spective.

After stumbling from

pillar to post searching for truthI discovered the Hebrew roots

of our faith and who I am in thebig picture. A friend shared

with me a copy of Dean andSusan Wheelocks Hebrew

Roots newsletter and a book by

Batya Wootten.Who is Is-

rael. Thus began my second

new beginning.

Now I study scripture

After stumbling

from pillar to

post searching

for truth I

discovered the

Hebrew roots

of our faith

and who I am

in the big

picture. A

friend shared

with me a copy

of Dean and

Susan

Wheelocks

Hebrew

Roots

newsletter and

a book by

Batya

Wootten

Who is

Israel.


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P A G E 2 0

with excitement and pur-

pose. I worship with amulti-racial Torah obser-

vant spirit filled faith com-munity. There is true joythere and it comes forth in

Hebraic dance and praise. Ienjoy an intimate relation-

ship with YHVH and the

Ruach speaks to my heart

all the time. These are

things I had never experi-

enced before. I sit underthe teaching of Pastor Terry

Swedlund at Shalom AlYisrael

(www.shalomalyisrael.org).

His wife Shoshana

operates a Judaic gift shop

in the storefront meeting-house in Englewood, Ohio.

It is a great little congrega-

tion with wonderful teach-

ings and leaders with a realcommitment to teaching

Torah and Spirit. I praise

YHVH for such an oasis.I know who I am.

I am part of the remnant of

Israel, an alien in this land,

but a citizen of the

Commonwealth of Israel.

I am part of the body of

Mashiach, the chosen and

espoused bride of Yeshua.I am learning how to please

Him from Torah. He

honors my study as thehighest form of praise and

He communicates directly

to my heart through revela-

tion. There is no other book

or writings that can be

trusted completely. There

is not one man whos wordsare always true and without

error. The Bible is true inits original form and lan-

guage and it belongs to the

believer, cover to cover.I need no man -

made fences to keep me

from sin. I have YHVHs

boundaries presented

clearly in Torah. If I stay in

Torah I will stay in Him

and if I am truly in Him I

will be in YHVHs family,

the place of safety, my ref-uge.

In the end I learnedthere are several levels ofunderstanding in Torah. I

learned about the spiritualsignificance of numbers in

scripture. The Ruach used

this knowledge to change

my life. I believe since my

wife of 34 years had passed

away in 1998 that a man myage should be resigned to

living alone probably forthe rest of his life. In Au-

gust of 2005 I realized that I

had been grieving the loss

of my companion for seven

years. My new scripturalunderstanding of numbers

told me that my grieving

was complete. I also realize

that the eighth year that Iwas entering biblically

represents new beginnings.

For some reason I felt re-lease and encouragement

from this understanding.

Maybe YHVH is really

concerned about every as-

pect of our lives? Maybe

He is beginning to guide my

life in a very real and prac-

tical way?A short time there

after I met Sharon a won-

derful Torah observant Isra-elite believer. We began

eating dinner together and

sharing Erev Shabbat. We

believe YHVH placed us

together. The THIRD

NEW BEGINNING had

been given to me. I havenever known any couple

more compatible or happierthan we are. It was a mira-

cle that we even met. So, I

cant share how I live outTorah without this account

of how we met. When His

Way became our Way

YHVH blessed. Sharon and

I were married under the

chupah with joy and danc-

ing. Sharon is a dancer and

YHVH has turned my

mourning into dancing.

Psalm 30:11Thou hast turned

for me my mourning into

dancing: thou hast put off

my sackcloth, and girdedme with gladness; He had

turned our mourning into

dancing. . I look for

YHVH in everything. I

purchased the wedding ring

before I knew the spiritualsignificant of numbers. The

ring has eleven tiny dia-mond points on each side.

In scripture the number

eleven means disorder.

There is a small cluster in

the middle that connectsboth sides. Together the

two sides add up to twenty-

two which means light.

Yeshua is the light thatbrings order from chaos.

There are six small points

that make up a star in thecluster with one in the cen-

ter adding up to seven the

number of divine comple-

tion, or perfection.

The point is

YHVHs hand is guiding,

cautioning and encouraging

me now in new ways since Ibegan walking in the Torah

and Spirit.
http://www.shalomalyisrael.org/http://www.shalomalyisrael.org/http://www.shalomalyisrael.org/


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Torah by Terry W. Hayes


Greet-ings

in theNameof ourbe-lovedMes-siahYe-shua;and

welcome to the Lev HaTorah Heart of the Torah. Our

corner of the magazine willbe looking into the heart ofthe Torah and its applicationfor us today. Many comingback to the Torah struggle

with the issue of, How doesthe Torah and the Crosswork together? It is ourhope to help bring light tothis important issue in com-ing articles. We also will belooking into the various 613mitzvot and having discus-

sions on application. We willbe discussing Hebraic termi-nology to help you gain abetter understanding whatyou may be hearing, reading,and much more.

There are a lot ofquestions that a non-Jewishperson has when coming intothe Torah and the Hebraiccommunities. We want to

help do our part in address-ing them. The beauty of thissection is that I am non-

Jewish Israel, the congrega-tion I attend is one that hasrecaptured a lot of the He-braic forms of worship andwe use a lot of liturgy andhave a mens minyan thatmeets once a month for tradi-tional prayer. We are mostly

a non-Jewish community butour hearts is to restore the

ancient paths of our forefa-thers, therefore our commu-nity has taken on a more

Jewish flare. The beauty ofthis is; I feel I have a lot tooffer from our experience. Ifyou are one who is new tothe Torah and may be non-

Jewish, welcome to the jour-ney.

For our first teaching

we are going to look into,What is the Torah?

What is the Torah?

Most people whenthey hear the word Torah,they have one or two percep-tions in mind.

1. The Torah is the first fivebooks of the Bible, written byMoses.

2. The Torah is law and I amnow under grace, thereforethe Law has nothing to dowith me.

Both of these percep-tions are somewhat right.Their limited statement lacksthe complete understandingof what Torah truly is.

It is our goal in thisteaching to begin to open thedoors to the Torah, so onemay look inside and seewhat wonderful things thatour God gave us to live by.HaShem even told us in Hisown words that His Torahwould be our wisdom andunderstanding before the

nations in Deuteronomy 4:6.

So what is the Torahand what is it all about?

The word Torahcomes from an archery termyara, which means to hitthe mark to shootstraight. In understandingthis then one will see that theobedience of the Torah willcause you to, shoot straightand hit the mark.

Most equate theword law and Torah asbeing the same because ofsome misunderstanding ofthe word Torah by sometranslators in the past. Torahdoes contain law within itswritings but all Torah is notlaw. Within the Torah youwill find a few other thingslike, history, covenants, andlaws.

The laws contained

within the Torah are brokendown into three groups.

1. Testimonies: These arecommandments that aregiven by God that could notbe invented by man but arerationally comprehensible.Such as, Shabbat, Festivalsand dietary laws.2. Statutes: These are thecommandments that tran-scend our understanding andwhich we obey simply be-cause they are the word ofGod. Such as, the ashes of thered heifer, or laws of jeal-ousy.

Judgments: These are com-mandments that man wouldhave compelled man to de-vise even if they were not

Most equate the

word law and

Torah as being

the same because

of some

misunderstanding

of the wordTorah by some

translators in the

past.


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P A G E 2 2

given by God. Such as,the laws of restitution, Ifyou borrow somethingfrom your neighbor andit becomes stolen or lost

you are to make restitu-tion unto yourneighbor.

Now to give full un-derstanding to what theTorah is all about fromits own description youwill begin to see that the

Torah, are the Teachingsand Instructions of

HaShem.

In our culture thewords law andcommandments havebecome negative. TheHebrew word that istranslated into the Eng-lish as commandmentis mitzvah singular ormitzvoth plural. Theword mitzvah can meancommandment but it alsoconnotes much more.

Stated in the book, Mitz-voth A Sourcebook forthe 613 Commandments,author Ronald H. Isaacswrites,

Judaism has alwaysbeen a religion of actionand deed than belief andcreed. Learning was in-tended to lead to doing.To that end, Jewish con-duct has been governedby a series of command-ments, known in Hebrewas mitzvoth. The scope ofmeaning of the wordmitzvah is a wide one. Itdenotes commandment,law, obligation, anddeed, while connotinggoodness, value, piety,and even holiness.

Looking into GodsTorah, we will find thatHe asks us to do manythings. But the sum ofTorah is to love Adonai

our God with all ourheart, soul, and resourcesand to love our neighboras our self. All the Torahfalls into these two cate-gories. In future articleswe will look deeper intothese two great mitzvot.Y

HaShem (TheName) and or Adonai(My Lord) is used in ref-erence to the Sacred

Name Y-H-W-H in allour articles. This is doneout of personal convic-tion.

Out of personal con-viction the Lev HaTorahdepartment usesHaShem (The Name)and or Adonai (My Lord)in reference to the SacredName Y-H-W-H in all its

articles.

Terry, his wifeDoyala and their twodaughters Amber andAllison attend BethavaraHebraic Assembly inCleveland, TN whereTerry is one of the Torahteachers of the Bethavaracommunity.

In 2005 Terry began

Way of the King Minis-tries. The ministry is ateaching ministry reach-ing out to the Christianand Messianic world.The ministry has pro-duced one book,Counting the Omer aDaily reflection and Jour-nal Vol. 1. Terry is cur-rently working on his

first Messianic novel andfaith based short storyseries.

Ministry contact info:

Way of the Kingministries114 Stuart Rd. NEPMB # 235Cleveland, TN 37312

Email address:[email protected]
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


23/36


We extend you an invitation to join us when youare in the Las Cruces, New Mexico area.We have Torah study on Tuesday evenings andShabbat service on Saturday morning at 10:00amfollowed by a pot-luck Oneg (lunch), and BibleStudy. We close out Shabbat with a shortHavdallah service.We would be happy to have you join us and if youare considering relocating to our area give us acall or drop us a line.Las Cruces has been rated as the #1 small city inthe nation. We are blessed with an abundance ofsunshine, mountains, desert, clean air and mildwinters.Etz Chayim-Tree of Life Messianic Congregation


24/36

P A G E 2 4

As Fall ap-

proaches each yearmy thoughts turn tothe first settlers thatstepped upon thisnew land. It wastaught to us inschool that aboardthe vessels these

pilgrims brought withthem the many Christianpractices and traditionsfounded from Europesgreat Myths and legends.

I have encountered thosewho when finding that Ihave abandoned my an-cient Christian traditions,chiding me for disregard-ing the sacrifice made byour founding fathers forthe traditions they wereso willing to die for tothe future generations.

I found this eloquentrebuttal, to be worthy of

study and research. Afterall my fourth and fifthgrade information on thesubject was sparse atbest, and my recall ofthose studies I realizedwas even worse.

Christians frequentlyrefer to the Puritan Pil-grims as the FoundingFathers of their faith.Christian youths boast

this proudly wheneverthe State appears tocome into conflict withreligious ideals. Let usexamine exactly in his-torical documents whatreligious rights these Pu-ritans were being perse-cuted for in their home-land of England.

Here is a briefsummary of the escalat-

ing division culminatingin a historic event.

" The 24th of Au-gust 1662, is the date ofwhat Church History hascalled "The Great Ejec-tion". It was on that daythat almost 2,000 minis-ters of the Church ofEngland were ejectedfrom their churches, andpulpits, and homes, be-cause, "for consciencesake", as they put it, theycould not bring them-selves to submit to "AnAct of Uniformity" drawnup by Charles 11 and hisbishops.

Under Henry, theChurch in England hadbeen "reformed", but itwasn't long until many

were beginning to ques-tion whether or not thereform had gone farenough. These peoplebecame known as"Puritans". It was the Pu-ritans' desire to move theReformation right to thepoint where everythingthat had been added tothe Church during themiddle ages by thePopes of Rome would be

cast out, and not only thedoctrine of the Church,but the practice and thediscipline of the Churchbe "purified"; so theywere called the Puritans.

The main body ofopinion in the Church atthis time was that "thingsindifferent, which are nei-

ther contrary to Scripture,nor forbidden by it, may

be imposed by theChurch or some lawfulpower". The "things in-different" referred towere things such ascandles, crosses, vest-ments, and altars. ThePuritans held that noth-ing that was not entirelyconsistent with theteaching of the Bibleshould be maintained;"for, if they be kept in theChurch as things indiffer-ent", said John Hooper,who has been called "thefather of Puritanism","they will at length bemaintained as thingsnecessary."-Mayflower.com

We see here that the Pu-ritans rejected Crosses,Candles, altars and vest-

ments that made up theliturgical articles of theChurch. Could candlesand crosses be enoughto load pilgrims aboard aship making a journeywith known perils of dis-ease, scurvy, food short-ages and oftendeath? Let us examinefurther their holy dayobservance according tothe historical site of Pil-

grims.Org;

"The Pilgrims did notcelebrate Christmas andEaster. They believedthat these holidays wereinvented by man to me-morialize Jesus, and arenot prescribed by theBible or celebrated by theearly Christian churches,

Founding Fathers of Faithby Jeanette Cabrera

Pilgrims signing theMayflower Compact, in1620, on board the May-flower. The compact is alandmark in U.S. consti-tutional development.From an engraving byGauthier, after T. H. Mat-teson. (Courtesy, Libraryof Congress.)


25/36


and therefore cannot be con-sidered Holy days. "It seemstoo much for any mortal manto appoint, or make an anni-versary memorial" for Christ,

taught the Pilgrims' pastorJohn Robinson." - PilgrimHall.org

The Puritans rejected themost Holy and revered daysof the Church, and this theyknew was no small issue foralready many believers hadpreviously been martyred forthis very reason. Once thePuritans disembarked theMayflower at MassachusettsBay they enacted this lawregarding the Christmas HolyDay;

" For preventing disor-ders, arising in several placeswithin this jurisdiction byreason of some still observ-ing such festivals as weresuperstitiously kept in othercommunities, to the greatdishonor of God and offense

of others: it is therefore or-dered by this court and theauthority thereof that whoso-ever shall be found observingany such day as Christmas orthe like, either by forbearingof labor, feasting, or anyother way, upon any suchaccount as aforesaid, everysuch person so offendingshall pay for every such of-fence five shilling as a fine tothe county."

From the records of theGeneral Court,Massachusetts Bay Col-onyMay 11, 1659

Banbury's ancient

High or Market Cross wasdemolished by the puritans

The first Thanksgiving,October 1621, by Brown-scombe

on 26th of July 1600. It stoodon a section of the MarketPlace in Banbury where it is

now commemorated by aplaque. Other Crosses previ-ously in the town were de-molished about the sametime. Although Banbury waswithout a cross for over250 years, the memory sus-tained no doubt by therhyme, Ride a Cock Horse toBanbury Cross, remainedwith the local populationthroughout that period. Itbecame a physical fact

again in 1859 when thecorporation of Banburyerected a new cross indecorated gothic form atthe most prominent road

junction in Banbury.

My journey into thesefounding fathers, remarka-bly resemble the very faithI am also embarked upon.I feel the edifying voices ofthose first settlers whorecognized that the faithof Christ and the Apostleswas even then being bur-ied under ancient PaganMyth and folklore.

Let us now be encour-aged and inspired to con-tinue in the work startedfor us in this land 400

years ago.

Ecclesiastes 1:9What has been will be again,what has been done will bedone again; there is nothingnew under the sun. Is thereanything of which one cansay, look! This is somethingNew? It was here already,long ago; it was here beforeour time.

Banbury Cross, BanburyMassachusetts

My journey

into these

founding

fathers,

remarkedly

resemble the

very faith I

am also

embarked

upon.


26/36

P A G E 2 6

The Shunam-

mite Woman ~The NamelessHostess2 Kings 4:8-37

The story of the Shu-nammite woman is anexcellent illustration ofhow we as women areto live our lives beforeYHWH. Her story takesplace at the city

Shunem, located innorthern Israel in theterritory of Issachar.(Avishag who nursedKing David in his oldage was also fromShunem.) Scripture de-scribes her as a greatwoman, probablywealthy, highly re-spected and wellknown in the area. Herhusband was an olderman and they werechildless. These arethings that the casualreader will learn, butthere is so much moreto our nameless host-ess!

Obedience to Torah

In Hebrew Shunemmeans double restingplace.It was in veryclose proximity to theVia Maris, an ancienttrade route still in exis-tence today. It linkedEgypt with Damascusand is also known asthe International CostalHighway, and in an-cient times - Way ofthe Philistines. At thePhilistine Plain, theroad branches off intotwo directions. Onecontinues to follow theMediterranean, whilethe other heads moreinland towards the Jez-reel Valley. Shunemwas located close tothis road, and for those

traveling this may havebeen the perfect placeto rest and refreshyourself before con-tinuing on. Here wefind the Shunammitewoman at the very be-ginning of the passage,in obedience to Torah.

It fell on a day, thatElisha passed to

Shunem, where was agreat woman; and sheconstrained him to eatbread. So it was, thatas often as he passedby, he turned in thereto eat bread. (2 Kings4:8)

The prophet Elisha waspassing to Shunem,

probably from the ViaMaris, and there was agreat woman who con-strained him to eat.Please take note thatElisha was not askingfor bread, but the Shu-nammite woman inobedience to Torahoffered and encour-aged him to eat. Iwould go as far to saythat she did not do itfor him alone. Showinghospitality is a Torahcommand.(Deuteronomy 10:18)

In Biblical times hospi-tality was extremelyimportant. Travel tookdays, sometimes weeksand water was pre-

cious. There was alsorobbers and unsavoryindividuals to contendwith. One never knewwho to trust - prettymuch like today. Inthese days we cantravel quickly from oneplace to another, how-ever that does not re-lease us from helpingone another. The Shu-

nammite woman obvi-ously took this obliga-tion seriously since shewas in a location whereshe could see peoplewho were passing byto offer them suste-nance.

The definition of hos-

By Hadassah Veirs

Lessons andencourage-ment forMessianicWomenToday


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P A G E 2 8

our Father says He will

bless us. By showingkindness to theprophet, the Shunam-mite woman is now ina position to beblessed for that kind-ness. Instead she asksfor nothing. We arenot obedient becauseof what we will gainfrom it, but becausewe love our Father.When we help otherswe may sometimesexpect them to do thesame for us, howeverwe should have nosuch expectation. Theability of another torepay, or to do for usshould not come intoquestion. ...but youshall surely open your

hand to him, and shallsurely lend him suffi-cient for his need [inthat] which he wants.(Deuteronomy 15:8)We are to give suffi-cient for the need, notholding back, remem-bering that our re-sources come fromYHWH - not to sate onour own lusts and de-

sires, but in order tohelp those in need.Our being contentcomes from the knowl-edge that our creatorsupplies all of ourneeds. Not that I speakin respect to lack, for Ihave learned in what-ever state I am, to be

content in it.(Philippines 4:11)

Humility

This was also a humblewoman. Even thoughshe was a wealthy, andScripture refers to heras isha Gadol(a greatwoman), when she ad-dresses Elisha, she re-fers to herself as hishandmaiden - his ser-vant. Humble your-selves therefore underthe mighty hand ofGod, that he may exaltyou in due time. 1 Pe-ter 5:6

Faith

Last, but certainly notleast, the Shunammitewoman had great faith.When she is first toldthat she will have a

son, her first responsemay seem like a lack offaith: He said, At thisseason, when the timecomes round, you shallembrace a son. Shesaid, No, my lord, youman of God, do not lieto your handmaid.(2Kings 4:16) Her re-sponse here is not alack of faith as some

would suppose, butthe cry of a womanwho month aftermonth experienceddisappointment, andthen as the yearspassed, came to thecrushing realizationthat she would neverembrace a child of her

own. However, theprophet Elisha did notdeceive her, and shedid indeed have a son.We can only imagine

the joy of this womanalong with her hus-band, that her simpleacts of kindness andgenerosity led to thegift of a child.

Some yearslater the chid fell illwhen he was with hisfather. (2 Kings 4:18-19) The father had theservants take him tohis mother, where hedied on her knees atnoon. Her anguishmost certainly wouldhave been unbearablewhen she realized thatthe child had died, butwe do not read thatshe grieved at all. In-stead, she took him tothe room that Elisha

stayed in and laid himon the bed. When dis-aster strikes or we im-mediately seek YHWH,and those who areclose to him. For theShunammite woman itwas a perfectly naturalthing to lay her deadchild on the bed of theprophet.

At this point we

do not know if she hasrevealed her sonsdeath to anyone, butshe did ask her hus-band for a servant anda donkey so that shecould go quickly to theprophet. Her husbandimmediately ques-tioned her, He said,


29/36


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