Parasha Ekev & sermon "That He May Dwell"

FROM THE RABBI'S DESK

Shalom and Blessings

Matthew 26.64 Yeshua said to him, "The words are your own. But I tell you that one day you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of 'The Powerful One' and coming on the clouds of heaven."

Notice that in this passage Yeshua does not use the Name of the One the Son of Man is sitting at the right hand of, instead He uses a circumlocution. Circumlocution is to circumvent an actual word (in this case a name), with another word, group of words or name so as not to say the actual word or name. This method is most often used in Scripture in place of the Sacred Name of God. Like the initials YHVH, Adonai or "LORD" in caps. Here in Matthew, Yeshua uses "The Powerful One" instead of saying the Name of God. He quoted from Psalms 110: "A psalm of David: The LORD says to my lord, sit at my right hand..." David, like Yeshua, never used God's Sacred Name anywhere in Scripture, nor did any writer of the New Testament. If anybody had authority to use the Sacred Name of God, Yeshua and the Gospel writers sure did, but they did not use it, ever. When Yeshua quoted Scripture where He could have used God's Name, He always used a circumlocution, substituting the actual name with another name.

The Scriptures talk about "Glorifying the Name of God." Glorifying God's Name does not mean using His Sacred Name. The Hebraic understanding of the term 'Name of God' as used in glorifying the Name of God, means to glorify the Character of God. God's Name equals His Character, and glorifying God's Character always brings Him glory.

No one knows the proper pronunciation of the consonants YHVH, Hebrew, Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh. Some think it's Jehovah, others Yahweh, others Huway, or some such pronunciation, but I say NOWAY! Yeshua certainly knew the correct way to pronounce God's Sacred Name, but He chose never to.

In the prototype prayer of Matthew 6: 9-15 Yeshua explains the meaning of "Hallowed be Your Name" and He uses the common Hebrew poetic device of parallelism to do it. 'Parallelism, is a rhetoric component of literary style used in both prose and poetry. Coordinate ideas are arranged in phrases, sentences, and paragraphs that balance one element with one of equal importance and similar wording.' In other words, Yeshua in this prayer says the same thing using different words. "Hallowed be Your Name" is coordinated with "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done." So, Yeshua is specifying that God's Name has nothing to do with pronunciation, but rather He wants us to pray for what God's Name represents, who He is, His Character.

Consider this. When addressing our earthly fathers, we would never disrespectfully call him by his name, rather we would use the circumlocution "Dad, Papa, Abba, Father, etc." The same goes for God's Name. It would be disrespectful to call God by His name even if we did know it and knew its correct pronunciation. It is disrespectful to use it and so it is never used. The KJV of the Bible erroneously uses the name Jehovah, but then again, they also call Passover Easter!

Hi Ellen here…I had this whole commentary on being a noble wife in such tumultuous times, that was my basar (flesh in Hebrew). As I sat down to write the Spirit of Adonai spoke and to my surprise, I listened! Ok all wives out there be blessed and obey the Word of God…now for my little message…HE sent us two by two in the Tanach and the Brit Chadasha, do you recall? I will refresh our memories: In Noach, Genesis 7:9…He said they came into the Ark two by two as God commanded. In Luke 10:1 He said after the Lord had appointed seventy-two others He then sent them out two by two… I am seeing procreation of course in the Genesis address but throughout the Word of God I see support. I guess what it comes down to is do not try to go it alone! It is you and the Lord but HE also places others in our lives to support us. Pray for sharpened abilities to hear HIS voice and anointed powers to discern so as to fellowship with those who exhort and exalt the Name above all names. We are here to support you as well because we love you and care for you…YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

Visit our blog for more teaching and to view previous Torah commentaries:

https://weeklyparasha02.blogspot.com/

Yours in Messiah Yeshua; our Lord, our God, our soon coming King;

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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Parasha Va'etchanan & sermon "Your Redemption is Coming"

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Shalom and Blessings

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,…

One of the Fruits of the Spirit that is hardest to manifest in our lives is the Fruit of Joy. It is because of all that is going on in the world around us. Certainly, with all the wars that are being fought in various places, the natural disasters that seem to never let up, the political upheaval in so many nations, and the riots that foster destruction of property and lives, how can we manifest the Fruit of Joy? Where is the joy when we hear of murders, famines, rapes, child abuse and more happening on a daily basis? Where is the joy when we have sickness, death and lockdowns from a supposedly manmade virus? Where is the joy when we are suffering economically as prices go up and our income goes down? Yet, as Believers who have received the Holy Spirit one of His Fruits is joy.

As triune beings, the different parts of us experience joy differently. To the body joy is pleasure, to the soul joy is happiness, but to the spirit joy is an intimate, loving relationship with God. Pleasure is temporary, happiness ebbs and wanes, but joy that comes from a relationship with God is enduring and transcendent. God's joy is not temporary, it never wanes or ebbs, it is constant and consistent no matter what is going on in the world, no matter what is going on in our lives. As Believers in Messiah Yeshua, if we have the Holy Spirit, and every true Believer does, we have the joy of the Lord.

Nehemiah 8:10 … This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

The joy of the Lord is our strength because of who our Lord is. Our God is a God of love, compassion, grace, truth, mercy, kindness, and faithfulness. He is a God who will never leave us nor forsake us, He is always with us tenderly keeping watchful care over us day and night. He is a God who keeps His promises and remains true to His Word. Joy comes from knowing the truth, and the truth is found in knowing Messiah Yeshua as Lord and Savior.

Hi Ellen here…Well there will be no doom, no gloom and no warning…just great anticipation and excitement! What's up you say, let us read together. Each week Jack does a drash, a commentary on the Torah portion and I confess that I do not always read them on my own. But this is a very special time because we read in the Book of Deuteronomy and Isaiah together. It is almost like reading the entire Torah encapsulated in one book and for Isaiah…the news! And now for the icing on the cake, it also means that the High Holy Days are soon approaching. Our hopes and aspirations become more alive and the drawing near of Yeshua's return is most palatable. This is a time of deep introspection. This is a time of self-examination and confession. This is a time to come clean with our Maker and ourselves. This is a time of preparation as the bride readies herself for her Groom. This is the time to be able to enter the month of Elul with confidence. Are You ready?

Visit our blog for more teaching and to view previous Torah commentaries:

https://weeklyparasha02.blogspot.com/

Yours in Messiah Yeshua; our Lord, our God, our soon coming King;

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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Parasha Devarim & Sermon "New Wine"

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Israel's national anthem is Hatikvah (The Hope). Its lyrics longingly express the two-thousand-year hope for Jews to be a free nation in their ancestral homeland. Anticipation and hope are not foreign to any of us; we all hope for many things.

It is winter now in Kenya and the eastern part of the country is very cold; people there are hoping for warmer weather, farmers hope for rain, parents hope for their children to grow up to be successful, we all hope for good health, long life and so many other things. None of us have any shortage of carnal things in life to hope for. However, none of the things I just mentioned are under our control and hope as we may, we have no idea how any of these will eventually turn out. So, there is no security for us in any of these hopes.

Isaiah 40:30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31) but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.

As uncertain as our carnal hoping is, on the flipside, that is how certain our hoping in the Lord is. Hope in the Lord is based on the certainty of God because when God says something, He delivers. One of the greatest hopes we as Believers in Messiah Yeshua have, is the hope of eternal life with God in heaven.

Titus 1:1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Messiah Yeshua to further the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness 2) in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time,

Titus 2:13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Messiah Yeshua,

Yeshua has come, He died for us, as us, and took upon Himself all of our iniquities and all our infirmities and He promised us eternal life with Him in heaven. This is not just a hope, it is a promise and God does not lie! If we have Messiah Yeshua we have eternal life and He is coming back for us.

John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you also may be where I am.

This is our blessed hope and one that we can put certainty in.

Hi Ellen here...I am sure, if you are on WhatsApp with me and have peeked in on my "status" page that you have seen the following… "Overthinking will steal your peace, give it to God and get some rest"! This is so true and this is not what Satan wants you to do! He wants you to dwell on the things that bother you, the things in you that you think other people can see in you! Honestly, do you think others can see in you while they are so busy overthinking their own things? Ha, no way!!! Rest is a hard thing to attain in our busy lives and in times of not so busy, because when we are not so busy, we begin to overthink, right? Well, let us try to get off this merry go round together. First, live in the present. You cannot do anything about the past because it is just that, the past. If you have erred in some way and come to Yeshua in true repentance and asked for forgiveness, all is good. Stop reminding yourself of what was; most of all forgive yourself! Stay away from the future…can you seriously create what is to come, no! Matthew 6.34 says "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will worry about its own things." Thank God, one less thing to NOT worry about or overthink! When we say Shabbat shalom, we mean just that. When we say Shabbat Menuchah (rest in Hebrew), we mean just that! We love you all but God, our Abba in heaven loves you even more! Shabbat shalom.

Visit our blog for more teaching and to view previous Torah commentaries:

https://weeklyparasha02.blogspot.com/

Yours in Messiah Yeshua; our Lord, our God, our soon coming King;

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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Parasha Mottot-Masaei & sermon "To Whom are We Accountable"

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Shalom and blessings

1 Samuel {15:22-23} So Samuel said: "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams 23) For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the Word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king."

Samuel makes two comparisons in this passage of Scripture. First, he tells us that rebellion and witchcraft are the same sin and second, he says that stubbornness is the same as the sin of idolatry. How is stubbornness the same as idolatry? A stubborn person makes an idol of their own opinion. If we consider how many stubborn Believers there are, it is scary to think how many idolaters we are worshiping with.

The root of witchcraft is rebellion; therefore, rebellious people are under the spirit of witchcraft and need deliverance. Rebellion rejects authority, so if a person is rebellious against parents, the government, the boss, leadership, the police etc., the demon witchcraft is operating in them and it will make them rebellious against God. A society cannot exist without there being authority. Without authority there is anarchy and anyone that is in any way rebellious is overcome by witchcraft.

God is our authority, we have all been created to be under His authority and He is our legitimate authority, however, if we reject God's authority and those that He has placed in authority over us, we create an authority void, an empty place within us and that void has to be filled with something if it is not filled with God's authority. This leaves our lives open to being filled by the opposing counterfeit authority, the illegitimate authority of Satan. His illegitimate authority that supports rebellion is the demon of witchcraft.

In the Scripture I quoted from 1 Samuel, King Saul disobeyed God's order; he did not totally destroy the Amalekites (men, women, children and livestock). He saved what he thought were the best of the livestock, claiming that he was going to use them as fire offerings to the Lord. Saul was rebellious, so is it any wonder his life led him to consult with the witch of Endor for direction? When we reject legitimate authority, illegitimate authority fills the void. If we reject God's legitimate authority in our lives; Satan's illegitimate authority will move in to take its place.

Hi Ellen here…God is so amazing, not only is He the author and finisher of our lives, He is the creator of all things beautiful! As of late, here in Israel and I am sure all over the world there have been parades using the rainbow as a symbol, you know what I am talking about. Well as grieved as we are of this particular event it leads us into searching God's Word and even a little science. Genesis 9.13-17 says that after God created a flood to wash away humanity's corruption, He put the rainbow in the sky as a sign of His promise that He would never again destroy the earth with flood! Rainbows are formed when sunlight is scattered from raindrops into the eyes of an observer. The lower the sun in the sky the more of an arc of a rainbow the viewer will see. Rain, fog or some other water source will accomplish the same…there you go, sun. water and air …all created by God for our viewing enjoyment, what a wonder. Here steps in the evil one with all bad intentions to take something beautiful created by our Creator and turn it into a symbol of sinisterism and perversion! But the thing I want you all to see is homosexuals are not our enemies…they are our mission field just as those not believers yet, addicts and the like. Don't sneer at the symbol God gave us but pray for the salvation for all those in need, blessings in Messiah Yeshua!

Visit our blog for more teaching and to view previous Torah commentaries:

https://weeklyparasha02.blogspot.com/

Yours in Messiah Yeshua; our Lord, our God, our soon coming King;

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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"To Whom are We Accountable"

Parasha Phinehas & Sermon "Marriage Relationships"

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Shalom and blessings

You have probably noticed that I am no longer commenting on current events here in Israel. I decided not to for two reasons. First, with the internet and smartphone access to instant reliable news about Israel on sites like, Jerusalem Post.com and Ynetnews.com (the former giving a rightwing slant and the latter a left to center wing view), my opinion is not necessary. Second, what is happening day to day or week to week in Israel has no bearing in the life of a Believer. Following the news only takes our eyes off of God and His plan and purpose for Israel, as outlined in the Bible, and puts them on the worldly, human perspective, which is totally contrary to God. So, there you have it! How is Israel doing? "It is doing exactly the way God wants it to do!" What is my opinion? "I am not the one in control and having read the end of the Bible (the Book of Revelation), God wins and, in the process, so does Israel!"

Hi Ellen here…what a jammed packed week for Jack and myself. We both have had some health issues but God is bigger than all of them! I may not post Scripture for what I feel today…just rolling thoughts. We live in such tumultuous times; the devil is at work and equipping his network of demons but again I say rejoice! If we are not serving God on a daily …yes on a moment-to-moment basis then we give that slippery guy below all the power and allow it to do whatever it pleases. Get to work on the Kingdom at hand, get to work on your relationship with the God most High, get to work on the sin that plagues your life, get to work on your marriages thru the Word of God, get to work on releasing your children, your possessions, your workplace and all distractions to HIM…each and every moment of each and every day and say "Bless the Lord all my soul and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name!"

Visit our blog for more teaching and to view previous Torah commentaries:

https://weeklyparasha02.blogspot.com/

Yours in Messiah Yeshua; our Lord, our God, our soon coming King;

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

To All Our Canadian Family of Believers:

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Sermon "Marriage Relationships"

To All Our Canadian Family of Believers: