Elul Day 8

Elul Day 8

Song of Songs 1:7 (To Her Beloved) Tell me, O you whom I love, where you feed your flock, where you make it rest at noon. For why should I be as one who veils herself by the flocks of your companions?

When the Shulamite says to her Beloved; "O You whom I love" this is her first act of returning – coming back in repentance to her Beloved. It is basically her confession of faith.

She then asks Him; "tell me where you feed Your flock." Do you remember when you first received Yeshua into your heart, when you first confessed Him as Lord? If you were like me, from that time on you could not get enough of the Word of God. When I received salvation (Born Again), I spent every spare moment reading the Bible, I was starved for the truth. No one had to invite me to a Bible study, no one had to coax me to attend services. When something was going on at the congregation, I was there no matter how I had to rearrange my schedule. I was hungry for the Words of truth.

"Where you make it rest at noon." The only time sheep will rest is when they have full stomachs. Teachers can lead and inspire us, but only Yeshua can really feed us. Psalm 23:2, "He makes me to lie down in green pastures." The human spirit will only be satisfied in Yeshua's presence, feeding on His Word until full and can lie-down in peace.

There are so few preachers that will teach the Truth of the Word of God today, fearing they may offend someone and lose a tither. People sitting in a congregation where the truth is not taught will never be able to lie-down in peace because they are not feeding on Yeshua's Word, they are allowing themselves to be fed with lies, which causes confusion and not peace.

Matthew 5:6, (AMP) "Blessed [joyful, nourished by God's goodness] are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness [those who actively seek right standing with God], for they will be [completely] satisfied.

AMEN!

Listen to the sound of the Shofar

Parasha Shoftim & Sermon "That He May Dwell - Part 3"

FROM THE RABBI'S DESK

Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

Paul is telling us here that in order for us to have faith we have to hear the Word of God. How do we hear God's Word when we read it?

The Word of God has only two ways of entering us; through our eyes or through our ears. So how do we hear when we read and see it, what does Peter mean when he says; "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God?" Does he mean we need to listen to the Bible rather than read it? No, that is not what Paul means! We hear the Word of God as we read when the Holy Spirit imparts the Word into our hearts. It is the Holy Spirit that speaks God's truth into us when we see and read it, that is what Paul is talking about here. That is why when an unbeliever reads the Bible they cannot make sense of it, they do not have the Holy Spirit so they cannot discern the Word through hearing it by way of the Holy Spirit.

Psalm 119:130 The entrance of Your Words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.

So much emphasis is placed on education today. Parents want their children to get college and university educations so they can become successful in life. In fact, in order to be in politics today you need to either be a lawyer or have a degree in political science, but education alone does not give one wisdom. We need only to look at the state of the world today, which is being run by supposedly educated people, to recognize that. No amount of secular education can give wisdom. Education without the understanding of God, without God's light, without the imparted wisdom of the Holy Spirit is just knowledge. President Theodor Roosvelt said; "An uneducated thief will steal a railroad car; educate that thief and he will steal the railroad."

Most of Yeshua's apostles were uneducated fishermen, but when the Word of God entered them through hearing by the Holy Spirit, they gained great light which imparted wisdom to these simple men and enabled them to impact the whole world for the Messiah Yeshua.

Hi Ellen here…Are you afraid? I'm afraid. Yes, we all think that being born again will take all these twisted feelings away but at the end of the day we are still flesh and blood and have free wills. It would be so nice not to feel any of those emotions but we are not robots. As the world is with its messy politics, pandemics and crime…it is difficult not to sometimes be afraid. Aging is creeping in and our bodies are more fragile than they used to be. Yes, I chant all the same things you are probably thinking right now like: "perfect love casts out all fear…we have not been given a spirit of fear but of power…fear not." I AM with you but sometimes we just get that gripping feeling in the pit of our stomachs and it hurts. Just yesterday I felt the Holy Spirit telling me to tell us all that I am afraid, "oy, I thought, do I really want to expose myself publicly? So, I looked for confirmation. I opened my phone to see what the "Verse of the Day" was, as I do each morning, and it gave me Psalms 56.3, "When I am afraid, I put my trust and faith in You." Ha, not enough Lord, then my very good friend who always seems ready for anything posts, "Dear God remove any worry, fear, stress, doubt in our hearts"…so okay Lord here goes…sometimes I am afraid…

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

Read Parasha

Listen to Parasha

Listen to "That He May Dwell - Part 3"

Elul Day 5

Elul Day 5

Psalm 27: 1 The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear?….

So many of us today are looking to governments to solve our problems. It's time to settle it in our hearts that- The LORD is our salvation. The government is not our salvation, the doctor is not our salvation, the banker is not our salvation- The LORD is our salvation.

The Hebrew word used for salvation here is yeshi, which means: deliverance, salvation, rescue, safety, welfare, prosperity and victory. Our words are powerful and they carry weight, so what comes out of our mouths can make a big difference in our lives. If we attribute deliverance, safety, welfare, prosperity or victory to anyone or anything other than God through our words, we will reap what idols can give us and not what God can do for us.

Isaiah 57:13 When you cry out for help, let your collection of idols save you!

What we say makes a difference to our lives.

Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

Matthew 12: 36 But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.

James 1:26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.

Today is a good time to begin planting words that honor our Lord Messiah Yeshua as our Salvation (yeshi). We are after all the prophets of our own lives.

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

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

Listen to the sound of the Shofar

Elul Day 4

Elul Day 4

Song of Songs 1:1 ", The Shulamite, "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—for your love is better than wine."

Contrary to many people's thoughts this book is not about sex, it is about how much Yeshua loves us.

Deuteronomy 8:3 "…. to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD."

This verse has been refered to as the "kiss of the Torah." The words "every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD" are taken as the kisses of God's mouth which release His Word into our hearts.

Genesis 2:7 "Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being."

God breathing into Adam's nostrils was to him the kiss of God that brought him life. For us the kiss of God is Him breathing His Word into us which brings us life eternal and sets before us the course for us to run the race.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

Prayer: Lord Yeshua, I ask You to equip me with what I need for the race that is set before me. You are the Living Word. Kiss me with the kiss of Your God-breathed Word so I can fulfill my God ordained assignment in these last of the Last Days. Amen

CLICK BELOW AND LISTEN TO THE SOUND OF THE SHOFAR

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

Listen to the sound of the Shofar

Elul Day 3

Shir Hashirim is the Hebrew name of the Song of Songs, aka Song of Solomon. It is the best of the best of all he wrote and according to I Kings 4:23, he wrote 3000 proverbs and 1005 songs. He is most known for Solomon's Temple which has 3 sections. The Outer Court, The Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. Proverbs is likened to the Outer Court – everyone is comfortable there in the natural light.

Ecclesiastes is likened to the Holy Place – you need more light to see and ingest the bread of the words. The Song of Songs is as the Holy of Holies where you are invited in, one at a time, on God's fixed appointed time

Ecclesiastes is a description of 'vanity of vanities,' whereas the Song of Solomon is the 'song of songs.' Ecclesiastes speaks of a life of wandering; whereas the Song of Songs speaks of rest from wandering. Ecclesiastes tells us that one cannot obtain satisfaction through knowledge alone; Song of Songs tells us that man can reach satisfaction only through love. Ecclesiastes relates to the pursuit of all things under the sun; the Song of Songs specifically relates to the pursuit of things "in Messiah."

"Draw Me!" is the cry of Elul. Another year approaches and again we are too busy, the little foxes have come in as the many distractions and obligations and our intimacy with our Beloved has been stolen. It's our fault alone, the garden of our heart is our responsibility alone. Our heart's cry to Yeshua needs to be "Draw me!" That is where the true rest is found, only in Him. Is your cry today "Draw me?" Selah, pause and think about it.

Prayer: "Yeshua, Draw me! Please, lift me up from this pit of busyness and distractions I have dug again for myself. Draw me! I have lost hope and my faith is weak! Draw me! May all the walls I have built up for protection fall down flat. Those walls have closed off our intimacy! Draw me! I need You."

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

Elul Day 2

Elul Day 2

There is something divinely assigned to the month of Elul — hear what the Spirit is saying to the Body of Messiah.

John 6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

John 6:44 is not only speaking about unbelievers, it's speaking to those of us who have gotten so busy in our lives that the Word and God is the last part of our day, and too often not in our day at all.

In the beginning of the book of Song of Songs, the Shulamite is 'dark'— discouraged and burned out but the King draws her near. That's you, that's me, that's the state of the lukewarm Body of Messiah, but we can all rekindle our light in this special season on God's calendar and come out of the Wilderness, ready to run with our King Yeshua.

Prayer: 

Lord, lead and guide me back on the path and destiny that You have ordained for me before I was born. Help me to lay aside the things that so easily get in the way of a passionate love for You. Draw me near to You, draw me nearer and higher. Bring back the passion in my life I once had for the Word, prayer and heart-felt worship to You. In Yeshua's Name Amen and Amen

Elul Day 1

 Elul Day 1

The word ELUL is only found once in the Bible. Nehemiah 6:15, “So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days.”  This is the last month of the Hebrew civil year. The next month, Tishri, begins the civil year and the year changes to 5782

The Month of Mercy

Historically Elul is when Moses went up Mt Sinai a second time for 40 days to seek forgiveness for the sin of the Golden Calf. God came down in a cloud and gave Moses the 13 attributes of who He is. (Exodus 34:5-7) Moses came down on Tishri 10, the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur and said “God forgives!”

The word ELUL is an acronym of “I am my beloved and my beloved is mine.” Therefore, it is associated with Song of Songs when the king goes out into the field to meet his beloved. But for us as Believers our King Yeshua is always available, He is always near, He is always here because He said, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.” (Mt 28:20) But there is a time when His presence comes closer to our corporate gatherings, and also into our prayer times. It seems there is a season when there is a more open heaven and this is it. This is the time to come closer to God, begin to start dropping off time wasters and come back to the Bible, to hear His voice.

ELUL 1 begins the 40-day season of TESHUVAH

The Hebrew root for Teshuvah is shuv, and it means to return, to turn back, to restore, to cause to return. Spiritually speaking it’s turning back to God. He never changes and if we feel distant from Him it is because we have distanced ourselves from Him not Him from us. Elul offers us an open portal to return to the Lord. For everything there is a season – and this is the season of what some call, an open heaven. Do you have the passionate love and joy you had when you first came to Yeshua? He has not changed and starting today He is calling you back. 

Jeremiah 24:7, ‘Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return (shuv) to Me with their whole heart.

Prayer:  

Yeshua, I need Your help. Lord, help me come back to the passionate love I had for You in the beginning. Help me to let go of all the distractions and offences that harden my heart and cause my ears to be dull. Bring my life back into alignment with Your perfect will, In Yeshua’s Name, Amen.

Elul - Day 1

Parasha Re'eh

FROM THE RABBI'S DESK

Shalom and Blessings

2 Peter 3:11) Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12) looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?

I am addressing Peter's question to all who are reading this, "What type of person should you be?" Peter asked this question of the Believers. He was addressing them because he held that our conduct as Believers will either delay or hasten the return of Messiah Yeshua. In his question Peter mentions three things: holy conduct, godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God. The answer to Peter's questions is found in:

2 Corinthians 6:17) Therefore "Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you."18) "I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty." 7:1) Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

So, in answer to Peter's question of, "What type of person should you be;" we are to come out from among the worldly influences of unbelievers. This means not participating in what they watch or what they do or any of their forms of idolatry (that is whatever they put before God in their lives). This is what Peter means when he says not touching what is unclean, he is not talking about food. We, therefore, need to examine our lives and ask ourselves; "Are we touching anything unclean?" What type of people have we chosen to hang out with, be friends with? What kind of parties do we attend? What kind of books have we chosen to read or what do we watch on YouTube (Tik Tok) etc. Every unclean thing we expose ourselves to will enter our spirits, corrupt our hearts and ultimately come out in the way we live our lives.

Matthew 5:8) Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Hi Ellen here…I was looking at Proverbs 31…so much content, it could make any wife or any woman for that matter feel totally inadequate and defeated even before she gets up in the morning, that's if she is not already up baking bread and weaving flax. I also looked at Proverbs 31 women in Israel and Africa…I came from New York so I didn't grow up planting fields or making my own clothing…spoiled you say, maybe just the culture. But here is the thing…it is not about all the work spoken of in these beautiful verses but it is about attitude. We need to drop feelings of defeat and inadequacies and pull-on characteristics of compassion. We need to take care of our husbands, children and extended families, yes, we should give to the poor and more importantly step out of the box we have put ourselves and God in! Next time you stand in your kitchen peeling vegetables or nursing an ill husband with a cold, say thank You Lord for all that I have and all that You enable me to do! Blessings in Yeshua with loads of love!!!

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

P.S. Know of someone that would benefit from these teachings? Ask permission and send me their address.

Read Parasha

Listen to Parasha

Listen to "That He May Dwell - Part 2"

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

Read Parasha

Listen to Parasha

Listen  "That He May Dwell"

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

FROM THE RABBI'S DESK

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

Read Parasha

Listen to Parasha

Listen to "Your Redemption is Coming"

Parasha Devarim & Sermon "New Wine"

FROM THE RABBI'S DESK

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

Read Parasha

Listen to Parasha

Listen to "New Wine"

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

FROM THE RABBI'S DESK

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

Read Parasha

Listen to Parasha

"To Whom are We Accountable"

Parasha Phinehas & Sermon "Marriage Relationships"

FROM THE RABBI'S DESK

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:

Read Parasha

Listen to Parasha

Sermon "Marriage Relationships"

To All Our Canadian Family of Believers: