Parasha Vayera

From The Rabbi's Desk

As of late Ellen and I have been taking nightly walks around our neighborhood. The other day while walking I tripped on uneven sidewalk pavers, not once but several times. I am in the habit of looking forward when I walk so Ellen has to remind me to look down and watch where I am walking, not only because of uneven pavers but also so I do not step in dog poop.

Today, as I was contemplating what to write I was reminded of my stumbling walk and what Ellen said to me. It made me think; our walk as Believers in Messiah Yeshua is also riddled with hazards, all kinds of obstacles that can trip us up, all kinds of unpleasant things that we can step into. That is why we are warned so often in Scripture by the Apostles to: "Walk in the newness of life" (Romans 6:4); "Walk worthy of the calling" (Ephesians 4:1). The Apostle Peter says, referring to our walk and calling: "For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Messiah Yeshua." (2 Peter1:10-11).

However, it is not only how we walk but where we walk that is also important. With what I hear on the nightly news, I would not dream of walking on a dark street in downtown Chicago.

1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6) If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.

Darkness is sin, the light is truth. Therefore, we are not to walk in darkness; our walk must stick to areas of light and truth. If we do we will avoid the obstacles and hazards of life and we will not stumble into darkness.

Hi Ellen here…STOP trying to figure things out! If we truly have our eyes on the Lord, we will feel foolish if we do not STOP trying to figure things out because He already has…easier said than done, right? I am writing this short note not to you out there but to myself. I am overly analytical and sometimes too controlling but today as I was making cookies the word that came into my mind was worse than all the above. I'm sure you are on the edge of your seats to discover the word…well sit back and hear the word…it is PRIDE! I need to give up my pride every moment of every day. It is pride that motivates us to be analytical and controlling and more…do you have to be right? Do you have to have the answer? Is all peace and joy out the window when you cannot figure things out? Our God Most High is a mysterious God but He wants it that way so we depend on Him and not ourselves. Let us pray today together for our Abba in heaven to deliver us from the pride in our lives and purpose to rely on Him for all the answers.

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

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

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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Parasha Lech Lecha & Sermon "These Three Kings"

From The Rabbi's Desk

2 Corinthians 4:7 "Yet we who have this spiritual treasure are like common clay pots, in order to show that the supreme power belongs to God, not to us." (GNT)

The spiritual treasure that the apostle is talking about here is not Messiah Yeshua, it is not the grace of God, although these are both treasures, it is the Gospel. Buried inside of every Believer in Messiah Yeshua is a treasure trove of truth more precious than gems, silver or gold. Yes, even though we are frail human beings, this treasure, if mined and dug up from within us, can impart life to a dying world. I can liken it to the clay pots Gideon's army carried with them into battle against the Midianites. Under each clay pot they hid a lit candle (Judges 7:16-22). It was not until they cracked the pots that the light was exposed. The same principle applies to us. If we, who are like common clay pots, do not dig and unearth the spiritual treasure within us, the light of the Gospel will not shine forth.

Proverbs 2:3 " indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, 4) and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, 5) then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God."

The question is; "How do we extract this spiritual treasure that is within us?" Miners need tools in order to dig for treasure hidden in the earth and so do we. Our tools, however, are not mechanical, they are: reading God's Word and applying it to our lives, having a disciplined prayer life and unlocking the power of the Holy Spirit inside of us allowing Him to rule our lives. If we do these things then the Gospel of salvation through Messiah Yeshua will be unearthed in us and we will exhibit, through our lives and witness, the supreme power of God to save the lost.

Hi Ellen here…There are many sayings in the English language that hold validity to their intention. Let us look at two and apply them to our walk in faith. "Practice makes perfect" and "Fake it till you make it" …When I was a brand-new Believer, the person who led me in prayer to receive Yeshua into my heart said not to worry about being ignorant of the things of God, she said…" Fake it till you make it". I attended a Bible study and remained silent because of my lack of wisdom. Funny enough the man who led the study would ask me a question now and then and I would be silent and he would remark that silence was wisdom. Little did he know my silence was due to my unfamiliarity with the Word of God. Over time I began to feel uncomfortable with the "fake it make it" thing so I began to study with those more learned than myself. In conjunction I regularly attended a congregation so as to fellowship with like-minded Believers. This was great and led me on the path of knowledge, wisdom and understanding. Now a bit more seasoned I practice, practice, practice and more practice the jewels found in the Word, the characteristics of our Messiah and still try to remain silent when appropriate. Well, I'm not perfect yet but I look forward to the day when I hear the words, "Well done good and faithful servant".

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

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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Parasha Noach & Sermon "Teach Us To Pray"

From the Rabbi's Desk

We as humans are a driven race! Every year people line up to climb Mt. Everest, for what purpose; just to climb back down and say they did it! Think about all the time, effort and money that went into sending astronauts to the moon, for what purpose; just so as to beat the Russians there and to say we did it! How about all the space exploration going on now, for what purpose; just to say we did it? Is it because we are a driven race and have to explore and accomplish things just to say that we did them? Man has gone to the extreme and has taken life threatening risks at great expense for little or no reward, other than to go up and then come down just to say that they did it. Yet, when it comes to reading the Bible and discovering Messiah Yeshua through it, which when we do, rewards a person with eternal life with God in heaven, they do not want to do it! There is no greater height, there is no more rewarding journey, there is no greater thrill than perusing after the knowledge of God. That is because there are no limits to what we can learn and there is no end to what we can apply to our lives from the study of God and the Bible.

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

I have been studying the Word of God going on forty years, yet I have still not ascended high enough nor have I journeyed far enough to glean all the truths and insights His Word contains. This should be our passionate purpose; this is what we should be driven to do as humans, because unlike all the thrills the world and space have to offer, we will not come back empty after doing it!

Hi Ellen here…We have all heard the truism: "Let go and let God", easier said than done – right! When you are struggling with something…something that is stealing your peace and eventually allowing a breach in your faith and you leave being under God's authority and come under the authority of the evil one…watch out as everything around you will fall apart. Been there? I have! Thank our Lord in heaven who has given us the Holy Spirit to convict us, give us a nudge, pick us up and direct us in the right direction. He whispers in our ear "…let go…let God." It takes practice so do not waste too much time or energy but "shema" the voice of the Lord. Remember "…it is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; He will never leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed." Deuteronomy 31.8

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

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

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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Parasha B'resheet & Sermon "The Sukkot Journey"

From the Rabbi's Desk

We all face pressures in our daily lives; time pressures, work pressures, school pressures, marriage pressures, financial pressures and on and on. How do we as Believers in Messiah Yeshua overcome all this external pressure?

Submarines can dive to incredible depths, where the external pressure has the capability of crushing the hull and destroying the sub and its crew. The hull of a submarine must be able to withstand the force created by the outside water pressure while maintaining the inside air pressure but that is not the case with us.

Psalm 118:5-6 "I called on the Lord in distress; The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place. 6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?"

Simplistically put, the psalmist is saying that the pressure on the inside of us has to exceed the pressure being exerted on us from the outside. He concludes that as long as the Lord is our life on our inside, we will not implode and will be able to withstand the pressures imposed on us from the outside. Yeshua told us:

John 16:33 "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

Divine power gives us everything we need to withstand all the pressures of life. As Peter put it:

2 Peter 1:3 "as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."

Amen

Hi Ellen here…"But Yeshua said to him, No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God." (Luke 9.62) …Oy vey, very sobering so I decided to pray and seek more about this Scripture. Of course, its context is in what a true disciple of Yeshua should be and we all in the faith desire to be just that. The above Scripture was the NKJ translation; I looked at the LBT which says, "Anyone who lets himself be distracted from the work I plan for him is not fit for the Kingdom of God." There you go…DISTRACTED! How many times have you purposed in your heart and in your mind to do what the Lord is leading you to do, mainly praying, reading the Word, attending fellowship, getting on that all too needed prayer chain and so much more. Maybe you have a Martha inclination instead of a Mary…oops that's me…God is here to help! "Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (1Corithians 15.58 NIV) …AMEN!

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

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

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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Parasha Shabbat Sukkot & Sermon "Freedom from Oppression"

Have you ever bought something and when you got it home discovered it was a knockoff, a counterfeit? Have you ever received an expensive gift and found out it was a fake? How can we protect ourselves from counterfeits, fakes? When it comes to gifts, we cannot protect ourselves from fakes, it was a gift! However, for purchases we make we can protect ourselves by watching what we buy and where and who we buy it from. The old adage is always right; "Buyer Beware".

I have been told that when the FBI trains their agents to recognize counterfeit money, they have them study the real thing very intensely, so when a counterfeit crosses their path, they can recognize it immediately. The same principle applies to false, counterfeit religions. I have come across people who think that in order to witness to Mormons or someone who practices Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism etc., they need to read and study their holy books, but nothing can be farther from the truth. If we want to be good Messianic apologists, we need to study the real thing, the Bible, God's holy, true and only instruction book to the world. The more we know about God's truth the more we will be able to detect and reject counterfeits. But in order to know what is false we must know what is true!

John 14:6 Yeshua answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

Buying, accepting, teaching or listening to counterfeits is sin, so do not be afraid to say NO when someone offers you a fake and always be ready to defend the real thing, the TRUTH!

Hi Ellen here…We write these short messages midweek so by Thursday we can send it all out, but please know all the words that are on your screen now have been prepared with prayer and supplication.

On Tuesday night following our Sukkot services Jack and I sat down to pray before we went to sleep. So many things are going on in all our lives, for sure, so prayer is the best outlet. As we prayed our petitions before the Lord most high, I spoke out and said; "Please Lord I need answers…why not leave me a note on the breakfast table – AMEN!" Well about 6:30ish A.M. I came into the kitchen and, no note. "It's OK Lord, we are still good," I said. As I settled into a new day, I pulled up the Scripture to send out to Congregation Etz Chaim, as I do every morning…lo and behold my Abba in heaven sent me a note. The passage I pulled up said; "Many hardships and perplexing circumstances confront the righteous, but the LORD rescues him from them all." (Psalms 34.19). Have you truly made GOD your hiding place (Psalms 91)? Have you truly and sincerely called out to GOD (Jeremiah 33)? Today is a good day to start refining your communication with our heavenly Father…who knows, He might leave you a note on the breakfast table tomorrow morning. Blessing to you all.

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 Ha'azinu

From the Rabbi's Desk

With all that is going on around us these days, sometimes it is hard to stay focused on God. I do not know about you but the devil sure tries his hardest to keep us preoccupied with 'to do lists,' chores, and the mundane things of life which steal our time. It is such that if we allowed our flesh to influence our spirits, we could easily find ourselves neglecting focusing on what is most important - God. The apostle Paul tells us:

Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things."

Most often when we read or hear the word 'meditate' we instantly think of eastern type meditation, which is idolatry. However, that is not what Paul is saying here. If we, as Believers in Messiah Yeshua, want to meditate on what is noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, of virtuous or praiseworthy, the only place for us to go to find such things is in the Bible. I am sorry to say that many Believers have fallen into the habit of meditating on the television, internet, social media or the daily news, more than the Word of God, things which only steals our God focusing time.

Focusing and meditating on God requires us to disconnect from the clutter of our lives and read the Bible with purpose and total concentration. We need to think about what we have read, apply it to our lives, then pray the positive things upon ourselves, learning and meditating on it throughout the day. If we follow this pattern of meditation, our minds will be filled with what is noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous and praiseworthy and God will be our focus not the world. Amen.

Hi Ellen here…We all wait a lot, right? We wait for the clothes to dry, for our dinner to cook, we wait for our kids to come home from school and we wait on life altering answers…I figure life is a lot of waiting and most times it is really hard to wait. Now I would like to share with you what the Word says about waiting and maybe many of us will receive peace as we wait. Isaiah is one of my most favorite books so read on…

Isaiah 40:29-31 "He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, 31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint."

Isaiah 64:4 "For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him."

Hosea 12:6 "So you, by the help of your God, return; Observe mercy and justice, And wait on your God continually. I like these Scriptures so much and there are many more like"

Psalm 27.14, 37.7, 38.15! We have tried to analyze things, answer things with our own finite minds and we have gone before the lord without success, without peace.

So I say to you today to wait on the Lord for the right answer and for the shalom, shalom – the perfect peace…"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer," (Romans 12.12).

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

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

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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Parasha Vayelech

Numbers 13:33 "There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."

Everyone has situations in their lives that when looked upon seem like giants. Like the children of Israel in the Scripture passage I quoted, we feel inadequate to confront them and sometimes do everything we can to avoid them, which ends up as us making the wrong choices and suffering for it, like Israel. There is, however, another way to look at giants.

Numbers 14:9 "Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them."

The problems we see as giants, God sees as our lunch, bread for a sandwich. When Yeshua taught us to pray He said:

Matthew 6:11 "Give us this day our daily bread."

Is it possible Yeshua was preparing us for our daily encounters with the giants in our lives? Was He also saying that they are not giants at all but our bread that we can eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner? So, next time we are confronted with a problem that to us appears like a giant, remember to God it is our lunch!

Hi Ellen here…Praying continually in the Spirit throughout the day and even in the night is an exercise that not only opens windows in heaven but draws us closer to the Lord. Our Abba waits to hear us not only in corporate prayer meetings or when we are on our knees in our prayer closets. Continual communication brings blessings, answers, direction, guidance and so much more. When I read the Scriptures concerning how Yeshua went up to pray and found his disciples sleeping upon His return, I am convicted but also can relate. Prayer is our hearts poured before the altar of grace and Yeshua says His grace is sufficient for us…we may not receive that house we have been praying for but our Abba has a mansion for us in heaven. BOTTOM LINE – PRAY!!!

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

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

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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Parasha Nitzavim

Luke 22:42 "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."

The greatest barrier to our prayers being answered is that we do not pray as Yeshua prayed. Yeshua always prayed in reverent and complete submission to the Father. He never imposed His will on Him but always prayed totally renouncing His will in favor of His Father's will. Many of us have developed the habit of praying by asking God for what is on our hearts, we pray for needs, healings, successes, or other things not ever taking into consideration if what we are praying for is in the will of God for us. This attitude of prayer is a carryover of our old nature as Paul tells us:

Ephesians 4:22-24 "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

Our old self was selfish and arrogant, we were used to asking for and receiving what we wanted. If we went to the boss and asked for a raise but were refused, we would either look for a new better paying job or quit. The boss's will was of no interest to us. But Paul is telling us that we have to put off that old self and put on the new self the one we received when we were saved. Our old self was not in reverent submission to God. Our new self should reflect the image of Yeshua, therefore, like Yeshua we are to be in reverent and complete submission to the Father's will.

Isaiah 55:9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts."

God sees far beyond what we see, it is impossible for us to understand what God's purposes are in any particular situation. When we pray in our old rebellious nature, we may be praying contrary to God's will, no matter what it is we are praying for (needs, healings, successes etc.). Therefore, by saying, "Your will and not my will be done," we are putting off the old selfish arrogant self and putting on the new reverent, submissive self so God will hear our prayers and answer them.

Hi Ellen here…I remember four plus years ago when my husband was undergoing treatment and he had to live at the hospital from Sunday until Thursday, wow really rough time but we got through it. I was in a very sorrowful state one day and I had to do all the banking and other errands for our household that we always did together. Standing there in the bank and trying to smile while tears were welling up in my eyes I prayed, Abba please send me someone who will be like minded, I need an encouraging face. Well, I walked out of the bank and a man approached me with a tract, a brochure, proclaiming the love of Yeshua. I almost hugged him with tears of joy thanking Abba for hearing my prayer. I can embellish this five minute in my life but I think we got the picture. God has created a community of like minded believers in our lives if we would only reach out to Him. When we are shopping or at a restaurant do we look around to see the prettiest girl or how she is dressed? When we are driving do we notice the nicest car or SUV? Try to see outside the box and ask Abba to give us the ability to see what He sees. Maybe He will show us someone in need of help, or a prayer, maybe an offering of food…God is able even if we aren't…remember try to see with our Father's eyes.

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

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

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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Parasha Ki Tavo

There are Believers who do not quite understand what their position is in Messiah Yeshua so let me explain. We are more than many of us give ourselves credit for. Certainly, none of us were saved (Born Again) through our own efforts, definitely not by doing good deeds or because we were a good person. We all were saved by the finished work of our Lord Messiah Yeshua. In accepting Him as our Lord and Savior we are now in Him, which means we are no longer our old self, we have put on the character of Messiah Yeshua and He is now our true selves. At the moment of salvation our identity before God changed. God no longer looks at us in our human struggles, in His eyes our old selves died with Messiah Yeshua on the Cross and our new selves were resurrected with Him. The fact is, Yeshua did not just die for us He died as us. As far as God is concerned the "I" that sins is no longer alive, that person is dead.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Messiah; it is no longer I who live, but Messiah lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

The apostle Paul is saying that we should stop looking at ourselves, our faults, our failures, our sins and we should look at Yeshua because He is who we are now. So, if we sin, and we will, God no longer looks at us to judge us, He looks at Yeshua because Yeshua is the new us; that is what it means to be in Messiah Yeshua.

Yeshua is all God and all man but He did not die as God He died as man and when He resurrected, He resurrected as man and He is now sitting at the right Hand of the Father as man, the perfect man that paid for all our sins, so God now sees Yeshua as us, perfect! That is why we can say; "There is no condemnation in Messiah Yeshua." Satan can no longer condemn us because we are now the holiness of God in Messiah Yeshua. God can bless us because He looks at Yeshua as who we are. Therefore, we must never sell ourselves short or be down on ourselves because of what salvation means.

1 John 4:17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.

This is a Divine declaration of fact, as Yeshua is so are we. Satan cannot condemn us because he cannot see our sin, Yeshua took them all, past, present and future. We do not have to try to overcome lust or anger or anything else because Yeshua overcame it all for us; we just need to trust and rest in Him!

Hi Ellen here…I awoke the other morning and after beginning the usual things…preparing lemon water, praying…we began our day. As I arranged all the ingredients for my cooking, I experienced an overflow of water. What I mean is every time I put my hand to do something with water it either overflowed, wasn't enough or boiled over…what is going on Lord? As I grow in the Lord, I see Him in everything. I had been thinking of what to write for this week's mini message and I felt the Lord working in my spirit. I opened my email and there was a commentary by this most blessed woman that I communicate with …" The Fascinating Symbolism of Water in the Bible". Okay I got the message O God most High. I pondered many of the references she talked about. Jack and I read about water in Jeremiah and Ezekiel that same day but the reference I most felt was in Revelation 22.17 "…The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price." It's free, His Salvation, His Living Water and so much more. You don't need to pay the price the He paid for our lives…it is free! Come and drink!

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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Elul Day 20

Elul 20

Song 2:14, ""O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely."

"…In the cleft of the rock," is that not where God hid Moses when he asked if he could see His Face? God was in the still small voice. The imagery of this verse is about the Beloved (Yeshua) and His Bride (the Church). First, Yeshua calls His Bride "My dove." Doves, as previously mentioned, are monogamous, they are innocent and gentle and this is how Yeshua sees His Saved Bride. So, He protects her in a location of safety, the cleft of the rock, then He asks to see her face.

Ezra 9:6 and prayed: "I am too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift up my face to you, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens."

Yeshua no longer see us as sinners, we are His righteousness, therefore, there is no longer any need for the Bride to hide her face because of the same of her sin, it has been removed by the shedding of our Beloved's blood.

"…let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet," Before salvation our voices were not lifted up in worship to the Lord, our singing was for our own pleasure and not for the Lord's. Now, as the Bride, Yeshua loves to hear our voice in praise and worship of Him no matter what our quality of singing; it all sounds sweet to Him.

Psalm 44:15 "I live in disgrace all day long, and my face is covered with shame."

"…and your face is lovely." Again, Yeshua reminds His Bride that she no longer has any need to hide her face from Him, her shame has been removed. She can now turn her eyes to Him and He will look upon her in love, all shame, guilt and condemnation have been removed.

Songs 2:15," Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes."

With this verse Yeshua is warning His Bride to beware of the little foxes of compromise that could enter her life. Foxes (Satan) is the enemy that comes into Yeshua's harvest field to steal, kill and destroy, especially when the Bride is a tender and new Believer.

Prayer: Hide me in your secret place O Lord and look upon my face, for my eyes are turned to you in all repentance. Receive my praise and worship and keep me from all compromise.

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

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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Elul Day 18

Song of Songs 2:10 "My beloved speaks and says to me, "Arise, my love, my fair one,""

And come away. 11 "For behold, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone. 12 'The flowers appear on the earth once again; The time for singing has come, And the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land".

Winter is the cold, rainy season in Israel; it runs normally from November (after Sukkot) to approximately April (After Passover). During this time the ground drinks, up the rain and the ground is softened in preparation for the spring planting. During the month of February, a great miracle occurs as the countryside springs forth with 2500 different species of beautiful wild flowers as the landscape springs forth into life.

In our scripture from Songs of Songs today Yeshua calls His Bride out of the winter darkness, which represents her life before salvation into her new springtime life filled with beauty and songs of praise.

"...And the voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land."

The Turtle Dove is a very beautiful and innocent bird. It appears in Judea early in the

spring, when the leaves are coming out, the flowers are opening, and everything is looking lovely and beautiful. It is also a very gentle and peaceful bird and, in this verse, it symbolizes the gentleness and peace the Bride will have when she rests in Yeshua.

This is the eighteenth day of Elul. In Hebrew the number 18 (Chai) stands for life. Today you are a new creation with a new vision…take hold of Life. The winter has passed, the spring has come so arise and come away with your Beloved As you listen to the shofar sound, let it speak life into you today.

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

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

Listen to the sound of the Shofar

Elul Day 17

Elul 17

Psalm 27:1, The LORD is my light…….

Each day as Ellen and I put on the full armor of God we pray that God would uproot, tear down and destroy Satan's kingdom of darkness and that He would plant, raise up and establish His Kingdom of Light.

John 1:5, (AMP) "And the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it [put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it]"

Satan cannot operate in light and as soon as God's light pierces His darkness, he is exposed and must flee. There is a war going on in the heavenlies and it is a war between Light and darkness, however, as long as the Lord is our Light we will be safe and secure.

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Messiah Yeshua His Son cleanses us from all sin.

The Blood of Yeshua is a powerful weapon in our war against the powers of darkness. Satan can only enter our lives if there are areas of hidden unconfessed darkness (sin) in us. Children of God should be constantly applying the Blood of Yeshua over their lives in faith, knowing that His blood is the Light that pierces Satan's darkness.

Blood has a voice as we are told in Genesis 4:10. God heard the voice of the blood of Abel crying out from the ground but there is a far better and greater voice that cries out on our behalf.

Hebrews 12:24 to Yeshua the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

Light travels at a speed of 299,274 kilometers per second. Anything that travels that fast must produce a sound or vibration of such a high pitch that it is heard in the heavenlies. During these forty days of repentance do not neglect to apply the Blood of Yeshua over your life because His Blood lights up the spirit realm that pierces Satan's darkness.

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

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

Listen to the sound of the Shofar

Elul Day 16

Elul 16

Song 1:15, "Behold, you are fair, my love! Behold, you are fair! You have dove's eyes."

Yesterday we learned how amazing it is when we take our eyes off ourselves, our inadequacies and self-consciousness and put them on Yeshua. In today's verse from Song of Songs the King continues to lift His Bride out of her feelings of worthlessness by telling her that it does not matter how she sees herself, it is how He sees her that is important and to Him we are fair. Notice that the King repeats this phrase twice; "Behold, you are fair, my love! Behold, you are fair!" The enemy will always try to put us down but Yeshua, when we look to Him, will always lift us out of our depression and feelings of worthlessness because to Him we are fair.

If you every had the feeling that God has abandoned you this verse should disperse that feeling because in it Yeshua addresses us as "My Love." To me this is one of the most beautiful terms of endearment. I often address my wife as 'my love' because she is so precious to me, how comforting it is to know that our King Yeshua thinks the same of us.

"You have dove's eyes." Look at the imagery here. First, the dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, He connects our spirit to the Spirit of Yeshua. Second, doves are monogamous and have the same mate for life, and finally, doves only see ahead of them, they have no peripheral vision so they are single focused. What a beautiful picture has been painted for us in this one short verse of our relationship with our Beloved. Perhaps we will never look at a dove the same way again.

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

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

Listen to the sound of the Shofar