And it came to pass, when he reigned, that he smote all of the house of Jeroboam; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according unto the saying of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite: Because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made Israel sin, by his provocation wherewith he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger. 1 Kings 15:29-30

Jeroboam was the first king of the northern kingdom after the civil war in which Israel divided into two kingdoms. Jeroboam initially was part of Yahweh God’s plan, but he made some poor decisions which caused him to eventually be an enemy of God. There are many references to Jeroboam, even after his death. These references usually say something like this:

2Ki 15:8 In the thirty and eighth year of Azariah king of Judah did Zachariah the son of Jeroboam reign over Israel in Samaria six months.
2Ki 15:9 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

2Ki 15:17 In the nine and thirtieth year of Azariah king of Judah began Menahem the son of Gadi to reign over Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria.
2Ki 15:18 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

2Ki 15:23 In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned two years.
2Ki 15:24 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

2Ki 15:27 In the two and fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned twenty years.
2Ki 15:28 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

There are different ways to distinguish people from one another so they are not confused with anyone else. Today, we have first and last names, addresses and numbers issued by governments to distinguish our identities. Twenty-five hundred years ago, a person’s name was often followed the name of their father, much like Jeroboam the son of Nebat. This was obviously done to set them apart from anyone with the same name, so the person could say, “I mean this certain Jeroboam”. How would you like a key identifier in your name to be recorded in scripture as Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin? This tells us what Jeroboam did was very bad in the sight of Yahweh, so bad, that the sins of the people for years to come, would be identified by what Jeroboam did.

Jeroboam started out as part of Yahweh’s plan, and Jeroboam, for the most part had good intentions. He is introduced when Solomon is still king over a united, twelve tribe kingdom.

1Ki 11:28 And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valour: and Solomon seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph.

The house of Joseph referred to, is Ephraim and Manasseh, Joseph’s sons, which usually refers to the tribes of the northern kingdom. Unfortunately, some will immediately think of the LDS church with this type of terminology, but the book of Kings predates that theological system, and Joseph Smith, by more than a couple thousand years. If that holds anyone back from understanding the truth, remember that deception is mixed with a lot of truth to make it believable and deceptive at the same time. As we read on, Jeroboam is picked by Yahweh to be a leader.

1Ki 11:29 And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field:
1Ki 11:30 And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces:
1Ki 11:31 And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:
1Ki 11:32 (But he shall have one tribe for my servant David’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:)
1Ki 11:33 Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father.
1Ki 11:34 Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand: but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant’s sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my statutes:
1Ki 11:35 But I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand, and will give it unto thee, even ten tribes.
1Ki 11:36 And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there.
1Ki 11:37 And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel.
1Ki 11:38 And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee.
1Ki 11:39 And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for ever.
1Ki 11:40 Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
1Ki 11:41 And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?
1Ki 11:42 And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.
1Ki 11:43 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

These verses have huge impact on history. Yahweh gave Jeroboam ten tribes from Solomon, because Solomon sinned by using symbols of foreign gods, setting up altars to foreign gods and did not follow Yahweh’s instructions or walk in his ways. Here is all Jeroboam had to do to be successful: “if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee”.

Jeroboam didn’t have to be shamed forever by having the reputation of causing Israel to sin. The northern kingdom of Israel did not need to be scattered among the nations of the Earth, and Yahweh may have brought the split kingdom back together again if Jeroboam was obedient. What did Jeroboam do that was so grievous to God?

1Ki 12:25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel.
1Ki 12:26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David:
1Ki 12:27 If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
1Ki 12:28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
1Ki 12:29 And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.
1Ki 12:30 And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.

Jeroboam was afraid that if the people he was leader over followed Yahweh’s instructions to return to Jerusalem three times a year for the feasts of Yahweh God, they would become loyal to the king of the southern kingdom, Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, and he would lose his power. The logical thing in his mind was to make his own feast day to Yahweh, on a day Yahweh did not command, and make some golden calves to go along with it, at places Yahweh did not command, so everyone could stay close to home. Much like people today, Jeroboam did not study or know scripture, so he did not remember what happened when Aaron tried the same thing while Moses was on Mount Horeb receiving the Ten Commandments.

Exo 32:3 And all the people took off the rings of gold that were on their ears and brought it to Aaron.
Exo 32:4 And he took from their hand, and he shaped it with a tool, and he made it a cast-image bull calf, and they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”
Exo 32:5 And Aaron saw, and he built an altar before it, and Aaron called, and he said, “A feast for Yahweh tomorrow.”
Exo 32:6 And they started early the next day, and they offered burnt offerings, and they presented fellowship offerings, and the people sat to eat and drink, and they rose up to revel.

Something I never realized until a few years ago, is that in Exodus chapter 32 verse 5, Aaron and the people were using the golden calf to represent Yahweh. In verse 4, the Hebrew word there for gods is Strong’s H433, Eloheem, which can refer to Yahweh, capital G God, or simply gods. Based on verse 5, it clearly is referring to Eloheem capital G God, Yahweh, hence the confusion associated with this story. The same word is used in first Kings 12:28, which shows Jeroboam was using the calves like Aaron, to represent Yahweh.

Jeroboam makes the same mistake and sets up his phoney feast day for Yahweh out of complete ignorance of scripture and the nature of the creator of the cosmos. What does this say about our feast days, with all the symbolism of the gods of the nations described throughout scripture, and that the whole world embraces along with us? Just a question.

Jeroboam does not stop there though. It looks like idolatry with good intentions will lead to more idolatry. When a person, or group of people, justify breaking one of Yahweh’s commandments, it leads them down the path to break them all, then completely forget them. At some point down this path, one begins worshipping a different god or gods, strange gods, and is no longer worshipping Yahweh.

1Ki 12:31 And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
1Ki 12:32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.
1Ki 12:33 So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.

What was Jeroboam’s great sin that gave him the name Jeroboam, son of Nebat, the one who made Israel sin? He devised a feast day in his own heart, a holy day, that was not ordained by Yahweh in scripture, along with making an image of Yahweh and worshipping it. This lead him down the path of worshipping all the foreign gods of the nations that Yahweh specifically commanded us not to do. Here is how it ended for Jeroboam, and ultimately the prophecy came to pass and the Northern Kingdom was scattered among the nations, given over to the gods they worshipped.

1Ki 14:1 At that time, Abijah son of Jeroboam became ill.
1Ki 14:2 Jeroboam said to his wife, “Please get up and disguise yourself so that they will not know that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Look, Ahijah the prophet is there, and he spoke concerning me before I became king over this people.
1Ki 14:3 You must take ten loaves of bread in your hand and cakes and a jar of honey, and you must go to him. He shall tell you what will happen to the boy.”
1Ki 14:4 The wife of Jeroboam did so. She got up, went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah was not able to see, for his eyes were fixed because of his old age.
1Ki 14:5 Then Yahweh said to Ahijah, “Look, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to seek a word from you about her son, for he is ill. Thus and so you shall say to her. When she comes, she will be disguising herself.”
1Ki 14:6 It happened at the moment Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps coming through the doorway, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why are you making yourself unrecognizable? I have been sent a hard message for you:
1Ki 14:7 Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: “Because I raised you from the midst of the people and I made you leader over my people Israel,
1Ki 14:8 I tore the kingdom from the house of David and I gave it to you. But you were not like my servant David who kept my commandments, and who went after me with all his heart, to do only what is right in my eyes.
1Ki 14:9 But you did more evil than all who were before you. You have gone and made for yourself other gods and molten idols to provoke me, but me you have completely disregarded.
1Ki 14:10 Therefore, look, I am about to bring disaster upon the house of Jeroboam, and I will cut off males from Jeroboam, bond or free, in Israel. I will burn after the house of Jeroboam as one burns after the manure, until it is finished.
1Ki 14:11 He who dies for Jeroboam in the city, the dogs will eat. He who dies in the open field, the birds from the heavens will eat, for Yahweh has spoken it.”‘
1Ki 14:12 As for you, get up. Go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the child will die.
1Ki 14:13 All of Israel will mourn for him, and they will bury him. This one alone will come to a tomb for Jeroboam, because a good thing has been found in him by Yahweh the God of Israel in the house of Israel.
1Ki 14:14 Yahweh will raise up a king for himself over Israel who will even now cut off the house of Jeroboam this day.
1Ki 14:15 Yahweh will strike Israel as one shakes the reed plant in the water, and he will root Israel up from this good land that he gave to their ancestors. He will scatter them beyond the River because they have made their sacred poles which are provoking Yahweh.
1Ki 14:16 He will give up Israel because of the sin of Jeroboam which he sinned and which he caused Israel to sin.”
1Ki 14:17 Then the wife of Jeroboam got up, went, and came to Tirzah. As she was coming to the threshold of the house, the boy died.
1Ki 14:18 They buried him and all of Israel mourned for him, according to the word of Yahweh which he had spoken by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet.

If you study and do some research, it is not hard to understand the symbology of sacred poles, groves, the mystery religions, sun god worship, and mythology. It all exists today, in 2020, and we are seeing its fruits. It was also prophesied that at some point in the future, after Israel was scattered among the nations, they would wake up and realize what was going on.

Jer 16:14 Therefore look, days are coming,’ declares Yahweh, ‘and it will no longer be said, “As Yahweh lives, who led up the Israelites from the land of Egypt,”
Jer 16:15 but only “As Yahweh lives, who led up the Israelites from the land of the north, and from all the lands where he had driven them,” for I will bring them back to their ground that I gave to their ancestors.
Jer 16:16 Look, I am sending for many fishermen,’ declares Yahweh, ‘and they will fish them out, and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and from the clefts of the cliffs.
Jer 16:17 For my eyes are on all their ways, they are not hidden from before me, and their iniquity is not concealed from before my eyes.
Jer 16:18 And I will first doubly repay their iniquity and their sin because of their profaning my land with the dead bodies of their abhorrences, and with their abominations they have filled up my inheritance.'”
Jer 16:19 O Yahweh, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of distress, to you the nations will come from the ends of the earth, and they will say, “Our ancestors have inherited only lies, vanity, and there is no profit in them.
Jer 16:20 Can a human make for himself gods? Yet they are not gods!”
Jer 16:21 “Therefore look, I am about to let them know, this time I am going to let them know my power and my might, and they will know that my name is Yahweh.”

Know Yahweh, יהוה by his name, and his expectations. Jesus came and explained it to the people that were alive at that time, and his words are for us as well.

Mar 7:6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
Mar 7:7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Mar 7:8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
Mar 7:9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

Mat 11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
Mat 11:26 Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.
Mat 11:27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
Mat 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Mat 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Don’t be a Jeroboam.

Featured image taken by Emma Vail in New Brunswick, Canada.

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What is more pleasing to a parent, a child who continually rebels and then apologizes, or one that is obedient? Children have to be taught what is expected of them, and they will often challenge instruction, causing the need for correction. As a parent, it is pleasing to see a child learn what is expected through teaching and correction. Sometimes children will knowingly disobey, then say they are sorry. After a while, the cycle of doing the same things wrong and apologizing becomes tiresome to a parent, and they would prefer the child to obey and not have to apologize or be continually corrected. This was the way it was with the children of Israel. Their way of apologizing for breaking Yahweh’s commandments was to sacrifice certain animals. Thankfully, after the coming of the Messiah, Jesus, that sacrificial system is not applicable to believers. However, we can offer a sacrifice of praise, thanksgiving, and ourselves as a living sacrifice.

Heb 13:15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

Rom 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Yahweh preferred obedience over sacrifice because if there was obedience, there was no need for sacrifice. This becomes apparent when King Saul was disobedient. The whole premise of Israel having a king was not in Yahweh’s plan. Yahweh was supposed be the King of Israel. Yet the people wanted to be like the other nations and have an earthly king over them.

1Sa 8:4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah
1Sa 8:5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
1Sa 8:6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD.
1Sa 8:7 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
1Sa 8:8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you.
1Sa 8:9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”

Yahweh God viewed Israel’s desire to have a king as a flat out rejection of Him as King. This was not a surprise to God because He told Moses and His people this would happen. They were continually on a roller coaster of obedience and disobedience. Why do His people today think they are different from His people then? Malachi 3:6 says, “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.”

Moses spoke to the people and told them they will be scattered throughout the earth for their disobedience. At some point in the future, they will also return to the ways of Yahweh and be regathered. This theme is found throughout the Old Testament.

Deu 30:1 “And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you,
Deu 30:2 and return to the LORD your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul,
Deu 30:3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you.
Deu 30:4 If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there he will take you.
Deu 30:5 And the LORD your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers.

Israel wasn’t scattered until much later than the time of Moses, after they continually bounced back and forth between obedience and disobedience, after King Saul, David and Solomon. It was not until Assyria took the northern kingdom captive and Babylon conquered the southern kingdom, that God’s people were completely scattered. Yahweh spared a remnant from the two tribes of the southern kingdom for his servant David’s sake who eventually returned and rebuilt the temple. Yet the prophecy in Deuteronomy still has not been fulfilled. Yahweh’s people never returned to do all that he commanded as a whole. When Judah returned from Babylonian captivity they brought volumes of commandments with them they picked up in Babylon, namely the Talmud. Jesus continually was at odds with the teachings of the Talmud, which many in the church today confuse with the Torah, Yahweh God’s instruction to His people. Even in 1948, when Israel became a nation again, the Deuteronomy prophecy was not fulfilled. The closest fulfillment we have seen was at the feast of Shavuot, in Acts chapter two, where many from the tribes were gathered for the feast and thousands were saved.

Continuing with Saul, we see he foolishly breaks Yahweh’s commandment by not waiting for the priest, Samuel to sacrifice.

1Sa 13:8 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him.
1Sa 13:9 So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering.
1Sa 13:10 As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him.
1Sa 13:11 Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash,
1Sa 13:12 I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.”
1Sa 13:13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.
1Sa 13:14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”

The next time Saul does not obey the words of Yahweh, Samuel has to correct him again. Yahweh prefers obedience over sacrifice, and he likens rebellion to divination and idolatry.

1Sa 15:10 The word of the LORD came to Samuel:
1Sa 15:11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the LORD all night.
1Sa 15:12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.”
1Sa 15:13 And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the LORD. I have performed the commandment of the LORD.”
1Sa 15:14 And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?”
1Sa 15:15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the LORD your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.”
1Sa 15:16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the LORD said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”
1Sa 15:17 And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel.
1Sa 15:18 And the LORD sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’
1Sa 15:19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the LORD?”
1Sa 15:20 And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the LORD. I have gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction.
1Sa 15:21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.”
1Sa 15:22 And 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 listen than the fat of rams.
1Sa 15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.” Jesus says something similar, quoting Hosea 6:6.

Mat 9:13  Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” 

The people of God will be gathered again. Jeremiah speaks of this gathering which will be greater than being delivered from Egypt. This clearly has not happened yet.

Jer 16:14 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it shall no longer be said, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’
Jer 16:15 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers.

Another prophesy by Isaiah has also not been fully realized.

Isa 11:1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
Isa 11:2 And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
Isa 11:3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
Isa 11:4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Isa 11:5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
Isa 11:6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.
Isa 11:7 The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
Isa 11:8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
Isa 11:9 They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
Isa 11:10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.
Isa 11:11 In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.
Isa 11:12 He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
Isa 11:13 The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart, and those who harass Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
Isa 11:14 But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west, and together they shall plunder the people of the east. They shall put out their hand against Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites shall obey them.
Isa 11:15 And the LORD will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt, and will wave his hand over the River with his scorching breath, and strike it into seven channels, and he will lead people across in sandals.
Isa 11:16 And there will be a highway from Assyria for the remnant that remains of his people, as there was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt.

Many things have not happened in these verses of Isaiah. His people must return to Him and His ways, because we will see these prophesies fulfilled. If you are one of Yahweh God’s people, these things apply to you. Paul told us that there is no longer Jew or Greek, we are one in Christ. That must mean that we his people, are the ones being spoken of in the future.

Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

Jesus speaks of this gathering Isaiah spoke of, taking place at the time of his second coming.

Mat 24:29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Mat 24:30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Mat 24:31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Paul reaffirms this in his letters to the Thessalonians. How many people are under this strong delusion today? Paul said people will reject the truth, have pleasure in unrighteousness, and believe lies. Where is truth and righteousness found except in the living Word of God?

2Th 2:1 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers,
2Th 2:2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
2Th 2:3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
2Th 2:4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
2Th 2:5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
2Th 2:6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.
2Th 2:8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.
2Th 2:9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders,
2Th 2:10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
2Th 2:11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,
2Th 2:12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Another verse in Deuteronomy speaks of the latter days, which is now, or sometime in the future. It is speaking to the people of God, not some future remnant of one tribe, because we are all one in Jesus now, grafted into the Commonwealth of Israel.

Deu 4:27 And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you.
Deu 4:28 And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
Deu 4:29 But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deu 4:30 When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice.
Deu 4:31 For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.

Jeremiah speaks of an awakening in the future where the people of the nations will realize they have been led into sun worship idolatry, images of jealousy polluting the holy things of God, and have inherited lies. Don’t be in that group, “But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Jer 16:19 O LORD, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in the day of trouble, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth and say: “Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, worthless things in which there is no profit.
Jer 16:20 Can man make for himself gods? Such are not gods!”
Jer 16:21 “Therefore, behold, I will make them know, this once I will make them know my power and my might, and they shall know that my name is the LORD.”

Also, remember that God’s name is not “the LORD”. That is a substitution the translators used for His real name, יהוה, which I use the transliteration Yahweh, a widely accepted English representation of יהוה. Verse 21 above would be more accurate as such: “Therefore, behold, I will make them know, this once I will make them know my power and my might, and they shall know that my name is יהוה [Yahweh].”

How will the deception come? How has deception come? It has and will continue to come through the false shepherds, priests and prophets. Just as Yahweh speaks through Isaiah, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”

Jer 23:1 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD.
Jer 23:2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD.
Jer 23:3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply.
Jer 23:4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD.
Jer 23:5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

Jer 23:9 Concerning the prophets: My heart is broken within me; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, like a man overcome by wine, because of the LORD and because of his holy words.
Jer 23:10 For the land is full of adulterers; because of the curse the land mourns, and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. Their course is evil, and their might is not right.
Jer 23:11 “Both prophet and priest are ungodly; even in my house I have found their evil, declares the LORD.
Jer 23:12 Therefore their way shall be to them like slippery paths in the darkness, into which they shall be driven and fall, for I will bring disaster upon them in the year of their punishment, declares the LORD.
Jer 23:13 In the prophets of Samaria I saw an unsavory thing: they prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray.
Jer 23:14 But in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies; they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his evil; all of them have become like Sodom to me, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”
Jer 23:15 Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets: “Behold, I will feed them with bitter food and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone out into all the land.”
Jer 23:16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.
Jer 23:17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”

Isa 5:18 Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin as with cart ropes,
Isa 5:19 who say: “Let him be quick, let him speed his work that we may see it; let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near, and let it come, that we may know it!”
Isa 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
Isa 5:21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!
Isa 5:22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
Isa 5:23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right!
Isa 5:24 Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and as dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root will be as rottenness, and their blossom go up like dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts, and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

I like exposing people to writings by early church fathers because it shows what the early church was like and what they believed 100 to 300 years after Jesus and the apostles walked the Earth. The following is from the Shepherd of Hermas, which was considered canonical in the early church by some. There is some discrepancy as to who the author is, one possibility being Hermas who Paul greets in one of his letters. Some date it to a later 2nd century writing. Regardless, it has been generally ignored by the modern church. Here the discussion is about fasting, which could be likened to sacrifice. What type of fasting is more advantageous?

Shepherd of Hermas,The Pastor,Chapter 3, Part 1 : While fasting and sitting on a certain mountain, and giving thanks to the Lord for all His dealings with me, I see the Shepherd sitting down beside me, and saying, “Why have you come hither [so] early in the morning?” “Because, sir,” I answered, “I have a station. “What is a station?” he asked. “I am fasting, sir,” I replied. “What is this fasting,” he continued, “which you are observing?” “As I have been accustomed, sir,” I reply, “so I fast.” “You do not know,” he says, “how to fast unto the Lord: this useless fasting which you observe to Him is of no value.” “Why, sir,” I answered, “do you say this?” “I say to you,” he continued, “that the fasting which you think you observe is not a fasting. But I will teach you what is a full and acceptable fasting to the Lord. Listen,” he continued: “God does not desire such an empty fasting. For fasting to God in this way you will do nothing for a righteous life; but offer to God a fasting of the following kind: Do no evil in your life, and serve the Lord with a pure heart: keep His commandments, walking in His precepts, and let no evil desire arise in your heart; and believe in God. If you do these things, and fear Him, and abstain from every evil thing, you will live unto God; and if you do these things, you will keep a great fast, and one acceptable before God.”

Learn Yahweh’s commandments, his ways, sabbaths and feasts. Practice now, His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Keep the great fast.

Mat 11:25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children;
Mat 11:26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
Mat 11:27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
Mat 11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Mat 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Featured image taken by Emma Vail at Humarock, Massachusetts.

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Those who know me understand the importance I place on quality bread. I started making bread from organic, stone ground flour and from ancient grains seven years ago. However, at the time, I didn’t realize the significance of bread concerning the ancient people of Yahweh, and His instructions regarding bread. Also, there are many instances of bread used as symbolism concerning the Word of God, the body of Jesus, and the comparison of bread being a life giving gift of Yahweh through Jesus, the bread of life. In the very beginning of humanity, bread is shown being part of Adam’s new life outside the garden of Eden after rebelling against Yahweh’s one instruction to not eat fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

John 6:51 “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Gen 3:17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
Gen 3:18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.
Gen 3:19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

The Hebrew word for bread is Strong’s H3898, which implies waging war, and the Ancient Hebrew Lexicon likens the war to that of kneading bread.

H3898
לָחַם
lâcham
law-kham’
A primitive root; to feed on; figuratively to consume; by implication to battle (as destruction): – devour, eat, X ever, fight (-ing), overcome, prevail, (make) war (-ring).

H3899
H3899 = AHLB# 2305 (N)
2305) Flour and water are mixed together and kneaded. Also war in the sense of fighting with the bread when kneading. [from: mh – food]

With food shortages likely in the future, the inordinate weather patterns and the corruption of wholesome food by methods of mass production and greed, I have been wondering how to maintain my supply of raw materials to make bread. In order to make bread a person needs grain and a way to grind it into flour. These thoughts I have are inspired by the following verse in Deuteronomy:

Deu 24:6 “No one shall take a mill or an upper millstone in pledge, for that would be taking a life in pledge.

Written in the instruction given to us to live a successful life on earth by Yahweh, יהוה, is the command that we are not to take someone’s millstone as a payment or pledge. This is the means of a person producing their daily bread from grain, and ability to eat. So, if we are not to take this away from someone, how much more important is it to possess one in the first place?

Yahweh gave two outcomes for his people regarding how they treat the instructions he gave them. The first outcome is blessings for obedience.

Lev 26:1 “You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the LORD your God.
Lev 26:2 You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.
Lev 26:3 “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them,
Lev 26:4 then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
Lev 26:5 Your threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing. And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land securely.

On a side note, verse two mentions keeping His Sabbaths, which is plural, meaning the days he set apart, not just the weekly Sabbath. Please see What are he Feasts of the Lord, יהוה? for more information on that subject.

The alternate outcome for not obeying Yahweh’s instruction is also given, and clearly the path the majority of people on earth continue to take.

Lev 26:14 “But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments,
Lev 26:15 if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant,
Lev 26:16 then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

Lev 26:25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall execute vengeance for the covenant. And if you gather within your cities, I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
Lev 26:26 When I break your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven and shall dole out your bread again by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.

Since we are focusing on bread, I have only included the verses that are relevant. What describes mass produced, highly processed, bleached, chemical injected bread, better than Leviticus 26:26? “When I break your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven and shall dole out your bread again by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.”. As of late bread has been accused of causing heart disease, but pure bread will not do this as we see recorded in scripture. Notice here also, that wine was given by Yahweh “to gladden the heart of man”, where bread was given to “strengthen man’s heart.

Psa 104:14 You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth
Psa 104:15 and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart.

I believe this is literally true, but it also has a deeper meaning. The bread and wine are used throughout scripture. The high priest of Yahweh, Melchizedek brings out the bread and wine after Abram’s war of the nine kings.

Gen 14:17 After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).
Gen 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)
Gen 14:19 And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;
Gen 14:20 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

In an extra-biblical text named Jasher, there is much more on the life of Abraham. The book gets more archeological and historical support as we keep learning; however, many still discredit the book. Here is the part where Melchizedek arrives in the book of Jasher, and in this account he is named as Shem, the son of Noah.

And Adoniy-Tsedeq king of Yerushalayim, the same was Shem, went out with his men to meet Avram and his people, with bread and wine, and they remained together in the valley of Melek. And Adoniy-Tsedeq blessed Avram, and Avram gave him a tenth from all that he had brought from the spoil of his enemies, for Adoniy-Tsedeq was a priest before ELOHIYM. YASHAR (JASHER) 16:11-12 את CEPHER

Melchizedek is often referred to as a proper name, a mysterious person who has no beginning or end, and some will say that this is actually Jesus meeting with Abram. This is possible, but more likely Melchizedek is a title of priest and King, an established order separate from the Levite priest system, where Jesus is the first and final holder of the title. We can see in scripture more on Melchizedek.

Psa 110:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”
Psa 110:2 The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies!
Psa 110:3 Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours.
Psa 110:4 The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
Psa 110:5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
Psa 110:6 He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth.
Psa 110:7 He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.

If we look at the word Melchizedek in Hebrew, it is actually two words: Strong’s H4428, Melek, מלכ, which translates to king, and Strong’s H6664, צדק, which translates to righteousness, justness, and of law just to name a few definitions.

H4442
מלכּי־צדק
malkı̂ẏtsedeq
BDB Definition:
Melchizedek = “my king is Sedek”
1) king of Salem and priest of the Most High God to whom Abram paid tithe after the battle he fought to free Lot; ‘the order of Melchizedek’ the order of the priesthood to which Christ belongs

H4428
מלך
melek
BDB Definition:
1) king

H6664
צדק
tsedeq
BDB Definition:
1) justice, rightness, righteousness
1a) what is right or just or normal, rightness, justness (of weights and measures)
1b) righteousness (in government)
1b1) of judges, rulers, kings
1b2) of law
1b3) of Davidic king, Messiah
1b4) of Jerusalem as seat of just government
1b5) of God’s attribute
1c) righteousness, justice (in case or cause)
1d) rightness (in speech)
1e) righteousness (as ethically right)
1f) righteousness (as vindicated), justification (in controversy), deliverance, victory, prosperity
1f1) of God as covenant-keeping in redemption
1f2) in name of Messianic king
1f3) of people enjoying salvation
1f4) of Cyrus

The writer of Hebrews plainly tells us it is Jesus who now holds position of Melchizedek, and that it is a priestly order.

Heb 4:14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
Heb 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 4:16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Heb 5:1 For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.
Heb 5:2 He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness.
Heb 5:3 Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people.
Heb 5:4 And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was.
Heb 5:5 So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”;
Heb 5:6 as he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”
Heb 5:7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.
Heb 5:8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.
Heb 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,
Heb 5:10 being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

This is where we get the title of king and priest for Melchizedek, moreover, Jacob prophesies over Judah this very thing. Jesus fulfills this prophecy by being the king, law giver and high priest.

Gen 49:8 Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee.
Gen 49:9 Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
Gen 49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
Gen 49:11 Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:
Gen 49:12 His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.

Jesus, our high priest in heaven, speaks much of bread and uses it to discuss topics of great depth. The day after feeding the five thousand with just a few loaves and fish, many of the people return to hear Jesus.

Joh 6:26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.
Joh 6:27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”
Joh 6:28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”
Joh 6:29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
Joh 6:30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?
Joh 6:31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

Joh 6:32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
Joh 6:33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
Joh 6:34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
Joh 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
Joh 6:36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.
Joh 6:37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
Joh 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.
Joh 6:39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
Joh 6:40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Joh 6:52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
Joh 6:53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
Joh 6:54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
Joh 6:55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.
Joh 6:56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.
Joh 6:57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.
Joh 6:58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

The people didn’t understand the bread Jesus was speaking of. He would shed his blood and give his body for the sin of the world. Many of them left when they heard him say these things. He explains more before he becomes the sacrificial lamb at Passover.

Luk 22:14 And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him.
Luk 22:15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
Luk 22:16 For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
Luk 22:17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves.
Luk 22:18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
Luk 22:19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
Luk 22:20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

The bread He gives is his life and the wine is his shed blood. This is the new covenant He established with those who are willing to join Him. Please see my blog Lost Identity and the New Covenant for more on this subject. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”, but how do we believe? James said, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe”. Jesus tells us how, and that he will send His Spirit to help us.

Joh 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
Joh 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
Joh 14:17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
Joh 14:18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
Joh 14:19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.
Joh 14:20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
Joh 14:21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
Joh 14:22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?”
Joh 14:23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
Joh 14:24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

Paul tells us natural man cannot discern the things of Yahweh God without His Spirit. That is why the things of Yahweh or Yah (יה) are foolishness to those without God.

1Co 2:6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away.
1Co 2:7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.
1Co 2:8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
1Co 2:9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—
1Co 2:10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
1Co 2:11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
1Co 2:12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.
1Co 2:13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
1Co 2:14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
1Co 2:15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.
1Co 2:16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

How do we get this Wisdom from God and partake in the new covenant, and eat the bread of life? We ask for it, just as Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Matthew.

Mat 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Mat 7:8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
Mat 7:9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?
Mat 7:10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?
Mat 7:11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Bread comes from grains and we get a glimpse into the future with more scripture from John the Baptist who was calling for repentance and preparing the way for Jesus.

Mat 3:1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
Mat 3:2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Mat 3:3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’”
Mat 3:4 Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.
Mat 3:5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him,
Mat 3:6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
Mat 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Mat 3:8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
Mat 3:9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.
Mat 3:10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Mat 3:11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Mat 3:12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

What John was speaking of is the coming great day of the LORD or Yahweh, יהוה. The event is spoken of in the book of Revelation and also by many of the Old Testament prophets. It is when the wheat is separated from the chaff, and in Revelation the analogy is switched to the pressing of the grapes in the wine press of God’s wrath. In verse 14 and 15 the son of man, Jesus, is likely gathering his wheat into the barn.

Rev 14:14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand.
Rev 14:15 And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.”
Rev 14:16 So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.
Rev 14:17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.
Rev 14:18 And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.”
Rev 14:19 So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
Rev 14:20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.

Who would have thought that bread and wheat would play such an important role in our lives?

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How well do we take care of the people around us? Many I know personally are very generous, but I have run into a person or two who believe the responsibility for taking care of people’s needs belongs to someone else. My favorite dialogue is in the movie A Christmas Carol , and it goes like this:

“At this festive season of the year, Mr Scrooge, … it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir.”

Scrooge: “Are there no prisons?”
“Plenty of prisons…”
Scrooge: “And the Union workhouses, are they still in operation?”
“Both very busy, sir…”
“Those who are badly off must go there.”
“Many can’t go there; and many would rather die.”
Scrooge: “If they would rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”

Looking to the scriptures, we see there is much to say about this situation, and how one is supposed to act. In the Torah, which is simply the instructions Yahweh gave us to live by and prosper on Earth, there are these instructions.

Deu 15:7 “If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother,
Deu 15:8 but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be.
Deu 15:9 Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the LORD against you, and you be guilty of sin.
Deu 15:10 You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake.
Deu 15:11 For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’

According to this, there will always exist those in need. There doesn’t appear to be conditions that seem to matter as to how the person became wanting, just the requirement to help as needed. Jesus also reaffirmed there will always be those in need.

Matthew 26:11 “For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.”

Next, we see Jesus talking with a rich person about how he may obtain eternal life. First, he tells him to follow the commandments, and after the man says he has done all of that, Jesus tells him to sell everything and give it to the poor.

Mat 19:16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”
Mat 19:17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.”
Mat 19:18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness,
Mat 19:19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Mat 19:20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?”
Mat 19:21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
Mat 19:22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

An early church father, Origen, speaks of a Gospel of Hebrews, which he had access to, and it revealed more to this story. After the rich man said he has kept the commandments, according to Origen, in the Gospel of the Hebrews, Jesus answers him, “How can you say, ‘I have done the law and the prophets’, since it is written in the law: love your neighbour as yourself; and behold, your many brothers , who are sons of Abraham, are covered in dung, dying from hunger, while your house is filled with many good things, and not one of the good things goes out to them.”. Unfortunately, the only text available from the Gospel of the Hebrews today is that which Origen sites.

Looking at the early church, an early church father Tertullian, sheds some light on how the early church handled giving. This is from Tertullian’s Apology, chapter 38 written to the Roman Emperor.

The tried men of our elders preside over us, obtaining that honour not by purchase, but by established character. There is no buying and selling of any sort in the things of God. Though we have our treasure-chest, it is not made up of purchase-money, as of a religion that has its price. On the monthly day, if he likes, each puts in a small donation; but only if it be his pleasure, and only if he be able: for there is no compulsion; all is voluntary. These gifts are, as it were, piety’s deposit fund. For they are not taken thence and spent on feasts, and drinking-bouts, and eating-houses, but to support and bury poor people, to supply the wants of boys and girls destitute of means and parents, and of old persons confined now to the house; such, too, as have suffered shipwreck; and if there happen to be any in the mines, or banished to the islands, or shut up in the prisons, for nothing but their fidelity to the cause of God’s Church, they become the nurslings of their confession.

That sounds quite different than what we see today, with often 80% of church budgets going into just sustaining themselves. What would these Christians of the first three centuries, who had to conceal their meetings and faith to survive, think of massive building projects, cathedrals, and all the luxury of modern churches, when there are people going without daily necessities all around them?

Paul also gives us an example of giving, and that the purpose is to feed the hungry. He quotes Psalms 112:9, “He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honor”.

2Co 9:6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
2Co 9:7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
2Co 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
2Co 9:9 As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”
2Co 9:10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.

Do we give to receive a tax deduction? It is something that the government allows today; however, are we bound by their rules in succumbing to such a system? What does Jesus say about paying the tax? What would giving be like if all of a sudden we had to compromise our beliefs in order to receive a tax receipt? What if this very thing has already happened?

Mat 22:17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
Mat 22:18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites?
Mat 22:19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.
Mat 22:20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?”
Mat 22:21 They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
Mat 22:22 When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.

Now, let’s look at what Jesus calls the greatest commandments.

Mat 22:36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
Mat 22:37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the great and first commandment.
Mat 22:39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Jesus is not stating anything new here. He is quoting from the instructions Yahweh God gave to us.

Lev 19:18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

Deu 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
Deu 6:5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Deu 6:6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

Strong’s H8085, which is translated as the English word hear, has much more depth in meaning than to simply hear as the English word implies. The definition of the word pronounced shema, שמע, means to hear, listen and obey. This is what James is speaking of.

H8085
שׁמע
shâma‛
BDB Definition:
1) to hear, listen to, obey (verb)
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to hear (perceive by ear)
1a2) to hear of or concerning
1a3) to hear (have power to hear)
1a4) to hear with attention or interest, listen to
1a5) to understand (language)
1a6) to hear (of judicial cases)
1a7) to listen, give heed
1a7a) to consent, agree
1a7b) to grant request
1a8) to listen to, yield to
1a9) to obey, be obedient

Jas 1:23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
Jas 1:24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
Jas 1:25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

In regards to faith and works, James uses this very issue of taking care of people in need, to demonstrate what having faith in Yahweh God looks like. Faith without following Yahweh’s commandments is dead on arrival.

Jas 2:14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?
Jas 2:15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,
Jas 2:16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?
Jas 2:17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Jas 2:18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
Jas 2:19  You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 

Where we find ourselves today is likened to the church of Laodicea. We think we are in great shape but the truth is slipping away.

Rev 3:14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.
Rev 3:15 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!
Rev 3:16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.
Rev 3:17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
Rev 3:18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.

We are to buy gold refined by fire, so we can be clothed and get ointment for our eyes, so we are no longer blinded to the truth of His word. Is this partly the meaning of the parable of the wedding feast?

Mat 22:1 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying,
Mat 22:2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son,
Mat 22:3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.
Mat 22:4 Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’
Mat 22:5 But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business,
Mat 22:6 while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.
Mat 22:7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
Mat 22:8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy.
Mat 22:9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’
Mat 22:10 And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.
Mat 22:11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment.
Mat 22:12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.
Mat 22:13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”

How can we obtain this gold Jesus is speaking of to the Apostle John? Hear and do the commandments. Clothe the naked and feed the hungry. Also, Peter tells us our trials our more precious than gold refined by fire.

1Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pe 1:4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
1Pe 1:5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1Pe 1:6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,
1Pe 1:7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1Pe 1:8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,
1Pe 1:9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
1Pe 1:10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully,
1Pe 1:11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.
1Pe 1:12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.
1Pe 1:13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1Pe 1:14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,
1Pe 1:15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
1Pe 1:16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

Where is Peter quoting scripture from when he says “since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’”? It is from Leviticus regarding eating clean. Would Peter cite a verse regarding being holy and talking about obedience, that in context references knowing the difference between what Yahweh declared good to eat (clean), and not good to eat, ( unclean), if the expectation was anything other than to be obedient and holy, like Yahweh, so we would not eat anything He declares unclean?

Lev 11:44 For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground.
Lev 11:45 For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”
Lev 11:46 This is the law about beast and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms on the ground,
Lev 11:47 to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten.

So often we hear the verses in Malachi about bringing the tithe to the storehouse and robbing God. If we read the entire chapter we get more than discussion of the tithe. We should also look at what the tithe consists of. We see Abram giving a tithe to the Priest of the most high God after the war of the kings.

Gen 14:17 After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).
Gen 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)
Gen 14:19 And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;
Gen 14:20 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

The subject of the tithe is enormous, and my purpose here is to just make some of the scriptures known that discuss it. We get more information in Leviticus about what the tithe was at that time.

Lev 27:30 “Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the LORD’s; it is holy to the LORD.
Lev 27:31 If a man wishes to redeem some of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it.
Lev 27:32 And every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman’s staff, shall be holy to the LORD.
Lev 27:33 One shall not differentiate between good or bad, neither shall he make a substitute for it; and if he does substitute for it, then both it and the substitute shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.”
Lev 27:34 These are the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai.

As we keep looking, we see that the tithe was to be given to the Levite for their service in the temple, and also because they received no inheritance. This next passage also shows that the Levites were to tithe a portion of what they received.

Num 18:24 For the tithe of the people of Israel, which they present as a contribution to the LORD, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance. Therefore I have said of them that they shall have no inheritance among the people of Israel.”
Num 18:25 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
Num 18:26 “Moreover, you shall speak and say to the Levites, ‘When you take from the people of Israel the tithe that I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present a contribution from it to the LORD, a tithe of the tithe.
Num 18:27 And your contribution shall be counted to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the winepress.
Num 18:28 So you shall also present a contribution to the LORD from all your tithes, which you receive from the people of Israel. And from it you shall give the LORD’s contribution to Aaron the priest.

One additional passage sheds more light on the subject. The tithe appears to be given every three years.

Deu 26:12 “When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, which is the year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your towns and be filled,
Deu 26:13 then you shall say before the LORD your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and moreover, I have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all your commandment that you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, nor have I forgotten them.

Now let’s look at the chapters in Malachi, where we see the verse referencing robbing God. Malachi starts out by Yahweh God upbraiding the priests for bringing unsatisfactory offerings to him.

Mal 1:6 “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’
Mal 1:7 By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the LORD’s table may be despised.
Mal 1:8 When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts.
Mal 1:9 And now entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you? says the LORD of hosts.
Mal 1:10 Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand.

Yahweh continues talking to the priests about their faulty offerings.

Mal 2:1 “And now, O priests, this command is for you.
Mal 2:2 If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the LORD of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart.
Mal 2:3 Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it.
Mal 2:4 So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the LORD of hosts.

Mal 2:17 You have wearied the LORD with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”

Sometimes we give tithes much like the priests with their lame and blind animals, worshiping with our lips and not in action, giving money, but not our hearts, as a type of indulgence offering.

Mal 3:1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.
Mal 3:2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.
Mal 3:3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD.
Mal 3:4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years.
Mal 3:5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.
Mal 3:6 “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.
Mal 3:7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’
Mal 3:8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.
Mal 3:9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.
Mal 3:10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
Mal 3:11 I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the LORD of hosts.
Mal 3:12 Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the LORD of hosts.
Mal 3:13 “Your words have been hard against me, says the LORD. But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’
Mal 3:14 You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the LORD of hosts?
Mal 3:15 And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.’”

Mal 4:1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.
Mal 4:2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.
Mal 4:3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts.
Mal 4:4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.
Mal 4:5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.
Mal 4:6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

After reading chapters three and four, is the take away only about robbing Yahweh God of tithes or are we robbing him of much more? Are we giving him the lame and blind offerings, ignoring His commands and statues , which were given to all of Israel, not just to the tribe of Judah or “the Jews”? He says return to him, keep his statutes and commands, remember the law of Moses and be blessed. Give to those in need, feed the hungry, hear and do the commandments.

Feature picture taken by Emma Vail in Bristol Virginia.

• 
  Structural and Denominational Hindrances to the Good News
• 
  The Lost Sheep of the House of Israel
• 
  Do You Have “Freedom in Christ”?
• 
  Who is “God”?
• 
  When God’s Hand Protects His People

Matthew 12:39: “But He answered and said to them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. And there shall be no sign given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” Matthew 12:40: “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the huge fish, so the Son of Man shall be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

When Jesus said he would be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights, did he mean to say Friday night, Saturday day and Saturday night, or are we just interpreting this with a Roman mindset and calendar? Did the early church celebrate Good Friday or Easter? In order to better understand, we need to define a day and night, Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the type of calendar Jesus was using. We will start by establishing day and night.

Gen 1:5 And God called the light, Day. And He called the darkness, Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

We use the Gregorian calendar, where a day begins and ends at midnight. With the Hebraic calendar, a day begins and ends at sundown. So, Friday would start on Thursday at sundown, and stop Friday at sundown, which would start Saturday. One night, sundown Thursday to sunup on Friday, one day, sunup Friday until sundown on Friday. Next, we have to understand יהוה God’s feast days.

Lev 23:4 These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.
Lev 23:5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’S passover.
Lev 23:6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
Lev 23:7 In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
Lev 23:8 But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.

When you see all capitals, LORD, in Bible translations, it is a substitution for his name, יהוה. Pronunciation is not clear, but Josephus, a first century historian, claims it is four vowel sounds in his War of the Jews book five, chapter five. The preface of modern Bibles usually explains LORD is a substitution for יהוה, that happens over 6000 times. It could be pronounced Ee-ah-ew-ah, ee-oh-wa-ah, like Iowa for example. So when the scripture says, “These are the feasts of the LORD”, it really says “These are the feasts of יהוה”. Please see my blog What’s in a name for more on this.

Lev 23:14 And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

Lev 23:13 is speaking of the feast of First Fruits. “Forever” here, is the Hebrew word, עלם, Strong’s H5769, olam, which means eternity, always was, is, and will be. This is all important to understand three days and three nights. When we get to the days before Jesus death, we will see we are at the feasts of Passover, Unleavened bread and First Fruits.

Mat 20:17 And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them,
Mat 20:18 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,
Mat 20:19 And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.

Mat 26:17 Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover?
Mat 26:18 And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples.

Mar 15:6 Now at that feast he released unto them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired.
Mar 15:7 And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection.

Joh 19:31 The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
Joh 19:32 Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him.

Lev 23:5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’S passover.
Lev 23:6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
Lev 23:7 In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.

The first day spoke of in Lev 23:7 is the Sabbath spoke of in John 19:31. It was not a regular seventh day Sabbath, but the first day of Unleavened Bread, a high Sabbath. Thankfully, John clarified which Sabbath was being spoke of that Jesus was buried before, the high Sabbath of Unleavened bread. This clears up when they rested, when they bought spices and when they went to the tomb and found that Jesus was not there.

Luk 23:53 And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid.
Luk 23:54 And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on.
Luk 23:55 And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid.

Mar 16:1 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.

Luk 23:56 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.

So to summarize what we know so far, Jesus ate with the disciples the evening of the 14th day (Sunset of the 13th day), prayed in the garden after supper, was arrested, brought before Pilot, and put on the cross on the day of Passover, dying with the sacrificial lambs, then being taken off the cross before sundown, which would start the first day of Unleavened Bread, a high sabbath day, the 15th day of the month. They rested on the 15th day, high sabbath of Unleavened Bread, and taking Mark 16:1 into consideration, the spices were obtained and prepared, likely returning day two to anoint the body. It was not until after day three, the weekly Sabbath, did they go to the tomb to find it empty. Therefore, Jesus rose on the weekly Sabbath before sundown, which completed the three days and three nights.

Mat 28:1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
Mat 28:2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
Mat 28:3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
Mat 28:4 And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
Mat 28:5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
Mat 28:6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

Here, the two Mary’s came to the tomb after the weekly Sabbath, early Sunday morning. If Jesus rose at the end of the Sabbath day, then he would have been put in the tomb on Wednesday at the end of Passover, before Unleavened Bread, stayed Wednesday night, Thursday day, Thursday night, Friday day, Friday night, Saturday day, giving us the three days and three nights that are required. It is difficult to reconcile the traditional Roman Friday evening burial and a Sunday morning resurrection, given the passages of scripture we looked at, taking in account two sabbaths during Unleavened Bread, and maintaining three days and three nights, the only sign Jesus gave. Jesus also defined a “day” for us.

Joh 11:9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
Joh 11:10 But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”

Luk 24:45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
Luk 24:46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,
Luk 24:47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

So how did we loose track of the feasts of God that are forever, and not take Jesus at his word that he would be in the grave three days and three nights? Below is a letter from Constantine, the Roman emperor, to all the Bishops who couldn’t make it to the Concil at Nice in 325AD.

On the Keeping of Easter.
From the Letter of the Emperor to all those not present at the Council.
(Found in Eusebius, Vita Const., Lib. iii., 18–20.)
When the question relative to the sacred festival of Easter arose, it was universally thought that it would be convenient that all should keep the feast on one day; for what could be more beautiful and more desirable, than to see this festival, through which we receive the hope of immortality, celebrated by all with one accord, and in the same manner? It was declared to be particularly unworthy for this, the holiest of all festivals, to follow the custom [the calculation] of the Jews, who had soiled their hands with the most fearful of crimes, and whose minds were blinded. In rejecting their custom,113 we may transmit to our descendants the legitimate mode of celebrating Easter, which we have observed from the time of the Saviour’s Passion to the present day [according to the day of the week]. We ought not, therefore, to have anything in common with the Jews, for the Saviour has shown us another way; our worship follows a more legitimate and more convenient course (the order of the days of the week); and consequently, in unanimously adopting this mode, we desire, dearest brethren, to separate ourselves from the detestable company of the Jews, for it is truly shameful for us to hear them boast that without their direction we could not keep this feast. How can they be in the right, they who, after the death of the Saviour, have no longer been led by reason but by wild violence, as their delusion may urge them? They do not possess the truth in this Easter question; for, in their blindness and repugnance to all improvements, they frequently celebrate two passovers in the same year. We could not imitate those who are openly in error. How, then, could we follow these Jews, who are most certainly blinded by error? for to celebrate the passover twice in one year is totally inadmissible. But even if this were not so, it would still be your duty not to tarnish your soul by communications with such wicked people [the Jews]. Besides, consider well, that in such an important matter, and on a subject of such great solemnity, there ought not to be any division. Our Saviour has left us only one festal day of our redemption, that is to say, of his holy passion, and he desired [to establish] only one Catholic Church.

In the first Canon of the Fathers assembled at Antioch in 341 AD, they proclaimed everyone must celebrate Easter as the Emperor declared, not as the Jews did, or be excommunicated. It is worth noting that Easter is a made up English word from early translators around the fourteenth century. The word Paschae is the Latin word, which is translated Passover in English. Paschae would have been the word used in these Roman canons that has been translated to Easter. The emperor was not battling “Jews” here so much as he was trying to stamp out earlier followers of Jesus who still kept the feasts and sabbaths as the apostles and Jesus modelled.

The Canons of the Blessed and Holy Fathers Assembled at Antioch in Syria.167 Canon I.
Whosoever shall presume to set aside the decree of the holy and great Synod which was
assembled at Nice in the presence of the pious Emperor Constantine, beloved of God, concerning the holy and salutary feast of Easter; if they shall obstinately persist in opposing what was [then] rightly ordained, let them be excommunicated and cast out of the Church; this is said concerning the laity. But if anyone of those who preside in the Church, whether he be bishop, presbyter, or deacon, shall presume, after this decree, to exercise his own private judgment to the subversion of the people and to the disturbance of the churches, by observing Easter [at the same time] with the Jews, the holy Synod decrees that he shall thenceforth be an alien from the Church, as one who not only heaps sins upon himself, but who is also the cause of destruction and subversion to many; and it deposes not only such persons themselves from their ministry, but those also who after their deposition shall pre- sume to communicate with them. And the deposed shall be deprived even of that external honour, of which the holy Canon and God’s priesthood partake.

After years of debate for the placing of Easter, it finally got placed on the Sunday after the first full moon that occurs after the spring equinox. It will usually fall on the Feast of First Fruits, which occurs the Sunday after the regular sabbath during the week of Unleavened Bread. Therefore, celebrating Jesus as the first fruits of the resurrection, even though those who set the dates, and most of those celebrating Easter today, neither know nor care. Please read my blog, What are the Feasts of the Lord, יהוה?

1Co 5:6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?
1Co 5:7 Therefore purge out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For also Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.
1Co 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast; not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

1Co 15:19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
1Co 15:20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
1Co 15:21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
1Co 15:24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.

In these above passages, Paul is shown keeping feasts by the letter and by the spirit of the law. So we can physically not eat leavened bread during the feast of Unleavened Bread, and spiritually not partake in “old leaven” continually, operating in the Spirit. Next, Paul tells us Jesus is the first fruits of the resurrection. For those that would say he keeps the feasts because he is Jewish, Paul says himself there is neither Jew or Greek, we are all Abraham’s seed.

Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

Some try to use this following verse in Galatians to say that Paul was upbraiding the Galatians for observing God’s feast days.

Gal 4:8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.
Gal 4:9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?
Gal 4:10 You observe days and months and seasons and years!
Gal 4:11 I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.

The church father, Socrates in the fifth century wrote the following: (The Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers Series II Volume II)

Book V, Chapter XXII.—The Author’s Views respecting the Celebration of Easter, Baptism, Fasting, Marriage, the Eucharist, and Other Ecclesiastical Rites.
“As we have touched the subject I deem it not unreasonable to say a few words concerning Easter. It appears to me that neither the ancients nor moderns who have affected to follow the Jews, have had any rational foundation for contending so obstinately about it. For they have not taken into consideration the fact that when Judaism was changed into Christianity, the obligation to observe the Mosaic law and the ceremonial types ceased. And the proof of the matter is plain; for no law of Christ permits Christians to imitate the Jews. On the contrary the apostle expressly forbids it; not only rejecting circumcision, but also deprecating conten- tion about festival days. In his epistle to the Galatians768 he writes, ‘Tell me ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?’ And continuing his train of argument, he demonstrates that the Jews were in bondage as servants, but that those who have come to Christ are ‘called into the liberty of sons.’769 Moreover he exhorts them in no way to regard ‘days, and months, and years.”

The problem with this theory is first, both Jesus and Paul kept the feasts, and second, the Galatians were not Jews. As he said, “Formerly, when you did not know God”. The Galatians were of the nations who were serving other gods, “the weak elementary principles of the world”. Does anyone suspect Paul would call God’s law, ordinances and precepts weak and worthless? First, let’s show Paul keeping feasts again:

Act 18:20 When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not;
Act 18:21 But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus.

Next, let’s discuss the days, months and years the Galatians were going back to. It could not be God’s feast days because they couldn’t return to something they never celebrated in the first place. The word for elementary is Strong’s G4747.

G4747
στοιχεῖον
stoicheion
Thayer Definition:
1) any first thing, from which the others belonging to some series or composite whole take their rise, an element, first principal
1a) the letters of the alphabet as the elements of speech, not however the written characters, but the spoken sounds
1b) the elements from which all things have come, the material causes of the universe
1c) the heavenly bodies, either as parts of the heavens or (as others think) because in them the elements of man, life and destiny were supposed to reside
1d) the elements, rudiments, primary and fundamental principles of any art, science, or discipline

The stoicheion were the heavenly bodies in this case. Also, the elements of water, air, fire etc. A study of the stoicheion and Galatians would include talking about fairies and even leprechauns. The Galatians were Celtic peoples. The antinomians, those who are against God’s commands, precepts and laws, want to use these verses to show Paul is advocating lawlessness, just as Peter warned:

2Pe 3:14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.
2Pe 3:15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him,
2Pe 3:16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.
2Pe 3:17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.

There were also Jews who were convincing the Galatians that salvation had to be obtained through circumcision. This is equally wrong as salvation is obtained through faith, not by circumcision or any other one of God’s laws. We follow God’s laws because of our faith, salvation, obedience and the Spirit living inside of us. Again, Paul would never refer to God’s laws as weak and worthless. In Romans he calls them righteous and good.

Rom 7:12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
Rom 7:13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.

When John the Baptist saw Jesus he said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world”. Jesus was the Passover lamb, sacrificed on Passover, and resurrecting three days and three nights later to be the first fruits of the resurrection. Jesus was the only lamb without blemish. The inspection of the Passover lambs was described in Exodus.

Exo 12:3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household.
Exo 12:4 And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb.
Exo 12:5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats,
Exo 12:6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.

If the lambs were picked on the tenth day, that was four days before the death of Jesus on the 14th day which was Passover. What was Jesus doing four days before he would die at the close of the 14th? He was being inspected during the triumphal entry.

Joh 12:1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.

Joh 12:12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.
Joh 12:13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”
Joh 12:14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,
Joh 12:15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

What is this word Hosanna they were shouting? Strong’s G5614; related words of Hebrew origin H3467 and H4994. If you put the two together it is Yahshana in Hebrew, or ישענא.

G5614
ὡσαννά
hōsanna
Thayer Definition:
1) hosanna
2) be propitious
Part of Speech: interjection
A Related Word by Thayer’s/Strong’s Number: of Hebrew origin H3467 and H4994

H3467
ישׁע
yâsha‛
BDB Definition:
1) to save, be saved, be delivered
1a) (Niphal)
1a1) to be liberated, be saved, be delivered
1a2) to be saved (in battle), be victorious
1b) (Hiphil)
1b1) to save, deliver
1b2) to save from moral troubles
1b3) to give victory to

H4994
נא
nâ’
BDB Definition:
1) I (we) pray, now, please
1a) used in entreaty or exhortation

I discuss the name of Jesus and how it is the transliterated name of Joshua in the Greek in my blog, What’s in a name. Jesus’ Hebrew name was Yahshua, יהושוע, which means the salvation of Yahweh, יהוה. The Apostle John describes a scene in Revelation that shows the Lamb was the only one worthy of opening the book because he was slain and was able to redeem.

Rev 5:1 And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
Rev 5:2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
Rev 5:3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.
Rev 5:4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.
Rev 5:5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.
Rev 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
Rev 5:7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.
Rev 5:8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
Rev 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

I realize that by discussing this, I am not only going against the Roman emperor, I am also questioning Roman law and facing 1695 years of the church’s tradition of the Friday crucifixion and Sunday resurrection. I am suggesting that as those who are followers of Jesus, we are no longer under the bondage of Roman law, and are not required to keep Roman canons. This is what Jesus says about replacing the commandments of Yahweh with the traditions of men and teaching them as doctrine.

Mat 15:1 Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
Mat 15:2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
Mat 15:3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?

Mat 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
Mat 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

The Bible pictured belonged to Laughlin P. Farris, (December 23, 1843 – December 9, 1925) from White’s Cove, New Brunswick, Canada.

Please check out some of my other blog posts.

• Structural and Denominational Hindrances to the Good News
• The Lost Sheep of the House of Israel
• Do You Have “Freedom in Christ”?
• Who is “God”?
• When God’s Hand Protects His People