Light on the Rock Blogs

Does the Bible allow for and impose capital punishment in cases of murder? How about other crimes? By “capital punishment” I mean the act of the civil government ending the life of a criminal in certain cases.

The arguments pro-and con for capital punishment come up from time to time, so I thought it would be useful for brethren to have the scriptures on the subject so you can give a truly Biblical answer on this topic. You will read today of some of the many instances—even beyond murder -- when God prescribed capital punishment.

One reason people believe capital punishment is not Biblical is that they misunderstand the 6^th commandment, usually rendered “Thou shall not kill” (Exodus 20:13)  But even a  quick study of that Hebrew word there will show us that it clearly means “murder” and is translated “murder” in many Bible versions. The KJV “kill” can leave a wrong impression. We are not to murder. If we were not to ever “kill” – then we could never even kill animals or mosquitoes, which was never God’s intent. Of course we can kill animals for food. See Leviticus 11 and Deut 14. And “manslaughter” – the unintentional killing of someone – did not earn the death penalty either.

Let’s read God’s clear instructions after the Flood to Noah in cases where someone has murdered someone else. 

Genesis 9:5b-6  “From the hand of every man's brother I will require the life of man.

6 "Whoever sheds man's blood,  By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.”

This was told Noah by God himself. When a person murders and takes away someone else’s life, scripture is SO clear: the government of man has the right to end that murderer’s life. So many become repeat murderers, as we all know. Of course the executioner of the murderer, administering justice, is not guilty of murder himself.

The end of Gen 9:6 says one reason murder is so abhorrent to God is that we all are made in the image of God! So committing murder earns the death penalty for that person. As we’ll see there were many other sins that warranted the death penalty as well.

Scripture is also clear that accidentally killing someone, what we might call “manslaughter” – is not the same as premeditated murder.

Here’s a general principle too: when YHVH himself says to end someone’s life, then we’re being obedient to HIS command. We are NOT breaking the 6^th command – “Don’t murder” – in those cases. For example, when God told Israel to eliminate the Canaanites in the land he was giving to Israel, that was God’s command. The level of sins being committed by the Canaanites by that time was so egregious that God was imposing his own death penalty, but this time, by the sword of Israel.

When Israel also dropped to such evil levels, they also were severely punished, many died by the enemy’s sword and then Israel and Judah were even sent into captivity. And many died for their evils. They lost that land for a time as well. So God was fair.

• David clearly was not guilty of murder when he killed insolent Goliath, though I heard a Church of God minister say David did break the 6^th commandment when he killed Goliath! But the Bible clearly celebrated David’s faith and courage! See. Hebrews 11:32-34. 

• Samuel clearly was not guilty of murder when he chopped Agag into pieces, upon God’s command that all Amalekites were to be exterminated for their evils. Saul did not obey that command. HE was the one guilty of disobeying God. 1 Samuel 8:15-33.

Exodus 21:12-14  "He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. 13 However, if he did not lie in wait, but God delivered him into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee. 14 "But if a man acts with premeditation against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from My altar, that he may die.

Leviticus 24:17  'Whoever kills any man shall surely be put to death.”

What about someone caught breaking into your home at night? Let’s say you strike him, and he dies. God says the home owner is not guilty of murder in that case. God says it’s different if the break-in happens in daytime though. Read Exodus 22:2-4. On that last one, the laws of the land we live in now make it difficult to protect yourself even in self-defense at home or anywhere else. So be careful to follow self-defense laws in your state or country carefully.

When YHVH himself lays down such clearly worded instructions on what the nation is to do to murderers, we should realize it’s the right thing to do! Of course, this must be left to the civil government, as Paul also explains in Romans 13:1-5.

So believers should accept that, according to God’s word itself, the civil government has the right to execute murderers. We should not fight it. Neither should we feel any joy in the death of anyone. Remember all of us incurred God’s death penalty for breaking HIS law (Romans 6:23). But thankfully God has given us a way to avoid the penalty when we accept what Jesus Christ did for us. But my point is: we can’t get up on our high horse in indignation against others who deserve the death penalty. God was merciful to you. We can hope for mercy to be extended to others who truly turn from their wicked ways too.

When Israel was ruled by God’s law as a nation, there were many other reasons for capital punishment. Are you ready?

Here are a few more: For striking your mom or dad (Exodus 21:15). If a pregnant woman is struck so she loses her child, the offender could be executed, life for life (Exodus 21:22-25). God also said people could be executed for getting involved in witchcraft, seances, being a medium who is contacting the dead (Leviticus 20:27; Deuteronomy 18:9-11; 1 Chronicles 10:13). People were executed for breaking most of the Ten Commandments, but not all. Idolaters, sabbath breakers, and all adulterers were to be put to death (Leviticus 20:10). Those engaged in bestiality – whether man or woman – were to be put to death (Leviticus 20:15-16). In fact, just read Leviticus 20  and see a wide range of sexual immorality that resulted in the death penalty, by God’s word – including incest and many more.

I know some of you may believe that anyone who broke any of the 10 Commandments earned the death penalty. That’s true, as far as the wages of sin goes, but as far as what the civil authorities were allowed to do, that wasn’t the case. For example, thieves were allowed to live, but they had to pay back 4x for sheep and 5x for stolen oxen. See Exodus 22:1. Neither do I see any command to execute someone who coveted. That was probably a good thing as hardly anyone would have been left alive!

A false witness – once discovered – earned the penalty that would have been given to the one he was lying against (Deuteronomy 19:16-20). Imagine if we practiced that law today!

God also pronounced the death penalty on prophets or ministers who claimed God had spoken to them, when God had not done so. (I hear that so often within Protestant churches –“God told me” or “God said…” as they preach.) Read Deuteronomy 18:20-22.

Ministers: be so careful not to do this! You think it makes your sermons more interesting, but if God really has not spoken to you about something, don’t claim you heard his voice or heard him tell you something if you did not. But if you have a strong urge to do or say something you feel is from the Almighty, then indeed do so, after testing “the spirits.” Someone who gives a very specific prophecy that does not come to pass is a false prophet.

Kidnappers were also to be executed (Deut. 24:7). There are many other listed reasons for incurring the death penalty. My point is: God himself declares the death penalty both in the Old Testament and New Testament (Romans 13:1-7).

The point should be getting very clear now: God tells us there are certain misdeeds, evils, crimes, etc., that deserve the death penalty by the proper authorities, according to God’s own command. 

There’s another Biblical principle: if we don’t execute justice speedily, it’s just a normal tendency for murderers and other lawbreakers, to keep doing evil.

Ecclesiastes 8:11 NKJV  “Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.”

Ecclesiastes 8:11 NLT  “When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong.”

Many states no longer even have the death penalty. Only 3 executions occurred in 2021 nationwide in the USA.

God is merciful. When there’s been admission of sin and contrition, we can be happy if some do not receive the death penalty. YOU will not receive the death penalty you earned. And God did not execute King David and Bathsheba for adultery, though it carried the death penalty, for example. See Leviticus 20:10 and 2 Samuel 12:12-13.

One topic that comes up from time to time is how much interaction and friendship we should have with people who are not believers like you. Let’s say they obviously are “part of this world” and its ways. Should you have friends among those people – or keep them at arm’s length? This comes up regularly among believers, partly because of various scriptures that seem to imply we should not be friends with unbelievers.

But can that possibly be true that we should not have friends among “worldly” unbelievers? For many of my “church friends,” this is the way it is: they just don’t ever hang out with people of the world. All their social activities are focused on just church brethren.

Let me ask the question another way: other than incidental contact you might have with unbelievers at work, or as you shop or go about your daily business, how many of the worldly acquaintances you have would you say are a good friend of yours? Do you invite work associates who are not part of your church fellowship to dinner from time to time, or go out to dinner with them?

Another question: would any of your friends “in the world” even know that you believe in Jesus/Yeshua and love him and your Father in heaven with everything you’ve got?

Besides outright atheists and unbelievers, let’s include now people who don’t believe exactly the same way you do, and don’t attend your church, though they may claim to be believers in Christ. Would some of those be close friends?

True, there’s a scripture that says whoever is a friend of this world is not a friend of God! Note it’s talking about being a friend of the world (it’s ways and philosophy)—not about having friends who are not part of God’s church. Let’s read it:

James 4:4  “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

Being a “friend with the world” is when we are indulging in spiritual adultery – being too intimate and close to this world’s ways, recreation, movies, lifestyles, politics, and way of life way too much; like we’re a part of the world; like we’re immersed in Babylon instead of coming “out of her, my people” (Rev. 18:4).

Based on that verse, many have decided over the years that they will severely limit any social contacts and friendships with people of this world. But is being friends “with” the world the same as having friends who are a part of this world and its ways?

There are several principles at play here. What was Yeshua/Jesus’ own example? If Jesus had limited his friendships only to spirit-filled believers, guess what? He’d have had NO friends at all, for the Holy Spirit had not been given yet. That happens in Acts 2.

** Jesus’ own example was striking! Remember, He IS to be our pattern. The most holy and sinless person on the earth often hung around known “sinners.” Terrible sinners. Over and over. And somehow by his own manner, even such horrible sinners were somehow able to feel comfortable around him.

Remember Yeshua did say of one particular woman in Luke 7, that “her sins, which are many…”  But these people were drawn to him, and he did not reject them. Tax collectors (publicans) were known cheats and thieves, and yet Jesus/Yeshua picked such a man –- Matthew, also called Levi --  to be one of the 12 apostles whose name will forever be emblazoned on the foundation stones of the walls around heavenly Jerusalem!  (Revelation 21:14).

He even called Judas “friend” on the very night Judas betrayed him. (Matthew 26:50), an actual fulfillment of Psalm 41:9.  Even his religious attackers --like the Pharisees – invited him to dinner and he had dinner with them as well (Luke 7:39; 11:37). Would you accept a dinner with a rabbi or catholic priest? I think Yeshua would. Yeshua DID – with the rabbis and religious leaders of his day.

It was this very criticism leveled at Yeshua  -- that he had horrible sinners as his friends – that actually was the backdrop to the wonderful parables of God’s love and joy when we repent in Luke 15. Stories like the lost coin, lost sheep, the prodigal son. Look at the backdrop:

Luke 15:1-3   Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them." 3 So He spoke this parable to them, saying…”   and then the parable of the lost sheep and the others come.

Do people ever say that about us? They did about our Savior! His example says to us that it’s great to have unbelieving friends.

Why?

** We are the light and salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13-16). If our light is confined to areas and to people who are already full of light (where there are a lot of true believers), what benefit is your light? Even a small match in a room full of darkness will always defeat the darkness. Light always wins. Always.

Si if we’re never around people of the world, how can we shine the light of the gospel and of our living God and Savior around them, to lighten up their path? We are supposed to be a comfortable and much-appreciated light – not a spotlight blinding their eyes! “LET your light so shine…”  Again, don’t hide your light.

Matthew 5:14-16 – “Your lives light up the world. For how can you hide a city that stands on a hilltop? And who would light a lamp and then hide it in an obscure place? Instead it’s placed where everyone in the house can benefit from its light! LET it shine brightly before others…”

When Matthew the tax collector was called to be a disciple, he threw a “Matthew party” inviting all his friends – who of course included many other cheating tax collectors. And Jesus was there. Please read Luke 5:27-32.

** Notice what Paul teaches us. He had told the Corinthian brethren in 1 Corinthians 5 to cast out the church brother who was openly and defiantly participating in ongoing sex sins. He explained we should not be close friends with someone called a brother or sister who is continuing in such sins. Paul later, by the way,  in 2 Corinthians 2, told them to bring that disfellowshipped sinner back in to fellowship, as he had since repented and turned from his evil ways. Paul said show him some love (2 Cor. 2:6-10) and let him be restored to their fellowship and love. Don’t leave repentant brethren out there by themselves!

So then the question came up, “but what about sinful people in the world? Can we be friends with them – or should we treat them like we would brethren who continue to live a life of sin, and have nothing to do with them?” 

Here is Paul’s response – and again, I remind you that Jesus had many friends in the world.

1 Corinthians 5:9-13  “I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 10 Yet I certainly did NOT mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who IS sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner — not even to eat with such a person.

12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? 13 But those who are outside GOD  judges. Therefore "put away from yourselves the evil person."

He says – yes, have friends  in the world, sinners or not.

And I add: how else could we shine our lights?

I’m not saying we go get drunk with them, or go to topless bars or Christmas parties. I’m not saying all that. But yes, be a friend to them. Sooner or later the opportunities come up where our conversations could lead them to becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ. Isn’t that part of our great commission? To make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20).

So yes, I have good friends “in the world” from work, or in our neighborhood or with unconverted family members. I stop and talk with my neighbors. We invite them over for tea/muffins or a full dinner. I’ve played darts with them once or twice a week, though I may curtail that just for time’s sake for a while now. We’ve attended shows with people of the world. We mingle with various ones for outings and dinners. Yes, I’m talking about people who keep Christmas, Easter and pagan holidays and don’t know Christ – but I do not attend Christmas parties! I’m hoping I’ll be able to be used by God to help bring some to a close relationship with their Savior, and to learn the truths of the Bible. I want to introduce them to the workings of God’s Holy Spirit  -- as our God loves to be worshiped in spirit and in truth.

I don’t use those times to pester them about the Bible  -- but Bible topics do come up. They know what I believe. I do mention my Savior and my God.

So I hope you understand: we are not to be friends of the world and its ways and its sins. Yeshua said his disciples, including us, “are not of the world” (John 15:19; 17:14-16). But like Jesus/Yeshua –we are friendly with the PEOPLE of the world. Even most Holy God himself loved the people so much that he let his own begotten son pay the penalty for all of our sins; for all who will accept his sacrifice. That’s a lot of love for some pretty awful people! He's our example. So we – like God -- love the people even while recognizing the evil many of them are involved in. So we pray for them, bless them, we even forgive them when they hurt us – and so yes, we have friends who are part of this world, just like Jesus/Yeshua did!

In America, this weekend is “Father’s Day.”  I’m surprised I’m not hearing more of an uproar than is out there in an era when the Left doesn’t know what a man or woman is, or what a father or mother is. Here at Light on the Rock we have not lost our bearings. A father is more than just a man. He is a man who is the leader of his family.

The very Hebrew word for “father” is Av or Ab.  The word picture means “strength of the house” or “leader of the home.”  And yes, I also realize too many men do not live up to that ideal and do not and cannot lead their homes. But let’s speak of the ideal.

We’re in a world where men and fathers are often being belittled or ridiculed. Commercial after commercial in the past few years seem designed to ridicule and make men and dads look stupid. Watch out for this and you’ll see. Children in commercials, teaching dad something he’s too stupid to know. Women, wives, and others showing the ignorant dad or husband a thing or too. The woman or child is almost always the smart one in these commercials. I’ll bet you start noticing that more now. I find them sickening.

Plus now, a lot of women think their children don’t really need their father, especially in cases of divorce. Most children will handle their parents’ divorce eventually. But the relationship between their mom and dad after their divorce will have a great impact and will also affect their goal to be traditionally married. j

A father, as explained in scripture, is more than just a man begetting children – but is responsible to those children he begat. He loves them, and loves the mother of those children and – ideally before begetting any child, this man has entered into the sacred bond called “marriage” and is committed to keeping his marriage vows to stay together in sickness or health and no matter what life throws at them.

That’s a short summary of the Biblical ideal. I realize that many men and women who are now believers in Messiah and children of our heavenly Father, did not – or felt they could not -- follow that ideal. Many brothers and sisters in Christ I know have divorced. Or have had abortions. I know there are people out there who brought children into the world but never in a family setting. So for those for whom it applies, we repent – and move on, this time walking with God as closely as we can and IN Christ, we CAN have a new life. A GOOD life. I have not been an ideal and perfect father either. But like everything else in life, we grow in our understanding and our repentance as we turn from our former ways and turn TO our heavenly Father.

Satan and those following his ways in his world, hate the family. So fatherhood, motherhood, family, marriage for life, being totally pro-life with any children begotten – are all under attack. We members of God’s family must be totally aware of that and stand up for Biblical standards.

ARE fathers really that important? We look to the heavenly pattern and God’s word for our instruction and standard.

The Supreme Being of the whole universe is called God Most High in many scriptures, and he may be better known to many of you as “God the Father.”  He is called that many times. I know him as “MY Father,” or OUR father, not just “the” Father. When Yeshua/Jesus was resurrected, the first thing he said to Mary Magdalene is to tell the others that he ascending to “my God and your God, to my Father and your Father” (John 20:17).

Now Jesus was teaching a more personal relationship. Though God is referred to as the “Father” several times in the Old Testament, most people did not equate Him with a loving Daddy figure – but a terrifying figure, an awesome God, whom only the High Priest could approach and only once a year in the Holy of Holies on the day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). 

But Jesus came to show us – among other assignments – that God Most High is also our Abba, our dear daddy in heaven. He taught us to pray, “OUR Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”  (Matthew 6:9).  If that had been recorded in Hebrew, he’d be saying “our Ab is heaven” (or Abba). Jesus taught us that our dear Father could be seen in everything we see in Christ – in fact Jesus Christ is described as the mirror image, the express image or exact replica of his Father (Hebrews 1:1-3). We tend to think of the Father as harsh, but Jesus as gentle. In fact, Jesus is exactly what Father above is like!

So the standard for having a FATHER over his family is GOD himself, over his family. You and I are the children. God the Father is always depicted primarily in the Male form, though God actually makes up all the qualities found both in man and woman. Remember, God said, “Let us make mankind in our image” – and “In the image of God created he THEM, male and female created he” (Genesis 1:26-27).  So you women reading this, you are in as much of God’s image as men are. But nonetheless, God Supreme is depicted as Father – not mother.

Having said that, there are definite hints at how the concept of “God” includes feminine traits too – how he has us inscribed in the palms of his hand, how he SINGS to us to comfort us (Zephaniah 3:16-17). Do you ever picture GOD that way – singing to you? He does! He loves doing it. Even the description El Shaddai – God Almighty – has hints of womanhood. Shad in Shaddai – can and does actually point to providing for us, as a mother’s breast provides for and gives comfort to her infant at her breast. Look it up! But I used to love to sing to my children especially when they were small.

IF anything, this should lead us men who are fathers to understand we also can be, must be, more like God – gentle, loving, joyful, patient, kind, loving, not easily angered, full of faith and faithfulness and self-controlled. At the same time, we live out the FRUIT of God’s presence, of his Spirit whether we are men or women. Please watch and listen to my sermons on The Fruit of God’s spirit and on John 15:2,6.

So if God Most High chooses to be known as our FATHER – I think HE thinks fatherhood must be important!

Ephesians 3:14-15  “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,  15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named…”

From the Passion translation Eph 3:14-15:  “So I kneel humbly in awe before the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, the PERFECT FATHER of every Father and child in heaven and on earth”.

IF you are someone who grew up without a father in your home – as I did after age 12 – or if your father died while you were growing up (mine died when I was 30), or if your father was absent or was or is a terrible example, remember this:

Get on your knees, speak words confidently to God in Heaven and just say, “My Father in Heaven, I don’t have a father on earth (or whatever your case is). Will you, Father,  be my Father now and going forward. Your love for me is for forever. I accept you as my Father and thank you that you will accept me as your child, and all of this has been made possible by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

So you now have the perfect Father. Get to know him. He knows you. He knows everything about you – and loves you anyway. I have often felt like I shouldn’t even be here, but God had different plans for me by his favor and grace. He has a better and different plan for you too if you submit to him. 

Some of you have been great parents. Thank you. That’s wonderful. Some of you/us have been imperfect parents or had a non-existent or “bad” dad. Some of you had a horrible dad.  We can move on now and trust God our Father will work everything out for the good for those of us who love God and are the called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

TELL your father some of the profound impacts he’s had in your life, while you can. Don’t put it off. I wrote my dad in the Philippines such a letter. He responded by letter that it made a profound impact on him.  Then a few days later, my mom called to say my dad had died. I was SO glad I let him know how proud I was of him, and I listed many of the things that made me proud of him. Too often we wait til the eulogy to say positive things.

A father in a home should give his boys and girls a model of a man, a truly masculine and loving man. Not “toxic masculinity” – but a man who will have standards in the home and give a sense of protection. Children need security as well as love. I remember times as a child being afraid at night. Dad would sit with me on my bed and explain he was there, and I had nothing to be afraid of, and most of all, “God has his angels all around you and our whole family, and we’re in the best hands”.  Then he’d pray with me, and all would be well. 

My dad – in my hearing – would tell my older brother to be sure to look after me and my sister and be sure we were safe. I now do the same with the older grandsons – to always look out for and protect their younger siblings.

The Father in the home should set behavior standards for the household. Some things we positively do, because they’re the right thing to do. Some things we absolutely do not do, because they are wrong.  Give your kids the details of good and wrong – from the Bible, ideally. Moms teach this too, but when Mom and Dad do it together, those kids will more likely live a happy and productive life. Dad and mom are role models!

Dads should show the kids how to do things around the house like basic plumbing – how to fix a leaky faucet or replace light bulbs, or change the oil in the car. This goes for sons and daughter alike. Sons and daughters alike should also be taught to cook and do basic housework (run the dishwasher, washer and dryer) and how to iron a shirt or blouse, or sew on a button or plant a flower or plant correctly. If a dad doesn’t have those skills, he should encourage his sons specially to watch at a safe distance the plumber or carpenter or handyman who comes by to do things.

Dad and mom should be working in loving harmony together. If there has been a divorce, then when dad or mom has the children for a few days – teach them skills in an atmosphere of loving patience. Take them fishing. Show them how to hook a worm, or how to cast out the fishing line and clean a fish.

Tell your kids stories of when you were growing up. They can be funny stories. My grandkids like my “most embarrassing moments” stories and laugh so loud – but it builds a bond, that I did quirky things too at times as a child. But also pass on the family stories so they grow with a sense of belonging. Kunta Kinte – remember those shows? Even a black slave taught his children about the family lines.

Instill a love of reading and learning. Cut down or cut out cell phone use when they’re young. Our grandchildren here love to read! And they’re very smart, already doing college level work and they’re in middle teens. I personally would not let my children or teens have a cell phone or laptop in their bedrooms after bedtime. It’s just too dangerous  for them.

When there’s conflict, dads should show the way to how we resolve conflicts without fights or blood being spilled!  Imagine all the killings, shootings and fights going on now that never should be happening – if only those people had dads or good men in their lives.

You women who are alone, but have children at home with you, try to find a good man from church (not from a bar) who can be like a father to your children from time to time.  If you express your needs, maybe other families can include your family in their activities. I had men who stepped into my life and did manly things with me when I was a teenager. A man who can listen to the children or teens growing up without their real dad. Let the kids express themselves. I truly believe these men were Godsends into my life!  I called such a man on the phone many years later who was by then in his 80’s, just to tell him how much he meant to me when I was 15-16 years old.

This man who comes into your life, or any adult really, should seek first to understand, before seeking to be understood. Listen. Repeat what you think you heard them say, but using different words, so they know you understand. And mostly, just be there and doing fun things, when possible, too.

So many young people in gangs and who get in trouble – so often have grown up without a father or a father figure influencing them, or one who sets boundaries and limits in their behavior, and who imposes consequences for bad behavior. But make sure the child understands you still love and care for them even when they have to be corrected.

Fathers are important too because proper male affection is so needed for young boys and teens – and girls too! When proper Dad affection is present, the children are far more likely to grow into traditional roles for marriage and families. Dads, have appropriate contact with your sons as they grow older. A hug, a pat on the shoulder, an approving nod all mean something. I remember one man telling me the most significant memory he had of his dad was his dad tossing an orange peel to him. It made him feel noticed. I was amazed by this.

Girls having strong and loving fathers is very important too. A father can – with mom there too – teach the daughter as they grow older about boys, in a good way. How to sit properly. How their modesty helps the boys control their raging hormones better, for example. And how precious their virginity is. Have you noticed how many “teen movies” out there are all about losing one’s virginity? Nowadays, it seems virgins are mocked, especially if they’re 16 or older already!

Did I do any of that perfectly as a father? No. But we did some. It’s too bad that so many fathers have to work overtime or into the night, and not be there to read a book to their children. And time doesn’t wait for us. They get older and we miss opportunities.

But somewhere in all that, some things must have been good.

Most people tell me our kids – now in their 30’s and 40’s, are wonderful model citizens. And now that I’m a grandfather, I want to be a grandpa that has a positive impact on the grandchildren. The things I wish I had done, I can now do as a grandpa. So we’ll play games on Father’s day. Water fights in the back yard with our water soakers, go to the swimming pool in the community and have fun. Then we’ll talk, play more games, and let them know how much we love each of them.   

So yes, dads are important. If you’re a Dad reading this, recommit to being a loving and strong dad. If you’re a grandfather, try being and doing the things with grandkids this time around, that you missed doing as a dad. Give your children and grandchildren security and love – that they’re in a secure, protected home led by a loving dad. Be their role model. Pray with them. Repent with them. Confirm God’s love for them, even when they’ve “done bad” – THROUGH you, being forgiving and loving too and teaching about their Loving Father in heaven.

Let them see you be delighted in their mother when you come home. They see you – their dad – kiss his wife when he comes home. And their mom is beaming with joy too.

We need to get back to this. And yes, dads are important. Moms are so important too. Let’s not be listening to the dangerous words we’re hearing that we don’t need strong families, marriages that are full of love, and children who are happily obedient and on the right track for success and happiness.

Dads, you have a big part to play in this.

Have a happy Father’s Day, dads. Thank GOD we still have some dads who make a world of difference in millions of lives. Thank you, Dads.

I live in a 55+ Community and we just received our annual reminder to be ready for the hurricane season here in Florida. They had a lot of good points and reminders.

Reminders are good. Being ready is good. As believers, our first focus in being ready is spiritual readiness; to be intimately close to Jesus Christ/Yeshua and our Father. To trust in our God to watch over us and take care of his children. To be willing to go through whatever he has us go through, knowing it is all for our good in the end. 

But are God’s children to do nothing else but trust in God? Do God’s children prepare – or just claim to trust?  Please read on.

JP Morgan’s CEO – Dimon – just said today that we should be ready for a financial hurricane coming soon.  He said things look sunny now but out in the distance is a hurricane financial storm looming and heading our way. Are we headed for a massive recession or depression – but with high inflation and interest rates but with a crashing stock market? Be ready. Make sure your faith is in God and not just in your gold, silver, bitcoin or stocks.

The context of his words was severe recession. Then another economist followed him later and said, “this financial hurricane is a Category 5 storm on the way.”  Then the discussion moved to how gas/petrol prices will continue to skyrocket. And then they spoke of food shortages, a nicer word than “famine”, the word I use.  Then someone else piped in and said, “and all of this could have been avoided. It’s all man-made.”

These are things I’ve been saying in my sermons and discussions with people lately for the past year and a half. Have you heard my sermon “Prophecy Famine Update”?  You should. I believe strongly the 3^rd seal of Revelation 6 has now been ripped open. Now we’re heading for seal #4 next, which is even worse.  Seal 3 is about worldwide food shortages combined with incredibly high inflation and food becoming unaffordable.

Light on the Rock supports a group of 68 people in Kenya, and others, including 28 orphans that we house, school, educate, feed, and provide health care, clean water, and much more.  Though their food prices are also skyrocketing, we sometimes cannot provide everything they need. I’m saying this you will all pray for especially God’s children who are desperately poor, that somehow our Father will give them health and all the provisions they all need.

But what about you? Are you taking time to apply the lessons of Joseph and store up some food, water, energy alternatives, medications, petrol/gas and more – while you can? Even if it’s just a little bit more that you buy each time.  Get ready now, so you’ll be ready. Hear that sermon.

But you see, there are many instances where men and women of faith also did certain things ahead of time themselves, besides sitting back while trusting in God.

Joseph advised Pharaoh to use the 7 years of plenty to stock up to help save his people and others. See Genesis 41.  Joseph could easily have said, “No worries, Pharaoh. My God will take care of us. Don’t be concerned at all.”  That’s our model. If you CAN do something to help be ready, then do it. . . yes, even AS you pray, trust in God and ask for his grace and mercy and protection.

And most of all, be drawing closer to your Savior and Father than ever before.

So are you ready spiritually?  Physically? Emotionally?  Many of you are counting on being raptured out of here at any time now. Call me in 2-3 years when you’re still here. Some of God’s children will be protected, but as I’ve explained in other sermons, many will not be totally protected but will die as martyrs – glorious witnesses for our Savior who died for us. Don’t overly seek to be saved physically. He who seeks to save his own life, shall lose it. And do you know the rest of that saying? Look it up. 

And at the same time, neither do we worry, fret or fear even if and when things just get worse and worse. In our closeness to Abba and our Savior, we have peace. We do what we can, and God will take care of his children. My faith is not in anything I’ve stored up – but faith in my King and Savior to do what He knows we must go through for eternity’s sake. Whatever it is, we say “amen” and accept it thankfully.

I believe we’re racing now to the final 8-15 years (in my view at least) before Christ returns. Let it be known, I’ve never ever said anything like that until about a year and a half ago. But now I am. I believe the 3^rd seal is open and within a couple years we may be hit hard with Seal #4. Read it for yourself in Revelation 6.  After #4 is the fifth seal and the time of greatest trouble the world has ever seen, ever.

Be spending much more time now getting close to your Master and Father. Do it now. Turn off the TV and social media and Facebook and what not. Use your time instead to clean up our lives where we must. Use the time to pray more. Use the time to meditate and talk with God all through the day more. Use the time to really come to “know” Jesus and our Father.  And then have faith that He’s got this and will take care of us.

In the meantime – June 5, 2022 – is the holy day of Pentecost (which means “50”), or the Hebrew “Shavuot”, which means Weeks. This is one of the holydays of God. The Moed – the appointed times --  to meet with our Creator and come before him in solemn and peaceful joy, even as we praise and worship him. I hope you will watch or hear the messages we have on the website about Pentecost, as one of the firstfruits of God’s calling. Just type in “Pentecost” in the Search bar. Or “Holy Spirit”.  Or “wedding of the Lamb” and see what that has to do with Pentecost.  It’s a huge day! A special appointment with God.

Pentecost/Shavuot weekend actually is a LOT about the first fruits – you and me.  Don’t miss the focus. And let’s keep in touch and speak to one another often. Read Malachi 3:16-18. Hopefully that is describing you.

Malachi 3:16-18

Then those who feared YHVH spoke to one another, And YHVH listened and heard them;

So a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear YHVH

And who meditate on His name.

17 "They shall be Mine," says YHVH of hosts,

"On the day that I make them My jewels.

And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him."

18 Then you shall again discern  between the righteous and the wicked,

Between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.”

One more thought:  what if you spend time and money in preparing for the seals to be opened in Revelation 6-7, and then just to find out that 5-6-7 more years pass and nothing of consequence seems to happen?

It’s still would have been wise to be ready for emergencies. It’s not going to hurt you to have taken steps.  But on the other hand, if conditions explode in the next 18 months – famines and other disasters – We will all be glad we took the time to be much closer to our God and that we prepared food, water, emergency supplies – as well as having prepared enough “oil in our lamps” (Matthew 25:1-10) to meet our Master when he returns.

So PREPARE now – spiritually, most of all, and then stock up a bit extra on food, energy, water, and for emergency situations.

All kinds of things can happen to cause a sudden collapse of our society.

Here’s one example:  Even a strong solar flare, like the one in the 1800’s before we had much electricity, could wipe out the entire energy grid of the whole world. All our satellites that guide our lives will be fried. Your electronics won’t work. Your smart phone and smart watch won’t work. Have a watch at least that doesn’t rely on computers, or daily chargings. Your computers won’t work. And the government computers and power grids won’t work either. We won’t be able to drive our cars after a while or get gas, as you can’t pump gas without electricity. Our fridges and freezers won’t work and we’ll lose our frozen foods. Our hospitals won’t have power. Our AC’s and heating systems will stop working.

That’s just from a powerful solar flare. I have learned that the earth’s magnetic field that is there to protect against solar flares, is getting much weaker. And our satellites are beyond all that anyway.

Add to that – severe droughts, typhoons, hurricanes, wars, earthquakes in the 7-8-9’s and above on the Richter Scale, floods, tornadoes, tsunamis --- all of which are prophesied to hit us before Christ returns.

In the end we will all have to totally trust God. Especially when you all see that the much-vaunted secret rapture out-of-here doesn’t happen. God will protect his own, at least a lot of them, but I don’t teach pre-Tribulation secret rapture to heaven at all.  But a lot of God’s children will also need to be purified in the fires of tribulation; people who are lukewarm now and too cozy with the ways of the world.

SO – pray and give it a lot of thought. Do what you can. Get close to God. Trust in God. Be so ready!!!  

This should be a simple blog, but I believe a very necessary one. Sometimes men, especially men over 50 or 60, rise up and decide they have to take charge of something because, they say, “that’s what men do. God made us to lead and be in charge, and he made women to follow and be our helpers. We men cannot be good helpers because we weren’t called for that, so women should stand aside and let men lead and make decisions while they help.” 

Any man who says that needs an hour of instruction from God’s word. I will start it with this blog.

Yes, God made the first woman to be the “ezer” to the man – a Hebrew word meaning his helpmeet or helper. Remember that word “ezer.” 

Genesis 2:18 NKJV  And YHVH God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper [ezer] comparable to him."  

CJB:  “…I will make him a companion suitable for helping him.”

NIV   “… I will make a helper suitable for him.”

So yes, woman was made to be man’s helper. But does it stop there? Are men to be helpers too?

The Hebrew word here for “help” or “helper” is “ezer.” It means helper. Strong’s word #5828. It refers to aid or assistance given.

Now here’s a wake-up call to the macho men who want to be helped by women but don’t see themselves as helpers.

Have you heard of the name “ELIEZER”? Do you know what it means? “GOD is my helper.”  Eli = my God. “Ezer” = helper. My God is my helper. My God says he sees himself in relation to us to be like Eve was to Adam: the helper.

Imagine that! The same God who created Eve to be Adam’s helper tells us that HE is also our helper! Same word. Ezer. Stop for a second and let that sink in. GOD, my ALMIGHTY GOD, is MY helper. That’s amazing! He’s not “above” being – like Eve – our helper. Let’s allow scripture confirm all this.

Read Exodus 18:2-4. Moses had named one of his sons “Eliezer.” Why?

Exodus 18:4  “and the name of the other was Eliezer (for he said, "The GOD of my father was my HELP, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh").

Deuteronomy 33:7 –in blessing Judah:  “… may You (GOD) be a HELP against his enemies.”

Psalms 33:20  “Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our HELP [our “ezer”] and our shield.”

I have a sermon or teaching about how Yeshua/Jesus is our SERVANT KING. Just enter those 2 words – Servant King – into the Search bar on this site and you’ll find it.  Please listen to it if you know you need this topic, and frankly we all can learn to be better servants of God and of one another, including serving the women and serving our families – all while being like Christ, the servant KING. We can be the leader of our homes and church and still be a helper.

I also have another blog “Who is the Greatest Servant in your Family.” You might find that useful too.

You see Jesus said, those who serve the most will be considered by God to be greatest of all in his kingdom. The male disciples were vying for status and claiming to be the greatest among the disciples. Jesus called them together and firmly said, “STOP! You guys- aren’t getting it. The way you’re talking is NOT at all the Kingdom way. You want to be great? Go and become a great servant, an awesome helper wherever and to whomever help is needed. Then, maybe Father will consider you as a great person in his kingdom!”

A meeting of elders should never be referred to as a “minister summit.” A SUMMIT? The high place of high elders? That’s ridiculous. We’re not like the Catholics whose leaders are ARCH-bishops, or Cardinals (meaning “the main ones”) or Holy Father – a title that belongs to God our Father alone according to Jesus.

So we men need to be careful with titles. “Holy and reverend is HIS name” (Psalm 111:9 KJV), so I never ever go by the title “Reverend” though I’m an ordained minister. I realize in context of God, “reverend” can mean “awesome” or awe-inspiring”.  So men… let’s watch out for this. The word “minister” means “one who ministers to or serves others.” 

Luke 22:24-27   Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. 25 And He said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called 'benefactors.'  26 But NOT SO among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. 27 For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves.”

So in practical terms, help out. Pastors should be serving at times too and helping out. Help clean up after the church potluck or coffee. If chairs and tables have to be returned to a certain spot, jump in. Help out. Serve. Help. I mean all of you men too.

At home, who would the kids say is the greatest servant in the home? I hope there’s a good chance they might say “Dad is.”  Probably most would say “mom” and moms still do most of the cooking and clean up. We men should definitely be helping clean up afterwards, and sweeping floors, and preparing coffee, and serving the coffee. Come on men, let’s be like Christ who said, “Yet I am among you as the One who serves,” as we just read in Luke 22:27.

Yeshua also said, I am one among you who washes your feet. I come as one who serves. Nobody else offered to wash feet, but I – your Lord and Master – did it as an example for all you men and all of you: Serve, be a slave, be a servant. It’s not demeaning. In God’s eyes, it’s the very thing that will likely lead him to raising you up higher.

So men, women, children – all of you – let’s all be willing to help one another. If you’re not helping at home or at church or anywhere, it doesn’t mean you’re someone great. It means you don’t “get it” yet.

Now a note to the younger men under age 35 especially, maybe even under age 50. Though we are all called to serve, we men HAVE also been called to lead. And as we lead, we serve as well. But I say especially to you younger men because I’m seeing so many of you buy into the woke culture and are not fulfilling your God-given role as leaders. The husband is to lead the family.

But too many men, fathers and husbands are just simply disappearing and not fulfilling their role – without being a dictator. God fearing women will be encouraging their husbands to lead, even while they also help in any way they can. And men, we are to seek ways to help as well, even as we lead. Be sure you all read Ephesians 5:22-32 again and live by it. Read 1 Corinthians 11:3-9 and see how we all need one another. Here’s the part about men leading in a servant way:

1 Corinthians 11:3  “But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.”

Again, remember this leadership is all in context in this blog about how God himself, though He is Supreme over all, claims to be our HELPER. How wonderful a Father and leader we have. That’s our example.

Long ago women started “wearing the pants” at home and making all or most of the decisions, instead of talking things through together and then a final decision is made, ideally by the husband. But the man should be smart and realize his wife – who may be advising something different than he’s thinking – is often right and her insights should be respected and often followed.

Look at the Proverbs 31 woman, you guys. Her husband TRUSTS here to make all kinds of big decisions including buying land, a home, or a vineyard. In our 47 years of married life, when buying one home I made the decision to buy as Carole was many thousands of miles away. Then another time it was HER decision and we absolutely trusted each other, though we did discuss it all together.

So men, we ARE called to be heads of our household and head of our wife – but as Christ leads, loves, HELPS, and serves his Bride. He’s our pattern.

In fact, I’ve started saying in recent years to Carole, “what makes you so smart? How come I didn’t see that?”  -- and then we make the decision and sometimes it’s her suggestion and sometimes it’s mine.

God does say that a wife’s head is her husband. The husband’s head is Christ. And Christ’s head is God the father (1 Cor. 11:3) But again, though our wives are to submit to their husbands as the head of the family – and yes, we are and should be the head of the family, men – but we also must LOVE our wives the way Christ loves the Church. He’s not constantly picking on her. In fact he sees her “without spot or wrinkle.”  We’re the church, his future wife. ARE we without spot or wrinkle? DO we live perfectly? But that’s how he sees us, according to Ephesians 5:28.

And please – though you are the head under Christ and God in your family, remember that even God Almighty himself proclaims that HE is also our ezer – OUR helper. So we help one another while we fulfill our roles in the family.

As people from various backgrounds and religious former-affiliations come into contact with Light on the Rock, we receive a variety of comments and questions. Another recent inquiry is whether infants or children can be or should be baptized.  

True Biblical baptism of course means “to be immersed” or “immersion” – to be put under the water, not just sprinkled with water as is common on the Catholic and some other denominations. The original Greek word is “baptizo” meaning to completely “immerse, submerge, baptize” (Complete Word Study Dictionary of the New Testament).

In a Biblical baptism your entire body goes under water and then back up again, to picture our burial spiritually into Christ and our resurrection spiritually in Christ as well (Romans 6:3-6).  Being sprinkled with water is not baptism. It’s not the same at all as being buried – in figurative death as we are totally immersed into and under the water.

So any of you reading this who believe you are baptized because as an infant you were sprinkled with water by a priest must understand: in fact, you were never immersed. You were never baptized even a first time. But you should be baptized upon your repentance and confession of sins and accepting Jesus as your master, king and savior. This time, your baptism should be by complete immersion under water.  For those of you baptized as infants, being baptized now will be your first true baptism. Remember – if you read Acts 19:1-9 – you’ll see that some who had been baptized by John the Baptist were re-baptized by Apostle Paul because they did not understand the Holy Spirit. And yet John baptized by immersion and taught repentance and was a true minister and prophet of God.  

Baptism points to us dying with Christ and being resurrected to newness of life in Christ. It all points to Jesus/Yeshua’s death and resurrection. On your own, please study Romans 6:3-14. Here’s the first part.

Romans 6:3-4  --"Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life”. 

We know of John the Baptist – the baptizer. Notice where he baptized and why.

John 3:23  -- “Now John also was baptizing [immersing] in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized (immersed).”

John the baptizer baptized in the Jordan “for there was much water there.”  If sprinkling water was all that was required, he would not have needed to find a place where there “was much water”.

 John 1:9 says Yeshua/Jesus came to be baptized (immersed) by John “in the Jordan”.  So Yeshua was baptized in a river. He was not sprinkled with water.

When the Ethiopian eunuch was baptized, it says Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and he was baptized. Then they came back up out of the water (Acts 8:35-39).  Please be sure to read that in your Bible.

So sprinkling water on anyone of any age and calling it “baptism” is simply unscriptural. One’s whole body has to be immersed in water as it actually symbolizes our old self being buried as Romans 6:3-6 explains. 

Now how about the age when a person can be baptized?

Jesus/Yeshua was baptized at age 30. That should say plenty to us. He is our example. He was not baptized as an infant or even as a teenager. He was baptized at age 30. Those of you who believe in infant or even child baptism need to decide if you think Joseph and Mary (his parents) and Jesus himself were all wrong to have Jesus wait til he was 30 years old.  

Neither is there a single clear instance in the Bible that I am aware of, of infants or children ever being baptized.  

But there are other significant points to consider

** Baptism follows repentance and forming a promised, committed relationship with our Almighty Father and Jesus Christ.

After Peter’s sermon on Pentecost (Shavuot – meaning ‘weeks”), people asked him what they could do. Here was his reply.

Acts 2:38 -- “Repent and let every one of you be baptized [immersed] in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” 

God’s Holy Spirit usually came upon the laying on of hands first by the ministry (Acts 8:17; 19:6).  There was the exception of Cornelius and his household, who were given the Holy Spirit first, as a sign to Peter, that God had already “OK’d” uncircumcised Gentiles to come into the church and be baptized.  See Acts 10:44-48.  

How can we possibly say that an infant or even a child or teen has repented and committed himself/herself to God? We can’t. So children and infants should not be baptized. Nor should adults be baptized who have not repented or properly understood repentance yet.  

But neither should you wait, once you’re an adult who has fully and deeply repented. Having repented does not mean you never sin anymore. It means you are choosing to live God’s way now and accept Yeshua as your Savior. You will still sin. If you come to me or any ministers and claim you’re ready for baptism because you don’t sin anymore, I would try to open your eyes to see that we all still stumble in sin. But don’t delay your baptism once you have repented and accepted Christ as your Master and committed yourself to obey Him fully.

            I do have a sermon on “Baptisms”. It’s plural because there are various baptism – of water, of fire, of the Holy Spirit.  I know you’ll learn a lot more by listening to it. It would actually be a good review for anyone, even all those already baptized, as we come up to Pentecost and review what it was that we committed to.   

            https://lightontherock.org/videos/message/baptisms-the-exciting-meaning-of-immersion1.html?highlight=WyJiYXB0aXNtcyJd

Upon receiving the Holy Spirit, that newly baptized person is immersed into the body of Christ and becomes a member or part of the body of Christ, the church, by the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:13 says by one spirit we are baptized – immersed – into one Body, meaning the very body of Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:13a  “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body…”

One purpose for us being baptized is to find and prepare a bride for Messiah. A baptized person is committing to happily marry Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 11:2). Paul said he betrothed us to Christ, as a “chaste virgin”. Can an infant repent? Can an infant make the commitment to marry the son of God?

Just as you would not put an engagement ring on an infant or child, neither should we ever baptize a child or infant.  It makes no sense. Committing to marriage – especially to the Son of God – takes far more maturity and understanding.

So – no, an infant or child should not be baptized or immersed in the name of Jesus Christ.

If a teenager (let’s say 16-17-18 yrs old)  wishes to be baptized, there should be thorough counseling on the subject first. This should include a complete discussion of repentance, of accepting Christ and what it means to be totally committed to Christ and God’s Way.  I’d personally still advise them to wait until at least 18 or 19 years of age or even later. SO many who were baptized at 16-18 years of age quit later on.

I was present for the baptism of an approximately 16-year old girl who insisted on it. I refused to baptize her before this point.  But then a new pastor came in and baptized her. But now 25 or so years later, she lives in sin, uses profanity freely, openly condemns the minister who baptized her, and she does not display any of the fruit of God’s spirit. Ditto for countless other children and teens who were “baptized”. SO many have discarded all that water baptism was supposed to mean.

So if you’re a teenager and want me to baptize you, I will likely tell you to wait a few more years. I just haven’t seen good fruit from most teens who were baptized.

And again, let me remind you: Jesus was 30 when he was baptized. HE is our model. You’re not “more ready” than he was, if you’re still a teenager.  He waited til he was 30.  Infants and children should NOT be baptized. If you were “baptized” (sprinkled) as an infant, you should seek proper baptism now.

I recommend again you listen to my sermon on “baptisms”. 

https://lightontherock.org/videos/message/baptisms-the-exciting-meaning-of-immersion1.html?highlight=WyJiYXB0aXNtcyJd

I welcome your comments on this and any blog. You must register first, and then write your comments and opinions that are supported by the Bible.

Some people read the Bible and it seems to them that everything is an allegory, figurative or metaphor and most things to them in the Bible are NOT “real” or literal. Others read the same verses and they take most scripture literally and almost nothing is a figure of speech or a picture of something deeper.

This short sharing is just to say – be so careful about forming beliefs and teachings based on everything being all literal or everything being mostly figures of speech or metaphors. A metaphor is a figure of speech where a word stands for something else. If I said to you—“You’re a peach,” I’m not saying you literally are a peach, but you are sweet and delightful. Metaphor.

Whole doctrines based on one or the other way of looking at each scripture can cause whole church groups to split up. I do sometimes wish that our God would have said, “OK children, this next series of verses are not to be taken literally” (or vice versa). But we don’t see that much in the Bible. We’re told about parables, but they’re not quite the same. Or are they?

Let’s look at some of the Bible language and see where YOU fit – do you take the words I’ll bring up more literally, or as more allegorical?

I know people who don’t believe there were literal people called Adam and Eve. I do believe they were there, in a literal garden of Eden. Yes, I believe there was a worldwide flood – and many don’t. Or they call it just a regional flood. I believe God blasted out of existence the cities of the Plain, including Sodom, Gomorrah and other surrounding cities of Admah and Ziboam. Zoar was spared as a potential destination for Lot and his two daughters. And yes, I believe Lot’s wife was turned to a real pillar of salt. Many people think all these things are figurative. Not me.

Many scriptures seem literal to me, but other ministers feel they’re symbolic or figurative. Many don’t believe in a literal 1,000-year reign of Christ and his firstfruits as Revelation 20 tells us. I do take that literally, but you’d be surprised how many don’t. We’ll have to see. But the thousand years are mentioned several times in that one chapter. I’d love to see some of you comment on this on our website. Register first, then leave your comment.

But then others take figurative language and make them all literal.

Here are some more examples of what must be, surely, figurative language:

** In our relationship with God, are we literally Sheep or goats? Or do they represent various kinds of people? Was Christ literally God’s “LAMB”? A literal lamb?

** Does a literal sharp two-edged sword come out of the mouth of Jesus? Some believe so. I do not believe a literal big two-edged sword sticks out of Messiah’s mouth, but I’ve heard preachers who declare it must be true.

** Is Jesus literally a LION – as in lion of Judah, or is God making a point? And is our Messiah a literal Door, or Bread of life? Of course not. Nor is he a literal Vine (nor are we literal stick branches on a literal vine – John 15:1-5). He was using word pictures that people could relate to and help them understand.

** Exodus 19:4 quotes God as saying He brought Israel out of Egypt “on eagles’ wings.” Clearly, they walked out. But many people take this hyper-literally. Others have even tried to find airlines with eagle logos to perhaps find a way that we might also flee to a wilderness in future – “on eagles’ wings.” This is just saying God brought them out supernaturally and with great energy. The first day of walking out could have been a 48-hour period, but no one was sick or infirm. To me, “eagles’ wings” is clearly a metaphor.

One thing we can learn from the words of Yeshua/Jesus is that he was constantly thinking on a higher plane than his disciples. So he used “spiritual” language or alliterative words.

For example Jesus said to “beware of the leaven of Pharisees”  (read Matthew 16:6-11). His disciples started concluding that it was because they had forgotten to buy or have bread on hand. It’s almost funny but we might have reacted and concluded the same as they did. Jesus/Yeshua said  -“no, no, I’m referring to their wrong teachings or doctrine, which can spread throughout the community like leaven.” So doctrine is important too. In another place, he compared the Pharisees’ “leaven” to hypocrisy – just like leavened bread is puffy, airy, and not as big or satiating as one might assume. He wants us to be exactly what people see – and not hypocritical.

So as we read the Bible, we have to ask ourselves if this passage is literal or figurative.

Also consider the source. I’m extremely cautious when reading the Book of Job, because God Himself told Job and his friends that his 3 main friends had NOT spoken correctly of God and his ways. In fact, one of them, Eliphaz – was hearing from a DEMON! Read it for yourself in the last half of Job 4.

So who is speaking? You need to know that when quoting the Bible. The one who said “You shall not surely die” – was Satan himself! So what’s the one thing people still believe today? It is that your soul cannot die. Straight from Satan! So now we have people believing the “immortal soul,” though Ezekiel 18:4, 20 both say, “the soul that sins shall DIE”! And Jesus himself said to fear him who is able to kill both body AND soul in his hell fire. Matthew 10:28 --  “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”  So now people believe the wages of sin is NOT death, but is endless life being tormented by a God who claims to be the very essence of what LOVE is. But what happened to ‘death”? So “they” redefined it as “death is being separated from God as you are being tormented in hell fire forever and ever.”

I obviously cannot agree with that. Death is death. AFTER the thousand years reign by Christ is finished, “the rest of the dead” will be resurrected, and some to suffer the 2^nd death as their punishment. Read Revelation 20:3-6, 12-14. They will be as ashes under the feet of the righteous (Malachi 4:3). Now THAT is “death.” Be sure to watch my upcoming sermons on death, God’s plan for us and more.

Here are more example of “is it literal – or figurative”?

**  BABYLON the Great of Rev. 17 and 18. Scripture calls it “that great city” on 7 hills, who rides The Beast – until the Beast casts her off and destroys her. OK, so who/what is Babylon in Rev. 18? Some say it has to be the literal city in Iraq that is slowly being rebuilt but has no consequence so far. Others are certain it’s not that – but perhaps Rome, or perhaps New York City. Many are certain it is Rome or Vatican City or the Roman Catholic Church. Others say it is Jerusalem when the Beast and False Prophet take it over for a few years and perhaps even make Jerusalem their world headquarters. What do you think?

** Will the final Two Witnesses really destroy their enemies with literal fire from their mouths? (Revelation 11). Elijah called down fire from heaven, not from his mouth, to burn the groups of 50 who came to arrest him (2 Kings chapter 1). I won’t test the 2 Witnesses on this – but it will be interesting to see if this is literal or figurative. (I think it’s figurative).

** We’re also called the temple of God’s spirit. But we’re not made up of literal big stones and precious stones of a temple – but allegorically yes, we’re the residence of God’s spirit and God does see his children as very precious in his eyes. But we are not literal stones but actually something far more precious.

** However, I personally do take literally that we are a Royal Priesthood. We’re children of God, and that makes me and you royalty of the highest order possible.

** Now this will challenge some of you: we are also called Children of God. Yes, I take that literally. MOST Christians do not. They think it’s allegorical. But God is my Abba – my wonderful Father. And I am literally called his child, and if you are led by His Holy Spirit, then so are you! You’re not just some sort of “angel” or something. No, you’re his daughter or son. Literally. Now ponder what all that could mean! I have teachings on “Your Breathtaking Destiny.”  When you grasp it, it will “blow your mind” as we used to say.

** The entire Flat Earth movement is based literally on taking scriptures about our planet  super-literally. So because the Bible speaks of the setting of the sun or rising of the sun, they say therefore the sun goes around the earth – and not the other way around. Because the KJV (and only the KJV it seems) mocks “science, so called” (1 Timothy 6:20), some of them say we should not believe science. The Greek word is “gnosis” – meaning knowledge!

So the Flat earthers – and there are millions of them now (for real) – believe the earth does not move at all, does not rotate, does not spin on its axis, does not revolve around sun. They believe the entire “universe” of sun, moon, stars, planets all fit inside a hard dome, the “firmament” that is above the flat earth. The sun is a small light – not a huge star—that is just 3000 miles above our flat earth.  Yep, people believe this. Then the religious Flat Earthers say God’s kingdom of heaven is just outside this dome, not that far from all of us.

The earth is not moving and cannot move at all? That’s one of their main beliefs in the Flat Earth movement. It comes from hyper-realism when reading scriptures, which say the earth cannot be moved. Check the original language too. “Moved” in Hebrew can also mean cannot be made to slip, or change, or fall. God was saying he made the earth correctly – and it’s not going to fall apart of skip – unless HE himself causes it to move! Isaiah 13:13 says “…the earth will move out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord…”

Also please read Isaiah 24:18-20, where the earth is described as … reeling like a drunkard when God gets involved.

Though many Flat Earthers claim their movement is based on the Bible, it is not. Their most-used model of the flat earth has the North Pole in the middle. But G0d CLEARLY says that HE set JERUSALEM at the center of the nations (Ezekiel 5:5). They believe the South pole – Antarctica – forms around the edge of their round, flat earth, keeping all the salt water in. They say that “edge” is a 150-foot wall of ice, though there’s no proof for any of this. Where are the photographs?

So that’s another point:  use ALL The Bible when setting doctrine so we’re not confused by figurative words. And when we check the original Hebrew or Greek, it often becomes clear. You can also see how other translations translate particular verses.

Get www.BibleHub.com  – it’s free and lets you do all kinds of cross-referencing. So does www.BibleGateway.com . Check them out. EVERY word of God is good, and we are to live by every word of God. There are other free Bible helps as well.

They also don’t believe any man has ever gone into space or the moon – or as they say it, outside our firmament dome. Flat Earthers also say all the photos of our beautiful round earth, as taken from the moon or far out in space, are all really just computer-generated imagery (CGI) and Photo Shop work.

Our world is a sphere, like a globe, folks. It’s not a Flat earth with a hard dome over it. All the provable evidence is there. Flat earthers have a tough time being able to convincingly demonstrate day/night, seasons, lunar eclipses, etc. Don’t fall for the hyper-literalism of Flat Earthers.

I’ll leave it at that and just remind you all to:

• Check out who’s speaking. Is it God, or Satan? Is it a prophet or false teacher?
• Check all the verses on a particular subject. Don’t force a doctrine from one verse. Have at least 2-3-4 scriptures which say the same thing.
• Figure out by context if it’s a literal verse or figurative verse

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I’m writing and discussing this topic because it keeps coming up, sooner or later, as I work with various groups who want to be obedient to God and his word. I keep hearing that there are those who want to require only circumcised males to be able to keep the Passover. 

It is VERY true that in the Old Testament, in the first or “old covenant”, God’s followers from Abraham onwards had to be circumcised as the sign of them being in covenant with the true living God. But what about today? I want to show both the Old Testament and New Testament teaching on this topic.

I strongly recommend everyone studies this short teaching – whether you are male or female, so you can discuss it correctly and intelligently when the topic rears its head again AND as it also bears heavily on understanding how we’re in the NEW COVENANT now.

So we’ll read some of the Old Testament scriptures first and then see what we’re told in the New Covenant. ARE we required TODAY to circumcise our males for spiritual reasons? Many still circumcise for health and hygienic reasons today, but we’re discussing circumcision for spiritual requirement reasons or not.

Here’s God’ command to Abraham in Genesis 17 saying ANY male in his group – whether freeborn or a purchased slave – were all to be circumcised.

Genesis 17:9-14

And God said to Abraham: "As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.

10 This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; 11 and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. 

12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. 13 He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14 And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant."

God chose the 8^th day because 8 is the number of new beginnings. Like there were 8 in the ark; David was the 8^th son of Jesse. But also on the 8^th day is when Vitamin K in our blood, needed for strong blood clotting, is at its highest level it will ever be!

It is also true that in the first Passover service in Exodus 12, everyone partaking of the Passover had to first be circumcised. SO understand, before they left Egypt all the males had been circumcised. But we’ll find that in the next 40 years in the wilderness, they did not continue to circumcise any of the newborns. Not at all. Not even Moses enforced it, as we’ll see later on in Joshua 5.

Exodus 12:43-48

And YHVH said to Moses and Aaron, "This is the ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner shall eat it. 44 But every man's servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then he may eat it. 45 A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat it. 46 In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house, nor shall you break one of its bones. 47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.

48 And when a stranger dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to YHVH, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it.”

So that’s clear enough as well! If you wanted to keep Passover back in the day, yes – you had to be circumcised. So all of Israelite males coming OUT of Egypt, had had the circumcision ceremony done on their bodies before they left Egypt. Keep that in mind.

But did you know that in the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, the Israelites were not circumcised and so probably did not keep Passover either! You can read that all very clearly in Joshua 5:1-9. Not even Moses had made them get circumcised during the 40 years wandering.

Moses and Jeremiah pointed out the real meaning of circumcision is to cut out anything between you and God. 

Deuteronomy 30:6  

“And YHVH your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.”

Deuteronomy 10:16

“Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer”.

Jeremiah 4:3-4 says to take away the foreskins of your hearts.

So please note: circumcision today – for spiritual reasons – points to exposing your HEART to God, in deep repentance and acceptance of Jesus Christ, by FAITH, as your Savior . So even you WOMEN need THIS kind of circumcision, OK?  

Circumcision became an issue in the New Covenant when believers who had been PHARISEES saw uncircumcised Gentiles coming to conversion. Pharisees were super strict and orthodox about keeping the law.

Remember, they did not have any of the New Testament scriptures we have now for the first few DECADES after Christ’s death and resurrection. ALL they had were the scriptures I’ve just read you and if that’s all you had, you too would have said circumcision of the flesh was required.

So there was a ministerial conference in Jerusalem to address this topic of circumcision – AND, verse 5 – whether people had to keep all 613 laws of the entire law of Moses, meaning his 5 books, the Torah. It’s important to understand both questions were being addressed. People were saying one must be circumcised for salvation and keep all 613 laws (the Torah).

You may want to hear my teaching on “The NEW Covenant”.

Acts 15:1-2

And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." 2 Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question. 

Acts 15:5-12

“But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, "It is necessary to circumcise them, AND to command them to keep the law of Moses."

6 Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter.

7 And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: "Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, [before those Gentiles were circumcised] 9 and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their HEARTS by faith.

10 Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ WE shall be saved in the same manner AS THEY" (meaning by faith). 

Peter was circumcised. So were all the other Jews present. What is this yoke on the neck that neither they nor their fathers could keep; weren’t “able to bear?” 

It was this: The Old Covenant was all about blessings and cursings. You were blessed if you obeyed and cursed if you did not (Leviticus 25; Deuteronomy 28). The Old Covenant did not offer eternal life to Israel for being obedient. It offered a blessed life, but not eternal life. This is so key to understanding this.

So people like Joshua and others said they chose LIFE (Joshua 24:15), meaning they chose to be obedient and serve the LORD. But they were not offered eternal life except for a very few exceptions of prophets and leaders and some women who were being called to receive the Holy Spirit even way back then. Hear my “New Covenant” sermon please.

The NEW covenant that we and they in Acts 15 were now a part of – was a covenant of salvation, righteousness and eternal life by FAITH in Yeshua and our Father. But too many 21^st century believers don’t understand this still. Too many are still trying to QUALIFY for eternal life, instead of receiving the GIFT of salvation. Peter is trying to explain that in Acts 15:9 and 11 especially. Read it again. Salvation by FAITH in Christ and in faith receiving the gift of God’s favor, God’s grace (verses 9, 11). Eternal life is God’s free GIFT (Rom. 6:23). 

12 Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles.

Then for the rest of the chapter – they issued a decree that they wanted 4 points emphasized to the uncircumcised Gentiles: abstain from meat offered to idols, no sexual immorality, don’t eat meat strangled, and don’t be drinking blood (v. 20).

BUT WHAT WAS LEFT OUT of the 4 requirements? CIRCUMCISION.

 Timothy was half Jewish by his mom and half Gentile by his dad. So he was circumcised to keep from offending the Jews.

Acts 16:3

“Paul wanted to have him (Timothy) go on with him. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek.”

But Titus, a Greek man, was not required to be circumcised (Galatians 2:3).

WHAT CIRCUMCISION IS REQUIRED – both of men and women of God 

The Apostle Paul, especially, clarifies that circumcision of the male parts is not required or even desired in the new covenant. We become spiritual Jews by faith and circumcision of the heart.

Romans 2:28-29

For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh;

29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.

1 Cor. 7:18 is so clear. If a believing man is uncircumcised, “let him NOT be circumcised.” And verse 20 – stay the way you are! It doesn’t get any clearer than that.

1 Corinthians 7:18-20

“Was anyone called while circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? Let him NOT be circumcised.

19 Circumcision is NOTHING and uncircumcision is NOTHING, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters.

20 Let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called.”

This next passage in Galatians 5 is especially strong.

Galatians 5:1-6 especially   v 2, 4

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you NOTHING.”

3 “And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. 4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails ANYTHING, but faith working through love.”

Paul goes on in Galatians 6:14-15 to say he did not want to boast in anything he did in the flesh – but just to glory to what Yeshua did on the cross. Paul really puts down those in the church who were advocating for circumcising the men and boys. 

So today, we do NOT seek to circumcise our males for spiritual reasons. If anyone wants to circumcise their 8-day old boys for health reasons, that’s fine; but please – not for spiritual reasons. We ARE all circumcised in the New Covenant if we have repented, opened up and exposed our soul and heart to God, and accepted Yeshua as our Savior. We had circumcision of the HEART, which is what physical circumcision pointed to.

Colossians 3:9-11

“Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, 11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.”

I want to end by reading again, the first 5-6 verses of Galatians 5:

Galatians 5:1-2, 6

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you NOTHING.”

6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love”.

So, are we to be circumcised now, in the New Covenant?

Yes – but only by circumcision of our heart; being tender-hearted to God and baring our soul.

But if someone means physical circumcision of the male foreskin, then NO. Absolutely not.  

So to be clear: in the new covenant, NOBODY has to be physically circumcised today to keep the Passover, or to be baptized, or to be allowed to marry, or to attend church services. Nobody has to be circumcised today, except in our hearts. And we are in the New Covenant!

Most of the Christian world is celebrating Easter Sunday today. But those of us who go by the Bible are remembering a very special day – Wavesheaf Day. Don’t let the day go by without you realizing this is such a special day.

For full details, be sure to hear/read the brand-new audio sermon about Jesus’ inspiring Wavesheaf Day.

At 9 am on this day, the day after the weekly sabbath that falls between the first and last day of Unleavened Bread, the High Priest would raise up to God an omer of fine flour beaten from the first barley sheaves. This was done before the rest of the barley harvest could begin. Then he would lower his hands and the flour back down again. Thus the rest of the harvest has been accepted, because of presenting the first fruit of barley first to God.

Leviticus 23:9-11

And YHVH spoke to Moses, saying, 10 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be ACCEPTED on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.”

So on this day, Yeshua/Jesus had been resurrected just before sundown the evening before, exactly three days and three nights after being placed in the tomb, and then waited to fulfill what this ceremony pointed to: to HIM and his role in making the harvest accepted by God our Father. He did see Mary Magdalene in the garden and revealed himself to her but told her that he must go to his Father and his God, and to her God and Father first. (John 20:17)

Which he did. What a glorious reunion that must have been with cheering angels, with joy and wonder, with praise and glory to the victorious Son of God. How indescribably moving it must have been for Father and Son to finally reunite and hug and – what JOY! God had sent him to us as a perfect baby, and we returned him all battle-scarred. BUT, Yeshua was sinless, had won the perfect victory over Satan. Satan only had to make Jesus sin one time to win. But Satan lost, and lost badly, as Christ redeemed us all in his complete and total victory.

Yeshua came back down that same day, saw Peter first of all (1 Cor. 15:5; Luke 24:34) in what had to be a beautifully re-affirming meeting with the man who had denied him three times. Then He appeared to the 2 men on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:23-35), who then returned to Jerusalem and joined up with the 10 gathered (minus Thomas) there along with others. Then once again our wonderful Savior appeared to them all – minus Thomas -- once more, confirming his resurrection (Luke 24:35-38).

Surely most of us feel so unworthy much of the time and feel rejected by people, even God’s people, and we often can feel rejected by God when we know we have failed. THIS day  affirms God’s acceptance of the rest of the harvest – of those He is calling now. Notice how all of this listed in Ephesians 1 is attributed to Jesus to make it all possible also for us. And notice how positively worded is the entire summary – blessed, the good pleasure of his will, and that wonderful grace and favor of God towards us.

Ephesians 1:3-6

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us ACCEPTED in the Beloved.”

So this day is not just about our Savior rising to his Father and being accepted as the first of the firstfruits – but in that act it also allows US to be accepted by Father. SO this day is also very much about you and me, in and through Christ.

Take time today to bow down and worship in profound gratitude for the meaning of this day. This is what my wife and I do. So today, Wavesheaf day, is not a holy day but a very, very special day that must not be forgotten.  I have more details in the sermon about this day that has been posted.

Please help spread the word to others to remember this vital and loving day.

The question came up recently about children being involved and participating in the Passover service in one’s home, so I thought we could address it. What follows is what we do at Passover, which we normally keep to 2-3 families in our home; keeping it intimate and family-like.

One’s children were definitely expected to be present at the Passover in the time of Moses.  Let’s read some scriptures and then I will cover what WE do in our home on Passover. In the scripture below, focus on verses 26-28:

Exodus 12:21-28 -- Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb.  22 And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. 23 For YHVH will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, YHVH will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. 

24 And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. 25 It will come to pass when you come to the land which YHVH will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service.

26 And it shall be, when your CHILDREN say to you, 'What do you mean by this service?' 27 that you shall say, 'It is the Passover sacrifice of YHVH, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.'"   So the people bowed their heads and worshiped. 28 Then the children of Israel went away and did so; just as YHVH had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.”

So children were obviously present, and still are present in the Jewish Pesach (Passover). There’s more in Exodus 13:7-10 and then again in verses 11-16, about redeeming the firstborn, going back to the Passover.

Exodus 13:7-10   “Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. And no leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in all your quarters. 8 And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, 'This is done because of what YHVH did for me when I came up from Egypt.' 9 It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that YHVH's law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand YHVH has brought you out of Egypt. 10 You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.”

So it’s clear that children were present at the Exodus 12 Passover and beyond.  In the Jewish celebrations of Pesach (Passover), children are also present. Jews take to heart the scripture – it’s a Mitzvah or law to them -- to be sure to explain to the children present what is going on. But keep in mind that Jews keep 2 Seders on what they call “the first 2 days of Passover”. In many sabbath-keeping Christian groups, children are not present and I think that is unfortunate and let me explain why in a minute. If you aren’t planning on your children being in the service, I hope you’ll reconsider after reading all of this article.

The Jewish Passover is more like what many of us would call the “night to be much observed”, at the end of Passover day and beginning the first day of Unleavened Bread -- where we have a big meal celebration of the freedom we now have after Christ’s death frees us from Satan’s grasp.

In a nutshell, we try to do what Jesus did, regardless of calendar issues. He kept his Passover meal plus the footwashing and bread/wine service the EVE of Passover day, then died on Passover day at 3 pm and was put into the tomb just before sundown, still Passover day. The next day, starting at sundown, was a “high day” (John 19:31-32) – not a regular sabbath but a holyday sabbath, one of the annual “feasts of the LORD” (Leviticus 23:1-2), where God calls them “MY feasts”.   

But I want to stay on topic – children at Passover.

Our own practice is to personally always welcome well-behaved children to be present, as scripture says, as long as they have been prepared ahead of time to be respectful, quiet, observant and obedient. So at our Passover services, our grandchildren and any other children of other participants are welcome and present – and just quietly watch. Maybe 1-2 older teens can sit among them to be sure they aren’t talking and are respectful during the service. Rowdy and untrained children should be left at home with a babysitter.  

Why do we welcome children? Because as I’ve shown, children were present at the original Passover. And I want them to feel included in this deeply spiritual, meaningful, and solemn service. One of my most cherished photos in my old photo album is a picture that shows me at age 6 with my brother and sisters watching our mom during a Passover bread/wine service. So I hope this is going to be something our children also realize is part of their practice as they grow older too. We keep the bread and wine and footwashing on the eve of Passover day, then have a meal the following night, after sundown.

We personally do not keep an official Seder, as some of it is unscriptural and is wrapped in traditions that come out of Babylon (like the egg) and can tend to become too much of a ritual and focused on Judaism, which I won’t do. It also seems to take forever to go through!  I’m familiar with the Haggadah and Seder. Jews often don’t even eat a lamb anymore but chicken instead! Plus in the New Covenant – we copy what Yeshua did. He added the footwashing service and focused on the bread and wine, which pointed to him.

But let me hasten to add, that in the New Covenant, our answers to the children’s questions will include the story of the deliverance from Egypt of course – but then we need to pivot, and turn our focus to point to what the lambs depicted: the sacrifice of our Savior, Yeshua.

Yeshua made clear – Passover needs to be focused on HIM, the intent of all those lambs. In Yeshua’s last Passover supper with his disciples, he is never once recorded as talking about coming out of Egypt, the 10 plagues, etc. – but said this, and this is what we need to teach our children too: the OBJECT LESSON of the Passover Lamb dinner was the bread and body of our Lord Jesus Christ and the cup of wine, picturing his shed blood for us. Life is in the blood and without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins (Leviticus 17:11; Hebrews 9:22).

Luke 22:17-20   Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves;  18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

19 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of ME.”

20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.”

Notice how Passover is primarily in remembrance of the Messiah—and not in remembrance of coming out of Egypt. Once the POINT of the service is here (and that is Messiah!), we do not emphasize the “shadow” of the service as much now that we’re in the new covenant. I want children to know and learn about Yeshua too. I want them to see how we grownups love him and our heavenly Father. We are so thankful to be delivered from the enslavement of sin and Satan’s world.

1 Corinthians 11:23-25   “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said,  "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of ME."  25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of ME."

So be sure to teach the children that Passover is really about Messiah and his sacrifice, even more then it is about those lambs sacrificed in Exodus 12, as they POINTED TO our Messiah and the liberty he gives us by his life’s blood shed for us as the Lamb of God.

I’m sometimes asked if children can wash feet and take part in the bread and wine service. I know some of you allow them to participate in the footwashing.

In our service and our home, we absolutely love having children watch the footwashing and the bread and wine service, but they do not partake of any of that portion. We explain the footwashing as the humble act of serving one another AND to remember, as we wash someone’s feet, that Yeshua already has washed them (John 13:12-17). We’re just acknowledging that fact and it’s saying to the one we’re serving as we wash his/her feet, that we see him or her as washed by Christ. It is saying that “we’re not going to see you in any way but washed by Christ, and so you’re cleansed, my brother/sister.”  All that in in context of course, of serving one another as well.

Whether you wish children, especially older children perhaps, to participate in footwashing is your call decision. We reserve all that to baptized members.

Partaking of the bread and wine of Christ is so deep, so special, so spiritual, and one we must be prepared for, so that we are ready to take it in a worthy manner, as Paul says.

So no, we absolutely do not risk this with children not old enough or mature enough to understand. We are severely warned by Paul not to take Passover unworthily, and so let’s let the children grow up more, come to repentance and baptism as adults –and  then by all means at that point let them partake of the bread and the wine.

1 Corinthians 11:27-31    “Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.”

Don’t put that burden on yourself as the parent, and don’t put that burden on your children. Let them watch – but no more than that, is my advice. At least that seems to be the clear direction of scripture for me and my household. 

And I personally see no example of children participating in footwashing or partaking of the new covenant very deep symbols of the bread and wine. So at our Passover services, children are welcome to politely and quietly observe, without talking or playing, while baptized adults wash feet and partake of the bread and wine of the body of Christ. Of course the presiding host or minister should be explaining all aspects of footwashing, and the bread and wine – so the children hear all that as well. 

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Short but vital blog today. Passover.  For most of us it is coming in April 2022 this year. There are various calendars being used out there, so be sure you know when you’ll be keeping the footwashing and partaking of the bread and wine service. For most of you, the Passover service will be kept sometime between April 14-16, 2022, depending on your calendar you use.

For those keeping Jewish or rabbinic calendar, Passover day is April 15, 2022, and the bread and wine and footwashing kept the eve of the 15^th – end of April 14. The first holyday of Unleavened Bread for many will be April 16, sabbath.  For those following the conjunction method and sighting of the new moon in Israel, it will be a day or so later.

Remember scripture is clear that Passover day is Nisan or Abib 14, the daytime portion when our Messiah was crucified. The first Hebrew month is called Abib or Nisan.

Leviticus 23:5-6   “On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord's Passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread.”

Yeshua’s own example for us was that he did the footwashing and bread and wine service the eve of Abib 14, and then died in the daytime portion of Abib 14. Remember Biblical days start and end sundown to sundown. The 15^th of Nisan/Abib starts the Feast of Unleavened Bread, again starting at sundown and ending at sundown.

Do also be aware though, that traditionally the whole time – Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread were sometimes all lumped together, and simply called “Passover”, just as we might today call the 7-day Feast of Tabernacles and 8^th day Festival – “the Feast of Tabernacles”, though they are technically 2 separate festivals.  

Ezekiel 45:21  "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall observe the Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten.”

But back to my topic: Have you given much thought to Passover this year?  Are you ready to take the bread and the wine?  Or did you find Passover rapidly coming up – and you haven’t given it much thought?  If that is what has happened, resolve to make changes so it never happens again. It’s our own fault if that’s happening. But frankly it’s also a reflection on your ministers if that happened. Pastors should have been discussing Passover-type topics for the past few sabbaths.

So here’s my point:  If you’re among those keeping it in April, and you realize it has come up so quickly and you feel caught off guard, this blog is for you! 

God’s people must NOT, must NOT, let the pivotal event in all human history since Adam and Eve were created to “sneak up” on you, to catch you off guard.

When we get new wall calendars each year, I make a point to mark up the calendars with the Passover and the holy days of God, as well as our personal anniversaries or plans we have.  Some of you may have dispensed with wall calendars ages ago. But however you track time, be sure you do. Then I do the same in my cell phone calendar and even make a note 2-3 weeks before Passover, to start thinking heavily about God’s love for me and for you.

Remember that Passover pictures the Son of God, called “the Lamb of God”, who himself was God (John 1:1-3, 14), who gave his life to pay the penalty for your sins and mine and of the world (John 1:29) so that humanity would not all have to die for all of our sins. 

This event, this spilled holy blood of the Lamb, broke the back of Satan’s tyranny, pictured by the death of the first born in Egypt that broke Pharaoh’s hold on Israel. The Passover paid the ransom for sin, paid the penalty for sin, soothed God’s wrath over all our sins, and cleansed each of us of all of our sins. ALL of them, bar none.  ALL of them, no matter how horrendous they were (1 John 1:7, 9).  If you and I deeply repented of each of our sins and our failings and then came humbly before our Maker and confessed our sins and accepted Yeshua of Nazareth as the promised Messiah (Anointed One), then ALL of our sins are washed away in his blood.

Upon baptism we were baptized by the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ. 
“For by one spirit were all baptized into one body…and have all been made to drink into one spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13). 

Whose body was that?  Of course, it’s HIS body.  “We, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another” (Romans 12:5).  So now we are seen as “members of HIS body, of his flesh and of his bones” (Eph 5:30).  “His body, which is the church” (Col. 1:24)—and us individually as members of that body. 

We are part of HIM, folks. The Bible speaks repeatedly of how we are IN HIM.  So if you think of your own body and your own blood, our blood is coursing through our whole body, giving nourishment, and cleansing the body from head to toe, literally.  

Well we are now part of His body and so His blood continues to cleanse us. Just like YOUR own blood cleanses YOUR body when you cut yourself and infection begins.  Your blood immediately sends out white blood cells and attacks the infection, protecting and cleansing your body.  God’s blood does the same for the parts or members of HIS own body – you and me.  His blood at Calvary forgave us of all our past sins.  Now as we live in him, He continues to cleanse us as long as we continue to stay attached to him, to abide in him as John 15 tells us.  Remember life is in the blood. He spilled his blood for me and for you.

When God looks down upon his children, does He see all of us coming under His son’s blood?  Remember what God said in Exodus 12 – “When I see the blood [splashed on the door posts and lintels of the houses], I will PASS OVER you” – and the people in that household were spared (Exodus 12:13). 

WE – when we repented and answered our Creator’s call – also came under the blood.  God must see us as people who take this all very seriously.

SO, are you ready for Passover?  You do NOT want to be taking it in an unworthy manner or unworthily.  We need to give it careful thought.  We need to be sure we especially in the days before Passover are not taking any ongoing sins in our lives lightly. 

You’re ready if you are very soberly thanking and praising Yeshua for his great work in your behalf. You’re ready if you’ve been giving thought to Passover the last so many days or even weeks.  You’re ready if you have examined yourself and realize – “Boy do I EVER need the washing and cleansing of his blood over me”.  We’re told that after we have examined ourselves, “so LET him drink of the cup” and eat of the broken bread. 

“Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and SO LET HIM EAT of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment on himself, no discerning the Lord’s body.”  (1 Cor. 11:27-29). 

We don’t examine and then decide we are unworthy.  No, no, no. Ultimately just the Lamb is worthy. But when we are IN him, as we are – by His Spirit – we too become worthy because we are a part of Him, his holiness, HIS perfection, HIS righteousness.   But we never, never take this lightly. 

We diligently put out leaven – but be sure you are even more diligent in fighting sin and temptations in your life.  The most effective way is NOT to focus on your sins and weaknesses, but keep your mind and eyes fixed on Jesus Christ, who conquers it all. We become what we think about. Focus on Messiah and become more and more like him in so doing.  

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 -- “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

Hebrews 12:1-2 – “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Be sure you are cleaning out the crevices of your heart.  Be sure your focus is on the spiritual elements of this season way more than the physical parts of it. 

We were washed at our repentant baptism, but we also still do the foot washing each Passover to remember to be humble and to serve one another, as well as to keep the spiritual dirt of sin off of us as we walk our walk of life day by day. And as you wash feet this year, don’t miss this:  recognize that Yeshua has ALREADY WASHED this person and we accept that person as a brother or sister in the body washed of any sins, of any gossip about his/her sins, and just love one another in the love of Christ.

So please – be sure to be taking time to focus on Passover and that means focusing on Messiah! I suggest you hear my sermon on “Do this in remembrance of ME!” (Christ speaking). 

I would also recommend this: if you can --before Passover, spend a day in fasting as you examine yourself, your life, your commitment to the Way to which you’ve been called.

But even if you don’t fast, at least spend some time in the days preceding Passover and even after Passover—to recommit to a life attached to Jesus Christ and to express your thanks and gratitude daily to our truly amazing Father in heaven and the Son of God who gave himself for you, because of his love for you.

Are you bold when you make requests to God? Is being bold with God -- a good thing, or a bad thing?  Remember our Father is all powerful, all knowing and loves to bless his children. But sometimes I wonder if we’re too “small” in our thinking? God enjoys going above and beyond anything we can hope for and ask for. So many verses tell us that. He won’t give us a rock if we ask for bread. He loves pouring out his holy spirit.

So let’s be bold when we ask Father for some blessings. For example, in terms of healing, sure – we can pray God guide the surgeon or speed up the healing. But why not be bolder?  Why not ask, “Father, when they examine my cancer tumor again before surgery, please – in Jesus’ mighty name, command the entire cancer to just be gone, totally healed. Leave them wondering what happened, but I’ll explain it to them to your glory, dear Father. And I thank you right now, in advance! May your will be done, Father, and I submit to your will.”   (I don’t have cancer right now, but I have been healed of cancer twice.)

Or, if you’re struggling with a chronic sin and temptation, be bold:  “Yeshua, my king and my Savior, I’m struggling with coveting [or whatever your issues are]. I hate it when I do. I know you want us to be content with whatsoever we have and not to covet anything out there. Yeshua, I’m repenting of this and I’m opening the door of my heart to you and I invite you to come into my life. BE my life, Lord. Please Lord, come live in me – obediently as you did 2000 years ago. Please BE my life, BE my thoughts and deeds… I want to say victoriously with Paul, that I no longer live, but the life I live is really Christ living in me, as Paul says in Gal. 2:20. Please show me how to blast this covetousness out of my heart and soul. I hate coveting, Lord, and please let me always be pleasing you. Thank you, Master.”

If you’re struggling with anything, you can ask God through Christ to create and live a new life in you, the very life of Jesus Christ, in complete victory over any sin. This applies to lacking God’s love in your life, asking for help in living your life in JOY and peace, no matter what.  It can apply to impatience, lust, porn, being too loose on sabbath observance, alcoholism, gluttony, being unkind and unloving – and the thousands of other sins people struggle with.  

Perhaps you struggle with forgiving someone from your heart. Talk to God humbly – but boldly – that you’re tired of this struggle and want to claim the victory. You realize if we don’t forgive others who have sinned against us, neither will Father forgive us of our sins against him (Matthew 6:12, 14 and many others). So this could be a very serious problem! Check out my sermon on it, coming out in March 2022.

Without God’s forgiveness, we have no future. On your knees, declare your problem with this, and how bitter and hurt you feel over someone’s sin against you.  Confess how hard it is for you to feel forgiveness and love for that person. Ask God’s forgiveness, ask God to change your heart to be like HIS. And then when you have forgiven, declare to God that you have forgiven this person whom you once claimed to surely be “unforgivable”. Or, if you haven’t and just can’t seem to be able to forgive him/her, boldly again ask Yeshua to come live in you and share with you his gentle and forgiving spirit. 

I remember doing that some time ago. Someone was a terrible thorn in my side, had gossiped badly about me and it was hard for me to like her or care about her. But when I had finally totally forgiven her while praying, the phone rang as I was ending my prayer. I can’t go into details, but it was about this very issue I had been praying about and God turned around my bitterness to a heart of compassion, forgiveness and asking God to bless her. But it wasn’t easy for me. I had to ask Yeshua to rule in my heart.  It took a while.

If you need financial help, remember we are to be content Paul says – if we have food and clothing (1 Timothy 6:8)! But if you truly need a financial blessing, ask boldly – and declare you intend to share it with the needy as well. Have you heard of the Prayer of Jabez?  Be bold, ask God to bless your work, your employment, your income, and thank him in advance, as if you have already received it – and then be sure to share it with others.

Jabez had caused his mother much pain in childbirth, so she named him Jabez – “He will cause pain.”  Imagine that. You could feel cursed! But note what Jabez did and prayed.  This is called “the prayer of Jabez”. It’s a great model for us and God granted his request.

1 Chronicles 4:9-10 -- Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, "Because I bore him in pain." 10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, "Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!" So God granted him what he requested.

Read the scripture above several times. I call it a very bold prayer. Are we limiting what the living God would do in our lives – if we would but ask, and ask boldly?  Do we fall into the category of “you have not, for you ask not” (James 4:2b). So ask! And be sure to ask in a way that is not just selfish, as James tells us. Be sure to ask it be in God’s will.

Look how bold Jabez’ prayer was! And God granted him what he requested! God does not change. He wants to grant you powerful answers too

Matthew 7:7-8 --"ASK, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

Even in the Lord’s Prayer – “give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Deliver us from evil (or the evil one)…”   Pretty bold. 

There’s an old, lesser known story in the Scriptures about Elisha and one of the kings, which has intrigued me for years. Elisha was old and about to die. Joash, one of the righteous kings of the northern ten tribes of Israel, had come to pay his last respects apparently. Elisha asked King Joash to shoot an arrow out of an east window, and then explained that arrow symbolized victory over Syria at a future battle. Now let’s read what happened.

2 Kings 13:14-19

Elisha had become sick with the illness of which he would die. Then Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, "O my father, my father, the chariots of Israel and their horsemen!"

15 And Elisha said to him, "Take a bow and some arrows." So he took himself a bow and some arrows. 16 Then he said to the king of Israel, "Put your hand on the bow." So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king's hands. 17 And he said, "Open the east window"; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, "Shoot"; and he shot. And he said, "The arrow of the Lord's deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you must strike the Syrians at Aphek till you have destroyed them."

     [So Elisha had explained what the arrow symbolized.]

18 Then he [Elisha] said, "Take the arrows"; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, "Strike the ground"; so he struck three times and stopped. 19 And the man of God was angry with him, and said, "You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times."

We can’t get into Joash’s head and see what he was thinking. Perhaps he didn’t understand what his action was depicting. Perhaps he lacked faith and wondered how he could crush Syria. We just don’t know. We do know this: instead of vanquishing Syria once and for all, he limited himself to three victories.

The point of this blog is simple: when Almighty God opens a door for us, let’s not be timid or small-minded in our thinking. Let’s not limit our true God who knows no limits. We can all fall into that trap at various times of our lives. We are His children, who are part of His HOUSE. My children are bold about claiming what I have, what I offer. So should we be.

Are we limiting the one Living God and what He wants to do in us, through us, with us? Remember even Yeshua could do virtually no mighty work in Nazareth, his home town, because of their unbelief (Mark 6:4-6).  God works through faith, trust and belief. He often holds Himself back if we don’t believe mightily in His power (see Hebrews 4:2).

When you ask for something from Yahweh – especially when it’s for someone else and your request is being totally selfless – do we ask in a small way?  For example:

• If we’re asking Father to open up a job for an unemployed brother or sister, do we just ask for a job, or do we ask for a fabulous career job with wonderful benefits and a great group of people to work with?

• If we’re asking God our Healer to deliver someone from the bonds of illness, are we just asking for that specific condition? Do we ask boldly, or fall back to “whatever your will is”—and keep ourselves from a bold request? Remember when Jesus spoke those words “Thy will be done” in Gethsemane, He knew the divine purpose and will was that He be the sacrifice for all sin. Why not ask Father to heal anything else that isn’t quite right in that person’s body, to imbue him/her with untiring energy, a bright spirit and powerful health that could bring glory to our Father? Be bold, ask big.

I’m sure you can think of many more examples. Don’t limit God. He is limitless. Evaluate where you ARE limiting God.

Go back and read the account of how bold Abraham’s servant’s prayer was when he was tasked to find a bride for Isaac. It’s a great example for us. Read Genesis 24:10-28.

In Psalm 78:12-16, we read of some of the most astounding miracles ever seen by mankind, such as the waters of the Red Sea standing in a heap on either side, providing water from a split rock, providing shade and light in the pillar overhead.  But Israel still questioned Almighty God’s ability to provide, and this angered God.  In Ps. 78:17-20, they got into the “yeah, buts”.  “Yeah, he parted the Red Sea, but can He provide food for this many people?”.  This was limiting the Eternal God. You can read all about it as you continue in Ps. 17:21-32. 

It came down to limiting God, not having faith in His power or in His desire to use His power in our behalf. Do we ever see a miracle and then go into the “yeah buts”?  We know He can work wonders and did do miracles here and there, but then doubt, limit and wonder if Our God would intervene in the same way for us? Doubting and limiting God go hand in hand.

Psalm 78:40-42 – “How often they provoked Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert!  41 Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. 42 They did not remember His power: The day when He redeemed them from the enemy.”

That’s what I mean by limiting God.

When we have our open window of opportunity as King Joash had, don’t just strike the earth three times. Let’s not limit our request to three arrows or three strikes. Let’s use all our arrows. Let’s think large.  Let’s ask for big things. Believe Father really does want to do beyond what you can even imagine or conceive. Yes, even for you and me.

Can you imagine what God’s children could be involved in, if all of us would learn not to limit God – and watch Him work powerfully, to HIS glory? Ponder your prayer requests. Are they bold, and big – or timid and just going through the motions? Beware we’re not limiting our Maker, who knows no limits!

Why not even declare out loud in prayer – “Father, blast through my petty small-mindedness. Work your glory in your children’s lives – to your glory. Help me think big, and not limit you, and accept whatever you send as well. Thank you so much.”

Many of us have probably looked at ourselves and wondered how God could possibly work with “someone like me” when we look at our slip ups, sins and mess ups.  Check out the new AUDIO sermon “When you really MESS UP” to help you, if you feel this way at times.

I just wanted in this blog to add a couple more examples to the ones I have in the sermon, on how our Father has such a powerful and beautiful way of taking even our SINS, our serious life issues and failures, and if we commit it all to him, will work even all those out for good.

Romans 8:28 does say, after all, “ALL things work together for good, for those who love God and are the called according to his purpose.”

I believe “ALL” means “all”.  Everything. Even our worst, horrible SINS. The lineage of the Messiah came through, after all, the prior adulterous couple we know as David and Bathsheba – where David murdered Bathsheba’s husband in an attempted cover up for getting her pregnant! But God chose them to produce the Messianic line to Jesus Christ in Bethlehem!  That’s astonishing to me. But that’s our loving Father for us! 

Father in heaven, God Most High, has a plan for every single human being ever conceived. I believe, somehow, even for those sacrificed in abortion. He has a plan for you. No matter what you’ve been and no matter what you’ve done, as long as you deeply repent and turn back to him – you will be amazed at his lovingkindness to you and ways he can still use you for His Kingdom’s sake. So DON’T give up on God! Or on yourself.

Here are some other examples:

**  The first person who ever saw the risen Messiah was a woman named Mary of Magdala who had SEVEN demons cast out of her sometime before all that.  She was the “crazy woman” in town. Women in that day could not be witnesses in court, as they were deemed “unreliable”. But this was the first person GOD chose to see the risen Son of God. So don’t decide for God that you are unusable because your past is simply too weird, and you had evil personified going on – as Mary Magdalene did. Mary witnessed anyway.  John 20:17-23.  And God gave her that honor and role anyway.

** the first person in Samaria to “see” that Yeshua (Jesus) was the promised Messiah was also a “bad” woman, who had had FIVE failed marriages and was once again shacking up. God selected HER to spread the good news that the Messiah had come. He stayed there a couple days  and many believed on him based on this “bad woman’s” heartfelt testimony and witness. The story is in John 4. So if your marriage failed, and the present one is atrocious – don’t give up on God being able to still have a plan for you.

**  Two super strong examples are of God still showing grace even to the 2 most wicked kings ever. God did not just cast them aside.

Ahab. And King Manasseh. In Ahab’s case, after God had declared Ahab would die a vicious death soon for killing the innocent Naboth, whose vineyard Ahab coveted – but God reversed himself when Ahab humbled himself. See 1 Kings 21, especially verses 25-29.

In King Manasseh’s case, he is called the worst king ever. Please read his story in 2 Chronicles 33, and his repentance in verses 10-17.  God sent him to Babylon – dragged by meat hooks it seems – but when Manasseh repented, God restored him to his throne, though probably as a vassal king. Believe me, you’ve never been down as low as Manasseh, and God still heard from heaven and delivered him. So don’t give up on God or yourself. He is perfectly aware of you and what you’re doing and what your concerns are.

** Paul, who wrote half or more of the New Testament, was initially a very mean, cruel, death-dealing persecutor of the Way he eventually embraced. (Acts 22:4 “I persecuted this Way to the death…”). 

Look at Paul’s own testimony of what he did and how God was still able to use him.

1 Timothy 1:12-16   “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, 13 although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. 14 And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. 16 However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.”

Let’s humble ourselves as Paul did, admitting we are sinners, maybe even “chief sinner” as Paul said. Let God use your redeemed past to also be a pattern of hope for others who will come and see how you surrendered to God, and how he was able to use you too.

1 Corinthians 15:9-10   “For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”

YOU can also look back someday and say, when you see what God can and will do through Christ in you – if you surrender to Christ fully – “by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain…”

Acts 9:1-2  “Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.”

In the sermon about really “messing up” I just gave, a big key is for us to truly turn to God now, abide in Christ and stick to him like glue! John 15:4-5. If we do, we are promised that God in us will bear much fruit. The fruit comes from the vine or tree (Christ) as we’re staying firmly attached. We don’t glue fruit on to the tree by our efforts. Fruit is the natural consequence of being part of the Vine, which produces fruit through the branches (us) in due season. We DISPLAY the fruit that the Vine (Christ) produces in us.

Philippians 1:11 – “be filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

 But back to the point of this blog: don’t give up on yourself no matter what you’ve been, or what you’ve done, so far. Yes, repent! Of course.  And going forward, trust in God, don’t give up on your amazing Father in heaven or in Christ, in whom we belong now.

Failed marriage(s)? Failed childrearing, and kids who won't talk to you? Have you been “disgraced” by society?  Turn back to God and watch what He does.

And hear the new Audio sermon – “When we really, really mess up!” for further encouragement.

And Possible origin of “April Fools.”

Many go around this time of year proclaiming “Happy new year” to everyone they see whom they know. So in the dead of winter, we find people proclaiming the new year. You might be interested to learn that it wasn’t always that way.

First of all, our Creator specified when the “new year” would be – and it was to be in the spring – with new leaves bursting on to branches and bushes. Flowers like crocuses, daffodils and hyacinths popping up were always a welcome sight and delighted us.

The first of Abib, the first month of the Hebrew calendar, in the springtime of the year, was the first of the year. Not Rosh Hashanah in the 7^th month of Hebrew months. New year may have originally been in the Fall of the year when God created Adam and Eve, but God changed it to the spring in the time of Moses -- typically late March or even as late as early April, in our Roman-named months.

Exodus 12:1-2   “Now YHVH (the LORD) spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 "This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.”

That first month was called ABIB (Exodus 13:4), when they came out of Egypt and kept Passover. During the Babylonian captivity, Jews accepted the name given while in Babylon – which was Nisan. See Esther 3:7.

My point is this: God’s “new year” is Abib 1 (or Nisan 1). I prefer the name Abib. Usually it falls at the end of March. Some years, like 2022, it can be later, in early April. So April 1 was the approximate date people used to keep in their heads as being around the time of the new year.

I looked up “April Fools” on a Google search and the History Channel came back with this. Here’s their link, but this quoted section below is the essential part.

https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/april-fools-day  

“Some historians speculate that April Fools’ Day dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, as called for by the Council of Trent in 1563. In the Julian Calendar, as in the Hindu calendar, the new year began with the spring equinox around April 1. 

 “People who were slow to get the news or failed to recognize that the start of the new year had moved to January 1 and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1 became the butt of jokes and hoaxes and were called “April fools.”  (emphasis mine) 

So a lot of early believers – who kept God’s holy days, were aware of the true new year being at the time of new spring growth. Since they kept it around April 1, they were often ridiculed and called “April Fools”.

So which makes more sense? Having new year begin in the spring exactly when our Maker says it begins – or the dead of winter, to confirm to a Pope Gregory XIII’s “Gregorian calendar” orchestrated through the Catholic church?

The Gregorian calendar did correct some calendar issues, such as instituting a leap year when necessary to keep the calendar on track. It also shortened the number of days in a year from 365.25 days (Julian) down a tad to 365.2425 days in the Gregorian calendar. It also changed the new year from the spring to January 1.

I personally don’t “keep”, participate in, or celebrate New Year’s day because it isn’t God’s new year’s. We don’t go banging pots and pans or lighting fireworks or go dancing and celebrating as others do. We just stay home. It’s just another night. We don’t watch the new year’s celebrations on TV either. Why should we? It’s not God’s new year, so that’s reason enough.

So if anyone wishes to call me “April Fools” – I’ll accept it with a smile. God our Father knows best.

We’re all interested, and some are anxiously wondering – who are the 2 Witnesses of Revelation 11? Who is the False Prophet?  Who/what is the whore called “Babylon” in Revelation 17-18?  

Today let’s zero in a bit on the two witnesses. I plan to eventually give a full sermon on this, but felt one issue needs to be handled first:  Are the 2 Witnesses 2 individuals, or 2 groups? 

MOST Bible students believe they are two individuals, who perform similar miracles as Moses and Elijah did. In fact God promises to send “Elijah” before his great and dreadful day of the LORD (Malachi 4:5-6).  John the Baptist fulfilled that partially, and yet he clearly was not the actual Elijah preaching just before the terrifying Day of the LORD, which is yet to come.

Malachi 4:5-6  “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.

6 And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,

And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse."

Yeshua also clearly implied there would yet be another “Elijah” to come in the future, when he says in Matthew 17:11 that Elijah IS COMING first and “shall restore all things” – and then he added that Elijah HAS come, referring to John the Baptist.

Matthew 17:11-13  NKJV --  Jesus answered and said to them, "Indeed, Elijah IS COMING first and WILL restore all things.  12 But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands."  13 Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.”

John the Baptizer also came as an Elijah-type, but there is still one more time we’ll see an end-time Elijah prophesying in Jerusalem.

But John the baptizer did not restore all things or reunite fathers and sons as Malachi 4:5-6 says. Plus, John the baptizer had died some years before Yeshua said all these things. Again, the Elijah to come will come just before the awesome and terrifying Day of the Lord (Malachi 4:5-6). 

But there are also a persistent few who promote the notion that these 2 Witnesses in the future actually represent groups of people and not just two individuals. Let’s tackle that today. Sometime later I will go in depth in a sermon about the two witnesses. Some believe these represent Old and New covenants. Or Jews and Gentiles. Or the Philadelphian and Laodicean churches of Revelation 3.  Or representatives of the Law and the Prophets. And on and on and on. 

When we read about the 2 Witnesses, the description of them and their work cannot, surely cannot, apply to groups. The account is fully discussed in Revelation 11:1-14.  I recommend we all read it carefully.  I’ll post the entire scripture text at the end of this blog.

Revelation 11:3 says these two witnesses prophecy for 1260 days (3.5 years) and are clothed in sackcloth.  Are we expected to believe that two GROUPS of people will all be clothed in sackcloth?

Rev 11:4-6-- The descriptions in verses 4-6 clearly apply to individuals and not groups. Are groups going to devour their enemies by fire coming out of each individual in those two GROUPS?  Will two GROUPS, dressed in sackcloth be turning water to blood? No, the idea of these two individuals actually being two groups is not making any sense. Water to blood points to Moses’ miracles.  Destroying enemies by fire and calling for famine points to Elijah’s miracles.

Revelation 11:7-13:  Can we expect the dead bodies of GROUPS to be in the city and then GROUPS of people be resurrected 3-1/2 days later? That just would not make sense and the wording here seems to clearly point to two individuals.

Revelation 11:10 clearly says these are TWO PROPHETS, not groups, who are to be tormenting the world with their plagues. The world will not like them at all.   

So I won’t be preaching or teaching that the two witnesses represent two groups, when I prepare the full sermon on the topic.

For those of you without your own Bibles in parts of the world, here is what Scripture says, using the New King James Version:  

Revelation 11:1-14

Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, "Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. 2 But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.

3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth."

4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. 5 And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. 6 These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.

7 When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. 8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 9 Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. 10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two PROPHETS tormented those who dwell on the earth.

11 Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. 13 In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.

14 The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.”

If this teaching has helped you, please be sure to comment and to let others know about our free website. Thank you.  

We may be in for a tough winter. Are you ready? If there is a severe cold snap like Texas experienced last winter, will you be caught off guard and unprepared? If your power grid shuts down for a few days, what will happen to you? If your source of electricity and heating in a cold winter is cut off, what will you do?

God watches over us, but He expects his children to be wise and prepared. Even ants prepare by storing up food in summer – Proverbs 6:6-8. God gave Joseph understanding of seven years of plenty followed by seven calamitous years. And what did Joseph advise the Pharaoh to do? Store up extra food and supplies in the plentiful times, and they did, so Egypt was ready and able to help the rest of the world.

When you are prepared for times of trouble and difficulty, you also will be able to help those around you, as well as your immediate loved ones.

WHY do I say get ready and be ready for a rough winter? MAJOR weather changes could happen. Though the media trumpets “global warming,” it is entirely possible we could go through a deep freeze this winter. But there could also be disruptions to the supply chain caused by covid. There could be major disasters like earthquakes that interrupt flow of goods, food, and water. We watch our gas gauge on our cars to be sure we keep them above half full – again, in case unexpected fuel shortages hit us.

We know the very end times will be tough times, and it would be prudent to do what you can to get through these times as best as we can. In the end, yes, we will all have to trust in God to supply our needs but I’m sure he expects us to prepare as much as we can. We certainly should do our best to keep ample supply of food and water on hand at LEAST.

In our home we keep at least 5-6 five-gallon bottles of purified WATER ready at all times. Before any projected hurricanes, we even fill up a bathtub of water in case our water supply fails for a time. We also have a water purifier that takes out 99% of all contaminants and water pollutants. Be sure you can get through at least a month or more without having to shop for FOOD. Stock up now with as much food as you can – and of course be using your cans or boxes of food up as well over time and replenish as needed. Many have even bought three months or more of emergency food from MyPatriotsupply.com, and other vendors. These have to be kept in a relatively room temperature environment though. You can’t expect it to stay edible if stored in a hot garage attic. Check your supply of batteries of all sizes to be sure you can power up lanterns, flashlights and more.

We also bought a propane outdoor barbecue stove and extra bottles of propane – again, in  case of electrical failure. That way we can still cook. A couple years ago we bought a large enough generator to keep lights on in much of the house, plus keep key appliances like fridge and stove powered up. That also means having some backup fuel for the generator too.

OK, in the end, these steps won’t supply your need in extended emergencies of several months or years. Worldwide famines and plagues ARE coming. Jesus said so (Matthew 24:7). Even to America. Do your best to be as prepared as possible  -- and then still also totally trust and rely on God.

Be willing to share. This is KEY. I know many of you just naturally would. When Elijah showed up at a widow’s home during a famine he had called, the widow had enough for one last meal. Elijah asked her to share it with him. She did  -- and God blessed her with miraculous food supply for the duration of the famine. Her jars of oil never got used up! Her supply of flour never dwindled. Read the story in 1 Kings 17:8-16. And remember, in the 7-year famine of Joseph’s day, Egypt shared as well, though at a price. 

Plus this: remember the miracle of feeding the 5,000 plus? The story begins with the young boy who had 5 loaves and 2 fish but was willing to give them up to Jesus! And boy did he ever end up sharing to thousands! John 6:1-14, see verse 8-9 about the youth.

 The greatest preparation we can all make is to be seeking God diligently more than you ever have in your life. Seek him. Get as close to your Father and your Savior as you can. It’s really wonderful that our father is God Most High – king of the universe! Be sure you’re getting to know Him, then He will take care of his children if you do that.

And watch world trends, and “pray that you be counted worthy to escape all these things that shall come upon the earth” (Luke 21:36). 

 Please feel free to add comments and give further suggestions below this blog that you may have that can prove helpful. Let’s get through these rough times with God’s blessings and the support from God’s children.

What would you say would be the hardest time for you to say, “thank you”?  

I can think of a few specific examples where my “thank you” could be difficult and perhaps insincere. 

It’s easy to say “thank you” when we’re lavished with wonderful gifts, or after receiving someone’s much needed help, or anytime we receive something we like and appreciate from someone else – including, of course, from God.

But what about when what you’ve just gone through has been incredibly painful to your spirit, emotions, or body? This is the challenge of this blog today for you. Can we be thankful – at least to God -- no matter what is going on?

A while back I gave a sermon on being thankful IN all things and FOR all things.  I’m learning to practice this better and better as time goes along, but I can still find this difficult at times, at least in the beginning, until I remember I belong to God and trust what He is doing in me. Here are several verses about being thankful at all times, in all things, for all things:

Philippians 4:4-7 NIV:  “Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but IN everything, by prayer and petition, WITH THANKSGIVING present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

I think thanking God IN everything we go through, is hard at first, but it does get easier to do the more we practice it. And the peace – oh, the PEACE – one gets from doing this – is beyond description! Just as Paul says. We can sorrow, and still also rejoice in the broader bigger picture. Look how Peter puts this juxtaposition of peace/joy and sorrow:

Ephesians 5:20-21 – “giving THANKS ALWAYS for ALL THINGS to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.”

I REALIZE thanking God FOR ANYTHING, and EVERYTHING sounds crazy when you’re in a terrible situation. But no matter what, the more we practice this, the more peace in the trial we will experience! This includes accidents, health issues, your diabetes, loss of loved ones, pain you’re going through – everything! For ALL things, IN ALL things – means just that! Everything.

It's hard to thank God in some circumstances, but please start doing it. In the beginning, you’ll hop back and forth from submissive gratitude for even a painful event or condition—to feeling God is unaware of you and not hearing your prayers. Submit to his edicts on what we go through. It will pay big dividends.

When our son died when I was 29 years old, I remember kneeling beside my bed and saying, “Even in this, I’m supposed to thank you, Father. I’m finding that so hard to do. But I trust you, that you have a reason and purpose for this, so accept my struggling ‘thank you’ to you. But Father, I still don’t know why you allowed it. I’m hurting, a lot. And Carole my wife is devastated too. We need your comfort and peace and reassurance….”   And I went on from there. It was hard, very hard, to thank God for the death of our son, but at his burial the man from the funeral home with us commented that he had never seen a couple with so much peace at such a painful moment. I remarked, “oh, it’s because I know God has a purpose in this. But really, I feel like getting in that grave with him right now…”   So it’s a mix of rejoicing and grieving as Peter says below.

1 Peter 1:6-9 – “In this you greatly REJOICE, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been GRIEVED by various TRIALS, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith — the salvation of your souls.”

So many things God puts us through are painful: the death of your spouse or child would top the list for a lot of people, pain involving deaths. Or from prolonged pain from illness and physical afflictions like we’d suffer with rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, bone-on-bone joint pain, end-stage cancers and more. Some of our brothers and sisters around the world are being terribly persecuted, tortured and killed for believing in Christ. Others have their children taken away and sold into slavery.

All of that would be terribly painful.  Why would anyone thank God for all of those?

Scripture is clear that once we die to the self, and let Messiah redeem us, pay  our sins’ debts – that we now belong to Him. God is now “calling the shots”. 

Once we belong to Yeshua, we have to trust the scriptures that say things like “EVERYTHING – ALL THINGS -- work together for GOOD – to those who love God and are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28).

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 -  “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were BOUGHT at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

This means we have to trust God and Messiah that no matter what we go through, they’re aware of it, allowing it and working in it. God is aware of the number of hairs on your head. He knows our thoughts before we think them. He knows our worries, concerns and pains. And we have to trust the Bible when God tells us He IS love.

After all, He sent his eternal companion – the Word – to become mere flesh and die for us. This Word became His own SON… and look what he put Jesus through, for us, so we would not have to die or suffer God’s wrath for our sins. THAT is proof, surely, of his love for you and me.

Paul sought God’s intervention several times for what he referred to as “the thorn in my flesh”.  God finally told Paul that it was through that ordeal that Paul would see God’s grace and grow into the spiritual maturity God wanted for him. I explore this in more depth in the 2-part sermons on “God’s Perfection for us – God’s way”. I hope you’ll watch the videos. 

Here's what Paul says about God’s answer to him on his “thorn in the flesh” trial:

2 Corinthians 12:8-10 – “Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

In spite of the pain and suffering, GOD’S strength is coming to us during and because of the suffering we go through. We are being perfected… all brought out in the new sermons on Perfection.

God used pain and suffering to finish Yeshua’s preparation to be high priest.  He uses pain and suffering to perfect, mature and finish us as well.

Hebrews 2:10  – “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.”

He was being prepared to be the best possible High Priest he could be. That required understanding the weaknesses and trials of those you serve – and so that’s one reason why Yeshua had to suffer so much – certainly with his crucifixion.  This allowed him to understand pain at so many levels. The physical pain of crucifixion is beyond description. Plus the pain of rejection, of being alone, even realizing Father in heaven would not take his pain and suffering away but had to let him die painfully.

We also are being prepared to be priests in God’s kingdom – helping others.  We’re called a “royal priesthood”, remember. So that is why we have to also be tested and tempted in all points as Jesus was (Hebrews 4:15), so we understand sin and its consequences. That’s also why we have to suffer the death of loved ones or endure incredible pain – so we can be empathetic with others.  Of course God sometimes heals our pains and suffering, though he did not take away Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” and did require Yeshua’s suffering and death.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4  -- “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

No one knows the pain of losing their child unless you’ve also lost your child. No one knows the pain of losing a beloved husband or wife, unless you’ve been through it. And the pain of losing a spouse is different from the pain of losing a child. So God lets a number of us go through all that so we can better understand what others go through when they also lose their spouse or child. That process matures us, deepens our understanding and ability to be a great priest in the future and even to help in this life. 

WHEN we understand and ACCEPT that all things do work together for God’s good for us, and that HE is allowing or sometimes even sending the trials to BUILD US (edification) – then we can understand how we can thank God in and for all things.

Even, especially, the annoying, painful, stressful, “horrible” times of our lives. God is with us, at all times and is working His plan in us, at all times, for all things, in all things – and that is how and why we can say “thank you, Father, that I have you here even when it seems like you’re not answering my prayers, even though the pain is not subsiding, even though there has been death in my family – I know you’re here with me. And knowing that, I have peace and gratitude. And I trust whatever you’re doing, because I know you love me, and you ARE love personified. And as I go through all this, I will be a more effective priest and comforter for others. So thank you, dear Father. Help me, strengthen me and others going through pain, and help us see you in all of this.”

A hard time to say thank you – but we do, and we always must – for it’s working out a great plan beyond our wildest dreams.  And the PEACE of mind we receive when we say “thank you” even in our most painful times, is just amazing. It boils down to absolutely trusting our Creator. It means having FAITH in him, no matter what we go through.

In the months and years ahead, and in times of tribulation, we will need to have this honed down real well. There’s more in the sermons on God’s Perfection that he’s building in us. 

We’ve just come back home from the Feast of Tabernacles and eighth day.  In these lawless times, it may be tempting to decide not to go to the Feast due to the risk of someone breaking into our home and stealing everything we have. Or perhaps you dislike flying or driving anymore – because of all “those crazy drivers on the road.”

I am very aware that there have been mishaps and accidents going to and coming back from the feast in the past. So what I’m writing today is not an ironclad promise I can offer to everyone in the world – because I believe God’s protection on people will often be somewhat commensurate to the depth of their relationship with him and their trust in him.

If we flout God’s laws, if sin often and flagrantly, if we are careless in our actions or inaction, then there may be lessons God needs us to learn.  In those cases, what I’m about to write may not apply to those people to the same degree it would apply to others.

Notice this:

Exodus 34:23-24 – “Three times in the year all your men shall appear before Yehovah, YHVH God of Israel. 24 For I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither will any man covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.”

This statement  from God was given to the nation of 12-tribed Israel, with national laws. But the principle is surely there. God will take steps to protect us while we are at His Feasts, especially if:

• We are sure we are close to our Maker and love him with all our being, soul and might and heart. IF we love him, we will obey his commandments (John 14:15). And we also understand our righteousness must really be from him, from his credited or imputed righteousness, so he gets all the glory.

• We ASK him to watch over our trip and watch over our home and property while we are away. “You have not, for you ask not” (James 4:2b).  “Ask and you shall receive…” (Matthew 7:7-8).  SO ASK.  Don’t be shy or hesitant. God’s Son TELLS us to ask. Let’s obey him. Ask in his name, believing (John 16:24).

• All DURING the Feast we continue to ask for protection for our health and well-being. Not a single person from our Feast site got Covid19 during or immediately after the Feast to the best of my knowledge. We asked God in public prayer to place a spiritual “iron dome” around the whole community and rebuke the covid, rebuke Satan, and let us worship in good health.

• We take careful steps to protect our property – by being sure we lock the doors, leave a light on, cancel any deliveries and mail, and you know the drill. And one thing I learned: don’t tell too many that you’ll be away. That includes NOT posting pictures of where you are DURING the feast. What an easy way for people to figure out they can break into your home. So I normally don’t post pictures when I’m away, or pics of our flight or drive out.  It’s a calling card for thieves. 

So, did God protect US?  He sure did.

God will put a hedge around you and your children and property if He wants to protect you. Satan knew that about Job. Satan could do to Job – or to us – only what God allowed for HIS reasons.  Here’s Satan speaking to God:

Job 1:10 -- Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

At our Feast site, God certainly kept disease, accident and death away. Nobody to my knowledge got or left with any Covid19, praise to God.

Divine protection

On our return home from the Feast, while we were driving at freeway speeds headed for the airport, I was in the center lane with my wife, right behind a truck thirty feet ahead of us. The freeway was packed. Cars were on both sides, and many behind us and the truck and more ahead of us.  Suddenly something huge and heavy, seemed to be metal, clunked off the back end of the truck thirty feet in front of us. The item was about 5’ wide, 3’ deep, and almost 5’ high. It was huge. Right in front of me.

Quick check in the rear view and I could see a car close to me.  I HAD to brake and did – but then quickly found myself going around it and missing somehow the car on my right.  Then back into my own lane without hitting this massive object now behind me. Carole said, “Wow, great driving, hon…” but I was sure something more had happened. I’m certain that for 3-4 seconds an angel took over the wheel and the car and spared us from what could easily have been a fatal accident for us.  I didn’t believe that my “great driving” was what happened. Once again, God spared me.

Then later I found that our Webmaster for our site had a similar intervention. His wife Brandie, on the freeway during the Feast, had a loud bang total tire explosion. She also felt some help getting her car to the side without incident. 

My wife feels that God lets us have these near disasters so we’re aware of his angelic protection over us. They probably have spared you and me many times we’re not even aware of. So I remember now to thank God for his protection, including all the ones I never become aware of, knowing he cares for me more than he does sparrows, which he cares for all the time.

Then it gets even better.

When we got home, we found our garage side door had been tinkered with – as someone had tried to break in. But for some reason, they quit, just when they could have entered with one more minute of trying. We could have lost everything of value.

Afterwards I sent a note to our “village”  of homes asking for everyone to keep a strong lookout for each other’s homes. One of my nearby neighbors said that one night, when he let his dog out to “go”, the dog suddenly turned towards our house, barking like crazy. The neighbor then opened his garage door and then the dog stopped – and he feels that was the time the thief decided to quit and left. I think God made that dog bark a lot. That dog never barks, at least any time I’ve seen him.

Again, thank you God, and thank you guardian angels. We love you Father and our Beloved Jesus for all your protection. Be sure to ask for it, thank him for it, and expect God will watch over us.

Also remember Luke 21:36 and be praying that you be counted worthy to escape the atrocities that are definitely coming on this planet, sooner probably than later.  It will be the worst time this planet has EVER seen. Revelation 12 shows the Woman will be supernaturally taken to her place of safety in “the wilderness” (that’s not heaven) for the final 3-1/2 years before Yeshua returns in glory. But some – the remnant who do not go to the place of safety – will be tried in the fire of testing. I mean the Laodiceans of Rev. 3.

We ESPECIALLY will want God’s protection in these end times. SO pray and fast and be counted worthy. Those with Christ (Rev. 17:14) will be the Called, the CHOSEN AND the faithful. For the rest of your time alive on this earth, please double your prayer time, Bible study time, more time doing good works helping people and face sins and bad habits that simply must be given up. Seek the deepest relationship with God and Jesus that you can possibly develop.

Don’t be Laodicean. Don’t be lukewarm.  Don’t think you’re all OK. But repent, seek our God with all your might. But neither should the place of safety be your main goal. Let a closeness to God be your main goal. Some great men and women will be tasked with being tested viciously for their witness. That will include the Two Witnesses, who will be stoned to death at the end of their ministry.  I will give a sermon soon on the Two Witnesses. Be watching for it.

We praise you dear Abba our dear Father, for all you have done to protect us. May we be always thankful. We love you, dear Abba and our Beloved Messiah Yeshua. 

The day of Atonement is a most solemn holyday, and we should be prepared for it. In here I will address the fasting we do.

I’ve written on this before, so I’ll get to the point. There are probably a lot of us who will be fasting who – at the end of the day – are hungry and wondered what we accomplished by fasting and only have a headache to show for it. That will happen IF… IF we don’t prepare for Atonement spiritually and mentally.

Don’t just go without food or water on Atonement. We are told to afflict our souls (Leviticus 23:27 and Lev 16:29,31). David said he humbled and afflicted his soul with fasting (Psalm 35:13; 69:10). “Afflicting your soul” was commonly understood to mean fasting. Fasting with deep repentant prayer often went hand in hand – as In Daniel 9:3, when Daniel sought his God and was repenting frankly not just for himself, but also for the whole nation of Judah, which was in captivity.

I urge all of you reading this to study Isaiah 58, which is all about effective fasting from God’s viewpoint, before Atonement. Let’s use Atonement as a day of repenting of areas in our lives that we know fall short of God’s will. I mean habits that aren’t Christ-like like movies, entertainment, and any activities we participate in – that we know Yeshua would not be participating in. We renew our determination to keep ourselves unspotted from the world. Maybe we’re too stingy with our funds instead of supporting widows and orphans in their time of need.

Those last 2 sentences above are actually a definition of “pure religion” – see James 1:27.

Use this day to come before God Most High and ask him – by faith through Yeshua -- to cover you with HIS righteousness, to atone for our sins we still fall into, and let us be there with Yeshua when he returns to this earth. I have many sermons on this website about how we must have the righteousness of God himself gifted to us through faith (Romans 5:17; Philippians 3:9-11).

Don’t just use the day to listen to the sermon and just go hungry. Have a purpose for being hungry, besides the automatic reason that “God told us to fast”. Let’s read Isaiah 58 together now and I hope this year’s fasting on Atonement will result in our decisions to make some definite changes in our lives – which makes it an effective fast.

In Isaiah 58:3-5 God tells us fasting without change in our lives gets nowhere with God. We dress up and go to church on this day, say the prayers, sing the songs of praise, listen to the sermons -- but God’s not impressed. Why? So let’s pick up in Isaiah 58:6, God speaking:

Isaiah 58:6-10 New Living Translation: "No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free and remove the chains that bind people.

“ (v.7) Share your food with the hungry and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.   [Can you point to specific times recently when you’ve done these?] 

God implies in verse 8 that we’re not seeing more HEALINGS partly because we’re not using fasts to create changes in our lives. If we wonder where God is, and he doesn’t seem to be answering our prayers – maybe we’re not praying and fasting with changes in our lives. Verse 9 – God WANTS to answer our prayers. If he doesn’t seem to be, the issue is not with God, but with us. 

Continuing Isa 58:8-10 :   "Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind. 9 Then when you call, YHVH will answer. 'Yes, I am here,' he will quickly reply. "Remove the heavy yoke of oppression. Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors!10 Feed the hungry and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.

In verse 9 He asks us to stop the gossip about others. Stop “pointing the finger” as we criticize everyone else for falling so far short. I have women neighbors I can hear, who walk together in the morning, and I can hear them as they pass by our home. Sometimes they talk loudly on their cell phones. It’s almost always about someone and what horrible thing that someone did, can you imagine that? God says stop gossiping, pointing the finger, especially when identities can be known.

Let’s read and re-read Isaiah 58 until we know what changes we’ll make. Certainly let’s do pray much more and seek our God with all our being as we worship and seek Him on this Day of Atonement. Let’s not just go a day with a no-caffeine headache while feeling hungry and wondering why we were fasting.

Of course we fast on the Day of Atonement for other reasons as well. Some few (initially) from around the world will be seeking this new ruler who came through space – visible to all – and his name is Yeshua, the Son of God. With all the plagues, war, hail, earthquakes and heavenly fearsome sights before he lands on Mount of Olives – He’ll have the world’s attention. After landing on the Mount of Olives, he will start to judge the world and - - best of all--- offer them atonement for their sins and reconciliation with God, if they would just “come under his wing”. They will come with fasting and prayer as they seek this new world ruler – coming soon!

Be sure to hear my sermon about the Day of Atonement.

Let’s talk about the coming Beast system, where it could be, the coming Great False Prophet and how God is continuing to bring America down to fulfill prophecy.

A friend of mine just sent me a copy of a quote from the “EU Observer”. Has our recent debacle in Afghanistan just motivated Europe to not want to rely on the USA anymore militarily?

You should find what my friend just sent me very interesting. For years, many of us have believed that the “Beast” of Revelation who allies with a great False Prophet (Revelation 13, etc.) will be a military/economic power based in Europe, as a final “resurrection” of the Holy Roman empire – which is not “holy” and not obviously Roman to most eyes. But it will be powerful and have worldwide influence.

"The EU needed to become the world's third-largest military superpower, the debacle in Afghanistan has shown, French defense minister Bruno Le Maire said at a business congress near Lake Como in Italy Saturday, Reuters reports. "Europe has to become the number three super-power besides China and the United States. Let's open our eyes, we're facing threats and we cannot rely anymore on the protection of the United States’, he said."

By EUOBSERVER

Keep an eye on this, as we will. I had heard that French President Emmanuel Macron had voiced something like this but didn’t have the quote. His name is interesting – meaning “God with us”. So he may be at least the start of motivating Europe to become far more powerful militarily and not reliant on the USA.

The Beast power (interesting, isn’t it, that God compares the world ruling empires to animals) will be allied with a world religious leader, we call the great False Prophet – a la 2 Thessalonians 2 and Revelation 13, as well as mentions in Daniel.

So who will be this great false prophet – the man of Sin – who will declare he is god and will rule from inside the temple of God – which I believe could be constructed in soon-coming years in Jerusalem?

Others believe all we need is to re-start sacrifices, without the building. But scripture is clear that this coming man of Sin, who will be able to do great wonders, takes residence inside the temple of God (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4). But read all of 2 Thess 2, a scripture I’ve referenced several times in recent sermons.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 – “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of GOD, showing himself that he is God.”

Read all of 2 Thess 2.

That sounds to me like there will be a real, physical 3^rd temple not just an outdoor place of animal sacrifices. Certainly just about all the pieces of “furniture” and items for the third temple in Jerusalem are ready. I’ve seen with my own eyes the golden menorah for the 3^rd temple – already built. We saw the priestly crown to be worn by the high priest, their garments, the table of showbread, the altar of incense, various shofars and much more.

There’s some discussion on where the temple should be located – and God will determine that and will have to let world politics be such that a temple CAN be built. Some believe it will be in the old city of David area, south of the present “temple mount”. I studied personally under Dr. Ernest Martin in 1973 at the Jerusalem Dig. His ideas will require a change of mind and heart from God for present Jewish leaders and archaeologists to build near the Gihon springs, considerably below the present “Temple mount”.

Right now, most Jewish rabbis, historians and archaeologists are adamant that the 1^st and 2^nd temples were very close or directly at the location of the Dome of the Rock. They would need convincing. To build the 3^rd temple in the ancient city of David – just a 12-acre site south of the present southern walls --will require a miracle.

So watch -- and keep watching and praying.

Will the man of sin who rules from the temple of God – be a pope? Or could it be someone outside the Roman Catholic church who is able to unite the whole world in one religion – but likely at the expense of announcing we can’t say Jesus/Yeshua any longer?

I’m not prophesying anything. Just saying – keep your eyes open. Watch and pray, that you be counted worthy to escape these things which shall come to pass (Luke 21:36).

Are the pieces of the puzzle coming together? Did President Biden just give Europe and the EU the impetus, the push, to come together as a powerhouse no longer reliant on America? Even President Trump was urging EU /NATO to be able and willing to defend themselves. So we may see a split coming between the USA and Europe if we continue to no longer keep our treaties and commitments abroad.

The next test of American resolve and their power could be Taiwan. Will the USA give up on Taiwan – or be willing to go to war against China to defend Taiwan? If the USA gives up on Taiwan and the Ukraine, you’ll see Europe come together militarily with real power – FAST – I believe.

You might want to listen to the sermon I recently gave on how God is breaking the pride of our power. Also check out my sermon on “When will Christ return”—which lists the various steps enumerated in scripture before Yeshua lands on the Mount of Olives to rule this world.

“Thy kingdom come.”