Podcasts about Amalek

On Sunday, Pastor Mike shared how he was asking a simple question: “Lord, how do I respond as a pastor to everything happening right now?” What followed was a clear word from the Lord that led him to Exodus 17—a moment where God's people were under pressure, under attack, and spiritually dry. In that passage, Moses lifted his hands toward heaven as the battle raged, and victory came when hands were lifted—not in striving, but in surrender. From that passage, Mike heard God say, “The time for striking rocks is over. The time for touching thrones has begun.” This message is an invitation to shift our posture. To stop reacting and start abiding. To respond not with outrage, but with trust. And to step into a rhythm of prayer that brings renewal, unity, and life. Below is a prayer guide you can use as you respond this week:Prayer Guide:1. Praise: Honoring God's Faithfulness and Outpouring of His SpiritHeavenly Father, we lift our hands to You in awe and gratitude. You are faithful, and Your Spirit continues to move in our lives and in our generation. We praise You for Your presence, Your provision, and Your power that sustains us.Pray for:• Thank God for His faithfulness in every season, acknowledging that nothing in heaven or earth can thwart His plans.• Praise God for the outpouring of His Spirit, awakening hearts to new hunger and deeper intimacy with Him.• Declare God's victory over every Amalek attack, trusting His authority to protect, restore, and advance His Kingdom.• Celebrate the ways God has revealed Himself in past battles, remembering His power and mercy.• Invite God's presence to fill every room, heart, and community, allowing His life to flow freely.2. Confession: Surrendering Striving, Distrust, and ConflictLord, we confess the times we have not abided in You, striving in our own strength, doubting Your provision, and wrestling with anger or contention toward others. We recognize where we have partnered with thoughts that oppose Your will and disrupt Your peace.Pray for:• Confess personal striving instead of resting in God's timing and authority.• Confess distrust, doubt, or anxiety that limits our faith and hinders intimacy with You.• Ask for forgiveness for anger, quarreling, or holding bitterness toward others.• Renounce any agreements with pride, ego, or grumbling.• Pray for healing, humility, and restored alignment with God, so we walk fully in His presence and purpose.3. Intercession: Lifted Hands for Each Other and Our Broken WorldFather, we lift our hands in intercession, covering one another's vulnerabilities, lifting the burdens of our families, communities, and the world. We declare Your Kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.Pray for:• Pray for those around you, asking God to meet their deepest needs and protect their hearts.• Pray for comfort and hope in our relationships, families, communities, and country.• Ask God to pour out His presence in communities, awakening hunger for His presence and truth.• Pray for the defeat of the Amalek spirit and every force that seeks to steal joy, kill hope, or destroy destiny.• Declare healing, restoration, and unity, trusting God's authority and power to transform brokenness into new life.

Prior to the killing of Charlie Kirk the Israeli government issued a total evacuation order for Gaza, beginning their final solution push, and also bombed Qatar. After Kirk was killed, a few strange things occurred: Israeli operatives began blaming Islam and Qatar for his death and/or claiming what a great supporter of Israel he was, the Israeli Prime Minister went on numerous news shows to publicly state his country did not kill the conservative commentator, and countless influencers used Kirk's death to remind the public of September 11, which happened one day after his death. Strangely, just as Kirk had been killed Russia sent a drone into Poland, reminding the world also of WWII - strange because September 10 is the Jewish day of Elul which corresponds to the Nazi invasion of Poland. The location of Charlie's death wasn't just Utah Valley University, but a specific area which appears to be a menorah. The mysterious jet that possibly transported the real shooter was owned by Derek & Shelaine Maxfield Foundation, the family that funds Chabad Lubavitch. If that wasn't enough it is true that Charlie appeared confused prior to his death about why Israel would target him for criticism considering how much of his career and life he had laid down for the country. The foremost rightwing protector of Israel and Jews was targeted by the same for supposed antisemitism. Reportedly, the IDF-MOSSAD do target the necks of their victims, too, and in Jewish mysticism, the neck is said to be attacked by AMALEK, the arch enemy of faith, to sow doubt and apathy, feelings many have after the assassination. Either way, the result is war, and people calling for war with the political left, which Charlie was right about, is run mostly by radical by Jews. Why not kill the man randomly instead of in front of a crowd unless it was a message. After all, America First was classified by the ADL as antisemitic. *The is the FREE archive, which includes advertisements. If you want an ad-free experience, you can subscribe below underneath the show description.FREE ARCHIVE (w. ads)SUBSCRIPTION ARCHIVEX / TWITTER FACEBOOKWEBSITECashApp: $rdgable EMAIL: rdgable@yahoo.com / TSTRadio@protonmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-secret-teachings--5328407/support.

Parshat Ki Tavo: Amalek alway gets involved?!? Mayan 2000 and the forgotten bag!!!

From Simchat Torah's massacre on October 7th to today's murders in Jerusalem, the pattern is clear: this isn't a string of isolated failures, but the collapse of an entire system. Israel can no longer afford the illusions of “terrorism” or “coexistence”, this is an Islamic jihad to destroy us, Amalek reborn, and it must be confronted with truth.Join Our Whatsapp Channel: https://chat.whatsapp.com/GkavRznXy731nxxRyptCMvFollow us on Twitter: https://x.com/AviAbelowJoin our Telegram Channel: https://t.me/aviabelowpulseFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pulse_of_israel/?hl=enPulse of Israel on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IsraelVideoNetworkVisit Our Website - https://pulseofisrael.com/Donate to Pulse of Israel: https://pulseofisrael.com/boost-this-video/

Exodus 17:8-16

The victory over Amalek came when Moses' hands were lifted, Joshua fought, and Aaron and Hur gave their support. This story reminds us that God values every person, that our faithfulness impacts others, and that we were never meant to walk alone. True victory comes when Christ-like friends stand beside us and the Lord Himself becomes our banner.

The parallels between Israel’s return to the land the “second time” and the struggles Ezra and Nehemiah experienced in the “first” are amazing. The effort to “rebuild” according to the command of Almighty God cannot be thwarted, and regardless of the world’s campaign against Israel, God will continue to raise up Gentile Cyrus’s who will help Israel until his son returns.

A Reason For Hope with Pastor Scott Richards! Sharing the Word one question of the heart at a time. Tags: Genocide Scholars, Slavery, and Amalek

Freddie

התוכן ביאור חומר האיסור דמשקלות "לא יהי' לך בביתך איפה ואיפה וגו'" שבשביעי דפ' כי תצא, עד שעוון זה הביא את הענין דמלחמת עמלק (וכמו שנלמד במדרש מסמיכות ענינים אלו בפ' כי תצא): כשיש לאדם שתי גישות – "משקלות" – שונות: [לא כמו שצריך להיות, עפ"י הכלל "כל מאן דאסר לן רחמנא שרא לן כוותי'", שצרכי הנשמה, שהיא המחי' את הגוף, יהיו אצלו העיקר, ועניני הגוף רק טפלים, אלא] הגישה שלו לצרכי הגוף היא שיש לעשות בזה מה שיותר, אף פעם לא מסתפק במה שיש לו כבר ושום דבר לא קשה לו כדי להשיג מבוקשו וכו', אבל הגישה לעניני קדושה היא לגמרי אחרת... (וזה מתבטא גם בחינוך, ולדוגמא: נותנים נדבות גדולות יותר לבתי-ספר שם לומדים לימודי חול (או עכ"פ גם לימודי חול) מלישיבות שם לומדים על טהרת הקודש...) – דרך זו היא פתיחת הפתח לעמלק שעומד בדרך ולא נותן שיקבלו את התורה!ב' חלקים משיחת פורים ה'תשכ"ב ל"הנחה פרטית" או התרגום ללה"ק של השיחה: https://thedailysicha.com/?date=05-09-2025 Synopsis The midrash states (based on the juxtaposition of the two matters in shevi'i of parashas Ki Seitzei) that the war with Amalek came about because the people were not careful with the prohibition, “You must not keep two different ephah-measures in your house….” The reason this prohibition is so severe is because when a person has one “measure” and standard for the soul and one for the body – when it comes to the body, nothing is enough and he is willing to pay any price to attain more, whereas when it comes to the soul he suffices with even a little – this path opens the door to Amalek, who stands in the way and prevents the Jewish people from receiving the Torah. We also find this when it comes to education, where people give larger donations to schools where secular studies are (also) taught than to yeshivos where only holy subjects are taught. But based on the rule that “Anything the Merciful One prohibited to us, He permitted to us something similar,” it should be the opposite: the soul, which is eternal and gives life to the body, should be primary to a person, while matters of the body should only be secondary.2 excerpts from sichah of Purim 5722 For a transcript in English of the Sicha: https://thedailysicha.com/?date=05-09-2025 לזכות פריידא ברכה בת שיינא שתחי' ליום ההולדת שלה י"ב אלוללשנת ברכה והצלחה, ואריכות ימים ושנים טובות

Shiur given by Rabbi Noam Peikes at Night Seder Thursday night. Shiur recorded in Yeshivas Ohr Reuven, Monsey, NY.

Quel lien existe-t-il entre le manque de Émouna et l'apparition d'ennemis ? Que s'est il passé avant que le peuple juif ait eu à affronter 'Amalek ? Qu'est-ce que Hachem attend de nous en ce mois d'Eloul ?

Join this week's Torah podcast exploring the deeper mysteries of Parshas Ki Tetzay and the unique commandment to remember Amalek. Why does only Amalek merit a special mitzvah to remember their evil deeds - what about all the other nations that tried to destroy the Jewish people? What does Rashi mean when he explains that Amalek "cooled us down," and why does Chazal tell us that Hashem's throne remains incomplete until Amalek is eliminated from the world?Through the Gemara in Sanhedrin and Reb Chaim Shmulevitz's brilliant analysis, discover the fascinating story of Timnah - the princess who desperately wanted to convert but was rejected by the Avos, leading to Amalek's creation. Explore powerful insights about the ripple effects of our daily interactions, featuring contemporary stories that will transform how you view your relationships and responsibilities.This episode of Jewish learning combines traditional Torah analysis with practical mussar lessons, revealing timeless wisdom for modern living. Perfect for weekly parsha study and spiritual growth.Keywords: Torah podcast, weekly parsha, Parshas Ki Tetzay, Jewish learning, Amalek, Reb Chaim Shmulevitz, mussar, spiritual growth

This week's parsha opens with a farewell speech from Moses and lays out 74 commandments, the most of any single Torah portion. They cover everything from inheritance laws to caring for lost property, from ethical treatment of workers to remembering Amalek's assault. Amid so many instructions, one mitzvah stands out this Elul: Lo tachalel alem—“Do not remain indifferent.” If you see a lost ox, a stray sheep, or a person in need, you cannot just walk by. The Torah doesn't politely suggest; it commands that we act. And our commentators expand this: the principle applies to every corner of life, from forgotten objects to “lost souls” disconnected from their community. The lesson is simple but profound: each mitzvah is a chance to connect the physical and the divine, to bring holiness into the world. Whether returning a lost item, giving charity, or observing daily rituals, we are invited to participate in a partnership with God, sanctifying our lives in concrete, tangible ways. So as the school year begins and Elul marches on, how can we turn everyday acts into opportunities to reveal goodness and care in the world? Tune in to find out.

Rabbi Jacobson will discuss the following topics: What should be our focus as we begin the second week of Elul?  How can Elul practically help us in our daily struggles? Since we can do teshuva in the “blink of an eye” why do we need thirty days of Elul and ten days of teshuva? How do we apply the Alter Rebbe's example of the “king in the field” in our daily lives? What did the Rebbe add to this example? Is there value in just wanting to be better, even if no action is taken? How can we ensure that we are creating the proper containers in Elul to receive the Divine blessings? Can we tap into Elul's energy all year round? How does sof maaseh b'machshava techila relate to the month of Elul as the last month of the year leading into the new year? What personal and global lessons can we learn from this week's Parsha in how to fight our life battles? How do we explain the Torah allowing taking a “beautiful woman” captive during war? What are the practical applications of remembering what Amalek did to us? Can we apply Amalek to the war against Hamas? Why aren't more religious Jews joining this war? Why are sin offerings brought in the holy temple relevant for us to read today, as well as after the geulah when evil will be eradicated? Are we davening properly? What impact should prayer have on us and our emotional intelligence? How can we make davening a more transformative experience? Ki Teitzei Prayer What can Chassidus teach us about trichotillomania (hair pulling)? As a non-Jew, will learning Hebrew and studying Torah make my life happy? 

Do our moral obligations change when we go to war? In this episode, Zvi Hirschfield and Rabbi Dr. Meesh Hammer-Kossoy explore Parshat Ki Teitzei and its surprising focus on the ethics of war. From the command to remember Amalek to laws about captives, newlyweds, and the holiness of the military camp, they show how the Torah insists that moral and spiritual responsibilities do not disappear in times of conflict. Even in war, Jewish law demands restraint, humanity, and awareness of God's presence. This week's episode is generously sponsored by Emily Simon, in honor of all Israelis who have endured so much since October 7, 2023. May the coming year bring peace and harmony to their lives.

Israel's victory over Amalek comes not from their strength but through God's power and by persevering in corporate prayer. Moses' upheld hands point us to Christ, our unfailing Intercessor. As we face spiritual warfare today, we fight by prayer, truth, and faith, looking to Christ our banner and the empty tomb that guarantees our final victory. The post Fighting the Good Fight appeared first on Mt. Rose OPC.

Genocide scholar Omer Bartov joins The Zach Show for part 1 of this conversation to explain why, by May 2024, it was “no longer possible to deny” Israel's genocidal intent in Gaza. We dig into the Rafah operation, the systematic destruction of homes, hospitals, and schools, bulldozers flattening entire neighborhoods, mass starvation, and leaders invoking biblical calls to wipe out Amalek. Bartov lays out how operational patterns + explicit statements reveal genocide, raising haunting questions about U.S. complicity and the future of Palestinians.  Guest bio: Omer Bartov is a historian and genocide scholar at Brown University, specializing in Holocaust studies, genocide, and modern warfare. Born in Israel, he has written extensively on the Holocaust in Eastern Europe and ethnic violence, and is widely recognized as one of the world's leading experts on genocide.  This is only the first half of the episode on how to disappear. To get the full episode (audio and video), exclusive AMAs, and more, subscribe to The Zach Show 2.0 today: https://thezachshow.supercast.com/ OMER BARTOV LINKS:Twitter (X): https://x.com/bartov_omer Genocide, the Holocaust, and Israel-Palestine: https://bit.ly/4n502Ey Israel: What Went Wrong? (Pre-Order): https://amzn.to/47QaITd Professor Page: https://history.brown.edu/people/omer-bartovNew York Times article: https://nyti.ms/3JGCWG4  THE ZACH SHOW LINKS: The Zach Show 2.0: https://thezachshow.supercast.com/Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3zaS6sPYouTube: https://bit.ly/3lTpJdjWebsite: https://www.auxoro.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/auxoroTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thezachshowpod If you're not ready to subscribe to The Zach Show 2.0, rating the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts is free and massively helpful. It boosts visibility, helps new listeners discover the show, and keeps this chaos alive. Thank you: Rate The Zach Show on Spotify: https://bit.ly/43ZLrAtRate The Zach Show on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/458nbha 

Exodus 17:8-16 recounts the battle at Rephidim, where the nomadic Amalekites attacked the Israelites. Joshua led the fighting against the Amalekites with the sword, while Moses, accompanied by Aaron and Hur, stood on a nearby hill holding the staff of God. When Moses's hands were raised, Israel prevailed, but when they lowered, Amalek gained the upper hand. Aaron and Hur supported Moses's arms until sunset, securing Israel's victory through this teamwork. God commanded Moses to record this event as a memorial, and Moses built an altar and named it "The Lord is My Banner" (Jehovah-Nissi), signifying God's eternal battle against the Amalekites. 

More grumbling about water - and the Lord's presence and provision. And an attack from Amalek - and the Lord's presence to defeat - and promise to one day destroy - their enemy.

Final Plague of Darkness before MaShiach | WAR OF AMALEK (37) FINALEhttps://youtu.be/x7leFaig5woAs we complete this extraordinary series, we realize that the holy words of Rav Elchonon Wasserman were like a cure for the eyes. In his final message, the Rav tells us about the final plague of darkness that will hit the world before the coming of MaShiach. This will be like nothing we've ever seen before and only a minority of the population will survive. Tune in for final dose of truth and hear the good news in the end. We thank HaShem for giving us the zechut to learn and teach these holy words and feel that the Rav has been with us each step of the way, so we can spread the message and warn all who have ears to hear and eyes to see of the days that are no longer ahead, because they are here. BeEzrat HaShem we will succeed.

Final Plague of Darkness before MaShiach | WAR OF AMALEK (37) FINALEhttps://youtu.be/x7leFaig5woAs we complete this extraordinary series, we realize that the holy words of Rav Elchonon Wasserman were like a cure for the eyes. In his final message, the Rav tells us about the final plague of darkness that will hit the world before the coming of MaShiach. This will be like nothing we've ever seen before and only a minority of the population will survive. Tune in for final dose of truth and hear the good news in the end. We thank HaShem for giving us the zechut to learn and teach these holy words and feel that the Rav has been with us each step of the way, so we can spread the message and warn all who have ears to hear and eyes to see of the days that are no longer ahead, because they are here. BeEzrat HaShem we will succeed.

1st Samuel 15 “God Rejects King Saul” 1. God's command to destroy Amalek (v.1-9) 2. Saul's failure to fully obey God (v.10-23) 3. Saul rejected God ruling over him (v.24-35)

Group Guide Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week. TranscriptMy name is Spencer. I'm one of the pastors here. We're continuing to walk through the book of First Samuel. We are now in chapter 28. We'll be there today. So one of the things that my kids are very aware of is that I made a lot of mistakes growing up. And it's not an uncommon thing for them to ask about a specific thing. Hey, did you do this when you were a kid? And I say, I mean, I don't want to lie in that moment. If I can dodge, I'll do that. I'm very good at changing the subject. But they're getting older and they're getting a little bit smarter, and they're like, no, no, no, no, no. Just stay on point. Did you used to do this as a kid? And what I typically say is, like, yes, I did. And they know at this point that I made a lot of mistakes. You know, I tell them, like, I came to Faith later when I was 17. I didn't love Jesus wholeheartedly. I try to explain that. What I want you to understand is that when you choose this, more bad decisions can come out of that. So it becomes kind of a living cautionary tale. But I try to be discreet. I don't try to share all the things, but that's getting difficult because I have family. And I don't know if it's like a rite of passage for grandparents and aunts and uncles just to volunteer information to your children, but that's a thing. Because the other day they asked very commonly about a thing. Did you used to do this? And we had the whole little thing, yes, you know, I did, but da, da, da, da, like I used to. But, you know, this is a cautionary tale. Don't fall in the same mistakes. Because, you know, I was kind of a bad kid that did bad things at times. And they said, oh, yeah, we know that because he used to throw rocks at cars. And I said, what? How do you know that? I used to throw rocks at carts. And someone in the family had just volunteered the fact that when we were little rebellious children out at the roadside in the woods having fun throwing rocks at cars and, you know, just to see if they would look up in the sky and wonder where it came from. And I was like, yeah, that is a thing I used to do. And I had to do the whole thing. But I'm realizing as I get older that this is going to be a thing, that just some aunt or uncle is just going to volunteer some information, and I'm gonna have to really solidify this point that, yes, I did those things. And if you continue to choose sin, if you continue to choose bad things, it just grows, because that's the reality of sin. So my life gets to be a little bit of a cautionary tear and a parable to my kids to teach that principle, because I want them to understand that. I want them to understand that sin grows, that it is serious, that it has consequences. And one of those consequences is that you might continue to pursue it in a direction to where all of a sudden you're doing worse things that can wreck your life. And boy, oh boy, at this point in First Samuel, we see that so clearly in the life of Saul. We have watched him repeatedly make the wrong decision. We've watched him repeatedly live in his own self interest and to choose sin and how that's grown over time. And we kind of are at the place where he hits rock bottom, where the choices he makes in chapter 28 reveal a heart that is headlong after sin. And my hope is that as we walk through this story and see the truth that is bound up in it, it would remind us and be a cautionary tale for us to take sin seriously. So I'm going to pray and then we're going to walk through the story together. Heavenly Father, I pray that you might help us have ears to hear that we would not see this as simply a story that has all types of interesting details and then that's all it is. But we'd see it as your word that is revealing who you are and who you call us to be. May we have ears to hear and may we respond in the way that you would desire in faith and in repentance and in delighting in you above our own flesh and desires. In Jesus name, Amen.All right, so where we pick up in 28. So we left off last week, where David, through I really think fear and not trusting the promises of God that he was going to be the future king, he goes to the land of the Philistines where he finds safety there. And that's where we pick up right where Chet left off last week in verse one.> In those days the Philistines assembled and made war against Israel. And Achish said to David, "Know assuredly that you and your men shall go out with me to battle." And David said to Achish, "Very well; you shall know what your servant can do." And Achish said to David, "Very well; I will make you my bodyguard for life."And it picks up with some context to set up the story in verse 3.> Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him and buried him at Ramah, his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the necromancers out of the land.All right, so we get some context here, something that we already saw a few chapters ago in chapter 25. We already know that Samuel is dead. We know his body is buried in rhema. Okay, that's an interesting context. Also, some things we didn't know that at one point, Saul, when he was doing the right thing, he kicks out all the mediums and the necromancers. These are people who were thought to summon dead spirits. So it's like, why are we being told about that? Buckle up. This story is. Is wild.> And the Philistines assembled and came and encamped at Shunem. And Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa. When Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by prophets.So as the Philistines are gathering, Saul is seeing this, and he's terrified. Long gone are the days where he heard about the Ammonites and them disrespecting the people of God. And the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he rallied the people and they defeated them. He is now a scared king who can only see his enemy and is afraid. This is in verse six. And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by prophets, which is a picture of. As kings would sometimes get dreams from the Lord. And he's been rejected as king. So that's not happening. That the priests. We saw this earlier. In 1st Samuel, the high priest had the Urim stone, the Thuman stone. These were stones that were used to help answer, we think, prayers in a yes or no kind of manner. But we saw that he killed most of the priests at Nob. So the priesthood isn't with him anymore. So he doesn't have his kingly office. He doesn't have help. He doesn't have the help of the priests. Also, the prophets are no longer with him. He's the Samuel has in his prophecy shown that he has been rejected. So you get a picture of prophet, priest and king, that all of it has abandoned him in leadership and he is alone.> Then Saul said to his servants, "Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her." And his servants said to him, "Behold, there is a medium at En-dor."All right, so Saul, scared, frightened, says, I will find someone to help me. I will go to a medium for help. The same mediums that he rightfully kicked out of the promised land, that he rightfully saw to get rid of because he followed the law. Then the book of Deuteronomy, in chapter 18, it says,> "When you come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a charmer or a consultant of ghosts, or one who inquires of the dead. For whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD."Stop there. He knew the law. That's why he kicked him out in the first place. He knew that all these people with their evil practices did not belong amongst the people of God. And now he has chosen to go and receive help from there. Which brings up a lot of questions. And I just want to pause in the story to deal with some of those questions, because when you read this story, you have questions about, wait a second, do mediums really do that in the Bible? Do they really consult the spirits of the dead? And the follow up question is, does that still happen? Is that a thing that happens today? Now what we're about to read is the only kind of account of seeking a medium, a witch, a sorcerer, anything like that does in these evil practices. The only really detailed account like this that we get in the Bible, and still it doesn't answer all of our questions. But after looking at this and kind of surveying the rest of the scriptures and thinking through this, here are my general thoughts on how to think about this in light of how we think about this today. Mediums, witches, fortune tellers, many of them are indeed con artists. They're fraudsters, they're tricksters, which I don't think takes a lot of explaining for us, because I think that's the default position of the west, is that if you drive through West Columbia, and you see a palm reader, you see tarot cards, or you see someone dealing in fortune telling, you steal that kind of stuff. Our default position mostly is, and that's probably, probably somebody trying to steal your money. It's probably a con artist of some sort. But what I want to push us on here is that in the majority of the world, so the rest of the world, the not Western world, so South America, Africa, Asia, it is accepted that there are people that deal in these evil practices. They consult evil spirits, they consult evil things to gain information. And really, honestly, the majority of history has kind of accepted this as a thing that happens. It really is only until recent history. And I'll be honest, mostly if your background is more of a white Western background, you're more likely to kind of reject this outright and not see that actually this is something that actually truly does happen. And if you can step out of your position and to see how other people in the world view this and how the rest of history thinks through this, I think it expands our scope a little bit. That's what I've been trying to do over the last few years, the last decade of trying to pastor, because I still think that many of them are con artists. I still think that many of them actually do all types of tricks. But as I've tried to think about this more over the last decade of ministry and then even in pastoring and seeing this, that truly there are unseen demonic forces that are at work all the time, and there are people that consult these things, and what comes out of those experiences sometimes is demonic forces that pastoring people and seeing how this shows up in their life, I see it over and over and over again. So, yes, I think some absolutely are con artists. They're playing tricks. But others of them, when they're consulting someone's ancestor, when they're looking for, when someone's wanting to find out something from their grandmother, that what they're actually hearing on the other side of that is not just trickery, that it's actually demonic forces that are actually speaking to and through these people who are engaged in these evil practices. And we don't know all the things. There's a lot of things we don't understand about this, but I think both of those happen quite a bit. And I think that's helpful for us to think through this. And I think I don't know this, but I think that it's quite probably uncommon to have just immediate access to the spirits of those who have died. Now. I think that's important for us as we think about this, what this is. And also I think it's important to ask the question why anyone would engage in these practices in the first place. People engage in these practices because they're trying to understand things and have control over their next steps in their future. An insight that doesn't come from the Lord. I think that's really helpful to understand. I think going back to actually 1st Samuel 15 is incredibly helpful for this. Because in 1st Samuel 15, when the judgment from Samuel is being passed to Saul, he says something that's very helpful and, and how we should think about this. He says,> "For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king."What I find helpful about that judgment is it gives us a picture that there's some root issues behind all of this, that ultimately seeking mediums and necromancers is a rejection of the Creator for created things. It's a rejecting rejection of the word of the Lord to gain insight from the evil one, to gain insight to control your situation in life. I was reading a pastor in Africa, in Zambia, who regularly has to encounter people, people that are influenced by witchcraft and witch doctors. And one of the things that he was saying is that as they're seeking to really consult these practices because they have real practical things they want taken care of, they want their crops to grow and they want their kids to get better if they are sick, that as they're trying to control their future, what happens is as they go to these evil practices, it makes them slaves to two demonic forces that captivate and control their life. So the irony of going to seek control over your life by going to these practices, you invite forces in that actually begin to control you. And I thought that was a helpful insight into this to understand why people would do this and the danger that is bound up in doing this. I've seen this. I've sat with someone who engaged in occult practices in the past, and there were demonic forces in. In their life in the present, years later. And I know that our Western minds don't like to wrap our minds. That's hard for us to see. But it is a true spiritual reality now. It's a lot of context to how to think about this, to set up what we're about to. I think we should think about that as you see things from witchcraft to mediums, Ouija boards, Tarot cards, palm readings, even zodiac, horoscopes, and astrology, all of that is in an unseen spiritual realm. But if you are choosing to find insight to control your future by those practices, you are rejecting the Lord and his word and his counsel, and you are inviting evil into your life in a way that is extremely dangerous. Now, all that's helpful, and then we get this, what we're about to read, which is an incredibly unique experience all in itself. And trying to understand it is difficult, but I think we have some insight in how to understand this situation and also how this works broadly.So now we're going back in the story.> So Saul disguised himself and put on other garments and went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night. And he said, "Divine for me by a spirit, and bring up for me whomever I shall name to you." And the woman said to him, "Behold, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the necromancers from the land. Why then are you laying a trap for my life to bring about my death?" And Saul swore to her by the LORD, "As the LORD lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing." Then the woman said, "Whom shall I bring up for you?" He said, "Bring up Samuel for me." And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul, "Why have you deceived me? You are Saul." And the king said to her, "Do not be afraid. What do you see?" And the woman said to Saul, "I see a god coming up out of the earth." And he said, "What is his appearance?" And she said, "An old man is coming up; he is wrapped in a robe." And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the earth and paid homage.Then Samuel said to Saul, "Why then have you disturbed me, to bring me up?" And Saul answered, "I am in great distress, for the Philistines make war against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams; therefore I have called you to tell me what I shall do." And Samuel said, "Why then do you ask me, since the LORD has turned from you and become your enemy? The LORD has done to you as he spoke by me. And the LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor David, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD and did not carry out his fierce wrath on Amalek. Therefore the LORD has done this thing to you this day. Moreover the LORD will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The LORD will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines."Then Saul fell full length on the earth and was very afraid because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten nothing all day and all night. And the woman came to Saul and saw that he was greatly terrified and said to him, "Behold, your servant has obeyed you; I have put my life in my hand and have listened to what you told me. Now therefore hear the voice of your servant; let me set a morsel of bread before you, and eat, that you may have strength when you go on your way." But he refused and said, "I will not eat." But his servants and the woman urged him, and he listened to their voice. So the woman took a calf that was fat and killed it at once, and she took flour and kneaded it and baked unleavened bread of it. And she brought it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they rose and went away that night.All right, so he goes to seek help from this woman. And you should feel really the sad nature of this, that he's taking off his kingly garments, he's disguising himself so he cannot be seen. It's pathetic. This once powerful king is having to do this to get help. It's a sad picture. So he disguises himself in the night, and he goes to her, and he said, divine for me, a spirit by me. Divine for me by a spirit, and bring up for me whomever I shall name to you. The woman said to him, surely you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the necromancers from the land. Why then are you laying a trap for my life to bring about my death? So he asks this, and she says, says, you realize the irony here is she can't see that it's Saul, but she clearly knows he's an Israelite. You realize that Saul kicked out all of the mediums. The necromancers, like you understand that you're putting me at risk here. She's nervous. And then Saul responds in verse 10. But Saul swore to her by the Lord, as the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you from. For this thing which y'. All that is wildly insane and wicked. Because what he just did was that he invoked the holy name of God to offer protection to a woman who is engaging in evil and demonic practices. That is gross blasphemy. And you're supposed to feel that as he invokes the holy name of God to protect this woman so that she will do this evil thing for him.Then the woman said, whom shall I bring up for you? He said, bring up Samuel for me. When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul, why have you Deceived me. You are Saul. All right. It's impossible to know for sure what's logistically happening, but I think we can tell a few things. First, this woman did not expect to see Samuel. She is surprised. And when she sees that it's Samuel, she makes the connection that he saw. And she is scared. So she's shocked. And I would argue, I think the reason she's probably shocked that she actually saw and. And a spirit from someone who is dead is because this doesn't happen for her very often. So I think this woman probably is more on the con artist side of this. This is not a thing that normally happens. And if she is consulting evil spirits of some type, it doesn't look like this. So she's caught off guard by this, and she is scared. And once she connects all of this and she says, you are Saul, it says the king said to her, do not be afraid. What do you see? And the woman said to Saul, I see a God coming up out of the earth. Which, again, it's just. This is just shows how all the fools that are involved in here, Saul, a fool engaging this evil. She clearly does not understand how this works. She clearly cannot grasp what's happening. The best thing that she can do, best way she can describe this is it's like a God that's coming up out of the earth. 14 he said to her, what is the appearance? And she said, an old man is coming up and he is wrapped in a robe. And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and he paid homage.So he sees that it's Samuel. And there's this question of that people have when they engage with this. It's like, how does this actually happen? How does an evil person like this, how is she able to bring up the actual spirit of Samuel? Samuel's body's buried in rhema, but somehow she's able to actually bring the spirit of Samuel up. How does this. Why is this even happening? Why does God allow this evil woman to engage in this evil practice to bring about the prophet Samuel? And I think the answer to that question, even I would probably argue that's not the normative thing that happens with the spirits of those who are dead. I think that why God in his sovereignty, allows this to happen in is exactly what we're about to read next. It has to do with what Samuel's going to say to Saul. So God allows it for the purposes of what's about to happen.Then Samuel said to Saul, why Have you disturbed me by bringing me up? And Saul answered, I am in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams. Therefore I have summoned you to tell me what I shall do. Which just shows the utter foolishness of where Saul is at this point in his life, that he thought that going to get a medium to engage in this evil and wicked and abominable practice to bring Samuel back for him, to help him. He's just. He's a fool. And something I've said multiple times in this series. Saul just. It's clear he doesn't know God. He just doesn't know God. If he thinks that this was going to work out well for him, he doesn't know the Lord. And then verse 16, Samuel said, why then do you ask me, since the Lord has turned from you and become your enemy? The Lord has done to you as he spoke by me. For the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor and David, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek. Therefore the Lord has done this thing to you, done this thing to you. This day, moreover, the Lord will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me. The Lord will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines. So Samuel is brought up for this right here. I already told you, as I declared years ago, the judgment upon you, that the kingdom that you've been grasping onto for so long is not yours. It is being given away. And very soon tomorrow you and your sons in the battlefield will die, and you'll join me in death, and Israel will lose. That is why God and his sovereignty allows Samuel will be brought to declare that message. You are going to die tomorrow. Saul responds.> Then Saul fell full length on the earth and was very afraid because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten nothing all day and all night.Then the woman came to Saul, and when she saw that he was terrified, she said to him, behold, your servant has obeyed you I have taken my life in my hand and have listened to what you have said to me. Now therefore, you also obey your servant. Let me set a morsel of bread before you and eat, that you may have strength when you go on your way. And she's like, come on, eat, get out. At this point she's just like, get out of my home. Because she's taken her life in her hands and she wants him gone. And this medium is trying to get him up off the ground. He refused and said, I will not eat. But his servants together with the woman urged him and he listened to their words. So he arose from the earth and sat on the bed. And the woman had a fattened calf in the house and she quickly killed it. She took flour and kneaded it and baked unleavened bread of it. And she put it before Saul and his servants. And they ate. Then they rose and went away that night. And this is one of the final pictures we get of Saul. And it's sad. It's just sad. And when you think about this in light of his life, it's just like, how did he get here? How has he been so reduced to this sad scene, to having to trust in demonic forces and being told he's going to die? And when you take a step back from the story and you understand the life of Saul, it becomes very clear. He made one sinful decision after the next. He made one self interested decision after the next. And when you see that decision after decision after decision of how this played out, you understand that sin just grew in his life. You go back to 1 Samuel 13, you see that he makes the unlawful sacrifice that he was not supposed to. He disobeys the Lord. You see in 1st Samuel 14 he acts like a fool and he makes a rash vow. You see in 1st Samuel 15 that he refuses to obey the voice of the Lord and to slaughtering the king of the Amalekites. He refuses to do it. You see in 1st Samuel 18 that he tries to murder David. You see in 1st Samuel 19 he tries to murder him again. You see in 1 Samuel 22 he murders the majority of the priests at Nob and their wives and their children. And then from 23 onward, you see this endless pursuit to try to take the life of David, try to murder David and his men. And then he gets spared by David. And there's like a moment where he's sorry over his sin, but he's not truly repentant. And he continues in this. He continues to make sinful choices over and over and over again until his heart is so hardened he cannot see the utter wickedness of deciding that it was a good thing to go and seek the help of a medium. And that right there should serve as a cautionary tale for us. That we should understand the nature and the seriousness of sin and how it grows with every deliberate decision to pursue it. We should heed the wisdom of James chapter one that says,> "But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death."That we should see the reality of when temptation comes and how that grows into this desire of sin and how we pursue it, and how when the sin comes, continues to grow in our life, develops, it seeks to destroy us and bring death to us. We should understand the seriousness of sin and how every decision can grow into further pursuing sin. Because here's what happens, y', all, is that sometimes we get so caught off guard by how someone could make such a sinful, foolish choice. People will say, I can't believe that he cheated on her. I can't believe that he would wreck his family and decide to do this. As if it's some surprise when in reality this is what sin does. That he was a man that from early on his teenage years was addicted to pornography and grew this unhealthy, sinful appetite that continued to grow over time. And then maybe he had some freedom when he got married for a moment, but he keeps running back to pornography, keeps running back to these sinful desires. And then in a season where his marriage isn't doing all that well, he gets the positive attention of a co worker. And it inflames that desire in him even further, which develops into lustful thoughts throughout the day, which develops into long lunches with her, which develops into hotel rooms. And it's not a surprise when you understand the nature of sin and how it grows. People will be shocked and ask, I can't believe those friends had this massive falling out. What happened? They were such good friends, like for so long now they seem so cold and distant towards one another. But it's the long road that gets you there of one thing after the next, that it starts with a comment, this person hurts their friend. And then instead of their friend doing the right God honoring thing to go to their friend, and after examining their own heart of why it hurt them to go and say, hey, you've actually hurt me, this was A hurtful thing to say. They just keep it to themselves, and they get angry, and then weeks later, they return fire. Typically, how it goes is, you know, you've been angry for weeks, and all of a sudden something that's completely unrelated just bubbles out in a way that just hurt. Where did that come from? And then no resolution happens there. No reconciliation happens there. Now there's relational weirdness that is set up in the friendship. And now they're both growing resentful, and they're unwilling to repent along the way until finally their eyes see towards each other. They're cold, they're distant, they're calloused. And it's like it was one bad decision after the next. People will be surprised when someone steals from their company. I can't believe that he robbed his company. He's going to prison. Like, what was he thinking? And again, you have to follow the progression here. These things happen over time with decision after decision that years ago that he was a person that started to finally make money. Instead of submitting his finances to the Lord and growing in generosity, he said, I want to spend on myself. And he's continued to fill his life with riches and all types of pleasures. And then as he began to fill his life with things and upholding things over the Creator, he started to grow some debt in his life. And then all of a sudden, there was an easy way to maneuver a little bit of money in a way that no one would ever see. And then he continues this and continues to buy more things and continues to set his heart on material things. And more debt is growing, and more debt is growing. And then all of a sudden, he's in a lot of debt and has some big decisions to make, and there's a big move that he shouldn't have made. And all of a sudden he makes it, and now he's facing prison time. Do you see how this works? Sinful choices that we make over and over and over again. I'll give you one more. People will ask, I can't believe that church split in two. I can't believe that this group all of a sudden just fell apart. What happened there? And y', all, it just. It's. It is a slow fade into this type of disunity. It usually starts with someone who just goes to someone else in their group or goes to someone else in their church and says, I need to vent. I need to. This is the way. This is the holy way to do it. I need the process. Just need to process with you. And then loose Lips rolls out into some gossip, and all of a sudden there's gossip in the air and distrust is in the air. And then eventually slander comes out. And then someone comes back and says, hey, I heard that you said this about me. What's going on with that? And then sides are taken. No one does what they're supposed to do in repenting of their sin and seeking reconciliation God commands us to do. Sides are taken, hearts grow hard and they part their separate ways. This happens over and over and over again. And that's what happened with Saul. He continued to make sinful choices, cementing the position of his heart. And some of you right now have what you might consider to be baby small sins in your life. Maybe some of us have these respectable sins in our lives that we don't think are a big deal. Maybe there's some hidden sin in our lives. And what we do is we justify ourselves, our actions, our thoughts. Thoughts. Are we minimized and say, that's not that big of a deal. Are we covered up with a veneer of righteousness that says, yeah, I know I got this going on. I haven't really confessed it to anyone, but I'm still doing these things. And then that grows, and then it grows and it influences the next decision and the next decision and the next decision, and then it destroys us. We should heed Hebrews chapter three in a way that should sober our souls to reality.> "Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'Today,' that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin."And the warning there is, be careful in choosing sin, lest you actually, in your pursuit of sin, finally realize that your heart wasn't rooted in belief in the first place, receive the warning of the seriousness of sin, and hope that you have people in your life that will point you. That will point out the choices that you are making, that will ask the tough questions, that will notice the patterns in your life that reveal something beneath the surface that when you dip out for two or three months and you make lots of excuses about not being around, that someone will come into your life, the word of God will come into your life and will reveal what's happening before you, harden your heart in a direction that you do not come back from. We should receive the warning here that we're only a few steps away from wrecking our lives.Now, here's the good news while Saul chooses evil and he meets this very sad end. We have the opportunity to choose Christ. We have the opportunity to delight in him, to run to him. We have the opportunity to actually turn from path of destruction towards Christ. We have the opportunity to end humility, humble ourselves before the Lord, and pray for a softened heart. We have the opportunity to have groups of Christians in our community group that we have people in our lives that at a moment's notice will give us the ear that we need to listen to begin to walk in the light. We have the opportunity and some of you have the opportunity 4 be very first time to actually choose Christ over the desires of our own flesh and following the ways of the world, influenced by the enemy himself, we have Christ and that's his desire for us. I so appreciate 2 Corinthians 5:15 that says,> "and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised."that he died for us, that we on the path towards sin and hell might actually see that we had a Savior who bled and died for our sinful choices, for our bad trajectory, so that we might actually live not to ourselves, but but in submission to Him. And that is my hope as we leave this story today. Do not let the sins in your life grow and expand in a way that would suffocate your soul. Do not live for yourself like Saul did live for Christ, who for our sake died and was raised to free us from choosing evil. Pray for us. Heavenly Father, I pray that you would sober us to the reality of sin in our lives and you would awaken us to the joy that is found and understanding that while we sinned against you, you bled and died for our trespasses that we might trust in you of our own selves. Lord, we cannot do that without your work in our hearts. Lord, may you work in our souls in a way to awaken us to the reality of sin and the reality of your redemptive work on the cross in an empty tomb in Jesus name. Amen.We're going to prepare to take the Lord's Supper here in a moment. I want to read from Luke chapter 22.> And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, "Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood."That as Christians we get to come to the table remembering that yes, we make sinful choices and yes, we pursue sin, and yes, we have hidden sin in our life that we need to actually respond by walking in the light. We have all those things. But the offer of Christ is you don't come in your perfection, you don't come in your righteousness, you don't come in your good works. You come needy, humbly rejoicing that his blood was poured out, that his body was broken. And we remember the good news of the gospel that is for, for us, the sinners. So as you consider your sin, consider your Savior. When you are ready, come joyfully to the table. Some of you, you have not actually fully trusted in the work of Christ. Some of you, if you're honest with yourself that your whole life has been won towards only pursuing sin. And where there's been bits of religiousness, where there's been bits of church attendance, where there's been bits of just doing some good things, those are a cover for a life that is fully captured by sin. And my hope right now is that God would soften your heart and open your eyes to the reality that that only leads to death. But the good news of the gospel is that Jesus dies for sinners and that you would not come to the table. Do not come to the table right now. Come to Christ in faith, trusting in his work. And my hope is you wouldn't leave here today without talking to someone, talking to a pastor, talking to anyone, and asking them what does it look like to actually follow Jesus. And then we can talk about what it means to come to the table. But Christians, when you're ready to come to the table, there's gluten free in that back corner and upstairs.

August 2025 Holy Spirit Encounter - "Breaking the Spirit of Amalek"

False Messiahs Making Miracles | WAR OF AMALEK (36)https://youtu.be/qyyE74survMThere's no shortage of false Messiahs making miracles in our history. Why does HaShem allow this? Rav Elchonon Wasserman's War of Amalek series begins the conclusion by letting us know that we must prepare for more of this False Messiah Miracles to happen, as this is the will of HaShem. For the question why and how do we know who's false, Rav Wasserman also unveils this foundational lesson that would determine whether we are on the right path or spiritually naked. Learn, Enjoy, Share and Be Holy.

Jesus Delivers Us (10) (audio) David Eells -8/13/25 Saints, I'm going to continue our teaching how Jesus delivers us and our authority over the demons. I'm going to go over the last dream by SG I shared with you and give more of the interpretation. Let me make a point first. I was warned in a dream about a plot of the factious enemy. When the Lord told us that we would be able to cast it down, He made sure I found the dream that we shared last time, called “Getting Ready for the Storm.” It was given to me months prior on a piece of paper. I had shoved it in my Bible, and I became so busy that I forgot about it until the right time, when the Lord reminded me of it. He led me directly to it. You see, I had taken my Bible out of its holder, and I was fixing the loose binder. I had glued it and I was waiting for it to dry. I had many papers stuffed inside my Bible, not helping the binding, and I wanted to study because I had some things on my mind. I wanted to see what the Lord would say about them, but instead the Lord told me, “No, go through those papers and get them out of your Bible. Get the ones you don't need out.” As I was doing that, I ran across this revelation. It would have been lost forever if the Lord hadn't stopped me at just the right time to look at it. As soon as I started reading, I realized what I had. Let's examine it line by line to understand what God is revealing to us.   Getting Ready for the Storm by SG (David's notes in red) A few of us were outside a big house that was more than one-story high. (This represents God's house.) We were trying to get a platform or something apart before the storm was to come. (Before I found this dream, the Lord had given me a dream or vision in the middle of the night concerning my children, symbolizing UBM, who were with me. In this warning from the Lord, the wind started picking up. I looked around to see where the wind was coming from and noticed a great big tornado coming towards us. I told all the children to get in my car. This represents a place of safety, or the Man-child's way of rest and peace. With cars, you just start them up, push on the pedal, and they go. You don't have to pedal them. It's not man's works. So, all of them got in the car, except for one person. That person took off running towards the tornado. I realized that this represented the faction movement. This person was behaving like Judas did when he ran to the faction of the Sanhedrin to turn Jesus over to them. This revelation given to S.G. months before mine was all about getting ready for the storm. Also, the Lord showed S.G. that this rebellion was happening outside of the house. As I read her dream, Adonijah's faction rebellion to usurp David's throne came to me (1 Kings Chapters 1-2). This is where Adonijah was seeking a platform that was outside the house of God, and according to her dream, it needed to be taken down. This step comes before the storm of my dream arrives; otherwise, there will be trouble.) We needed to unscrew some bolts or something like that. (This represents taking down their strength through spiritual warfare. Bolts are the strength of holding things together.) We started to see wolves and dogs (symbolizing demons) trying to come against us. It was dark outside. There was thunder, lightning and blowing wind. All these represent the spiritual storm. We went inside the house. (Inside the house is a place of provision and safety, and it represents abiding in Jesus Christ, abiding in the temple of God, abiding in the house of the Lord. This usurpation was taking place outside the house of the Lord. The Church is going to go through a crucifixion at the hands of factious people. Factious people all believe that they are in the house of the Lord, but they're not, because they are in hatred, criticism, and rebellion.) We went inside the house. Many others from local UBM were in different rooms praying. Some were kneeling down, while some were standing and commanding the wolves and the dogs to go! It was all happening so fast. It was as if we were in the midst of a storm on a ship out to sea. Things were coming from all directions. We were just commanding those things to cease and go. (In this, we see that God is preparing us for tribulation. The Church will learn to do spiritual warfare. Isn't it wonderful that you can go through so much and yet be at peace? This is because you know from experience that you have authority over all the power of the enemy, and so the enemy has to obey your command. When Jesus sent out His disciples, they came back rejoicing because they had received the revelation that the demons were subject to them (Luke 10:17-20). Jesus said that He beheld Satan fallen from heaven (Luke 10:18). We see “Satan fallen from heaven” is a revelation that will be given to the “woman,” the Church, in the wilderness (Revelation 12:9), although this revelation is being given to the Bride and the Man-child now.) Things were coming from all directions. We were just commanding those things to cease and go. (This represents spiritual warfare training for the coming Passover and tribulation. We have a Passover coming, but we must not be in unforgiveness, criticism, anger, or judgment when that Passover comes. There's no sacrifice for willful disobedience (Hebrews 10:26) and you are going to reap what you sow if that happens (Galatians 6:7). During the Passover in Egypt, the Lord was in full control of the Destroyer. (Exo.12:23) For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side-posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. The Passover was performed for those who had eaten all of the lamb. (Exo.12:10) And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; but that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. God's people were delivered, even while Egypt was not. The world went under the curse, and the worldly do go under the curse, but God's people who had the blood on their doorposts were delivered.) At one point, it settled down a little. But then I was going outside and touching a gate that was open. It seemed like it shocked me. Then I couldn't speak, as if the enemy were trying to silence me. (Any open “door” will let the enemy in to hinder and sabotage God's work. If the saints are silenced, the enemy will win. We have to take authority over the enemy by the spoken word.) I was able to say, “No! In the Name of Jesus!” I said this as loudly as I could, and started to fight in the spirit. It started to get windy and rough again. (This is training and conditioning. We have to be conditioned like the military does with its people. We have to be conditioned to face the enemy fearlessly, having confidence that (Gal.2:20) … it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me… and being practiced in using our weapons (2 Corinthians 10:4; Ephesians 6:10-17).) I saw David and Michael, and other brothers and sisters praying and taking care of the little ones. (These “little ones” are those who are not yet practiced in spiritual warfare. They are not confident in their weapons. Even David didn't want to put on Saul's armor (1 Samuel 17:39). He said that he hadn't proven or tested it. He wasn't used to Saul's armor, but he was used to his sling, and it was all he needed to take out Goliath (1 Samuel 17:49).) It was so chaotic and noisy! But everyone was doing their part in the warfare. A few of us would go up and down stairs, helping each other to fight. (This represents helping people at different levels of maturity.) We were strong and didn't give up. No one was frightened. (That's how you get when you enter into the rest. You just know that God has heard your prayers, that you have authority over the enemy, and so on.) But we were more determined when we saw the enemy come against us. As far as I could tell, there were no casualties. (That's important because when there is faction, somebody is taken out. In my dream, it was the guy who was running towards the tornado. So we sought the Lord because we didn't want anybody to be taken out, and we also asked the Lord to have mercy and to spare anybody whom the devil planned to use in this regard. Father heard our prayers. He showed us that we had authority to cast down this faction attack, yet I didn't know this confirmation of not losing anyone to faction, “no casualties,” had been hidden in my Bible all along. Glory be to God!) And before I woke up, I heard myself say two or three times, “I have to wake up and write this down.” (And then I woke up. God has a sense of humor, doesn't He?) S.G.'s Notes: I sensed we had the victory, even though I had left the whole scene (without seeing the end) when I woke up. I felt good about the dream, sensing that we were all working together. Even though the enemy was trying to bring chaos, the fight was done with order. We all knew what we were to do, and we did it. (This expertise in warfare has come through years of practice in dealing with the factious. The Lord's Man-child and Bride are being put through this training in order to go forth and bring wisdom to God's people, just as when Jesus and His Bride were first anointed. You, who are hearing and reading this now, are also gaining this knowledge and wisdom.) I asked the Lord for a Word to correspond to this dream. My finger went down on “our captain.” (2Ch.13:12KJV) And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the Lord God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper. This is the story of Jeroboam's faction against Israel. What were the chances of randomly landing on a faction verse? Jeroboam led Israel away in a faction from the house of David (2Ch.11:15) and he appointed him priests for the high places, and for the hegoats, and for the calves which he had made. He set up the false “Jesus” of the golden calves and, following the failed ambush he set up against Judah, he ultimately lost his kingdom and life to Abijah, the son of David. These misled people were all trusting in their golden calves, making priests who were not ordained of God, and following a leader who was a wicked, factious person, yet here they came to attack a people who still serve and sacrifice to the real, true God. The factious group attack a people who have the temple of God in their midst like Jerusalem and who are serving God. What is the chance of them winning? Zero! (2Ch.13:13) But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them: so they were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them. (The factious army was before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them.) (14) And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind them; and they cried unto the Lord, and the priests sounded with the trumpets. (15) Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah (He was a son of David.) and Judah (was the house of David) (16) And the children of Israel (the faction) fled before Judah; and God delivered them into their hand. (17) And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men. (In our literal war with the factious they are spiritually dead and many are physically dead.)(18) Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the Lord, the God of their fathers. (19) And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam (the factious leadership), and took cities from him, Beth-el (“house of God.”) with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and Ephron with the towns thereof. (20) Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijah (The faction was over.): and the Lord smote him, and he died. S.G.'s Notes: Then, the Lord gave me the word “tumult” from H1993 “Strong's Concordance” which means “to make a loud sound, to be in great commotion, roar, be in an uproar, to rage, war, clamor.” I looked up a few verses with the word “tumult” in them. One of the Scriptures, Psalm 83:2, I received twice in twenty-four hours: (Psa.83:2) For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: And they that hate thee have lifted up the head. (What were the chances of her randomly landing on a paragraph the next morning containing the word “tumult”? Praise God for His divine direction! Amazingly, Psalm 83 details the total victory God's people experienced when all their enemies came together to ambush Judah. This event is like the Sennacherib scenario (2 Kings 19) or the northern army that was conquered by the visitation of the Lord when He brought revival and the latter rain (Joel 2). How wonderfully God puts things together!) Psalm 83 is about a faction against God's people. It is called “A Song, a Psalm of Asaph.” Let's read it in its entirety. (Psa.83:1) O God, keep not thou silence: Hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. (2) For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult; And they that hate thee have lifted up the head. (3) They take crafty counsel against thy people, And consult together against thy hidden ones. (4) They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; That the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. (5) For they have consulted together with one consent; Against thee do they make a covenant (All the enemy came against them to take them out. Has that ever happened to natural Israel? Yes, and natural Israel is a parable for the Church.): (6) The tents of Edom (They were the sons of Abraham but they made themselves enemies to the chosen people of Israel. The Edomites persecuted their own brothers.) and the Ishmaelites (They did the same thing.); Moab, and the Hagarenes; (7) Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre: (8) Assyria also is joined with them; They have helped the children of Lot. (All these people fought against Israel. They made themselves the enemy of Israel, and all of them paid for it because they were all conquered.) Selah. (9) Do thou unto them as unto Midian, as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the river Kishon (Give these enemies total defeat, including the loss of their head.); (10) Who perished at Endor, Who became as dung for the earth. (11) Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb; Yea, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna; (12) Who said, Let us take to ourselves in possession The habitations of God. (There was no chance of this happening; their failed plan to usurp the House of God was completely cast down.) (13) O my God, make them like the whirling dust; As stubble before the wind. (14) As the fire that burneth the forest, And as the flame that setteth the mountains on fire, (15) So pursue them with thy tempest, And terrify them with thy storm. (16) Fill their faces with confusion, That they may seek thy name, O Lord. (17) Let them be put to shame and dismayed for ever… This is what the Lord is doing with the factious. They are meeting with failure because of their evil schemes, and they don't even know that they've been taken by the devil. They don't know they are a captive of his will. If they get the revelation of what they have done, as people do who are delivered from demons, they are going to be shamed. This is good because it will make them very strong, as it did the Apostle Paul. He was shamed and wanted to make up for his attacks against his chosen brethren in every way possible (Acts 8:3,9:21; Galatians 1:13,23). He was the strongest of all the apostles. (Psa.83:17) Let them be put to shame and dismayed for ever; Yea, let them be confounded and perish; (18) That they may know that thou alone, whose name is the Lord, Art the Most High over all the earth. God is so good! He has a plan, and He can certainly tell you what it is. He is an awesome Savior in all things. Praise be to God! If we're going to make war against demonic entities, we cannot be deceived as to the enemy's identity and how to conquer him. We cannot be “ignorant of his devices”, although there are some laughable things in this next dream I'm going to share with you. It's all about the devil's devices, and it fits together very well. God is so amazing when His gifts, such as dreams, come together through His people to edify them, and God has many of these gifts in reserve that He can release at any time. Well, for quite a while we've been calling these things that take over God's people in the faction “stupid” demons. Sometimes we just look at each other when we hear things the factious say. We shake our heads, thinking, “How is it possible that anybody could believe such a thing?” Factious demons make people so stupid that they don't even realize what they're doing. Factious people don't recognize how idiotic their excuses are for disobeying God's Word, and it's a shameful thing, but they will understand more and more as they come out from under their demon-induced stupor. We praise God for their elects coming release! We've been praying for it. These are our friends whom we love. We know that God will give us all the victory through our warfare. Now let's look at the dream and the interpretation so that we can better understand the warfare that's needed.)   The Invasion of the “Stupid” Demons – Part 1 by S.S. (David's notes in red) I am in a meadow praying for all of UBM. In this dream, I am only praying for what the Lord gives or leads me to pray for them. And I am weeping for them while praying. Then I am standing in a hall with four doorways. As I look at the first doorway, a man comes out and says in carnival talk, “Let me tell you something lady! If you really want to know how to pray and get all the distractions out of your life, this is how you do it.” (“Carnival talk” is “make-believe.” It's talk to satisfy the lusts of the speaker, who wants to get something over on you. They are known for being slick salesmen and luring in the gullible public to their sideshows. Deceiving spirits keep people from knowing the real power of prayer by substituting their silly notions, and by doing that, they also keep God's people from knowing or discovering the demon's power.) In the doorway was a chin-up bar. He begins to hang upside down from it, and he starts swinging by his legs. He says, “You see, this is how you get rid of the demons! They can't hang around because you are upside down.” I reply, “What? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.” (That's exactly what we're talking about with these “stupid” demons. This is deception. The demons try to foist their power, what they're able to do, upon the people of God. Some people are made useless because they listen to the devil, instead of God, about spiritual warfare.) And then, I look closely at him. He is a cartoon walrus. (This may sound silly on the surface, but a walrus represents one who is full of flesh. Walruses get up to four to five thousand pounds; they're just monstrous. Also, it's interesting that their tusks are enlarged canines, which they use to pull their body, their flesh out of the water. In other words, they use their mouth and their teeth to separate themselves from God's Word, the “water,” for the sake of their flesh. That's like this deceptive demon represented by the carnival barker. A carnival is a place where they take advantage of you and make money off of you.) Then I look at the second doorway. There I see one large rat, three medium rats, and one baby rat. (Rats are unclean beasts and bearers of disease. People generally like to get rid of them.) And the biggest one is saying, “Don't be a rat! Don't be a rat!” To “rat” is to tell on somebody, to betray them by revealing incriminating information. The three medium ones are saying, “Don't tell! Don't tell!” And the baby rat is sniffling and trying to hold up his pants at the waist, saying with a very small voice, “Don't tell the truth! Don't tell the truth!” (Jesus promised in (Joh.8:32) and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. You will not be in bondage with the truth. Truth and prayer reveal the works and the power of the enemy; they give you wisdom so that you can destroy the enemy even before he makes his attack. It will be like the Sennacherib scenario, where the enemy is destroyed before they are able to shoot a single arrow into Jerusalem (Isaiah 37:33-36). The enemy is prevented from shooting into the Bride because God is defending her.) In the third doorway, I could see a classroom holding small grade-school desks, the type with a place for books under the seat. And the teacher is showing them how to pray a mantra. There was one little girl who couldn't do it. She could not remember the prayer. (Much of immature Christianity prays like this, trying to call up the power of God without heart and without faith. The only thing that answers mantras is demons. The Lord Jesus told us, (Mat.6:7) And in praying use not vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. This reminds me of when the nuns taught us to pray the Rosary for whatever we needed from God. We were told that if we did enough of these prayers, the “Hail Mary's” and “Our Father's,” we might get an answer, but it was all just praying a repetitive prayer, a mantra. The Lord doesn't want prayers like that; He wants prayers from your heart. He wants to have personal communication with you. (Jas.5:16) … The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working. We know and understand what He wants, but some people do not, and their rote prayers are not the kind that God hears. Going on with the dream.) With his fingers, the teacher is thumping the girl's head saying, “You're not trying hard enough! You are not trying hard enough.” (Salvation in all of its forms is not by works of man or works of law, but through repentance and faith in God. (Eph.2:8) For by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, [it is] the gift of God; (9) not of works, that no man should glory. People who tell you that you are not trying hard enough and who don't direct you into faith towards God are just going to frustrate you. When this happens, you will never arrive at your “destination.” So, of course, demons try to get people caught up in this kind of legalism because the demons know their human victims are not going to get any answers that way. They know the people will end up in frustration, losing their faith, and falling away. The demons have been doing this for thousands of years.) Continuing, I had been looking at the girl from the side, but she suddenly turns and looks my way with a sideways, downcast glance as if to say, “Did I show you my true colors?” (Yes, those oppressed under the law are not justified; therefore, their prayers are hindered.) And then she turns into a cartoon wolf. All the rest of the class are wolves, also. (Anybody who is under the law like that will never come to maturity. The law cannot perfect (Romans 3:20; Galatians 2:16; Hebrews 7:19; etc.) Those who seek God only for “fire insurance” haven't been changed in heart, and they will be dangerous to the body when their true colors are ultimately seen. They are just tares amongst the wheat (Matthew 13:24-30) and therefore, the true Church is being sanctified from them. There is an ongoing separation of the tares from the wheat. The Lord Jesus said, (Mat.13:30) Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn. We all may have gone through a time of legalism, but then we learned what was wrong with it, and we didn't stay there. If somebody stays there until the end, they are not justified before God. They are not accounted righteous before God, and they will lose out. It makes no difference if they call themselves a “Christian.” It's dangerous to stay in legalism after we've been redeemed from it. (Gal.4:4) But when the fulness of time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, (5) that he might redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Demons try to get people caught up in situations where they won't get answers from God. Demons fear our prayers of faith and justification, so they use every trick they have to get us off track one way or another. They're not stupid; they just make people act stupid. All of this is to hinder us from doing spiritual warfare.) Continuing: And I say, “Oh Lord! This dream is dumb! I don't even like cartoons!” Cartoons are not real. (In this case, they're deceptions, figments of imagination that are not from God.) Next, I'm looking at the fourth doorway where a group of people are getting ready to pray. Someone announces loudly, “We're getting ready to pray now. We're getting ready to pray now.” (We are not supposed to cease from praying. The Lord says we are to (1Th.5:17) Pray without ceasing. This even includes prayers coming from our thought life.) The next word spoken is, “Let everyone pray in tongues for a little bit.” And all the people change into cartoon characters. (There's nothing wrong with speaking in tongues; it's very good, but the way some people speak in tongues is not so good. Some are putting on a cartoon show. Also, If a person has not repented and is not walking by faith, what would the Holy Spirit pray through them? Well, since He's praying for their good, He may be speaking judgment to turn them around or turn them from their sins, but many times that's not the thought of some when they're praying. They're thinking that this is the way to peace and prosperity when, instead, the Holy Spirit says, (Isa.26:9) With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee earnestly: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. It's true that sometimes people don't get honest with God until they go through judgments. A sister, who had suffered for many years under these tormenting spirits of rejection, would get in bad shape, and each time we would pray for her. The Lord was faithful to heal her, but then she would get in bad shape all over again. My thoughts were, “Okay, something's wrong. There's a foundation that we're not discovering.” Many times I brought up the subject of unforgiveness to her, and many times she would tell me, “Oh no, David! I don't have any unforgiveness toward anybody,” but I knew what she really meant was, “No, I don't want to kill them right now!” It was obvious that she was holding on to unforgiveness. Anyway, her husband and I would pray for her and she would keep going through this cycle, until ultimately, she had a stroke and was sagging on one side. I don't know how near death she came, but it was during this time that she was forced into being very honest with God. And sure enough, she discovered that she had unforgiveness towards her ex-husband and some other people. The Lord had turned her over to these tormentors, just as He said He would do in His Word. When she repented of this unforgiveness, her husband and I got her up out of bed and started marching her down the hall, walking by faith, but one side was not cooperating. We marched her around the kitchen island a few times, when, lo and behold, the power of the Lord hit her! He straightened her right up from the effects of the stroke. She was healed, and this breakthrough happened because she finally came to the place of being honest. The Holy Spirit is saying, “Sometimes people won't repent without this trouble.” (Isa.26:10) Let favor be shown to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness will he deal wrongfully, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord. (11) Lord, thy hand is lifted up, yet they see not (The Lord is making war against their enemies, their flesh and the demons therein.): but they shall see [thy] zeal for the people, and be put to shame; yea, fire shall devour thine adversaries. If you really want everything that God has that will make you better, you're willing to go to your cross, and you may even be praying in the Spirit for yourself to go to your cross. A lot of prosperity-minded people think that praying in the Spirit is the fix-all. They think that praying in the Spirit is going to bring peace and prosperity, with their enemies conquered, and so on. Ultimately, this is very true, but only if they have repented and are walking towards the Lord, but many people are like this sister. They don't know what's been holding them back all this time, but the Lord can show them, just as the Holy Spirit did for this sister. And since the Holy Spirit knows that some people need chastening, it's a delusion to think that praying in the Spirit, real or supposed, will always bring peace and prosperity, but demons like to delude. Repentance and faith are the foundation for prayer. The Holy Spirit intercedes for us according to the Will of God, not our carnal will. We know His goodwill comes to those who love Him, and we know to love Him is to keep His commandments (John 14:15). Remember, the Bible says, (Rom.8:26) And in like manner the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity (We have problems sometimes. We don't see the things we need to see. We don't know ourselves as well as we think.): for we know not how to pray as we ought… It is so true! God gives us the gift of speaking in tongues because we don't know what we should pray, but the Spirit does know what to pray. (Rom.8:26) … but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for [us] with groanings which cannot be uttered; (27) and he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to [the will of] God. So once again, we gain wisdom concerning the work of the Holy Spirit in us in how to defeat the enemy, which sometimes entails bringing us through chastening. (Rom.8:28) And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good… What about those who don't prove their love for God by their obedience? What if it's more important to them to seek the world, cater to their flesh, and keep the old man alive? In such a case, what comes to them for good would be chastening. (Rom.8:28) … all things work together for good, [even] to them that are called according to [his] purpose. At the beginning of this revelation, S.S. said, “I am only praying for what the Lord gives me to pray, and the way the Lord leads me to pray for them.” That's good! That's very important! Going on with the dream. People began putting their thumbs on their temples and waving their hands like wings, making exaggerated thumb movements. Have you ever heard of people doing such things? (Mat.23:5) But all their works they do to be seen of men: for they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders [of their garments], (6) and love the chief place at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, (7) and the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called of men, Rabbi.) Continuing: And their tongues were about twelve inches long, and their eyes were as big as saucers. (There are religious spirits that make God's people do silly things to impress the people around them, all the time thinking that they are being spiritual. People can become pretty stupid when they have those spirits.) I said, “Enough is enough! When are people going to behave themselves?” (The prayers some people pray are simply in vain. They're useless because the people haven't repented, yet they think they're going to receive. That's no better than repeating a monotonous mantra. The Holy Spirit, through Paul and Jude, called letting the Holy Spirit pray through us “praying in the Spirit.” (Eph.6:18) With all prayer and supplication praying at all seasons in the Spirit, and watching thereunto in all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. Good things come from praying in the Spirit. (Jud.1:20) But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, (21) keep yourselves in the love of God… Have you prayed to build yourself up in the faith? Praise be to God! It's the act of being a vessel through whom the Spirit of God will pray for God's Will. It's not a blank check for your will. It's necessary for those who are repentant and not afraid for the Will of God to be manifested. (1Co.14:14) For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prayeth (Notice that the Holy Spirit prays through our spirit.), but my understanding is unfruitful. (Your understanding is “unfruitful” because you don't know what you're saying.) (15) What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also… Are you that determined that you should pray in these ways? I hope so; it's very important, but it's also important to do it right and not care about what other people think. It's important to be at rest with the Spirit of God, allowing Him to speak through you. (15) … and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. I do that and love it. I feel edified when I sing in the spirit. Paul told believers to be (Eph.6:18) With all prayer and supplication praying at all seasons in the Spirit… He also said, (1Co.14:18) I thank God, I speak with tongues more than you all. Praise God! Now, let me say that if we are addressing the assembly in the Spirit, that is, addressing the assembly in tongues, there should also be interpretation. If we're not standing up to address the assembly, it's permitted to speak in tongues in the assembly, and interpretation is not required. Paul said for us to be “With all prayer and supplication praying at all seasons in the Spirit,” but that we should be praying with the understanding, too. If we are simply addressing God in tongues, our understanding is not required; however, if we are speaking to a group, they need to understand it. It will do no good to speak to them in tongues unless there's an interpretation. Speaking in tongues is not necessarily the same as the gift of tongues. The gift of tongues and its companion gift of interpretation are for the purpose of standing up to address the assembly. These gifts are for the Body, and they're on an equal footing with prophecy. Any person who is baptized in the Holy Spirit can speak in tongues, and it's very good to speak in tongues because (1Co.14:4) He that speaketh in a tongue edifieth himself (He “builds” himself up. Some people think that's a negative statement, but it's positive because you're building yourself up in the Holy Spirit.); but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.  

We sit down with Professor Berel Dov Lerner, finalist for the Rabbi Sacks Book Prize, to explore his phenomenal book Human–Divine Interactions in the Hebrew Scriptures: Covenants and Cross-Purposes. With a background in philosophy, Prof. Lerner examines how God's project—creating a worthy world—intersects with humanity's project of making life in this world more livable. How do divine and human interests become intertwined? How does God take human concerns into account? And how do we, in turn, project our own moral frameworks onto God, expecting to relate to Him on our terms? Our conversation ranges widely: from negative theology to the Ramḥal's vision of humanity's role in drawing divine abundance into the world through covenants and moral action. We ask whether God's plan would be acceptable if it belonged to a human being, and we explore how the Flood and Sodom narratives reveal God “tying His hands” with moral imperatives. Why does God honor His covenant with Avraham even when Sodom fails to uphold the Noahide baseline? And how does the Berit Ben HaBetarim (Covenant of the Pieces) differ from other, more reciprocal covenants? We tackle imitatio Dei (imitation of God) in the context of Korah's rebellion, and Rambam's provocative claim that we must emulate the God of nature—not the God of history—while still confronting the reality of destruction in the natural world. Prof. Lerner offers a close reading of the seemingly genocidal command to wipe out Amalek, revealing that it may not mean what it appears to. We turn to Jonah's inner conflict—his fear for Israel's future under Assyrian oppression—and consider whether God's use of the kikayon plant is a moment of divine sarcasm. Finally, we grapple with the Akeidah: Why does Avraham argue for Sodom but not for Yitzḥak? And what does his silence tell us about the real nature of this test? Tune in for Prof. Lerner's surprising take.---*This episode is dedicated to the refua shelema of Sarah Miriam bat Tamar, Binyamin ben Zilpa, and our dear friend Yaakov ben Haya Sarah Malakh---• Bio: Dr. Berel Dov Lerner is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Western Galilee College in Akko, Israel. He earned his BA in Social and Behavioral Sciences from Johns Hopkins University in 1980, his MA in Philosophy from the University of Chicago in 1982, and his PhD in Philosophy from Tel Aviv University in 1999. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., he has lived for decades in Kibbutz Shluhot in Israel's Beit She'an Valley. He is married to Batheva Yaffa Lerner and has five children and several grandchildren. His areas of expertise include philosophy of religion, Jewish thought, philosophy of social science, biblical studies, and Jewish studies.---• Get his book here: https://www.amazon.com/Human-Divine-Interactions-Hebrew-Scriptures-Interdisciplinary-ebook/dp/B0CCZCNJLK---• Welcome to JUDAISM DEMYSTIFIED: A PODCAST FOR THE PERPLEXED | Co-hosted by Benjy & Benzi | Thank you to...Super Patron: Jordan Karmily, Platinum Patron: Craig Gordon, Rod Ilian, Gold Patrons: Dovidchai Abramchayev, Lazer Cohen, Travis Krueger, Vasili Volkoff, Vasya, Silver Patrons: Ellen Fleischer, Daniel M., Rabbi Pinny Rosenthal, Fred & Antonio, Jeffrey Wasserman, and Jacob Winston! Please SUBSCRIBE to this YouTube Channel and hit the BELL so you can get alerted whenever new clips get posted, thank you for your support!

As the nation of Israel makes their way through the wilderness, they come across some trouble. Lack of food and water make the people a bit testy. On top of that, they have a new enemy that has decided to attack them at their weakest spot. And in each instance, God continually provides for them. On this episode of Bible Backdrop, find out some of the details regarding the Israelites journey to Mount Sinai. What was important about the springs of Marah? What were the manna and quail like? Why did the Amalekites attack the Israelites? If you are enjoying Bible Backdrop, please tell a friend and have them subscribe. You can also get in touch with the show with the e-mail in the episode. Thanks for listening!

How To Be Saved From Tragedy? | WAR OF AMALEK (35)https://youtu.be/DABmxqtyEQ8There's no shortage of tragedies in the world today. Unfortunately on a personal and international level. Does the Torah give a solution, and can the average person do it? Yes and Yes. Rav Elchonon Wasserman's War of Amalek series goes into one of the most profound and critical solutions to the ailment everyone encounters at some point, and provides and clear solution. After you hear how simple it is, you'll agree that only a fool would not make it a priority in their life. Learn, Enjoy, Share and Be Holy.

Today, Pastor Jeff shares that sometimes, we forget the amazing things God does for us. But families should celebrate and remember together! Exodus 17:14-16 14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.” 15 Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. 16 He said, “Because hands were lifted up against[a] the throne of the Lord,[b] the Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.”

Frank Sona preaches on three of Israel's enemies as they journeyed to the Promised Land. Amalek, a picture of the flesh; Korah, a picture of the world; and Balaam, a picture of the devil. Readings: Exod 17:1-6, Num 16:1-50, 17:1-13, and various readings from Chs 22, 23 and 24. (Recorded in Marion Gospel Hall, Iowa, USA) Complete series: Welcome to Egypt A Night Much to be Remembered Stand Still and See the Salvation of the Lord The Small Round Thing The post The Three Enemies of the Pilgrim (48 min) first appeared on Gospel Hall Audio.

Who's Influencing Your Rabbi's Daat?| WAR OF AMALEK (34)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB33-BWI_58 In a world where politics have become a standard in the mainstream, it's become more common that even Rabbi's have thrown their politics into the mix. Is this a good thing? Rav Elchonon Wasserman's War of Amalek delves into this very relevant matter in order to understand the outcome of this new influence. It will put things into perspective and allow us to understand a little more about the importance of who we're being influenced by. Learn, Enjoy, Share and Be Holy.

Satan's Place in Heaven Let's start with our familiar text: Awake, O north wind, And come, wind of the south; Make my garden breathe out fragrance, Let its spices be wafted abroad. May my beloved come into his garden And eat its choice fruits!” (So 4:16) This call to “Awake, O North” is thought to encompass three distinct calls recorded in 1. Jeremiah 31:7-8 (exiles of Israel), 2. Isaiah 41:25 (Messiah) 3. Gog and Magog (Ezek 38:2) Why are Gog and and Magog are so attracted to “the beloved city” and its inhabitants to want to destroy them at least twice in Biblical history? Last week's study of the yetzer ha-ra, or evil inclination, as it pertains to satan, was a key piece to the answer. If we can understand that the power of satan is strong against the holy things of this earth, that will explain it. It does need to the be strong to cultivate evil from the wicked. They are already his willing subjects. It is the holy who require him to exert his maximum strength. This sounds incredible, but Scripture reinforces this Jewish principle: “The evil inclination, as a general rule, gravitates toward holiness, and functions at its greatest strength where holiness resides...Evidently, it is because the forces of evil concentrate their greatest efforts on enticing the righteous, those people most deeply immersed in holiness.” (Midrash Rabbah to Shir HaShirim 5§4) WHAT? You're telling me that if I pursue holiness by obedience to the commandments that I make a bigger target? I put that in all caps because we always seem so surprised and indignant when bad things obstruct our pursuit of the Word. I'm not usually an all-caps writer. More than one question mark is just a bridge too far, though. I don't think I've ever had a peeve as a pet, but if I did want a pet peeve, that would probably be it. Multiple question marks instead of one. Only one per interrogative. Please. So, yes, Scripture suggests that holiness acts like a magnet to evil. Even more perplexing, sometimes the Ruach HaKodesh leads us to the place or situation to be be tested in the Word. Here are a few examples of the principle: “I was watching Satan fall from Heaven” (Lk 10:18) “...there was no longer a place found for them in heaven.” (Re 12:7-9) “And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child.” (Re 12:13; 16, 17) “the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.” (Job 1:6) e. “...a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, ‘These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.' She continued doing this for many days.” Acts 16:16-18; 8:9-18) f. “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” (Mt 4:1) When Scripture identifies the intense effort to sabotage the righteous ones and the Holy City Jerusalem, then it is quite evident that the dragon's desire to dominate the heavens is still strong even when bound! For that reason, the satan, the evil imagination, must be bound in our daily lives. It does not go away...it is bound. Disciplined. Exercised authority over. How do the pre and post millennial battles with Gog of Magog (the wicked among the nations, “Amalek”) relate to the texts of Shir HaShirim 4:16 and 5:1? Both attack the Garden-ruled Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Song of Songs 4:16 invites the awakening of the Anointed One to execute the process of the resurrection of the righteous dead and the purging of the wicked, including the satan. He will be bound and tossed into the Abyss, which will be sealed over him for 1,000 years. That's important. If he is only bound or imprisoned by the Holy One, then we cannot try to kill it.

This week, we finish up our series, Quest for a King, in the book of 1 Samuel. In chapter 15, God commands King Saul to strike down all of the Amalekites, sparing no person or animal. Saul disobeys the Lord, keeping the Amalek king and some of the animals, claiming he did this with the purpose of sacrificing them to the Lord. However, as a result of Saul's disobedience, God rejects him as king of Israel. Pastor AJ highlights three takeaways from the text: 1) Partial obedience is disobedience 2) Be about God's kingdom, not our own kingdom 3) We are saved by grace, not obedience

Chutzpah of Last Generation | WAR OF AMALEK (33)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqRZVJ4CKrcHow did someone like Manis Friedman become the new "Rebbe" for part Chabad? You can ask the same question about other heretics who became temporary leaders of enemies of the Torah. To this and more, Rav Elchonon Wasserman's War of Amalek series will address word for word as if he with us fighting the battles of today. While there is always much to learn from the ancient words of our sages, it's even more shocking to see these holy words of Torah come to life in our lives today. Learn, Enjoy, Share and Be Holy

The Rage and Age of Gog and Magog Let's start with our familiar text: Awake, O north wind, And come, wind of the south; Make my garden breathe out fragrance, Let its spices be wafted abroad. May my beloved come into his garden And eat its choice fruits!” (So 4:16) This call to “Awake, O North” is thought to encompass three distinct calls recorded in 1. Jeremiah 31:7-8 (exiles of Israel), 2. Isaiah 41:25 (Messiah) 3. Gog and Magog (Ezek 38:2) Why are all three being called to "Awake" simultaneously? To awake in Scripture can have a few connotations. The contextual explanation is that there has been a period of inactivity, and the prophetic call is to arouse each group to action. Messiah will begin to gather the exiles who have aroused from a period of spiritual apathy, and simultaneously, Gog and Magog will awaken in that generation to create the chaos and darkness necessary to awaken Israel from spiritual "sleep." Because the gematria of Gog and Magog is 70 [Gimmel-Vav-Gimmel Vav-Mem-Gimmel-Vav-Gimmel, 3+6+3+6+40+3+6+3], they are thought to represent the symbolic 70 nations of the world, which will gather against both 1. Adonai and 2. Israel. Various commentaries make oblique references to Gog and Magog, but it will not be understood fully until the day arrives. Some say it is the descendants of Amalek among the nations. Amalek, from which King Agag arose, is the murderous spirit of Edom, or Rome, the fourth beast, headed by Babylon. In that sense, Gog (chief person) and Magog (his nation, people) has arisen in every generation to provoke the Holy One and people who trust in Him and obey Him. The Scriptures cited below reiterate that Gog and Magog are not a single ruler and nation, but a wicked remnant embedded among all nations. In some generations, they will rise up with enough strength and cunning to marshal huge numbers of the population to join their murderous schemes. The pre-millennial war will bring Israel to repentance, and Adonai Himself will destroy Gog and Magog with confusion, thunder, hail, blood, and lightning (Ezek 38-39). In other words, an amalgam of Egypt and Assyria's judgments. Psalm Two is traditionally associated with Gog of Magog: Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing?The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying,“Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!” He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger and terrify them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain.” (Ps 2:1-6) The commentators note that in this attack of Gog, it revisits an important precedent in Babel: at the tower of Bavel, the united conspirators agreed to attack Heaven itself. As a result, YHVH confused them, and the 70 languages of the nations were born. This is the traditional location of Nebuchadnezzar's golden statue. Amalek in the Torah portion Balak is referred to "first of the nations," in other words, the first to openly rebel against Heaven itself by attacking Israel in the wilderness; this "first" attack was also the first direct attack against Heaven since the "nation of mankind" attempted to penetrate it rebelliously at the Tower of Bavel. At the final attack of Gog from Magog, the nations will once again undertake to assemble and attack YHVH and Messiah DIRECTLY, thinking the Holy City Jerusalem has a “Patron” who will defend it. They believe this was the wicked Amalekite Haman's fallacy, attacking the Jews first instead of their God. Something will cause them to believe they have the wherewithal to wage war directly against YHVH and King Messiah. What do Gog and Magog have to do with the third “awakening” of the winds?

Exodus 17:8-18:27 // Jonathan NeefThis sermon explores the Israelites' first major military engagement after leaving Egypt, focusing on the battle against Amalek and the importance of Moses' upraised hands. It then transitions to the arrival of Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, who observes Moses' burden of judging the people and wisely advises him to delegate responsibilities, establishing a more efficient system of justice.SERMON NOTES (YouVersion): https://bible.com/events/49463619PRAYER REQUESTS: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2542/responses/new25.07.20

Exodus 17:8-18:27 // Brooks NesseThis sermon explores the Israelites' first major military engagement after leaving Egypt, focusing on the battle against Amalek and the importance of Moses' upraised hands. It then transitions to the arrival of Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, who observes Moses' burden of judging the people and wisely advises him to delegate responsibilities, establishing a more efficient system of justice.SERMON NOTES (YouVersion): https://bible.com/events/49463620PRAYER REQUESTS: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2509/responses/new25.07.20

Exodus 17:8-18:27 // Caleb JenkinsThis sermon explores the Israelites' first major military engagement after leaving Egypt, focusing on the battle against Amalek and the importance of Moses' upraised hands. It then transitions to the arrival of Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, who observes Moses' burden of judging the people and wisely advises him to delegate responsibilities, establishing a more efficient system of justice.SERMON NOTES (YouVersion): https://bible.com/events/49463621PRAYER REQUESTS: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2553/responses/new25.07.20

Exodus 17:8-18:27 // Bill GormanThis sermon explores the Israelites' first major military engagement after leaving Egypt, focusing on the battle against Amalek and the importance of Moses' upraised hands. It then transitions to the arrival of Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, who observes Moses' burden of judging the people and wisely advises him to delegate responsibilities, establishing a more efficient system of justice.SERMON NOTES (YouVersion): https://bible.com/events/49463622PRAYER REQUESTS: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2546/responses/new25.07.20

Exodus 17:8-18:27 // Paul BrandesThis sermon explores the Israelites' first major military engagement after leaving Egypt, focusing on the battle against Amalek and the importance of Moses' upraised hands. It then transitions to the arrival of Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, who observes Moses' burden of judging the people and wisely advises him to delegate responsibilities, establishing a more efficient system of justice.SERMON NOTES (YouVersion): https://bible.com/events/49463618PRAYER REQUESTS: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2574/responses/new25.07.20

 In this episode of the Parsha Review Podcast, Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe discusses Parshas Pinchas, focusing on the story of Pinchas's zealous act against Zimri and Cosbi, who publicly defied God's will by engaging in illicit relations, as described in Numbers 25. Rabbi Wolbe highlights the danger of blurring moral lines, as Zimri attempted by bringing a Moabite woman into the Jewish community, comparing it to Rebecca's relief upon learning her conflicting womb movements were due to twins with distinct destinies, not a single confused child. He emphasizes that clarity in commitment to Torah and mitzvahs is crucial, drawing parallels to Haman's and Amalek's attempts to assimilate and confuse the Jewish people, urging listeners to avoid compromise in spiritual matters and to define their stance firmly on the side of holiness and light.Rabbi Wolbe encourages small, intentional steps toward observance without compromising core commitments, using examples like health goals to illustrate the importance of mental resolve even if actions lag. He stresses the need for wisdom to distinguish between holy and unholy, as recited in Havdalah and Talmudic prayers, to avoid confusion. A story of a newly observant Jew publicly affirming their identity as a religious Jew underscores how verbalizing commitment clarifies one's path. Rabbi Wolbe concludes by urging listeners to manifest their spiritual goals through clear identification with Torah values, fostering a deeper connection to God and a purposeful Shabbos._____________This episode (Ep 7.38) of the Parsha Review Podcast by Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe on Parshas Pinchas is dedicated in honor of our Holy Soldiers in the Battlefield and our Torah Scholars in the Study Halls who are fighting for the safety of our nation!Download & Print the Parsha Review Notes:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ncaRyoH5iJmGGoMZs9y82Hz2ofViVouv?usp=sharingRecorded at TORCH Studios (C) to an online TORCHzoom.com audience on July 16, 2025, in Passaic, New Jersey.Released as Podcast on July 18, 2025_____________Subscribe: Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/parsha-review-podcast-rabbi-aryeh-wolbe/id1651930083)Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/22lv1kXJob5ZNLaAl6CHTQ) to stay inspired! Share your questions at awolbe@torchweb.org or visit torchweb.org for more Torah content.  _____________About the Host:Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe, Director of TORCH in Houston, brings decades of Torah scholarship to guide listeners in applying Jewish wisdom to daily life.  To directly send your questions, comments, and feedback: awolbe@torchweb.org_____________Support Our Mission:Help us share Jewish wisdom globally by sponsoring an episode at torchweb.org. Your support makes a difference!_____________Subscribe and Listen to other podcasts by Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe: NEW!! Prayer Podcast: https://prayerpodcast.transistor.fm/episodesJewish Inspiration Podcast: https://inspiration.transistor.fm/episodesParsha Review Podcast: https://parsha.transistor.fm/episodesLiving Jewishly Podcast: https://jewishly.transistor.fm/episodesThinking Talmudist Podcast: https://talmud.transistor.fm/episodesUnboxing Judaism Podcast: https://unboxing.transistor.fm/episodesRabbi Aryeh Wolbe Podcast Collection: https://collection.transistor.fm/episodesFor a full listing of podcasts available by TORCH at http://podcast.torchweb.org_____________Keywords:#Torah, #Parsha, #Numbers, #Pinchas, #SpiritualGrowth, #Commitment, #Torah, #Mitzvot ★ Support this podcast ★

 In this episode of the Parsha Review Podcast, Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe discusses Parshas Pinchas, focusing on the story of Pinchas's zealous act against Zimri and Cosbi, who publicly defied God's will by engaging in illicit relations, as described in Numbers 25. Rabbi Wolbe highlights the danger of blurring moral lines, as Zimri attempted by bringing a Moabite woman into the Jewish community, comparing it to Rebecca's relief upon learning her conflicting womb movements were due to twins with distinct destinies, not a single confused child. He emphasizes that clarity in commitment to Torah and mitzvahs is crucial, drawing parallels to Haman's and Amalek's attempts to assimilate and confuse the Jewish people, urging listeners to avoid compromise in spiritual matters and to define their stance firmly on the side of holiness and light.Rabbi Wolbe encourages small, intentional steps toward observance without compromising core commitments, using examples like health goals to illustrate the importance of mental resolve even if actions lag. He stresses the need for wisdom to distinguish between holy and unholy, as recited in Havdalah and Talmudic prayers, to avoid confusion. A story of a newly observant Jew publicly affirming their identity as a religious Jew underscores how verbalizing commitment clarifies one's path. Rabbi Wolbe concludes by urging listeners to manifest their spiritual goals through clear identification with Torah values, fostering a deeper connection to God and a purposeful Shabbos._____________This episode (Ep 7.38) of the Parsha Review Podcast by Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe on Parshas Pinchas is dedicated in honor of our Holy Soldiers in the Battlefield and our Torah Scholars in the Study Halls who are fighting for the safety of our nation!Download & Print the Parsha Review Notes:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ncaRyoH5iJmGGoMZs9y82Hz2ofViVouv?usp=sharingRecorded at TORCH Studios (C) to an online TORCHzoom.com audience on July 16, 2025, in Passaic, New Jersey.Released as Podcast on July 18, 2025_____________Subscribe: Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/parsha-review-podcast-rabbi-aryeh-wolbe/id1651930083)Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/22lv1kXJob5ZNLaAl6CHTQ) to stay inspired! Share your questions at awolbe@torchweb.org or visit torchweb.org for more Torah content.  _____________About the Host:Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe, Director of TORCH in Houston, brings decades of Torah scholarship to guide listeners in applying Jewish wisdom to daily life.  To directly send your questions, comments, and feedback: awolbe@torchweb.org_____________Support Our Mission:Help us share Jewish wisdom globally by sponsoring an episode at torchweb.org. Your support makes a difference!_____________Subscribe and Listen to other podcasts by Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe: NEW!! Prayer Podcast: https://prayerpodcast.transistor.fm/episodesJewish Inspiration Podcast: https://inspiration.transistor.fm/episodesParsha Review Podcast: https://parsha.transistor.fm/episodesLiving Jewishly Podcast: https://jewishly.transistor.fm/episodesThinking Talmudist Podcast: https://talmud.transistor.fm/episodesUnboxing Judaism Podcast: https://unboxing.transistor.fm/episodesRabbi Aryeh Wolbe Podcast Collection: https://collection.transistor.fm/episodesFor a full listing of podcasts available by TORCH at http://podcast.torchweb.org_____________Keywords:#Torah, #Parsha, #Numbers, #Pinchas, #SpiritualGrowth, #Commitment, #Torah, #Mitzvot ★ Support this podcast ★

True and Better // A Better King // Pastor Casey BushWhat made David “a man after God's own heart”? How does this ancient king help us understand the kind of King we actually need? In this message, Pastor Casey Bush invites us to take a deeper look atthe stories we think we know—and the questions we might not be asking. We're going to look at how David's rise, failures, and faith point us to something more, the true and better.Sermon Notes1 Samuel 8:4-54 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, 5 and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”1 Samuel 8:7And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.”Kingship” - A God-ordained position of leadership, authority, and servanthood under God himself."Anointing" - The act of applying oil to someone or something, symbolizing consecration, sanctification, or divine empowerment.1 Samuel 13:13-14“13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”1 Samuel 16:11 Now the Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.”1 Samuel 16:6…”Surely the Lord's anointed is before Him!”1 Samuel 16:12Now he was ruddy, with [f]bright eyes, and good-looking. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.Matthew 6:33“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”1. DAVID WAITED ON THE LORDFIRST1 Samuel 18:7“..Saul has slain his thousands, but David his 10 thousands.”1 Samuel 24:6“And he says to his men, ‘The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lords anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord.”2. DAVID WAS OBEDIENT TOGOD'S AUTHORITYMatthew 25:1“You have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things” Gods not after your obedience to earn His love-Its aboutresponding to it.Disobedience doesn't just break the rules, it breaks the relationship1 Samuel 15:23“Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also rejected you from being king.”Malachi 3:6“For I am the Lord, I do not change…”1 Samuel 15:1-21 Samuel also said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words ofthe Lord. 2 Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. 3 Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them.1 Samuel 15:7-97 And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which iseast of Egypt. 8 He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, they utterly destroyed.1 Samuel 15:2121 But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”2 Samuel 24:1010 And David's heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, I pray, O Lord, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”3. DAVID WAS REPENTANTRepentance - Where our heart turns away from sin and turns toward God—a genuine sorrow, confession, and a desire to walk in obedience.A. David valued relationship over reputationB. David feared losing God's presencePsalm 51:11“Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.”C. David was tender toward conviction“Conviction” is not condemnation-its correction wrapped in compassion.Numbers 32:23“and be sure your sin will find you out.”Numbers 32:23James 5:16Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.Someone or something will sit on the throne of your life. The question is, who?

In this sermon, Curtis looks at the difficult story of Saul and the Amalekites to draw some lessons in how we can read hard stories in the Bible.

The Torah tells us in this week's parashah, Chukat, that the nation of Kena'an waged war against Bnei Yisrael. Rashi explains that they weren't actually Kena'anim, but Amalekim who disguised themselves as Kena'anim. Their goal was that when the Jews would pray to Hashem to save them from Kena'an, their prayers would go unanswered—because in reality, the attackers were Amalek. The next pasuk says that the Jews made a neder: if Hashem would help them succeed in the war, they would donate all the spoils to Him. And indeed, the next pasuk states: וַיִּשְׁמַע ה׳ בְּקוֹל יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיִּתֵּן אֶת־הַכְּנַעֲנִי וַיַּחֲרֵם אֶתְהֶם וְאֶת־עָרֵיהֶם וַיִּקְרָא שֵׁם־הַמָּקוֹם חָרְמָה Hashem heard their voice, gave them victory, and they fulfilled their promise by dedicating everything to Him. We find a similar idea with Yaakov Avinu when he fled from Esav. He made vows to Hashem in the merit of being protected. Although in general Chazal discourage making nederim, they allow it in times of distress. The Gemara in Masechet Eruvin (64a) learns from the vow the Jews made regarding their war against Amalek the tremendous power of using one's money for mitzvot in order to receive Hashem's extra mercy. The Gemara explains that if a convert passes away without any heirs, his possessions become ownerless. If someone acquires them and suddenly becomes wealthy, that wealth is at risk due to ayin hara. But if he uses part of it for a mitzvah, like buying a sefer Torah, the mitzvah protects the rest of the wealth. Another opinion says this also applies to someone who marries a woman who brings a large dowry into the marriage; he should use part of that money for mitzvot to guard it. A third opinion adds that even someone who profits handsomely from a business deal should invest part of the earnings in mitzvot to protect the rest from ayin hara. A final opinion mentions a sofer who writes tefillin. Rashi explains that even buying tefillin helps guard the wealth. However, the Maharsha explains differently: even a sofer who doesn't make much must use part of his earnings for mitzvot. Why? Although he may not have ayin hara on him, he might think his parnasah is coming from his skill and beautiful handwriting, forgetting that Hashem is the One giving him success. That attitude— כֹּחִי וְעֹצֶם יָדִי עָשָׂה לִי אֶת הַחַיִל הַזֶּה —can itself be a danger. To counter that, he must give some of his earnings to Hashem to express true recognition that He is providing. The Maharsha explains this is why the Gemara uses the case of Bnei Yisrael's war with Amalek as a proof rather than Yaakov's flight from Esav. In war, they could have believed it was their own strength that brought the victory. But they showed they knew it came from Hashem by pledging everything to Him. And this is why the Pasuk uses the words אם נתן תתן regarding the Jewish people's vow. Meaning אם נתן -if it will look like things are happening on their own in the natural way of the world, then please Hashem, תתן - we want to recognize that you are the One giving us the victory. The Me'iri writes similarly: people with yirat shamayim constantly reflect that their success comes only from Hashem. That awareness makes them enthusiastic to use what they have in Hashem's service. May we always remember that all we have and achieve is from Hashem, and may our recognition fill us with sincere hakarat ha-tov that drives us to give back with open hearts. Shabbat Shalom.

When faith meets fierce opposition, how do you respond with biblical courage?

The pasuk at the conclusion of Parashat Beshalach reads: וַיִּבֶן מֹשֶׁה מִזְבֵּחַ וַיִּקְרָא שְׁמוֹ ה' נִסִּי Moshe built a Mizbeach after the Jews defeated Amalek, as a commemoration for the miracle that Hashem did for them. To defeat such a powerful nation, Moshe made this Mizbeach. Rabbi Menashe Reizman quoted the Ktav Sofer who asked: was this the only miracle that Hashem did for the Jewish people at that time? There were the Ten Makot, Keriat Yam Suf, the Man, the Be'er Shel Miriam. Why did Moshe make a Mizbeach only to commemorate the miracle of winning the war against Amalek? The Ktav Sofer answered that until that point, all of the miracles that the Jews had experienced were beyond the realms of nature, and it was obvious that Hashem and only Hashem performed them. However, the miracles in the war against Amalek came in the natural way of the world. Men were appointed to be soldiers and physically fight Amalek. It was people with swords doing battle, and there it may have seemed that it was their strength that enabled them to win the war. Therefore, specifically by that miracle, Moshe needed to do something to proclaim that it was Hashem's doing and that the people should recognize it through that Mizbeach and attribute the victory to Him. As we just experienced a victory in war, eliminating threats from Iran—who have been threatening to annihilate the Jewish people for decades—it behooves us to take a step back and recognize the Yad Hashem in this war as much as we can. We learn from Megillat Esther how to connect the dots of Hashem's involvement in world events from years before they take place. In Shushan HaBirah, the king moved his palace to where Mordechai and Esther lived. He killed his wife Vashti and then Esther came into the palace. Mordechai overheard the plot of Bigtan and Teresh and saved the king's life. It all came together when Haman decreed to annihilate the Jewish people. Hashem had been setting this stage from thirteen years in advance for those critical moments when everything had to be exactly the way it was to save the Jewish people. Here as well, Hashem was working in advance to pave the way for the destruction of our enemies. Chazal tell us we are like a sheep among seventy wolves, waiting to devour us, but we have Hashem—and therefore nobody ever will. In this instance, Hashem used America to assist us in this war, primarily through the actions of President Trump. Looking at it from the natural way of the world, which Hashem hides Himself inside of, it was because Trump is president that Israel had free reign to do as they pleased regarding their surrounding enemies. Nobody was putting restraint on them as previous administrations had done. It was the president's decision to enter the war and wipe out those dangerous nuclear facilities. The fact that this man is the current president is an open miracle. After the January 6th uprising on Capitol Hill after his defeat in the last election, it was obvious that Trump would never be back in politics. Yet, he was able to make the biggest comeback of all time. Obviously, Yad Hashem. Hashem made the man who he ran against in the last election feeble-minded to pave the way to his presidency. He was nearly assassinated, with bullets grazing his ear, yet he emerged alive and stronger than ever. When America got involved, it could easily have triggered World War III. Russia and China are great allies of Iran. However, Hashem had occupied Russia with their own war for the past three years, which kept them far away from this one. Trump decided to make tariffs on foreign countries, with China being the highest, and therefore they had back-and-forth negotiations over the past couple of months. China and America came to a happy agreement and made a peaceful relationship through those tariffs, so that they would stay out of this war as well. Hashem has heaped chesed upon His nation in wondrous ways, and it is incumbent upon us to show our hakarat hatov. We don't understand all the ways of Hashem, but we do know that since October 7th, there has been a renaissance of ba'alei teshuvah, people getting closer to Torah and mitzvot. Furthermore, the events of October 7th opened the door for Israel to decimate Hamas and Hezbollah. We pray for Hashem to bring back the rest of the hostages. We feel that we are very close to the geulah. Rabbi Reizman quoted the Chazal that says, "Whoever reports something in the name of the person who said it brings redemption to the world," and the Maharal there explains that to mean: the one who Hashem chooses to bring the geulah has to be someone who is going to give the credit of the salvation to Him. Someone who is able to give credit where credit is due is someone who will potentially be part of the upcoming geulah. We pray for the day when everyone in the world will recognize that Hashem is the King, and that He controls and rules over everything. We have just witnessed with our own eyes how President Trump thanked Hashem numerous times—first for saving his life and enabling him to do his mission, and now in his role in the war, Trump has said, "We love you, G-d." And then we saw Netanyahu tell the world that Israel's strength comes from Hashem's heavenly help. The world is hearing that success comes only from Hashem. We hope that we are at the doorstep of geulah. May we see the geulah sheleimah b'karov. Amen.