POPULARITY
7 episodes with heavenly court
2 episodes with heavenly court
2 episodes with heavenly court
2 episodes with heavenly court
2 episodes with heavenly court
2 episodes with heavenly court
2 episodes with heavenly court
2 episodes with heavenly court
2 episodes with heavenly court
The holy tzadik, R' Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, is renowned for his passionate advocacy on behalf of the Jewish people, always defending them before the Heavenly Court. However, less widely known are his profound Torah teachings and the beautiful melodies he composed. To honor the Berditchever's yahrzeit on 25 Tishrei, world-renowned speaker Rabbi Shais Taub and acclaimed recording artist Eli Marcus pay a heartfelt tribute to R' Levi Yitzchak's legacy, bringing together his powerful teachings and soulful niggunim. Join us for this meaningful celebration of the life and teachings of R' Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, and immerse yourself in the warmth of his enduring legacy.
The holy tzadik, R' Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, is renowned for his passionate advocacy on behalf of the Jewish people, always defending them before the Heavenly Court. However, less widely known are his profound Torah teachings and the beautiful melodies he composed. To honor the Berditchever's yahrzeit on 25 Tishrei, world-renowned speaker Rabbi Shais Taub […]
#god #satan #bible Youtube link: https://youtu.be/L5V_M1rEjk4 Podcast: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/PfzHNmV9XKb Email: rbcforum313@yahoo.com Join us as we have a biblical conversation about the God of Israel, along with the Malaks that present themselves at the heavenly court, with the Ha-Satan also appearing. (Book Of Job) In the Hebrew Bible, ha-satan (the adversary or "the satan") is a figure who is initially depicted as a heavenly prosecutor and subordinate to Yahweh (God). Ha-satan prosecutes Judah in the heavenly court and tests the loyalty of Yahweh's followers, but can also sometimes be a source of assistance. But are we taught this in Orthodox religion? Hashtags: #bible #jesus #god #christian #faith #jesuschrist #bibleverse #love #church #christ #christianity #prayer #holyspirit #pray #gospel #biblestudy #godisgood #truth #scripture #hope #blessed #worship #amen #grace #believe #bibleverses #biblequotes #jesuslovesyou #verseoftheday #jesussaves --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/realblackforum/support
Today's Talmud page, Bava Metzia 92, brings up the question of justice, not just of the earthly courts but of the Heavenly Court as well. Asaf Romirowsky, a historian who runs Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, joins us to discuss one recent travesty of justice, the story of Hamas's first American victim and a family trying to hold the men who aided his assassins responsible. What does a decades-old murder have to teach us about our current chaotic moment in time? Listen and find out.
On this edition of One Single Story, Pastors Stephen Mizell and Sharon Schwartz discuss Satan and the heavenly court having access to God. The reading for the day is Job 1.
4 violations for which a person is not liable in the human court, but the heavenly count will take an accounting. Also, specific treatment of some of the cases in the mishnah regarding liability - if a sheep enclave has been broken, whether by robbers or animals, the owner of the sheep is exempt from any damage they might cause. If robbers stole the sheep, then the robbers are responsible for their damage. If one designates a shepherd to care for thr sheep... how far does his responsibility go? Plus, the sharp question of returning a lost object, but before its returned - what is the status of the person returning? How much responses that person haevfoe the item itself?
Today is Asarah B'Tevet , a public fast day, the same day that Nebuchadnezzar's army sieged Yerushalayim , which ultimately led to the destruction of the first Bet HaMikdash . The Abudarham writes that this fast is unique compared with other fasts mentioned by the Nevi'im . The reason is because if they would fall out on Shabbat, they would be pushed off. But if Asarah B'Tevet would fall out on Shabbat, we would fast even on Shabbat, like Yom Kippur. This is because the Navi says, regarding Asarah B'Tevet , we must fast בעצם היום הזה - on that very day. We need to understand why this is so. After all, Asarah B'Tevet was just the beginning of the siege. It took another two and a half years for them to destroy the Bet HaMikdash . If Tisha B'Av , which commemorates the actual Churban , doesn't override Shabbat, why would Asarah B'Tevet be stricter? It's true that, in practice, Asarah B'Tevet will never fall out on Shabbat, but it does fall out on Friday. And hence, we are fasting today, going into Shabbat, rather than pushing off the fast. The Chatam Sofer explained, it is on Asarah B'Tevet that the Heavenly Court decides the fate of the Bet HaMikdash each and every year. On the year in which it was destroyed, it was on Asarah B'Tevet that the final verdict was given. And every year, the Heavenly Court reassembles on this day and reassesses if the Bet HaMikdash should remain destroyed. We know, in general, we're not allowed to fast on Shabbat because we have a mitzvah of oneg Shabbat, taking delight in the day. However, if someone is disturbed by a dream that he had on Lel Shabbat, and he wants to fast on Shabbat because of it, he's allowed to. Since the fast has the power to overturn something negative, and it will relieve the person's distress, the fast is considered oneg Shabbat for him more than eating. It is with this in mind that we can explain why the fast of Asarah B'Tevet would apply even on Shabbat. Since the Heavenly Court is convening on this specific day and through a fast, we have the power to annul the potential unfortunate judgment of keeping the Bet HaMikdash in ruins, we would fast in the hope of reversing it and getting a judgment to rebuild the Bet HaMikdash . This would be our greatest oneg . This means there is so much riding on this day of Asarah B'Tevet . And at this time especially, we are yearning for the Mashiach , and we should take advantage of the day with extra tefila and teshuva . Every single person's avoda counts. The Mesilat Yesharim writes in perek 19 that a person should never say, “Who am I to pray for the Geula and the rebuilding of the Bet HaMikdash ?” Because every single person has their own share in avodat Hashem. And what one person could accomplish, nobody else in the world could do. It is only a compilation of every single person's avoda and tefila that is going to merit the rebuilding of the Bet HaMikdash . The Mesilat Yesharim writes further that the requesting of the Geula serves a purpose in its own right. Hashem wants us to want Him to reveal His glory and show the world who He is. The fact that we're interested in Hashem's kavod is a great avoda and something we should strive to want. Today is the perfect day to request it. The Beit Din in Shamayim is in session right now and every person's tefila will help. May we be zocheh to the fulfillment of the pasuk, כה אמר יהוה צבאות צום הרביעי וצום החמישי וצום השביעי וצום העשירי יהיה לבית יהודה לששון ולשמחה ולמועדים טובים . Shabbat Shalom.
Zechariah's vision of miraculous oil fueling the heavenly menorah. This came true in the נֵס חֲנֻכָּה
Daily Morning Class- Elul 2 - 09/07/23
The Gemara says that a prohibition done for Hashem's sake is greater than a mitzva that's not done for Hashem's sake (Nazir 23b). Here's a story that I told in the Ojai, California Chabad house about something that the Heavenly Court would certainly consider to be a "kosher" tattoo. Unlike us, the Heavenly Court takes all considerations into account.
When you allow healing and resolution at the soul level, personal and spiritual growth takes place. In this episode of Get Yourself Optimized, Amy Jo Ellis shares amazing insights on how to resolve conflict at the soul level. Amy Jo Ellis is no stranger to the spiritual world. In her earlier days, she captivated audiences as a talented singer-songwriter, and performed for renowned spiritual teachers including Deepak Chopra, Neale Donald Walsh, and the Dalai Lama. She has since transformed into a renowned spiritual channel known for her incredible ability to resolve conflicts at the deepest soul level. Her expertise has impacted people from over 140 countries and thousands of her enlightening e-books have been purchased worldwide. In this episode, Amy shares profound insights, wisdom, and experiences that will leave you inspired and eager to explore the depths of your soul. Tune in now and join us on this transformative journey! The show notes, including the transcript and checklist to this episode, are at getyourselfoptimized.com/414.
Dirshu Mishnah Berurah May 15, 2023 We continue to learn the halachos that apply to the end of Davening. Today we learn about the beautiful Tefillah of עלינו, a Tefillah that we will see the Ribbono Shel Olam and the entire Heavenly Court stands and listens to as we recite it! Thank you for joining me for limud HaTorah!
In the beginning of parashat Bichukotai , the Torah promises the most beautiful rewards, but first it tells us how to access them. אם בחוקותי תלכו – and Rashi writes, שתהיו עמלים בתורה – that we are to toil in the study of Torah. The Torat Kohanim here says Hashem desires us to toil in Torah. The Gemara says in Masechet Berachot , whoever toils in the study of Torah brings נחת רוח ליוצרו – brings satisfaction to his Creator. One aspect of learning Torah is to know how to perform the mitzvot, but there is another aspect and that is to learn Torah just for the sake of delving into the wisdom of Hashem. And for this, it is not good enough to just read it on the surface level, a person must mentally strain himself to understand the deep layers of Torah. The more a person delves into Torah, the more he connects himself to Hashem. There are many ways that a person can toil in the study of Torah. One of them is to get himself to fully focus on what he is learning at the moment, to remove all other distractions from his mind and ensure that he will not be interrupted while learning. The Be'er HaParashah brings a story that was told by Rabbi Tzvi Michel Shapira, zatzal . Two business partners who lived in Turkey used to begin their workday early in the morning and then they would stop at midday and go to the Bet Midrash to learn. They would learn b'chavruta straight for three hours and during that time, they would not stop even for a moment. They were very careful to keep that time sacred, never conversing with each other on any other topics or allowing themselves to be distracted for any reason. As they were getting on in years they asked each other that whoever goes up to the Upper World first should come back to tell the other one about the judgment in Shamayim for their deeds. Sure enough, one of them passed away and, a couple of weeks later, he was allowed to appear to the other in a dream. He said every single thing he ever did was scrutinized by the Heavenly Court. He saw multitudes of malachim kedoshim that he created through the performance of the mitzvot. But he also saw all of the destructive angels that he created through his averot and he became petrified from them. As they were approaching him, all of a sudden, a wall went up between them and him and they were unable to pass through it and go near him. He asked why that happened and was told, it was a result of his uninterrupted Torah study every single day. This wall was built and because he had no interruptions, the wall was solid, without any cracks and therefore not even one destructive angel was able to pass through. The man concluded by saying he was allowed to come back in the dream just to inform him of the importance of his uninterrupted, completely focused Torah study. If somebody does not have the ability to do that for three hours, he can do it for two, or even for one, or even for a half hour, whatever time a person is able to dedicate to the learning of Torah, it should be with complete focus and no outside distractions. This will be considered עמילות בתורה , which Hashem yearns for, and will give Hashem so much satisfaction and, b'ezrat Hashem, will bring the person beautiful blessings. Shabbat Shalom.
We have no understanding of the true value of any mitzvah that we do. Furthermore, what we may think is our greatest deed may not be so, and what we may think is just a small deed could actually be our greatest deed. The Nachalat David told a story of a wealthy man who passed away, leaving a massive fortune to his children. One of his possessions was what was thought to be the most mehudar(beautiful) tefillin possible. They were priceless and the children began arguing over who would get them. In the end, they were given to a child who was turning bar-mitzvah age at that time, and he ended up using them for his entire life. On one occasion, this child was traveling on business and he got delayed and had to sleep there overnight. He did not have his precious tefillin with him. He was in a neighborhood with very few Jewish people. He was scheduled to arrive home the next day before sunset and would be able to put on his tefillin then, but he didn't want to take the risk of missing a day. And so, he searched until he found someone whose tefillin he could borrow. Those tefillin barely looked kosher, but, under the circumstances, they would have to suffice. That evening, he got back home late and did not manage to put on his precious tefillin . When this man passed away many years later, he came back in a dream and told of one aspect of his judgment in Shamayim . He was told that for his entire life he never did the mitzvah of tefillin properly because his father's tefillin that were presumed to be the most mehudar were actually disqualified. He couldn't believe it. He thought he was doing the mitzvah the best way and, here, he never performed the mitzvah properly even once. But then, the Heavenly Court said there was one time when he was away and borrowed someone else's tefillin . He worked so hard to get them, and those were kosher. The man was elated to see what that one time of putting on tefillin did for his neshama . He thought that was the worst way he ever fulfilled tefillin , and in actuality it was the best way he ever did the mitzvah. We should never underestimate the opportunities we get to do any good deed. Rabbi Nachman Seltzer told a story about a woman named Robin Mayerson who became religious later in life and got close to a certain rebbetzin . This rebbetzin encouraged her to volunteer for their local chevra kaddisha in Arizona where they lived. One day, Robin called an aunt of hers who lived in Las Vegas just to say hello and, unfortunately, discovered that her uncle had passed away that very same morning. She also discovered that her aunt was planning to cremate the body. Robin tried to persuade her aunt to give her husband a Jewish burial, but she wasn't interested. Robin then called her cousins and tried to convince them. They told her they would consider it. Two weeks went by with no decision made yet. Robin decided to give her best hishtadlut . She called an organization, Chevrat Lomdeh Mishna , which arranges for Torah scholars to learn mishnayot for people's neshamot . She also gave her credit card number to the Las Vegas cemetery, saying she would pay for the burial if they decided to do it. In the end, they opted for burial and Robin made flight arrangements to be there for the funeral. At the funeral, her aunt told her, “Robin, this is your doing. G-d is going to repay you.” Robin asked one of her cousins what was the catalyst which changed their minds to give their father a burial. He replied, his father came to him in a dream and said, “Get me out of here!” Those were the only words he said, but those words could not be ignored. Robin then asked what night that dream took place and was so happy to hear it was the very same night that she paid for the funeral and for the mishnayot to be learned for her uncle's neshama . Later that year, Robin discovered she was expecting a baby. At that time, she was 44 years old. Amazingly, this baby was born two weeks overdue, exactly on the one year yahrtzeit of her uncle. She saved a soul and got a soul in return. After this, she created a website called peacefulreturn.org to educate people about the importance of proper burial. She also writes books and gives speeches around the world about the importance of kavod hamet . She is also the volunteer West Coast Director for the National Assosiation of Chevra Kaddisha. Her one deed with mesirut nefesh not only helped one Jew but spiraled into a lifelong mission of helping Jews with this very important mitzvah. Never underestimate the power of any mitzvah.
Never Better: A Study Through The Book Of Hebrews Vince Marquis Scripture: Hebrews 9:15-28
ROSH HASHANA Getting the Heavenly Court on Your Side What is the best way to be sure the ultimate judge is on your side and inscribes you in the book of Life? How are we so sure? Can we even ask? Isn't that a perversion of justice? Learn Four Tips To Ensure You're Inscribed In the Book of Life. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mendy-goldberg/support
A tzadik comes to the great Rebbe Reb Meir of Premishlan to get a blessing for moving to Israel, but Reb Meir has other plans. Also available at https://soundcloud.com/barak-hullman/the-heavenly-courts-messengers. To become a part of this project please go to https://www.patreon.com/barakhullman. Hear all of the stories at https://hasidicstory.com. The Rabbi Aaron episode: https://soundcloud.com/jewishpeopleideas/rabbi-david-aaron Go here to hear my other podcast https://jewishpeopleideas.com or https://soundcloud.com/jewishpeopleideas. Find my books, Figure It Out When You Get There: A Memoir of Stories About Living Life First and Watching How Everything Falls Into Place and A Shtikel Sholom: A Student, His Mentor and Their Unconventional Conversations on Amazon by going to https://bit.ly/barakhullman.
Our heroes head into the Wildes to rendezvous with the wyrd sisters. Why have the sisters summoned our party? What mysteries await in the demesne of the Heavenly Court? Will Toni's laundry survive Gordon's wrath? To book a seat at Celeste's D&D In a Castle table, visit the website here. Support Venture Maidens on Patreon Get merch and learn more at our website Follow us on Twitter @venturemaidens Follow us on Instagram @venturemaidens DM is Celeste Conowitch (@cconowitch) Aoife Flannery is Sage Stafford (@staffofsage) Lluvyras 'Lu' Ssath is Katie Budabin (@lazy_mermaiden) Fittonia 'Toni' Silvertail is Naseem Etemad (@nas_ghoul) Theme Music by Emily Meo Additional Music by Tabletop Audio
We continue our series in the Old Testament book of Daniel. It's a famous story filled with memorable characters, proud kings, political intrigue, pressures to compromise, impossible odds, miraculous rescues, and symbolic visions of the future. But, ultimately, Daniel is about life in an unbelieving land, far from home, with your faith under pressure. In it, Daniel reassures God's people that, despite appearances to the contrary, God is in control and faithfully at work.
The mishnah says in Pirkei Avot that we are so beloved to Hashem, He gave us His delightful treasure – the Torah. And Hashem showed us additional love by telling us how precious the Torah really is, like it says כי לקח טוב נתתי לכם תורתי אל תעזוב – “I have given you the greatest gift, never take leave of it.” Part of our preparation for Shavuot is working on valuing this precious gift. The malachim in Shamayim refused to let Moshe Rabbenu bring it down to us until Hashem helped him do it. It is the most coveted possession in the entire universe. Chazal call it Hashem's toy and we have as much of it as we want. Those who know this hold on to the Torah with all their might and never loosen their grip on it. Our greatest sages spent their days and nights delving into the unending wisdom of Hashem that is found in the Torah. Look at what a few words of Torah can accomplish. It says in Pirkei Avot if three people eat a meal together, and there are no words of Torah spoken at it, it's considered as if they ate זבחי מתים , which Rabbenu Obadia M'Bartenura says means it's like they ate from a korban brought for avodah zarah . The mishnah says further, if words of Torah are spoken at the meal, then it's כאילו אכלו משולחן גבוהה – it's considered as if they ate from a korban brought to Hashem on the mizbe'ach in the Beit HaMikdash . These statements at first glance are astonishing. What could be worse than partaking from a korban brought for idol worship? And what could be better than eating from a korban brought for Hashem? What changes the status of a meal which potentially could bring about so much tumah to a meal of complete kedusha ? A few words of Torah. This is the sanctity in one Devar Torah . Sometimes people say, “I'm learning, but I don't feel any different.” Or, “I'm learning, but I don't see any recognizable change in my life.” If a few words of Torah have the ability to elevate a meal like this, how much more so do they elevate the person who learns them. The reason we don't feel it is because our neshama is surrounded by a physical body. But in truth, the neshama gets such an elevation from every word of Torah. The words of Torah that we say on our table will do so much for us. The pasuk says, וידבר אלי זה השולחן אשר לפני ה' and Rav Yehuda Tzadka explains, at the end of a person's life, he is going to stand trial in front of the Heavenly Court. And just like the courts in this world have prosecutors and defendants and witnesses, so too will it be there. One of the witnesses that is going to be called upon is a person's table upon which he ate. The table will be asked to relate what the person spoke about at his meals. If he spoke words of Torah and uplifted the people around him, it will earn him a great portion in the Next World. This is hinted to in this pasuk וידבר אלי זה השולחן – the person's table is going to speak about him. When? אשר לפני ה' - when it is called to testify in front of Hashem. The more words of Torah we speak, the better off we'll be. Hashem told us it's the greatest gift, let us value it the way we are supposed to and show our emunah in Him by living according to all its teachings.
During these days of sefirat ha'omer , we are supposed to be working hard on improving our mitzvot ben adam l'chavero . Chazal tell us shalom is so great that Hashem allows His sacred Name to be erased just to help bring peace between husband and wife. Bringing peace between people is the vehicle that is going to bring the Shechina out of it's long exile. Chazal also say there is no vessel that can hold beracha other than shalom. It is incumbent upon us to be mivakesh shalom. We have to humble ourselves and forgive people, and humble ourselves and treat people with respect. Shalom opens all the gates of beracha . Rabbi Yaakov Shaish told a story which I most probably have told once before because I recognized it when I heard it, but hearing it again inspired me, so it can't hurt to repeat. It began when a representative from a certain yeshiva in Israel came to Montreal to collect. Every year this Rabbi made his regular stops and collected enough for the yeshiva to operate. One year in Montreal at a wealthy man's home, he noticed the man looking very depressed. He inquired about it and then the man broke down saying, “Look around, I have the most beautiful home but it's empty because Hashem did not bless us with children.” The Rabbi started telling the man about different organizations that help with fertility. And then the man interrupted him saying, “Rabbi, you don't understand. The doctors told us there is nothing wrong with me and there is nothing wrong with my wife. I'm pretty sure I know why this is happening to us. When I was in yeshiva in Israel one year on Purim, I was a little drunk and I started humiliating one of my friends there. I went on and on until that boy was too embarrassed, he couldn't even show his face there. Later on I begged for forgiveness, but he adamantly refused. I have been trying year after year, but this person, who is now a man, refuses to even talk to me”. The Rabbi asked for this person's information and said he would try to bring about shalom between them. When the Rabbi got back to Israel, he went to that man's house. The moment he mentioned the reason for his visit, the man politely asked him to leave his home. The Rabbi said, “Please, this man regrets what he did, he is suffering now. He has no children and he desperately wants you to forgive him.” The man said, “I hope he never has children! Please leave.” As the Rabbi was walking out, he said “please allow me to tell you just one more thing. I know that after 120 you are going to face the Heavenly Court and at that time, any humiliation you ever went through will appear totally insignificant, it will not bother you in the slightest bit. Hashem is going to tell you, There was a Jew in Canada who desperately wanted to have children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren and he was begging you to help him. It was your hakpada that prevented all of those neshamot to enter into the world in his family. And when you're there, I know you're going to regret not forgiving him. But, it's never too late. Now, you still have a chance to do it.” The man was silent and he asked the Rabbi to give him a minute to think. Fifteen minutes later he said, “Okay, I forgive him.” The Rabbi said, “No, that's not enough, you have to tell him. Can I get him on the phone?” He said, “Okay.” The Rabbi dialed the number and then told the wealthy man he was there with his friend and he was ready to forgive him. The man took the phone and he said, “I don't want to talk to you, but I want to tell you that I forgive you.” The wealthy man from Canada immediately began apologizing and expressing his remorse again and again. Then he asked if he could please give him a beracha to have children. At first this man said no way, but then the wealthy man began crying and begging. Finally the man agreed and he said, “May it be Hashem's will that you have children.” By the end of that year, this man was holding his first child. There is nothing in the world that can hold blessing like shalom.
Text: Psalm 5:1-12 By: Elder Steven Morris Date: 2/6/22
The Book of Genesis Part 4 Idolatry - the Heavenly Court_- Rabbi Zvi Aviner Enroll in a Torah and Noahide Course at https://ypsnetiv.org
The Book of Genesis Part 4 Idolatry - the Heavenly Court_- Rabbi Zvi Aviner Enroll in a Torah and Noahide Course at https://ypsnetiv.org
https://www.patreon.com/kabane --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/kabane/support
The prophet Elijah, against the Heavenly Court's wishes, taught Rabbi Judah the Prince and his students the secret protocol for bringing about the final redemption. The rabbis almost succeeded, until they were thwarted at the last moment by Elijah himself.* Join us this week to find out what this secret protocol might be, why it is so hard to follow, and how it inevitably brings about the resurrection of the dead. *https://www.sefaria.org/Bava_Metzia.85b.11?lang=bi
Sponsored by Ralph J. Sutton in Honor of Rabbi Moshe Shamah
Any arrogance will fly away never to return
In the Book of Daniel we find a depiction of the Heavenly Court, where we get to intercede by the Blood of Our Lord Jesus: Dn 7:9-10, 13-14 and we sing with Psalm 97:1-2, 5-6, 9 The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth. We have the testimony of Peter telling the world that the clouds parted and God the Father spoke "This is my beloved. Listen to Him." 2 Pt 1:16-19 Jesus had told them "as they were coming down from the mountain, not to relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what rising from the dead meant." Mk 9:2-10 Sometimes we hear something from the Lord. He will tell us what to do with it in due time. Waiting is part of His plan. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/sofia-fonseca7/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/sofia-fonseca7/support
Yesterday, we quoted from Rav Baruch Ber Leibowitz, the Rosh Yeshiva of Kaminetz, regarding the concept of broadening yourself as a way to get to Ahavat Israel/ loving your fellow Jew. Love yourself, when your self is much bigger. Rav Boruch Ber, this great rabbi, who was a giant in Torah and Yirat Shamayim, said that when the time comes for him to stand before the Heavenly Court, and they ask him how he thinks he will get into Olam Haba, if he answers that it's with his Torah, they will question his level, for he felt minuscule in comparison to levels of previous generations. If he'd answer that it was with his Yirat Shamayim/fear of heaven, he felt, again, that in comparison to previous generations, he'd fall short. But, he said, there was one area in which he would be able to give himself merit: that he loved all Jews. He said, “ Whenever I walked in the street and saw a Jewish person coming toward me, I thought to myself, “A blessing on his head.“ So this great Rabbi, in his humility, felt that he wouldn't know if his Torah would count, and he wouldn't know if his Yirah would count. But he knew that he had his Ahavat Yisrael. This is what great people worked on, and that was the secret to their success. The Ponovizher Rav was a giant in his time. He started the Ponovizh Yeshiva in Eretz Yisrael, named after the town in Europe where he lived, which was wiped out during World War II. He was a student of the Chafetz Chaim, but o riginally, he learned in the Novardok Yeshiva. One day, on his way back to yeshiva, he decided to take a detour to go visit the Chafetz Chaim. When he came to the house, the Chafetz Chaim's wife told him to wait, because the Rabbi was busy. Suddenly, he heard frightening cries. The Chafetz Chaim's wife told him not to be afraid- that her husband had been praying for someone. He assumed it was a very ill, very close family member that the Chafetz Chaim had been praying for. But the wife said that it wasn't. It was a local lady who was going through a difficult labor. When Rav Kahaneman saw how deeply the Chafetz Chaim felt the pain of a stranger (who was a fellow Jew), he decided that the Chafetz Chaim had to be his rabbi, and he became his student. That is the greatness of all the Gedolim . Rav Wolbe quoted Rav Yerucham Levovitz as saying that a Gadol, a great man, is someone who gives to Ketanim/small ones. The sun is called the great luminary, and the moon is called the small luminary, because the moon receives from the sun. That is what great people are. Great people care about smaller people. And the more they care, the greater they are.
The Midrash at the beginning of this week's parasha Pinchas says, אמר הקב"ה בדין הוא שיקבל שכרו – Hashem said that Pinchas deserved the reward he was getting for the act he performed. The mefarshim ask the question, doesn't everybody who does a mitzvah deserve the reward that comes as a result of performing it? Why is the Midrash singling out Pinchas, saying that he deserved his reward? The sefer Vaveh HaAmudim quoted an answer given by the sefer Zichron Yitzchak - even though everyone who does a mitzvah deserves reward for it, most of the time, there is some type of praise or honor that the person gets as a result of the performance of that mitzvah which takes away some of the reward. Receiving praises from others or being acknowledged for a deed reduces the full amount of the reward of that mitzvah. Hashem may still give the person the reward but it is no longer called “fully deserved”. Pinchas however did not only not receive praises for his actions, he was even ridiculed for them. Therefore, he can be called deserved of the reward that he was getting. On one occasion, somebody from Rav Shach's family saw the Rosh Yeshiva with tears in his eyes. At that time, he was very old. The family member asked the Rosh Yeshiva what was wrong and if he could offer his assistance. Rav Shach replied he was thinking about what he was going to bring with him to the Heavenly Court after he leaves this world. The family member then pointed to the sefer Avi Ezri that was open on the table, a four volume masterpiece written by Rav Shach as a commentary of the Mishneh Torah of the Rambam which is used in every yeshiva throughout the entire world. Rav Shach replied, “Yes, it is a good sefer , but I got too much recognition from it. It's value has been diminished.” A relative of the Chofetz Chaim once came to the Rabbi to ask him if he should travel to America to help collect money for a yeshiva that was struggling financially. The Chofetz Chaim told him he should go and he even gave him a beracha for success. The day the relative was leaving, he came back to the Chofetz Chaim to get a departing beracha . The Chofetz Chiam gave him the beracha and then told him, “Hashem gave us a Torah with 613 mitzvot in it. Due to our sins, we lost the Beit HaMikdash and according to my calculation, there are only 271 mitzvot left that we can perform nowadays - 77 positive commandments and 184 negative commandments. I felt that it was my obligation to clarify these 271 mitzvot for Klal Yisrael and therefore, I just wrote a sefer explaining each one of them. I want this sefer to have success. I want it to be completely leshem Shamayim . I need somebody to sponsor it, but I have three conditions: #1 – his name should not appear on the sefer , #2 – he himself should ask that his name doesn't appear on the sefer , and #3 – only one person should give the entire sum. Please try to find someone during your travels abroad.” The man traveled by boat to America. After a few weeks, he arrived in New York but developed a very strong cough there and a doctor advised him to spend some time in a warmer climate in Florida. When the man arrived in Florida on Thursday, he had no idea where he was going to stay. To his surprise, there was a religious Jew waiting on the platform there. He introduced himself as Yerachmiel, saying he stands there every Thursday warning Jews who arrive not to go to certain “kosher” hotels and shuls that were not really reliable and were run by the wrong people. Rav Yerachmiel invited him for Shabbat and he enjoyed it very much. After Shabbat, he asked Yerachmiel about the yeshiva he was collecting for, as well as the new sefer being put out by the Chofetz Chaim. But he forgot the conditions that the Chofetz Chaim gave him. Yerachmiel said he would love to sponsor the sefer , but on 2 conditions: #1 – he would be the only sponsor, and #2 – his name wouldn't be on the sefer . The man then realized this was min haShamayim , the same conditions the Chofetz Chaim asked for were offered by this man. Decades later, after the Chofetz Chaim had already left this world and Rav Yerachmiel had married off all his children, Rav Yerachmiel's entire family moved to Israel. One day, his son-in-law, who was at that time a big talmid chacham , was walking in Bnei Brak and that relative of the Chofetz Chaim saw him and recognized him. He called him over and said, years before this, his father-in-law sponsored the Sefer HaMitzvot of the Chofetz Chaim. The talmid chacham had no clue that his father-in-law did that. When he told his father-in-law about it, Rav Yerachmiel turned pale and started crying out loud. He said, “I can't believe this was told to you. I gave a lot of tzedaka in my lifetime, but I got so much honor from it. There was one thing that I felt consoled by – sponsoring this sefer that nobody knew about, just me and Hashem and one other person. Now, what am I going to come with to Olam Haba ?” Mitzvot are great, but when we do them without any recognition, they become infinitely greater. Shabbat Shalom.
The Midrash at the beginning of this week's parasha Pinchas says, אמר הקב"ה בדין הוא שיקבל שכרו – Hashem said that Pinchas deserved the reward he was getting for the act he performed. The mefarshim ask the question, doesn't everybody who does a mitzvah deserve the reward that comes as a result of performing it? Why is the Midrash singling out Pinchas, saying that he deserved his reward? The sefer Vaveh HaAmudim quoted an answer given by the sefer Zichron Yitzchak - even though everyone who does a mitzvah deserves reward for it, most of the time, there is some type of praise or honor that the person gets as a result of the performance of that mitzvah which takes away some of the reward. Receiving praises from others or being acknowledged for a deed reduces the full amount of the reward of that mitzvah. Hashem may still give the person the reward but it is no longer called “fully deserved”. Pinchas however did not only not receive praises for his actions, he was even ridiculed for them. Therefore, he can be called deserved of the reward that he was getting. On one occasion, somebody from Rav Shach's family saw the Rosh Yeshiva with tears in his eyes. At that time, he was very old. The family member asked the Rosh Yeshiva what was wrong and if he could offer his assistance. Rav Shach replied he was thinking about what he was going to bring with him to the Heavenly Court after he leaves this world. The family member then pointed to the sefer Avi Ezri that was open on the table, a four volume masterpiece written by Rav Shach as a commentary of the Mishneh Torah of the Rambam which is used in every yeshiva throughout the entire world. Rav Shach replied, “Yes, it is a good sefer , but I got too much recognition from it. It's value has been diminished.” A relative of the Chofetz Chaim once came to the Rabbi to ask him if he should travel to America to help collect money for a yeshiva that was struggling financially. The Chofetz Chaim told him he should go and he even gave him a beracha for success. The day the relative was leaving, he came back to the Chofetz Chaim to get a departing beracha . The Chofetz Chiam gave him the beracha and then told him, “Hashem gave us a Torah with 613 mitzvot in it. Due to our sins, we lost the Beit HaMikdash and according to my calculation, there are only 271 mitzvot left that we can perform nowadays - 77 positive commandments and 184 negative commandments. I felt that it was my obligation to clarify these 271 mitzvot for Klal Yisrael and therefore, I just wrote a sefer explaining each one of them. I want this sefer to have success. I want it to be completely leshem Shamayim . I need somebody to sponsor it, but I have three conditions: #1 – his name should not appear on the sefer , #2 – he himself should ask that his name doesn't appear on the sefer , and #3 – only one person should give the entire sum. Please try to find someone during your travels abroad.” The man traveled by boat to America. After a few weeks, he arrived in New York but developed a very strong cough there and a doctor advised him to spend some time in a warmer climate in Florida. When the man arrived in Florida on Thursday, he had no idea where he was going to stay. To his surprise, there was a religious Jew waiting on the platform there. He introduced himself as Yerachmiel, saying he stands there every Thursday warning Jews who arrive not to go to certain “kosher” hotels and shuls that were not really reliable and were run by the wrong people. Rav Yerachmiel invited him for Shabbat and he enjoyed it very much. After Shabbat, he asked Yerachmiel about the yeshiva he was collecting for, as well as the new sefer being put out by the Chofetz Chaim. But he forgot the conditions that the Chofetz Chaim gave him. Yerachmiel said he would love to sponsor the sefer , but on 2 conditions: #1 – he would be the only sponsor, and #2 – his name wouldn't be on the sefer . The man then realized this was min haShamayim , the same conditions the Chofetz Chaim asked for were offered by this man. Decades later, after the Chofetz Chaim had already left this world and Rav Yerachmiel had married off all his children, Rav Yerachmiel's entire family moved to Israel. One day, his son-in-law, who was at that time a big talmid chacham , was walking in Bnei Brak and that relative of the Chofetz Chaim saw him and recognized him. He called him over and said, years before this, his father-in-law sponsored the Sefer HaMitzvot of the Chofetz Chaim. The talmid chacham had no clue that his father-in-law did that. When he told his father-in-law about it, Rav Yerachmiel turned pale and started crying out loud. He said, “I can't believe this was told to you. I gave a lot of tzedaka in my lifetime, but I got so much honor from it. There was one thing that I felt consoled by – sponsoring this sefer that nobody knew about, just me and Hashem and one other person. Now, what am I going to come with to Olam Haba ?” Mitzvot are great, but when we do them without any recognition, they become infinitely greater. Shabbat Shalom.
We are all accountable; not even a Prime Minister can circumvent the Heavenly Court. How will you answer these questions, Naftali?
Have you prayed to invoke the Heavenly Court in your day? It will change how you approach your day!
The Fourth Vision: The Heavenly Court Zechariah 3:1-10 Wednesday (3-10-21) Night Bible Study
✝️Prayer to invoke the Heavenly Court for cleanliness and open roads, prosperity, love and health - Please if you liked the video give it a hand up and share it to help me spread the word. ► https://anchor.fm/prayersonvideo/support ► Follow Youtube Channel =====>>>> PRAYERS ON VIDEO Bless us, with your thumb up, and share this seed. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/prayersonvideo/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/prayersonvideo/support
Two short stories this week. One about a poor melamed who comes to the Sanzer Rebbe for help to marry off his daughter and the other about the power of halachic rulings. Also available at https://soundcloud.com/barak-hullman/how-will-you-answer-the-heavenly-court-for-your-actions. To become a part of this project please go to https://www.patreon.com/barakhullman. Hear all of the stories at https://hasidicstory.com.
[Comment: Grace of a Happy Death] Friends of the Rosary, When you lose someone dear to you, you feel the infinite sadness and sorrow for seeing a loved-one departed, mostly, because you won't be able to talk or listen to him ever again on Earth. His soul will be now fully purified before resting in peace in eternity, in order to enjoy the presence of the Holy Trinity, the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, the Communion of Saints, prophets, and patriarchs—the entire Heavenly Court! Yesterday, my father-in-law Julian died yesterday at the age of 87 due to COVID in Leon, Spain. He was a devoted, faithful father and husband. For us, he was a model of holiness, as well. My own father Alberto—who died ten years ago—was cut with the same Christian values. They both transmitted to us the wisdom of the faith, hope, and love of Jesus Christ. Julian had a prayerful life and was very devout of Our Lady of Fatima. He told us he had a very happy life; he received the grace of a happy death—both fruits of the Mysteries of the Ascension and the Coronation of Mary. Hours before he died, he delivered us a piece of invaluable advice: pray a lot. We will honor him by trying to keep a prayerful life. Ave Maria! Our Lady of Fatima, Pray for Us! [Written by Mikel A. | TheRosaryNetwork.org, New York] ___ Today's Holy Rosary in Video | Today's Broadcast at 7:30 pm ET on YouTube.com/TheRosaryNetwork
For thousands of years, holy books have told about the Heavenly Court responsible for decreeing judgments on Earth. Many tales elaborate their proceedings and tell of specific instances throughout history. Rav Dror delivers a very deep lesson that explains the exact judgment process of Heaven's Court. He explains who are the prosecutors and defenders, the angles, the righteous people, the wicked, how it occurs in the Sefirot of Kabbalah, and the critical role humanity has in the judgment process. Rav Dror said about this lesson that it's very important and should be understood and shared with as many people as possible. Welcome to Rav Dror Moshe Cassouto's Soundcloud. Rav Dror has published several books https://Emunah.com/store To support these videos, leave a donation at https://Emunah.com/donate Rav Dror brings rare, honest, and pure principles of truth, that will touch the heart of anyone who is open to hearing. Our hope is that these inspirational, educational, and motivational videos will bring you closer to The Creator and inspire and motivate you to find your connection to God with joy, faith, and trust. Send an email to info@emunah.com to sign up for Rav Dror's Exclusive Weekly Lecture. Rav Dror welcomes and teaches people from all cultures and backgrounds.
7 Noahide Laws (Basic to Moderate Levels) The Heavenly Court If you have enjoyed the lesson please help support our efforts to spread HaShem's Light by supporting the Academy of Shem and our Rabbis & Instructors HERE --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
7 Noahide Laws (Basic to Moderate Levels) Noah and the Heavenly Court If you have enjoyed the lesson please help support our efforts to spread HaShem's Light by supporting the Academy of Shem and our Rabbis & Instructors HERE --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
In this message, Tim Alsbaugh instructs the Body of Christ on “The Walk of a Warrior.” Many of us know the importance of maintaining a right relationship with our Lord, but not many are fully instructed about spiritual warfare. The walk of a warrior is one of victory in the midst of every battle! Is the enemy using your words against you? Have you run into a stronghold? Are you finding it harder to break from the frustration, depression or oppression the enemy is using against you or your family—keeping you on the same battlefield? Are you letting the enemy use your words against you in the Heavenly Court? These are all part of the spiritual warfare that is swirling around God's people. This message reveals strategies, valuable skills, and keys to enable you in the Walk of a Warrior. How to: --understand the spiritual climate that you are in and the spiritual warfare going on around you --know the weapons of your warfare --discern the spirits you are battling by knowing what your calling is --know God's ‘warfare keys' to help you stay vigilant in your walk as a warrior As Tim gives insight into the lives of the ‘Warriors' in God's Word, he uncovers keys that teach us how to apply that same warrior's walk to our own calling and purpose. There are keys and instruction from the lives of Moses, Daniel, Job, Paul… and more… Those that walked as warriors for God's Kingdom purposes in their day revealing keys that will also lay the foundation in our lives—teaching us how to become overcoming ones in the battle for His glory! The walk of a warrior is one of victory – not one that's free from conflict or battle, but one that is victorious in the midst of ALL the battles. God is raising up warriors for this end time season, empowered with His Spirit for the Kingdom purpose of presenting the gospel of the good news of Jesus Christ to this world. It's time to learn how to be victorious in the battle. It's time to learn The Walk of a Warrior!
Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio:PRAYER FOCUS: MOVE FORWARD! DO NOT BE AFRAID WE ARE ANOINTED FOR THESE DAYS! THE SPIRIT OF DAVID THE WARRIOR KING IS UPON US TO TAKE DOWN THE GIANTS OF OUR DAY!Heavenly Father,We rejoice in Your Presence and come with humble hearts to worship You and give You praise!For glorious is Your Majesty and You are our source of Life and all the blessing we have are given from Your Hand! We are so grateful to shout Your Praises with the Holy Angels that are around Your Throne. From your Heavenly Court release Your Angels to surround us in this day’s battle to continue to spread Your Kingdom throughout the USA and around the world with our brothers and sisters of other nations like England, Canada and others who have joined Your Strike Force of Prayer. We are so grateful for Your Protection and that You shield us from the enemy’s radar and secret plots to destroy us from within and without. You Lord have separated us to mold us in the Image of Your Son, Jesus, and have place in our hands the weapons to defeat the enemy in all his advances. We are confident for Your Son has assured us that He has overcome the world and we are one with You in the Spirit of Love in our midst!Father, we are grateful for the special anointing on us in this day that the spirit of David, the Warrior King is upon us and we are ready to continue to let Justice reign in our day. We are grateful to have and anointed leader in President Trump, who like the Lion of Judah roars and the nations tremble and those who are in darkness and a part of the deep state or any other gathering like the Illuminati and other Luciferian hordes are now in the sights of our weapons to be brought down and the gates of hell will not prevail in our day! Lord we seek continued protection and strengthening of all those righteous men and women who are anointed to lead us that they will continue to focus on Justice. We know Lord, that when President Trump stays focus on Justice, he becomes even stronger to fulfill the plans You have for us to once again be a nation that has Jesus the Christ as our Lord and King.Lord we seek a continue awakening of the people of this nation to stop the growth of the isms that deceive us and make us captives instead of free! Lord we come against all those who side with socialism, communism and any radicalism like that promoted though Saul Alinsky. May those who profess this and use this to push that dark agenda fall on their own sword and be brought to Justice and loose any recognition or positions of leadership they have stolen or have used the bribe to acquire. Lord, enough of this and continue to make us aware of those You have anointed to rise up into leadership from the White House to every house of worship and into the very areas in which we each live.Father, we are grateful for those whom President Trump has chosen to be at his side that are doing the work of Justice. Protect Attorney General Barr, those who are now using authority to crack down on our immigration issues. Making right decisions to separate those who are truly here to become American and those who are just plants to destroy our American way of life! Father even expose the churches that are just using the refugee program to gain money and prestige to look like they are doing a great work when they are only wolves in sheep clothing. Lord there are too many who twist the Word of the Scriptures to make them sound like they are of Your Son but are really empty suits of darkness! May the convicting power of Your Holy Spirit expose sin and wipe out that which is not of You! Lord we want You to reign and rule here in America as You have originally planned for us!Lord, there are many areas of the world that need our prayerful intercession like with China and the people who suffer persecution for Faith in Jesus the Christ. Lord we intercede that Holy Spirit continue to blow the winds of change...
Notice how every last thing the president or any red state does is immediately attacked by some random district judge? Not an hour goes by without some radical ruling. Today, I go through some of those cases to explain the power of courts and when they overstep their boundaries. Until we push back against the notion that courts can strike down policies in the abstract, we are done as a nation. Next, I prove that Brett Kavanaugh is Susan Collins in a black robe. He uses language that is very problematic from a conservative standpoint, and he is now open to this wacky notion of judicially mandated proportional representation. Time will tell how bad he will be, but he clearly is a judicial supremacist. Show links Will Kavanaugh screw us on redistricting? The big lie about UACs and what the law really says about Flores Judges as skirt-chasers Copyright Blaze Media All Rights Reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Title: The Heavenly CourtSeries: Scenes in JobPart: 1Author: Michael PhillipsReference: Job 1:1-12Time: 17:77
2001-03-10 Deception Increasing #10 The Heavenly Court Where We Make Our Appeals
2001-03-10 Deception Increasing #10 The Heavenly Court Where We Make Our Appeals
Series THE BOOK OF ACTS with Pastor Kurt Piesslinger, M.A. 4.THE FIRST CHURCH LEADERS Converts in the early church are either of jewish or hellenistic background which leads to serious problems. How is it possible to get over this abyss? Memory Text: Acts 6:7 - The word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. Content: 4.1 The Appointment of the Seven 4.2 Stephen's Ministry 4.3 Before the Sanhedrin 4.4 Jesus in the Heavenly Court 4.5 The Spread of the Gospel 4.6 Summary My God bless you today and always. Für Videoaufnahme : vimeo.com/281776161 Photo: sweetpublishing.com
07.25.2018 - Jesus in the Heavenly CourtBrief Sabbath School Lesson Review for Wednesday, July 25, 2018
07.25.2018 - Jesus in the Heavenly CourtBrief Sabbath School Lesson Review for Wednesday, July 25, 2018
Series THE BOOK OF ACTS with Pastor Kurt Piesslinger, M.A. 4.THE FIRST CHURCH LEADERS Converts in the early church are either of jewish or hellenistic background which leads to serious problems. How is it possible to get over this abyss? Memory Text: Acts 6:7 - The word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. 4.4 Jesus in the Heavenly Court Stephen was able to see Jesus in heaven. My God bless you today and always. For video recording : vimeo.com/281326930
Vision 5-17-17 Taken to Heavenly Court-Testifying against Demon/Principality Also available for viewing on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzel9fp5ov0 I was taken to Heaven and I was in a court. I was walking down a hall with the Lord holding my hand. There other beings there, who weren't happy to see me and I could tell. We got place that looked like the outside of the court room. It was a hall. It looked just like the Large hall outside of Courtroom doors in a Courthouse here on earth... Just much much Bigger and Grander! I was waiting to go in to testify against a demon or principality. I was in the hall filled with light, sitting on a bench waiting to go into the Courtroom to give testimony against it. It was rocking from side-to side and I could hear chains. The demon was in a room right in front of me, the room was dark. It was like a waiting room or something. I could see its red eyes, But it couldn't set foot in the light where I sat. It knew I was there to testify against it. It was looking at me no doubt. The Lord our High-Priest and Counselor was bringing me into the Heavenly courts to Testify against fallen ones. So shall it be with all the Beloved of God whom they attacked in any way. Matthew 10:27(KJV) 27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. Acts 2:17-18KJV) 17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy 1 Corinthians 6:3-4(KJV) 3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? 4 If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. Deuteronomy 17:7 (KJV) 7 The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you Preach Be a Voice Not an Echo www.preachbvne.webs.com www.preachbvne.blogspot.com Twitter@Preach_BA_Voice Facebook: www.facebook.com/PREACHbeaVoicenotanEcho Podacast: www.preachbeavoicenotanecho.podomatic.com Google+ URL: google.com/+PREACHbeaVoicenotanEchoMinistry Youtube Channel:www.youtube.com/c/PREACHbeaVoicenotanEchoMinistry Mailing: P.O. BOX 606 Goodlettsville, TN 37070 PayPal: Preachbvne@yahoo.com Ambassador Thomas Emmanuel Davis III Ambassador Shawntrell Davis Ambassadors of the Word of Reconciliation Followers of "The Way" S.H.I.F.T Suddenly Heaven Invades Forcing Transformation!! #YesLordIWill #CryLoudAndSpareNot #TheLordMyGodIsWithMe #PartakersofHisGlory #FortifiedBrazenWall #Repent #TheKingdomOfGodIsAtHand Let the Lord be Magnified! Announcing the Coming of the Glorious Kingdom of God! 2 Corinthians 5:20(KJV) 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
The entire month of Elul is a time of daily preparation for Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. In this brief podcast, we look at how we can begin spiritual preparation for Yom Kippur, which begins with "Kol Nidrei," which means "All Vows" -- vows that are absolved by the Heavenly Court. What are these vows? Is it something ancient? What does this have to do with my spirituality? Actually, this ancient idea, which was a core of Torah and Temple spirituality, is EXTREMELY relevant to how all human beings operate spiritually, and our awareness of what we do already helps us focus on how to raise ourselves spiritually so we can arrive fully prepared for the Heavenly Court.
According to the Talmud, during the Rosh Hashanah service, the Heavenly Court is meeting, Satan is the prosecuting attorney, God the merciful judge is presiding, and the shofar blast interrupts Satan. Is this happening in the sky somewhere, or as the Sages intended, IS IT HAPPENING INSIDE OF YOU?
In this class you will learn: 1) What is the heavenly courts perception of people. 2) how many souls do we have?
Seventh Day of the Seventh MoonBy Ken Liu“Tell me a story,” said Se. She had changed into her pajamas all by herself and snuggled under the blankets.Se’s big sister, Yuan, was just about to flip the switch next to the bedroom door. “How about you read a story by yourself? I have to … go see a friend.”“No, it’s not the same.” Se shook her head vigorously. “You have to tell me a story or I can’t sleep.”Yuan glanced at her phone. Every minute tonight was precious. Dad was out of town on business, and Mom was working late and wouldn’t be home till midnight. Yuan needed to be home before then, but if she could get her little sister to sleep quickly, she’d still have a couple of hours to see Jing on this, her last night in China.Full transcript appears after the cut.----more----[Intro music plays.]Hello! Welcome to GlitterShip episode 15 for September 15th, 2015. This is your host, Keffy, and I'm super excited to be sharing this story with you.Our story today is "Seventh Day of the Seventh Moon" by Ken Liu.Ken Liu (http://kenliu.name) is an author and translator of speculative fiction, as well as a lawyer and programmer. A winner of the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy Awards, he has been published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Asimov’s, Analog, Clarkesworld, Lightspeed, and Strange Horizons, among other places. He also translated the Hugo-winning novel, The Three-Body Problem, by Liu Cixin, which is the first translated novel to win that award.Ken’s debut novel, The Grace of Kings, the first in a silkpunk epic fantasy series, was published by Saga Press in April 2015. Saga will also publish a collection of his short stories, The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, in March 2016. He lives with his family near Boston, Massachusetts.We also have a special guest reader this week, which is awesome.Our reader this week is S. Qiouyi Lu. You can visit their site at http://s.qiouyi.lu/ and follow them on Twitter at @sqiouyilu.Seventh Day of the Seventh MoonBy Ken Liu“Tell me a story,” said Se. She had changed into her pajamas all by herself and snuggled under the blankets.Se’s big sister, Yuan, was just about to flip the switch next to the bedroom door. “How about you read a story by yourself? I have to … go see a friend.”“No, it’s not the same.” Se shook her head vigorously. “You have to tell me a story or I can’t sleep.”Yuan glanced at her phone. Every minute tonight was precious. Dad was out of town on business, and Mom was working late and wouldn’t be home till midnight. Yuan needed to be home before then, but if she could get her little sister to sleep quickly, she’d still have a couple of hours to see Jing on this, her last night in China.“Come on, Yuan,” Se begged. “Please!”Yuan came back to the side of the bed and stroked Se’s forehead gently. She sighed. “All right.”She texted Jing: Late by half hour. Wait?The crystal cat charm, a gift from Jing, dangled from her phone. It twirled and glittered in the warm bedroom light as she waited impatiently for the response.Finally, the phone beeped. Of course. Won’t leave until we meet.“Tell the story about the Qixi Festival,” said Se, yawning. “That’s tonight, isn’t it?”“Yes, yes it is.”Long ago, a beautiful young woman, the granddaughter of the Emperor of Heaven, lived in the sky by the eastern shore of the Silver River—that’s the broad band of light you can sometimes see in the sky at night, when the air is clear.She was skilled at the loom, and so that’s why people called her—“You skipped the part where you describe her weaving!”“But you’ve heard this story a hundred times already. Can’t I just get it over with?”“You have to tell it right.”—as I had apparently neglected to mention: her works were displayed proudly by the Heavenly Court in the western sky at every sunset: glorious clouds of crimson, amethyst, periwinkle, and every shade in between. So people called her Zhinü, the Weaver Girl. And though she was the youngest of seven immortal sisters, we mortals addressed her by the honorific Big Sister Seven.But over time, Zhinü grew wan and thin. Her brows were always tightly knit into a frown, and she did not wash her face or comb out her hair. The sunset clouds she wove were not as lovely as before, and mortals began to complain.The Emperor of Heaven came to visit. “What ails you, my granddaughter?”“Haha, you do that voice so well. You sound just like Grandfather.”“I’m glad you approve. Now stop interrupting.”“Oh, Gonggong, I’m so lonely. Living all by myself in this hut, my only company are my loom—jiya, jiya, it squeaks all day long—and a few magpies.”The Emperor took pity on her and found her a good match. The young man tended to cows on the western shore of the Silver River, so people called him Niulang, the Cowherd. He was handsome and kind and full of funny stories, and Zhinü loved him, and he her, the moment they set eyes on each other.“See, I’m not such a bad matchmaker.” The Emperor of Heaven smiled as he stroked his beard. “Now I know you’re young, and you should have fun. But now that you have a companion, please don’t neglect your work.”Zhinü moved to the western shore of the Silver River to be with Niulang, and the two of them married. They had two boys, and there never was a happier family.“Oh, no, here comes the boring part. You can skip it if you want to.”“No way! This is the best part. You’ll understand when you’re older. Now pay attention.”Every morning, as Niulang got up before sunrise to take the cows to their favorite pasture, Zhinü could not bear the thought of being separated from him. So she would come along. She’d put the two babies in two baskets draped on each side of an old, gentle ox, and she would ride on the back of a pure white bull led by Niulang. They’d sing together, tell each other stories from before they met, and laugh at the jokes that only they understood.Zhinü’s loom sat unused back at the hut, gathering dust.Sunsets became ugly affairs. The few clouds that remained became tattered, wispy, colorless. The people laboring in the fields lost the beauty that had once lifted up their hearts at the end of a hard day, and their laments rose to the Heavenly Court.“My maritorious child,” said the Emperor of Heaven—“What does that word mean?”“It means loving your husband too much.”“How can you love someone too much?”“Good question. I don’t know either. Maybe the Emperor of Heaven didn’t have enough love in his heart to understand. Maybe he was too old.”—“I warned you about neglecting your duty. For your disobedience and neglect, you must now move back to the eastern shore of the Silver River and never see Niulang and your children again.”Zhinü begged for reprieve, but the Emperor’s word was as irreversible as the flow of the Silver River.At the Emperor’s decree, the Silver River was widened and deepened, and Zhinü forever parted from her husband. Today, you can see the star that is Zhinü on one side of the Silver River and the star that is Niulang on the other, their two sons two faint stars on each side of Niulang. They stare at each other across that unbridgeable gap, the longing and regret as endless as the flowing river.“Why did you stop?”“It’s nothing. My throat just felt itchy for a bit.”“Are you sad for Niulang and Zhinü?”“Maybe … a little bit. But it’s just a story.”But the magpies that once kept Zhinü company took pity on the lovers. Once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh moon by the lunar calendar, on Qixi, the day when Zhinü is at her highest position in the sky, all the magpies in the world fly up to the Silver River and make a bridge with their bodies so that the lovers can spend one night together.This is the day when all the young women in old China would pray to Big Sister Seven for love.Oh, I know you want to hear more about the bridge of magpies. You love this part. Well, I imagine it’s a lot of work for the birds. They probably have to go to magpie bridge-building school, and those who’re a bit slow have to go to cram school for extra study sessions …Yuan turned out the light and tiptoed out of her sister’s bedroom.On my way, she texted.She made sure the air conditioning was set comfortably low, locked the door of the apartment, and ran down the stairs. And then she was in the hot, humid evening air of Hefei in August.She biked through the streets, dodging an endless stream of cars beeping their horns. She liked the physicality of the ride, the way it made her body come alive, feel awake. She passed the sidewalks filled with people browsing past stores and kiosks filled with everything imaginable: discount electronics, toys, clothes, fancy European soups and cakes, mouth-watering sweet potatoes baked in tinfoil and fried, smelly tofu. The heat and the exertion stuck her shirt to her skin, and she had to wipe her forehead from time to time to keep the sweat out of her eyes.And then she was at the coffee shop, and Jing—slender, graceful in a plain white dress and a light jacket (for the air conditioning), a faint whiff of the floral perfume that always made Yuan dizzy—greeted Yuan with that bright smile that she always wore.As if this wasn’t the night the world ended.“Are you done packing?” Yuan asked.“Oh, there’s always more to pack.” Jing’s tone was light, breezy, careless. “But I don’t have to get to the airport ‘til nine in the morning. There’s plenty of time.”“You should dress in layers, with something long-sleeved on top,” said Yuan—mainly because she feared saying nothing. “It can get cold on the plane.”“Want to take a walk with me? The next time I walk around at night I’ll be in America. Maybe I’ll miss all this noise.”Yuan left her bike locked to the light post outside the coffee shop, and they strolled along the sidewalk like the rest of the crowd. They did not hold hands. In Shanghai, perhaps no one would have cared, but in Hefei, there would have been looks, and whispers, and maybe worse.Yuan imagined Jing walking about the campus of the American high school at night. Jing had shown her pictures of the red brick buildings and immaculate lawns. And the smiling boys and girls: foreigners. Yuan felt out of breath; her heart seemed unable to decide on a steady rhythm.“Look at that,” said Jing, pointing to the display window of a pastry shop. “They’re selling Qixi Lovers’ Cakes now. So overpriced. And you know some stupid girl is going to throw a fit if her boyfriend doesn’t buy it for her. I want to throw up.”“Not quite as bad as Valentine’s Day,” Yuan said. “I think the vendors are pretty restrained. Relatively speaking.”“That’s because people aren’t into Qixi any more. We Chinese always get more enthusiastic for Western imports, even holidays. It’s a national character weakness.”“I like Qixi,” Yuan said. She said it more emphatically than she meant to.“What, you want to set out an altar under a melon trellis, offer up a plate of fruits, pray to Big Sister Seven, and hope for a spider to weave a web over the offering by morning so you’ll get a nice husband in the future?”Yuan’s face grew hot. She stopped. “You don’t have to mock everything Chinese.”Jing cocked her head, a teasing smile in her eyes. “You suddenly getting all patriotic on me now?”“Your father has the money to pay for you to go to an American boarding school. That doesn’t make you better than everyone else.”“Oh, lay off that wounded tone. You’re hardly some migrant worker’s daughter.”They stared at each other, the neon lights from the nearby stores flickering over their faces. Yuan wanted to kiss Jing and scream at her at the same time. She had always liked Jing’s irreverence, the way she wanted to turn everything into a joke. She knew her anger had nothing to do with this conversation about Qixi at all.Jing turned and continued down the sidewalk. After a moment, Yuan followed.When Jing spoke again, her tone was calm, as if nothing had happened. “Remember the first time we went hiking together?”That had been one of the best days of Yuan’s life. They had skipped their cram school sessions and taken the bus to Emerald Lake, an artificial pond bordering several college campuses. Jing had showed Yuan how to set up her phone so that her mom couldn’t see the messages Jing sent her, and Yuan had showed Jing her baby pictures. They had bought a lamb chuanr from a street vendor and shared it as they walked along the lakeshore. Her heart had beaten faster with each bite of roasted meat off the skewer, thinking that her lips were touching where hers had touched. And then, as they strolled through one of the campuses, Jing had boldly taken her hand: it was a college, after all.And then that first kiss behind the willow tree, tasting the hot spices from the lamb kebab on Jing’s tongue, the calls of wild geese behind her somewhere…“I remember,” she said. Her voice still sounded wounded, and she didn’t care.“I wish we could go there again,” Jing said.The anger in Yuan disappeared, just like that. Jing always had such a way with her. Yuan felt like putty in her hands.“We can chat on QQ or Skype,” Yuan said. She hurried to catch up so that she was walking next to Jing. “And you’ll come back for visits. This isn’t like the old days. It will be okay. We can still be together.”They had wandered off the main thoroughfare onto a less busy side street. The streetlights on one side were out, and looking up they could see a few stars in the sky. Hefei wasn’t as polluted as some of the cities on the coast.“I’m going to be really busy,” Jing said. Her tone was calm, too calm.“We can text every day, every hour.”“It’s different over there. I’ll be living on my own in a dorm. I have to actually study if I want to go to a good college. My family is paying a lot to give me this.”“Americans don’t study that much.”“It’s not like watching American TV shows. There aren’t subtitles. I’ll meet lots of new people. I have to make a new life over there, new friends. I’ll need to be thinking, talking, breathing English all the time if I want to make it.”“I can text you in English,” Yuan said. “I’ll do whatever you want.”“You’re not listening,” Jing said. She stopped again and looked at Yuan.“What are you trying to say?” As soon as she asked the question, Yuan regretted it. It made her sound so weak, so clingy, like a girl from one of those Korean dramas.“I’m going away, Yuan. I told you this was going to happen last year, when we … started.”Yuan looked away so that Jing would not see her eyes. She pushed the image of Jing with someone else out of her mind. She cursed her eyes and told them to behave and stop embarrassing her.“It will be okay.” Jing’s tone was now comforting, gentle, and that made it worse. “We’ll both be okay.”Yuan said nothing because she knew she couldn’t control her voice. She licked her lips, tasting the salt from the sweat of her ride. She wanted to wipe her eyes so she could see clearly again, but she didn’t want to do it in front of Jing.“I want to make this night a happy memory,” Jing said, but her voice finally cracked. She struggled, but failed, to keep her calm mask on. “I’m trying to make this easier. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do for those you love?”Yuan looked up, blinking her eyes hard. She looked for the Silver River, and she remembered that in English it was called the Milky Way—what a graceless and silly name. She looked for Zhinü and Niulang, and she vaguely remembered that in English they were called Vega and Altair, names as cold and meaningless to her as the stars.Just then, magpies seemed to come out of nowhere and gathered over their heads in a cloud of fluttering wings. While they looked up, stunned, the flock swept out of the night sky, descended over them like a giant spider web, and lifted them into the heavens.Riding on the wings of magpies, Yuan found, was not like riding a magical carpet.Not that she knew what riding a magical carpet felt like—but she was sure that it didn’t involve being constantly poked from below by a hundred—no, a thousand—little winged fists.The magpies would fall a bit below where they were and flap their wings rapidly in an upward burst until they collided with the girls’ bodies. The combined force of all the magpies would push them up until the birds lost their momentum and began to fall away, and then a new wave of upward-thrusting magpies would take their place. The girls resembled two ping-pong balls riding on the water spout from a hose pointing up.In the maelstrom of wings they found each other and clung together.“Are you all right?” They each asked at the same time.“What in the world is happening?” Jing asked, her words jumbled together from fear and excitement.“This is a dream,” Yuan said. “This must be a dream.”And then Jing began to laugh.“It can’t be a dream,” she said. “These magpies carrying us: they tickle!”And Yuan laughed too. It was so absurd, so impossible; yet it was happening.Some of the magpies began to sing, a complicated, trilling, lovely chorus. There were magpies of every description: some with white bellies, some with white beaks, some with iridescent, shimmering, blue wings. Yuan felt as if she and Jing were enclosed inside the beating heart of some giant, flying, alien musical instrument.Arms around each other, gingerly sitting side by side, they peeked out at the world below from between the darting wings of the magpies.They were floating in a dark sea. The lights of the city of Hefei spread out below them like a pulsing, receding jellyfish.“It’s getting cold,” said Yuan. She shivered as the wind whipped her hair around her face.“We’re really high up,” said Jing. She took off her summer jacket and draped it around Yuan’s shoulders. Yuan tucked her nose into the collar of the jacket and breathed in the lingering perfume. It warmed her heart even if the thin fabric did little against the chill.Then Yuan berated herself. Jing had broken up with her, and she didn’t need to look so needy, so pathetic. It was fine to cling to Jing in a moment of weakness, but now they were safe. Gently, she took her arm from around Jing and shrugged out of her arm as well. She lifted her face into the clear, frosty air, and tried to shift away from Jing, keeping some distance between them.“Reminds you of Su Shi’s poem, doesn’t it?” Jing whispered. Yuan nodded reluctantly. Jing was the literary one, and she always knew the pretty words, suitable for every occasion.A half moon, like a half-veiled smile, loomed pale white in the dark sky. It grew brighter and larger as they rose on the backs of the magpies.Jing began to sing the words of the Song Dynasty poem, set to a popular tune, and after a moment, Yuan joined her:When did the Moon first appear?I ask the heavens and lift my wine cup.I know not whether time passes the same wayIn the palace among the clouds. I’d like to ride up with the wind,But I’m afraid of the chill from being so highAmong the jade porticos and nephrite beams. We dance with our shadows.Are we even on earth any more?The silver light dapples the window,Illuminating my sleepless night.Do you hate us, Moon?Why are you always waxing just when we’re parting?Like a dancer and her shadow, the two girls swayed, each separately, to a harmony as young as themselves and as old as the land beneath.“So, it’s all true,” said Jing.The magpies had lifted them above the clouds and leveled off. As they glided over the cottony mists, they could see a celestial city of bread loaf-like buildings, punctuated by spiky towers here and there, gleaming in the late summer moonlight in the distance: blue as ice, green as jade, white like ivory. The styles of the buildings were neither Western nor Chinese, but something that transcended them all: heavenly, the Palace of Immortals.“I wonder if there really are immortals living there,” said Yuan. What she didn’t say out loud was her secret hope: she and Jing had been picked by the magpies for this trip to the heavens because the immortals thought they were as special a pair as Niulang and Zhinü—the thought was tinged with both excitement and sorrow.And then they were at the Silver River. It was broader than the Yangtze, almost like Taihu Lake, with the other shore barely visible on the horizon. The rushing torrent roared past like stampeding horses, and giant waves as tall as the apartment buildings in Hefei pounded against the shore.“Hey, don’t carry us over the water!” Jing shouted. But the magpies ignored her and continued to fly towards the river.“They’re building a bridge,” said Yuan. “It’s Qixi, remember?”Indeed, more flocks of magpies appeared. Along with the flock carrying the girls, they congregated like rivulets coalescing into a mighty river of wings. The magpies hovered over the water, with newcomers extending the flock’s reach towards the other shore. They were forming an arching bridge over the Silver River.“I have to take a picture of this,” said Yuan, and she took out her cell phone.The crystal cat charm dangling from the phone caught the light of the moon and dazzled. The magpies immediately surrounding Yuan trilled and dashed at it, knocking the phone out of her hand. And then it was a free for all as more of the magpies forgot about building the bridge and rushed after the shiny bauble. Even when charged with a magical mission, birds were still just birds.Or maybe even the birds have realized we’re not such a special pair after all, Yuan thought, and the charm is more interesting.She gazed after her phone anxiously. If Se woke up from a nightmare, she might try to call her. And if her mom got home before her, she might wonder where she was. She needed that phone back. She hoped the birds would bounce the phone closer to her so she could snatch it.Then those worries were pushed out of her mind as the magpies that had supported Yuan dropped off to join the chase after the charm, and no new magpies replaced them. Her weight overwhelmed the few magpies that remained on task, and she began to fall. She didn’t even have time to cry out.But then a strong hand caught her right wrist and arrested her descent. Yuan looked up into Jing’s face. She was lying down on the bridge of magpies, and she strained as she reached out and held onto Yuan with one hand while fumbling in her purse with the other.“Let go!” shouted Yuan. “You’ll fall, too!” Her world seemed to shrink down to her hands as they clasped around Jing’s hand, around her warm, pale skin. She willed herself to let go, but she could not.“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Jing, panting.The magpies continued to fight each other for the shiny charm, causing Yuan’s phone to bob up and down over the flock like a stone skipping over water. They had stopped extending the living bridge over the water.Jing finally managed to free her own phone from her purse. She paid no attention as her purse almost tumbled over the side of the bridge, where it would have disappeared into the roiling waves below. By feel, she pressed the first button on the dial pad.Yuan’s phone came to life and began to vibrate and buzz. The shocked magpies backed off in a panic, and the phone stayed still in the air for a second before falling, faster and faster, and finally disappeared into the Silver River without a trace.Yuan felt her heart sink. That cat charm, the first gift Jing had ever given her, now gone forever.“Good thing I have you on speed dial,” Jing said.“How do we still have reception here?”“After all that, that’s what you are worried about?” Jing laughed, and after a moment, Yuan joined her.The magpies seemed to have awakened from a bad dream, and they rushed over and lifted Yuan up onto the bridge. Once the girls were safe, the magpies continued to extend their bridge to the other side of the Silver River, leaving the pair at the middle of the bridge, suspended over the endless water and mist.“We almost caused the magpies to fail to build the bridge,” Yuan said. “It would be so sad if Niulang and Zhinü don’t get to meet this year.”Jing nodded. “It’s almost midnight.” She saw the look on Yuan’s face. “Don’t worry about not being home. Nothing bad can happen on the night of Qixi.”“I thought you weren’t into Qixi.”“Well, maybe just a little bit.”They sat down on the bridge together, watching the moon rise over the Silver River. This time, Yuan did not let go of Jing’s hand.“She’s coming,” said Yuan. She jumped up and pointed down the bridge towards the eastern shore. Now that she had spent some time on the bridge of magpies, she was getting pretty good at keeping her footing over the fluttering wings.In the distance, through the mist that wafted over the bridge from time to time, they could see a small, solitary figure making its way towards them.“So is he,” said Jing. She pointed the other way. Through the mist they could see another tiny figure slowly creep towards them.The girls stood up and waited, side by side, looking first one way and then the other. Being in the presence of the annual reunion of this pair of legendary lovers was exciting, maybe even better than meeting TV stars.The two figures from the opposite ends of the bridge came close enough for Yuan and Jing to see them clearly.Out of the east, an old woman approached. Yuan thought she looked as old as, maybe even older than, her grandmother. Her back bent, she walked with a cane. But her wrinkled face glowed healthily with the exertion of having traveled all the way here. Wearing a Tang Dynasty dress, she looked splendid to Yuan. Her breath puffed out visibly in the cold air.Out of the west, an old man emerged from the mist: straight back, long legs, wiry arms swinging freely. His full head of silvery white hair matched the old woman’s, but his face was even more wrinkled than hers. As soon as he saw the old woman, his eyes lit up in a bright smile.“They’re not—” Jing started to say in a whisper.“—quite what we expected?” finished Yuan.“I guess I always pictured immortals as being … well, I guess there’s no reason to think they wouldn’t grow old.”A wispy tendril of sorrow brushed across Yuan’s heart. She tried to imagine Jing as an old woman, and the tenderness made her almost tear up again. She squeezed Jing’s hand, and Jing squeezed back, turning to smile at her.The old man and the old woman met in the middle of the bridge, a few paces away from where the girls stood. They nodded at Jing and Yuan politely and then turned their full attention to each other.“Glad to see you looking so well,” said Zhinü. “Da Lang told me that you were having some trouble with your back the last time he visited with his family. I wasn’t sure you were going to make it here this year.”“Da Lang always exaggerates,” said Niulang. “When he visits I don’t dare to sneeze or cough, lest he insist that I go to the moon to visit Chang’E for some Osmanthus herbs. This old bag of bones can’t really take any more medicine. I think he’s more upset than you or I that his brother didn’t want to be a doctor.”They laughed and chatted on, talking about children and friends.“Why don’t they kiss?” Jing whispered to Yuan.“That’s a Western thing,” Yuan whispered back. “Niulang and Zhinü are old school.”“I’m not sure that’s true. I’ve seen Internet posts arguing people in ancient China used to kiss—but anyway, they’re standing so far apart!”“It’s like they’re friends, not lovers.”“It seems that we have some curious guests,” said Zhinü as she turned around to look at the girls. She didn’t sound angry—more like amused.“We’re sorry,” said Yuan, feeling her face grow hot. “We didn’t mean to be rude.” She hesitated. It didn’t seem right at all to call this old woman “Big Sister Seven.” So she added, “Grandma Zhinü and Grandpa Niulang.”“We just thought,” Jing said, “that … um … you’d be more … passionate.”“You mean less laughing, and more tears and recitation of love poems,” said Niulang, a gentle smile in his eyes.“Yes,” said Jing. “No,” said Yuan, simultaneously.Zhinü and Niulang laughed out loud. Niulang said, “It’s okay. The magpies have been building this bridge for thousands of years, and they sometimes bring guests. We’re used to questions.”Zhinü looked from Yuan to Jing and back again. “You two are together?”“Yes,” said Jing. “No,” said Yuan, simultaneously. They looked at each other, embarrassed.“Now that sounds like a story,” said Zhinü.“We were together,” said Yuan.“But I’m leaving,” said Jing. “We’ll be parted by the Pacific Ocean.” And they told their story to Niulang and Zhinü. It seemed perfectly right to pour their hearts out to the legendary lovers.“I understand,” said Zhinü, nodding sympathetically. “Oh, do I understand.”At first I was inconsolable. I stood on the shore of the Silver River day after day, pining for a glance of my husband and children. I thought the pain in my heart would never go away. I refused to touch my loom. If my grandfather was angry, then let him find someone else to weave the sunsets. I was done.The first time we met over the bridge of magpies, Niulang and I could not stop crying the whole time. My children were growing up so fast, and I felt so guilty. So, when we had to part again, Niulang came up with a stratagem: he asked the magpies to retrieve two large rocks that were about the weight of my babies and carried them home in two baskets on the ends of a pole over his shoulder, the same way he had carried the boys onto the bridge. And everyone thought they had gone home with him. But unbeknownst to anyone else, I carried the boys home with me on my back.And after that, every year, as we met on the bridge, we passed the boys back and forth. They’d spend one year with me, one year with Niulang. They would not have their parents together, but they would have both of them.Each time we met, I told him again and again of the solitude of my hut, the desultory squeak of my loom. And he told me of how he took his herd to the same pastures that we had gone to as a family, to relive the happiness we shared. The grass had grown thin and bare from overgrazing, and his animals were just skin and bones.And then, one year, when the boys were a little older and could walk on their own, Niulang held me and told me that he didn’t want to see me sad any more.“We live a whole year for this one day,” he said. “We’re letting our lives pass us by. It’s not right that you should sit by your loom pining from morning ‘til evening. It’s not right that our sons should think our lives are lives of sorrow. It’s not right that we should come to believe that yearning for what we can’t have is what love is all about.”“What are you saying?” I asked. I was angry, and I didn’t know why. Was he saying that he no longer loved me? I had been faithful to him, but had he been to me?“We know we cannot be together,” he said. “We know that sometimes things happen to people that keeps them apart. But we have refused to look for new happiness. Are we sad because we’re in love? Or are we sad because we feel trapped by the idea of love?”I thought about what he said, and realized that he was right. I had become so used to the story about us, the idea of us living our whole lives for this once-a-year meeting, that I hadn’t really thought about what I wanted. I had become my own legend. Sometimes the stories we tell ourselves obscure our truths.“You’re beautiful when you laugh,” he said.“We’re beautiful when we seek to make ourselves happy,” I said.And so I went back to my loom and poured my love for Niulang into my weaving. I thought those were some of the most beautiful sunsets I had ever woven.And then I found that love was not a limited thing, but an endless fount. I found that I loved the laughter of my children, and the chatter of friends new and old. I found that I loved the fresh breeze that brought smells from far away. I found that other young men made my heart beat faster.And Niulang went and took his herd to new pastures, and he came up with new songs. Young women came and listened to him, and he found that conversation with them gladdened his heart.We told each other these things the next time we met over the bridge. I was glad for him and he for me. We had been clinging to each other as though we were afraid to drown, but in fact, we had been holding each other back from moving on.“And so we each went on and had other loves, joys as well as sorrows,” said Zhinü.“We still meet once a year,” said Niulang, “to catch up on each other’s lives. Old friends are hard to come by.” He and Zhinü looked at each other with affection. “They keep you honest.”“Are you disappointed?” asked Zhinü.Jing and Yuan looked at each other. “Yes,” they said together. Then they said “no,” also together.“Then, are you not in love anymore?” asked Yuan.“You ask that question because you think if we’re no longer in love, then that means the love we had was somehow not real.” Zhinü turned serious. “But the past does not get rewritten. Niulang was the first man I loved, and that would be true no matter how many times I fell in love after him.”“It’s time to go,” Niulang said. The magpies under them were getting restless. The eastern sky was brightening.“You were together, and you’re together now,” said Niulang to the girls. “Whatever comes, that remains a fact.”“You look lovely together, dears,” said Zhinü.Niulang and Zhinü embraced lightly and wished each other well. Then they turned and began to walk in opposite directions.“Look!” said Jing, and gripped Yuan’s hand.Where the old Niulang and Zhinü had been, there was now a pair of ghostly figures: a young man and a young woman. They embraced tightly, as if Yuan and Jing were not there at all.“They were such a handsome couple,” said Yuan.“They still are,” said Jing.And as the bridge of magpies broke up, carrying the girls down to earth, they looked back at the pair of ghost lovers dissolving gradually in the moonlight.Miraculously, Yuan found her bike where she’d left it.The sidewalks were still relatively empty. The first breakfast shops were just getting ready for the day, and the smell of warm soy milk and freshly fried youtiao filled the air.“Better rush home,” said Yuan. “Don’t miss your flight.”“And you need to go, too. Your mom will be worried sick!”Jing pulled her in, wrapping her arms around her. Yuan tried to pull back. “People will see.”“I don’t care,” Jing said. “I lied that day at Emerald Lake. I told you I had kissed other girls before. But you were the first. I want you to know that.”They held each other and cried, and some of the passers-by gave them curious looks, but no one stopped.“I’ll call you every day,” Jing said. “I’ll text you whenever I get a chance.”Yuan pulled back. “No. I don’t want you to think of it as a chore. Do it if you want to. And if you don’t, I’ll understand. Let whatever will happen, happen.”A quick kiss, and Yuan pushed Jing away. “Go, go!”She watched as Jing ran down the street to catch the bus. She watched as the bus pulled into the stream of traffic, a mighty river of steel like the Silver River, and disappeared around the corner.“I love you,” Yuan whispered. And no matter how the stream of time flowed on, that moment would be true forever.END“Seventh Day of the Seventh Moon” was originally published in Kaleidoscope, published by Twelfth Planet Press, edited by Alisa Krasnostein and Julia Rios in 2014.This recording is a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license which means you can share it with anyone you’d like, but please don’t change or sell it. Our theme is “Aurora Borealis” by Bird Creek, available through the Google Audio Library.Thanks for listening, and I’ll have another story for you on September 22nd.[Music plays out]
Second Day- Most noble Prince of the Heavenly Court, you who have been kind enough to take care of,my poor soul, defend it from the snares and assaults of the devil, so that in the future, it may never offend my Lord.
We are conditioned from childhood to believe certain things about the judgment: We are on trial standing guilty before God the Father who is the judge. The only good news about the judgment is that Jesus is our Advocate and Friend in court. The description of judgment in Daniel and especially in the Gospel of John paints quite a different picture, however. Can the various images of judgment in the bible be reconciled? Follow along with the powerpoint presentation here - http://www.godscharacter.com/files/ppt/Daniel_heavenly_court.ppt
APOSTLE TALK - Future News Now! WWW.REALMIRACLES.COM with Prince Handley HOW TO FINISH: THE ANSWER TO GANG VIOLENCE, REVOLUTION AND ANARCHY You can listen to this message NOW Click on Libsyn pod circle above (top left). Give it 20 seconds to load. Listen NOW ... or download for later. For INSTANT REPLAY, go to: www.blubrry.com/prophecy/ Please email this message to a friend. 24/7 release of Prince Handley blogs, teachings, and podcasts >>> STREAM Notice: There are several music beds in this podcast. The podcast is NOT over just because you hear music. It is not over until Mrs. bin Laden sings! DEDICATION: Last week many of us saw the video of a young teenager - an honor student - who was murdered by other teenagers in Chicago. His name was Derrion Albert, and I am dedicating this podcast / teaching to Derrion and his family. HOW TO FINISH – THE ANSWER TO GANG VIOLENCE AND ANARCHY MUSIC / INTRO INTRODUCTION Last week many of us saw the video of a young teenager – an honor student - who was murdered by other teenagers in Chicago. His name was Derrion Albert, and I am dedicating this podcast / teaching to Derrion and his family. FIRST, let me say to you that I have the answer to gang violence. Let me give you a few examples: Gene Browning was a Black Muslim who hated whites. He was an all state football tackle. On Saturdays Gene would go to the park with his Doberman Pinscher dog and wait until a white person would come by with their dog. Then Gene would turn his Doberman loose on them. Hungry for the truth, Gene turned his life over to the REAL Jesus (not the Muslim Jesus) and became a dynamic Christian leader working with university students. Later he started ministry in government circles and prisons (is there any difference in the two anymore) as a Bible teacher and as a commodities broker in Washington, D.C. Gene and his wife, Shirley, gave me a beautiful automobile as a gift of love (even though I'm white!). That's REAL redistributive wealth! Tom Skinner grew up in Harlem, and influenced by the Black Nationalists, a Black supremacy group. He became leader of the Harlem Lords gang in New York City and led the gang in more than fifteen large-scale gang fights, and they never lost, even though there were only 130 in the gang. Tom was preparing strategy one night for what was to be the largest gang fight ever to take place in New York City. (Five gangs were uniting together to fight a bunch of gangs from the other side of the city. If he succeeded in leading the gang bangers to victory in this fight, he would emerge as the leader of this alliance of Harlem gangs - the most powerful teenage gang leader in the city.) Tom heard a preacher unexpectedly while listening to a DJ on the radio; as a result he decided to put Jesus' claims to a test. He was confronted with the REVOLUTIONARY TRUTH and gave his life to the REAL REVOLUTIONARY: Jesus (the Messiah of Israel). He quit the Harlem Lords and later started evangelistic meetings in his own turf, Harlem, at such places as the Apollo Theater. The Lord groomed Tom so that he had opportunities to speak to - and influence - countless individuals, groups, and organizations, ranging from members of Congress to the New York Yankees to officials at IBM Corporation. He also served as chaplain for the Washington Redskins. Some of Tom's publications are: Black and Free (1968), Words of Revolution (1970), How Black is the Gospel (1970), If Christ is the Answer, What are the Questions? (1974) The Crips Gang in Los Angeles used to have several of their members who came to my Bible studies on Friday nights. Many were touched and changed by the POWER of the Holy Spirit. Clayton Joyner, an African-American, was my best friend. We used to preach together to the Black Panthers and the Black Muslims and the gangs in downtown Los Angeles. Clayton was black and I was white (still am). Blacks and Whites and Hispanics and Asians finally got used to Clayton and I hugging each other and praising God in the open air. When he would buy a new suit or sport coat he would buy me one (I didn't have any money). Finally, years later I was able to give him an automobile. That's REAL redistributive wealth! Bob Selby was a friend of mine who was a gun runner and weapons stockpiler for the Weather Underground (close associates to the Obama Whitehouse). Bob was reading literature while in jail that showed him that there was a real Hell and that God loved us and sent His own Son, Messiah Yeshua, as the sacrifice for our sins. Bob prayed and gave his life to Christ in that jail. He then went to the Sheriff and took him to where this cache of munitions and guns were stored. I later had the privilege to speak in “standing room only” crowds for Bob telling young people about the REAL revolutionary: Jesus, the Messiah of Israel. These examples I have just given prove that there IS an answer to gang warfare and inner city violence … and anarchy. MUSIC SECOND, let me say to you that the government will NOT do anything about it except fund programs and allow photo-ops like the one last week in Chicago with Attorney General Eric Holder (who wouldn't even go visit ground zero; he was safely in the swank Four Seasons Hotel off Michigan Avenue while meeting with “community leaders”). If Obama had enough interest in his own home town as he did in flying to Copenhagen, he would be a man and go talk to the gang bangers in Chicago … at least reach out to them. He would do something about it. (After all, it's a shorter flight to Chicago than Copenhagen … or does commercialism outweigh needy children? What happened to PURE socialism?) I noticed Obama's pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, wasn't active in reaching out to the gang bangers … nor was Obama's associate (for helping the oppressed) in his neighborhood, William Ayers. However, it is obvious the President is only interested in programs that can advance his socialist agenda. Like Marx and Engels, it appears that Obama is NOT really interested in the people - even needy children in his hometown - except as a tool of the collective for promoting his own socialist programs. Before you judge me for my statements, let me say that I love the President. I pray for him ad his wife, Michelle, and their daughters, Malia and Sasha, every day. (How often do you pray for them?) If you love someone you will speak the TRUTH. THE ANSWER While in prayer during the writing of this message, I had a vision. The vision was of a dry, extremely parched, land. It was so parched that there were deep cracks throughout the land where the dry ground had separated due to lack of moisture. The deep cracks were consistently spaced every foot (30 centimeters) or so apart, with smaller cracks between them. It was truly a “dry barren land.” However, in the middle of the land there was a fresh bright stalk of corn with ears ready to open and leaves luxuriantly bright from perfect nourishment. Then, from the stalk of corn there began to come forth not only its own fruit (other ears of corn) but ALSO moisture which watered the dry parched ground ... and then, to my amazement, other stalks of corn began to rise up from the ground and to grow and flourish. Then God spoke to me: “This is a picture of the future of many people [who will listen to this podcast]. Many are productive now ... but nothing compared to what will be happening through them in the future. On the other hand, many have given up; they once had a vision that I gave them for their ministry. Some of them have seen others fulfilling what they once prayed and fasted about doing, seeking my face for the fulfillment of the same. But the enemy of mankind and of all righteousness has discouraged them. He has spent years planning attacks against them, even using those who at one time were their friends, companions, or fellow ministers. Some of them have fallen due to sin, disobedience, misunderstanding, and attacks due to jealousy of enemies; and, some of the enemies have been My people. But I am about to rearrange the lives of the faithful ones: the ones who have persevered. They are going to be like the fresh bright stalks of corn with ears ready to open and leaves luxuriantly bright from perfect nourishment. I have seen their discouragement and disappointment. I have seen the attacks of the enemy, even the attacks of My people against them. And just as Joseph’s brothers meant it for evil, I MEANT IT FOR GOOD THAT I MIGHT SAVE MANY PEOPLE spiritually, mentally, and physically. I am about to deliver many people - masses of people, hundreds of millions of people - from among the nations, tribes, and families of the earth. Tell My people there is hope, to seek my face again, and to START NOW. I will use them GREATLY and in ways they have not expected.” That is the vision and the message the Lord gave me. Now ... if that applies to you, where do you go from here? 1. START NOW It doesn’t matter if your ministry is one of the five-fold gifts to the church as apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, or teacher ... or whether you have the ministry of helps ... or whether you are involved in a labor of love that is hidden from the eyes of many. You are to START NOW believing God for the anointing upon the work you are doing to bring torrential rains of the Spirit upon mankind. And PRAY that it is multiplied around the world. Get SERIOUS about yourself, your ministry, and your influence! MUSIC “Behold, the former things are coming to pass, and NEW things do I declare: before they spring forth I will tell you of them.” [Isaiah 42:9] The Hebrew word “chadash” for “new” here means exactly that: “new, fresh, a new thing.” The God of Israel doesn’t deal in stale commodities; He is the Creator. He is going to create NEW works through you ... and He will get ALL the glory. You and everyone around you will know it’s not you. The Holy Spirit is God’s agent on Planet Earth to supply the resurrection power of Messiah Yesua. START NOW asking God what you can do to be a “nesting place” for the Holy Dove. If nothing comes to mind right away, then start with humility! 2. FIGHT If God is telling you to start now, that means He is going to help you and nobody can successfully withstand you. “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” [Romans 8:31] The Greek word “kata” here for “against” denotes opposition, distribution, or intensity. Many times the devil will distribute evil agents to oppose you, with the goal of destroying you and thereby nullifying the work of God through you. Sometimes these agents will attack you from different sources and avenues simultaneously. Since the NEW work which God will be doing through you is GREATER than anything you have been involved with in the past, the opposition is [super]naturally going to be greater. This verse in Romans 8:31 is literally telling you in the original language in which it was written that God regards YOU as the very chiefest ... very highly ... and for YOUR SAKE He is FOR YOU! If you’re experiencing weariness then cast it away in Jesus’ name. It is no more than an attack of Satan: a lie of Satan to get you to believe you can’t go on, that you can’t take on any NEW work(s). If you are plagued with gossip as a result of past sins or disobedience then turn to your Father in Heaven and remind yourself of His love and forgiveness. Then remind the devil of his future. If you’re experiencing doors shut to you by men and committees of men, rejoice. Those shut doors are just direction for you into the GREAT OPEN DOORS of ministry for God in these last days! But since you KNOW that God has commanded you to START NOW and that He is FOR YOU, then all you have to do is be willing to FIGHT the good fight of faith. Stop global whimping! Stand up and fight. And, after you have done all, STAND. “Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” [Ephesians 6:13] The Greek word “histaymee” here for “stand” means “to continue, covenant, establish, hold up.” 3. BELIEVE The only one that can cause you to lose is YOU! Jesus said unto him, “If you can BELIEVE, all things are possible to him that believes.” [Mark 9:23] Put some MIRACLES in your account. Use your faith to put supplies and people (everything and everyone) you need “in trust” ... that is, in “YOUR heavenly bank account” ahead of time. That’s what the word “believe” in Mark 9:23 means [Greek “pisteuo”]. Have FAITH ... establish some credit ahead of time ... by believing and receiving what you need ahead of time. Be specific! “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” [Mark 11:24] The word “lambano” here for “receive” means “to take, to get hold of, attain, obtain.” The SECRET is WHEN YOU PRAY! That’s the TIME to RECEIVE! When you’re in your prayer closet that’s the TIME to receive those BIG things from God ... some may come into play years later ... but you receive in faith NOW ... WHEN you pray ... and you SHALL have it! Later in the day, the devil will try to challenge your faith and tell you “Those things you prayed for this morning are TOO BIG ... God isn’t going to do that for YOU!” That’s when you want to say to the devil, “Thank you, Mr. Liar, for reminding me that I RECEIVED those things in my prayer time this morning; now I KNOW I have them ... Jesus, The Truth, promised me.” The only one who can cause you to win is YOU! God is already FOR YOU; that is a given fact! You KNOW this ... now YOU are the one who must do your part: START NOW ... SEEK HIS FACE ... FIGHT ... BELIEVE ... ACT! MUSIC 4. DREAM BIG Dream BIG ... it may be your last chance! “Call unto me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you know not.” [Jeremiah 33:3] My transliteration of Jeremiah 33:3 is as follows: Call God out by His name, cry out [“qara”] to Him, pronounce to Him your cause. He will pay attention to you with His eye and respond to you [“hanah”] by announcing His answer. He will manifest to you boldly [“nagad”] exceedingly great things [“gadol-gadol”] that are strong and inaccessible [“batsar”] to you except by His miracles. “Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us ...” [Ephesians 3:20] How BIG can you ask? How BIG can you think? Start challenging God. Quit insulting your Father. Give your Heavenly Father the opportunity to show you Who He is! Litigate. Go to the Heavenly Court. Plead with God. Tell Him you are wanting to be involved with His program to bless the nations: to reach the world for Messiah Yeshua. Tell Him you won’t take anything LESS than every nation, tribe, tongue and dialect for your Lord! “Put me in remembrance: let us plead together. You make a declaration, so that you may be justified.” [Isaiah 43:26] 5. LIVE HOLY Set yourself apart so that you can be used for “special” works for the Lord. “If a man therefore purge himself from these [dishonorable practices], he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.” [2 Timothy 2:21] “Sanctified” [Greek: “hagiazo”] means purified or consecrated. Resist the devil. Realize the enemy’s tactics. Remind yourself, “The enemy is a liar and a loser!” Give glory to God by living holy. Through holy living you accomplish the following: You please God; You establish a testimony; You enable yourself to be used for “special” works. EXHORTATION For those of you who are "starting again" let me encourage you. You will be stronger this time. You will have the "eye of the tiger." The enemy will never take you captive again .. and he will never take you alive! You've already been close to death at the hands of the enemy. You will never let it happen again. You will be one of God's key generals. You will serve Him out of love, appreciation, and thanksgiving. If God used Moses (who was a murderer and repented) and if God used King David (who was both an adulterer and murderer who repented), then God can use you! On the last day of his life Samson killed more of the enemy Philistines that in the previous times of battle. Let God avenge you for the times the enemy has wounded you! “For the Lord God will help me, therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. He is near that justifies me; who will contend with me? Let us stand together: who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? Lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.” [Isaiah 50:7-9] “And even to your old age I am He; and even to grayish-white hair will I carry you. I have made and I will bear; even I will carry, and I will deliver you.” [Isaiah 46:4] “Behold, all they that were incensed against you shall be ashamed and confounded; they shall be as nothing. And they that strive with you shall perish.” [Isaiah 41:11] I trust this message will stir you to let God use YOU in bringing about TRUE revolutionary change in society and in the world. Your friend, Prince Handley MUSIC Podcast time: 24 minutes, 33 seconds Subscribe to The Apostles Advanced Teaching (this newsletter) by email: apostlehandley@gmail.com (type "SUBSCRIBE" in the Subject line). For foreign language versions of The Apostles Daily Message, go to: www.apostlehandley.wordpress.com Prince Handley Ministry Portal: www.princehandley.com SKYPE: prince.handley Follow Prince Handley on Twitter Subscribe to The Healing and Miracle Podcast here: SUBSCRIBE Subscribe to Apostle Talk Podcast here: SUBSCRIBE Subscribe to The Voice of Israel Podcast here: SUBSCRIBE FREE online New Testament Bible Studies, email to: worldservicesinc@gmail.com For FREE literature to distribute (tell us what language you need), write to: WORLD SERVICES P.O. Box A Downey, CA 90241 USA Apostle Talk Podcast (advanced teaching): www.apostle.libsyn.com Healing and Miracle Podcast: www.healing.libsyn.com Voice of Israel Podcast: www.podcastsatellite.libsyn.com Israel News and Prophecy: www.podcastsatellite.com Rabbinical Studies: www.realmiracles.com/rabbinical.htm Advanced Teaching & Growth website: www.realmiracles.com University of Excellence information, email to: universityofexcellence@gmail.com If you need healing, deliverance, or prayer, email to: princehandley@gmail.com
I. An Eternal Plan For Christ’s International Glory If you would and open to Daniel 7, which describes what we just sang about. The second coming of Jesus Christ is one of our great doctrines and as we look this morning at Daniel 7:9-14, we come to what I consider to be one of the peak, one of the pinnacle verses of the Old Testament. Scripture says that all stars shine but some shine more brightly than others. And as we come to Daniel 7, the Son of Man vision, we come to, along with Isaiah 53, the two greatest verses in the Old Testament or passages in the Old Testament that testify to the glory of Jesus Christ. In 1987, I was on a mission trip with some friends from Gordon-Conwell seminary, we were ministering to Afghan refugees in Pakistan, and I had the opportunity to go into China and we traveled through the mountains, Karakoram mountains, and saw some of the most majestic scenes that I've ever seen in my life. The Karakoram mountains are the second highest mountains in the world, behind the Himalayas and well over 20,000 feet high, many of these peaks. And as we drove through and crested through the Karakoram mountains and came down, into the tundra, the far, far western part of China, very few people live out there, we came to a wide valley, it seemed to stretch out as far as I could see, it was the biggest valley I had ever seen in my life, and it took us six hours in a bus to drive across it. And as we made our way halfway across, we saw four men standing with shovels and they were digging a ditch along the road, and I just shook my head and I said, How long is it going to take them to finish that ditch with shovels? We had been driving for three hours on the road, we had another three hours to go. I thought they must have been perhaps criminals of some sort on a work detail. Well, it just so happened, we had with us some tracts and some New Testaments in the local language, the Uyghur language, and we gave them out to them, they were overjoyed to receive them, they could understand them. We couldn't say a word to them, but we had the materials to give them. Well, as we crossed that valley, we got to the other side, we were detained at a way station, this is common procedure, and the government authorities just wanted to be sure that we weren't bringing anything into the country, that shouldn't be brought in. I don't know what that would be, a variety of things, I suppose, but they all had machine guns, AK-47s, and it was very unnerving to see them go through my bags, all of the things that I had, and they put them back together. They didn't touch our printed material. I was surprised at that. There's been numerous testimonies of people who have brought Bibles and other things into countries where they're not welcome and the guards inspecting just don't even see them, for some reason. And we were able to distribute them in the city of Kashgar for a little while until one of our team members stood in front of some Muslim clerics, and just said the name Jesus until he got arrested. Now, you may say that's not the wisest thing to do, but that's exactly what happened. He spent the day in jail. And yet we were able to get the word out, we distributed all of those New Testaments, the tracts that we had, and then we went back into Pakistan. Now for the last three weeks, we've been talking about the Voice of the Martyrs, we've been talking about persecution, we've been talking about governments that oppose the advance of Christianity, you heard earlier what's happening in Kazakhstan. Oh, by the way, I don't know if you noticed, their pastor is from South Korea, is that right? Isn't that beautiful? South Korean pastor, ministering in Kazakhstan, the name of Jesus Christ. Do you realize that God has an eternal plan for Christ's international glory? And the very question that they asked, namely what about other religions? What about other truth systems? What can we say? We can say that we have at least two things to offer that no one else has. We have the Scripture and fulfilled prophecy, and we have the empty tomb of Jesus Christ, amen? Two things, the fulfilled prophecies of Jesus Christ, which I have been working through for the last nine months through Psalms, Isaiah and now here in the Book of Daniel that no one else has. And the empty tomb, which answers the question everyone around the world is asking, What about death? What happens at death? What about myself? What will happen to me when I die? We have the fulfilled prophecies and we have the empty tomb of Jesus Christ and therefore we have the answers to give to the nations and the nations are hearing, aren't they? They're listening and they're coming to faith in Jesus Christ. God has an eternal plan for Christ's international glory and it's eternal because we read it in passages like the one we're looking at today. Daniel 7:9-14, read along with me as I read. "As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took His seat, His clothing was as white as snow, the hair of His head was white like wool, and His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before Him, thousands upon thousands attended Him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated and the books were opened. Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking, I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire, the other beasts had been stripped of their authority but were allowed to live for a period of time. In my vision at night, I looked and there before me was One like a Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven, He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence, He was given authority, glory, and sovereign power. All peoples, nations and men of every language worshipped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed." And so you have heard one of the two great passages in the Old Testament that explain fully the first and the second coming of Jesus Christ, the other is Isaiah 53. For example, in verse 6, "All we like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." The suffering servant of Isaiah 53, bearing sin, bearing iniquity on His body on the cross that we might have eternal life, and then in Daniel 7, the glorious coming Messiah, riding on the clouds of heaven, coming back to rescue His people from a persecuting power. The glory of the first coming in Isaiah 53, the glory of the second coming in Daniel chapter 7. II. Review Now the context here in Daniel 7, we covered last week. We have the story of a nighttime vision. Daniel has a dream at night or a vision in the first year of Belshazzar, and he sees the ocean, and the ocean just represents humanity I believe, all the nations, and we see the four winds striving on the surface of the ocean, all the turbulence stirred up, and up out of all that churning turbulence come four beasts, each different from another, one after the other. The four beasts we saw were four world empires, human empires, the Babylonian Empire, the Medo-Persian Empire, the Greek Empire and the Roman Empire. The fourth beast received special attention, the fourth beast had 10 horns and then one little horn that grew up and overthrew three of the horns and then took control and then grew to be awesome and powerful, to speak blasphemous words. And we saw that this is the antichrist. In the second half of the chapter, the fourth beast receives even greater detail and attention, for this beast is there at the second coming of Jesus Christ. And so therefore interpreters believe that there must be some kind of revival of the Roman Empire for the fourth Empire must be Rome. The first coming of Jesus Christ happened during the Roman Empire. And so here we have this fourth beast, some kind of perhaps revival of this, and we see a time of great persecution unlike any that has ever been seen on the Earth. Not different in kind, because Christians are suffering all over the world even now, aren't they? Suffering persecution, being kicked out of their home cities, unable to worship in their buildings, incarcerated, even surrendering their lives, that's going on now, but apparently it's going to escalate greatly under the reign of this final human Emperor who we call the antichrist. And so we're left asking two questions which I referred to last time, Why does the Lord permit this to happen? And how long will it go on, will it go on forever? Will there be no end to the persecution and suffering? And we answered the first question last time. 2 Peter 3:15, "Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation." Aren't you glad He waited until you were born? Aren't you even gladder that He waited until you were born again through faith in Jesus Christ? And so, there are others that will be called and they will believe and they will come from every tribe and language and people and nation. The Lord's patience means salvation, but it's patience with a world that hates Him, and that hate His people, and so there's this attack on the people of God, and it's going on. Well, will it go on forever? No, it will not. And this vision that we have here is the answer, it's the end, when Jesus Christ comes in glory on the clouds and He interrupts that reign of antichrist and He overthrows him by the word of His power, simply by the breath of His mouth and establishes His kingdom forever and ever. And the time of suffering for His people ends. All of that is found in the vision that we have today. III. The Heavenly Court and the Ancient of Days (vs. 9-10) Look at verse 9-10, we have the heavenly courts, and the Ancient of Days. Now, it's right in the middle of the words of blasphemy spoken by that little horn, the antichrist, right in the middle of the speaking of blasphemous words, the court is seated. Look what it says again, ""As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took His seat, His clothing was as white as snow, the hair of His head was white like wool, and His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before Him, thousands upon thousands attended Him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated and the books were opened." Thrones Established This is a heavenly court seated right in the middle of the reign of antichrist, and it says thrones are established. In the era of the Kings, they understood who the judge was, it was the king. The king was the judge, he was the lawgiver, he was the ruler. In the American system, we have a division of branches don't we? We have the legislative branch and the executive branch and the judicial branch. But in medieval Europe for example, they're all in one, the king, and so it is with God, He is the king, He is the lawgiver, He's the judge, and so His throne is seated, but He's not alone. There are other thrones around it. Look what it says, thrones, plural, are set in place. And so this is somewhat of a heavenly court. There are other rulers, perhaps archangels, perhaps even Christians, it says, "Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?" So perhaps these are thrones of the elders, for example, in Revelation 4:4, The 24 elders on their thrones seated. The "Ancient of Days" takes His seat And so He takes His seat. And who is it that takes His seat? It's the Ancient of Days. "As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat." Now this name describes God's eternal nature, His unchanging nature, the Ancient of Days. Moses wrote a Psalm, Psalm 90, and it says, "Before the mountains were born, or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, You are God." He is the Ancient of Days and we in our human arrogance and our pride in all of our empire building, we forget that there was a time when there was only God and God alone, there was a time when Father, Son and Spirit were in perfect happy fellowship with one another and not one thing had yet been created. There was a time when there was no light for He had not yet said Let there be light, when there was no Earth, there was no sun, no moon, no stars, no seas, no beasts and no man, when God alone existed. And you know, He hasn't changed at all from that time, He's the same, He's always the same, the Ancient of Days eternal. And we see the attributes of God, we see His holiness in His white clothing, and the fire that surrounds His throne, we see His eternity, as we mentioned in His white hair, and the title Ancient of Days, and we see His mobility. His throne has wheels. What are these wheels? Well, in Ezekiel, the vision of God, the expanse moves and it's got these wheels and they're turning but not turning and they're always moving. You get the image of a throne just set and that's where it is, and maybe you'd get the mistaken idea that His authority is just kind of out from that throne and it gets weaker as it gets further from the throne, but God's throne can move. He's everywhere, He's omnipresent, there's no place that He doesn't exist, He brings His power right where you are. He moves and we see His judgment, fire, fire, fire. It's a throne of fire and a river of fire flows from the throne. The fire does represent God's absolute holiness, but it's an active holiness. It moves out in judgment against evil, it's not going to tolerate this blasphemy, this human empire that's blaspheming and attacking His people. There's going to be a river of fire flowing out. It says in Hebrews 12:29, "Our God is a consuming fire." And in Isaiah 30:27-28, it says, "See the name of the Lord comes from afar with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke, His lips are full of wrath and His tongue is a consuming fire, His breath is like a rushing torrent rising up to the neck, He shakes the nations in a sieve of destruction." This is our God. And a river of fire flows from His throne to judge the nations. And He's not alone, is He? He's got an angelic host, a big army, so big that no one can count them. Thousands upon thousands attended Him. 10,000 times 10,000 stood before Him. Don't bother multiplying it out. The answer is 100 million. But that doesn't really matter, the point is that there's countless angels ready to do His bidding. Anything He asks, they will do. They stood before Him ready to serve. They stand before to serve, they stand before to worship. And they will stand before Him as warriors, won't they? They're ready to go at a moment's notice. Somewhat like all those men and machines coiled up like a spring on January 5th, 1944, right before D-day, ready to go. Just give the word and we'll go. And so the angels are, they're ready any time, send the word and we will go. Jude 14-15 spoke of Enoch, the seventh from Adam, that's a long time ago, isn't it? Seventh from Adam. Adam's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson. That was a long, long time ago. What was he looking ahead to? Second coming of Jesus Christ. "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of His holy ones to judge everyone and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way. And of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him." Enoch saw it, that the Lord is going to come with His angels and He's going to judge sinners. And Jesus Himself said in Matthew 16:27, "The Son of Man is going to come in His Father's glory with His angels, and He will reward to each person according to what he has done." Second coming of Jesus Christ. Judgment Day: Court is Seated, Books Are Opened And then there's this little phrase that has been burning in my mind. "The court was seated and the books were opened." Write that on a card and put it on a mirror somewhere, put it in your car, put it where you work next to your computer. "The court was seated and the books were opened." Do you realize that every single solitary human being is going to face God on His throne, on Judgment Day? The court was seated and the books were opened. What are in these books? Well, everything we've ever said and done, everything we didn't say and didn't do, everything we thought, every careless word, Jesus said, Matthew 12:36, every careless word we have spoken, written in the Book. Revelation 20 speaks about this. "I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from His presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened." It's the same teaching. Books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. Oh, may your names be written in the Book of Life, because if your name is not written in the Book of Life, God the Judge will look at what's written in the other book, everything you've ever said and done, every sin. Well, I can't remember everything I've said and done. That's alright, you don't need to, the Judge does, and He won't forget anything. He's a meticulous God, He's very careful, He notes everything. With the Lord, one day is like a thousand years, that's a real slow day. Have you ever had a day like that? Every day is like that to God. One day is like a thousand years. He studies everything minutely, and it all goes in the book. Oh, that you may not be under that book, but free through the blood of Jesus Christ, your name written in the Book of Life. Well, who else is judged? The antichrist. That's the context here. Let's not forget, He's coming because of the Antichrist's blasphemy and his attack on the people of God. That's why the Second Coming occurs, the time is full, the time has come and Jesus returns, so the court is seated, it's intervening judgment. IV. The Intervening Judgment (vs. 11-12) Verse 11 and 12, "Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking, I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time." Do you realize that God actively rules now on earth? Look at Verse 12 again, "The other beasts had been stripped of their authority but were permitted to live…" for a little while. Well, what were the other beasts? Well, Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece, they are able to continue living, but without their authority and power, isn't that what happened? It's exactly what happened. Babylonians continued to be Babylonians and Medes continued to be Medes. Persians continued to be Persians and Greeks to be Greeks. But they no longer had authority and power, they lived. They were permitted to live for a period of time. But that final beast, the final form of human government, in opposition to Jesus Christ is the focal point of the second coming and of the wrath of God and the judgment. So God actively rules now but He's going to actively rule then. In Verse 11, "I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking, I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire." The boastful words come to an end and Jesus Christ comes back and the court's decision is enacted. Look at verse 26. I know it's not in our text this morning, but it's there. Verse 26 it says, "But the court will sit and his [that is the Antichrist's] power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever." That's the verdict, it's the judgment. And what judgment is given? The blazing fire. Do you remember Nebuchadnezzar's boast to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? "But if you do not worship it [the statue], you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?" Do you remember that? Did God give him an answer? Oh yes, I can do it, God said, This is the God who can deliver from your hand, Nebuchadnezzar. I want to ask you a question, what God can deliver from God's hand when He throws this beast into the blazing fire? Is there any? There is none. Is there a higher court of appeals? There is none. Is there an appeal process? There is none. Deuteronomy 32:39, "See now that I myself am He, there is no God besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand." Do you understand? Isaiah 43:12-13, "'You are my witnesses,' declares the Lord, 'that I am God, yes, and from ancient days, I am He, no one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?'" And in Daniel, the book we've been studying, verse 35-36, Nebuchadnezzar himself testified in this way, "His dominion is an eternal dominion. His kingdom endures from generation to generation, all the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand or say to Him, 'What have you done?'" Judgment Day is final. And when God makes His decision, it's final. Our God is a gentle, compassionate merciful God to all who humble themselves and ask for mercy but He's a terrifying enemy to the unrepentant rebel. Oh, may God be your Savior and not your Judge. May God be your Savior through Jesus Christ and not your Judge. The Beast is slain. Its body thrown into the fire, eternal fire. This is a consistent testimony of the Scripture. And some have said, "Well the fire is just a metaphor." What is a metaphor? It's comparing something to something else, because we don't have words for it. Is the reality less than the words or the metaphor? No, it's greater, we just can't get the words. It's just like a lake of burning sulfur, that's all... That's all it's like, it's just a metaphor. No, the reality is worse than the metaphor. It's just that we don't have any other way to experience it, to get hold of it. Alright, the beast is destroyed, the antichrist is destroyed, the lake of fire is their destiny. V. The Son of Man: The Incarnate King for an Eternal Kingdom (vs. 13-14) But how does it happen? It happens with the coming of the Son of Man and in verses 13-14, we have the Son of Man, the incarnate King for an eternal kingdom. "In my vision at night, I looked and there before me was One like a Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven, He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence, He was given authority, glory, and sovereign power. All peoples, nations and men of every language worshipped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed." The antichrist is destroyed by the Son of Man. The antichrist wars against the saints, he assembles his forces possibly to destroy them forever, so he believes. Jesus Christ returns, the Son of Man returns, from heaven on a white horse with the armies of heaven. Final battle is Armageddon, read about it in Revelation 19. I'm not preaching on Revelation 19 this morning, so I'm not going to read it to you, but read it. It's all written there. Jesus Christ returns, and He defeats him simply by the breath of His mouth. 2 Thessalonians 2:8 says "And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming." That's all it takes. That's why in Revelation, it shows Him with a sword coming out of His mouth. He doesn't literally have a sword, it's just that's His weapon. He speaks and it's done. That shouldn't surprise us, that's how He created the universe. He spoke and it was done. That's all. This is the full story, but let's not miss the significance of this text, verses 13-14, the Son of Man text, because this is the greatest text in the Old Testament for the deity of the Messiah, this is the greatest text in the Old Testament for the deity of the Messiah. Now think about this, the Jews were expecting a Messiah, weren't they? They were expecting one who would come, they called him the Son of David, they thought he would be another physical king like David was. Maybe greater, maybe not, but just another time like we had with David. Well, they didn't read Daniel, they didn't understand the Son of Man vision. Look at the Son of Man. First of all, His humanity is clearly established by the term Son of Man. He's a human being, right? Or else He wouldn't take the title Son of Man. He's a human being. But look at it, He rides on the clouds like Jehovah God. He approaches the Ancient of Days, He comes right into His immediate presence, and yet He is not the Ancient of Days. Do you see that? The Ancient of Days is there on the throne, and here comes the Son of Man into His presence, so He's not the Ancient of Days in the Daniel 7 vision. And He's given sovereign authority over all nations and He's given glory and He's worshipped by all nations and languages and peoples, they all worship Him. And He's given an eternal kingdom over which He rules forever and ever. Who is the Son of Man? Who is He? This is a deep problem for modern Judaism, isn't it? It's a big problem, the Old Testament testifies that there is one and only one God, "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one." And there is no one like God, Isaiah 46:9. "Remember the former things, those of long ago. I am God and there is no other, I am God and there is none like me." And God gives His glory to no one else, Isaiah 42:8, "I am the Lord, that is My name. I will not give My glory to another or My praise to idols. My glory is My own and I will give it to no one else." And no other gods can be worshipped, for that would be idolatry. In Jesus' temptation the devil took Him to a very high mountain, showed Him all the kings of the world in their splendor. "All this I will give you if you will simply bow down and worship me," and Jesus said, "Away from me, Satan, for it is written 'Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only." And yet here is the Son of Man riding on the clouds of heaven, coming into the presence of the Ancient of Days, receiving glory, sovereign power and dominion, and guess what else He receives? Worship. He receives worship, the very thing that no one else can receive but God. Who is the Son of Man? Well, Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of Man, He used the title for Himself over and over. We looked at that this morning, you remember? In Mark 2, in your Sunday school classes, the Son of Man? Jesus called Himself Son of Man 30 times in Matthew's Gospel alone, 80 times all together. Matthew 8, "Then a teacher of the law came to Him and said, 'Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.' Jesus said, 'Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.'" Who's He talking about? Himself. Matthew 9:6, He says, "The Son of Man has authority on Earth to forgive sins." Matthew 12:8, "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." In Matthew 17:22-23, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men, they will kill Him and on the third day, He will be raised to life." It was His favorite title for Himself. The Son of Man. Only once in my research did I find that this title was used by anyone but Jesus. None of the disciples used it, Paul doesn't use it when he writes about Him. Calls Him the Christ or other things. Jesus used it about Himself and He's about the only one that did. But, once, John 12:34, "The crowd spoke up, we have heard from the law that the Christ will remain forever that he's not going to die. So who is the Son of Man?" The Jews asked him that. Well, that's the burning question, isn't it? Who is this Son of Man? Jesus was standing right in front of them. He is the Son of Man. The Jews couldn't deal with it, couldn't accept a suffering Messiah, couldn't accept certainly not a crucified Messiah. Their big problem with Jesus was that He claimed to be God in the flesh, He claimed to be God in the flesh. And so they arrested Him and they brought Him before the tribunal, before the high priest, and the high priest was listening to false testimonies from false witnesses. None of it was making sense. Finally said, Let's cut to the heart of the matter. "I charge you under oath, [he said to Jesus] by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God." It's a key moment, isn't it? A key moment. And what did Jesus do at every key moment? He quoted Scripture. He does it over and over and over again. Do any of you have too high a view of Scripture? Every time Jesus needed it, He quoted Scripture. Tell us if you are the Christ the Son of God. "Yes, it is as you say… but I say to all of you, in the future, you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven." What Scripture did He quote? This one. This is the peak, this is the pinnacle, this is the one Jesus reached for when He is about to be rejected by the Jews, to prove His deity. In effect, He said, Who do you think, Mr. High priest, that the Son of Man of Daniel 7 is? Who is He, if not Me? Well, they killed Him, because the time of Daniel 7 hadn't come yet, it was time for Isaiah 53, wasn't it? "All we like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." And so Jesus died. He suffered and died. And the whole problem with Judaism back then and now is that they didn't understand the glory of the first coming, neither do they understand the glory of the second coming. What is the glory of the first coming? To die on a cross and then to rise again on the third day. So that sinners like you and me can survive Judgment Day. VI. Eternal Kingdom for the Saints (vs. 22, 27) And what is the glory of the second coming? It's power, far greater power than they ever expected, the power of Heaven unleashed in wrath on the earth for all those that reject, for all the rebels, and to rescue His people, and to give them an eternal kingdom that will never end. Verse 21-22, "As I watched, this horn was waging war against the saints and defeating them until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the saints and the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom." And then in verse 27, "Then the sovereignty and power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints." That's you and me, brothers and sisters, we get the Kingdom. And it's an Earthly kingdom 'cause it's under heaven. And we are under Him because it's His kingdom, and we will reign on earth. It says in Matthew 5:5, "Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth." We get the Kingdom, but no more rebels, no more beasts up out of the sea, just a kingdom forever and ever, and the saints will submit to Christ and it will never end. Well, what application do we take out of this? Well, first, if anyone says to you, How do you know that you have the right truth system and that all the other religions are wrong, we have fulfilled prophecy, do they? We have an empty tomb. Do they? We have the truth, brothers and sisters, and people from every tribe and language and people and nation are seeing it, aren't they? And they're coming to faith in Jesus Christ, in fulfillment of this prophecy. But please, don't miss the description of God here. The throne of fire and a river of fire flowing from the throne. I've come to the conclusion that all of us has to stand under the fire. All of us do. And the fire will either burn our soul eternally, or it will burn up all of our works done in the flesh, done not by faith. That's what's going to happen, it's going to burn something, that's just the purity of God. He can allow nothing into His presence that doesn't glorify Him. Now, how do you escape the fire burning your soul? Through simple faith in Christ. That was the purpose of the first coming, through trusting in Christ. You will have what we've called the asbestos robe of Christ's righteousness, protecting you from the fire that will come. But what of the second? Can I urge you to live your life, live your lives in the light of that fire, that nothing you do be consumed on that day, that everything you do be for the building and the glory of this kingdom that we have described today. Everything, no wasted time, no wasted words, no wasted money, no wasted gifts, no wasted moment, everything for the glory of Jesus Christ. Won't you close with me in prayer.
© 2020-2025 Ivy Podcast Discovery LLC
